Why You Need Web Design Consultants
Intro
There are over 1.8 billion websites, with new ones emerging daily. With the influx of new brands, the digital market becomes increasingly competitive with each passing day.
Ever-growing competition makes it difficult for established and emerging businesses to stand out, attract new clients, and retain their current ones.
Staying ahead requires a solid understanding of web design principles, the general web industry, the preference trends of your target audience, and numerous other factors. Web design consultants offer industry experience and expertise to help companies reach their business goals.
In this post, we will examine what web design consultants are, what services they provide, and why companies hire them. We will also give you essential tips on choosing adequate web design consultants.
What Are Web Design Consultants?
Web design consultants help clients optimize their websites by offering extensive industry experience and unbiased outside perspectives. Businesses usually hire web design consultants to help them enhance their online presence by advising them on various aspects of their website design, such as graphic design, user experience design, CTA positioning, and other elements that may influence branding and conversion rates.
The expertise of web design consultants usually goes beyond advising businesses on improving their sites’ visual aspects. They bring a wealth of web industry experience that enables them to quickly pinpoint the website’s flaws, develop a strategy to improve them, and advise the best solutions according to the business’s budget.
The holistic web industry expertise enables consultants to estimate if your website’s problems are design-related. For example, suboptimal website performance can provoke the low conversion rates you experience. In those cases, web design consultants can connect you with experts to help you improve other aspects of your site and achieve your business goals.
What Is the Difference Between a Web Design Consultant and a Web Designer?
Although similar in name, web design consulting and web design are two distinct professions that differ in their approach to design problems.
Web Design Consultant
Web design consultants help businesses determine design problems, improve their websites, and efficiently manage time and budget. They utilize their industry expertise to provide companies with high-level overviews of their websites and help them plan an efficient strategy to achieve their digital marketing goals. Consultants typically conduct website audits, outline the main problems based on the analytics, and advise clients on how to solve them.
Consultants approach client requirements from a problem-solving perspective and help businesses develop design strategies tailored to their target audience, goals, time frame, and budget.
Finally, web design consultants follow key performance indicators to evaluate the success of newly created design or redesign solutions.
Web Designer
Web designers are concerned with the execution of particular design projects.
For example, graphic designers will help you design or redesign your website’s visual aspects, while UX designers will help you create a compelling user journey that promotes conversion.
Web designers are concerned with your project requirements and specifications. They bring your vision to life by carefully following your requirements.
However, web designers’ areas of expertise usually do not include developing strategy and evaluating the success of the design or redesign of your site.
Do I Need a Web Design Consultant or a Web Designer?
Whether you need a web design consultant or web design services depends on the stage of your design process.
For example, if you know that outdated website design causes high bounce rates or that your website is not mobile-friendly, you should consider hiring a web designer. Alternatively, if an unintuitive user journey causes suboptimal conversion rates, consider relying on professional UX/UI design services.
On the other hand, if you are in the planning stage and still need to figure out how to prioritize the areas of your website design for the highest return on investment (ROI), you should consider working with a web design consultant.
If you are still trying to decide whether you need the help of a web designer or web design consultant, you can book free consultations through our website or email hello@manedigital.com, and we will do our best to help you decide.
What Are the Common Services Web Design Consultants Provide?
Some of the most common services web design consultants provide include:
Website Audits
To get a broad overview of areas of the website that need improvement, web design consultants will usually start by conducting an audit.
A website audit analyzes key performance indicators to provide insights into areas for improvement. Through this process, web design consultants evaluate the site’s visual elements, user journey, performance, content, structure, and search engine ranking.
Conducting website audits is essential as it enables consultants to create data-driven strategies. For example, data may indicate that outdated design solutions, lack of responsiveness, or a complicated checkout process cause high bounce rates.
Alternatively, an audit might show that website issues are not related to design but search engine optimization (SEO), low-quality content, or suboptimal performance. Fortunately, extensive industry experience enables web design consultants to propose solutions and connect you with top industry experts who can help you resolve them.
Strategy
Web design consultants are industry experts who help clients develop the most efficient web design or redesign strategy. Based on the data gathered through a website audit, competition analysis, target audience, budget, and goals, consultants help businesses create a strategy aligned with their needs.
Their unbiased outside perspective helps clients avoid blindspots in their digital marketing strategy and reach their potential.
