Most businesses now a days rely heavily on getting their web site to the very first page of google. People will search for goods and or services online especially through the main search engine google for all their inquiries.
It is paramount to the success of your business to be found on google and it is important to understand that when embarking out in business to choose the right web design to help you get to this position. In reality there is no point what so ever in getting a brand new web site and spending money on the entire process if at the very end of the day no one can find you.
You have to make certain that the web design company you do choose has some search engine optimisation experience as this has to be incorporated during the design and coding process. Following are just a few points to look out for when engaging a web design studio to handle all your web and marketing needs:
1) does the web design company have a good online ranking for themselves. There is really no point in utilising the services of a web company if they can not get a page one ranking for their own web site. If they offer this service and they are not on page one of google then I would be extremely scepticle about their online marketing capabilities.
2) make certain the any web companies can show you a list of clients that they have worked on in the past and that you are able to at least contact a few of these people and or businesses. An extremely good yard stick is to see if they have been able through their search engine efforts to get these businesses on page one of google for their main key words. This is really easy to see and should be part of the questioning process prior to making any decision.
3) will they be using white hat search engine techniques. Make sure that they do not engage in any risky or dodgy practices as this will affect your search engine ranking and may if takn to the extreme get your web site banned from google which could cripple your business.
These are just a few pointers to look out for but at the end of the day you have to make a decision and this may be instinct based. Word of caution though is to be very very careful and very cautious. Its a relatively new industry and because of this there are a few sharks or even cowboys out there who might take advantage of your naivety.