Finding the best web development agency for your business is an important decision because it plays a critical role in determining your business’s growth and success. In recent times, the market has been saturated by web development agencies. This means that companies find it hard to shortlist the one that promises innovations, delivers a user-centric website, and gives strategic input for engaging customers and business growth. 

The United Kingdom hosts some of the world’s most talented minds in web development. However, finding the “best” among the best is more time-consuming and effort-consuming than it may appear. In such a situation, one needs to have proper guidance on how to select a web development agency that fulfils all your requirements and aligns with your goals. 

In this guide, we will talk about the criteria, complexities, and procedures of choosing the best web development agency in the UK. Let’s begin! 

Define Your Goals – An Important Prerequisite 

It is important you understand your company’s goals before selecting a web development agency. Have a clear idea in mind about your requirements and expectations. Also, note down the goals you have after the website is published.   

This is because your website will depend on the kind of business you run. An institutional website will look different, an e-commerce website will have a different outlook, and a blogging website will have different features. You should ask yourself the following question to have clarity about your goals: 

• What will your website focus on? 

• Do you want to enhance brand visibility, increase sales, market content, or list products on your website? 

• Do you want a website built from scratch or want to modify an already existing website? 

• Who are your competitors? 

• How much are you willing to spend for your website development? 

• Who is your target audience? 

• Do you want to scale your website with time? 

Once you have answers to all these questions, you are ready to move to the next step. But do remember that you shouldn’t be focusing on the current projects, rather, think about future needs too. It is always a good idea to note down all the future business requirements regarding design, content, and other functionalities. Understanding your goals for the website serves as a foundation for the whole web development project and enables you to explain your point to the web development agency in a better way. 

Understand Web Development Agencies 

Before selecting a web development agency for your website development, you need to understand what services you will be getting from the agency. While it is evident that these agencies develop websites, they offer several other services, too, such as website maintenance and optimisation.  

These agencies create user-friendly and visually appealing websites for their clients while ensuring the delivered product meets all the goals and requirements. A web development agency may perform one or more of the following roles depending on your needs: 

UI/UX Designers 

A web development agency can define the user experience and design the visual components of your website. This includes colour scheme, layout, and typography. However, this is only when you already have a website and need to revamp it to meet your brand requirements. 

Developers 

The web developers in an agency build the website based on user flow and user interface. They do so by using different coding languages, such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.

Developers ensure that your website is functional, responsive, and optimised for search engines, so your customers get a smooth experience while visiting it.

Project Managers 

From initial ideas and planning to final release, project managers in a web development agency monitor and supervise the entire process of your website development. They take care of resource allocation, and time management to ensure that your website turns out exactly how you imagined it while staying within your budget. 

Marketers 

Web development agencies have marketing teams too, that promote your website by driving traffic to it and ranking it on different search engines. For this purpose, the marketers do social media marketing, search engine optimisation, and email marketing.  

Searching for a Suitable Web Development Agency 

Business owners often find it difficult to search for a suitable agency for their web development. There are a number of different ways you can use to find the agency that fits your requirements. Some of these are discussed as follows. 

Search Engines 

This is one of the easiest ways to find a suitable web development agency in the UK. You can use search engines, such as Google and Bing, to get a list of all the top web development agencies in the country. To get a more specific list, you can use different keywords related to your industry, and the search engines will show relevant results. Once you have noted all the agencies you think can do your project, the next step is to check their website for their services and pricing. 

LinkedIn 

In recent years, LinkedIn has proved to be a helpful tool in helping businesses find web development agencies in the UK. Every good web development agency has up-to-date profiles on LinkedIn, and you can find details of all their previous projects and clients there. Searching for web development agencies on the platform and going through their profile will give you a good idea of whether or not a certain agency will be suitable for you. You can then leave them a message and discuss your project details.  

Referrals 

Recommendations and referrals are another way to find a trustworthy web development agency. Check around and see if any of your partners, friends, or acquaintances recently got their web developed by an agency. If so, ask them about their experience and if they would recommend the agency to you or not.  

You can use online communities for this purpose, too. There are several communities where people regularly post about their experiences with different service providers. If you like someone’s review about a web development agency, contact them for your project. But do make sure that you do your own research as well before hiring them. 

