Designing a Small Business Website

How to find the right website designer. Information on the processes involved in
website sourcing and how to find the right web designer to create your business website

 

 

 

 

Finding a good web designer to build your small business website.

 

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[ Home > Finding a Website Designer for your Small Business Website ]

FINDING A WEBSITE DESIGNER

Choosing a good website designer is one of the biggest decisions to be made in the process of creating your small business website. If you choose the wrong web designer you web designercould end up with a second rate website that conveys a bad impression of your business. On the other hand, you may get a really good website but pay much more than you need to.

A while back I was asked to quote for a very basic website and I was told that my price was much too low. When I eventually quoted £300 my quote was accepted and I learned that another design company had submitted a quote for £2400 for exactly the same work. It is very easy to pay above the odds and there are many companies willing to help you to part with your money. (See our page on Website Design Costs)

Offshore Web Design

In web design you literally have a world of choice. The Internet and Email means that "Geography is History" and if you can stand the hassle you may even want to consider going to companies in Asia or Russia where design can be a bit cheaper.

It is however worth pointing out that it can take a lot of your time to get things organized and moving over there. This means that it is often just not worth the trouble. Getting them to interpret your requirements is also another story. Search engine optimization is not easy when you are not familiar with the vernacular and nuances of the English language.

Unlike the decorator or plumber who comes to your house to do the work you don’t have to actually meet your designer. In fact is unlikely that you will for small jobs of under say $2K. All of the information required to build the website can be delivered by email and telephone. This means that you don’t need to use a local designer.

Check the Web Designer's Previous Work - VERY IMPORTANT!

When looking for a designer ensure that he or she has a decent portfolio of completed websites. Check out their testimonials where available and don’t be afraid to contact some of the previous clients in their portfolio for a reference. I have found that most people are happy to provide this is if they are happy with the web design and service that they have received.

Your Designer's Search Engine Optimization Competence

If search engine optimization is important to you ensure that the designer’s website features highly in the search engine results for common web design related searches. Logically, if the designers cannot optimise and promote their own sites, which they are working on regulalry then they are unlikely to be able to do much for you.

Components of Website Design and Skills Required

Building a website can often require lots of different skills. A web designer or design company web design skills checklistshould be able to offer you most of these, which may include;

It is unusual but not impossible to find a freelance web designer who offers the full skill set because the skills are not closely related. For example a skilled graphic designer may not have good language skills and a good database programmer may know nothing about Search Engine Optimization.

If you go to a major website design agency you can expect to find all of these under the one roof but be prepared to pay as much as ten times more for it. The major design agencies have lots of diverse, highly trained staff and premises to pay for so they must charge accordingly.

Note: Our affiliated UK web designers, Toucher Web Design, can usually offer all of the services that you will require for your website and if you have a requirement that we cannot handle in house we can generally provide this through our associates so you still have just one point of contact.

 

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