Finding a Website Designer

Professional vs. Do-It-Yourself

If you need a professional website, and you are not a professional website designer, you should hire a professional. Doing it yourself may turn out as well as the wallpaper job Aunt Rhonda did for you last spring!

You Have to Be Involved to Evolve

Anyone employing a website designer must participate in keeping up with the design and overseeing its direction and progress. Otherwise, you will be very disappointed when you don't get the results you were expecting.

Also, expect to pay more, eventually. Websites are never "complete". If you learn to do minor updates and changes yourself, you'll reduce your expenditures. Some website designers will "maintain" your site for fees, either monthly or at base rates per incident. But, because websites are easily updatable, and because information is constantly changing, you must learn how to update pages yourself. Macromedia's Contribute software makes it reasonably easy and inexpensive to update pages.

OK, Now Seek:

Search for "website designers" and "your city" on Google. Look at the first couple of pages of the results Google displays. You'll find freelance designers and larger design studios. View their sites and portfolios. If you like any of the work you see, check the following:

Visuals: The sites should be
• clean, fast loading, and visually appealing
• well-organized, easy to navigate, easy to use
• transparent - you should know right away what the company offers
• customized, minimal cookie-cutter or templated sites
• stylish, and you should be able to find one that compliments your business

Technicalities: The sites should contain
• working samples of additional site features (if you require any)
• search engine optimization (see SEO)
• at least 10 or more portfolio entries
• additional services you may need (logos, photos, etc.)

The Website Designer
• should provide website design services as the primary business, if other services are offered, that's icing on the cake
• should preferrably have a computer or art background (blending of both backgrounds is best)
• should have an art background if your site needs contain sophisticated and polished graphics
• should have technical background if your site is going to be highly technical, (databases, e-commerce, registrations functions, etc.)

Small Fry vs. Supersized
• Larger companies will have greater skill sets and resources. They are typically more expensive and employ several people to complete the job, but if you need additional site features, a large design firm will be the best choice.
•Smaller design companies will typically give you greater customer service and more focused attention. More than likely, you'll deal directly with your website designer and they can typically turn a job around faster and for less money.

Cheek-to-Cheek is Necessary Only When Dancing
• Usually, you won't need to meet your designer face-to-face. Consider searching for designers outside your local area. All communications can easily be handled by phone, e-mail and express mail services.
• Keep in mind that working long distance should not stop you from hiring the right designer for the job.

And the Winner is...
• Narrow your selection to less than five designers.
• Contact each for a quote.
• It should take less than 24 hours for the designer to contact you.
• Get personal recommendations or references from others who have used the designers you are considering.

And Ye Shall Find

If you've taken all the above into consideration, you are almost guaranteed to hire a great website designer for your project. Communication is the key. Good Luck!

If you can't figure an estimated cost for a website created by Houston's Websites from the price sheet, please feel free to contact us.