Kickstarting a Home Business? Tips for Hiring a Web Design Agency:

It is no mystery that nowadays, a staggering amount of business is conducted online, and in many cases, entirely online. Industry numbers speak for themselves: Australians are spending over $30 billion a year in online purchases, and the amount of people purchasing from their laptops and mobile devices is just about to touch the 10 million mark. All things considered, the case for buying online – and for opening an online store – is stronger than ever.

Toying with the idea of going online is particularly attractive for those who are interested in pushing certain products, notably:

• Fashion

• Homewares and appliances

• Health and beauty

• Department and variety

Products falling within these categories represent 75% of online sales in Australia; products from other categories – for example, specialty foods and liquors – are still a tough sale, at least online.

So let’s say you’ve picked your product category, got in touch with suppliers and crunched the numbers. The obvious next step would be to get an appropriate online sales platform. It might sound easy, but reality may tell another story: with so many suppliers of web design services, it can be hard to choose, and more importantly, to make the right choice.

What to look for in a web design agency

Agencies are a dime a dozen; good agencies, however, are harder to come by. In order to get things straight, it is always good to check for the next when picking an agency:

• Experience: look for agencies that have successfully deployed e-commerce websites and projects in the recent past. Always keep in mind that an agency without significant experience in developing e-commerce websites will come across new problems, and it will be your time and money they’ll be spending to solve them.  

• Expertise: e-commerce requires specific knowledge regarding technologies and use cases. For example, large online stores driving significant amounts of traffic will likely require the use of frameworks like Magento, while smaller businesses often do great with third-party platforms like Shopify. Your agency of choice should be familiar with the perfect alternative for your shop.

• Requirement specification: good agencies ask lots of questions in order to get a precise idea of what do you want. These interviews help both the customer and the agency; the first will get a website reflecting the previously stated functionalities and needs, and the latter will be able to allocate the necessary resources to reach the goal.

• Visual styles: make sure you like what an agency has done in the past. Its portfolio can set the tone for what to expect from them. If you like what they’ve designed in the past, you are on the right path.   

• Pricing: a pro agency will not be available for peanuts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a fair deal. Try not to fall for ‘fast and cheap’ deals – they don’t usually shield good results.

With this in mind, it is time to start asking around. Once you find your agency, your business will be one step closer to earnings!

This article was proudly brought to you by G Squared. G Squared is a professional Sydney web design agency providing quality website design, development, eCommerce solutions and social media marketing solutions to both SMBs and large corporations all over Australia.