Hiring a Web Designer

Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by admin in Articles

So you’re ready to have a website designed, but you are not a designer or developer. How should you go about getting one? Maybe you have the time to learn how to design a professional looking website. Maybe you have a relative who has the skills to do it and will do it for free. If you do, great! This article however is aimed at those who are considering hiring a web designer, and want to know just how to do it.

Want vs. Need

There will be many features and modules that you may want on your website. The more the better, right? While it is fine to add many features, remember not to add so many that the website is cluttered or appears disorganized. Also the more features you ask for, the higher your final bill will be. So now ask yourself the following questions to determine what you want, and what you need, on your website.

• What kinds of information do you want on the site?
•  How big do you think your site will be?
• Who will your target audience be?
• Will your site require regular updates? Who will maintain it?
• Will you need a database to store and retrieve information?
• Do you want to rely on search engines to send more traffic to your site?
• Will you be requiring an e-commerce application?
• What is your timeline going to be?
• What is your projected budget? 

Finding the Right Designer

There are many places to look for a skilled designer. Some examples include Craigslist, local service directories, search engines, and even the yellow pages. One of the best ways to find a web designer you can trust is by asking around. Referrals may not get you the most talented web designer in the world (unless of course you are asking very wealthy people for referrals), but they almost always get you a talented, cost effective, and trustworthy web designer.

Below are some tips to help you in your quest.

• Make sure they have their own website, if they do not they should not even be considered.
• Avoid template designers. These ‘designers’ buy or create a popular template, then simply fill in the blanks with your information. Your website then looks just like every other website they create. How do you know if they use templates? They will advertise with a set rate fee, often “$100 special” or “24 hour turn around for $299″.
• If their website is is of low quality, yours will be as well.
• If they do not offer personal phone support do not hire them.
• Find out if they outsource. Many companies outsource their work to India, these websites break often!
• Never hire a designer who requires more than %33 down before any work is done.

Final Steps

Once you have found a designer that you like, check their portfolio and contact a couple of their past clients. Past clients will tell you if their experiences with the designer were positive or negative. Navigating to referrals on your own gives you a higher chance of the referrals being legitimate. Now all that’s left is to figure out the pricing, sign any contracts, and get started on your website!