Finally, by analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs), web design consultants will evaluate the success of your approach after the project’s completion.
Design Evaluation
As experienced designers themselves, web design consultants can help you pinpoint the shortcomings of your website’s design.
They will advise you on improving your site’s visual elements, which may lead to drastic improvements in your branding. According to the research, 94% of the first impressions are made solely by the design of your website, meaning that even a slight improvement can go a long way.
As industry experts, web design consultants analyze their clients’ website visuals and assess how they align with current design trends, companies’ branding, and target audiences. Based on this evaluation, consultants advise businesses on improving their website design while considering their budget and time constraints.
Working with web design consultants enables businesses to prioritize particular aspects of design that will lead to the highest returns on investment.
User Experience Design Evaluation
Web design consultants evaluate websites using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console and methods such as A/B testing to get insights into visitors’ behavior, make data-driven conclusions, and develop strategies to improve user experience.
Even though a compelling user experience design can increase conversion rates by up to 400%, statistics show that 45% of businesses do not conduct UX/UI testing. Companies can set themselves apart by investing in user experience testing.
As designing and testing user experience is complex, companies often rely on outside expertise to create effective UX designs.
For example, as a part of our UX/UI Design Services, we offer the help of our experienced web design consultants to help clients create compelling user experiences. Let’s demonstrate the impact of carefully planned user experience design in the example from our portfolio:
CRO Consulting
Web design consultants experienced in the eCommerce industry offer conversion rate optimization consulting.
By analyzing your website’s KPIs, consultants help businesses make data-driven decisions about improving their conversion rates. For example, based on KPIs, a web design consultant may conclude that a complex checkout process causes a high cart abandonment rate and suggest ways of implementing it.
Alternatively, a web design consultant may conclude that inadequate CTA button position or design negatively affects conversion and suggest changes.
As a part of CRO consulting, web design consultants help businesses analyze their data, plan time and cost-effective solutions, and evaluate the success of their CRO strategy.
Why Do Companies Hire Web Design Consultants?
Companies choose to hire web design consultants to utilize unbiased outside perspectives and extensive industry experience to help them solve problems they face.
As the website’s design is a significant factor in conveying a brand message, and user experience is one of the essential factors behind conversion, web design consultants’ expertise helps companies achieve their business goals by guiding them in creating visually appealing and user-friendly solutions. That, in turn, improves user satisfaction and conversion rates.
Although a web design consultant’s contribution depends on company-specific needs, some of the most common reasons businesses rely on consultants include:
Reduced Costs
Hiring a web design consultant on a project basis is often the most time and cost-efficient solution.
Some businesses lack the expertise to solve their design problems, and training their in-house team is costly and time-consuming. Hiring a web design consultant is often the most efficient solution.
Additionally, web design consultants’ expertise goes beyond ensuring effective visual solutions. Their extensive industry experience helps businesses define their target audience, create design strategies, and suggest solutions while maintaining branding consistency.
Outside Perspective
Another reason companies hire web design consultants is their unbiased outside perspective.
Business owners and their in-house teams sometimes need help pinpointing the reasons behind their issues, as they lack an unbiased overview.
Consultants bring industry expertise and outside perspective, enabling them to determine problems promptly in their clients’ web presentations.
An outside perspective also enables web design consultants to examine websites from customers’ perspectives and detect problems in their user experience and web design.
Finally, their extensive industry experience enables them to conduct competition analysis and highlight competitive advantages to help clients stand out from other similar sites.
Analysing Website Data and Drawing Unbiased Conclusions
Industry expertise enables web design consultants to interpret website analysis efficiently. Their process usually begins with a detailed website audit and evaluation of the website’s KPIs.
Through data analysis, consultants draw conclusions on websites’ issues, prioritize them, and help their clients develop effective strategies.
Based on key metrics such as engagement, best-performing pages, session length, cart abandonment rates, and others, consultants determine the website’s most prominent issues and suggest ways to resolve them.
In addition to measuring website KPIs and suggesting solutions, consultants will use analytics to gauge the success of newly developed solutions.
Adapting Approach to Companies Unique Needs
Businesses also hire web design consultants for their adaptability. Due to extensive industry experience, consultants can quickly adapt to companies’ unique needs and suggest solutions to help them stand out.
