5 Signs of a Bad Web Design Agency

You can get rid of bad web design agencies if you consider these below top 5 signs of a bad web design agency for sure.

There are literally thousands of web design agencies out there.

And, if you know how easy it was to create one, you would be much more careful when picking one.

A lot of these agencies woo people with vain sales pitches, nice web copy, and flash websites, and either cheat their clients.

Even, they give them something extremely generic and inefficient.

You have to be able to sniff out bad agencies and scammers if you don’t want to lose your money or be extremely disappointed with their work.

Let’s take a look at a few signs that a web design agency should not be trusted.

This should be a red flag even if the sites look good.

If, you notice that all the websites on their portfolio page have the same look but with different elements, then this usually means that the “designer” is simply copy-pasting content into a template.

There’s a strong chance that they won’t be able to build a website exactly how you want it.

And even, you will get nothing but a slightly personalized website, usually built with WordPress or in any simple HTML technology.

Obviously, this might not be a problem for you in the event that what you see in the portfolio is exactly what you are interested in.

There is an advantage in dealing with a company that has been doing the same thing for a very long time.

However, whenever you want something more personalized or you might want some advanced features in the future, you might want to look for someone else.

Another red flag is if the design agency in question can’t give you the name and contact information of at least one client they’ve worked with.

The only exception here is if they’re a very new agency.

If that is the case, you have to be careful when hiring them and check their work and pricing structure carefully.

Even, if you feel like their prices are good enough for you to give them a try, you can, but know that you’ll be doing it at your own risk.

We should also add the fact that you should not blindly believe the references and testimonials presented on a website.

This is particularly the case when you want to invest in a larger project.

Actually, contact the people who are presented as references and make sure they are real.

If, you’re trying to build a local website with specific search engine optimization needs and you speak with a company that is out of your state or city,

then, some of them will be honest and say that they don’t understand your market while others will try to brush things off and act as if they do.

These are the ones you need to worry about.

It’s always better to go with someone local if you want to build something that will connect with your community.

If you live in Minneapolis, for instance, then working with a website design Minneapolis agency like VNZO would make more sense than hiring someone from a completely different part of the country, or even worse, from overseas.

Even, if you could save money by hiring an overseas agency, you won’t get as good results, so it’s best to work with a local team.

You’ll have much easier access to them and there won’t be communication barriers.

A web design company should not be charging you more than 30% before they’ve shown you some work.

You can make a payment arrangement and pay by milestone, but you cannot give them more than that before they’ve shown you something.

If, they ask for too much, then there’s a good chance that they are scammers, so take your money elsewhere.

The situation in which this does not apply is when you buy a specific type of website that is offered in the form of a package.

While this is not something many businesses want!

Because, they want something fully customized, if you do not care about it, you can always opt for cheap packages.

But, in all other cases, never pay more than 30% upfront for the design.

Most web design companies are not international corporations. So, they can easily present the key team members they have as employers.

This is important because you want to know who will actually do the work on your site.

Getting to meet the web designers or the web development team is a very big part of the process of designing a perfect site for a client.

The best web design agencies out there will have zero problems in letting you get in touch with the actual web designers.

In fact, for several projects, they will want this to happen because they know it is the only way to guarantee the client will receive exactly what they want.

Getting information about the web designers can be done in many ways.

In some cases, they are presented on the agency website, in the About section.

Even, in others, you have to ask.

If, you cannot find information in this way, it might be available when you browse LinkedIn pages for the web design agency as you can see who is employed.

This is a great way to check the experience and expertise of the actual designers the agency has.

These are all clear signs that a web design company should be avoided at all costs.

Take the time to analyze multiple agencies, look at their work, and verify their reputation before hiring them.

As a general rule of thumb, if you have doubts, it is better to just look for someone else.

In order to get the best website for you, there needs to be a collaboration between the designer and the client.

A failure to establish this connection can only lead to sub-par results, with sites that do not have the best features for clients.