The hot topic on my plate right now is website design. I have two clients going through a website redesign, plus we are in the midst of a total redesign here at JJS Coaching. Picking a designer for a business website can be a daunting task. It’s easy to feel intimidated when shopping around for a designer. Here are some guidelines to help you in your process.
- Take a look at the web designer’s portfolio. Every designer has their own style and you will see if that style fits your needs. If you LOVE the company’s website and their portfolio then this may be your designer. If you don’t love the look and feel of the designs, then move on.
- Dig a bit deeper than the looks. A web designer understand your website goals if they are going to create a site that works for your business. So find out about their process.
- Do they have a client assessment of some sort to help define the style?
- Is there some sort of discovery call where you discuss the website goals and how they can help you achieve them?
(On a side note, have you already defined your website goals – aka what you want your website to DO for your business) - Does their package include time to train you how to edit and update the site?
- Is there a limit on revisions of the initial design? (3 or 4 designs are typical, revisions – changing that design till it’s just right – are usually included)
As the business owner you need to give as much input as possible to make this site a success.
- Make sure you will own what you paid for. At the end of the process you should own all copyrights and files. You are paying a designer for their design work. Just like you still own your car after you take it to the mechanic, you should own everything from your website after its design.
- Own your domain name. If this is a new site make sure YOU own your domain name. You can purchase that even before you contact a designer.
- Manage your own site. Y you should be able to go in and update the text on your site whenever you want without having to pay the designer to do it. Make sure they are using Content Management System (CMS) or blog software, so that you can control updates.
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization. While not all designers specialize in SEO, make sure your designer understands your SEO goals. You want them to install whatever plugins are needed to achieve those goals.
- Get references. Do not hire a web designer without talking to their past clients. It’s not just about how beautiful your website looks. You want to know things like
- Was the site delivered on time?
- Were there any problems with the site?
- If there were problems, were they quickly and satisfactorily resolved?
- Was the designer unable to do anything requested of them?
- Connect with your designer. You must have a connection (synergy) with your website designer. They are going to take your thoughts and ideas and turn them in to something concrete (graphics and layouts). If you interview a designer and you don’t "click" they won’t be able to translate your thoughts in to something you love.
There are a lot of great web designers out there. Spend the necessary time to find the one website designer who will work the best for your business. A great relationship will give you tons of benefits for many years.
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Hi Jennifer,
Your tips make a lot of sense! The one thing my web designer did not do was make the pages “updatable”. I will definitely be looking for that when I’m ready to do a web redesign.
What are your thoughts on using blog sites like wordpress as one’s website?
Thanks for the great tips!
Caren
Caren – That’s never fun.
I am a HUGE wordpress fan. I think its super easy to use (on the back end) and a great tool for building a website.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post.
It’s so important to take the time to do your research before picking a designer to work on your project.
And I would like to add one more tip:
Find out if the designers provide other web related services e.g. application development, internet marketing, intermediate to advanced SEO services, social media integration, etc.
It’s good to know that if you needed something other than website design or website management, that they could meet those needs as well.
Because as your business grows, your online needs would grow as well.
Agnes
Agnes – Great point! Having a team member who understands how all your technology works together is very important.
Great post, Jennifer. It’s so interesting to hear this from the other side. Probably 40% of our customers come to us after having serious problems with their former designers, and they’re all pretty shell-shocked by their experiences. We spend lots of time making sure our clients understand that their success shows that we’ve done our job right, and it gives my industry a bad name that so many designers don’t get it.
This post that I wrote back in January might help those who read your piece and are wondering what a designer might tell you to look out for: http://www.envecreative.com/2011/01/5-tips-for-evaluating-a-designer-2/
Sarah – Thanks for sharing your article. It’s terrific!!
When I see lists of advice, I usually end up disagreeing with one or two points (even if it’s a good list overall). Not in this case, every point makes sense.
I’d also suggest that when it comes to the ability to manage your own site, unless you have *very* specialized needs, you should avoid being tying into a bespoke content management system. The wide variety of open source options can deal with pretty much every requirement (either by default, or by plugins and customization). I’ve seen many web design companies pitching their own bespoke CMS, which often costs extra, but more importantly ties a client to that design company when they need to update or upgrade.
If your platform is an open source option like WordPress, Drupal, etc, then there’s always going to be someone out there with the capacity to support your site, even if it’s not the original designer/developer/
Robin – Great advice! I couldn’t agree more!