As it looks like we’ll be working remotely for a while yet, we thought we’d share some of what we’ve learned from our first 12 months of delivering remote Design Sprints.

Check out Time + Space on Adzooma Marketplace.

Preparation is key

In the strategy and design community, the concept of the Design Sprint is now fairly established — outside of our circle though, it’s still a relatively unknown entity. So the additional unknown of a tool like Miro means that preparation is absolutely key.

To prepare for a successful remote workshop:

• Your board design needs to be as user friendly as possible. Lock everything that participants don’t actually need to interact with. Anything in your board that is background material, instructions, presentation material needs to be locked so that the participants can’t move it accidentally. Nothing will derail your workshop quite like an unwitting participant moving your frames around accidentally…
• You should also create personalised workspaces for each participant, for each activity if required. A named frame, with different coloured post-its, sticky dots and anything else that might be needed during the workshop. This way, your participants only need to navigate to their workspace, copy and paste a post-it and type in. This will save time and build confidence in your participants. In a physical workshop, we wouldn’t expect participants to find the stationery cupboard so why expect them to find the post-its in the navigation bar…

• Run through the workshop design with whoever your client sponsor is — make sure they’re happy and comfortable with what you’re expecting participants to achieve in the allocated time.
• Ideally you need a co-facilitator — someone who can help participants with technical support, or give additional explanation for any exercises. We’ve shared phone numbers with participants before now as an absolute fail-safe way for participants to contact us for help. It’s a great support for participants, but beware you could end up inundated with calls / texts as well as chat messages in Teams or Zoom.
• Think about what the best video chat platform is to complement your Miro board. We’ve used Zoom, Teams and the video chat within Miro itself. In truth, all are a bit of a compromise and you’ll find your preferred option. Zoom offers breakout rooms, Miro doesn’t require you to share additional joining instructions, Teams… well, Teams is Teams. Sometimes your client’s security protocol means you have to use Teams and them’s the breaks…
• Run through, run through and run through… Test your timings, make sure instructions are clear, lock anything that should be locked and then run through again.
• Lock everything that should be locked, then check that it’s locked. Trust us, you’ll thank us later.

All onboard

We always aim for a 30 min onboarding call in the days before the workshop. This is where we introduce ourselves, a brief overview of the workshop objectives and agenda and an introduction to Miro. We guide participants through the navigation and give them a simple task to complete — fill in their name on a post-it and move it to a shared space.

We reassure them that we’ll be on hand to help with any technical issues and that the board we’ll use in the workshop will have plenty of clear instructions for each exercise.

If a real-time call isn’t possible, then we record a short video introduction on Loom and share that with each participant along with other onboarding documentation, still asking them to complete the short on-boarding exercise.

The purpose of the exercise is to help participants overcome any anxiety they might have about using a new tool. It’s also a really good way for facilitators to identify which participants might need a little extra support during the workshop.

Time moves differently online

Our remote workshops have covered everything from 1 hour long Lightning Decision Jams to multi-day Design Sprints. I wouldn’t wish longer than 3 hours in a single sitting on anyone.

As a participant, it can be hard to maintain energy levels remotely for longer than that (read here about the extra energy required for remote meetings) especially if it’s their first time using Miro. And as a facilitator it’s frankly exhausting. Best to cut the time and keep the momentum in our experience.

Using the timings from a physical workshop as a starting point, we’ve found that broadly speaking activities tend to take around 30% — 50% longer online. This is partly due to participants getting up to speed with using Miro, and partly because finding a post-it, copy and pasting it, typing in and then moving it to a consolidation board is slower than grabbing a Sharpie, scribbling on a post-it and sticking it to a wall. The additional time required will lessen as you move through your workshop and participants get quicker at creating and completing their inputs.

That said, we’ve also found that any presentation sections of your workshops tend to run about 25% quicker than physically. We think this is because you tend to speak more succinctly on a remote call, and your audience is less likely to contribute lengthy questions.

And as we mentioned earlier, if your workshop is a multi-day Sprint like the traditional Design Sprint, then you need to think about how long each section will be. In our experience, we wouldn’t exceed 3 hours for each section. That said, a 3 hour remote workshop can achieve the same outcomes as a day long physical workshop as long as you’ve prepped and onboarded efficiently. Where we would have done a physical Design Sprint over 4 days, we’ve now developed that to be 3x 3 hour remote workshops. This is an added benefit – in our experience, clients find it easier to schedule 3 half-day sessions than having to commit to 4 full-days.

Tiny details make a big difference

The truth is that developing remote workshops was a steep learning curve for us, and each one is an opportunity for more learning. Getting into the habit of wash-ups / retros helps with sharing and defining learning. Here’s a couple of details that we learned the hard way…

• Make sure your participants cursors are the blue arrow — that’s how they interact with a board. We lost valuable time at the start of a workshop with one participant who couldn’t interact with the board. It took too long for us to realise we hadn’t given this one simple piece of instruction right at the start.

