If you are looking to hire a web development company for your business or personal website, chances are you are reviewing web design agencies in Austin, Texas. As the fastest growing tech hub in the country, rivaling Silicon Valley, Austin is home to a number of web design and web development firms.
For the less technologically savvy, it can be confusing to know what to look for in a web development company. However, just as important as knowing what credentials and capabilities to look for is knowing which red flags to avoid.
If you are considering hiring a web design or web development company in Austin, here are five warning signs to look out for:
- Overpromising
Often when web development companies make specific, performance-based promises it is an indicator that they are trying to sell you a false image. The fact is that no web development company, no matter how skilled their team, can tell you the exact number of leads they will be able to help you generate or what dollar amount in sales you will be afforded by the end of the quarter. Flashy projections about where your company will be six months from now are often presented by companies that won’t live up to the hype when the rubber meets the road. A reliable Austin web development company is one that can tell you what services they can offer you and what goals they will help you work toward—not specific numbers that they guarantee. - Difficulty obtaining data
Generally speaking, if a web development company performs well and offers competitive pricing for that performance, it will show. Proof of quality can only be ensured by hard evidence, and if the web development company you are interested in is good at what they do, then they should have plenty of case studies and client reviews to back up their claims. Any difficulty accessing data relating to work done for previous clients, analytics, or performance metrics is typically a signal that the company is hiding something. A trustworthy web developer will have a track record that is easily reviewable to anyone interested in their services. -
A bad company website
The aesthetics and performance of a web development company’s own website will provide you with insight as to what type of product they really provide. If a company you are vetting for hire doesn’t have a website that is user friendly, runs smoothly, and is easily accessible from any device anywhere, then what assurance do you have that they will provide you one that does? While the landing site for a web development company does not tell you everything you need to know, it is still the face of their operation. Any glitches in functionality or inadequacies that appear during use of their site are tell-tale signs that you may want to take your business elsewhere. - Poor reviews
Probably the most direct way of assessing the legitimacy and value of any Austin web development company you may be interested in hiring is to look up their customer reviews. You want to watch out for both extremes: If all the reviews are terrible then the company is probably terrible. However, if the reviews are all five-star exaltations of a business that can do no wrong, that is also a red flag. The fact is, even some of the best web development companies in Austin miss some things every now and then. They may run into coding issues or miss the occasional deadline, and chances are some clients will end up writing a review mentioning these little hiccups. A company that produces quality work and has integrity will stand behind their product and take ownership when things go awry. -
Bad communication/ lack of integrity
Poor communication is also a major red flag. You should be able to assess a web development company’s communication from the moment you submit an inquiry. If a developer is not responding to you promptly, making themselves available for questions, or providing a clear quote and summary of services, you should be wary. If you are not receiving clear communication from the company during the inquiry stage of the process, things will likely not improve if you hire them to build your website. Conversely, you will know what to expect from an Austin web development company that shows integrity through their transparency with performance-related data and presentation of real time updates on their operations
