Professional Web Design in West Malling, Kent

I’ve worked for the family firm just outside West Malling for all of my adult life and while it is an established business, it’s needed modernising for a long time. My grandfather built the business from nothing and then handed it to my father, who will eventually hand it to me. With a younger outlook and a better understanding of modern technology I convinced my father that we needed to get a website built that would also work as a shop – as a large percentage of our trade is selling to the general public. For me, it was an obvious decision to enlarge our customer base to more than just summer tourists and residents who live with 10 miles of our shop.

As there were no web designers in West Malling I had to look elsewhere, though I still wanted to use a local business. I did quite a lot of research on the website that we needed but it was a struggle as I, like most people, only know the basics when it comes to the Internet. I thought all my problems had been solved when I got chatting to a customer who recommended someone who had, apparently, been building websites for years. I met the chap, who worked from home, and he certainly seemed to know what he was talking about. I explained what I wanted and he told me that he could build me the perfect ecommerce site that would allow potential customers to visit the website pick their products, check out and receive them via delivery. I knew that my fathers business required a complicated website but I felt confident that this designer could build it.

I made a massive mistake in letting this designer build the website because I basically went on a recommendation from a customer and nothing else. I looked at his portfolio but I didn’t bother to check if he had actually built these sites or whether he was showing me someone else’s work. I didn’t bother to ask if I could speak to some of his previous clients and I didn’t ask any questions about where he had studied and how long he had been working as a web designer.

After agreeing to go ahead with the work, the designer asked for a 50% deposit upfront, which was a sizeable amount of money. The designer also told me it would take three months to complete the work, which I thought was a long time but I didn’t question it due to my lack of knowledge. I agreed that I would pay the remaining balance once the job was finished. Looking back I have realised that once this designer took the 50% deposit from me he didn’t really care about the remaining balance.

The designer promised to send updates at least once a week, which never materialised. I had to constantly contact the designer and after one week of hearing nothing from him, he told me, "Sorry, I’ve been on holiday!"

After three months had passed I should have had a finished website, when in reality I had nothing. The designer hadn’t sent me any updates, proofs etc. and was barely communicating with me. I had to make the decision to approach another designer and get the website built which was heart breaking as not only had I lost three months, I had lost a considerable amount of money and the family business still didn’t have a website. It was also coming up to Christmas, which is a very busy period for us. As far as I was concerned we had to have a website built and this meant cutting my losses and approaching another design company.

I went back online and scoured the Internet until I found the right website design company. I went for someone that specialised in ecommerce sites and I made sure to check their portfolio and reviews. I even took the step to approach a client they had worked for to make sure they were the right people to use. I felt that I had found the right company to use and I knew for definite when they travelled from London to West Malling to visit my fathers business and speak to the staff.

Suffice to say, the design company in London delivered the perfect website that has increased revenue tenfold. The site has been live for a few years now and they update things for us as when we need it. No doubt, in a few years the site will need a total redesign and they will definitely get the business. They even take care of the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which helps with our rankings. When I first started looking for someone to build a website I didn’t even know what SEO was and the first designer certainly didn’t mention it to me.

In conclusion, I have realised that if you are stepping into the unknown, you must make sure you are fully prepared. I wouldn’t want other people to have the same experience as I did. As for the first designer, I have no idea what happened to him as the customer who gave me the recommendation no longer uses our business.

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