How To Choose A Webdesign / Internet Consulting Company?

is ask them for references (=sites they made). Then have a look at those sites. Which ones do you like most? There might be design companies that have both sites you like and sites you don't like. Discuss those with them. They should be able to defend their design decisions.
Once you've got a shortlist, go and talk with their customers.

The big advantage of choosing a website designer: all information about their products and customers is available.

Kees

It's all in the last sentence of this charming little paragraph I copied from your blog.

"When publishing your website don't forget to post links to your website in another persons web page. The power of a link on another person's site is immeasurable because it helps the search engines know that you are a creditable source. If lots of sites link to yours you must be good right? Just remember to ask permission from the site owner first before posting a link!"

Kees

You might want to check to see if they have free advices to give on <a href="http://blog.xillent.com/index.php/xillenttalk/top-10-advices-that-help-expand-and-grow-your-business-online/">seo</a> and where you can go with your product. A good web design will attract people but they must have a strong strategy to catapult your business.

Look at their results of their work, both in appearance and what is offered. Some questions, beyond appearance need to be asked. Is the web design teamed partnered with google? How will their design improve your business? Do they have statistical data to show you where your customers are coming from? Are you optimized to be displayed on search engines? Does whatever package you purchase include an E-Commerce account? How's their tech support?

A lot of web designers let you buy a single cheap package, but then you have to pay extra when their software updates, or whenever there's a problem, or to get E-Commerce. Not all of them are like that though. Also, try and get a sample site before you actually purchase anything.

I have a good friend who works with website designers on this stuff. If you're really interested, you could drop me an E-Mail and I'll see if he'll get in touch with you. Might be able to tell you more on what to look for or help you get a site.

Over the last few months I have started to learn more about web design and actually developed a website that still is a work in progress. I did learn a lot about not only what the site should look like, but how to make it search engine friendly.

I have a friend who owns a small business and he had a website made a year ago. As I was working on our site I called him and asked him what the value was of the site. Well, he didn't get one refural from the site and he spent over $13,000 for what he received. I believe in looking at the site the company used a template for his site. They also used his words in the key words that search engines will see as they crawl the site. One of his main key words was a term that was hyphenated like Arizona-based, and it will probably never be used as a search term. The bad part is that the company let him use those words and that he would get good results.

In addition, the code for google and yahoo to know it is his site was not in the base code of the site. In the end, they did what he told them...build me a website.

We have not optimized the content or the key words in our site. But since we started http://www.robscustomcabinetry.net we are at least on the first page of google with our key search parameters.

If I were to start from scratch now I would do the following before I had my first visit with a web design person.

1). Need a list of key phrases that people would use if they want your service. This way you can make sure that the designer incorporates them in your site code.

2). Need a list of organizations that you belong to that will put your website into their site so you get a backlink.

3}. There is a list of directories that have free submission that will help you become seen on the web.

4) Need to decide on a name for your site and see if it is available. This site can help you with that.

http://www.whois.net/

There area many guides on the web for designing very good sites. I started searching google for web design principles and best practices.


Hope this helps,

Hello:
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First ask yourself what you want to accomplish with your site before you look for a company. Do you want people to buy online, or contact you? Are you targeting a local or national audience? Is your site meant to build awareness of your brand or explain your product? Is getting traffic from search engines important, or do you plan to just use the site as a sort of online brochure that you refer people to?

Then identify companies that are able to provide solutions and examples of past work that show they can meet your specific goals.

Compare these two sites:
http://www.drloos.com - targeting a local audience, 1st page in Google for "san jose dentist" and its decently designed

http://www.kalaharitea.com - targeting a national audience - design is more important since converting paid traffic to customers is an important objective for them.

What is your business and what is its objectives?