Knock-Knock! Five Questions To Ask Your Internet Marketing Firm

Knock-knock! Who’s there?! YOU… with lots of questions.

When you’re considering launching a website or upgrading your existing one, you may have a lot of questions or you may have no idea where to start or what to ask. What’s more, the number of doors of possibility for your site might seem endless (and confusing!).

So, we’re going to simplify it down today to five of those big doors you’ll want to knock on, walk through, and explore with your internet marketing firm, or website developer, or whoever will be designing or redesigning your site! What’s behind Door #1, #2, and more… let’s find out.

1.To be custom or not to be custom? That is the question.

A custom website generally means that every part of the layout has been designed and coded by a qualified development team. In contrast, ready-made templates and pre-built themes are common website solutions — and not just for website DIYers. Some internet marketing firms rely on them, too, while perhaps adding in some custom elements. But this approach is markedly different than a fully custom site — and may or may not be right for your business in the long run. So, you’ll want to know exactly what you’re paying for and ensure it’s a good investment for your business.

2.What’s with the CMS?

A CMS? Say what?! Those three little letters pack a punch because they stand for Content Management System. You may have heard of CMS platforms like WordPress, Magento, Squarespace, Wix, or others. But, just like the importance of our first customization question, you need to know what kind of CMS platform your internet marketing firm prefers — and the reasons why they recommend it along with its pros and cons.  It’s important that the strengths of the platform used are aligned with the needs and functionality requirements of your website.

This was especially key for one of our clients, KCEC, where e-commerce factored heavily into the website solution we developed for them.

It also can be helpful to request a site demo to better understand the CMS and how it can evolve and change with any of your business needs. Administrative functionality can vary greatly — and if you plan to make regular site updates, you’ll want to feel comfortable with the back-end design.

3. Are you responsive?!

Yes, you want to work with an internet marketing firm that is responsive and prompt in their communication with you. BUT, you also want to find out how they approach responsive web design across ALL devices — desktop, mobile, iPad. But, responsive design isn’t just about ensuring a site plugs-and-plays on mobile, it encompasses a full set of user experience touchpoints, navigation, layout and more. It’s also a basic Google-recommended (and industry-recommended) best practice for sites that are “friendly” and optimized to create consistency and usability.

4. SEO! (Another three-letter word!) So, how will you optimize?

You’ve likely heard the term SEO — search engine optimization — but you may have questions about what it actually means. That’s okay! It’s one of those intangibles that can be hard to wrap your mind around. Plus, SEO strategy continues to evolve. What was once a highly technical exercise has become more about creating content that your audience is searching for online and serving it in a user-friendly, optimized manner. That’s why high-quality copywriting, responsive site design, and page speed are so critical at every level, especially when it comes to ranking well. So, it’s important that your internet marketing firm really understands your goals and your audience and can explain how they’ll integrate the right content AND the right technical expertise to boost your rankings on the search engine results page.

5. Testing 1, 2, 3! What kind of quality control checks do you perform and how will you handle hosting, security, and maintenance?

Testing is a critical process that should be completed by your internet marketing firm prior to launching your new website. Cross-browser testing and internal quality assurance is a part of this process. In addition, you’ll want to find out about the plans for hosting, security, backups, and maintenance because these are critical factors in your website’s long-term performance and success. After all, you may not be properly equipped to make CMS updates yourself (it’s an easy way to break a site if there are plugin or software compatibility issues!).

If you need to be asking these five questions (or others!), connect with us! We can open all the doors for you on your new website project.

For more information, check out our KCEC case study, where we successfully created a new consumer-facing website, with e-commerce solutions, to connect rug buyers with Afghan artisans.