• Consider where you place your individual workspaces for each activity. If laid out in alphabetical order, left to right horizontally your participants might find they have a long way to drag their post-its to the shared workspace. Consider laying personal workspaces around the borders of the shared space so each participant can easily move their contributions to the shared space.
• If your participants don’t sign-in to Miro (there’s no need to) then their cursor will be named Anonymous Artisan or something equally non-descript. This isn’t a problem until they become lost in the board and you try to ‘bring them to you’. Who are you bringing to you? There’s two ways round this — ask all participants to sign in, which adds friction to the onboarding process. Or have a frame at the start of the session where everyone assigns their name to their cursor — which adds time at the start of a session.
• “Bring to me when presenting” is literally stuck to the bottom of my screen, as a constant reminder to just get in the habit to click ‘Bring everyone to me’ when I’m presenting instructions, or background / narrative material. Do the work for participants here and allow them to navigate for themselves when they’re working.

Like most, remote workshops were a new thing for us 3 months ago. For a business that involves a lot of physical interaction with clients in workshops and Sprints, we had to adapt quickly. It was a steep learning curve at first, and we’re still refining and developing our remote Sprints. 

Hopefully these pointers will help anyone else wanting to get up to speed quickly.

Working with a website design agency is the best way to ensure you develop a site that cultivates a strong online presence. Of course, some agencies are better than others.

Similarly, the way you interact with your designer makes a huge difference. In this post, we’ll go over the main points to help you get the most out of your web design agency, ensuring your site is a success!

1. Have a plan

To start, you need to have a plan of action.

Look at your business and consider what type of website you need to produce. Is it going to be a detailed site that operates as an online store with hundreds of product pages? Some companies only need a landing page and a couple of other web pages to provide info and contact details.

It depends on what you sell and who your target market is. This will help you come up with a plan that your web design agency can look at and put into action.

2. Work with your agency, not against them

The most common issue between agencies and clients is communication. Granted, the channels are always there and always open but intentions can get misinterpreted if neither side explains themselves. But that can be fixed; you need to work with your agency to further your goals.

If you require a solution to a problem, you should outline what that issue is in a concise way and provide the solution(s) if you know them. You should also stay connected to your agency and offer insights into your business or extra information that helps them develop a better website.

This not only gives your communication more structure, it also feeds into the stability of your client-agency relationship, resulting in the best site for your business.

3. Responsive web design is key

As we’ve already mentioned, you will find a plethora of website design agencies in your area. The best ones all have one thing in common – they offer responsive web design.

Responsive design is critical to user experience so your website can look the same on different devices and screen sizes. Alongside that, with Google using mobile-first indexing by default, it’s important your design is responsive to avoid a decrease in SEO performance.

4. Don’t forget UX and accessibility

UX (user experience) is arguably the most important aspect of website design. When hiring a web design agency, they must provide exceptional UX design.

The easier it is for someone to use your website, the more time they spend on it. Conversely, what happens when your site isn’t built around user experience? It takes ages to load up, things are hard to search for, and menu buttons are unresponsive, and bad UX leads to high bounce rates and poor conversion rates.

Within that, your website should also be accessible to all users and the best web design agencies will understand that.

Some things to consider for accessibility:

• Images with alt text
• Audio or video with captions
• Appropriate colour contrasts
• Larger body text
• Using hyperlinks rather than JavaScript links
• Navigation that can be controlled with a keyboard or mouse
• Correctly labelled forms
• No flashing pages or text

Make sure any web agency you talk to takes UX design and accessibility into consideration, to avoid alienating a large number of users who may have used your product or service if they could access your site.

5. Put a huge focus on SEO

SEO is another key part of a strong web design (and works with UX and accessibility). An excellent way to determine if a web design agency is right for you is if they outline their plans for SEO. We’ve already covered a few critical elements that improve a site’s SEO. UX design is a big one—it could cost you ranking positions.

Find SEO agencies for your business on Adzooma Marketplace today.

6. Ensure you get what you pay for

The final point is to pay close attention to what the web design agency offers you.

You need to ensure they deliver on any promises and provide you with exactly what you paid for. If you’ve paid for a responsive website, and yours doesn’t work on mobile devices.

Be clear about what your aims/goals are, ensuring the agency meets all of these targets.

The bottom line is that you can save a lot of time hiring a web design agency. Not only that, but you call upon people with expertise in this field, allowing you to create something that improves your online presence.

The best course of action is to figure out your budget, then search for agencies that align with it. On Adzooma Marketplace, you can filter your search by budget and save time during your search.

Find success with Adzooma Marketplace

Follow the tips in this post to be sure that you get the most out of your partnership! On Adzooma Marketplace, we have a great selection of web design agencies with top agencies such as Arren Marketing, think3, and PMD.

Find the right web agency today on Adzooma Marketplace.

