How To Find a Professional Web Designer In 7 Steps

maryland web designer

Your website is the first impression a visitor gets of your business so if it doesn’t look professional, loads slowly or is hard to navigate your visitors will go elsewhere. The website you got designed several years ago may now be outdated and in need of an overhaul.

So how do you find a professional web designer?

1. Search the web

Do a Google search of “web design in city state” to find designers in your local area then visit their portfolio page (if they have one) to get an idea what type of sites they design and if you like the look of them. Review the designer’s site and ask yourself if it’s easy to navigate, loads quickly and the content is easy to read.

2. Contact the website company

After you’ve chosen a design company, call or email them. Communicating by phone will give you a better idea if you should hire them rather than emailing because you’ll get a sense of how knowledgeable and friendly they are.

Ask the person you’re talking if he or she will be the one who will actually be designing your site or if it will be passed on to others. Being able to communicate with the actual person building your site helps establish trust instead of passing the design on to unknown people.

3. Design experience

A designer who has been building and marketing websites for many years will have extensive knowledge about establishing an online presence for your business. He or she will know what common mistakes to avoid and be able to guide your website to success.

Look for reviews from satisfied customers because the opinions of others will confirm the expertise of the designer you select.

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How To Find A Professional Web Designer In 7 Steps

4. Clarify your needs

If you’re new to the web design process ask the designer what information they need from you. Usually it includes the domain name, images, content, hosting info (if the site is hosted elsewhere). If it’s an e-commerce store you’ll need to provide all the variables of each item (ie price, description, tax, shipping charges) and shopping cart set-up to accept online payments.

If you haven’t registered a domain name or need web hosting, ask if they offer these services as they’re often bundled together. This will save the designer lots of time not having to communicate with outside companies. The result is that you’ll get your site built much faster.

5. Do your own updates

Search engines give greater recognition to websites that are constantly updated (new content added) therefore ask your designer if you’ll easily be able to update the site yourself without learning HTML. Usually this is accomplished by logging in to a backend administration panel.

Ask him or her to show you which parts of the site can be managed by yourself and how to do it.

6. Retain a copy for your files

Sometimes web design companies claim exclusive ownership of all your site files ie content, images, pages, database, etc. If you become dissatisfied with their service you won’t be able to move your website to another company thus losing all the money you invested into building it.

To prevent this from happening ask (before hiring) if you’ll own the site and receive a copy of all the files after it has been completed.

7. Website promotion

The design of your website is only the first step in establishing an online presence with your business. In order to attract visitors it needs to be promoted. There are 100s of methods to achieve this so ask your designer if they offer marketing services and what methods they use to generate traffic.

Warning
Hiring an inexperienced person may reduce costs however it may cost you more in the future if the person has to abandon the project because they found it too complicated and/or doesn’t have the skills to complete the design.

The price of hiring a web designer will vary a lot based on your needs so contact at least 3 different designers before choosing one. Ask him or hire to give you a rough estimate based on the details you provide for your site. Sometimes new website owners underestimate the costs involved so knowing this before you hire a designer will save time on both sides.

Finding a professional designer is not an easy task however if your follow these 7 steps it will be easier to make the right choice.

Whether you want a custom designed website or need to maintain, market or host your current one I’ve got you covered. With over 12 years of experience I will turn your business ideas into reality and help you generate traffic that converts hungry visitors into buyers.

Click Here or Visit: http://www.iSiteBuild.com

Comments

  1. It is just incredible to me that people do not ask to see past design work. When you are interviewing a web designer ALWAYS ask to see past work. I’m not saying not to use new people it would just be smart to make sure they at least somewhat know how to code php or html before you get started. Also having someone who you know has a good eye for designing a good landing page layout can help you make more money in the long run.

  2. I wish more people searching for web designs would read this!

  3. Great advice. It is important for a company to understand its needs for a website, and then seek out a quality professional that can deliver on their promises.

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