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It doesn’t matter what industry your business is in – if you want to beat the competition and increase your sales, you need to have a strong online reputation and top-tier Google rankings. 

That’s what SEO reputation management is all about. Every business will benefit from SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts who employ strategies to improve their brand’s reputation, boost their rankings, and counteract negative reviews. 

You want to know that the best information about your business is showing up in search results. When people look for your products or services, they should always wind up on the right page – and that requires a skilled hand. 

Online reputation management isn’t a job for amateurs. You won’t see profitable search engine results without the help of experts – and shortcuts like light-hearted keyword research won’t cut it in this digital age. 

This brings us to today’s topic: are you better off hiring an SEO marketing company for the job, or should you look into onboarding in-house SEO experts? 

There are pros and cons of hiring an SEO agency to promote your brand online, but hiring internal specialists isn’t always the right choice, either. Let’s talk about both sides of the equation so you can make the best choice for your company. 

Hiring an SEO Agency vs. In-House Employees

Before we get too deep into this topic, we should note the key distinction between an SEO brand reputation management agency and in-house SEO experts.  

An SEO agency is a team of professionals that serves a mix of clients. These agencies work with companies from all corners of the business world – although some channel their expertise into one or two specific industries. 

When you hire an SEO agency, you get a group of specialists handling ongoing tasks such as: 

• General reputation management 
• SEO audits 
• Content writing 
• Link building 
• Keyword research and optimization 

• Monitoring social media sites
• Technical SEO 

Should you decide to hire an agency, you’ll typically pay them by a monthly retainer or an hourly rate.  

On the other hand, if you hire in-house SEO specialists, you’ll have full-time employees who are dedicated to tasks that are similar to those listed above. The main difference? In-house SEO professionals concentrate solely on your brand reputation and search engine results – not those of other companies. 

Still, that doesn’t mean that an internal SEO team is always the best choice. Moving forward, let’s discuss the pros and cons of both options for online reputation management – starting with hiring an agency.  

Pros of Hiring a Quality SEO Agency 

✓ Comprehensive SEO Services 

One of the top SEO agency benefits is simply the range of expertise they provide. Most search engine professionals know the ins and outs of navigating SEO campaigns, but they likely specialize in a singular few aspects. 

In other words, hiring just one or two internal SEO specialists can grant you access to specific areas of expertise – but hiring an entire digital marketing agency grants you access to a vast array of knowledge, all under one roof. 

A single agency will hire countless kinds of SEO experts, including… 

• Strategists 
• Content writers/editors 
• Data analysts  
• On-page SEO specialists 
• Off-page SEO specialists  
• Technical SEO experts 

These search engine professionals work as a team and share their varied wells of knowledge. Therefore, when you hire a local SEO marketing company, you can legitimately trust they are doing everything possible to generate more search traffic for your site. 

✓ More Affordable Than In-House SEO Specialists  

The cost of hiring an SEO agency might feel like a blow to your limited marketing budget, but in the long run, this can actually be a cheaper alternative to hiring internally. 

Onboarding SEO employees means paying their salaries, as well as offering benefits, employee training, tools, career advancement plans, and so on. Those are some pretty big expenses to take on indefinitely. 

Although you will have to pay your SEO agency, they’ve got everything necessary to manage your SEO strategy from A to Z – and most offer flexible pricing options, hourly rates, project-based fees, or retainer agreements. This is typically a better fit for small to medium-sized local businesses that don’t have the cash to support full-time digital marketing employees. 

✓ Scale Services as Needed 

Speaking of keeping costs down, hiring an SEO consultant also allows you to meet your evolving online reputation management needs as they appear – and scale down when necessary. 

You pay an internal employee the same salary every month, regardless of how much work you need them to do. That’s not how most SEO agencies operate. 

Clients have the opportunity to scale search engine services up or down based on their changing requirements. For example, they can ramp up SEO efforts during a product launch or scale down during a slow period to keep costs under control. 

✓ No Payments for SEO Tools

It’s no secret that SEO software is expensive. When you hire an agency to help with your online reputation, they come to the table equipped with the industry’s leading SEO tools for online reputation management. 