So, how do you find the top ones? Here are five tips to help you select a web development company that’ll take your business to the next level:

1. What are the costs?

Firstly, you have to work out the costs of hiring your web design agency. Realistically, this begins with finding out what you can afford. Weigh up your finances and consider a budget for web design services.

From here, you can get quotes from different brands and see how much everything will cost. Some agencies charge a flat rate with add-ons for different design elements.

For instance, some agencies might charge for web design and then charge extra to improve your SEO. Others may have additional charges for prolonged support after the website has been created.

You even get instances where they charge separately for bespoke landing pages. It varies from agency to agency, be sure you know the full costs before committing.

Adzooma Marketplace offers a wide range of web design agencies to suit all budgets. Find your perfect agency or service provider today.

2. What does the agency’s portfolio look like?

Telling potential clients you’re great is one thing—but showing them is another. That’s why having a strong portfolio is so important. It demonstrates a web agency’s talent, style, innovation, and how they handle a brief.

Things to look out for include:

1. Interactive features
2. A varied-looking portfolio
3. Consistent branding throughout a website
4. Unique extras (detailed case studies, project timelines, words from the client)

It also helps if an agency can show the impact their work has had. What were the results of their work? That could be the deciding factor.

3. Who can you call?

Communication is essential when working with a web design agency. You need to know who you can call to speak about any issues or track progress.

There must be a solid point of contact that’s readily available whenever you need it. Usually, this comes in the form of a team including a project/account manager, a client support executive/manager and web designers.

Some agencies may be hard to get in touch with them, or they are slow to reply. Make sire you establish who your points of contact are whenever you speak to an agency.

4. What kind of support will you receive?

Once you know who you can call, you need to understand what kind of support is available.

Most agencies will offer continued support during and after the web design process. However, you must be clear about what kind of support you’re receiving.

For instance, are you receiving maintenance support behind the scenes? Will the agency monitor your site and continue to keep it in perfect condition after it has been produced?

For example, S’more Brands offers ongoing maintenance—because “stuff eventually breaks”—with cost-effective monthly maintenance plans.

The location of the agency plays a key role here. If they’re local, you know that you’re both operating on a similar schedule. But, if they’re based in another country, it can throw the support out of whack. You may need answers to a pressing question, but won’t receive them for twelve hours due to time zones!

Always be clear on what support you get from a web design agency before you hire them. If they offer no support, that’s an instant red flag.

5. What tools do they use?

Effectively, this refers to the technology and platforms the web design agency uses to create and monitor your site. Many companies will use a CMS like WordPress, but is this ideal for your website?

Therefore, you want to see what tools and technologies each web design agency calls upon. Ideally, you should look out for tools that emphasise UX design and customisation.

This will ensure they can develop a website that’s unique and offers a great user experience for everyone that visits. Responsive web design is also vital, so they need to use tools that can adapt your site for different viewing platforms. 

Let Adzooma Marketplace be your agency finder

Take all five of these tips into account, then use Adzooma Marketplace to find the best web design agencies around. We have an extensive catalogue of the top web design companies in the world.

You can view many different brands and check out their portfolios via our site. To make things even better, you can refine your searches based on budgets, business type, industry specialisations, locations, and much more. It lets you create strict parameters that show the best agencies for your specific needs.

Regardless of how detailed your website will be, we can help you find a web development company that ticks all the right boxes. Check out our marketplace today to start your search!

Fortunately, we’re at hand to help you pick the right one for your latest project. Here’s everything you need to know before choosing a design agency for your website.

1. Look at their portfolio

Any web design agency worth its salt will have a diverse portfolio to showcase their past projects.

A portfolio is essential as it gives you insight into an agency’s design style. This enables you to gauge the agency’s compatibility with your business. In addition to looking critically at an agency’s portfolio, take a good look at its website too. You ought to at least like what you see on the agency’s site before you settle on it.

Does the company do for its site what it proposes to do on yours? For instance, do they follow the best practices when it comes to UX design? Are they using up-to-date technology and tools? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you should consider hiring that agency.

For example, The Hatch has worked with the likes of Ted Baker, B&Q and the V&A on their websites.

Read: 9 Best Web Design Agencies in London

2. Consider the costs

Pricing for web development services can be something of a challenge, especially if you are not particularly tech-savvy. It would be best if you asked about the cost to make an informed decision with questions such as:

• Do they charge at an hourly rate or for the project as a whole?
• What is the estimated final price, regardless of the pricing model?
• Once you pay the agreed sum, will you own the website fully?
• Is the total price inclusive of SEO and a content management system?
• Does it also include designing and coding the site, or will you need to hire an independent programmer to code the site?

When it comes to choosing an agency, make sure you get exactly what you have agreed to pay for.

Read: The Average Cost of UK Marketing Agencies in 2020

3. Think about support

Another consideration while shopping for a web design agency is the kind of support they offer their clients. You want to choose an agency that is responsive to your concerns and needs.

