Now What?
You’ve got your business plan in place and a product or service in production, now you start thinking about websites. What should you look for?
Think of hiring a web designer like hiring an employee. Define the job precisely and hire based on those items.
There are 3 major factors to consider when looking for a web designer:
-
What is the purpose of the site?
You have to know what you want and need before you can start looking for the design studio. One things for sure, you will overpay for a website if you have no clue what you want, or even worse, to keep changing your mind after you get started.
- Is this going to be a multi-page site?
- E-commerce or shopping cart of some kind?
- Login & interaction functionality needed?
- User-generated content?
- Responsive or mobile-friendly? (e-commerce? Users shopping at night? Tablets are going to be more likely than desktops…)
The reason this matters is that some web designers are not suited for producing a properly structured and functional e-commerce site. On the flipside, many designers that specialize in e-commerce or custom design don’t have the right business structure in order to be able to deliver an affordable “brochure site” with a pre-existing theme.
-
Price vs. Speed vs. Quality
You’ll never get all 3, so pick 2 and try not to settle for 1. With price, you may get speed, but probably not quality. With speed, you may get a good price. Quality almost always comes at a price, but speed comes with it. Don’t settle for a $300 website and think it will bring in thousands of dollars in business. Odds are good that a web designer charging 1/3 of what most designers are charging, probably don’t have the experience needed to produce a fast, quality website that will bring in the business that you need to survive. I mean, let’s face it, this business <em>is</em> your livelyhood.
-
Design Style
The designer’s portfolio is the best way to judge what you’re going to get. Good designers can certainly design outside of their comfort zone, but you’re increasing the risk of getting a design that doesn’t match what you’re looking for. If you have a very specific one in mind that isn’t reflected by their portfolio, find an example similar to what you want, and ask if they are able to emulate that style of design before you proceed with any work.
The Hiring and Interview Process
So now you’re prepared to find a designer and you’ve been scouring the web. You contact a few of them and now it’s time to interview one or two of them.
Here are some questions you should be asking them:
-
What are the stages in their process?
Everyone’s different in how they go about the design process, but here is an example of how it should work:
Initial Questionnaire
Wireframes & Mockups
Revisions
Build Out & Final Approval
Test, Launch, Test
Maintenance & Updates
Some things you should ask about the process:
- How many mockups will they produce?
- How many revisions do you get in each stage?
- Will they upload content or is that up to you?
-
What Is Their Turnaround Time?
This depends on the studio. Are they a one man show or a web design team? Basic sites might only take 3-4 weeks if you know what you want and can act quickly on revisions and other project milestones. Most designers try to schedule their projects out weeks to months in advance, so it’s important to ask for lead time before the project can get started, and an estimate on turnaround time once they start the project.
You should know that the more elaborate the website, the longer the design phase. -
What will they require from you?
There is a list of things that are typically needed from you. Copywriting, photos, and examples will be needed. You’re not hiring a technical writer and photographer, you are hiring someone to build the structure and design of your site. Just like you aren’t going to expect a home builder to supply you with furniture for a home. It’s really important to figure out during the interview phase, not when you’re in the middle of the web design process.
-
CMS?
Do you need to make regular updates or have a site that will not need updating more than a few times a year? If you need regular updates, my advice to small / medium businesses or bloggers is just use WordPress. It’s a powerful CMS that’s easy to use, with plenty of support at any price point or user level. You simply won’t get that from other website platforms.
That said, even if you’re already set on WordPress, you’ll still want to ask your designer about sub-software they use – shopping cart plugins, themes, child themes, etc. They should be able to explain why they like those plugins, and they should be asking you questions to double check that it’s the correct solution for your business or website.
What do you need?
There are a few things you should have in place before hiring your designer.
Domains:
Register your own. You may ask your designer if there is one that they prefer, but set it up yourself. Feel free to give your designer access, but this is your account and you own the domain. Allowing your designer to register this for you in their own account will only increase the likelihood of an unpleasant situation down the road when you want to move on to another provider.
Hosting:
It’s generally best to set this up with a 3rd party company as opposed to having the web designer host it for you. The main reason for this is support. If your server has issues, the 3rd party company will have a support team able to help.
OddRoad Studios has a great working relationship with Dreamhost. We’ve hosted and developed many sites on their servers and have always experience great support from them.
Now you’re armed and ready to go! Contact us today and let OddRoad Studios show you we have the skills to help your business grow!
