How to Get a Web Designer to Work for You: A website should be easy to use, well-designed, optimised, and consistent with the company’s brand. As if that weren’t difficult enough, you’ll have to do it all by yourself. Unfortunately, you’ll need to hire a web designer to help you out. Learn how to employ a web designer the first time around so you don’t have to waste time interviewing several candidates.
The Reasons to Hire a Web Designer
It is the job of a web designer to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to bear. These experts know just how to design your website so that it doesn’t appear too basic or cluttered, where to place the appropriate call to action, and how to appeal to your target audience’s preferences and needs.
Using all this information, they’re able to develop a website that’s both distinctive and appealing, as well as SEO-friendly.
You may, of course, take matters into your own hands and carry out the task on your own. Many excellent website builders have been created for this precise purpose. Is this something you can devote all of your attention and resources to?
People can usually tell the difference between a home-made website and one that has been professionally developed. To generate a great first impression on the visitors to your website, you should use a more trustworthy, reliable, and authoritative brand image.
It’s also important to note that a competent site designer can successfully convey your value proposition to your target audience. In order to portray your company in the greatest light, they can assist in conveying a clear, consistent, and appealing message through images, colours, and fonts.
The Cost of Hiring a Website Developer
Flat fees or hourly rates might be offered by web designers. Although the average cost of creating a simple website — from start to finish — is roughly $5000, there are some exceptions.
Situation 1: What to Expect When Web Designers Bill by the Hour
According to CSS Tricks, competent web designers often charge $40 to $80 per hour. A website designer’s hourly rate might range from $30 to $80, according to Website Builder Expert.
A freelancer’s hourly rate is determined by a number of factors, including the following:
- Web designers may provide lower fees for long-term projects including a high volume of regular labour, as well as when working for a non-profit organisation or a close family member. They can also charge a smaller sum if they believe the level of commitment is lower than expected (for a simpler website, for example).
- In addition, web designers charge extra for more sophisticated projects that need the assistance of a programmer, a developer, or a graphic designer, as well as for building more web pages on a larger site.
Situation 2: In the case of web designers that charge a flat rate
A website design costs between $500 and $5000 (approximately) according to 99designs, a freelance designer marketplace. This is dependent on the difficulty of the project and the level of expertise of the designer in the field of design. In addition, the more pages that are necessary, the higher the cost of the website.
The following is a simple web design pricing list:
- Setup costs $160.
- $5,000 for design and construction.
- $500 for the development of original content.
- Client education costs $600.
- $500 is allocated for maintenance.
Keep in mind that the expenditures shown above are averages and only cover the first year of operation.
Having said that, each project will have a different cost, which is why you should ask a potential web designer about their fees after discussing your project needs with them.
How to Hire a Web Designer in 5 Easy Steps
How to choose the finest web designer for your website needs is explained in detail in this step-by-step guide.
#1 Start with Google as your primary search engine.
Because everything and everyone is now available on the internet, it is the most convenient location to locate qualified web designers and businesses.
Enter “web designer + (Your Area)” into your search engine’s search bar, followed by a short phrase such as “(Your City) + web design.” Because many web designers are willing to work from home, you may hunt for possible candidates on freelancing platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer.com, Toptal, and Reddit, among other places.
If you search for web designers or design teams, the results pages will provide you with an enormous variety of options, each with differing degrees of competence and experience.
Be aware that a web designer isn’t always someone who can manage every single detail of your project without the need for further help from you. Several of them may consist of small groups of individuals who are experts in a particular component of the design process. Depending on the nature of the project, they may work in collaboration with other web developers, copywriters, and strategists.
#2 Inspect their skill sets to see whether they are appropriate for the job.
The days when web designers were limited to becoming Photoshop wizards are long gone. Creative people with an in-depth understanding of digital technology, graphic design, and internet development are available today.
A web designer should also be up to date on the most recent web design trends and techniques. Do not forget to pay special attention to the biographical information and service descriptions on the websites while searching for professionals.
Here’s a list of some fundamental abilities that your candidate should be familiar with:
HTML and CSS
A web designer‘s knowledge of HTML and CSS should be at the very least intermediate.
Both languages are regarded as the fundamental building blocks of websites, which allow designers to publish their work on the internet. Having a working understanding of HTML and CSS, on the other hand, differentiates web designers from graphic designers.
If you want to engage a web design team, be certain that they have a developer on their payroll. The designers and developers at some design firms work together, thus even if the designer lacks HTML or CSS understanding, the developer will be able to assist the designer.
Optimization for Mobile Devices
If you want to attract and keep clients, you must have a website that is optimised for mobile devices. This implies that your website includes visual and interactive features that appear and function properly on all platforms, including PCs, mobile phones, and tablets. “Mobile-responsive” and “mobile-friendly” are two more popular terms these days.
Assess your prospects’ understanding of mobile-first design. Interrogate them about their plans for developing a responsive website that automatically resizes to meet any screen size.