Ask the agency how they handle client support:

• Do you need to get a ticket and wait in line?
• Can you call and have your issue addressed promptly?
• Do they offer a warranty?

A warranty often points to a trustworthy agency that is willing to guarantee the quality of their work. Besides, having a warranty ensures that you will get free corrective services if you encounter problems with your site after launching it.

Read: How Much Time Can You Save By Hiring An Agency?

4. Is the company approachable?

Make sure the agency you choose makes you feel comfortable if you bring up any concerns.

Consider the size of the agency you’re looking for and the level of growth you want to attain. If you are a small business owner and choose a bigger agency, you might feel overlooked as they have more active clients, which would make it harder for you to raise concerns as they come up.

Also, pick a company that encourages face-to-face meetings (or video conferencing during the pandemic!) People tend to communicate better when they meet in person.

5. What tools does the company use?

There’s a host of tools that web designers use to make websites and wireframes, and manage their projects. Ask an agency what they use. For example, at Adzooma, we use Jira for project management but other agencies may use:

• Paymo
• Monday.com
• Backlog
• Wrike
• HubSpot
• Teamwork.com

The same goes for CMSs such as:

• Squarespace
• VEVS
• MotoCMS
• Web.com
• Webflow
• TemplateMonster

The best web agencies will have experience with popular tools and work with you to make sure communications channels remain clear and open.

If you’re looking for a tool or software provider for your business, Adzooma Marketplace have the solution.

6. Is the agency receptive to new ideas?

You want to hire a design agency that listens to your ideas and needs. This is important for two main reasons. First, you know what you want and what your business goals are. Second, you know how best to sell your product to your intended audience, so your input will be invaluable to your website’s success. It’s still a two-way street with ideation so make sure you’re receptive to their ideas too.

The designer should also generate ideas about how best to meet your needs and increase your online presence. They should seek to integrate your ideas into the project and know how to do it well.

Read: How To Find A Good Marketing Agency

7. Recommendations

Before you choose an agency, ask for at least three references. Listen to what past clients think of the company. Were they happy with the work? Were the designers easy to get along with? Did they deliver the work on time? Did they create responsive web designs? What about accessibility? Was it easy to contact them when they needed to?

The answers to these questions will help you in choosing the right web design agency.

8. Do they have experience in your niche?

When it comes to design, nothing can substitute for experience. Choosing an agency with expertise in your niche is advantageous.

Will the company outsource some of the services? Or will they delegate your project to junior staff who have minimal experience?

You may also consider getting a designer who has worked on diverse projects because they will be better able to reach a wider audience.

9. Have they worked with major brands?

Although working with leading brands does not equate to the perfect fit for your business, it is an indicator of the quality of work they do. It shows that they are respectable and you can expect excellent services from them.

Check an agency’s case studies to see who they’ve worked for and what results they achieved. The latter will always be more important because it shows evidence of how they work. The fact they’ve attained that level of success with a major brand is an added bonus.

Conclusion

This checklist will help ease the burden of choosing a design agency for your business.

If you follow the tips shared here, you will find it easier to pick a company that is an excellent fit for you.

If you need a web design agency, we have a fantastic selection on Adzooma Marketplace, check them out today.

You can’t separate the role of a website from the importance of website design. The right website design embodies your brand and delivers your vision to web users.

• It can convince potential buyers.
• It showcases your expertise and credibility.
• It makes your business memorable. 
• It shows your users that you understand them. 
• It conveys your message and offers.

With over a billion active websites in the world, businesses are competing for visibility and attention.

Web design agencies specialise in all aspects of your online presence, from responsive design to SEO considerations. They bridge the gap between just being online and thriving online. But, more importantly, they are experts at building successful partnerships with small business clients.

Here’s a breakdown of how website design agencies can help your business. 

1. It’s time and cost-effective

Doing everything in-house can be a time-demanding process for your team. Maintaining the look and feel of your website when creating and adding new media and web pages can also be tricky.

Web design agencies focus on the aesthetics and experience of a website and they’ll often work with graphic designers to get the best results. 

That’s a lot of work to do by yourself.

We’ve broken down the time spent in researching, planning and designing features for your website to 34 hours per week. This doesn’t include the time spent trying to fix saturated images and broken page templates! Hiring a web design agency ensures you’ve got an expert team who can customise your site as you need it. They can add features into a CMS as required to meet your goals and branding. 

Working with an agency that understands your vision enables your team to focus on what they do best.

2. They can bring fresh ideas

Agencies understand the importance of web design as the first touchpoint between a brand and its audience. They are involved in the creation and design of a solid online presence. They focus on criteria that make the website user-friendly, including:

• Accessibility
• Responsive design for mobile and tablets
• Calls to actions (CTA)
• Enhanced UX design
• Intuitive navigation
• Appearance and aesthetics of the site
• Web development
• Integration with a CMS

Web agencies keep your sites looking fresh and relevant. Because they are experts, they can provide the best design advice and ideas to bring your website to the next level.

