Working with a website designer is a significant investment and takes a lot of time and effort. That’s why, before you solicit a web designer to work on your animation website, you have to be sure that they’re the best fit for your website needs.
Instead of trusting your site to someone after exchanging one or two emails, it’s best to choose someone you can meet in real life or at least have a phone conversation with.
This is a big decision and can have huge implications for your business! Before you get overwhelmed about hiring or not hiring a professional to design your website, don’t worry -- you’ve come to the right blog post.
This article will help you weigh the pros and cons before you take this important step. If you are ready to consider hiring a website designer for your animation website, here are fourteen questions to ask them.
1) Do You Have a Portfolio?
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One of the first things you need to ask about your potential website designer is if you could take a look at their portfolio, which is a collection of work where many designers will display their work on their blog or website. This will give you a better idea of the quality of their work.
You will most likely want to hire designers with several years of experience, certifications, awards, or credentials. Don’t just take a random designer for their word when they assure you that they’re the best; tell them to show you!
You need to see what they have accomplished and how competitive they are among other website designers. This will guarantee that your website design will look outstanding.
2) What Kinds of Websites Have You Designed?
Website designers who have worked on all kinds of websites are sure to be good at designing websites and confident in their work.
They won’t think twice about showing you the websites they designed and telling you about the companies they worked for as well as their experiences working with them. Also, feel free to ask them how their website designs helped their previous clients’ businesses.
The website designer should be able to give measurable and specific information such as the increase in sales, conversions, sales leads, etc. that their websites provided. You can take your research a step further by requesting customer feedback from the designer’s previous clients and references.
3) Do You Specialize in a Specific Industry?
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Most website designers can design any kind of website for any type of business, but many will have their own specializations.
If you meet a website designer who only has experience making websites for automobile or food businesses, you might want to rethink hiring them and choose a different designer instead.
To ensure that you end up with a website with great quality, choose a website designer who has a similar style to what you want for your website.
4) What Services Do You Offer?
Website design is only one part of a website package. Become Distinct says that you will need domain hosting, digital marketing, copywriting, and other services to make a successful website. Some even offer CRM and SEO in addition to their website design services.
Having search engine optimization on your website will help you rank higher on search engine websites. It allows your website to be one of the top websites in search results. It’s good if your web designer can keep this in mind and work on your website by using SEO in mind.
Like what SEASIA says, if a website is a vehicle, SEO is the fuel for it. Without SEO, your website is of no use and won’t bring you the results you desire to achieve. The wrong use of SEO can often decrease your chances of getting website traffic, sales leads, and website conversions.
Aside from SEO, according to DDI Development, having a customer relationship management system (CRM) is also an excellent service to have.
CRM allows you to automate the collection and processing of data that comes from your website visitors. It manages your customer base, adds new prospects, connects your marketing and sales processes, and increases your ROI.
5) What Assets Do I Need to Provide You?
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Before your web designer works on your animation website, they will most likely need content from you, such as brand guidelines, logo, copy, videos, images, text, etc.
Websites need high-quality images to make sure you will provide your designer with high-resolution images and videos.
6) Are Your Website Designs Mobile-Friendly?
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There is now a greater need to create mobile-friendly websites. More than 57% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices.
Having a mobile-friendly website is vital for any kind of business. Responsive websites work well on all devices like laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones. They will make you competitive, reach a wider audience, give users and good browsing experience, load pages faster, and increase sales leads.
7) How Long Will It Take You to Complete This Project?
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Website design projects have a specific timeline no matter what their website is for. It will vary from project to project, depending on the amount and kind of work that has to be done.
If you have a target date for the completion of your web design, let your designer know about this so that they will make necessary adjustments to the pace of their work. You need to have clear and open communication so that you and your designer are on the same page.
8) How Will Your Website Design Help Me Reach My Business Goals?
Creating a website design is not the end of the story for your web designer. A website designer should also be able to deliver outstanding results from their website design. Make sure that your website designs will answer your question confidently and specifically.
9) How Many Website Design Revisions Can You Do?
Topfloor says that many miscommunications occur in the revision and approval process. Of course, you want to make your website the best that it can be for your animation website visitors.
It’s essential to know from the start how many revisions your designer will make so that you will be prepared for the additional costs.
10) How Much Will The Website Design Cost?
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The cost of your website design is one of the most important aspects to clear up ahead of time. Before starting a project, you will want to understand what you will pay for and if you will need to pay an additional amount.
Your website design cost will be different depending on your budget, the website’s features, user experience, the kind of design, the number of people who will work on the website, etc.
Some designers may charge a high and unreasonable price. It’s okay to ask for a lower price or reject a proposal if you don’t have the project budget.
11) How Will We Communicate During This Website Design Project?
If you have any questions or concerns, you should contact your designer as soon as possible. To do this, though, you’ll need to ask your designer how they prefer to be reached.
Some designers may be preoccupied with work or personal matters, so it’s best to know their allotted time to receive phone calls or emails. Will they be available all days of the week or on weekdays only? Do they use email, text message, or calls?
Also, set dates and times during the project when the website designer can give you updates on the website. Feel free to encourage them, give feedback, and make suggestions.
12) How Do You Measure Results?
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After designing your website, your website designer must show you how it works and how they will measure your results. Ask them if they can measure bound rates, unique visitors, numbers, and kinds of actions taken on your site.
13) Will I Own My Website?
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KC Web Designer says that they encountered some companies who were told that they do not own their website. Make it a point that you and your website designer make a decision about you owning your website after you fully pay for your website.
They should use open-source software so that you can easily find development support. If you get custom coding or proprietary content management, you won’t find another developer to work on your website.
14) Can I Contact You Even After the Website Has Been Completed?
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Your website design may be finished, but if you want to update or add something, you might not be able to do it independently.
Some designers will be willing to provide you assistance with your website after completion for a specific period of time, but after that period passes, your website designer may start asking for an additional payment.
If you don’t want to pay an additional fee, some designers will be willing to teach you how to go about your website so that you won’t need to reach out to them for every minor change you’d like to make.
Wrapping It Up
The first step in having a successful animation website is to carefully select your website designer which requires research and effort.
Ask your designer the right questions and make sure they can provide additional services to drive traffic and leads to your website. One way that you can make sure he or she can deliver work with great quality is by taking a look at the website designer’s portfolio and previous work.
Once you’ve decided on a designer to hire and before he or she starts working on your animation website, see to it that you are on the same page with your designer when it comes to the cost, timeline, deliverables, and other concerns.
For more tips about animation and its business side, join our free masterclass and get your copy of our free marketing handbook.