Content Management System.
A content management system, sometimes known as a CMS, is a software platform that allows you to edit a website after it has been launched. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla! are three of the most well-known content management systems (CMS), which make it simple to add, change, and delete material from your website.
Engage the services of a web designer who is familiar with the content management system (CMS) you employ. This will enable you to maintain complete control over your website once it has been launched. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself having to contact the designer every time you want to make a change.
Adobe Creative Suite is a software package that allows you to create graphics.
Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are among the apps included in the Adobe Creative Suite. Web designing tools like these are often employed by top designers in order to generate unique site layouts.
Inquire about your prospect’s familiarity with these tools before you meet with them. Everyone should be a specialist; if they aren’t, they aren’t the best match for the position.
Identify the alternative software that a prospect prefers over Adobe Suite and find out what makes it better. Before going on to the following level, you must be confident with their answer to your questions.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a term that refers to the process of optimising a website for search engines.
Traffic generation, both sponsored and organic, should be the primary goal of every website. Unfortunately, if your site designer does not adhere to search engine optimization best practices, gaining organic traffic will become a faraway dream.
In other words, to a certain degree, web designers are accountable for making your website accessible to search engines. For example, if your web designer optimises photos, this will boost the loading speed of your web pages—and a quicker website adds to a better rating in the search engine results pages.
However, determining a prospect’s SEO proficiency might be tricky. It all comes down to how convincingly a candidate speaks about search engine optimization. If someone is unfamiliar with the topic, it might be preferable to examine other options instead.
#3 Examine portfolios with a critical eye for detail
The pool of web designers who has the talents you want should be established at this point. Following that, you’ll look at their work examples to determine which candidates are the most skilled and versatile.
Not every portfolio will appeal to your aesthetic preferences, which is a good thing. Websites are created by web designers in accordance with the needs of their clients. As a result, the greater the variety of the designer’s portfolio, the more skilled and experienced the designer is likely to be.
When comparing portfolios, you should take into consideration the following factors:
Aesthetics of the website. Consider if the design is aesthetically attractive as well as whether it is consistent with the client’s brand and voice. Portfolios that effectively express corporate objectives should be sought.
Usability. Make a point of seeing the real sites, rather than depending on screenshots in a designer’s portfolio to make your decision. Check to see whether the websites load fast, have a pleasing aesthetic appearance, and are simple to browse. Don’t forget to assess the websites’ responsiveness on mobile devices as well.
Functionality. Investigate other portfolios with functionality that is comparable to yours. For example, if you want to establish an eCommerce website, seek applicants who have experience in the development of eCommerce websites. You have the option of being as descriptive as you wish.
Potential in general. You don’t simply want a lovely website; you want a business-generating engine that also happens to be visually appealing to visitors. As a result, while reviewing portfolios, pay particular attention to the call-to-action buttons and how the websites assist in generating revenue. You may also lookup the Google rating of each website.
The criteria listed above will assist you in gaining an understanding of a designer’s commercial experience as well as their geographical preferences and culture. When creating material for a highly focused audience, this may be really beneficial.
#4 Consult with previous clients
Choose a few sites from each designer’s portfolio that you’d want to work with, then contact the companies that hired them to discuss the project. This will offer you a better understanding of what it’s like to collaborate with them.
How to Get a Web Designer to Work for You
Here’s a list of questions you may ask prospective clients’ previous customers:
- What was it like to collaborate with the designer?
- What do you think of the way they went about designing it?
- Was the designer manages to fulfil all of his or her deadlines?
- What was the total cost of the project, including the designer’s fees?
- How is the performance of your website? Would you attribute an increase in leads or sales to the designer’s efforts?
It is important to remember that a prospect may not be to blame for every poor event. Use your judgement to establish if the fault is with the web designer or with the client’s computer system.
#5 Meet with the candidates who have been shortlisted and choose the most suitable for you.
At this point, you should have a shortlist of skilled people who possess the necessary skill sets, in-depth expertise, pleased clients, and visually appealing design portfolios, among other qualities.
Make contact with each of them to arrange a phone conversation or a face-to-face meeting with each of them. If you want to hire a team, schedule a meeting with the individual who will serve as your principal point of contact.
The goal here is to obtain a sense of each “finalist’s” approach as well as an estimate of how long it will take them to finish the project and how much it will cost them. Choose a web designer to whom you feel comfortable giving your website—someone who you are certain will provide the website you want.
Steps to Take Next
Following the employment of the web designer, you should schedule numerous meetings to ensure that both parties are completely on the same page on the scope of the project. Everyone should be on the same page when it comes to the payment and other terms and conditions of the agreement.
Pose a large number of questions about the jobs, the method, the timetable, and payment options. Don’t be concerned, the designer is expecting it! Encourage children to ask questions as well, and make sure you answer them completely and completely to avoid any misunderstandings.
You can’t get enough of it? Check out our other website design tutorials, including:
