After giving it a lot of thought and careful consideration, you’ve decided to create a website dedicated to your online business. With demand growing year after year, there are nearly 1.6 billion websites worldwide (Source: Internet World Stats). Overall, the market is just as thriving, thanks to an ever-increasing number of service providers entering the market.
Unfortunately, this “astronomical” number of web design agencies can be intimidating and sow doubt in the minds of prospective clients. In fact, nearly 30% of entrepreneurs do not create a website, believing that the prices are out of their reach (Source: Statista). However, competition makes the website design market much more attractive than it used to be…
However, despite the wide range of options available, it’s just as easy to fall into the traps set by unscrupulous web agencies. To protect yourself and find the right web agency—one that meets your expectations and needs—here are a few tips that can help you in your search.
Why Choose a Web Design Agency to Build Your Website?
Simply put, there are several options to consider when you want to create your own website.
First, you have the option of designing and setting up your online presence entirely on your own. This approach is very cost-effective, but it’s often much more complicated than it seems (mainly because of the time it takes to build the site, but also because of the need to learn how to use the design tools properly—and, yes, how to maintain the site as well…).
Alternatively, you can hire a freelancer, who is less expensive than an agency, but unfortunately may not be fully committed to your web project. After all, they may not be working exclusively on your project, and since freelancers generally work alone, they can’t be everywhere at once… If even the slightest problem arises, you can’t be sure it will be resolved quickly.
Finally, a web agency capable of adapting 100% to your needs thanks to its much more in-depth expertise. While the cost is certainly not insignificant, the results are far superior to those of other providers. This is the perfect solution for a result that is both professional and visually appealing, with unmatched design speed and project support from start to finish.
Top 6 Things to Look for When Searching for a Web Design Agency
To distinguish a good professional from a bad one, all you need to do is follow certain guidelines, which are often based on the web agency’s experience. By carefully evaluating the agencies, you’ll be able to make the right choice.
Here are the 6 minimum criteria to check before entrusting your project to an agency.
No. 1 – An agency’s SEO expertise
To avoid making a mistake, make sure that the agency you’re interested in is a recognized expert in the field of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), that is, optimization for search engines, also known as “organic search.”
For a website to be useful, it must be visible. However, if your website isn’t optimized, it may simply be invisible to users of Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines. To put it simply, your website must rank for search queries and keywords directly related to your business.
By increasing your visibility, you also increase organic traffic to your website. It’s very important for a business to have a website that ranks on the first page of Google, given that 91% of clicks following a search occur on that page. This is primarily a long-term investment, because once you’ve secured your ranking, you’ll significantly reduce your paid advertising costs.
Be careful with this criterion: Many agencies consider themselves SEO experts, when in reality they’re only going to implement a technical solution. SEO today is the result of a genuine strategy. It’s a field of expertise in its own right. To verify your agency’s claims, you can use tools like https://neilpatel.com/fr/analyseur-seo/ to check whether the agency’s own website is optimized.
No. 2 – An Agency’s Web Marketing Strategies
As you conduct your research, you might ask yourself a very simple question that could save you time: What are this agency's marketing strategies?
To put it more clearly, when you decide to entrust a project to an agency, your goal is ultimately to create and optimize your website to make it attractive and effective. However, even with the best website in the world, if no digital strategy is in place, it will likely be a total flop. Your agency must be able to take action on “all fronts” to guarantee optimal results. In other words, it must have a thorough understanding of SEO (as discussed earlier), SEA (AdWords, Google’s paid ads), setting up a “landing page” (to capture leads), optimizing social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn…), and possibly setting up a sales page…
In short, as you can see, the list is long, but in theory, an agency has the advantage of having enough resources to handle all these points properly. How can you tell if a web agency is reliable in this regard? You can simply ask for their references and contact their clients to inquire about the results they’ve achieved in lead generation or sales.
No. 3 – The Website's Technical Performance
Often overlooked yet obvious, your website’s performance should be one of the key criteria when choosing a good web design agency. It’s ideal for climbing the Google rankings, but above all for enhancing the user experience (UX) of your future prospects.
Similarly, and in relation to UX, the user interface (UI) must be well-designed, pleasant, practical, and easy to use. Thanks to all these elements, Google is more likely to prioritize your site over another that is much less polished. The benefit for your visitors is that they’ll be able to enjoy a clear, clean, and precise site with faster loading times.
Keep in mind, however, that every additional second of load time reduces the conversion rate by more than 7% (Source: ZenithMedia). Needless to say, it’s best to pay attention to this. You can test this using Google’s official tool: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?hl=fr
No. 4 – A portfolio that reflects who you are
A simple and effective way to determine whether a web design agency meets your criteria is simply to take a look at its clients!
The portfolio. One of the essential tools, for both service providers and clients. It allows you to assess, in just a few clicks, the quality of the websites created by the agency in question. Thanks to it, you’ll quickly gain important insights into your agency’s clients and their business activities. Have they already completed projects like yours, or, on the contrary, are they far from your ideal website?
