Choosing a Web Designer

When you select a web designer, there are several things that you need to be aware of and that need to be taken into consideration before you make a decision.
To some extent, the ability to work successfully with your web designer is sometime as important as their actual skill in being able to deliver the project.

A web designer that is skilled in what they do but is a pain to deal with can make the whole course frustrating and not worth the money being spent, especially if you have an emotional attachment to the project (which you must have being the one supplying the money and motivation). That relationship can be worth a large proportion of the contract. Design, Content, Search Engine Submission, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Updates? You also need to quantify some of these things in terms of quantity, hours, numbers search engines submitted to etc.

What are the ongoing costs?

All websites have ongoing costs. Web Hosting, Domain Names and updates are the main three. Ensure you know the total cost of your investment. Some companies offer lower up front costs to lock you into higher ongoing costs that end up costing you more. Some other things are SSL certificate costs, more bandwidth and web space.

How easy is it to incorporate your branding?

Some template sites are hard to blend a logo or colors into them, be wary of template driven website companies, some of these people are skilled enough only to change the text on a template. Some designers design their sites from the ground up incorporating all of you design elements in their design. These companies offer the most flexibility.

How reliable is the services provided?

You should also ask whether they will provide a content management system allowing you to do your own updates. If so, find out exactly what types of changes you will be able to make. For example, some CMS only allow you to change some blocks of text, so will also allow you to upload images, documents, blogs and change the layout of pages. Many companies will charge around $200 to change a few words. One of the keys to a high search engine ranking is to have fresh content on your site, so make sure you’re able to make some of your own updates.