Web Design Glasgow – 13 Tips To Choose The Best Company

If you’re looking for help with a web design in Glasgow it may feel like a daunting task to choose the best company to create your new website.  However, our tips below will help you make a better informed choice about who to work with.

  1. Experience

First and foremost check the experience the company has.  Have they designed and developed a number of websites?  Can you read their case studies?  Do you like the designs? Do the websites have their own character or do they seem to be tipped out of the same mould?

You need to feel confident that the team you work with has sufficient experience and can create a customised website to match your needs.

2. Testimonials

What are clients saying about these web designers in Glasgow?  If there are no testimonials displayed on the website, ask if you can contact some of their former clients for a chat – no better way to really understand a company’s customer service approach and expertise than to speak to former/current clients.

3. Team Skills

Who’s in the team?  Do the members have a good range of complementary skills – digital marketing expertise, web design, web development, graphic design, search engine optimisation (SEO), content marketing and copy writing?

The more online marketing skills the team have, the more your web design project won’t be just about creating a good looking site, but creating one that also gets found online.

4. Do You Like Them?

It may seem like an odd question but if you don’t find the team responsive and friendly when you first contact them, be warned!  Web development doesn’t happen overnight and if you want to have a great relationship with the web design Glasgow team, make sure you actually like them and their approach to their work!

You should feel some rapport, a level of connection that they “get you” and that they will take care of you. You don’t simply want to be another client in their huge list of clients. Equally, you probably don’t want to be one of their first clients who they get to experiment their design and development skills on!

5. Making Website Updates

How do you envisage managing your website post go live? If you want to be hands on and make content updates yourself (without being an expert in html coding), then it’s important that your website is designed using a user-friendly CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress.

If you never want to touch the thing yourself, and intend to let the web designers make all future updates, the CMS system used is less important to you.

6. Cutting Edge Looks

If you want to win an award with a “blow them away” design then you’ll need to find web designers in Glasgow who have strong graphic design skills and cutting edge knowledge of emerging web design trends (and the capability to implement them).

If however you “just” want a great looking website which offers an excellent user experience, the team you choose should have solid expertise in web design and development with less need for cutting edge knowledge.

7. Functionality

Consider exactly what you need your website to do.  No good having a beautiful website that has poor navigation, confuses the user and doesn’t allow them to easily contact you / sign up for your newsletter / buy online.

Do you want an events section, a calendar, a book online function, an interactive map?  With so many functions available, be clear what you want and choose a web design Glasgow company that can deliver.

8. Search Engine Optimisation

There’s little point having a nice, new, shiny website if no-one ever finds it online!  Check that the web design team have experience in SEO – so as they build the site, they address the on-page SEO considerations, such as search engine friendly URLs, tags and image alt text.

Ensure they understand the importance of your metadescription (the short description of your product/services in the search engine results) and craft a description that does your company justice AND encourages people to click through to your website.

9. Timings

Be clear how soon you want your website to go live – and check the company can make this happen.  Realistic expectations will help you liaise with the web design team in a more positive manner.

10. Project Management

Who will be your main point of contact?  Will you initially meet with a Director but then never hear from them again whilst a junior team completes the project?

Will you get regular updates?  Will you be able to see the website during the development phase?  Will the team listen to your ideas for changes – and if they don’t agree, will they have a good rationale why your idea isn’t a good one?

11. Budget

Do discuss budget up front – the more complicated your website requirements, the more time it takes to develop it, and the more it will cost.  Get quotes from 2 or 3 web designers in Glasgow to get a feel for the “normal” rate for your requirements.

Be wary of web development companies who offer web designs at far below the average rate – you may find yourself saddled with a website that looks awfully similar to many others, doesn’t work as you hoped, has limited functionality and frankly never gets found in online searches.

12. Payment Terms

Do discuss payment terms – do you pay an upfront deposit and the final amount on go live? Do you pay on completion of pre-agreed milestones?  Do they offer a pay monthly website option to help you spread the cost.

Be clear as and when you have to pay – not keeping to the payment schedule will only delay the progress of your website development. 

13. Post go live support

Discuss your post go live support requirements at the beginning of the project. Some web designers feel their “responsibility” to you ends as soon as the website is live. If you don’t want to be cut adrift, choose web designers who offer a post go live support package.

Overall the final decision rests with you, but by taking into account the pertinent points above, you should be able to easily identify the best web design agency in Glasgow to entrust your web development with.

We have plenty of experience in web design and help companies in Glasgow, Scotland, the whole of the UK and beyond.  Check out our case studies to see examples of our work, or contact us for a no-obligation chat.  Oh – and we’re jolly friendly too!