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 Why Pay a Designer?
If you are patient, have a
great deal of time, a good broadband connection and either have
acquired or are inclined to learn computer basics, you may
not need the help of a web designer.
Contrarian view? You bet!
So how do I
proceed?
Try your hand at
designing your own site.
Click here
and set up a free account at weebly.com. Weebly offers ready-made
layout templates and drag and drop features that bring the design of
a simple website well within the competence range of a computer
novice. Once a template is selected, all you will need to do is type
in your content and add any graphics and photos in digital form (or
have the equipment to scan them in). There are some limitations to
self-designed sites such as a little item known as metatags, a
listing of keywords that have a great deal to do with where your
site ranks in page placement in "Google" or another search engine,
but that may not matter if you are not trying to sell something.
There are other
hosting sites such as
http://www.register.com/build-a-website.rcmx that provide self-design features
for a monthly "life of the site" fee, but look Weebly.com
over and give it a test drive before you consider hiring someone to
design a site for you. It is one of the more advanced self-assisting
hosting sites of those I've seen.
Caveats: While you can build a
simple site, there are often additional costs if you want extra
features such as video or flash and podcasts. Also you may be
channeled into a monthly fee for hosting and the recurring cost of a
personalized Domain name (e.g.; "your name".com). Generally, the
more you want a site to accomplish for you, and the more search
engine visibility you desire, the better off you are hiring a
professional designer.
Ok. You don't
want to do it yourself. Then here are a few considerations.
Select a website designer
whose ideas are on the same page as yours and whose demontrated
skill sets meet your needs.
Designers worth their salt have
a track record of accomplishments, so look for links to sites they
have designed. If you like their work, they might be right for you.
If their designs leave you cold, don't be sucked in by low prices.
Simply move on to another candidate.
Think of it this way. Your
website is the window through which the world views you and your
work. It is the projection of both onto a world wide stage. Poor layout with ill-defined navigation and low quality graphics
will turn viewers off. So will fancy high end sites that are slow to download
onto the screen. And no one wants to pay for unnecessary fluff.
Yet, you don't want to lose
viewers/customers because your site lacks enhancements that augment
what you wish to communicate, such as audio and video. But beware of
fancy design proposals that closet a philosophy that places form
before function, such as sites built on Flash technology (Flash
sites are unfriendly to dial-up connections and are invisible to
many search engine robots.) Many tech designers are on ego-driven
geek trips of their own and you want to be a benificiary of their
design, not a victim of it.
The right design person is
someone who you can speak with directly, not some sales person or
someone accessible only via e-mail. You want a person who doesn't
start off with what they can provide, but asks all about you and
what you want the site to accomplish. They should be visibly
assessing the fit of their skills with your website needs. Such an
approach enables them to guide you toward the features and design
options that not only make sense, but make you want to scream YES!
When that happens, it is time to begin exploring price.
Here are a few websites I have
designed:
Information you should
bring to the table or provide to designer:
1.  Research
your competition. Read all about your rival businesses online, in newspapers,
magazines. Know what you are up against online.
2. Find some websites you admire and give the links to your
web designer. These sites do not necessarily have to be connected in any way with
your business. They can be webpages whose colors, fonts, graphics and overall
design you feel drawn to. 
3.
Provide all relevant printed materials. Body copy is much harder for
the web design team to compose than it is for the client who knows the business
inside out.
4. Check the progress on your site regularly
and provide feedback as it takes shape. Most designers give clients an URL they can visit to view their site while it
is under construction
5. It is important to establish with the
designer early on the basic layout of your site, color scheme, functionality,
navigation etc. These are elements which are
difficult and time consuming to change at a later stage.
Other features that Cost Money:
1. Some
web design companies offer internet hosting as part of a package deal. Every
webpage, email, file, or online service is stored ("hosted") on a computer
(called a "server") that is connected to the internet. Web design groups that do
not offer hosting may be able to give an unbiased recommendation for third party
hosting. You can usually purchase hosting on a monthly basis.
2.
If you don't have a domain name or internet address and you want to look
professional you will need to buy one before your site can be hosted. This
service is offered by most web
design companies who will help register your domain name which will be
renewable annually.
3.
If you are not planning on maintaining your website yourself, you can hire a web
designer to maintain it for you. Again, most web design firms offer maintenance
packages.
4.
If you want professional photography on your website, unless you supply it, this
will usually be a separate cost.
5.
If you don't supply your own body copy many web design companies offer a copy
editing service.
Do I need a Business Site?
Selling a service or a product via the
internet is the simple definition of e-commerce. This may but does not need to
include allowing credit card transactions online. Orders by credit card are processed online but credit
card payment is done through a secure and safe third party site, in this case,
PayPal. This combination is
cheaper than running a commercial site on your own through your website host.
The only cost is for the PayPal business account.
Will my site look good/the same on all computers?
Most computers is all you can hope for with any web design.
Designers can ensure your site looks great on PCs and Macs using IE, Netscape
Navigator, and Firefox and that covers roughly 95% or more of your intended
audience. Even the brand and version of browser used will affect the appearance
of your site. My designs are optimized for appearance on Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet
Explorer browser, which is the default on a majority of windows computers.
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