Don’t make the same mistake one friend of mine recently made when hiring a design company to do his organization’s website.I remember the first time I heard a web design horror story. A pastor that I was closely connected to called me, asking for my advice on how to improve their website’s search engine rankings. They were a church plant that was less than a year old and they had a hired a “Christian” design company to produce their website for them but nobody was able to find their website through search engines. After asking several questions and learning about their unique situation, I realized one of the main barriers they faced was the lack of content. Their website had just seven pages. So, I dove into my content is king speech and everything seemed to be on the right track until he told me that the only way they could add pages to their website was to pay the design company $250 per page.

HOW TO HAVE A HIGHLY RANKED WEBSITE IN GOOGLE

After a big “gulp” and a pause to take in what he had just told me, I asked for clarification, “So, you can’t add new pages yourself, you have to pay the design company $250 for each new page?” With a big sigh, he said, “Yes.”

This story along with other questions I’ve been asked about hiring a design company have inspired me to write this article, “Before You Sign on the Dotted Line.” My desire is that by the time you’re finished reading this article you’ll be a little more informed when you review your web design contract (hopefully, before you’ve signed it).

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN SELECTING A WEB DESIGN COMPANY

Scalability

the ability to add more pages once the website is complete without additional cost and make global changes without changing every page

This is very important for the your website in the long-term. In the short-term you probably have everything you want on your website but a few months from now you’ll want to add to your site. And you’ll only be inclined to do this if you are not paying out the nose for each page.

In addition to adding more pages without cost, you need to be able to make global changes to your website (changes across all pages) without updating every individual page manually. For example your copyright at the bottom of every page says 2007. When 2008 comes, you do not want to go to every page and change the seven to an eight. A good rule of thumb is that things that appear exactly the same on more than one page should be using some kind of include. This goes for CSS styles as well.

Content Management System (CMS)

the ability for one or more users to update content simultaneously without knowing HTML

An effective CMS can often be the difference between a thriving website and one that is outdated and boring. For the small business owner an effective CMS results in being able to update your website without learning all there is to know about web design, HTML and CSS. For the larger organization the result is the ability to have multiple people updating and adding to the website simultaneously (without knowing web design, HTML, yada yada).

Branding

having a consistent marketing presence which might include stationary, website, ads, products and commercials.

The key here when it comes to the web design company is the willingness for them to incorporate your logo and existing marketing look and feel or if you don’t have established branding, help you do that. This might involve additional work (and cost to you) but if you have confidence in the design company you’ve selected then having them design a logo and establish a color scheme could be well worth the investment.

HOW TO HAVE BRANDING SUCCESS WITH YOUR COMPANY LOGO

Straightforward Navigation

a simple, intuitive and scalable way for visitors to browse your website and find relevant content

Ask the design company about the navigation structure and how new pages will be incorporated into the navigational flow of your site. This will help them realize you plan to add pages in the near future and will hopefully result in a more thought out navigation. You want your navigation to be as intuitive to first time visitors as possible, unless of course you don’t want first time visitors (or returning visitors).

But wait, there’s more!

MORE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE SIGNING ON THE DOTTED LINE.