For example, if you want to create a high-end showcase website and the potential service provider has only built e-commerce sites, expect that they may not have all the skills required for this project. In fact, that agency might not even feel comfortable creating a showcase website. The key is to observe!
If you’re not sure where to find inspiration, we recommend the website https://land-book.com/, which features a collection of the world’s most beautiful websites with excellent usability (sometimes websites are very beautiful but poorly designed in terms of usability). In fact, some of our websites are featured on Landbook—feel free to ask us for our portfolio.
No. 5 – Customer Reviews
Building on the portfolio, it’s often helpful to hear what their clients have to say after delivery. In practical terms, today, the bulk of effective digital communication relies on social proof—that is, client reviews.
Looking at completed websites is good, but reading customer reviews of those same projects is even better. So here’s a list of questions you should ask yourself when reviewing the testimonials:
- Was the website delivered on time?
- What technology was used to build the website?
- What was the project's design process?
- Was the budget adhered to?
No. 6 – A Crucial First Contact
In fact, once your list of potential service providers is up to date, the best thing you can do is to contact them.
On the one hand, the response to your message can reveal a lot about the person you’re communicating with. If they’re interested in you, ask for additional information, or want to connect further, that’s good news. On the other hand, if they aren’t very open—with short or disinterested responses—then it’s likely that this isn’t the right agency for you.
On the other hand, for the most promising of them, it is strongly recommended that you request a clear and detailed quote for the services they can offer you for the creation of your website.
Understanding a Quote to Make the Right Choice
Once all the agencies have provided you with a quote, it’s time to compare them. There are several important points to consider before moving forward with a particular agency. In any case, you should review the quote carefully.
Website Design
A website should be designed to stand the test of time, which is why it’s essential to have a modern, attractive, and—above all—scalable site. Currently, technology is evolving very rapidly, and Google’s updates are also very frequent. For these reasons, it’s vital to have a website that’s as adaptable as possible, so it can keep up with the latest trends.
Let's note some important points, such as:
- A responsive website, designed to meet user needs and to be viewable on multiple screens (smartphones, computers, tablets, TVs, etc.),
- Minimal use of JavaScript,
- Choosing a CMS (Content Management System)—that is, software designed for website development—is essential for keeping your website in good working order…
This list is obviously not exhaustive, but it gives a fairly good idea of what to look for. In most cases, it’s recommended to choose a service provider that specializes in a single CMS—such as WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.—depending on your needs.
Thanks to their specialization, your service provider will generally offer you lower prices and better optimization of your website.
Does the service provider offer a custom-built website or a template?
It’s all in the title: the time required and the level of involvement also vary depending on whether you choose a custom-built site or one based on a template. To put it simply, solutions created using templates only require aesthetic adjustments (visual identity, graphic guidelines, colors, text, images, design, etc.) based on a predefined model. A custom-built website, on the other hand, is created from scratch, down to the smallest detail. The steps involved in creation and customization remain the same, of course.
How much should you budget for this?
The choice of service provider will also be influenced by a significant factor: price.
Indeed, on the Internet, you can find absolutely anything and everything in terms of price. Of course, this factor varies depending on several criteria, all of which are, nonetheless, important.
In addition to the previous points, which also factor into the decision, let’s say there are three factors to consider when determining whether the price is high or not:
- Does the amount of work you’re requesting justify this service provider’s price? Whether it’s for creating a showcase website, an online store (e-commerce), or even a blog, does the amount of work required align with the price?
- What additional options does the web agency offer, and how does it handle the hosting of the website? Marketing automation, newsletter management, integration with an API, etc. All of these options come at a cost, and vary in price depending on the web agency. The bill can sometimes skyrocket very quickly.
- Is there any post-launch support provided? Basically, once the website is complete, does the agency provide ongoing support for it in case of technical issues? Does it implement marketing strategies and create content to improve your SEO?
These are all questions you can answer by comparing the quotes you've received.
Setting Your Goals: It's Crucial!
Also, keep your goals in mind, because depending on those goals, you might very well end up choosing a different agency that better meets your expectations.
By quickly identifying these, you’ll gain a clearer picture of your future and find it easier to choose the type of project to undertake with a web agency. This will naturally help you rule out certain service providers that don’t meet your needs.
Increase Your Visibility
If, for you, creating a website has only one goal—to increase your visibility—you need to find a service provider capable of creating a showcase website that is perfectly optimized for search engines.
Your main goal will be to attract as much organic traffic as possible from Google search results in order to generate leads at a lower cost. It’s always beneficial for a business to be able to showcase the services it offers at a glance.
Of course, a showcase website requires different skills than an e-commerce site, for example, so it’s up to you to choose the most appropriate web agency.
