Important questions to ask your website designer

What every business owner should ask their website designer

The most important questions to ask before you sign on the dotted line is:

1.  Will my website have any on site search engine optimisation (SEO)?

This is the most critical of all and is placed as first because so many business owners make a the mistake and do not understand how huge this really is.  Seach engine optimisation (SEO) is so important for any website.  SEO makes your website user friendly to the search engines.  In other words it allows the search engines to find you when someone types in a word, sentence or phrase.  Without SEO on your site, your website will not get noticed by the search engines, which in turn means that your website will not be noticed by the millions of people searching the internet on a daily basis, resulting in loss of revenue.

2.  Can you get to the top of Google within one month?

This is a good question to ask because if they say yes, you need to find someone else.  It's obvious they either don't know what they are doing or they are misleading you.  And you can't trust anybody providing the service you need who is misleading you. I would not want to do business with a dishonest person.  However, if they tell you that the SEO process is a long one, that requires alot of effort, this is the honest reply.

3.  Will my website be mobile friendly?

This is becoming the wave of the future.  Most people today have cellular (mobile) phones and many have phones with internet access.  You also need to consider that your phone is with you most of the time.  So you definately need to ask your web designer to make the site mobile friendly. 

4.  Will I be able to edit my website?

You need to be able to edit your own website, constantly, as part of the SEO process.  You also don't want your website to become outdated.  Many web designers offer this service as part of a maintenance package.  This needs to be managed well, and you need to consider that some web designers are extremely busy and might not be able to manage your website on a regular basis.

5.  Will my website look the same on different web browsers?

Since there are so many browsers around and just as many people using them, it is important that your website looks the same on every browser.  Ask your website designer about this.

6.  Are you a web design company, a freelancer or a part-timer?

This can be a concern if you want a great deal of services and options, you may want to go with a web design company that will offer you different services and packages at different rates. 

7.  Is it worth getting a website or shall I just use Facebook?

Facebook and other social media websites are very important nowadays.  Many people only use social media to communicate and advertise their business, however, you need to consider a website as this is also a great platform to get your business noticed.

8.  Why are some websites more expensive than other?

You get what you pay for.  Alot of web designers use templates, however, if you want to spend money and get a website custom made with all the bells and whistles, the web designer could charge you considerably more for the site, but this could be worth your while. Remember that a website is the window to your business and you have about 5 seconds to impress a potential client.

9.  Who actually owns my website?

You are the owner of the site.  The designer is just designing the site, they don't own it.  Ask that all information and that the domain is registered in your name. 

10. What happens when my site goes live?

When your site goes live it's time to do some effective online marketing to get your website noticed.  The web designer may be able to add additional SEO promotions, write articles, or add some infographics to the site.  Ask your designer about this.

I found that web designers, generally, do not want to be involved in the SEO of the website and refer you to a company that offers the service.