If you are small business and need a website simply to give you a presence on the internet, then there are some well known website builders online, which work pretty well. You don’t need any design or technical knowledge, as they will walk you through the process. From a security and updates point of view, if you go with a respected one and, assuming you pay the regular subscription, your site will be supplied with any patches and security updates.
If your business includes more people than just you, you need an e-commerce aspect to your website, require proactive ongoing maintenance and support, have a clear brand guidelines and a defined brand (which won’t fit onto a template) or you are looking for your site to work for you as a sales tool – and need SEO as part of that – then it’s time to look at approaching an agency.
We reckon that – on the surface at least – businesses have one or more of these priorities when choosing a web agency:
1 How will the agency help to make the website into a sales tool for the business – ensuring it offers return on investment (ROI) and, as part of that, integrate excellent SEO.
2 Can the agency produce a beautifully designed product.
3 Are the team at the agency approachable/friendly/fun to deal with?
At Target Ink, we are proud to tick all of the above boxes!
However, here are some other factors to consider when selecting a digital agency:
Reputation and expertise
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and challenge any potential agencies. You’ll hopefully be working with that agency for a long time, so you need to feel able to talk openly and honestly. Also, don’t just take the agency’s word for their expertise and/or reputation. Check out their reviews online and if they have a case study section on their website, like we do at Target Ink, then give them a read to find out what existing clients really think. The case study page of our website is a valuable sales tool for us.
Locality
While you could choose a web agency based anywhere in the world and chat to them on Zoom or Teams, we have found that our clients enjoy coming in to meet us. Here at Target Ink HQ, we’ve got a big glass topped table in our meeting room and we literally draw on that. Clients enjoy seeing their thoughts and ideas come together in front of their eyes.
While online meetings can be great, we find that potential clients really open up over a cup of coffee and we discover more about their hopes and plans than we might have ever done so online.
In addition, we pride ourselves on collaborating with local businesses in and around Tunbridge Wells. We achieve that through our membership of a nearby BNI group, while we also work closely with a number of nearby sub-contractors.
Blinding you with science
While we are absolutely experts at what we do and some of the things we get involved with are pretty technical, we always pride ourselves on explaining things to clients in a straightforward way. We’ve sometimes been on projects with other agencies and not only do they overcomplicate their explanations – but they sometimes throw in words which don’t even make sense.
Find yourself an agency which talks your language and helps you to understand the process.
Budget
A website should be an ongoing project, so think carefully about your budget. If you are paying for a fairly expensive website, do you have the funds to continue paying for ongoing support and maintenance. In fact, does the agency you are talking to even offer support moving forward. Not all do. At Target Ink, we value our relationships with our clients, many of which have been with us for years, and our charges take into account those first 12 months of support.
Technology
Your business may already be based around an existing technology and it’s good to establish if it will all work with your new website in a streamlined fashion. For instance, can your existing CRM work with your new site?
SEO
If your website is going to be the main sales tool in your business, then you’ll need to establish if the agency can integrate it into your site and manage it moving forward. Often sorting out SEO on your website isn’t something which happens straightaway but, perhaps, six months down the line. Will the agency be around to support you at that point, or will they be more focused on another client by then?
An ongoing relationship
Your website should not be considered as a one-off project. You will need to consider if you are happy working alongside your chosen agency on an ongoing basis. Also, if your business is growing, will your agency grow with you? Will they be able to add additional services to your website in the future, which your business might require, such as e-commerce?
If you want to talk to a digital agency which values long-term relationships with its clients, then give us a call on: 01892 800400.
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