Increase Your Revenue
Generally, this is the driving force for a business: increasing its revenue. A financial approach to creating a website requires that the project be clearly thought out and well-planned, since it represents an investment for you.
An investment, yes, but one that must prove profitable in the short or long term… Otherwise, what would be the point of hiring a digital agency? A marketing professional who knows the subject inside and out would certainly be the best option when considering creating a website—especially if your goal is to increase your revenue.
Start an Online Business
When creating an e-commerce website, certain criteria must be met. For example, the site must be properly optimized for smartphones, since today, nearly 57% of visits to e-commerce sites are made on mobile devices (Source: Statista).
This trend has been on the rise year after year. In fact, given the staggering number of competitors online, it makes perfect sense to adopt a superior marketing strategy in order to stay ahead of the competition. That’s why it’s so important to choose the right web agency.
To test whether a website is truly mobile-friendly, you can once again use an official Google tool: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Reduce the cost of your marketing materials
To reduce your spending on paid advertising, a long-term solution—which goes hand in hand with increasing visibility—is to generate enough content to make your website completely Google-friendly.
By reducing your advertising costs, you can allocate more of your budget to developing new, powerful, and effective marketing strategies.
This way, you also improve the qualification of your prospects—in other words, you’ll be able to target only people who are interested in what you do, rather than a broader, less specific audience. This is a significant economic consideration.
Automate Your Business
By working with a skilled web design agency, you give yourself the opportunity to gain a competitive edge over your direct competitors. In fact, with the help of marketing tools and website optimization, you’ll be able to automate your business.
For example, this involves generating email sequences that encourage hesitant prospects to make a purchase (such as recovering abandoned shopping carts), as well as creating marketing campaigns that enable the fully automated sale of a product or service. You save time, but also money, because you’re no longer tied up 24 hours a day with small, tedious tasks.
Why Choose a Specialized Web Design Agency?
However, there is one factor that is even more important—and one we’ve already discussed: specialization. In fact, when conducting your research, you’re best off choosing a web agency that specializes in a single CMS, such as WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, or PrestaShop…
Why? Quite simply, because a web agency specializing in a single CMS has far more in-depth expertise in that CMS than a multi-CMS web agency. It understands the intricacies of that CMS down to the finest details and can therefore deliver a project that is 100% tailored to your expectations. Furthermore, it stays much more closely abreast of developments in its area of specialization and can therefore be the first to incorporate new technological advancements.
What's more, this "high-end" product is also much less expensive than its competitors. It's an alternative that is likely to appeal to a large number of companies.
What is the Ingenius solution?
Ingenius is nothing more and nothing less than personalized support offered to companies that want to build a unique website—but above all, one that is high-performing, reliable, and scalable over the long term (which is certainly the most important criterion). This expertise is based on a thorough mastery of WordPress.
With automatic updates, you’ll never be left behind when it comes to market developments.
Who is Ingenius for?
Are you a business looking to maximize the performance of your website to get the most out of it in terms of profits? Great—this solution is designed to meet exactly that need. It helps you attract more new customers and gain greater visibility through streamlined digital marketing.
This is an opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, and self-employed professionals to grow their businesses over the long term. Ingenius is your partner in growth!
How does it work?
Thanks to a high-performance design featuring completely redesigned plugins, Ingenius meets more than 95% of your expectations. Our expertise ensures that your needs are effectively aligned with the technical constraints of a scalable website.
In addition, we offer easy maintenance of your website, while optimizing its profitability.
But Ingenius is, above all, a web agency that supports you throughout your project to ensure your complete satisfaction.
Ingenius guarantees your success
WordPress, now an essential tool in the digital marketplace, greatly facilitates technological advancement. Since Ingenius is built on WordPress, combined with an additional software layer, our agency offers you support on par with the best digital agencies. High-quality work at an attractive price.
Are you interested? Ask us for a quote!
If you’re looking for a solution that’s 100% customized and tailored to your needs, Ingenius is undoubtedly the best option available to you right now.
With a track record of working with renowned clients such as La Redoute, UNICEF, HEC, BNP, and many others, Ingenius is here to support and assist you in creating your website.
Depending on your project—whether it’s website development, migrating or redesigning an existing site, lead generation, sales funnels, or simply personalized marketing support—we will provide a fair quote and offer you a subscription plan that fits your needs.
Ingenius always guarantees a very competitive price. Don't wait any longer— get your quote with just one click!
In conclusion!
You now understand the significant challenges involved in creating a website for the long-term growth of your business. Today, website development is viewed as an investment rather than a mere expense, since the results it yields early on can, in most cases, be substantial.
Indeed, the return on investment is significantly better with a website. Your decision should be well thought out, with particular attention paid to the selection of service providers you will choose. Also, don’t forget that even a small company can deliver a project that is identical in quality to one from a large, well-known design agency…
In short, take some time to think it over, and everything will be fine!
