When setting up your online presence, picking a web designer is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Competent high-quality web designers make the difference between a website that looks sleek and efficient, and one which seems confused and dysfunctional – and given that your website is likely to be the main platform through which consumers will interface with your brand, first impressions really do matter.
What do you need from your website?
The first step when picking a web designer is to think about what you need from your website. Are you looking for a highly complex digital retail site, complete with marketing analytics, constantly changing content and other sophisticated functionality? Or is your need for a simpler and less active page, maybe with a few subpages guiding clients to a phone number or physical store? This will determine the sort of web designer you engage – not all designers will specialise in the same type of sites, and getting an inappropriate designer to set up a simple site can not only lead to user experience overkill but can be excessively costly too.
What style are you looking for?
Another question to ask yourself is what the aesthetic you’re looking for is. A common mistake with people beginning their digital journey is to add too much and make their sites look too busy, often with excessive images or pop-ups. This can look sloppy and messy – but equally, an excessively minimalist page can be difficult to use and leave users cold. Consider in broad terms what you’d like your website to look like, and then approach designers based on what their specialisms are.
Check out different designers
Once you’ve got a concept in your head, the next step is to investigate designers. Essentially all designers will have a portfolio of work on their websites – start by taking a look at this, but also find the sites they’ve worked on and click around them. Keep an eye out for a few factors; user experience (is it easy to find what you’re looking for?), bugs (are there any obvious issues with using the site?) and aesthetics (does it look like you envision your site looking?)
This should help you to narrow the field. Once you’ve done that, a vital step is to talk at length with the designers you’re considering. See whether they understand your vision and have a plausible plan for translating it into an actual website – this shouldn’t just be an interview, but a conversation where you listen to the questions they ask and try to assess whether they’ve understood what you’re looking for.
Hire an expert web design agency today.
E2TS are a leading web design agency with experience across a range of industries and business types – we not only work on design but search engine optimisation, social media marketing and general design principles, meaning we can offer a holistic and highly-rated service. Contact us online to discuss how we can work with you to bring your ideas to life.