And in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of web agencies have reached out to their clients to help them build better marketing strategies. New ideas can keep small businesses afloat and maintain engagement with the audience in times of need.

3. They can optimise your site for users and search engines

The best websites balance user experience and search visibility.

Understanding why websites are important for business is understanding how to meet the needs of search engines and web users simultaneously. 

Web design agencies are specialists in how to maximise visibility and functionality. That means you can either use a site built from scratch or a CMS (content management system) such as:

• Squarespace
• Web.com
• VEVS
• MotoCMS
• Strikingly
• Webflow

Most agencies are familiar with these CMS’s but we recommend checking their expertise. With over 70% of business websites using the WordPress platform, the first point of concern for design agencies is to leverage the technology available for SEO. 

User experience can determine your online future. Therefore, SEO should work hand-in-hand with UX design for the following reasons:

• Responsive design is crucial as mobile-friendly designs boost ranking
• Positive and engaging user experience increases ranking position
• Web accessibility for mobile devices but also assistive technology improves SEO
• A design that understands and meets the demographics needs also boosts ranking presence

Get more eyes on your brand with a web design agency from Adzooma Marketplace.

4. They can make you stand out from the crowd

We believe that you can get a feel for how a web design agency tackles different design challenges and functionality when you check their portfolio.

We’ve selected some of the best UX design agencies that combine expertise in technology, web marketing, psychology, sociology for intuitive, engaging, and purposeful user experience.

5. They’ll help you improve conversions

A functional and engaging website doesn’t just look good. It also boosts conversion paths by maximising the impact of its content.

Here are some of the conversion-boosting benefits you can expect from web design agencies: 

• Effective calls-to-actions placement and design
• An intuitive layout that creates engagement
• Design of an effective data-capturing form (when relevant)

Because they have UX design experience, web design agencies know how to build user-centric pages that act as a conversion funnel. 

If you’re looking for a web design agency, Adzooma Marketplace has the answer for you. Find the perfect web design agency now.

Moreover, design agencies are arguably much more beneficial for companies to work with than solo designers. With access to a pool of creatives working towards one common goal for a business; clients get the best of multiple creative brains and a quick turnaround on creative projects.

Additionally, a team effort allows an agency to create an exceptional design for clients that can make waves in their industry.

While you may have been blessed with business acumen, creating an aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly website, may surpass your capabilities. Which is why it’s essential to hire experts in design who can ensure your business will emit a professional feel and attract the right audience.

However, just any design agency for your company won’t do.

Here is a list of 9 of the top agencies in Nottingham, accompanied by a profile of what each agency can offer your business.

1. Abstrakt Creative

Abstrakt sets out with the intention to make a positive difference to every business they encounter through design.

The services on offer at Abstrakt include web and graphic design, digital design and branding. 

From the Abstrakt team, you can expect motivated individuals who work in harmony as a team to reach a common goal every day, which is to provide businesses like yours the best of their creative talents.

Abstrakt is not your typical “yes” agency. They are abundant with innovative, creative solutions. And, if they know there’s a better way of approaching a design or want to experiment by taking your business website, for example, down a different path, let them!

They’re guaranteed to exceed your expectations and provide an exceptional end product.

2. Framework Design Agency

For detail-oriented perfectionists with passion through and through, the Framework Design Agency is at your service. And on hand to provide a blend of design expertise including content, branding, print and motion design. 

Having worked with large brands such as Speedo International, the Framework Design Agency has enjoyed it’s a fair share of big brands. And they have received excellent feedback too. For instance, Speedo commented Framework Design demonstrated the kind of service they would expect from a high profile design agency in London.

To engage customers in new, and exciting ways, beyond brilliantly eye-catching design, the Framework Design Agency also seeks to add thought-provoking strategy into its end-to-end design service.

3. Tribe

For businesses wanting to add value to their brand, Tribe is the answer for you. Having worked with the likes of Vision Express and Experian, Tribe has an abundance of ambitious projects they have succeeded. 

Tribe tackles new design challenges, and new industries effortlessly, and continues to astound customers with their excellent design experience. 

However, as per Tribes slogan, perhaps only the brave and ambitious should inquire! If you dare to see what the Tribe can offer you, get in touch.

4. The Dairy Creative Agency

With 17 years experience, The Dairy Creative Agency is eager to maintain its role as a reputable, and trustworthy agency in the East Midlands and prides itself on being ‘Always Open. Always Honest.’

From designing logos to conceptualising new designs for websites. The Dairy Creative Agency has digital marketing specialists who work tirelessly to create compelling visuals that enhance a company’s online presence. With a mission to attract, engage and inspire new clients.

