FAQ Friday: Hire a Website Development Company

Anytime a business takes on a new website development project, a budget must be established. Along with establishing a budget, it is important to understand the amount of time necessary to complete the project and the amount of time available prior to the project deadline. If you’re crunched for time, this should be made very clear from the start to all involved parties. You can use this post as a guideline prior to project kickoff.

With the state of today’s economy, businesses are looking for more ways to cut overhead costs and find more effective ways to build brand recognition and boost lead generation. The value of a well developed and strategically planned website is undeniable. If your business is not seeing the return on investment you planned with your website, you may be in need of a revamp.

Regardless of whether or not you are actively seeking a redesign, the following questions should both help you understand what is involved in the website redesign process as well as help set your budget and expectations for your next website development project.

Aesthetic needs of your new website:

Is your website redesign part of a complete rebrand or just a facelift for the site?

Do you have a look and feel style guideline for your website?
Who will be in charge of gathering the media assets such as photos, videos, and other interactive media?
Do you know how you want your content to be presented?

Do you need a custom design or are you reusing your old templates?

Will your website have a completely new look?
Will you be adding any interactive features such as a forum, or chat to your website?
What changes will be made to your existing content to better suit the new website design?

Website content needs:

Where will you get the content to populate your new website?

Will you be starting with completely new and fresh content?
Do you have content that simply needs repurposing?
Will you be using some legacy content, with minor updates and newly developed content?
Who will be in charge of your content refresh?
Who will be in charge of creating the necessary new content?

Who will be in charge of content mapping?

Who should you hire to map the new content for your website?
How does the content mapping process work?

Launching and maintaining your newly designed website:

Will you need assistance in taking your site live?

Do you have a place to host your website?
Will you be pushing pages live as they are ready or all at once?
Do you want an official launch campaign to welcome your website to the world?
How do you plan to roll out the new website pages?

How involved will you be in the editing process?

Do you have specific expectations or directions to improve your website?
Will you want to be included in each step of the website redesign process?
Do you need assistance maintaining your website (for both hosting updates and content updates)?
How often will content need to be updated once the new site is live?

As you can see, there are a lot of variables involved in the website redesign process. Oftentimes it may seem like a simple project until you are knee-deep in content and worried about 404 redirects. Our best advice is to plan and lay out your process prior to jumping in head first. If you find yourself looking to start a website development project and need direction, don’t hesitate to reach out.

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