5 Steps on how to choose a web designer?
We walk you through the questions to ask...
5 Steps on how to choose a web designer?
Choosing a web designer can be difficult for the average customer. With all the different technologies out there, and businesses that offer web design, where should you start? How would you explain what you want? And most importantly, how do you know the company you’re thinking of, is the right fit for you? We walk you through the steps, and give you useful information, educating you so you can ask the right questions, equipping yourself for making the best choice!
Step 1. Vision what you want to incorporate into your website.
This step will actually save you a lot of time in the long run. When you are ready to approach a web designer, having an idea in mind of what you want your website to incorporate is something that will help the designer, tremendously. You don’t necessarily need to have a full-blown design envisioned, (although some clients do), but what you should have, is an idea of what you like and *want*, such as: image sliders, dropdown menus for key components you’d like to share, layouts that you like from other websites you’ve seen, colors that appeal to you, a way to highlight your social media posts, wanting a way for customers to contact you, easily, etc… Having a list of likes and wants, really goes a long way.
Step 2. Budget & Designer Experience
This step is very necessary. Once the web designer gets a feel of what you like and want within a website, the designer will have a better understanding so they can quote you a fair price. This is the time where you evaluate whether the price you are receiving is worth it to you. You will need to use your judgement on this and look at that designer's portfolio, read some reviews about them, and if you are impressed with what you see then you will feel much more comfortable with investing. With that said, your online presence is important! If you hire someone who is unexperienced, you could face a lot of frustration in the long run. There may be room for negotiation, though. Web designers generally work within a reasonable budget, but remember that you are not only paying for the designer. You are paying for the skills and qualities that of that designer, such as: whether they can meet deadlines, respond to your questions in a timely manner, and whether or not they have a great reputation and the experience needed to see your vision through.
Step 3. Deadlines, Domains and Hosting – Can your designer meet your needs?
Next thing on the list of questions is deadlines. How soon do you need to have this website completed? If a deadline is necessary, the first step is to talk about how important it is to have the website finished by a certain day. Remember, creating a beautiful user-friendly website takes time, so depending on what you need, two weeks to two months could be a reasonable time frame. Generally, there are things that come up when creating a website, and approvals that need to be made. If you’re not readily available to sign-off on certain elements throughout the process, then that could slow the process down. Deadlines work both ways. Regarding domains and hosting, your designer will help you with setting up your domain (URL). That URL will then need to be hosted online – which means all my files that make up your website get stored on a computer (a host), and when a user types in your URL www.loopsmarketing.com – the files that are saved (hosted) on that computer will then be shown to the world. Prices vary for domain and hosting, so make sure your designer knows the ins-and-outs, and knows how to connect different services to make everything work together.
Step 4. EMAIL – Does your designer ask you about your emails?
This step is sometimes overlooked, but very important. Whether you’re creating a new website, or updating an existing website, you need to ask yourself how many emails will be used. This is the part that gets tricky with existing websites that needs updating. There is a “mail server,” that handles the incoming and outgoing mail traffic, so if you are expecting a new website with quite a few emails, you’ll need to talk with your designer on the best way to approach this. Alternatively, if you are updating your website and plan on changing hosts, or getting a new domain, you’ll need to have your designer correctly point your website to the existing mail server. Having a designer that knows exactly how to manage this information is important.
Step 5. Ideas that come to life – Does your designer give you some great ideas?
This step is crucial. One way to tell if a web designer is the perfect fit, is by taking their ideas and seeing if those ideas spark your interest. Does your designer give you any ideas at all? Does your designer give you a lot of examples, and seem enthusiastic about your project? Is your designer interesting and able to communicate effectively. Can you see yourself working with them? These are all great questions that you should keep in mind, because your vision won’t come to life without someone who can see it with you.
These steps are just general tips that you should consider when thinking about choosing someone you can work with. There are many other important factors that come into play as well, but with this foundation. You will be ready to go out and seek the best company for you in no time. At Loops Marketing, we make sure we hit all of these questions, and have you feeling excited to start your journey with us.