How Not to be Ripped Off by a Web Designer – Checklist for Hiring a Web Designer
At least once a month, I talk to someone who has had a bad experience with a Web designer. At least 20% of our clients come to us still smarting from a bad experience.
Typically, their complaints are:
“My Web designer missed my deadline by months…the site still isn’t finished.” This is the most common complaint we hear, and in our experience it usually means that the Web designer didn’t budget their time effectively, and got overwhelmed with other jobs.
“My Web designer has weak design skills.” Sometimes the problem is weak programming skills. Sometimes both skills are weak. This designer can build some kind of website, but they don’t have the skills to build a polished, professional looking site. They may also lack information design skills, and the marketing expertise to design a site that generates sales.
“My designer built my entire site in Flash.” (Flash is a programming language that is used to create moving graphics.) All-Flash sites are virtually invisible to search engines, and can’t be easily updated.
“My Web designer was a total scammer, and I lost all my money. This is the least common complaint, but one we’ve heard a few times in the last couple of years. In this scam, business people are convinced to pay upfront for a site, and get nothing.
Here are several steps you can take to ensure that your Web designer has the skills, aesthetic and work ethic you need:
Ask for references. Solicit and check 2-3 references of any Web designer you consider hiring. Make sure you ask these questions about the web site:
Is the site functioning well?
Is the site optimized?
Does it show up when you search for the person’s name and business name on Goggle?
Can the site be updated?
How long has the site been up? Is the client pleased overall?
Be sure you get the site address (.url) so you can see the site yourself.
Check the Web designer’s portfolio.
Do you like some of the sites they have built? Have they done projects similar to what you envision for your site?
Do the sites work well on different browsers?
This might sound like a pain, but it’s wise to check the websites on different computers, with different browsers. For example, check the sites with both a Mac and a PC – and perhaps a PC with a 5-year-old operating system. This sounds like a big pain, but it’s worth it. Inexperienced web designers don’t know how to make things look good across different browsers – and why scare off a potential customer just because they have a different computer than you?
Be a savvy consumer of Web Services. By taking extra time at the beginning of your Web project to ensure your Web person has the right skills, you save yourself time, money and headaches.
Karen Nierlich 2007 All Rights Reserved
Resource Box: Karen Nierlich, Principal of Almost Everything Communications, works with independent businesses who want to attract more clients, more easily through their Website. She and Tod Abbott are authors of The Website “Build It Right” Guide; a guide written to empower non-technical entrepreneurs by giving them honest advice on working with a Web designer. Start receiving free help by signing up for their newsletter Web Strategies at http://www.AlmostEverythingWeb.com Email Karen at Karen@AlmostEverythingWeb.com
Author: Karen Nierlich
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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