Since I recently hired a designer to redesign this site, I thought this guest post from Char Polanosky was particularly appropriately timed! Next week, I’ll be writing about why you would want to consider hiring a designer for a custom blog or site design in the first place. Hint: SEO traffic has soared!
Whether you are looking for a customized blog header or a fully-functional, interactive web site, knowing how to work with a web designer and having realistic expectations is essential for getting results you will be happy with.
*Finding A Designer*
There are plenty of web designers to go around, but the challenge is finding one who fits your style, budget and schedule. You can try services like elance.com, but the best way to find someone you like is by looking at sites you like and finding out who did them. Email the site owner and ask. Chances are, they will be very happy to refer their designer or point you in the right direction.
Collect a list of 5-10 designers that you like. Pour over their portfolios and narrow your list.
*Knowing What You Want and Need*
Before you approach a web designer you need to know what you want. Are you looking for a light hearted, whimsical personal blog, or do you need a custom e-commerce site? By letting your potential designers know what you need up front, they can let you know if this is the type of project they are willing to take on or not.
Your web designer can help you tweak your ideas, but having a good working idea of what you want and need a head of time can save you money in the end.
*Know Your Budget*
How much are you willing to spend? By communicating your budget with your designer, the two of you can be clearer on the scope of the project and you are less likely to get caught off guard in the end.
Don’t expect your designer to show you concept after concept, revision after revision for the same fee. Each concept takes time to create and time is money. When you agree upon a price, be sure to find out how many concepts or revisions this amount covers.
*Do Your Part!*
Provide your designer with the pieces they will need from you immediately upon the start of the project. Put all logos, photos, copy and other information your designer needs from you on a CD or email it all. The less your designer has to chase you down for odd bits of info, the faster you will get your product.
Also give your designer some direction. Collect a list of 5 sites you like (style wise) and 5 you don’t. Discuss the features you feel are important for your site’s success.
Be available for reviews and get back to your designer promptly. There is nothing more frustrating than jumping through hoops to meet a client’s deadline to have the client take days to review and get back with you.
With good communication and realistic expectations, you will love working with your designer and your designer will be able to better meet your needs.
If you liked this article, you might also enjoy:
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One thing that I would add is the importance of having a good rapport with your designer. I have a custom design, and I chose my designer (Mike Cherim) on the basis of his reply to my original email. I felt that Mike completely understood what I was trying to do and the message that I was trying to convey.
If you don’t feel a connection with your designer, you will most likely not be happy with the design that they build for you. Mike was able to design my site in one take. I loved it the first time I saw it, and we only had to make minor tweaks.
The best indication of a good design is that you keep coming back to it. I go to my site all the time, because I just love the way it looks. And the feedback that I am getting from my visitors indicates that other people feel the same way.
Scott – I wholeheartedly agree on this one. And I also wholeheartedly agree that your template ROCKS.
Wendy – Thanks for the opportunity to share this with your readers!
Scott – You are absolutely right about having that rapport with your designer. Often times it goes the other way, too. If I don’t feel at ease with a potential client, I won’t take the job.
Char – great information! And really nice, clean new template for your Casual Keystrokes site.
The additional input I’d add is for you to carefully consider what you are trying to accomplish with a business website implementation or redesign. How do you see a website fitting into your branding and marketing strategy? Traditionally, there are three main types of business website:
Informational – essentially a corporate brochure or portfolio online. This is the simplest to build and maintain and requires the least maintenance.
Relational – designed to build a relationship with your customer community. This is a more interactive approach and requires more attention and fresh content regularly – but can be a more effective marketing tool. It can start with adding regular news and photos, or a blog component, to an informational site – or be as complex as building a full-on community site, with forums, fresh news, regular articles and collaborative input.
Transactional – essentially – ecommerce, e-reservations, online auctions, etc. This can be expensive and complex to set up, and has the highest monthly recurring cost – be sure that online payment handling is really necessary before going this route.
Make sure that you and your designer spend time identifying what you really need, and you’re clear on your strategic objective, for best results.
Char – great information! And really nice, clean new template for your Casual Keystrokes site.
The additional input I’d add is for business owners to carefully consider what they are trying to accomplish with a business website. How do they see a website fitting into their branding and marketing strategy? Traditionally, there are three main types of business website:
Informational – essentially a corporate brochure or portfolio online. This is the simplest to build and maintain and requires the least maintenance.
