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The Best Web Designer for Your Website
By · 24 October 2019
How do you find the best web designer for your website?
Coming up with a vision for your website was already hard enough; now the next big hurdle is finding the right web designer to bring that vision to life. In this post we share 5 tips to help you in your search for the best web designer for your website.
The web designer’s own website
If you already have a website, you may have discovered that at some point it suffered from neglect. Maybe you forgot to update plugins, remove spam comments, or fix 404 errors. So when choosing a web designer, pay close attention to the maintenance of their own website. Their website should be well designed and have a high page load speed and, of course, good performance.
A web designer who neglects their own website is unlikely to deliver high-quality services and may not properly take care of their clients’ websites either, once the project is delivered.
Past projects
Previous projects say a lot about a web designer. If you understand how websites are built, you can inspect them and draw useful information about how the web designer works and which strategies and technologies they use. If you don’t know much about web design, take a close look at the following:
Identical projects: check whether the developer’s projects all look very similar to each other. If so, this indicates the developer often uses the same website template, perhaps to save time, but more often the reason is simply a lack of expertise. Varied designs indicate solid web design knowledge and high creativity.
Style of projects: the style of a website can give you a good idea of what to expect for your own project. If you don’t like the look of a web designer’s previous projects, you should keep looking for a developer with a style that suits you.
Responsive web design: browse through the developers’ projects on a smartphone or tablet. Do the websites work well there? If so, the developer understands and values the importance of responsive web design. If not, definitely look for a different web designer.
Attention to detail: when reviewing the projects, can you immediately spot errors? Do the various design elements load correctly? Do the colors work well together? Is the navigation menu intuitive? If you can easily spot mistakes as a layperson, this often means the developer doesn’t take their clients’ projects seriously.
Communication
During your first contact and briefing with your web designer, pay attention to the following points:
Do they agree with your wishes?
Are your own ideas and wishes genuinely taken into account and taken seriously? Or does the developer keep trying to talk you out of things and dismiss your ideas? Here you need to make sure your input is accepted and that your design wishes are respected.
Does the web designer explain in detail why a certain feature isn’t possible?
Does the web designer advise and share their own knowledge to upgrade or improve your design concepts? Do they help you find alternatives for, say, unfeasible ideas?
Do they offer additional hints and tips regarding SEO?
For example, how you can improve your own ranking in search engines like Google. Nowadays you can do certain things yourself to optimize your website. This can range from actively managing your social media channels to occasionally writing a post for your website. Small extras to boost your website in the rankings, for which you don’t always need a paid solution.
If none of this is the case, the web designer will only be interested in finishing the project quickly and getting paid, without worrying about your wellbeing and success.
Availability
The working hours or the times you have access to a web designer say a lot about their customer service. Opening and closing times during normal office hours point to an agency or a company. This often means they have specialized staff to handle the various aspects of web design. Unfortunately, this does tie you to those set opening hours.
Round-the-clock availability strongly suggests a freelancer working alone. While both freelancers and web design agencies can deliver high-quality results, it’s important for you to consider who exactly you’re looking for.
An agency might, on the one hand, deliver your project faster, while the freelancer, on the other hand, is always available. Issues during the weekend or on holidays could therefore potentially be resolved much faster in that case.
Project costs
It goes without saying that the cost of a website plays a big role in your choice of the right web designer. This obviously needs to fit within your budget. As is usual in other areas of life, choosing the cheapest developer can be a downright disaster. Check whether your budget is proportional to what you have in mind. If you receive a proposal that’s far below your own price expectations, it’s strongly advised not to go for it.
On the other hand, there are web designers who charge exorbitant prices. Because every website project is unique, it’s hard to know exactly what your project should cost. As a rule, always try to find a good balance between cost and value. So always compare apples to apples before you decide.
Conclusion
By taking the above five tips into account, it will presumably become a bit easier to find the best web designer for your own website. Although there are many areas you’ll need to research, the effort is definitely worth it to find the right web designer. Especially since your website will have a big influence on how your customers experience your brand.
Would you like more information, or do you perhaps have a web design project you’d like to get started on? Get in touch with us and we’ll look together at whether we’re the best web designer for your website!