Hi, I'm Robin Waite, author of Online Business Startup. And this afternoon, I'm going to be giving you my top tips for finding a great web design agency or company, which as we know as business owners, is one of the hardest things to do because there are so many complexities and technical issues surrounding, getting websites online from registering your domains, getting SSR certificate, to what CMS platform do you use, and all sorts of different things. And, not only do you have your own preconceived ideas about what it takes to get a website built but also your web developers, whoever you go and put a quote request out to, they're gonna have their own ideas about what they think you should be doing as well. So hopefully, what I'm gonna do is give you a few tips on how you can get the most out of the freelancer or Minneapolis web design agency that you choose. So, my first tip is to shop around. A common problem for business owners to just go to the first web designer they get recommended to or they hear about or they find on Google, and they don't actually shop around and compare different web design agencies, and work out whether they're getting the best bang for their buck. What I would suggest you do is try and look at local web design agencies, but you could also find other wells, or highly reputable agencies further afield because don't forget, the web is all geared around being able to do stuff remotely, and over the internet.

So, therefore, you should be able to set up a relationship with a Minneapolis SEO Services or web design agency using tools such as Skype, so at least you can meet them face-to-face or be it through an online tool. And, make sure that you're comparing prices, not just on how much it's gonna cost you, but look at the brief which you're being given, the quote which you're being given, and work out whether you're getting a like-for-like comparison for the prices because it might be that you've got two web design agencies giving you the same price, but they might be offering a completely different feature set or completely and different CMS platform. So in order to make that happen easily, I'd recommend that you go in and actually create this specification document. So, this allows you then, when you get your proposal back from your web design agency, to create a tick list. So, what are they offering you? And, make sure you go through each web design agent's quotes and your specification document, and make sure they two are matched up and that they haven't missed anything out. Sometimes, it's one of those situations where it can look too good to be true.

If somebody says they're gonna do everything for a knockdown price, I would probably just double cheque it and make sure that what they're offering is exactly what you're gonna get. Specification document should outline any problems which you think that you might face, as well as any kind of features which you are hoping to also include within your website. I'd also thoroughly recommend giving your chosen web design agency the once over. So, make sure that they have all of the right credentials in place. What you don't want to do is go with somebody who is just gonna go out of business within, you know, a couple of months of your website going live because then that's gonna leave you in a bit of doo-doo. Because when they go, it might be that if they've registered your domains on your behalf, if they stop paying for their server because they've gone out of business, your website will just go down, and it's unlikely that it will be recoverable. So, you've gotta make, basically, make sure that you're checking yourself and checking their credentials. Best way to do that if they're well established and they've been around, for say, you know, eight, 10, 12, years, well, it's unlikely that they're gonna be going anywhere. And also, make sure that they've

got a really, not just a really high-quality portfolio, but a wide-ranging portfolio. If they've got 70, 100, 200 clients on their books, it's likely that they've got a nice recurring revenue coming in. And therefore, they're not going to be going anywhere for quite some time.

So, I'd then look at the detail that they pitched in their proposal. So when they come back to you with a proposal, don't forget you created a specification document already. If you look at the detail in their proposal and it's just a single page, two-line thing, it's gonna cost you X,

well, that probably wouldn't fill me with the greatest amount of confidence that I was gonna get everything that I've asked for within my specification document. And make sure as well, they've outlined both the upfront costs for them and actually developing the website, but also the ongoing costs because having a website designed, it's a very organic process and it just, you know, the website isn't just built and then it's there. It's likely that you'll need some support, some hosting, and various other bits and pieces, adding on to the site, maybe some help with adding content or additional features down the road. So, make sure that they've outlined what they're ongoing costs are. So, this might be a monthly support fee or an annual support fee. It could be that they just outlined that there are no support fees, but they have an ad hoc, you know, an hourly rate which they charge out whenever you have any updates done to the site. As I said earlier on, compare your proposals so they're like-for-like. So, it might be that you've got two quotes back from companies. And, one's 3,000 and one's 6,000 pounds. Well, are they actually proposing the same set of features, what CMS platform are they using? What are you actually gonna get back for the money which you're paying them? Just be wary about choosing purely based on price. And, the reason for that, I find, is because like anything, you get what you pay for.

If you're choosing something based just on price, then remember the time-quality cost triangle. If you go for the cheapest option, it may not be the best quality, or it might take a little bit longer than you'd anticipated. It's very rare that you can get a knockdown anything that's really high quality and done very quickly. Finally, I'd also recommend going back and asking for some testimonials from their existing customer base.

A good designer, the developer will have absolutely no problem with supplying you with some testimonials or even putting you in touch with their existing customers so you can have a quick chat. How did it go? Were there any problems with that developer? Was everything as you expected? Did you get everything in your proposal, in your quote from them? And, this allows you to gauge what the working relationship is gonna be like moving forward. What you don't want is to ask for a testimonial or ask for contact details or references from their existing customer base and them to be a bit cagey. So, you just gotta be wary of what the relationship is going to be like moving forward with your

web developer. So, to summarise my key points about how to find a really great Minneapolis web development agency, make sure you shop around, create a fantastic specification document with loads of detail, make sure that they have the right credentials, they've been around for a little while and they're not gonna go out of business in a couple of months.

My fourth tip was to look for a level of detail in their proposal. Don't just like pick the cheapest one, because if it's got no detail in there, you've got no accountability should anything go wrong. And finally, make sure that you get some testimonials from their existing customers. So, thanks once again for watching the video. I hope you found some of the tips helpful. And, if you've got any question, then please do leave some comments in the boxes below the video. If you want to be informed about any future videos which I upload, then please click here to subscribe. And then finally, if you haven't already, head on over to Amazon using this button just here to buy the book Online Business Startup. Thanks for watching it. I'm Robin Waite.