It is almost funny. Pretty much every business, every charity organization and every cat owner has realized the importance of having a presence on the web. Many of these websites are professional and well done. Others are a shock to see and will probably vanish just as quickly as they appeared because they didn't take the time to find out how to hire a website designer.
Actually they won't vanish. They will stay there until their hosting contract runs out. Or if it is on a free service the website will essentially remain there forever. They will remain as a testimony to bad taste and to an unplanned and rash decision.
Developing an appealing site to keep your visitors and, at least occasionally, captivate Mr. Google and Mr. Yahoo! is a challenging, but fun, task.
Website design is a very important.
Hiring a website designer is a good idea.
Unfortunately, anyone can claim to be a web developer or graphic artist.
It is not easy to choose the right help. You have to check their credentials and possibly contact their previous clients.
Determine Your Needs
You need to decide what you want from your website. If you only really need a logo, and you are on a tight budget, you can use the logo service in Serbia I used for my websites. They had multiple offerings. And since Serbia has a lower cost of living I was very happy with the price.
Unless you have a special reason to go for a lot of graphics, don't!
Begin by figuring out who your target audience is. What they need and what they would like to see on a website. And then build your website for them.
Do you like flashy graphics that move and the latest Acid Jazz to start playing immediately and set on loud with a hard to find "stop" button?
Then find out whether your visitors also like this look and feel or they will leave as soon as then can hit the backspace. Your web designer has to know this.
There are some other things that can be equally important.
* Can you afford the budget to maintain a big website?
* Can you run your business on static pages, or do you need a blog?
* Is a membership site right for you, do you need a CMS tool?
You should know the answers to these and other questions before you start the hiring process.
Find Your Website Designer
Once you know what you need, start looking for a website designer.
If you don't know how to hire a website designer, there are two ways.
* You can contact the owner of a site that you like and ask for their website designer, and if your site is not competition there is not reason you won't get a name.
* Referrals are the second option. Contact people who have been through the same process.
Remember you will not need to have the best (read most expensive) website designer.
But you do need one who will do the job, meet deadlines, stay in the defined budget and leave you happy enough with the results that you will tell people "my website was designed by...".
Research Your Designer's Website
When you begin your research on the potential service provider (that's what they are, not an artist, not a magician but a service provider) the most important thing to do is to look at their website and see if you like it.
If you don't like it because it loads slowly or is hard to navigate, move on.
If they pass this first test then take the time to view as many pages as you can.
Pay Attention To The Loading Speed
Check for loading speed, make sure all the images are present and make sure that there are no pages you can't access. A website designer that has even one page with a 404 message "Oops, that page can't be found" is one to be wary of.
Go to the pages with the fine print. See if they have a site map which will sometimes appear as a file called sitemap.xml.
Find The Site Map
If you find their sitemap easily then the search engines can find it easily.
If you can't find it easily, the search engines may not easily find yours, and the sitemap is probably the second most important page you will have.
Glance At The Company Info
It can also be useful to read the information about the company, or people, to make sure they have a good technical background.
But keep Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in mind. Not having the right degree does not mean someone lacks experience or ability.
Match Your Audience To The Portfolio
Most website designers will have a portfolio on their home page.
It is important to like what you see.
Actually it is important that your future clients like what they will see.
If you are selling a product for an older audience then moving graphics may be too much of a bother.
If your future clients will be graphic artists then you had better make sure your site has a good sample of the latest and the greatest in graphic design.
Identify Your Designer
When you find something that you really like, make sure that the same designers are still in the company.
It is not unheard of for a company to profile the best work they have, even if the workers have all changed. This is true in every industry, not just website design.
Hire The Right Web Designer
You have made the decision to create a website and you know you need help.
Make sure your website is designed to stick around.
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