You don’t have to worry about paying for SEO tools regularly or finding the best one – you can leave all that to the other company. They’ll use the latest technology for tasks like finding your best keywords, tracking your Google rankings, analyzing competitors, and monitoring your search traffic.  

✓ Fast Results

If you want to see big changes to your brand’s reputation and online presence, hiring an SEO expert team is likely the way to go. A team of professionals will move faster than one or two internal employees. 

Still, remember that positive search results don’t appear overnight. Even with professionals in your back pocket, it’ll likely take time to see the impact – at least four to six months, in most cases. 

That’s why a seasoned SEO agency will enact a game plan to set you up for success starting on day one. This usually involves: 

• Planning to create content for your website 
• Keyword research and implementation 
• Optimizing your Google Business Profile 
• Handling off-page SEO – backlink profile, citations, negative reviews, etc. 
• Link building, including cultivating stronger internal links 
• Finding ways to draw in more search traffic 

These agencies understand the best SEO techniques to get things rolling, right out of the gate. Their goal is to bring you stellar results as quickly as possible. 

Drawbacks to Hiring an SEO Company  

✖ Potential Lack of Familiarity With Your Needs

We won’t lie – there is certainly something to be said for working with someone who knows your brand like the back of their hand. SEO agencies work with a bunch of different clients, and as a result, they likely won’t know the nitty-gritty details of your business as an in-house team would. 

Furthermore, most SEO agencies have set processes they use for online reputation management, and there’s a good chance they’re “one size fits all.” There’s nothing wrong with a dependable process, but this could lead to a less tailored approach to your SEO and overall marketing strategy. 

✖ Possible Quality Issues 

Unfortunately, not all SEO reputation management agencies are created equally. Some agencies might use shady or outdated tactics in an attempt to game the search engine algorithms – which can potentially hurt your website’s search engine rankings. 

That’s why it’s super important to do your homework on the agency and its SEO tools. Look out for negative reviews and ask for plenty of references from past clients. 

✖ Risk of Poor Communication 

Communication is key when it comes to online reputation management through a third party. They’re not in your office and incorporated in all of your regular meetings, so you need to make sure they’re keeping you in the loop in regard to your SEO strategy.

The best agencies are easy to reach and take the time to explain what they are doing. However, many aren’t as great at providing regular updates, so inquire about their communication strategies before diving in. 

Benefits of Hiring an In-House SEO Team 

✓ You Have Complete Control  

Without a doubt, the biggest perk of having an in-house SEO squad is that your team is 100% in charge of your own game plan. That means you can tailor your SEO tools and methods to uniquely fit your business’s values and goals. 

Plus, your in-house crew should know all the ins and outs of SEO in your particular industry, so they can build an effective strategy that is rooted in relevant trends and tactics. 

✓ Easy Communication

Nothing compares to having an in-house team in terms of easy communication. You can meet with your employees whenever you need to discuss progress and make quick changes to your SEO techniques. More importantly, it’s easy to keep everyone on the same page when it comes to a cohesive SEO process.

✓ Intimate Familiarity With Your Business  

When you hire employees to handle search engine optimization, they are focused on your business – and yours alone. They will get to know all the easy-to-miss details that an agency might overlook, contributing to a hyper-personalized approach to meeting your business goals. 

Additionally, internal SEO experts can easily work hand-in-hand with your sales team, customer service, web designers, and other departments to reach your target audience through search engines. Everything is under one roof, and there’s something to be said for that. 

Drawbacks to Hiring an In-House SEO Specialist 

✖ Potentially High Overhead Costs 

The costs of hiring an in-house team can be less than ideal, especially if you have a limited marketing budget. This is especially true if you’re looking for experienced, highly trained team members – not just cheap entry-level SEO analysts. 

Additionally, as we mentioned before, you’ll need to invest in online reputation management tools and resources for your team – and these don’t come with a low price tag, either.  

✖ Limited Range of Expertise 

Think of “search engine optimization” as an umbrella term. There are hundreds of individual tasks that will fall under your overarching strategy, and when you only have a few in-house specialists to tackle them all… you wind up with a limited online reputation strategy. 

