Beware of Web Agency Cowboys
Web agency choices
There are many web agency marketing and design companies out there, many of whom deliver outstanding value for money in terms of web agency design, web development and programming skills as well as giving excellent online marketing performance and, perhaps most importantly, possess superior web project management skills so that your online business doesn’t suffer needlessly.
However, as with all industries, web agency ‘cowboys’ frequently take businesses cash and turn it into little more than a ‘website’ that’s unusable, broken and dreadfully damaging to a brand’s hard-earned reputation – and that’s if they’re lucky!
To avoid such pitfalls when searching for the best web agency for your company, it makes sense to carry out a few checks and make some essential enquiries.
First of all, a good measure of a web agency’s worth is to look at its website, after all, if these are the people you’re entrusting to develop, design and market your own web presence, this is a useful guide. Even for less web-savvy business owners, a poor website can often be spotted easily. Common mistakes that give-away the quality of the work of a web agency are such things as consistently bad spelling and poor grammar, an untidy webpage layout, low quality images and mixed or ill-conceived typography and font choices – a website using comic sans as its main font may not be taking its web agency role very seriously!
Web agency testimonials
Secondly, when you first make contact with a web agency, it’s important to ask them for examples of their work. Any high quality web agency worth its salt should be able to give examples of previous web design output and to talk about clients who have been happy with their work. On the other hand, a web agency that may want to hide past relationships with clients may still be able to supply testimonials, but they may be from friends and family - not necessarily from true external businesses without a sentimental attachment.
If a web agency is a limited company, then details of the business can be obtained for a very small fee from Companies House, about the state of the accounts and the names and addresses of all company directors. This information is publicly accessible, and is so for a reason – to make businesses like web agencies, transparent, open and accountable.
The final point to make is a fairly obvious one and that it to trust your instincts. If something doesn’t quite add-up with the web agency you’re investigating and the answers given to you from the web agency haven’t reassured you, then it’s probably time to move on and search for a different online partner.
9xb Web Agency
9xb web agency has been successfully creating, developing, designing and promoting websites for nearly ten years. A vibrant and talented web agency based in the beautiful North Yorkshire town of Harrogate, near Leeds, we will listen to and understand your online business and then explain how we can help develop and promote your web presence. Call us on 01423 814555 or email us with your enquiry.
