Tips For Hiring Your Next Website Designer
The conundrum for the small business owner is there is a host of choices as you establish an online presence. These decisions are important: they'll determine the online business activity that comes with the new sales channel and, of course, the additional profit from the online endeavor.
With choices plentiful, a few of the significant early questions a business owner needs to settle consist of:
- What kind of website do I want for my business?
- Will I need outside help building my site?
- If I need help, how do I go about selecting a website developer?
Before taking the first step toward creating a website, ask yourself three questions:
1. Does my website dictate having a one-of-a-kind design, or would a neat, clean, pre-made website template work the same?
Novices can launch various website templates available for purchase on the Internet, ones which allow a person to create a well-designed site without knowing how to create HTML pages. Some technical knowledge is required in order to set up the pages, to add content in a way that meets your aesthetic needs and to maintain the site on a regular basis.
In recent years, all-in-one solutions (often referred to as "hosted solutions") have made it easy for ecommerce novices to quickly launch a website without detailed comprehension of ecommerce or the support of a website developer. An all-in-one solution charges a monthly fee for everything you will need to operate a site. Including assorted design templates - you don't have to accumulate and incorporate all the pieces to make the online store work.
How do you choose between investing in a design from a template or spending more money for a custom look? As a company we offer custom and web design and development options, and say that decision is best made after evaluating present and future goals.
For those people who are beginning to sell or who have only one or two products, a templated preference might be better because it is going to allow them to keep funds down initially and then grow with their business over time. However, if somebody has something like an eBay store, they want to convert that over and they are already selling hundreds of products, it probably does not make a lot of sense for them to go into a templated option. It probably makes more sense for them to invest their funds up front for something more customizable that is going to be able to continue to grow with them over time.
2. How multifaceted will my online business be?
Is it merely a website to advance my company, serving as a marketing appendage to my brick-and-mortar business? Or, will my website need to have an online store or be integrated with third-party apparatus such as auctions or blogs?
3. Do I have the practical competence to do any of this?
For most businesses, the answer to No. 3 trumps the preceding questions.
Step 2: Do your homework.
Small companies and larger conglomerates, alike, habitually look for direction from staffing firms. Ones who match proven, creative web talent with businesses needing help. Common questions asked by such staffing firms are:
- Will information need to be stored in a database? If your business presents products and your website will be a resource to sell and distribute these products, the answer is almost certainly "yes."
- How many pages will encompass your website?
- What kind of functionality do you intend to attribute on your website? In addition to an ecommerce store, a business could offer features like email newsletter sign-ups, product demos, blogs, calendars, product photo galleries, etc.
Once these common questions are answered, the business person should do some web surfing. Check out competitors' websites or other ecommerce sites featuring a design or functionality you like. Don't hesitate to contact people at the company to ask questions about their experiences.
At some point, you'll have to make a decision whether you're up to creating this website yourself.
If you don't have a technophile within your reach, and if your site will be more complex than a couple pages of content, then hiring a web developer is in all probability in your future.
We recommend setting a budget upfront for the entire project so you'll know how much you can allot for a developer's time. Consider costs for hosting, SSL certificates, hosted or licensed shopping cart solutions, blogs and photo royalties.
Step 3: Begin the search for talent.
You can look locally for web developers, surf the online search engines or post a job narrative at an online resource like eTalent.com or Getafreelancer.com for regional or national candidates.
Whether you're looking for a provisional freelance developer or a full-time resource person to join your staff, don't trust your online business to the words on a candidate's resume. Blaire Fanning, owner of national advertising agency, based in Tampa, Fl says there are three main things to consider when assessing potential designers for your ebusiness:
- Visit the developers' sites. How do they look good? Do they load properly in multiple browser types? Do they gather in a way you'd expect your website to function? "Ecommerce, in particular, can require a high degree of technical knowledge and experience to set it up and, in some cases, to maintain it," Fanning says. "A good programmer can go a long way towards simplifying the practice for the end user."
- How long have they been in business? "This is the type of the industry where underperformers gets sorted out very quickly," according to Fanning. "The longer a design firm has been in business, the more likely that they have a track record of satisfied clients."
- Check references. It seems like an obvious hiring step, however, the best forecaster of a developer's success for your business is past success. "I would, of course, want to know about the overall satisfaction, but I would also want to know if the designers merely took orders, or if they made suggestions and explained how the process works," she said.
Step 4: Learn from the mistakes of other businesses.
Anyone who has been in the industry long, has heard numerous horror stories. Those tales from web development hell can work to your benefit.
For example,we remind you as our potential clients that opting to hire the lowest project bidder merely because he/she is the least expensive, is possibly the most serious selection faux pas possible. "You really get what you pay for," she says. Presuming you've budgeted for a developer, consider these rules-of-thumb:
- Knowing what functionality you desire from your site, up front, will help you acquire a more precise quote from a web designer. It is well known to be skeptical if a designer has a set price for site design. Be wary about anyone who had a pre-established price for anything since that means they do not essentially know what your requirements are.
- Establish project benchmarks and targets with reasonable bonuses for fulfillment. One of the common risks in hiring even the most talented developer is that he or she doesn't have the time to devote to your work. Selecting a developer with demonstrated project management understanding can help to alleviate that apprehension.
- You can work with someone who does not live in your town, state or country, but it's important that there is clear, steady communication. This is a medium that lends itself to long-range relationships, however, ultimately, the fruit of the relationship will be seen online.
- Look for a long-term partner because it's likely you'll need tweaks to your site or tech support. There are just too many variables to contend with if you are left on your own.
Choosing a web developer to construct your ecommerce presence is equivalent to taking on a partner. If you make sure the bullet points on a candidate's resume actually convert to real-world ability, you've taken a key step in making your hiring decision a smart one.