Web design agencies - What to look for

Sticky moments

Web designers get very excited about "stickiness" - meaning the design features of a site that encourage visitors to stay put. If you're starting an e-commerce venture or creating a site rich in content, the site has to grab and, more importantly, hold the attention of the visitor.

If you're selling a product, it's important to choose a designer that will create a brand that is as recognisable online as it is on the high street. The success of online bookstore Amazon is as much down to effective branding as its business plan, as Jaleh Bisharat, vice president for marketing, explains:

"In a very short period of time, Amazon.com has become one of the world's most recognized brands… We updated our logo to match the vitality of the brand and to reflect our most important core value - customer satisfaction. We believe the new logo exudes happiness, is fresh and unique, and has the potential, over time, to join the world's great consumer marks."

A design company's portfolio can often give a good indication of whether they are capable of delivering an effective brand for your product. Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. A company that has a small portfolio will often be able to offer a much more personalised service than the bigger players. They have more to prove. Spend some time visiting the sites in their portfolio.

Pay particular attention to the navigation system used, and make sure the design works for the content, not vice versa. Many designers exploit to death new technologies such as Macromedia Flash, often at the expense of functionality. Remember that most of your visitors will be using standard phone lines to connect, so download times should be kept to a minimum. Universal high-bandwidth access might be just around the corner, but don't jump the gun and create a site that only you can see.

There have been several notable failures of web companies that have done exactly this. Boo.com managed to alienate many potential customers by depending on cutting edge technology. Browsers would crash unless they were bang up to date, and Apple Mac users were excluded from the experience altogether. The rest, as they say, is history.