Professional agencies bring together experts with years of experience to appeal to search engines. They are continuously brainstorming and researching, and their clients reap the benefits of those efforts. 

✖ Less Trendy Methods

Search engines update their algorithms almost every day. Even if your in-house crew is on top of things, they may not have the capacity to keep up with these ongoing shifts. In contrast, an SEO agency will have specialists wholly dedicated to monitoring these changes. 

Thinking About Hiring an SEO Expert? Let’s Talk. 

If you need an online reputation management plan, including search engine optimization, now’s the time to either partner with an agency or hire an internal expert. 

Outsourcing your digital marketing services, including your SEO, is arguably the best way to go, especially if you’re not sure exactly what your online marketing needs are. From improving your brand image to boosting Google rankings, there’s a lot to think about. 

At Platinum Consulting, our SEO digital marketing agency is committed to polishing your company’s reputation through the best online methods, including building a great content strategy. 
Who you choose for SEO reputation management matters. If you’re on the fence about hiring the pros, let’s schedule a call. We’ll show you how to make big changes for your brand online.

Can AI Content Writing Tools Replace Human Writers? Here’s the Truth. 

Whether you’re deep in the trenches of content production or an outsider looking in, one thing is abundantly clear: artificial intelligence (AI) has stealthily but thoroughly entrenched itself within the industry. 

From AI grammar checkers to blog post writers, the impact of the latest tech on content is undeniable. Even human writers are leveraging AI tools to produce content faster and easier than ever before. 

Just last year, 94% of surveyed business leaders agreed that AI will be critical to success over the next five years. A recent study by SiegeMedia also revealed that by the end of 2023, 64.7% of business leaders will have used AI content-generation tools. 

This brings us to an enormous question: can AI replace human writers altogether?

It’s something we’ve been thinking about heavily at Platinum Consulting, and there’s a particular quote from Jeff Jarvis that really struck a chord with our team: 

The future of writing is not about writing machines. It’s about using machines to make us better writers.

That, in a nutshell, encapsulates the role we foresee AI playing in the future of content writing. 

So, let’s talk a little bit about the relationship between human content creators and artificial intelligence in the writing world – and how both can thrive simultaneously.  

Artificial Intelligence’s Boom in the Writing Industry

Before we dive deeply into this topic, let’s create a surface-level definition of AI content writing in this context.

In the simplest of terms, we’re talking about the use of software tools and AI technology, machine learning, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to assist in the production of personalized content. 

The business world is increasingly turning to AI content writing tools to create content for various elements of digital asset creation, including the production of… 

• Blog posts 
• Landing pages
• Website copy 
• Social media posts
• Marketing copy 
• Google Ads
• Case studies 
• And so much more 

You’ve likely heard of many of the most popular generative AI writing tools, such as ChatGPT, Jasper, Copy.ai, and other tools. These platforms (and dozens of others) allow businesses and individuals to generate “new” content in mere seconds – and that’s transforming the entire writing process. 

The 2022 CMO Survey predicted that AI use in the market industry will grow by at least 166% in the following three years. Whether you’re a content writer or a social media manager, you’ve likely messed around with an AI writing assistant already – and chances are, one of them is working its way into your daily procedures in some capacity. 

So, what makes these AI tools so versatile and beneficial? Let’s talk about some of the pros of incorporating AI in content writing. 

Advantages of AI Writing Tools

✓ Improved Efficiency and Productivity

First and foremost, we need to touch on AI tools’ efficiency. If you ask a tool like ChatGPT to spit out an outline for a blog post or a caption for your next Instagram post, it’ll have the final result generated in under 30 seconds. 

That kind of efficiency is, quite frankly, revolutionary. 

AI tools are streamlining all kinds of writing tasks, from topic generation to headline ideation and brainstorming lists. They can also handle many simple but repetitive content chores, such as generating meta and product descriptions. 

Of course, auto-content generation isn’t without its faults and setbacks, which we’ll discuss later in this post. However, an AI content writing tool can significantly cut down on workloads and alleviate some of the more time-consuming, monotonous writing tasks. 

