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Finding The Right Agency

There are many benefits to be had from being on the web, yet many companies fail to realise them because they commission the wrong web site for the wrong reasons from the wrong suppliers. So how do you get it right?

You should probably resist the temptation to save money by doing it yourself. Unless you are already a highly experienced expert web developer, you (or more importantly, your visitors) will almost certainly be disappointed. You might get a friend's son or daughter (who is 'good with computers') to do it, but again, the results will probably not deliver the professional image your business deserves.

You should put the job out to tender and contract it to a qualified, experienced and expert agency. There are many ways to build a web site, however, and many different types of web agency. There is little point inviting just anyone to tender. You need to identify the right sorts of company for your pitch list so that you get proposals that meet your expectations and budget.

Do your research

Unfortunately, there's no substitute for thorough research. Most web agencies have their own specialist expertise, preferred technologies, design styles or niche services. You need to identify those agencies that are most appropriate for your requirements.

Here are some questions to think about.

What is the purpose of your site, its intended audiences, and their expectations? What sort of content and functionality do your audiences need? What sort of approach would work best? If the site is about communicating information, it will most likely need to have a clean, simple and easy to use design. If your site is about providing a memorable and entertaining experience in order to build the brand, you may need a much greater level of interactivity, animation and game-play. If your site is about e-commerce, you will need security and efficient functionality. Few web agencies are equally good at all of these.

What services do you need? As well as design and technical implementation, might you also need marketing, copywriting, search engine optimisation? Will you need your agency to provide training or ongoing maintenance? Bear in mind that hosting and domain name registration services are easy to obtain from third parties, so they probably don't need to be a deciding factor in your choice of agency.

How big is your project? Balance the scale of your project against the size of a potential supplier, and the sorts of project they are used to handling. Look for case studies on their web site and if necessary, call and ask if they have preferred or minimum budgets and timescales.

In summary, think about the services you will require and the design style that will appeal to your audiences. Decide what technologies you need and look for suppliers with a track record of using them. Look at potential suppliers' portfolios, but don't rely on looks alone – assess how well the sites actually work.

Tender fairly

When you issue your requests for tender, keep your pitch list short. Preparing a proposal can be time-consuming and expensive – both for the agencies who respond and for you to read and evaluate. Invite a maximum of five (preferably three) companies to pitch. If you are having trouble narrowing the field, invite one-page expressions of interest first.

If you have a budget, state it – you'll save yourself the trouble of being asked. There is no point having an agency pitch on the wrong expectations. A web site is a long-term ongoing investment. To make it successful, you will need to build a relationship with your supplier based on mutual trust and respect.

Provide a good brief. Even the best supplier will disappoint if you give them a vague, ill conceived, unrealistic or uninformed brief to work from.

Don't ask for finished visuals. A good supplier is unlikely to feel able to do this without knowing an awful lot about your strategy, requirements and expectations. Bear in mind that most suppliers get paid to produce visual designs and that these are only a small part of the overall design process. If you just want to get an idea of their style and approach, look at their portfolio. This is likely to be far more revealing than a few visuals that have been knocked out in a hurry. If you do need to see something visual, ask for initial concept ideas – sketches, diagrams, or a rough site map.

What to look for

Having issued your request for tender and received proposals in return, you may find that what is offered varies so much that it is impossible to compare like with like. So how do you choose between them?

Firstly, do they understand the medium? This may sound like a rather odd question, but anyone can build a web site given the right software. Not everyone understands how to do it properly. Developing a successful web site requires a high-level understanding of business, content, technology and design. You should expect to see evidence of this in the proposal, most likely through balanced attention to each. Don't expect to see a finished site design or a fully worked out solution. This is jumping too far ahead and usually indicates a lack of experience.

Secondly, look at their proposed approach. An experienced agency will want to fully understand your business and your requirements before they propose a solution. They probably won't be able to get all this from your brief, so expect to see a discussion of what further information the need and how they intend to go about getting it. They will most likely focus on their processes and how they expect to work with you. They may not answer all your points but will respond with issues or questions of their own. Don't be surprised or offended if they challenge the brief and suggest that certain aspects might need re-thinking. This is usually a sign that they know their stuff.

Is their schedule realistic? The exact breakdown of the schedule will depend on the nature of your project but you should expect it to include at least four broad stages: discovery and specification, content creation, design, and implementation. As a general rule, you should expect these to account for roughly equal amounts of time and budget. If the schedule allows one day for design and three weeks for implementation, or if there are no discovery or content stages, something is wrong.

Do they cover all the requirements within the budget? Don't be surprised if they can't – they may have very good reasons – but expect to see an explanation and some indication of what can be achieved within it.

What else do they offer beyond the brief? A good web company that really understands the medium and your requirements may well have suggestions for additional services that they can offer you. Rather than being a blatant attempt to get extra business from you, this often provides a good way for you to assess their understanding, approach and capabilities.

Three things to keep in mind

Web design is product design. It is all about fitness for purpose and usability. It is not about visual design or technology in isolation. Whatever an agency's specialist expertise, knowing how to design usable human-computer interfaces is a must. In particular, look for experience of designing for web standards and accessibility guidelines. These are becoming increasingly important, but not everyone has the necessary expertise.

The most effective web sites tend to be applications rather than brochures. In this respect they are rather like icebergs – much of what is there is hidden beneath the surface. If your site has any sort of back-office administration system (for example, an e-commerce or content management system) don't forget that this will need to be designed also. It must do what you need it to, and be easy and quick to use. Your agency will need to have strong application design expertise as well as technical implementation and visual design capabilities.

Don't be afraid to appoint several agencies. You wouldn't hire a builder to improve your home and expect them also to act as architect, structural engineer, bricklayer, plasterer and interior designer. Appoint specialists as required, but be clear about who will manage the project, and ensure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. Hire a project manager or project director if you need to.

And finally...

It is often difficult to successfully identify the right agency without having first thoroughly determined your requirements. But to define your requirements, you need to be aware of the possibilities, your options, and the implications of different approaches. This requires a good understanding of the medium – which is what you would normally expect your agency to provide.

So how do choose the right agency without having detailed requirements, and how do you detail your requirements without an agency's expertise? The solution is to undertake the discovery and specification work before you commit to the full project – see our article about 'Reducing Your Risk', linked opposite, for more advice on this.

To find out how HirschWorks can help you find the right agency, follow the link below: