How do you choose the right web designer or web developer for your business or project?
Here are four factors you want to consider before you hire a web designer or firm to develop and design your web site.
These tips from web design company Utah will help you to decide who the right person is to hire when you are looking for someone or a company to build your next website project.
1. Cost
Make sure you have a realistic budget in mind of what you can afford or what you can contribute to the creation of a website. Prices can range from $500-$5000 and everything in between and sometimes even more. There is no real standard. Think about what you can afford, how much you’re willing to pay and the kind of website you need. The cost depends heavily on what your needs are. Be clear so that you don’t waste your time with someone you cannot afford or someone who might just create a non-functional website at a discount price. There are so many options out there. By narrowing down a realistic budget, you won’t waste your time.
2. Type of Service
In general, there are two types of services you will need when creating a website:
- Design – The look and feel of your website including the logo, graphics, colors used; layout of things
- Development – The backend function of your website including logins (to update or for customers/members) and linking web pages together to create a cohesive website.
Does the person you plan to hire do both? If not, you’ll need to think about the cost for both services. They go hand in hand.
Will your website be mobile-friendly? About 70% of the web traffic that I have for a client’s website comes from mobile phones. The design on mobile needs to be more simplified, compact, text needs to be legible, etc. These are all things that should be thought about in the design and development process. Find someone who can cater to your audience.
Do you have a domain name or web hosting secured? This is one of the first questions I ask potential clients. Some web designers/developers offer this as an add-on to the design and development. Others can work with your existing domain name and web hosting to build you a functioning website.
3. Turnaround Time
Some web designers/developers are booked weeks in advance because we need time to block out projects for all our clients, while others are available to start right away. What’s the turnaround time for the proposal, draft of a design/layout and the actual building of the website? If you’re crunched for time to get your website up, you’ll want to find someone who can give you quick turnaround time, willing to answer their phone or email within 1-day or same-day and can give you a good date for launching your official website.
If you’re planning way ahead and have time to spare, you might be able to save on costs since a quick turn around can me more costs out of your pocket. Let’s be real, most of the time you want the website done yesterday. Be clear when making a request to your potential web designer/developer so that you are not disappointed in the end.
4. Maintenance Cost
Hurray – once your website is up and running, are you going to need someone to maintain it? If so, what’s the cost associated? Will the web designer or developer allow and train you to update your own content? Doing this will allow you to save time, but if you don’t have time and prefer an expert to do this for you, it’s a great question to ask your potential hire. Even after your website launches, there will be kinks, there will be needs for updating photos or content –make sure you have someone who will maintain it for you.
These four things: price, service, turnaround time and maintenance cost will help you determine who best to hire when you have a new website project coming up! I hope you found these tips helpful.
If you have any questions or want to contribute your own experience in hiring a web designer/developer, feel free to leave them in the comments below!