✓ Enhanced Accuracy and Grammar Checking

Most AI content writers also provide grammar checks to ensure the content they produce is polished and easy to read. Through the use of advanced algorithms and machine learning, these AI tools can identify basic grammatical mistakes, punctuation errors, and spelling inconsistencies. 

✓ Streamlined Content Creation and Research

Last, but certainly not least, artificial intelligence in writing can significantly assist with the content research process. Most writers spend hours upon hours planning and preparing to write content. Tools like ChatGPT and Google AI can help them sift through mountains of information from various sources in minutes, if not seconds, thus streamlining the overall content creation timeline. 

However, we cannot address the benefits of AI writing tools without also touching upon their drawbacks. Let’s talk about some of the ways in which even the best AI writing can fall short of human-produced content.  

Significant Limitations of AI in Writing

✖ Underdeveloped Emotional Intelligence

At the risk of stating the obvious, the biggest difference between AI and human writing is the presence of emotion. As advanced as artificial intelligence might be in 2023, most tools simply cannot understand or convey emotions in the same manner as human writers. 

Sentiment, depth, subtly – these are incredibly important elements in any kind of content. Creative writing is all about establishing connections between the author and the reader, and these connections are forged in shared human emotion and experience (not mere algorithms). 

✖ Lack of Creativity and Originality

Although AI writing tools may be wizards when it comes to generating content based on existing data and patterns, they struggle to produce truly original work. Experienced human writers pride themselves on the ability to think outside the box and offer unique perspectives – and that’s not exactly AI’s strong suit. 

If you want your content to contain a sparkling new opinion or fresh ideas, an AI writing platform likely won’t give you what you’re seeking. AI writing tools rely on pre-existing data to generate text, which restricts their ability to generate wholly original content through critical thinking. 

✖ Limited Styles and Tones 

Human writing is all about finding your one-of-a-kind voice – and most AI-generated content sounds pretty much the same in terms of writing style and tone. Furthermore, AI writing assistants don’t really have the capability to understand linguistic intricacies and subtleties.

You’d be hard-pressed to find AI writing software that can fully mimic the voice and comprehension level of a human poet or persuasive writer. If you’re looking for artistry and finesse (and a unique brand voice), those elements are best left to a blood-and-bone content writer. 

AI’s Impact on Writing Quality and Standards

Now that we’ve covered some of the biggest pros and cons of using AI content creation tools, we need to broach the bigger subject at hand: how AI has the potential to impact writing quality and standards (both positively and negatively). 

The good news is that with the help of AI writing tools, common grammar mistakes could be all but eliminated. Wouldn’t it be nice to produce and digest content that is clean and polished, no matter where it comes from?

However, this does raise some ethical concerns about over-relying on generative AI technology. How will students and professional human writers grow if they never learn spelling, punctuation, and other important writing skills for themselves? 

Another concern is that AI writing software could potentially contribute to a world of generic, formulaic writing. As more and more businesses opt for AI writers over human creatives, what will happen to our society’s level of originality and artistry? 

Is this something we need to think about now?

Although the full impact of AI on writing is not understood today, we do know one thing: in the coming years, it will be crucial for brands and individuals to uphold standards and ensure that writers actively engage in maintaining authentic, high-quality content. Automated content cannot (and should not) be the end-all-be-all for any organization. 

This brings us to the next hot question: how do we find harmony between human writers and AI writing tools? 

Striking the Balance: AI and Human Collaboration 

It’s no secret that AI writing tools can enhance human capabilities. After all, we just talked about how they can speed up content writing tasks like grammar-checking and research. 

However, we shouldn’t just be talking about how AI can help human writers, but how human intervention can polish and perfect AI-generated content. 

As writers leverage AI tools when creating content, they will have more time to focus on the highly creative aspects of their jobs. Instead of wasting hours slaving away on topic ideation and blog outlines, professionals can dig deeper for more unique, engaging perspectives and narratives to write compelling copy. 

The truth is that there is really no substitute for the human touch. Therefore, it’s our belief that the future of content writers lies in using AI as a tool that further promotes and enables human creativity, rather than stifling or replacing it. 

Final Thoughts

Will AI replace human writers? There are definitely some people out there who would argue the answer is unabashedly yes, but they might have read one too many dystopian novels. 