As a design agency that operates with the utmost integrity, Dairy has accrued a long list of well-known British clients over the years. Such as Gala Bingo, the NHS and Boots.

5. M360

With a wealth of experience taking care of brands on a national and international level; M360 has made a name for themselves as an agency that offers clients fantastic service every time—coupled with an astronomical amount of creativity and bold branding. 

Whether your business needs a show-stopping marketing campaign or a brand refresh that will completely change customers’ perception of your business, M360 can offer your business these services and so much more. 

M360 appreciates each business’s unique personality and uses that to create a brand that’s distinctive and competitive in their industry. Moreover, this creative agency works to develop an impeccable digital design that’s fitting for your budget and time constraints too.

6. Fifteen Design

For incredible website design that incorporates UX strategy and responsive technology, Fifteen design will fulfil your business’s requirements with ease.

From humble beginnings, Fifteen design was established by fifteen-year-old Managing Director Ollie Piddubriwny who earned and conquered his first design project from Notts County FC. 

Now, Fifteen design is an award-winning website design agency, decked with a plethora of successful sites, from brochure to e-commerce platforms under its name. It’s likely there isn’t an industry Fifteen design hasn’t created an online hub for. 

With a core belief that working collaboratively is the best way to unearth your company’s goals and objectives and develop a site that not only meets but exceeds your expectations. Fifteen wants to share each company’s story through engaging and thought-provoking web design.

7. Together Agency

The Together Agency is a multifaceted company with its creative minds in all aspects of design. From apps to emails, digital banners to websites; Together Agency can design it all. 

Having worked with the likes of Heritage bathrooms, Interflora and Busy Bees. Together Agency’s extensive and diverse team is highly skilled and proficient in creating digital design that fits each businesses unique intentions and attracts the audience they want. 

Whether your business is fixed on reinventing its brand to something modern and fresh, or alternatively, is looking for strategic ways to adjust and enhance their packaging design to appeal to an older demographic. Together Agency will relish the challenge, diving in headfirst with ambition and impressive ideas. 

8. Michon Creative

Established since 1982, Michon has worked with a stream of famous UK brands. Over the years, Michon has highlighted two significant elements that have enabled Michon to propel to the successful agency it is today. They concentrate on delivering exceptional commercial results, coupled with a whole host of creativity.

As a design agency, Michon defines its team as problem solvers. With enhanced knowledge of multiple sectors accrued over the years. The Michon creative team of experts are skilled at adapting a business’s images and brands to attract the audience they need. 

Design at Michon is more than aesthetics. They seek to ensure clients gain a return on their investment. Whether by reaching targets or gaining a commercial return, ROI is one of the core elements that distinguishes their approach to design from other agencies. 

9. Strafe Creative

Strafe Creative imagines and brings to fruition dynamic, enticing digital design, that enhances a customers experience to engage with and lead them to buy or sign up for a service or product.

For over a decade, Strafe Creative has assisted numerous brands with sophisticated digital design and strategy. Strafe Creative focuses on creating digital solutions that are meaningful and connect to the intended audience.  

Digital design services from Strafe Creative include branding, print design, UX design, e-commerce website design and much, much more. 

Finding a design agency that will work well with your business is exciting but also presents its challenges. However, with the guide above, you’re equipped with the top design agencies Nottingham has to offer. 

Having a conversation with design agencies is the first step towards finding out which agencies to connect with and begin collaborating. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to start instigating a few video chats with the creative teams above to get the design ball rolling.

The best design agency is a click away

If you want to reach out further than Nottingham for a high-performing design agency, why not check out Adzooma Marketplace.

With hundreds of agencies from around the world, you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Give Adzooma Marketplace a try today.

It needs to be fast, work on any kind of device, and help people navigate your site easily. But that kind of work can’t be done quickly or all by one person (at least not efficiently).

So you’ll need to hire a web design agency to build it for your if you can’t do it in-house. But now you have another problem: with thousands of web design companies and creative agencies in London, how can you find the right one?

Fortunately, we have a solution. Our list shows you 9 of the best web design agencies in London along with their expertise, quotes from the agencies themselves, and previous clients to help you pick the right agency.

But before we get to that, let’s look at what a web design agency actually does.

What does a web design agency do?

A web design agency brings your website to life, from planning to build and deployment. Primarily, they focus on criteria, including:

• The design of the site
• The site’s responsiveness, particularly for mobile
• Integrating with a content management system (CMS)
• Calls to action (CTAs)
• Intuitive navigation
• User experience (UX)

While there are nuanced differences between web design and web development, there are cases where a web design agency can cover both, depending on the client, level of expertise, and the number of web designers who work on projects.

So, let’s have a look at 9 of the best web agencies in London.

1. Spread Like Wildfire Media (Adzooma Recommended)

SPLWM build high-quality websites that are mobile-first in terms of optimisation and design. What’s more, they’re optimised for conversions too and, primarily, the people who visit them. They do this with a dedicated team of designers, marketers, and videographers.

