Professional Website Creation: The Ultimate Guide to Your Successful Online Presence

Services of professional agencies for your new website

Full service approach or individual service?

Professional web design agencies go far beyond pure design and support you with full service support from A-Z: from needs analysis to setting up the hosting package to going live, including marketing connection, so that you have a modern basis for SEO (search engine optimization) and SEA (search engine advertising).

In tune with the times: designed for users

Perhaps you know it yourself: You're on the train or waiting and want to do something quickly online in the meantime. How annoying it would be if the website doesn't load properly when the network is poor - bang, you might click on another provider's website. Of course, this should not happen to users on your platform.

When it comes to design, modern website agencies focus on current trends in UX / UI, i.e. good user experience and intuitive, easy navigation. Even if you offer a large number of services or products, web design companies always make sure that they consider sensible menu and page structures. After all, every user should be able to find their way around quickly.

With Netflix, the user knows immediately what it is all about and getting started is just a click away.

In addition to contemporary web design, the focus is on technical aspects: short loading times and mobile optimization are important because most (initial) access to online offers is via smartphones.

Conceptualize and implement professional web design

Understanding your brand and goals

A successful website is so much more than just a digital business card: apart from search engine optimization and other marketing channels, the online presence should primarily fulfil these functions:

• Appeal to your target audience
• Highlight your expertise
• inspire trust in you
• Convey your brand values

Good website agencies are very good at empathizing with your brand, values and goals. They ask the right questions even before the website concept is created - because they are the basis for the design.

Objective needs and feasibility analysis

Before you have the website made - and if you already have specific ideas about the look and feel of the site - you are happy to discuss your desired functions, design elements and much more.

If you don't have any ideas, experienced website agencies will show you many variants that present your services professionally: This is all about media placement, scroll animations, charming design gimmicks and, of course, a clear understanding of the user.

Concept phase: Proactive web design consulting instead of stubborn implementation

Website creation is an iterative process: during the planning phase, you may think of other important aspects that need to be implemented. Better still, the experienced web design experts will approach you and address possibilities that you hadn't even thought of. Experienced agencies are not just mere service providers, but reliable sparring partners who will smartly refine your project.

Complete creation or individual landing pages as required?

When it comes to creation, the agencies flexibly adapt to your needs so that you can count on calculable costs for web design. The main thing is to estimate the costs in advance according to your desired measures:

• Are simple tweaks enough to make the already modern design a little more chic or click-friendly?
• Do you need a re-branding due to a company takeover?
• Is a relaunch necessary due to outdated technology or an outdated design?
• Would you like to have individual, thematically and creatively different landing pages created that deviate from the look of the main page? (For example, for employee recruitment, ads landing pages, A/B testing, etc.)?

Whether you only want minor adjustments or a professional website depends on the cost. An experienced provider will provide you with reliable support in any case.

Technical solutions: Relaunch, domain protection, hosting, maintenance and more

Web design agencies help you with the design and - just as importantly - with the system creation. Technical solutions include these points, for example, which you do not need to worry about separately:

• secure new domains / take over domain transfer
• Set up / manage hosting, if required
• Set up test environment / staging system
• Create correct redirects (for relaunches)
• Maintenance contract / security updates
• Functional enhancements to the website

For your expectations, we would like to make you aware that technical security is elementary and that you should not save on maintenance costs at the wrong end. A hack can lead to a much higher loss of revenue and costs for repairing or rebuilding the website. Of course, the prices for this should be justified and broken down transparently.

Quality features in professional website creation

If you want to have a website created, there are plenty of agencies to choose from. However, since every provider wants to win new customers, they subjectively say that they are among the best. At first glance, this appears to be the case because they themselves have a very appealing website.

It is difficult for end customers to make an objective assessment of their expertise. Feedbax helps with real data, trustworthy case studies and verified reviews when comparing website agencies. We have already separated the wheat from the chaff for you: in our comparison, you can see which budgets and services you can expect based on numerous experiences and cost estimates.

Experience and standing in the industry

Answers to these questions provide an initial indication of high-quality, professional web design:

• How many years have the website and web design agencies been on the market?
• Are the service providers well-known in the marketing or design scene?
• Is the experience of the team members proven?
• Do the website agencies work with renowned CMS?

Many positive ratings / reviews, awards if applicable

Trust is an important currency when choosing the right web design agency. These factors help when deciding on a provider:

• Are there genuine reviews with detailed descriptions?
• Have the reviewers already submitted several reviews or is there just this single, very effusive review from the user?
• Has the agency won any design awards or other accolades?
• Do they advertise employee qualifications, certificates or internal training programs? (This is an important indicator of expertise that is up-to-date).