Relational – designed to build a relationship with your customer community. This is a more interactive approach and requires more attention and fresh content regularly – but can be a more effective marketing tool. It can start with adding regular news and photos, or a blog component, to an informational site – or as complex as building a full-on community site, with forums, fresh news, regular articles and collaborative input.
Transactional – essentially ecommerce, e-reservations, online auctions, etc. This can be expensive and complex to set up, and has the highest monthly recurring cost – be sure that online payment handling is really necessary before going this route.
The business owner needs to ensure that he/she works with the designer to identify the type of site that’s really needed, and that both parties are clear on the strategic and marketing objectives, for best results.
Jeri – thanks for the kind words about the CasualKeystrokes redesign. It is a work in progress, but I am happy with it so far.
You also make great points about the different types of sites and what each business needs.
Excellent post — the part about budgeting is especially important!! As a small business attorney who has run into my own problems in the past getting my websites up and running, I also found that keeping an eye on time deadlines is crucial. So is finding out (in advance) whether your designer has “contingency plans” for completing your work if s/he runs into family crises or otherwise. I became sufficiently frustrated that I wrote about these issues in an article called “Playing Ostrich is for the Birds,” at http://www.wisecounselpress.com/articles/playing_ostrich.html. I learned the hard way what happens to a website when, suddenly, the company gets sold, the business owner has health challenges, the dog dies, etc. In a word, NOTHING!
Great topic, just something to add. I have direct experience with Guru.com: “The world’s largest online marketplace for freelance talent.” I am days away from awarding my projects to a company from India. I interviewed 5, received bids from 3 and talked hours on Skype, chatted on Yahoo im and communicated several private messages with each one over the last 3 months. Their hourly rates are way lower than the states’ designers and I am really enjoying the process. Visit the site http://www.guru.com and see for your self. I plan on finding my contracted sales reps from this site as well along with data entry professionals. Please visit my site when it goes live in the summer, http://www.nationwideseniorhousing.com; and http://www.appraisalsource2000.com. This is my first blog entry so I hope someone is interested in my topic.
I am truly the EMOM and I am enjoying this blog, just don’t have a lot of time to wrap my arms around it.
Charyl
That’s a nice write-up Char.
I came here through your own blog so will commend you there too.
Choice is one of the biggest factors you list. There are a lot of cowboys (and girls) out there so it’s important not to limit yourself.
Very nice information here. But I think every webmaster should learn web design on their own. Maybe hire one at first, while learning it on the side. So much money is saved in the end and you can get sites to look like you REALLY want them to look.
As a web designer and business developer, thanks for the great post, Char.
One thing I’d love to add beyond rapport…understanding. I think the best designers take an interest and understand your business and where you want it to go. If they can help you with the business development process, all the better. But if not, at least they should have a solid understanding of your business plan and marketing strategy.
HI Char!
Great post! Very timing, as I just relaunched my website/blog last week. Yes, I agree with all your points and added comments as well. My designer Jen Huouck was highly affordable, but one thing I feel extremely strongly about is that she took the time to understand my short-term web-development goals, my long-term e-business structure, organizational outline, goals,etc. We discussed what needed to be implemented now and later, retaining services, etc. We also discussed, as previously shared, what I can do, offer and add to streamline the process. I did (and outsourced some to interns) a ton of the SEO work myself. And, our results traffic, ranking, etc. has been phenomenal. With only positive indictations of increase.
Yes, Scott’s design is out of this world! I’m extremely pleased with my devloper, as a internet marketer herself, and she is highly economical!
Peace, P
Just HAD to leave a comment to let my gal Char know that I do keep track of her goings on.
Great job Char! I used some of these today while helping a friend make some decisions on this very topic
Do you think it might be a better idea to find a designer you could work with in person, rather than over the phone or online?
I feel like some things I would be difficult, unless I was right there, waving my hands around and such.
Me,personally, not at all. I would say that in the past two years I’ve built somewhere between 65 & 80 websites and I’ve only worked with one person locally. And, I’ve had clients all over the world. So I’ve found the phone, a web server, FTP and computer screens to be all that I’ve needed.
Hi Char, thank you very much for sharing the information.
As for my self, I never hire a web designer, I my self prefer to learn about it. Because if we hire someone, we will never really have knowledge about our own site. I like to learn step by step, I do search from other sites, forums, and ebooks. It helps me a lot.
But, if we have business and want to promote it, and we have no time enough for it, we will need to hire a web designer.
Keep posting