For a professional-looking website that also works seamlessly and snares customers effectively, you will need the help of a skilled web designer.
Of course if you are starting from scratch and have never had to procure a web designer’s services before, this could be a challenge.
To help out, here are some pieces of advice for how to go about finding the right web designer for your next startup project.
Go local
While web designers can work remotely from anywhere in the world, it is often best to look for a local agency or individual rather than outsourcing this to someone in a different region or country altogether.
For example, getting web design in Toronto from a firm that is based in the city itself, or in another part of Canada. If you are in the US, it would be easier to connect and partner with a web design agency USA. This will make things a lot easier in terms of communication, collaboration and ultimately accountability.
Conversely, if your designer is competitively priced but located on another continent, everything from their working hours to the language barrier may hamper the progress of the project.
Check their past work
Once you have narrowed your search down to suitable freelancers or agencies, you should get an idea of their abilities by visiting the other websites that they have worked on for existing clients, and ask for any customer testimonials if they have them.
A web designer’s portfolio should speak for itself; if it consists of high quality, intuitively put together sites that are appropriate for your industry and requirements, this is a good sign that you should go ahead. If the examples are rough around the edges or unsuitable, or the designer refuses to give examples of what they can do, then you may want to cross them off the list of prospects.
Set a budget & ask for a quote
The cost of hiring a web designer will obviously be a big factor in determining your choice, but before you go asking for quotes, you need to get a firm idea of the kind of budget you have to work with. This also means being realistic about what it costs to build a decent site, so that you are not surprised by the offers you receive.
In fact, as design costs are going up at the moment, you need to be comfortable with the idea of spending several thousand dollars at least to get the site you want.
You can also expect that web designers will not always provide clear pricing upfront, but will need you to tell them the scope and scale of your desired site to give you an estimate.
It pays to compare the costs quoted by multiple designers so that you can see which is the most competitive, rather than settling for the first one you stumble across online.
Be clear & communicative
The final piece of advice for anyone who is looking for a web designer to make a site for their business is that you will only get the most out of this relationship if you are open, honest and clear about the kind of site you want. Additionally, you need to work with web design management services that are responsive to your communication and correspondence; anyone who fails to respond to emails or ignores key points may result in complications later
If in doubt, reach out to other business owners to find out who built their sites and whether they would recommend them, as direct word of mouth marketing can save you a lot of time and hassle.
