What do Small Businesses owners want to know when looking for website designers?

At Fusion Marketing, we’ve worked with many small businesses across different industries. While each client may do something completely different, they all seem to have similar concerns regarding website design. We find that they’ve either worked with designers in the past or have already done the research and have contacted other web designers to receive quotes. In either case, they come to us with a whole host of questions and queries about our service. So, we thought it would help any small business owners see what these common concerns are, providing our answers in one place!

In turn, this can help you identify some of the key things to look for when choosing your web designer. So, without further ado, let’s begin:

Is the website completely customized?

The first thing everyone asks is whether or not the website design is fully customized. In essence, is it made from scratch and designed specifically for the client’s small business? We find this a considerable concern as many small business owners are either currently using web design templates or talking to designers who use them. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with using templates – it makes life easier for the designer, so the site can be up and running a lot quicker. 

However, we think it puts the client at a disadvantage as you now have a site that looks similar to many others out there. For us, custom website design is at the center of everything we do. No two websites are the same – we build everything from the ground up, ensuring your brand is perfectly represented through the design. It makes your site more unique, so you can truly stand out from the crowd in a saturated market. We’ve actually had loads of positive feedback from clients who love the custom website design we created for them. The big thing they mention is how well it aligns with their brand image and gives them a proper online representation of their company. 

Are the websites mobile-ready and responsive?

Ten years ago, mobile-ready websites weren’t necessarily seen as essential. However, back in 2015, there was an event many have dubbed mobilegeddon. For context, Google basically announced that it would prioritize sites that were mobile-friendly when ranking websites in mobile searches. In short, if your site wasn’t optimized for mobile devices, you’d be hit with ranking penalties that send you far down the search results, making it harder for people to find you. 

Consequently, we get many questions asking us about responsive website design and if we do it. The answer is a resounding yes; we absolutely design all websites responsive and ready for mobile devices. In fact, we put them through Google’s check for responsiveness, ensuring that they pass. When you get a website from us, it is specifically designed to work across the three main platforms: desktop, mobile phones, and tablets. We know this is a top priority for our small business clients as many searches are done away from desktop devices in modern times. Therefore, our responsive website designs maintain your web presence and ensure you don’t go unnoticed. 

Can updates be made to the website without extra costs?

We get this question a lot, and our experience has told us it comes from bad experiences in the past. Many of our small business clients ask if they can update their site without incurring any additional fees. To us, this seems like a bizarre question to ask! After all, it’s your business website, so surely you’re free to do whatever you want with it. Unfortunately, after receiving feedback from many clients, we’ve discovered that many web design agencies almost hold ownership of the site after creating it. So, while it may be a website for your business, you have no control over its maintenance. 

Essentially, some web designers charge extra fees for any update that’s made to the site. This could be something simple like adding new content, changing details on a page, and so on. It’s not uncommon for a website designer to charge for this under the guise of ‘website maintenance.’ Well, we don’t do that here! When you get a website from us, we hand the keys over to you – metaphorically speaking…websites don’t actually need keys. This means that you get the master files, passwords, and necessary credentials needed to make your own updates. So, you can keep adding or tweaking content without incurring additional charges each time!

After collecting feedback from numerous clients, we saw that this was very high on their list of concerns. As such, they were overjoyed when they saw that we didn’t charge extra for updates and that they had complete and utter ownership of their company website. Ultimately, one of the reasons it’s so important is because of the next thing we’ll discuss…

How much does website design cost?

Yes, small business owners all want to know about the cost of website design. We’ll lay it all out for you here; it’s near enough impossible to provide a set figure for the cost of your web design project. Loads of different factors come into play, determining how much it will cost to make your new website. This includes the following:

• Website domain costs
• Website hosting costs
• Cost of acquiring an SSL certificate
• Cost of any e-commerce functions
• Cost of any apps integrated into the site

The list can go on, and another key factor is obviously the size of your website. For example, we have some clients that only need a one-page site to act as an online business card. All they needed was somewhere for people to find their contact details, learn about their services, and get in touch. A site like this will cost remarkably less than one that has 15 pages and loads of content. 

If you’d like to know how much it would cost to design your website, the best approach is to request a quote from our team. Here, we can look at your requirements and draw up some plans, providing you with an estimated figure for the work. Of course, this could change slightly by the time it’s finished, but it gives you a good ballpark idea of how much the web design costs. 

Furthermore, we’ve received a lot of responses from our clients relating to web design costs. Mainly, we learned that small business owners are willing to pay more if it means they get a site that’s better than their rivals. For many, it’s not so much about the costs as it is the value for money. This is such an important thing to think about when looking for web designers – can they justify the price they’ve quoted for their service? 

How long will it take to design a website?

Again, this is impossible to slap a figure on as it depends on pretty much the same factors as above! Generally, the more expensive a website is to make, the longer it takes to design. This is purely because the most expensive sites have more features, requiring more coding and work. We also find that e-commerce sites tend to take the longest of all, but that’s usually because there’s so much more content needed for them. 

Clearly, you want to know how long it takes for a site to be designed, as you may have a schedule to deal with. All we can say is that it could take anywhere from days to weeks for your site to be up and running. However, we will add that our customer feedback has been really positive regarding our ability to stick to deadlines. As a small business owner, it’s more about learning how long the site will take to make, getting a deadline, and making sure the website designer sticks to it. This way, you can start planning around that deadline, with the intention that your site will be ready by then. 

Is a website designer trustworthy enough?

Finally, we’ve spoken to previous clients and understood that trust was a big factor in why they chose us over others. All small business owners need to be sure that they can trust the website designer to provide an excellent product. How is this trust gained? Well, it’s a mixture of things!

For many of our clients, they said they felt comfortable choosing us as we’ve got plenty of experience. They saw our case studies on our site, which gave them the confidence to believe we can produce stunning custom-made websites. Similarly, they noticed that we’ve won or been nominated for many web design/development awards, which further builds trust. Overall, our clients said they felt very assured that we had the experience and know-how to get the job done. 

In conclusion, you should ask all of these questions when looking for a website designer. They will help you distinguish the best designers from the rest, ensuring your business has a website that impresses the masses. Speaking of which, if you’d like to learn more about our web design services, feel free to get in touch with us today!