The BEST Lens on Planning a Web Design Project, Finding a Web Design Company, & Choosing the Best Match

Ready to start a web design project?  You can find a web design/web development company that will give you a remarkable end-result, a stress-free (maybe even fun!) project experience, and a reasonable pricing structure and timeline! Using this lens on how to find and choose a web design company, you can save time and make the best decision.

It's simple:

1. Define your overall goals

2. Plan/document your project

3. Decide on a criteria for choosing a web design company (our checklist below may help!)

4. Search for web design companies

5. Interview web design companies and keep track of results

6. Choose a vendor that meets your needs the best

Planning for a Productive Project and a Profitable Website (7 Key Steps)

Realizing your dream of having a professional, functional, and profitable website is not always an easy task. We've heard all too many horror stories of individuals and companies trying to build a website, only to run into one problem or another at seemingly every turn. In fact, about 35% of our prospects and clients are those that profess to have had bad experiences previously and are usually looking for relief in the form of a smooth web design project, a website well-aligned with their vision, and a return on their marketing investment.

If you're working with multiple people to plan and execute your web design project, beware: "Fire the committee. No great website in history has been conceived of by more than three people. Not one. This is a dealbreaker."-Seth Godin. If this isn't possible, look for web design companies with strong expertise in high-caliber project management, hopefully facilitated by applications like Basecamp (what we utilize).

In an effort to reduce the number of nightmare experiences out there, we developed the following list to serve as a helpful general guide. Feel free to jump from step to step, but be warned: your sorrow will lessen significantly if some form of logic, other than convenience, guides the jump from step to random step!

Step 1: Obtain & register a domain name

This is easy, cheap, and doesn't take a lot of time. A good place to start would be to search nameboy for your name ideas. If a name turns "No Match", you're in business! Alternatively, domainthenet is a domain name generator that will give you various ideas if what you want is taken. Picking a name is not always easy. It's possible to have an idea, with everything, except the name, scoped out. If using a name generator (like Domain Name Generator or the Web 2.0 Name Generator), rubbing a lamp, or twisting your tongue still doesn't bring a name, skip it and come back when you have the perfect name (just don't wait too long). And if the name you want is taken, you might be able to contact the owner and see if they'll let you have it for a price. You can find the domain name owner's contact information by again searching nameboy and and when a domain name is registered, scroll down to view the administrative contact's information.

By the way, it's important to make sure the domain name is registered in YOUR name, not the person or company who registered your domain name (we see this happen all the time and it's not always pretty).

Read more here:

1.How Do I Get A Domain Name?
2.What to do When the Domain Name You Want is Gone
3.PickyDomains: For $50, these guys will give you a bunch of domain name suggestions based on your specifications. Don't like any of their ideas? You get your money back (free for bloggers).

2. Design a site map

In a web design project, the importance of good documentation can't be overstressed and many who have worked on a web project can attest to the misery bad documentation can trigger.

As the first piece of documentation, this step is very important because not only will it come in handy as a planning tool, but you would also be doing your chosen web design firm a big favor (or yourself, if you're adventurous!).

For the uninitiated, a site map is simply "a visual representation of a website's structure." They come in different shapes and sizes, but in our experience, the best site maps are simple documents listing a website's sections and pages in outline format, maintaining a hierarchical order.

When all is said and done, your site map should look something roughly like this:

1. Home
2. News Room
     2.1 Register
    2.2 Archives
3. Customer Service
    3.1 Packages and pricing
    3.2 How to order
    3.3 Additional Services
    3.4 Tips of the Trade
4. About Company
    4.1 How it works
    4.2 Additional Services
5. Contact Us

It's really that easy.

The important things to remember when composing your website's site map are:

1. Remember that site maps are hierarchical and should clearly illustrate a page's position (in relation to the others) within the website.

2. Use numbers. It's a lot easier to say "1.4.2" than it is visualize (then say) "I.IV.II" (as if if roman numerals aren't bad enough, bullets are even worse).

3. Pages, it's all about pages. As a planning tool, the site map tells you a lot about the pages by not only establishing the relationships pages have to each other, but by also "mapping out" these relationships and how they relate to the different components of a project (of course, hence the phrase "site map"). These page relationships can be rather complicated, and adding technical details and aesthetic notes will only quadruple the complexity. All of this to say, avoid including functionalities, images, placement instructions, etc... If necessary, put an asterisk next to an item and add a footnote.

4. Titles matter. If you're still trying to decide on the page titles, use "working titles" so that everyone knows you're talking about the apple, not the kiwi.