AI will continue to change the content creation process and alter how human writers operate, providing valuable assistance with the most tedious, time-consuming elements of production. 

Still, it will be a long, long time before we see an AI content generator that can truly mimic the personality, creativity, and emotion possessed by human writers. 

If you’ve been wondering how AI writing software can benefit your brand (or whether a real content writer is worth the money), let’s schedule a chat. 
Our team will be happy to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current content setup, then provide suggestions for improving your reader and search engine engagement – with or without the help of an AI writing tool.

A web developer plays a larger role in the success of a business than many realize.

In the early stages of running a company, you’ve probably gotten used to DIY-ing many of your web-based tasks. We are fortunate to live in a time with infinite resources at our fingertips – and learning the basics of web development projects isn’t too challenging. Isn’t that what YouTube is for?

However, as your business grows, it will inevitably hit a point where the demands of your web presence exceed your capacity. You’ll be busy running your company, and you won’t have the time to MacGyver website solutions when you need them.

This is where web developers come in. 

When you hire a web developer, you’re getting more than just someone who builds websites. At the core, a web developer is an experienced problem-solver who creates/fine-tunes your website’s coding, makes updates, and keeps your site safe from cybercrime.

Don’t believe us? Let’s dive deeper into the role of custom web development for your brand. 

What is a Web Developer?

A web developer is a technical professional whose job is to build, maintain, and update websites and web apps. This largely involves writing and testing code, but that’s not all. 

There are three types of web developers: front-end, back-end, and full-stack.

Front-end developers focus on the user-facing aspect of a website – including the visuals, colors, layout, fonts, etc. Back-end developers focus on behind-the-scenes elements such as database management, performance optimization, and website security.

Full-stack developers specialize in both front-end and back-end development. They have expertise in common programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as various frameworks and libraries. Many web development companies will employ a team of full-stack web developers to ensure their clients’ websites are built to the highest standards.

The role of web developers is essential in shaping online experiences and powering a business’s growth. In this post, we will explore OTHER factors that influence the work of web developers. 

Let’s get started.

The Roles of a Web Developer

The Visionary

To the untrained eye, a polished website with appealing visuals and a well-designed user interface may seem easy to replicate. However, it’s not as simple as it looks. It takes in-depth web design skills and technical know-how to conceptualize a website that stands out from the competition.

Your web developer’s job is to approach your web project pragmatically, crafting a clear path toward your goals while infusing it with a distinctive touch.

As a business owner, you will have a lot of input into the web design process. You will need to communicate effectively, and your professional web developer will use their expertise in programming languages to develop a website or web application that brings your vision to life.

The Bottom Line

It doesn’t matter how new your company is or what industry you’re in – you likely have a dream for your digital presence. The web developer’s job is to help you bring that dream to life. They’ll ensure that the end product reflects your brand’s identity and goals in a unique and visually appealing way.

The Strategist

Once you and your web development agency have settled on the vision for your web project, they will strategize the best way to bring it to life.

A professional web developer will take charge of analyzing user behavior, monitoring digital trends, and staying up to date with the latest web technologies. They will also keep an eye on your competitors and their strategies, ensuring that your website stands out in a crowded market.

Using this invaluable knowledge and their programming skills, your website builders will craft a strategy for both the short-term and the long-term.

For instance, this strategy may involve finding ways of increasing web traffic and encouraging users to take action. This could be done by leveraging visual design trends to make the website more appealing, adding new features, or optimizing your overall website performance.

The Bottom Line

Web developers have an eye for detail and a knack for strategy. They understand the importance of creating a visually pleasing and responsive design. This insight allows them to develop a plan that not only meets your current needs but also sets your business up for future success.

The Integrator

When you hire a web developer, you can expect them to do a lot of the heavy lifting in conceptualizing, designing, and implementing solutions – based on the vision you create. 

Web developers are the masters of integration, and their role is to ensure that all components in your website work together harmoniously. This includes everything from scripts and databases to themes, plugins, APIs, and more. 

In other words, trained web programmers will put the puzzle pieces together to create a holistic, user-friendly site that can scale without the growing pains.