One of our main areas of focus in the last few months has been consulting with businesses about how they can build a better marketing strategy to keep business flowing in light of COVID-19. However, as you can see from our list of services, we do much more than this, but if we know anything, it’s how to be flexible!

While their main office is in Manchester, Spread Like Wildfire Media’s West London office means clients from either end of the country can reach them with relative ease.

Previous clients include Luminant Pictures and Movielux Entertainment.

2. Temper (Adzooma Recommended)

Temper offers forward-looking brands the growth and competitive edge they need with a range of services including:

• Branding
• Digital marketing
• Web design
• Web development
• Mobile development
• UI/UX

We live where technology & creativity meet – Our people-first approach increases brand engagement, captures valuable data and converts visitors into customers.

Previous clients include Diageo, EDF Energy, Europcar, and Five Guys.

3. RB Creative Digital (Adzooma Recommended)

RB Creative Digital pushes the boat out when it comes to creative web design.

We design beautiful websites focused on leads and conversion metrics. Always pushing the boundaries between design, automation, and aesthetics. Website visitors just understand.

Their team of 12 “exceptionally talented digital doers” are ready to create the most powerful outcomes for you and your clients.

4. ID Studio

ID Studio is London’s “premier web design agency” and home to a variety of highly-skilled web designers, developers, and marketing strategists who have delivered incredible designs and digital solution for their clients. The agency works with clients of all sizes and budgets so it’s no wonder they regard themselves as London’s #. Their specialities include:

• Web design
• Web development
• App development
• eCommerce
• Digital strategy

Previous clients include MTV, Budweiser, and Prince’s Trust.

5. The Web Kitchen

The Web Kitchen is an advocate for form and function as a combined strategy rather than one over the other.

To design something without an understanding of how it works is to fail from the outset. When we ask ourselves ‘does it look good?’ we are also thinking ‘will it work well?’.

The agency goes above and beyond for its clients by not only meeting their expectations but exceeding them. That passion has lead The Web Kitchen to a number of awards and commendations from the likes of Awwwards, The RX Club, and Computer Space.

Previous clients include Epsom College, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Amazon.

6. Regency Creative

Regency is a multi-disciplinary web design and branding agency based in West London. The team’s specialities lie in three key areas:

• Web design
• Branding
• Print design

Regency takes its role in all three areas seriously and prioritises creativity and consistency through the design process.

Previous clients include Dropbox, Dyson, and City of Westminster.

7. Web Heads

Strategy is important to Web Heads. You have to know what the website will achieve before you create any sketches of the design. Their openness works hand-in-hand with their technical solutions to turn those ideas into incredible web designs.

Being a relatively small web design agency, we are contactable, approachable and most importantly we work hard to create the best website solution that delivers real tangible returns. We are not just a website design company, we are people who understand business and work hard at understanding your requirements to create effective solutions to almost any budget.

Previous clients include The Fall Magazine, Heathrow Express, and Daytona.

8. JBI Digital

Responsive web design is this company’s calling card. But what does this mean? It means that they will make one of the best mobile websites around. JBI Digital provides fresh, creative digital services and focuses on results rather than purely aesthetics. They work by four key principles:

• Design
• Develop
• Promote
• Support

Where other agencies may provide work and that’s it, JBI goes above and beyond to support clients so their success can be sustained.

Previous clients include Hovis, Hitachi Europe, and ITV.

9. Lilo

Lilo’s passion is to make superb mobile websites and to turn ideas into solutions for their clients. They do this with a wide range of expertise in:

• Web development
• eCommerce
• SEO
• WordPress and Magento
• .NET development
• Branding

Over the years we’ve created lasting relationships with businesses of all sizes, from individuals and start-ups to blue chip companies and institutions, delivering expert and cost effective digital & design solutions. With the core of our production staff operating from Cape Town, designers in three continents and account leads in London, Cape Town and Perth, Australia, we’re able to pull in the right people to fit all briefs & budgets and deliver the right solution every time.

Previous clients include Hovis, Hitachi Europe, and ITV.

Conclusion

So there you have it – 9 of the web design agencies in London. Web design takes time, hard work, and imagination to get right and as we said at the start, it’s essential to if you want a successful and sustainable online presence.

But if 9 agencies aren’t enough or you want to look a little wider in the UK, check out Adzooma Marketplace. It has a host of web design agencies from all over the country, as well as other digital agencies that can provide full digital solutions for your business.

UX stands for user experience and UX design looks at the interaction between users and their experiences with products or services. The best UX design should be useful, intuitive, and engaging to an audience. To make sure that your audience is able to interact with your product in a valuable and meaningful way, you need to focus on different aspects including:

• Technology
• Marketing
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Science

UX designers do a lot and are an important and underrated part of product development.

What do UX design agencies do?

