10 steps to hire the best web designer or web design company for your business website

You have always been planning to get a website designer to work on your site. Your plans are clear and you have prepared your content. Whats Next? How do you choose the best web designer or web design company?

Step 1. Ask around. Ask your friends or similar companies that have hired a web designer in the past. In addition to getting the contact numbers for the web designers, ask what it’s like to work with that person. Find out what happened during the design process and what they think of the submitted designs.

Step 2. Research the contact information. Use the Internet or your phone book to get the names and contact information of web design companies in your area. If you use the Internet, take a look at your previous work. Then contact each one and ask for a quote.

Step 3. Examine the portfolio of the web design company you are choosing from. See if the designs look professional, clean, and easy to use.

Step 4. Look at the experience of the web designer or web design company. How long has the person or company been in business? How many companies have they designed for?

Step 5. See if the designer or web design company is up to date with the latest trends in web marketing. Useful and profitable websites attract the right traffic with search engine optimization and usability and employing web 2.0 strategies like social media marketing. Effective websites take SEO and usability into consideration. See if your web designer has at least a basic understanding of both. In order for your website to be successful, you must be able to implement a successful internet marketing campaign.

Step 6. Look at the response time suggested by the web designer or web design company. Does it coincide with the schedule of your company’s plans?

Step 7. Examine the terms of service of the web designer or web design company and ownership of the website files. See if you agree to the conditions set by the designer to work with you. See also the rights to who owns the final production and what sizes. If this is not clear up front, you may be surprised to find that the job you commissioned is not yours and you may have to pay more to get it.

Step 8. See what the web designer offers for post-design services. Will the designer help maintain your site or is the designer just expected to do the initial design?

Step 9. Talk to the designer. Is it easy to communicate with him / her? You should be able to easily communicate with your web designer. You should feel comfortable presenting the problems you want to solve. Your web designer must be respectful and fast. You should both be able to commit to what will work best for your viewers, not necessarily your personal taste.

Step 10. Find happy past customers. You can search the designer’s website or blog and see if there are customer testimonials. Consider what they have to say about the designer. You can also try calling them (you can ask for the web designer’s contact number) and asking for feedback on the design process and the end result.