7 Tips On Choosing A Website Designer

Things To Consider When Using A Creative Web Designer

We have put together this list of 7 tips on choosing a website designer for one important reason.  There are thousands of website designers in the UK; how do you choose the right one?

There are a couple of things to consider before choosing a web designer.

What website platform did you want your website to sit on?

There are lots of website platforms on the market (Joomla, Shopify, WordPress etc.) so choosing the right one is important.

Not all web designers work with all website platforms, and some will lean towards one over another.

Doing some research on website platforms is wise, or talking to a few different website designers to get some balanced feedback.

Before you start thinking about this particular hurdle, you need to think about a few other things first.

1. What Do You Need?
   Of the 7 tips on choosing a website designer, this is the first.  There is a difference between what you want and what you need. You may see a website that you like the look of (Amazon for example) and think ‘I want one’ – however without spending hundreds of thousands of pounds, you need to be realistic.
   Decide on the kind of ‘features’ that you want (the basic pages, some graphics, a web tutorial etc.)
   If you have limited funds, then consider the basics – you can always build on them.
2. Consider Your Budget
   Websites can range in cost from a couple of hundred pounds up to millions; so you need to have a good idea of what kind of site you are looking for. Considering that a designer may charge £40 per hour to work, if you have a budget of £1000 this is about a week for the designer to plan, prototype and get your site set up.There are cheap websites and websites that can be designed for free, deciding what you want is important before talking to a designer.  But is cheap website design worth it in the long term?
3. What Do You Want
   There are lots of different sorts of styles of websites, so do a little research. See what you like the look of and make a note of them. This will help the website designer to put together a site that is going to be in line with your expectations.
4. Know Your Competition
   If you know who your competitors are, you can see what sort of websites they have, what works and what does not. Again, this will help the designer in putting together a website for you that looks right, but also stands out in the crowd.
5. Know Your Audience
   If you are targeting young people, having an interactive slant is good, as is the modern fee. If you are targeting older people, making the site clean and no frills is a good move (maybe with a feature to change the text size). Know your audience – and plan the website for the kind of visitors you are targeting.
6. What About SEO
   SEO means search engine optimisation; what this means is how visible your website is on the internet.  Once a website is designed and live, it can get lost in the millions of other sites. SEO brings it up in searches.  So if you are a legal company in Bradford, then you would target legal phrases based around the place name of Bradford.  This is done by an SEO expert as opposed to a designer.  Appearing on websites like Google and Bing are essential.
7. Compare Prices
   Website designers all charge differently; there is no standard when it comes to design. By comparing website design prices you can get a feel for different designers ideas and angles, and choose the best one (based on the design ideas, prices etc.).

A Meeting

Sitting down with a designer to discuss face to face what you want is important.  Communication via e-mail and phone are fine, but clear communication can only really be done face to face.

A meeting gives you a chance to check up on any claims that the web designer makes.

Many web designers claim ‘we are the UK’s top website designer’ or ‘we have won multiple awards’; a meeting vies you the chance to check out these claims.

How much experience does the web designer have?  Have they been trading for 10 years or 10 minutes?

Choosing a marketing company that is ‘right’ for you can be difficult as there are thousands in the UK.

It is wise to choose a website designer that has a lot of web design experience, to make your website SEO friendly and mobile friendly.

Since 2014, the main search engines rank websites based on their mobile friendliness.  Since new smartphones are regularly coming out, each with different sized screens, so it is wise that updates are made regularly.

Since you have read the 7 tips on choosing a web designer you are now able to contact us to get quotes!