177 Questions to Ask Before You Engage a Web Design Agency

Deepak Chauhan

Copyright © 2016 VOCSO Technologies Pvt LtdVisit VOCSO.COM or Email [email protected]

By Deepak ChauhanDigital Business Strategist

QUESTIONS TO ASK

before you engage a

WEB DESIGN AGENCY

177

http://www.vocso.com/

177 Questions to ask before you engage a web design agency 1Copyright © 2016 VOCSO Technologies Pvt Ltd

Visit VOCSO.COM or Email [email protected]

We find a lot of business owners and startups struggle to engage the right web design/marketing agency for their web design, marketing and application development needs. This can be easily avoided. To ensure you’re choosing the web design agency who shares your vision, enthusiasm and have the right skills to deliver the essential components of your business, prepare yourself to ask some of these questions.

The way they answer it, will help you pick the best.

Please note: We only have questions, not answers. As there can be more than one authentic answer for the same question. Use your judgement to make your decision.




Categories It’s easy to be further confused if you’re left in the sea of so many questions. Rather browse by categories...

General Know-how QuestionsSkills, Experience & CredibilityDesign & UI/UXWebsite/Application DevelopmentMobileWeb Hosting & DomainsSecuritySecurityStrategy Internet MarketingSearch Engine OptimizationContent Marketing

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Pay Per Click (PPC) Social MediaUsabilityPerformanceEngagement Model & PricingDeliverablesProject ManagementProject ManagementMaintenance, Warranty & Support

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General Know-how questions1. General Know-how2. How does the internet work3. How do people find me on the internet4. What percentage of searches go through Google5. What are the top 5 search engines6. What is Bing6. What is Bing7. What is the average pixel size of a monitor8. What is multi-variant testing9. How well do you know my industry on a scale of 1 to 10?

2. Do you create websites from templates or custom build them from scratch?3. What is jQuery4. Do I need to learn CSS & HTML to operate my website?5. How will my site perform in terms of speed/page size?6. Do you use Schema.org to markup web pages7. What is accessibility?8. What is browser rendering optimization?8. What is browser rendering optimization?9. How do you optimize website for fast loading?10. Where do you obtain stock images used in the website design and are they compliant with copyright?

Design & UI/UX1. How will my website visitors contact me?

Website/Application Development1. What is the right technology stack/platform for my website and why?2. How will you manage the changes in scope during the development?3. What are the benefits of a content managed website4. Can I add new features to my website?4. Can I add new features to my website?5. What is jSON6. What is a XML sitemap for?7. How do I collect payment from my customers?8. What coding standards do you follow?9. What is multi-device site?10. What are Progressive Web Apps?

Skills, Experience & Credibility1. Can you show me one of the cheapest and costliest websites you’ve done?2. What makes you different from your competitors?3. How long you have been in this business?4. Can you provide references of your old customers?5. What's your experience developing international sites?5. What's your experience developing international sites?

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Mobile1. What is a responsive website?2. Difference between a mobile app and mobile website?3. What is a mobile website and responsive website?4. Do I need a mobile app?5. How do I target different mobile platforms?6. What are accelerated mobile pages (AMP)?6. What are accelerated mobile pages (AMP)?7. What makes a good mobile site?8. How do you ensure faster loading on mobile devices?

4. What encryption methods you will use?5. What if the website is hacked?

Security1. What is SSL?2. Why HTTPS matters?3. How do you ensure the security of a website?

Strategy1. Can you help me prepare a digital strategy?2. What makes a successful e-commerce site?3. How do you track inbound phone calls generated by the web4. How do you market to business services on the web5. What is an eye tracking test for6. What is heatmap?6. What is heatmap?7. What monetization strategies you suggest for my website?8. How do I engage more customers?9. How will you help me increase relevant traffic to my website10. How do I generate lead online?11. How will you embed our corporate core values in website?12. How will my website be perceived as a trusted business 12. How will my website be perceived as a trusted business online?13. What marketing approach will be best suited for my business?14. What is Inbound Methodology?15. How do I increase my per customer revenue?

Web Hosting & Domains

1. What do I need to know about web hosting?2. Do I have to host the website with your company?3. How do I choose a domain name for my business?4. What is a static IP, why do I need it?5. What is Shared, Cloud, VPS & Dedicated Hosting?

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Internet Marketing 1. What is Organic Traffic?2. What are the benefits and drawbacks of banner advertising?3. How does email marketing work?4. What is the the average open rate in a mass email?5. How do I avoid my email being considered spam?6. How do I create a viral marketing campaign?6. How do I create a viral marketing campaign?7. What is the most successful viral campaign?8. What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?9. How does online marketing compare with traditional?10. How do I work out my cost per acquisition?11. How do I carry out an online competitor analysis?12. What is proactive online marketing?13. What is reactive online marketing?13. What is reactive online marketing?14. What is the best way to write an online press release?