As mentioned above, UX design agencies use a lot of different disciplines to improve the experiences of users. For day-to-day UX tasks, they can include:

• Market research
• Designing wireframes
• Prototyping
• User testing
• User research
• Storyboarding

Note: UX design agencies tend not to manage the visual design of a product, but instead look at the journey behind the scenes.

So let’s have a look at 7 of the best UX design agencies and how they can help you improve your user experiences.

1. Intimation

Location: Dunbar (Scotland), Newcastle

Intimation can help you find the right way of communicating to your audience.

Thanks to a dynamic team of creative copywriters, developers, animators, and strategic thinkers, they work to a common goal: to focus on what makes each and every client unique.

We help our clients market, promote and grow their businesses through innovative marketing across a range of media, an understanding of budgets and excellent support.

Intimation is also working to become one of only six WIX Strategic Partner agencies in the UK.

Previous clients: Brightwater, Torcall, The Highland Military Tattoo, Premier Tech Aqua UK

2. PMD

Location: Bristol

PMD is a full service design/web studio that specialises in branding.

The studio breathes life into brand and marketing with a focus on the impact on a client’s target audience.

Services offered include:

• Web design & development
• eCommerce
• UI/UX design
• Advertising campaigns
• Print media
• Brochures
• Packaging
• Pitch decks

Whether you have a consumer product or B2B service, all brands can be broken down into 3P’s, Position, Proposition and Personality, successful brands define these clearly and apply them consistently. The formula for creating a credible brand is simple, the story you tell combined with the experience you deliver has to meet a customers expectations, these expectations are established from your story and the quality of your various brand and marketing touchpoints, and that’s where we come in to help.

Previous clients: Warr + Webb, Alphastream, Nonstop, Mack Legal

3. Temper

Location: London

Temper is a digital consultancy that delivers and unlocks digital growth.

We build digital-first brands – Consumed with technology and shaped by data, our brands fuel commercial growth and make change happen.

Their people-first approach has helped a range of businesses increase their brand engagement, capture valuable customer data and turn users into happy, returning customers.

Previous clients: Diageo, EDF Energy, Europcar, Five Guys

4. VDesign

Location: London

VDesign is a creative digital media company providing services that accelerate their businesses further through design, development and marketing.

With over 25 years design, marketing, and development experience in the design, the team covers a range of services including UX design, print design, web and app development, and SEO

We have built a framework with our creative geniuses to save you time and money.

Previous clients: Fabbri Boots, Arktos, Cyberox, Studiosurf

5. Transition Creative

Location: Gloucester

Transition is a web design agency that specialises in a range of services that help their clients bring in more enquiries and sales. They do this with high-quality UX design and the development of transformative business sites.

With a wealth of experience within digital design and development, we work with a variety of companies from startups to large organisations. Whether you require landing pages that convert customers, a CMS to manage content, eCommerce that sells products or Progressive Web Applications for communicating via push notifications. Our proven processes are tailored to help support your objectives.

Outside their web design services, Transition also offers SEO audits, hosting, support and maintenance, and content (copywriting and photography).

Previous clients: Forestry Commission England, Arkwell & Wills, ATB Guitars, Catch Design Management

6. ActiveWin Media

Location: Manchester

ActiveWin Media works to offer its clients multiple digital options and build strategies that return on investment.

For their UX consultations, everything highlighted is designed to make improve conversions and ActiveWin carefully plans and designs every detail with transparent guidelines and how the potential impact will contribute to success.

The sooner you invest in UX and CRO services, the more successful your business will be online.

Previous clients: Betfred, Wigan Warriors, Moneyplus Group, First Achieve

7. Instrument

Location: Portland, New York

A UX design agency that focuses on the cross-section between brand & communication innovation and product & service innovation. They work on creating, from scratch, the digital products designed to solve business problems, as well as to transform the way your customers interact and communicate with the business.

In creating new UX products, the focus on user-centric design that is insight-driven and systematically tested, meaning a lot of research and ongoing campaign management goes into each service they provide. They also work with a focus on what is most impactful on your bottom line, tracking the performance indicators that matter most to your business growth.

Previous clients: Sonos, Altassian, Nike, and PATH

Do you need UX design?

Without question.

The work of a UX design agency can seem like it is interchangeable with a web designer or app developer and while there is some overlap, UX designers are crucial to driving conversions as the customer journey facilitates that. According to UXCam, for every $1 spent on UX design, a business can see a $100 ROI (return on investment). Alongside that, 88% of users are less likely to return to a website with bad UX.

When you’re choosing a UX design agency, it’s important to make sure you’re aware of what kind of services you need. If you have a specific app, website, or other digital product in mind, for example – page or website builder, then there are many above that can help you create them, with different specializations on different aims and mediums.

If you’re less certain of what you need, others can provide the research and conceptual services that help you find out what your approach should be. As such, make sure you know where you are in your UX creation journey and partner with the team that can help you from there.