Finding the Right Design Firm to Create Your Alpaca Website

Do your homework when you're researching a firm to provide your web design services for your alpaca website. Too many business owners pay thousands of dollars for development of a website, only to find out that it contains major flaws that will require additional investment to correct.

As with most service industries, web design standards vary by provider. And as an alpaca rancher, you'll be relying on their knowledge and expertise. If you don't have a basic understanding of what to look for, you'll risk falling prey to disappointment later.

To help you find the web design or web marketing firm that will give you the most reliable, effective results, you need to examine the following:

- Their expertise. What is their primary business? You wouldn't hire a doctor to do your dental work. Don't hire a generalist to design your website. The Web is one area where specific expertise pays off big time. While ad agencies and freelance graphic designers can certainly provide exciting design, you are likely to end up with future problems preventing your website from showing up in Google or with no way to add new livestock information easily. An alpaca website design firm with specialization in SEO should be able to contribute greatest to your online marketing success, as they will be considering the optimal site structure in addition to the design elements.

- View samples of design work. After all, this firm will be responsible for how you look online. They will be creating the image that thousands of people may see as representing your alpaca farm. Find the website design samples on the provider’s website to get a feel for the level of design talent they can provide you. If you don't see any samples that you find attractive, move on.

- Compare prices. It’s only diligent to do so. But make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. And make sure you’re not taking a shortcut in a crucial area that you would be better off investing in for the long run.

Make sure you take into account the personalities of the people you’ll be dealing with. Do they gel well with you? Can you rely on what they’re telling you? It’s important to consider your gut feeling. You don’t want to have to second guess such an important partner. You are entitled to straight answers about what’s included in their service price quote and what’s not, as well as the sort of results you can expect. If you aren’t satisfied with the answers you hear, don’t be afraid to move on.

- Evaluate the level of service you can expect. Too many companies will tell you they focus on their customers. But then once they get your project, you have a hard time getting hold of them. The top people you spoke with in the beginning are too busy for you, and you end up talking with junior account managers.

- Ask for results. You want your website to produce results for you, right? A reputable alpaca web design firm can point to specific results they have produced for other alpaca ranchers. For example, do the websites they produce rank well in search engines like Yahoo! and Google? Or are they nowhere to be found?

Ask for several examples of websites that provider has built and optimized. They should be able to provide you with information such as how long it took for the website to show up in search engines like Google, what keywords it's ranking for, and what the ongoing investment levels are. Ask for references and follow up with them to find out what it’s like to work with the firm you are considering.

After all, in the online marketing industry you’re going to find a variety of firms, methods, and personalities - but in the end what counts is what they can do for you.

 

Copyright 2006 SEO Advantage™

About the author: Pat Reuning is Senior SEO Associate at SEO Advantage, a web design and SEO firm serving the Ideal Alpaca Community with SEO Alpaca services since 2000. Learn more about custom alpaca website design and search engine optimization today at www.seoalpaca.com.