Covid has had a drastic impact on how businesses now operate. Many brick and mortar businesses have been forced to close, pushing customers to shop and interact with companies online. This exponential growth has prompted businesses who weren’t previously online to begin growing their online presence. While websites present a wave of opportunities for brand presence and sales online, they can be dangerous if not navigated correctly. This is why it’s important to choose a digital marketing agency that is highly proficient and skilled, rather than choosing based on cost alone.
This isn’t to say that cheaper agencies should always be avoided, but it’s important to be aware of agencies that offer cheap and fast solutions to set up a website for your business.
This guide highlights some of the issues that can be faced, as well as tips for choosing the most suitable web development agency:
Potential issues from choosing a cheap provider
As with any project, the quality of the final website outcome comes down to thorough planning of frontend usability, design and the backend build quality. Sometimes when working with cheaper development agencies the sitemap, wireframe, design and development stages can be non-existent and don’t allow for adequate time for your feedback to help to deliver the website based on your desired outcome.
Cheaper agencies might outsource overseas (to reduce costs) or are simply focused on getting a simple website completed to deadline. This can then lead to problems that can actually end up being more costly to the business in both the short and long term.
1. Low quality work/performance
The aim of lower cost agencies can be to simply provide the final product and get paid for their work. This means they might be more inclined to cut corners and avoid using best practices when creating your website. Unfortunately, this means that while the website may aesthetically look good, there will be problems hidden under the surface.
2. Poor security
Different attacks that can be carried out against businesses online and it is crucial that your website is secure of vulnerabilities. This can be achieved with a well built website that’s consistently kept up to date. With poor quality of work and lack of after sales support from cheaper development agencies, businesses could find themselves susceptible to online attacks which can be detrimental to their business and image in the online community.
3. Non-existent support
Working with cheaper web development agencies usually means there can be little after sales support. This is especially the case for overseas agencies. This lack of support to resolve issues efficiently can cause further financial issues, as well as negative brand perception with potential customers.
4. Lack of UI design
You might find that the presented designs are based on a theme template, i.e., match a host of other websites that have been built in almost an identical manner. This means it can be difficult for your business to portray a unique position in the market, and the design will likely be unable to be changed unless custom development or additional plugins are added, all at an additional cost.
Tips for choosing the right web development agency
Thankfully there are a few things that businesses can do to avoid falling into the trap of working with an unreliable web development agency:
1. Check Reviews/Previous Projects
Reviews are a great way to check how a business has performed in the past and there are a range of different sources where this can be checked such as facebook, Google reviews and even on third party websites. These reviews can provide quantitative information on how the company works and interacts with its clients. Previous projects also provide the opportunity to see websites the agency has worked across. The beauty of this is that you can also visit the client website yourself to test how they perform.
2. Shop local
When it comes to web development, it is always recommended to shop local. Not only will a local agency have a better understanding of your needs and the market, but communication will be easier, with a quick phone call, zoom meeting during business hours at your fingertips.
3. Support options
Some agencies will simply offer a final website with no after sales support. This can be very problematic, especially if you’re not familiar with the website backend already. We recommend always checking that your chosen agency can provide tech support past the website build. This will help to alleviate potential issues that may arise and ensure the website’s security standards are properly maintained.
When it comes to finding the perfect web development agency for your business, be sure to thoroughly research all your options to ensure you choose the best possible agency for your business.