The Bottom Line

Think of your company with four pillars: marketing, customer service, sales, and IT. Full-stack developers are the glue that holds all of those elements together to create a cohesive website design experience for customers.

The Data Analyst

Decisions regarding your website design should not be made in a vacuum – rather, they should be informed by data.

If you’re not well-versed in Google Analytics, user behavior, heat mapping, email statistics, etc., the data you gather may not be useful. Keep in mind, this data needs to be interpreted cohesively to drive decision-making.

Web developers are key in this process. They will help you make sense of the data you collect and use it to optimize your web projects. This can include smarter ways to manage customer interactions, launch new products, and fine-tune the user experience design. 

The Bottom Line

Web developer are data-driven problem solvers. Not only will they help you make sense of all the data, but they can also provide insights into customer behavior that may otherwise be overlooked. This kind of knowledge is invaluable when it comes to improving the user interface and driving digital growth.

What’s the Next Step?

The decision to partner with a web developer is essential for any business that wants to have a competitive edge online. Yet, with that decision comes the responsibility of finding the right website creators for your job.

Knowing where to look and who to trust is intimidating; we get it. The key is to find a detail oriented web developer who understands your vision, brand goals, and customer needs.

At Platinum Consulting Services, we pride ourselves on providing cutting-edge web development services that consistently deliver on our clients’ objectives. From custom development to full-stack website design, our team has the skills and experience to bring your website project to life.

Are you ready to take your website development to the next level? Get in touch with us today, and let’s start the conversation.

In our web design agency, we always say that a website is a business’s “central hub,” particularly for online marketing activities.

You could have the best ad campaigns in the world, but if they direct customers to a site with a subpar user interface, what’s the point?

Your website needs to ingeniously showcase your brand’s values, image, and products. First impressions matter – and almost all of them are design-related.

Any user that visits your site is going to judge it in a matter of not seconds but milliseconds. That’s why it’s critical you dedicate appropriate resources and talent to designing a new website – one that truly “wows” people from the get-go.

Start by finding a web design company. There’s truly no substitute for expert guidance when it comes to creating an attractive, high-functioning website – but you need to find the right web designer for your business.

This designer needs to check all of your boxes and have relevant industry experience. So, if you’re on the hunt for website design services, buckle in for an intensive search process.

Today on the Platinum Consulting blog, we’re talking about how to choose a web designer that suits your brand. These six steps will help you weed out the wrong choices and zero in on the best candidate.

Step 1: Define Your Goals

Before you contact any web designers, conduct some internal assessments. What are the goals for your website? What is its purpose? What is your vision?

These are all questions you answer prior to interviewing a web design company. The more you understand what you hope to achieve, the easier it will be to determine if the designer is a good fit for your website goals.

Don’t just jot down a vague idea. Instead, take some serious time to sit down with your own team and nail down your website objectives. Discuss everything from your target audience to your brand’s colors to ensure you’re all on the same page.

Once you feel you have a clear vision of your future website, you can begin searching for and interviewing web designers.

Step 2: Ask to See Their Design Portfolio

So, you’ve found a few promising web design companies. Now what?

Begin by evaluating examples of their past work. A web designer’s portfolio is a window to their capabilities and the types of businesses they’ve served. Reviewing their previous work helps you gauge their industry expertise alongside their design aesthetic and level of customization.

Beyond the creative elements, you also want to determine a few key things:

• Are the web pages laid out purposefully?
• Do the designs look and feel professional?
• Are the websites easy to read and understand?
• Do the websites encourage an enjoyable user experience?
• Can this designer make your site stand out from other businesses?

Don’t just examine the web design portfolio from your own perspective – try to look at the site architecture and graphics through the eyes of your future customers.

Be honest throughout the evaluation. Frankly, be picky. Choosing a web designer is a big commitment, and you need to know you’re selecting one with a proven track record.

Step 3: Get Pricing Info Upfront

“If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

This phrase gets thrown around a lot, but in regard to web design companies, it hits the nail right on the head.

Web design costs can vary significantly depending on the scope and complexity of the project, as well as the designer’s specific setup. Therefore, it’s smart to request a price estimate right at the beginning of your assessment.