Detailed case studies and references

In addition to good reviews, professional agencies for web design and website creation should present their projects in detail. Our comparison platform Feedbax attaches great importance to transparency: that's why you'll find website agencies with informative case studies. What else is important?

• Are reference projects presented in depth and clearly?
• Are the web design references relatively up-to-date?
• Have the website agencies worked for well-known clients or at least implemented innovative projects?

If you want to find a good web design agency on your own and come across a service provider that has no or only a few reviews, be sure to ask to see projects - and then form an opinion or get a second opinion.

Expertise: Cross-industry or specialized?

There are professional web design agencies that are broadly positioned - and there are providers that focus on specific industries. What are the advantages of cross-industry or specialized experience in website creation?

Web design agencies with a broad industry focus have gained a lot of experience with different technical and visual requirements. They can therefore combine the knowledge gained in a smart way and make recommendations on proven concepts that can be cleverly adapted for your project. These service providers also have a high degree of flexibility and strategic understanding. Working with different industries and focusing on different target groups enriches the view of creative design with innovative user guidance.

Specialized web design agencies know exactly what works well in the respective industry. That's why you benefit from established best practices and fast, professional implementation. Both the design and technical challenges such as interface solutions are very familiar to the providers. Web design consulting is also very efficient

Reliability, punctuality and clear agreements

The quality of the collaboration is a decisive criterion for satisfaction and the cost of web design:

A professional exchange is characterized by clear goals, milestones and regulated feedback. Deadlines are met, optimization is carried out properly and mutual trust grows. Performing the work to a high, error-free standard reduces feedback loops - and prevents self-inflicted correction costs due to negligence or inaccurate quotation items.

You can keep the cost of creating a website low if you choose professional web design agencies that give you an idea of their approach during the initial consultation.

Use of the latest technologies and adaptation to algorithm requirements

Separate marketing areas and knowledge silos work inefficiently: It has been known for many years how important it is to have know-how about the connection between UX / UI, technical guidelines regarding pagespeed and focus on algorithms such as those of search engines.

The use of modern CMS and tools in website creation takes this into account: ever leaner systems are conquering the market, offering more functionality and design options with shorter loading times.

Well-positioned web design agencies have expertise in many areas that work closely together to combine the best of all worlds.

Costs and budget planning for your new website

What does professional web design cost and how much does it cost to create a website?

Factors such as the scope of the design, the desired layout variety, the agency location, expertise, optimization for all end devices and maintenance contracts all influence the cost of a website.

You can find out more details about the costs of web design and website creation in the sections below.

What does a professional website cost?

How much does it cost to have a website created? This complex question includes many aspects that influence the price:

• What do possible full products look like?
• Do you need several layouts, e.g. for the homepage, about us, contact, team, service pages, product pages or landing pages for advertising campaigns and job offers?
• Is there a wide range of functions, such as interfaces to booking tools, extensive merchandise management, fancy animations, smart chatbots and other aspects that contribute to the complexity of the website and web design?
• Does the cost of the website already include a style guide and brand design?

Is media creation required? Good web design is about more than colors, animations and well-divided sections - keep in mind that professional media such as employee photos, product videos and clear infographics make up the majority of the design.

In terms of your expectations, please bear in mind that the cost of web design does not automatically include the creation of logos, animated graphics, photos, etc. The prices for creating a website in terms of technical setup, conception, functionality and maintenance can differ significantly from the costs for media creation - and yet the two topics are inextricably linked.

Have an affordable website created: Web design costs for small sites

The costs for a website can be significantly lower if you:

• need a one-pager as a digital business card
• are only planning individual landing pages (e.g. for ad campaigns etc.)
• want a small website with few subpages, e.g. Start, Contact, About us
• use ready-made design templates instead of an in-house development
• only need simple functions such as a contact form.

Ask yourself exactly what you need and what your goals are: Keeping prices for website creation or web design low at the expense of marketing success will not let you achieve your business goals. The motto is often: invest wisely so that you can generate more sales.

Having a website created at a fixed price: How much does a complete website cost?

Having a website created at a fixed price has various advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of a fixed-price website:

• Predictable budget
• Completed project without dependence on web design agencies
• the one-off payment is often cheaper than paying in installments or monthly payments

Disadvantages of a fixed-price website:

• A fixed offer may limit dynamic brainstorming because clients often think of functional enhancements, additional web design ideas, etc. during the process.
• Additional work or extensions that have not been agreed must be negotiated and planned in detail, which significantly increases the overhead and may result in higher costs.