7. What is keyword research?8. How do I choose effective keywords for my website?9. What happens if I get the wrong keywords10. What is keyword density and why is it important11. What are H1 - H6 tags12. What are Meta Tags13. What are A13. What are ALT tags14. What is an optimised or friendly URL15. What is a SERPS report16. What is link building17. How will you acquire quality links for my website?18. What is White Hat SEO18. Why is link building good for my website20. What is the difference between inbound &outbound links?20. What is the difference between inbound &outbound links?21. What is contextual linking22. What is link juice?23. What is page rank? Is it still relevant?24. How will my existing website traffic be transferred to my new website?25. What is local SEO?26. Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines?26. Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines?27. How do you measure your success?28. What are your most important SEO techniques?

Search Engine Optimisation1. What is the average time a visitors spends on a website2. What is the best website analytics tool3. Why do I need search engine optimisation4. What are the key areas of search engine optimisation5. What is ON-Page Optimisation6. What is OFF-Page Optimisation6. What is OFF-Page Optimisation

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Content Marketing1. What is Content Marketing?2. What success have you seen with your content marketing?3. What are your best practices for content marketing?4. How do I drive traffic to my website?5. What is RSS6. What is the best way to blog for business6. What is the best way to blog for business7. What is Micro Blogging8. What is an online press release9. What is a guest post?

12. What bidding strategy will work for my Adwords campaign?13. Is your web agency is Adwords certified?14. What are Remarketing and Dynamic Remarketing?15. Which network types will you use to advertise my products and services?16. What are Max. CPC and max. vCPM?17. Can i promote my mobile apps through Google AdWords?17. Can i promote my mobile apps through Google AdWords?18. How do I set my budget for PPC?19. What is negative keyword targeting?20. What is Ad Rank in Adwords?

Pay Per Click Advertising1. What is PPC?2. What is Adwords CTR & CPC3. What is the benefit of Google adwords4. How do I track conversions on my website and their sources5. How can I see who has been visiting my website6. What is CPC6. What is CPC7. What is PPA on Google Adwords8. What is Google content network9. What is Google Adsense10. Why is a landing page important on PPC11. What are best targeting methods for my business?

LSocial Media1. What is SMO2. How do you choose a social media strategy3. How can I leverage twitter for business4. What is Digg and Del.icio.us for5. How many visits does facebook get each month6. What social media platforms are good for my website6. What social media platforms are good for my website7. What are web forums for8. What are the benefits of social bookmarking9. What social media platform(s) are best for my business?10. How do you optimize engagement and leads from social media marketing?

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Usability1. How important is the website/application usability?2. What are the important aspect to be considered for usability?

Performance1. What is a website technical audit for2. What is HTML validation and is it important3. How do you test the performance of websites you build?

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Engagement Model & Pricing1. What will be the cost of my website?2. What are the various engagement models?3. What does your quote cover?4. What your quote does not cover?5. Do you provide domain name & web hosting in your 5. Do you provide domain name & web hosting in your packages? If so what is the annual renewal cost for the domain name and web hosting space.

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Deliverables1. How will you deliver the end product (website or app)?2. Do you supply the completed website on a CD as a backup?3. Will you provide the source code?4. Will I be able to modify it later?5. Can I sell or resell this in future?

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Project Management1. Who will I be working with?2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of building a 3. website in-house?3. How long will it take to build website?4. What if you do not complete the project on agreed time?5. My idea is unique, can you sign an NDA?5. My idea is unique, can you sign an NDA?6. What are clients typically required to supply?7. What is the best mode of communication? What is the response time.

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Maintenance, Warranty & Support1. How much will it cost to keep the website maintained? 2. Can I edit the website myself? If not what do you charge for updates and changes?3. Do you offer any website guarantee or warranty?4. Do you provide free after care sales and support and if so for 4. Do you provide free after care sales and support and if so for how long after the completion of the website?5. What third party licenses will I need?6. Will I have the IP rights of the resulting website?7. What happens If there are bugs after the support period expires?

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I hope it will be helpful in making your decision close to perfect! Record their responses for the questions you throw and analyse the responses. You will know right away, who to trust your project with. The way they answer it will help you pick the best.

VOCSO Web Design Delhi, India

SCF-39, 1st Floor, Sector 16AFaridabad, Haryana [email protected]+91 981-823-8348

VOCSO Web Design, California, USA

4945 E. Hillside Ave. Orange CA [email protected]+1 855-558-2345 (US/Canada Toll Free)

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions/suggestions...


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177 Questions to Ask Before You Engage a Web Design Agency