By understanding a business’s unique needs and target audiences, web design consultants develop strategies to ensure its branding resonates with its ideal customers while separating it from the competition.
According to 2020 research, 35% of businesses need more expertise to personalize their websites. Working with a web design consultant can increase business visibility through customization, leading to effective branding.
When Should I Hire Web Design Consultants?
Two of the most common reasons to consider hiring a web design consultant are struggling with a particular website issue you cannot resolve using in-house expertise and starting an online business.
In the first case, web design consultants provide an outside perspective that will enable you to detect the reasons behind your problems. They will conduct a website audit, pinpoint the areas for improvement, and help you develop a strategy appropriate to your goals and budget.
Working with a web design consultant provides invaluable assistance when starting your online business. Web design consultants can help you identify your target audience, establish a recognizable online brand, and optimize your website to promote conversion. They will assist you in analyzing metrics, making data-driven decisions, and measuring the results of your newly implemented solutions.
The other common situations in which you should consider working with a web design consultant include:
- Visitors not returning to your website
- Low conversion rates
- High cart abandonment rates
- Planned website redesign
- Wanting to improve user experience
- Tailoring your site to accommodate the target audience
- Standing out from the competition and enhancing marketing
How Do You Choose a Web Design Consulting Agency?
This article section will provide essential advice on evaluating whether a particular consultant is adequate for your business needs.
Assess Their Understanding of Your Unique Needs
The first step in assessing if a web design consulting agency fits your needs is evaluating how well they understand your business.
An ideal consultant should have experience related to your industry, understand your business goals, and know the preference trends of your target audience.
As assessing the web design consulting agencies’ understanding of your business needs is essential to a successful collaboration, we provide free consultations to all our potential clients. If you are looking for a web design consultation, you can book a free meeting through our website, and we will do our best to help you estimate whether we are the right fit to help you achieve your goals.
Evaluate Communication and Transparency
As consultants will work closely with you and your design and web development team to help you achieve your objective, open and efficient communication is integral to a successful collaboration.
You can assess your potential partner’s communication efficiency by estimating their understanding of your business and its goals. In addition, you should measure how prompt they are in responding and how efficiently they communicate via multiple channels.
Ask about their pricing structure and estimated quote to ensure complete pricing transparency.
Evaluate Their Portfolio
When assessing web design consulting agencies, review their portfolios. Analyzing the agencies’ portfolios will enable you to estimate their approach and style and evaluate whether they fit your business.
If you are facing a problem requiring outside expertise or ideating a new website, ensure that the agency’s experience matches your industry and goals.
Knowing the importance of detailed previous project overviews, we at MANE Digital provide our potential clients with comprehensive case studies to help them estimate our expertise.
Check Reviews and References
Examine potential consultants’ user reviews. Besides enabling you to assess their previous clients’ satisfaction, user reviews will give you an insight into web design consultants’ creativity, communication, and the results they can deliver. Finally, a large number of positive reviews will indicate the consultants’ experience and reliability.
Apart from analyzing client reviews, you should also ask your potential web design consultants for references from their previous clients. Contacting their previous clients will give you first-hand experience working with your service providers and help you estimate if a particular consultant fits you.
Ask About Their Process
Inquire about potential web design consulting providers’ processes and estimate how clear and elaborate they are. An experienced consultant should have a straightforward process and approach to clients’ website design evaluation.
Their process should include:
- Initial consultations.
- Understanding your brief.
- Auditing your website.
- Suggesting design and development solutions.
- Evaluating their post-launch success based on key performance indicators.
While assessing their process, estimate their ability to adapt it to your business needs.
They should also provide a clearly defined communication plan to ensure effective communication. For example, we at MANE Digital provide clients with a clearly defined communication plan and assign a project manager to ensure effective communication through regular weekly or biweekly meetings.
Key Takeaways
Web design consulting assists businesses in reaching their goals by optimizing their online presence.
Companies hire web design consultants to gain an unbiased outside perspective, analyze their online presence, and develop strategies to bring the highest return on investment.
Standard services web design consultants provide include:
- Website audits
- Competition analysis
- Design evaluation
- User experience testing and evaluation
- Conversion rate optimization
- Developing design and branding strategies
- Analyzing website’s KPIs to help businesses make data-driven decisions
- Evaluating the project’s success by analyzing metrics
- Training client’s in-house designers