Don’t settle for a fuzzy estimate – ask for a detailed pricing quote that explains everything. You don’t want to encounter any hidden costs later on down the road, so push for the big-picture bill right at the beginning of your evaluation.

Keep in mind that a seemingly low cost isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. In many cases, an overly budget-friendly option is either (a) lacking in quality or (b) devoid of crucial add-on services such as SEO tactics, maintenance, content writing, graphic design, etc.

Ultimately, you want to invest in website design services to create something that…

• Aligns with your goals
• Has all the necessary bells and whistles
• Suits your budget
• Provides the best value for your money

Once you’ve obtained a quote from your top contender, request prices from a few other designers. It’s always worth your time to compare several companies. This will ensure you understand reasonable pricing (and what’s too low or too high).

If you have a specific budget in mind, discussing expenses upfront also gives you some negotiation wiggle room. Many web designers are willing to find an achievable price point by adjusting the project scope or offering alternative solutions.

Step 4: Request a Walkthrough of the Design Process

Once you’ve assessed a website designer’s portfolio and pricing, it’s time to move on to the next big P: their process. This is where the cream truly rises to the top.

An experienced web designer will have a battle-tested discovery strategy. This is how they come to deeply understand your values, vision, and expectations.

If you’re talking to a candidate that has a rudimentary discovery process (or worse, none at all!), that’s a giant red flag. Any professional worth hiring will kickstart their web design process with a detailed get-to-know-you phase.

In this part of the process, most web designers will ask a lot of questions – and that’s great. This is how the experts gather information to make strategic design decisions and create happy clients.

The bottom line: a professional web design company doesn’t rely on guesswork or haphazard approaches. As you assess web design agencies, look for the ones who take a systematic approach to their process – especially their discovery phase.

Step 5: Learn If They Handle Web Copy

Without written content, web designing is little more than a jumble of colors and images. That’s why we encourage every business owner to look for agencies that will handle their website’s design and copywriting requirements.

According to Semruch’s State of Content Marketing 2023 Global Report, up to 55% of the surveyees said that their quality content madethem successful. In other words, you can have a gorgeous website, but if its copy is lacking, you won’t achieve the best results.

Ask your web design candidates if they work with a content team to get words on each web page. When one company is responsible for both web design and web copy, they can ensure a cohesive, seamless brand identity across your site. The design works around the copy, and the copy supports every design element.

If a web design agency does handle content creation with a partner or internal team, assess their writing the same way you did their designs. Does their tone and voice seem to suit yours? Do you feel their content is engaging and authoritative – or simply words slapped on a page?

If a web design company does not write the copy for the web design, who will? Trying to wrangle two separate teams of writers and designers isn’t easy, so consider your options before you enter any commitments.

Step 6: Assess Their SEO Protocols

Your final step is to inquire about the web designer’s SEO services. After all, what good is a beautiful design if no one can find your website through search engines?

Search engine optimization (SEO) skills are crucial when it comes to building, designing, and maintaining a great business website. When hiring web designers, you want to know that they’re laying a strong foundation for success across Google and other search engines.

It doesn’t matter if you’re building a new website from the ground up or renovating an old one: your web designer should work in tandem with a web developer and copywriter to ensure every part of the site will be SEO-friendly. Each of these puzzle pieces needs to fall into place if you want to appear in the top search results for your industry.

In terms of web design, there are a few SEO protocols that most worthwhile web designers employ. A balanced approach tends to include…

• Optimizing the page layout and navigation
• Conducting and implementing keyword research
• Ensuring fast website loading speeds
• Creating a mobile-friendly design that renders on all devices

That’s just scratching the surface. Before you pull the trigger and hire any web designer, make sure they’re well-versed in SEO strategies and ready to attract leads.

Still on the Hunt for a Website Designer?

Choosing a web designer is a bit like online dating – you’ve got to go on a handful of dates before you find someone you really connect with.

At Platinum Consulting, we get to know you better than the average web design company. Our digital marketing agency is committed to serving your business needs through expert web development, site design, copywriting, and advertising.

Let’s see if we’re a good match for your own website! Schedule a website design consultation today and we’ll share our in-depth discovery process.