A lot of businesses don’t start with ideal websites. Usually, its done by a friend of a friend, the guy who knows another guy who made a site for his brother. But there is a point where every business needs a professional online presence. Sometimes commissioning a website is not as easy as ordering supplies for your office. So here are some helpful tips on how to select and collaborate with a website designer to create an attractive and functional site on time and within your budget.
1. Do Your Homework
The first step to finding a website designer is to find sites that you like. You should start by looking at the sites of your competitors and also similar businesses. Try to find a designer whose designs are flexible. And be wary of those whose previous designs only include one kind of style, sites that may not be the right fit for say, an online store. It is important to think of how it will fit your project.
2. Know The Basics
Keeping up with the latest technology can be difficult, even for a professional website designer. As a small business owner, you don’t need to know all the aspects of the latest trends to commission a website, but knowing a few fundamentals might be helpful.
Let’s start with domain names, a web host and a website. A domain name is a site’s web address. These are rented on a yearly basis from online registrars. A web host provides server space, a virtual home where your site will live. And a website itself is the collection of files that contain the design, text and media.
If this is all unfamiliar to you, don’t worry. Our website designer here at F1RST will be happy to explain all the ins and outs.
3. Be Prepared To Collaborate With Your Website Designer
Once you are ready to approach potential web designers, your input will be key. In the beginning, designers will typically ask you for detailed descriptions of what your needs are with your website, what content should be included and of course design aspects such as layout and the colour scheme.
4. Get Comfortable With Your Website Designer
Because collaboration is a crucial part of the design process, we recommend a face-to-face meeting to go over design concepts and to get to know your personality and style. It is important to set the right tone from the beginning of the project.
5. Know What You Are Paying For
Make sure you know what is includes with your website. At F1RST we make it easy with our list of inclusions and the transparent pricing of our Website Packages.
6. Be Honest But Don’t Nitpick
Generally, you will be provided with regular progress reports and working progress previews during the development stage of your website. This allows you to be involved in the design process and enables you to provide feedback, give suggestions or request changes.
7. Hold Up Your End
While website designers provide the site’s visual and technical framework, the client is generally responsible for providing the site’s content, commonly the texts. It is essential that your website designer be provided with your content in a timely manner as failing to do so can delay the completion of your project.
8. Be Decisive With Your Website Designer
With content aside, the most common cause of delays and extra costs are significant changes and additions at late stages of the project. Many people don’t understand how long certain changes take to implement and are quick to call and ask for changes multiple times. Try to make your design decisions and stick to them. After all, the successful completion of your project is our shared goal.
With a decade of experience, F1RST knows what is involved in delivering all kinds of website projects. So give us a call and let’s get started!
