How to choose a web designer?
Choosing a designer for your website is a critically important decision with long-term effects for your company.
It would be a big mistake if you think that building your site is a one-time act, after which you can “forget” about your web designers!
Choosing a web designer is a long-term decision
A website can be built in countless ways!
The reason for this is not only the fact that each site is unique in itself, but also that the same functionality or look can be achieved by many different means.
Therefore, even if your site is built in the “classic” way, such as with WordPress, it will still be unique because your designer will have put his own personality into it.
Things like refinements and “fine-tuning” of the theme (template), the selection of modules (plugins), and their configuration will always reflect the “taste” and specific preferences of your web designer. Accordingly, no one other than him will do better when solving any problems that may arise or the need for significant changes to your site!
We wouldn’t have enough time on this site to recount all the cases where clients have come to us with the same problem: the web designer or company that built their website has “disappeared”, “doesn’t pick up the phone”, or “they are already engaged in other business”.
It is for this reason that it is in your best interest that the person or company you choose as your web designer fulfills at least two conditions:
- To have the necessary experience so that your site not only looks good but also meets the mandatory technical standards.
- The person or company is not new in the web design industry, and the probability of staying there long enough is high.
Let’s look at these conditions in a little more detail:
What should I look out for when choosing a web designer?
Of course, we all know that everywhere you turn, you’ll come across web design sites with loudly advertised claims of “rich experience”, “unique creativity” and “countless satisfied clients” behind them.
We all know that sometimes this is true, but sometimes it isn’t!
It is difficult to give a universal recipe for how to find out if a candidate for a web designer has the necessary experience, but in general there are signs that should be red flags for you.
Above all, don’t be fooled by nice words like “no problem, we can do anything”, low prices or “free extras”. There are almost always tricks behind this, the sole purpose of which is to catch you …
Here are some of those signals to watch out for:
1. “We do everything, at low prices”
Painkillers
The word “painkiller” in the colloquial language means a person who deals with everything and is hired to do any work.
You will easily detect that you are dealing with “painkillers” if, in addition to web design, your candidates have announced that they are also engaged in the sale, repair, or maintenance of computers, printing of advertising materials, photography, and video services, software installation or similar!
Remember: web design is a complex profession requiring highly specialized knowledge and experience that has nothing to do with activities such as computer maintenance or printing business cards and brochures! It is not possible to do all this and claim to be doing it well.
It’s okay if your tinker can play the piano, but if you need a pianist, get a pianist!
The low price
Naturally, it is normal for everyone to want to get what they need at the lowest possible price.
Unfortunately, however, while a high price doesn’t guarantee you high quality, a low price almost always guarantees you’ll get something you don’t need! In some extreme cases, you may even receive something that harms your business without realizing it in time.
2. “We are new and here for a little while”
Startup company
The word “startup company” has somehow become fashionable recently, and quite a few people even associate it with something positive and promising.
Often, of course, behind start-up companies, there really are ambitious and well-thought-out projects that sometimes come to fruition.
Let’s not forget, however, that the term “startup company” still means simply “startup company”, with all the resulting circumstances: lack of experience and often knowledge.
So if you don’t want your designers to learn at your back, still check how long they’ve been in business. Remember that in order to gain even the minimum experience of building a professional site, no less than two to three years of hard work are needed.
Freelancer
Freelancers are free-lance professionals, and not only in our country, but also in the world, many freelancers work successfully, and often very qualitatively.
However, the life of a freelancer is generally very difficult because finding a steady flow of clients is a difficult task for a person working alone.
Therefore, and as we have written elsewhere on this site, for many such freelance professionals, freelance status is usually an intermediate and temporary stage before they find a permanent and well-paid job with a large company.
This is, of course, good for them, but not for the owners of the sites they built as freelancers because they no longer have the time or ability to deal with them.
So whether it is in your best interest to hire a freelancer for your site, we leave it to you to decide for yourself.