Please note that the following factors are not included in the fixed price for website creation:

• Hosting fees
• Maintenance fees such as security updates
• License costs for interfaces, plugins, etc.

Website relaunch costs: Turning old into new

Website relaunch costs are highly variable and are influenced by the following factors, among others:

• Is an existing design template used and slightly modified or is there an in-house development for the web design?
• To what extent is it necessary to customize the CMS functions? (Keyword custom development)
• Is content migration from the old website to the new one necessary or will new content such as texts and media be created?
• Ideally, a test environment should be set up so that complex adjustments do not affect the accessibility and presentation of the live site.
• Setting up redirects is particularly important and extensive (depending on the size of the website): Even if the domain remains the same, directories can change. Incorrect settings can result in loss of ranking and loss of sales.
• Further website relaunch costs are incurred by (included or separate) test and feedback loops before and after going live.

Professional website agencies and web design providers can estimate the costs of a relaunch very reliably and work through detailed checklists. It is important that you think about important issues yourself - because even the best agency cannot consider all eventualities without your active involvement, sometimes the devil is in the detail. If you as the client are well prepared, the web design service provider will work more efficiently.

How much does a website cost per month or year? Factors for website support costs:

These are regular fees that are separate from the actual website creation or web design concept and are allocated to ongoing operations:

• Hosting costs
• Technical maintenance (plugin and security updates)
• Licenses for plugins and interfaces
• Separate marketing costs

The process: How professional website creation works

Creating a website is a complex process that is implemented in an efficient, structured and professional manner with mutual support. To give you a better idea and sharpen your expectations, we explain the process of creating and setting up a website. This will give you a better idea of what the web design agencies should achieve and how you can optimize the process through good cooperation.

Professional website creation begins with a detailed consultation:

• Almost all web design agencies offer free initial consultations.
• Your wishes, requirements, goals and budget expectations are discussed.
• As soon as it comes to the concept: Do you have specific ideas for the design or should web design agencies develop ideas based on your brand values?

Web design agencies plan the cost estimate for your project:

• Based on your requirements and industry best practices, website creation and web design costs are estimated.
• Depending on the complexity, feasibility studies may be carried out in advance, which are also included in the price.
• The number of feedback loops is usually specified.
• A cost item for project management and communication is also included.
• There are often agreements that certain offer modules are billed on a time basis so that the agencies can protect themselves against dynamically changing requirements that would massively exceed the costs.

Have a website created: Start of the web design conception phase

• A fixed number of screen designs are created, which form the basis of the web design concept.
• The preferred layout is recreated in the CMS in defined feedback loops.
• The layout is then approved by the client so that the web design agency can continue working with a final template.

Professional web design is implemented:

• A domain for the website is secured; if necessary, a domain transfer is carried out for the relaunch.
• The test system is set up.
• Various page types are created on the basis of the approved designs: Home page, About us, Contact us, Service pages / Product pages and others.
• The most important plugins for functions, marketing, cookies and design options are set up.
• Content migration is carried out or placeholders for text, images and videos are set up.
• As soon as all relevant content has been added, optimization for desktop and mobile devices begins.

Professional website creation enters the feedback phase:

• You are given access to the test system.
• You assess the look and feel of the website (navigation, layout, font sizes, color nuances, usability and other aspects).
• You give the collected feedback to the website service provider and have it implemented.

Website creation is completed: Go live and functional check:

Tasks of web design agencies include in this step:

• The website is set to “index” so that search engines can index it.

• The accessibility of the website is tested; this involves the correct forwarding from “http” to “https”, directories with and without trailing slash “/”, variants with and without “www.” as well as the forwarding of other domains.

• Contact forms, telephone number links, email links and buttons are tested.
• It is checked whether broken links (“404 errors”) occur and 301 redirects are set correctly.
• The new website is submitted for indexing in the Google Search Console; either just the sitemap or even the most important URLs manually

Technologies and CMS for your professional website

WordPress - the ingenious all-rounder

One of the most popular CMS used by web design and website agencies is WordPress. The system is highly customizable, easily accessible for designers and developers and offers a wealth of free plugins. You can also quickly get to grips with the backend and maintain content yourself. This makes it independent and future-proof.

Why professional website creation is worth it

As digitalization progresses, potential customers mainly come into contact with a brand or an offer online - and there is no second chance to make a first impression.

That's why the website must immediately look professional and

• be quickly accessible,
• create trust,
• offer good usability,
• present brand values.

However, professional web design only comes into its own when the site can be found. Through targeted online marketing, the modern website becomes competitive and can hold its own against competitors in the long term - who ultimately also invest in web design and marketing.