Looking at some of the many San Diego Web Design firms?  How do you go about choosing the Web design firm in San diego thats right for you?  Well, here are some common factors that you may want to consider:

Web design pricing

If money was no object, then you would never have to consider this. However, 9 times out of 10, this is one of the biggest deciding factors on who you choose to hire to design your site.  There is a very large range when it comes to web design prices.  But always remember, you get what you pay for.  Often, this is the first and also often the last question when making your decision.

Design Portfolio

Take a look at their portfolio. This is a very important step in choosing the right web design company, since not only can you judge the quality of their work, but also their general style.  Does their general style fit in line with what you have in mind?  Are they varied in their style, or do many things look similar?  For most, the proof is in the finished product.  So, make sure that something catches your eye.

Availability

Timing is often an issue for many.  If you need to meet deadlines, then make sure you ask if the design agency has an opening.  If not, when will be the next available slot?  In general, it is not unheard of for a project to take 1-3 months.

Capabilities

What does this San Diego Web Design firm specialize in?  Do they work with both web design and development?  Do they offer SEO?  Do they offer custom web site design or just website templates?  Some San Diego web design companies offer specializations like flash website design or rich interactive design.  Some, like ours offer additional services like branding through graphic design and print design.  Make sure whomever you choose is capable of tackling your project completely.

Customer Service

Customer service isn’t what it used to be.  There are a great many companies out there that are lacking the people friendly skills that customers look for.  Will this company work with me?  Will they be there to support their work after the initial project?  Do I trust this company?  These are important but sometimes overlooked questions to ask.

Whichever San Diego Web Design Firm you choose, make sure you have clear communication from start to finish.  And this means both parties taking the initiative to discuss and understand one another.  I often say, the more I understand you, the better I’ll be able to create a site that represents you.  And all of that is done through good communication in every step of the project.  So, if you are looking around for  a reputable company, keep these tips in mind.  And then once you’ve made your choice, you can feel confident that you’ve made the right decision.

Email marketing has been around now for some time.  And it is a hugely popular way to stay connected to your customers.  Still, many businesses have not yet began to utilize this marketing tool.  Lets discuss some of the main reasons why email marketing is an effective, powerful, and yet economically and environmentally sound choice.

I recently had a client who did a traditional mailing campaign.  We designed a mailer to advertise some of their latest specials, and had 500 printed.  We then mailed them out to a zip code mailing list.  Did people respond?  Now that is the big question here, without directly asking each new customer that came along, there really was no way of knowing how effective the mailer had been.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a place for printed mailing campaigns.  And they have been proven to work, depending of course on the design, and who you are sending them to.  But, that brings me to one of the biggest benefits to Email marketing.

When you send out an Email newsletter, assuming you are using an established Email marketing system, and not just emailing from your email account, you are provided several useful features.  One of them being the email report.  In this report, you can see results like, how many people opened the email, what time they opened it, how many times they opened it, which links they clicked, if they forwarded it to a friend, etc.  You can also see if they marked your email as spam, or unsubscribed from your emailing list.  With this kind of feedback, you know exactly how effective your campaign was, which people you might want to call, and interestingly, which types of further emails you should send to people.  For example, if John Smith clicks on “Save 20% on Mens clothing” and Jill clicks on “Jewelry”, you could use that information to send them further future emails on just those topics, knowing that you may very well have future sales, in their individual areas of interest.  There really are so many things you can learn from the report data, that we can’t possibly go through each one, but know that a major difference between traditional print and mail techniques, and Email marketing, is that you easily and immediately collect feedback on your campaign’s effectiveness.

since you are able to brand your email blasts just like the rest of your marketing materials, make sure you do it

Another aspect is that you can brand the style of your email blast very closely to your existing web site brand.  If you’ve read one of our other articles on branding, you’ll know why it is so important.  But in a nutshell, everything you present to your clients should always look like it came from your company “brand”.  Often, I see companies who actually have a very nice established brand, logo, color scheme, etc.  Then they are sending emails out that perhaps have their logo, but it really does not have the same cohesive style as their web site, brochure, business cards, etc.  This, in a way, defeats some of the efforts to develop a brand.  It also takes away from some of the credibility that they achieve by building that brand.  So, just remember that since you are able to brand your email blasts just like the rest of your marketing materials, make sure you do it.  The time it takes to design an email blast template, will be well worth the added credibility and response you receive with each future blast.

What about the economical aspect of email marketing?  With the economic pressure growing more each day, small to large businesses are having to account for every dollar spent.  Also, while most businesses know that they need to market, it can be difficult to justify the cost.  The mailing campaign I mentioned at the outset had cost somewhere around $1 – $1.25 per mailer.  It looked great, and it a measure of success, but in comparison with the cost of an Email blast, it looses some of its charm.  It is difficult to give a generalized number, since there are many companies out there, but I can tell you that our cost  for an Email blast can be as little as $0.4 per email address.  So you figure if you send that blast to 500 people, the cost would then be $20.  This excludes any design or database setup fees, but I think you get the point that Email blasts can be very economical.

This is not to mention that you are literally saving trees and helping the environment, when you choose an Email blast over a print campaign, you are choosing a much “greener” alternative.

So, after considering just some of the benefits of Email marketing, I’m sure you are eager to begin.  Why not start by giving us a call and lets talk about it.  More and more companies are utilizing this powerful sales tool.  You should be the next.