Choosing the Best Web Development Agency 

While choosing the best UK-based web development agency for your company, you need to keep in mind some important criteria. Here’s an overview of what factors to consider! 

Portfolio 

Portfolio is one of the best ways to determine whether a web development agency suits your requirements or not. An agency’s previous work gives a good idea about the type of websites it has developed previously, its overall approach, sense of design style, and technical capabilities. While you are going through the portfolio, make sure you closely look at the work that is similar to what you will be needing from it. This will help you understand how a certain agency will approach your web development project. 

Specialisation 

The next factor to consider is what kind of projects the agency specialises in and its expertise. Almost every company has or wants to have its own website these days, which means web development agencies get to work on a wide range of products. However, some agencies specialise in certain types of projects with time and know how to develop websites related to that particular industry. If your website is focused on a certain aspect, then you should choose an agency that has prior experience in developing websites for companies like yours because such agencies will understand your needs better. 

Talent and Resources 

Talent and resources are other important criteria to think about when choosing a web development agency for your business. Ask about how many years of experience do the people who will be working on your project have in their field. Check their credentials and see if the agency will use the resources that are best suited for your website development project. Hiring a web development company that has a good reputation and sufficient resources available indicates its ability to carry out projects successfully.  

Working Model 

While going through the credentials of the resources and talent available at a web development agency, do inquire about their working model too. Some agencies have employees that work completely remotely, whereas others have in-house workforce. If you want to have regular in-house meetings with the web development team, then you should avoid hiring an agency that has a remote workforce. 

Client Reviews 

Client testimonials are another important factor to consider when choosing a web development agency. Normally, agencies have reviews from their previous clients on their websites, but you can also look for reviews about an agency on third-party websites like Google and Yelp. From an agency’s communication to their responsiveness and quality of work, they pay close attention to what their previous clients have to say about them. This will help you make an informed decision and the right one, too.  

Consulting With the Shortlisted Agencies 

Once you have shortlisted the top web development agencies which you think will deliver your project efficiently and timely, you can initiate contact with them. The first thing to do in consultation is to set up a meeting with the relevant people from the agency. The consultation can be done either online or in person.  

In the initial consultation, you get an idea about how professional and committed the agency is. This is also your chance to learn about the agency’s past projects and expertise. If you are satisfied with their portfolio, you can then move to discussing your project and your expectations from the agency. Give them a detailed overview of your target audience, short and long-term business goals, and the kind of website you need. 

It is important to mention all the specific requirements at this stage to avoid any inconvenience after the web development starts. Do share your budget and timeline too, so the agency can clearly understand your needs and give you an accurate quote for the project.  

Making the Final Decision 

By this point, you will have proposals from the shortlisted agencies on your table. The final step in hiring the best web development agency in the UK is to choose the one that you think has understood your requirements well and best aligns with your goals. Once you make the final decision, it’s now time to negotiate the contract and deliverables. This will help avoid any misunderstanding that might arise during the course of the project. The contract should clearly state the following: 

• Timeline: A detailed outline of the key deadlines and milestones so you get your project within the desired timeframe. 

• Deliverables: This section includes a detailed list of all the deliverables, including design mock-ups, wireframes, and final website. 

• Pricing: The contract should also mention the total cost of the project and any additional charges that may apply in case of change in the scope of the project. 

• Other Terms and Conditions: In this section, all the responsibilities of both the parties are mentioned so you know what will be required of you and what you should expect from the web development agency.

After finalising and signing the contract, the web development agency will start with the project. You can keep monitoring the progress of your website by comparing it with the agreed-upon milestones and can let the agency know if there are any issues or if you need some adjustments. 

Conclusion 

Several web development agencies are offering their services in the UK these days. In such a situation, choosing the most suitable agency for one’s project becomes difficult sometimes. Since this is an important decision and your business’s outlook and growth depend greatly on its website, you shouldn’t hurry while hiring an agency and consider factors like portfolio, past work, specialisation, resources, working model, and client reviews before choosing one. 

These criteria help you know in-depth about an agency and determine if they will deliver your project as per your expectations. Once you have made a final decision about whom you will hire for your website development, make sure you discuss everything in length and have it included in the contract. Remember, a website is an important part of any business, and you should choose only the best for its development.  

If you’re looking for an intuitive, functional, and innovative website, reach out to FunctionEight today and let’s excel to success!