5. Lists are all the rage. Although not a part of the site map, it's a good idea to start compiling lists as you develop your site map. How many forms will it have? What will they be called and what kind of information will you collect? How about videos and pictures?

6. Make a list of all the pages that will have videos, pictures, etc... (obviously that creates another list: "Stuff I Need To Put Together". Do you see how useful a site map can be?).

Read this blog post for more on site maps.

Step 3: Compile a "Technical Notes" document

After completing your site map, it's time to draft the "Technical Notes" document. Your "Technical Notes" document deals with the internal elements of each individual page and contains a description of the features for each internal page and specific placement instructions for content like pictures, videos, forms, Flash animation, etc... This document should also maintain the outline form of the site map.

For example, the notes for "2.1 Register" in the "Technical Requirements" document would say something like:

2.1 Register

This page should contain a form with the following fields:
Name:
Email:
Password:
Address:
Phone:
Note: the "Phone" field should be optional

Step 4: Identify SEO phrases

Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the process of structuring your website so that search engines can find and index them better (here's a good introduction to SEO).

The best way to do this is to put yourself in the shoes of someone looking for what you're offering. What words would they use in a search? Make a list of these words, and their derivatives, and you'll be well on your way. This is a great tool. This will probably happen naturally as you develop your written content more (here's on writing online content).

Additionally, there are a lot of online SEO tools that can help you generate these phrases. Even if you think you've done a good job, it might help if you used one of the tools as a check.

Step 5: Develop great content

Now is the time to develop the actual content of your website. Not just the words and titles, but you also want to include everything you'll want on your website. But remember, don't over-write: "Less. Fewer words, fewer pages, less fine print." -Seth Godin.

Do you want any pictures, graphics, etc%u2026 on your website? Where? Take your time and play with different combinations until you find something you like. It might even help to draw out a few sketches (the design firm you use will certainly love that) or play with PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel or if you're a Mac fan, Pages or Keynote to plan out your designs.

The filenames for your content, like that of the "Technical Notes" section, should also maintain the outline form of the site map. For example, you would name the file containing the copy for the "Register" page "2.1_Register" or the video for the "How It Works" page, "4.1_How It Works". Again, adding placement instructions should not be necessary since those are covered in the "Technical Notes" document above.

Lastly, it is very important that you submit your final, proofread content at the same time. This ensures that confusion is avoided and your project stays organized. Compose the content for each individual page in a separate Word document (don't forget to use the same titles used in the site map when naming them) and combine them in a folder, which you can then zip.

6. Find a remarkable (not just good) web design firm

In the words of marketing guru Seth Godin: "If you hire a professional, hire a great one. The best one. Let her do her job. 10 mediocre website consultants working in perfect harmony can't do the work of one rock star."

This is not as easy at it sounds. A recent Google search returned 491,000,000 results for "web design company" (a staggering amount if you ask me).

It may be difficult to separate the good from the bad, but fear not, there is hope.

There are some people out there that genuinely love what they do and honestly want to help (like those guys at Epsilon Concepts).

When you're talking to the web design companies, how much listening do they do? Do they genuinely have passion about you, your project, your company? How long have they been around? Who have they worked for in the past? How does their work, testimonials, and website make you feel? Are they willing to give you references and are those references satisfied or ecstatic? Are they trying to capture your vision or do they tune you out?

This checklist has a lot of other angles you should consider as you search for the perfect web design firm.

7. Choose a hosting company

Like web design companies, there are tons of hosting companies. Hosting in this age is pretty much a commodity. Many web design firms also offer hosting as an add-on. However, it's just as easy to end up with a bad hosting company as with a web design firm. We believe it's also always best to go with a hosting company as opposed to a web design firm offering hosting on the side. It's best to have the experts in each category of your web strategy, rather than a jack of all trades, master of none. Because hosting is a commodity, it's not hard to find one with great rates, excellent support, and the right specs.

When looking for a hosting company, make sure they guarantee 99% uptime and 24/7 support (obviously, this is very important since they will be storing everything related to your web site and in case something happens, you need to be sure you'll be able to get the help you need). Also need to make sure the hosting company of your choosing has all the features you need and will need as you grow. Some other things to keep your eyes peeled out for are PHP 5, MySQL 5, SSL, and an uptime guarantee, but this does depend on your unique project requirements.

Don't know where to start? Then try http://www-thehostingchart.com/ and http://webhostinggeeks.com/ and we recommend Moonrise Hosting as well as Rackspace. If necessary, test their support claims before going with them (here's more on choosing a hosting company).