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[S607]Small Business Website Designer

by Erika Pilkington, Eri

In the early years of the internet the actual design of a website was either very basic or had to be done using a software package that needed a specialist to use it. Not surprisingly, website designers were in short supply and could command huge fees for their services. All that has changed dramatically and website design is not such a complicated procedure as you might think.

The actual look and feel of a website is more down to personal preferences than current design trends. Internet users want websites that are nice to look at, sure, but they are much more concerned with the ease of use of a website. If a visitor to your professionally designed website cannot find the information that they are looking for quickly and easily they will go elsewhere.

Website designers are similar to fashion designers. Quite often the designs that they come up with are totally impractical or outrageously expensive. Unless you have absolutely no idea of what theme you want applied to your website such as colours and styles you do not need to hire the services of a website designer but can produce the basic outline yourself. Obviously the technical aspects of your website requires an expert but it is becoming more common for website builders to be concerned more with how the site works rather than the aesthetic side of it.

There are a number of free website building sites around these days and these can be a great way for you to play with your design ideas without the expense of hiring a professional. You can also buy relatively cheap software that can produce fairly complex website designs quickly and simply. Drag and drop website design software has become extremely popular. There are also many programs that you can produce your website design with and have it converted to html for uploading to your website.

Personally I have had experience of both sides of the coin. The worst experience was when I was working as a website copywriter for a guy, who shall remain nameless! I first became involved in his website project after he had paid a large sum to a website design team. To be honest, I hated the design that they had produced for the website and it seemed to have taken them an extortionate length of time to produce static pages. The design of a website is very much a personal preference but I was not the only one that hated this particular design. So, the guy decided to hire another person, just for the design while the technical side of his website was being sorted out. He thought it would be easy to apply a different style to the website but he was wrong! The second design seemed to cause problems for the tech guy and eventually had to be dropped. Now on his THIRD website design the website owner decided to find a company who could perform both the design and build aspects of his website. Finally he found a website professional who could deal with both. Unfortunately he had invested so much money in the failed designs that he ended up being unable to fund the final website and the whole project was shelved.

The best advice I can give is that you should be extremely careful if you are hiring two different companies to produce the design and the technical aspects of your site. The two must be able to interact with each other and use the file formats that each other produce. Don't be deceived into thinking that you have to employ a design professional when you may well be able to do it yourself, cheaper and to your complete satisfaction.

1. Will you use the site to dispense information?

2. Do you merely want a Internet presence so customers can find you online?

3. What sections do you want in your site? (e.g. About your company, company history, product pages, executive bios)

4. Will you need to develop any special tools for users to interact with your site?

5. Do you already have a logo that your site designer must incorporate in their design?

6. About how many pages are you looking to have designed?

7. Are they capable of adding any back-end functions (like blogs, shopping carts, galleries, etc.) to your design?

8. Are they willing to work around components you've already had designed by someone else?

9. If you don't have a company logo designed already, are they capable of designing one?

10. What type of search engine optimization do they offer ?

11. Ask how long they have been in the business and who their current clients are. This would also be a good time to get some references.

12. Have they won any Web design awards? Which ones? (It's a nice sign if they have, but don't be surprized if they haven't. There are only so many Web design awards to go around.)

13. If they cannot finish the project by the agreed-upon date, will they charge extra fees to finish it? Your contract should say so.

14. Will they be taking on other projects while working on yours? If your project is complicated, you don't want someone who may be overextending.

15. A website professional's own home page will give you enough insight to save you the time and cost of searching around too much. Their site should tell you where they are located and exactly what type of services they provide.

Look at their past work. Have they worked on websites that resemble the site you have in mind for your company? Do they have adequate samples shown?

Communicate fully. How do they charge for their services? By the hour? Flat fees? By the project? Get a resonable estimate for how long it will take to complete the project, and at what cost. Include the agreed-upon dates in your contract and provisions for what will happen if these dates are not met.

Make sure you can review the progress of their work at reasonable intervals as the site is being designed and built. Can you see the progress on a test site?

Are your goals in line? Do each of you seek the same ideal? Confirm that they understand your business objectives and your customer base - don't be afraid to ask important questions. If they dismiss any question as insignificant to the design of your site, find another designer. A good web professional will either come into the interview with a good sense of what your business is about, or will at least be eager to adapt to your instructions. Understand the process of when you don't agree on something.

Choosing the best webpage designer that is right for you should not be a confusing chore; you should not have to work too hard to find that perfect fit for your project.

Designing your site can be as simple - or as complex - as your imagination and budget allows. Go ahead. Look around, check out your competition, use a couple of search engines (like google, msn or yahoo) to find the perfect website designer for you.
www.jollymoon.com

Article Source : Pg. 246

About Author

Both Erika Pilkington & Jolly Moon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Erika Pilkington has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet. . Erika Pilkington's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.

Jolly Moon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet. www.jollymoon.com. Jolly Moon's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.