Interview Questions for Web Design Agencies

We are in the business of selling websites. Every day, we get calls from business owners who are looking for web design agencies. Naturally, we’d like some of them to choose our agency.

However, we noticed a peculiar thing during these phone chats – often, people don’t ask the right questions.

Your initial discussion with a web design agency is an interview. You want to ensure you choose a business that’s legitimate, and you want to get a feel for their company culture. Most importantly, you want to know how they approach the unique problems of your project.

​Here are some questions you must ask your web design agency.

1. What’s your approach to usability?

This question will help you distinguish an experienced agency from the rest.

Usability is the most important aspect of web design. By asking this question, you get to know how important this aspect is to them.

An agency that doesn’t answer this question well might design a site that you like or one that they like, but your visitors may find it difficult to use. You want an agency that builds user-centric websites.

An experienced agency would be happy you asked this question. They would be happy to share their thoughts, experience and the latest studies on this topic.

2. How do I communicate with the team?

This question might reveal if the team is in-house, or if they use a third party agency to fill all their work.

If it’s not an in-house team, you may find that you get bounced around from person to person, and that the end result may not accurately reflect what you are after.

When you are serious about a quality presence online, be sure to look for a team of web design specialists to get your project completed. Steer clear of an agency that outsources its tasks to another company entirely, or those lone wolf developers who try to be developers, designers, programmers, project managers and marketing managers all in one.

Ideally look for a company that employ their staff directly, full time, whether they be local or abroad, this will ideally ensure they have a team that follows their own internal procedures built on quality.

3. Can you share some examples of projects with goals similar to ours?

Be sure to request for examples of websites with similar features and goals. These don’t have to be in the same industry as you, but instead, just need to show quality design and also prove the agency can produce quality work.

Looking for a custom booking form? Talk to an agency that can show you one. This way, you can ask what their challenges with that project were, why they built it in a certain way, what results were measured and whether these results aligned with the project’s goals.

If design is your primary concern, look for an agency that can show you an array of designs.

4. What happens if I want to make changes in the future?

Change is a constant in every aspect of your business, including your website. Your goals may change, your business may grow rapidly, your target audience might change, or your entire business has undergone a shift.

Some agencies charge hourly for making changes, while some set up a content management system that makes it easy for you to make changes to your site quickly and easily.

This question will help you to understand what you are getting and what kind of changes will cost money.

Parting thoughts

The web design agency you choose ideally has worked with dozens, if not hundreds, of clients. The primary benefit of hiring an agency is the experience they gather on the way, combined with access to value-added services such as hosting and premium plugins/resources that often get thrown in without second thought.

Asking the right questions and thoroughly researching your agency will help you to choose wisely.