3 things to ask when looking for a web designer
There are obviously a lot of questions that you should be thinking about when hiring a web designer, but here are three that you might not have considered yet.
1. Does the web designer just do code (HTML, CSS, etc.) or does he also design the visual aspect of the site?
There are a lot of web designers who do a great job at coding sites, but don’t know much about visual design. Likewise, there are a lot of designers out there who don’t know much about the underlying code. The best idea is to get someone (either a team or an individual) who understands both.
2. Does the web designer use Web Standards and semantic (meaningful) markup?
This is sort of an extension of question 1. Websites coded with semantic markup tend be much easier to maintain over time, sometimes allowing the visual design of the site to be changed with edits to only a single CSS file. Semantic markup is important not only for that reason, but also because writing the code where the meaning of things is clear in the markup is a huge help to handicapped (especially visually impaired) users, those who are using alternative devices (cell phones, PDAs) as well as search engines.
Search engines? Yes. Because search engines can’t see images or good looks, they rate the relevance of your website based solely on its textual content and the way that it is coded. Semantic markup goes a long way toward making your website appear more relevant to the search engines.
3. Can they build it in the time-frame you need?
Generally, even the smallest website will take at least a week or two to build, especially if you count the time it takes to discuss terms up front.
In addition, most web designers will ask you to supply your own content (text, photos, etc.) for the website, so if you don’t already have that, add the time it will take for you to produce it. Don’t underestimate how long this will take. I know from past experience that most people/businesses tend to underestimate the amount of time and effort will be required to prepare their content. It may not be all that time consuming in itself, but other things tend to crop up and delay it.
What you really want to know is how long it will take your web designer to build the site after all terms have been agreed to and all content has been delivered.
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Great post, Josh!
These questions were very helpful to me, especially because I am not very good with the technical aspect. Very Informative!
Thanks, Conrad. I’m glad you found it helpful. If you ever have any questions about stuff like that, send me a quick message and I’ll see what I can do for you.
Yup! I will definitely agreed on post above. I have been coding for 2 years plus now and have seen that even if you are a good coder it does not necessary mean that you will be a good visual designer. As a matter of fact I am learning photoshop so that I can create more appealing visual web pages. To work in a group team is the way to go but remember that like in everything in life you must learn to understand the purpose you are aiming for in order to be successful. This is just my personal opinion you don’t have to take my words for it. I’m from los angeles and currently doing freelance work with a flash designer so we are experimenting on projects. Hope this helped, but the post about coders and visual designers is a definite to consider
@Louie: Thanks for stopping by! The skills and personality types that are attracted to design vs coding tend to be very different. And often, the things that make one a good coder are disadvantages when it comes to considering design (and vice versa). Working in a team is a great way to overcome this.
Thanks for the comment Joshua, yeah I have noticed that also. I am a newbie to the web design industry specially in the freelance arena so what I am doing now like i said is working with a guy that is very visually gifted and uses flash. You can check out his style to one of jobs that he worked on at: http://www.mdanceparty.com/mdance.swf
Here is is a link to one of projects that I currently working on if you would like to see it. http://blog.designestation.com/sitegal.htm
Just want to let ya know that its still in the works so be on the look out for none active links lol. Anyways i hope that i can learn alot from you blog that you have going Joshua
Looks like you’ve got a pretty good start on your project. Hope that it goes well for you!