How to select a Good Web Designer step by step guide for biggners
The content of the article
Step 1: Think about what kind of website you need.
Step 2: Think about what type of designer you need
Step 3: List potential applicants
Step 4: Select the best designer for your project
Step 5: Discuss terms and cost of work
Instead of a conclusion
Step 1: Think about what kind of site you need.
Before hiring a web designer, you must have a clear understanding of what you need. How many pages should it contain? What content should be placed on each of them? You will need to inform the web designer SanDiego SEO Company about these and other details.
It will most likely be difficult for you to understand what he can do and what he does not. Typically, a web designer will take an old version of your site and style it according to your brand and perceptions. Before starting a conversation with your potential designer, try to answer the following questions:
- Business strategy. Why are you making a website? What are your goals?
- Market research. What is your target audience? Have you researched competitors’ sites?
- Budget and time. Consider both ideal and maximum terms and prices.
- List of pages and necessary elements of the site. Try to make a rough sitemap.
- Logo and branding. A logo designer can help you with this. Don’t forget about brand fonts and color schemes.
- Text on the site.
- Images and videos. Your best bet is to provide your media – you may need to hire a photographer to create good quality images.
- Style. Make a small list of sites that you like and dislike styles.
- File requirements. Make sure you know what types of files you need.
Ultimately, all this information will need to be organized and collected in one place to show it to the designer then.
Read also: 10 phrases that infuriate any designer.
Step 2: Think about what type of designer you need.
When a person intends to create a website, he often has no idea that several people can make it at once. And the web designer is not the only specialist that will have to be involved.
- Typically, web designers focus on the visual (or front-end) portion of a website that visitors see and interact with. They will present you with offline website layouts using programs like Photoshop or Sketch.
So this is important: web development and web design are separate disciplines. To create a quality website, you will need both.
As for mobile design, most specialists are now working on creating two versions simultaneously: for PC and mobile devices. At the same time, if you want a portable design with a higher level of user experience (like shopping, chatting, or creating profiles), you probably need an app designer or a UX designer.
Do you need a face-to-face meeting with a designer? Will it be a one-time job, or will it require constant maintenance and design updates?
Step 3: Potential List Applicants
​​What you need to do and who you need, all that remains is to find a web designer. Of course, you will need to find more than one candidate. It is best to make a list of several applicants to select the most suitable one then. Below will be considered the primary sources for finding candidates.
- Freelance sites. Freelance platforms are global online communities explicitly created to empower artists and clients to find each other. Here you can easily browse designer portfolios, negotiate to price, collaborate on a project workspace, send and receive files, share secure payments, and leave feedback without leaving the site.
- Professional social networks. You can post a job posting on a site like LinkedIn. This will allow you to reach a wide range of candidates, but you will need to do the background check yourself (although many companies use automatic resume review software). These are generally more useful for permanent positions than one-off projects, but they also help find talent.
- Also read this:what is marketing a beginners guide
- Recruitment agencies. They will take a short description of your project to provide you with interview candidates from their own verified list. These agencies will charge a referral fee for any candidate you hire.
- Design agencies. They are fully staffed design service companies. However, the cost of such services can be pretty high.
Step 4: Select the best designer for your project.
Remember that you need not only a great professional but a designer who is suitable for your project. To find it, you need to browse the portfolio and examine the list of professional skills of each of the candidates.
Of course, a sound designer’s portfolio must be impressive. When reviewing a portfolio, please don’t limit yourself to the first few examples (which are usually the best) and make sure they have both a lot of quality work and a uniform quality standard.
While “beautiful” designs are easy to recognize, it is essential to be practical when judging quality. Namely: no matter how talented a designer is, his style must match your project and target audience.
You should also contact the candidates to discuss the project in more detail and make sure they are interested in working with you. You can also get an idea of ​​their professionalism and communication style. It won’t be easy to objectively assess this moment since everything depends on interpersonal factors, perception, and intuition.
Professionalism is more than politeness. It’s about competence.
When talking to a How to select a Good Web designer, please pay attention to how he discusses the details of the project with you. Does the specialist speak about their expectations? How do you understand the questions he asks? Did you feel that the designer is interested in your project?
Step 5: Discuss the conditions and cost of the work.
At the last stage, it is necessary to discuss the conditions and cost of work. Some web designers standardize their prices (per page, per hours, worked, etc.). For others, prices vary from project to project after they calculate the amount of work needed.
When and how is payment made? Are mobile versions included in the price? What happens if you need to stop work?
Finally, you also need to agree on how you will do the work. If you need to meet regularly, how often and where and How to select a Good Web Designer TheDigiLead helps you.
If you cannot agree on the terms, go back to step 3. Otherwise, it would be nice to get these terms in writing – it is advisable to decide with a freelancer. You may need an understanding that the fact of your payment grants you exclusive intellectual property rights to the design.
Instead of a conclusion
Due to the high demand for the services of designers, it is not difficult to hire such specialists. It will be executed taking into account all your wishes, highlighting the features of the offer and brand positioning, and also it can be easily scaled as needed to How to select a Good Web Designer.