Before you get your website designed, here are some questions you should ask
Talk to their customers and ask them the same questions you'll ask the designer, which are:
If they're going to be hosting your website, make sure to ask if it will be hosted within the UK so that your site will conform to GDPR and data protection laws.
There's a whole lot more to hosting, which we'll save for another blog post here, but make sure your site will be in a safe place and another developer can take over if necessary.
When your website goes live, there are often issues that seem to be spotted after that happens, make sure they will fix these if they arise.
Get a quote or at least a ballpark figure, they may want a 50% deposit and they may have payment terms if you're on a tight budget, so it's worth asking about that.
If they're hosting your website, how much will that cost too?
As if you have to ask in this day and age! Well, it's best to just in case it is extra, but it really shouldn't be more money To make a new website mobile friendly. After all, most websites are accessed on smartphones these days, so your site must be mobile!
Most people want to update their websites themselves. If you do then you'll need access and maybe some training. It's a good idea to ask the website provider about training and if there is a website they've already built that you can have access to, just to make you're comfortable with editing the site yourself.
Measuring how effective your website is makes the money and effort you've put into your site worth it! Google Analytics is one of the most common website measuring tools as well as Google Search Console (previously called Google Webmaster Tools) There are many website statistics tools. Make sure you have access to at least one of these and that it can be transferred should you move website providers.
Ask to see at least three websites. Make sure these are links so you can check these sites on a mobile as screenshots don't always give an accurate impression of how a website looks and works.
Ask to see an example of a contract and Ts and Cs. Make sure that within these you're satisfied that you own your content and have control of the website wherever it's being hosted.
These are just a few things you need to ask when having a new website created. If you can think of more, or if you’d like us to build or look after your website, contact us here
