Hiring a website design company is a vital step in the success of your small business. A well-designed website gives your business credibility and an excellent source of new business.
What if you stay busy from quality referrals? Great! Quality referrals are the best drivers of new business, since they come from a personal recommendation by a trusted connection.
So why would you need a website?
For 2 major reasons:
- Public relations. Like it or not, you can’t keep your business off the Internet. Between your Facebook page, Google listing, directory listings, review websites, news articles and now AI assistants that summarize what they find, chances are something about your business is already online. What if it’s inaccurate, misleading or worse? Without a website, potential customers (and AI tools) have no official source to check against. You need a professionally designed website to control what’s published about your business. On your website, you have total control over your services, pricing, contact information (like the correct phone number and hours), testimonials and more. Many potential clients will read about you before calling. Make sure what they read makes them want to call, not look elsewhere.
- New business. Most people research a business before contacting it. They want to see your services, testimonials from previous customers, examples of your work or your story. They may be looking for your hours or email address, or your official social media links in case duplicate or fake profiles exist. Give potential customers enough to read (but not too much) so they feel comfortable contacting you.
5 things to prepare before hiring a web designer
Once you’ve decided to look for a web design company, take a step back and prepare these 5 things. They apply to every kind of website, from a local salon to a nonprofit.
- What is your mission statement? Whether or not it appears on the website, your mission statement sets the tone and gives your web designer a clear idea of the vision to market to visitors. Do you pride yourself on exceptional quality? Stellar customer service? The best price in town? Let your designer know.
- What do you want your website to do? Should customers be able to place orders? Should the site list your services? What pages do you want, and what should they say? These questions help you create a vision for your online presence.
- What do your customers think of your business? Genuine, positive reviews encourage people to hire you. Collecting them shows your reputation to your designer and gives them great content for the site.
- Who is your competition? Look at their websites to see what they advertise and how you can set yourself apart. If most of your competitors have dated websites, you have a real opportunity to gain an edge with the most appealing site in your local market.
- What other websites do you like? They don’t have to be in your industry. If you like Apple’s website, you probably prefer a clean, minimal design. Note what you like and dislike about each site so your designer can craft a design you’ll both be proud of.
Open a Word or Pages document and answer these questions in as much detail as possible, with links and pictures where helpful. It will set your expectations and help your web designer serve you well. Our Getting Started Guide explains what we need from you next. When you’re ready, call Pioneer Media at (865) 308-2887 or send us a message to get started!
About the author
Leighton Smith is Pioneer Media’s website designer, web developer and webmaster, based in East Tennessee. As a solopreneur, he is each client’s one point of contact and has built hundreds of websites since learning to code in 2006.
