Finding A Good Web Designer
Keywords: web design, hire a web designer
If you just started an online business, you probably have no idea how to go about hiring a web designer. Who should you call? Should you look someone up in the yellow pages? Should you hire someone who works for a company that employs many different web designers, or should you hire a sole proprietor? Or, should you hire a freelancer who does web design part time? How much does it cost?
If you need someone to develop a very simple, static website that is merely a personal homepage or just an informational site about your business, then you pretty much have carte blanche. The only issue in this case would be cost. A freelancer will charge a lot less than a professional, but a freelancer might not do a thoroughly competent job. There are numerous website directories that contain a database of freelance web designers who are seeking work.
If you hire one of these individuals, make sure you request to see samples of web designs they have already done, just to make sure they have not done shoddy work in the past. I find it best to hire a professional in this instance, because even though a professional will charge more per hour, they can usually do much better work and get it done faster. So, in the end, a freelancer could actually charge more and you might end up getting a design of inferior quality.
Let us take a moment to delineate what the differences are between a freelancer, a sole proprietor, someone who owns a small, reputable web design business with a few employees, and a designer who is part of a huge company that employs up to one hundred web designers (there are quite a few companies out there that employ hundreds of web designers under a single company umbrella and also provide domain name registration and web hosting services all in one package).
First of all, a freelancer is usually someone for who web design is merely a hobby. This sort of a person has probably taken a few courses in simple web design at a local institute or college, or might be self-taught, and dabbles in web design as a part-time job or a way to earn extra cash. Some of these freelancers might be quite talented, but their designs are ordinarily not as crisp as what a professional can produce.
To reiterate, a freelancer is someone who only moonlights as a web designer. So, they are typically busy with their other career, and will take a longer time with your project because of time constraints. In the end, the freelancer probably will not give you the design you really want, and will refuse to refund your money.
A web designer who is part of a larger company that employs one hundred or more designers is just as bad as a freelancer. These sorts of web designers do not have much design skill, and are often given many different jobs to do at once. As a result, they will throw your design together haphazardly. You will be very disappointed with the work they produce.
The best web designers to hire are professionals who do web design as a career, and do focused projects. You should hire either a sole proprietor who has a large portfolio of work to show you, or a small firm of web designers who work together and have extensive web design experience. Professionals charge more than anyone else, but because they have so much experience and such a wide variety of designs for you to choose from, they will do a fantastic job in only a fraction of the time.
The only time you should use a freelancer or other inexperienced designer is if you can meet with that individual in person, explain exactly what you want, and if the project itself is very simple and the design work necessary for the job is not too extravagant. Do not make the mistake of hiring a freelancer over the internet that lives in a different state and only accepts payments via PayPal or some other sort of electronic payment processing service. Make sure your freelancer is someone who resides close by so that you can monitor their progress and visit them if you do not like the initial design they produce.
For almost all web design projects, it is best to hire a professional. Even though it costs more, it is generally only a one-time cost. A website is typically only designed once with major revisions only done once every few years; you may make changes here or there in the short run, but a web site usually stays the same for up to a few years or more. So, you might as well go with the most talented yet reasonably priced designer you can find.
Also, it is very important to hire a designer who has a contract that you can sign that stipulates certain terms and conditions. You should be able to pay the designer a down payment of 25% - 50% of the total quoted price for the job, with the balance due upon completion. This is critically important, because it can be very frustrating to flush money down the toilet on a design you hate without any way to recoup any of your funds afterwards.
Also, the designer should be able to quickly produce some sample layouts after they have been assigned the job so that you can at least pick a particular design that you like the most, and then the designer can begin working on that design rather than using their artistic license to create a design from scratch.
Follow all of these recommendations and be careful when hiring a web designer. Always work with a professional if your project requires a certain level of expertise and skill, and make sure you request a portfolio containing samples of their work so you can see what they have already done. Make sure their prior designs meet your standards.
Jim Pretin is the owner of www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make a free HTML form and download formmail.
Previous Articles Highlighter:
HTML Might Become Obsolete (1)
As information and data presented on the world wide web became more complex, XML was invented to effectively structure, store, and send this information. What makes XML truly unique is that there are no predefined tags as is the case with HTML.
Creating Your First HTML Form (2)
Either way, it is important to have an HTML form so that people can contact you directly through your website. Jim Pretin is the owner of www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers create a free HTML form with the code to email the HTML form responses.
Getting Ranked Higher On Search Engines (3)
The first thing you need to understand is that your search engine ranking will not improve overnight. Watch our for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consultants. They will charge you a hefty sum for their services, sometimes as much as $2,000 per month or more.
My Internet Marketing Secrets Revealed (4)
The more inbound links you acquire, the higher your search engine ranking will be. There are several ways you can garner links. You can submit your site to free directories, join a link exchange and trade links with other sites, and you can write articles and press releases and submit them to article directories and press release distribution services who will then distribute your articles and press releases to other websites who will publish them and in return link back to you.
Improve Your Search Engine Ranking (5)
No website can improve its ranking overnight, but if you are persistent, your efforts will be rewarded in the long run. Jim Pretin is the owner of www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make free HTML forms.
Do You Need An HTML Form? (6)
However, if you want to create a sophisticated online form to collect information from your visitors and respond to their questions, you will need some help. Installing the HTML form on your website is the easy part.
Introduction To Pay Per Click Marketing (7)
Once their daily budget has been exhausted, the site is removed from the sponsored results until the beginning of the next 24-hour period. Google is not the only search engine that has a PPC service available.
An Introduction To Internet Marketing (8)
The cornerstone of internet marketing is search engine submission and optimization. There are hundreds of different search engines and directories on the internet where you can submit your web site for a listing.
Website Marketing Made Simple (9)
You need to provide an affiliate code to other online merchants so that they will place your banner on their site; every time you make a sale that resulted from an affiliate referral, the affiliate gets a commission.
Internet Marketing Made Simple (10)
To optimize a site, you need to maximize your keyword density and optimize the positioning for the words or phrases for which you want to be listed. And, you need to use proper Meta tags so that the search engines can interpret your web pages.
A Guide To Internet Marketing (11)
A full page ad in a prominent magazine or other publication can run as high as $50,000 per ad. TV commercials can run just as high; if the commercial runs during a popular television show or sporting event, the amount you will have to pay can well exceed the costs of print advertising.
Can Anyone Really Make Money Online? (12)
The only way to make money on the internet is by starting your own legitimate business. Jim Pretin is the owner of www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make email forms.
The Importance Of Link Popularity (13)
The search engines usually discount any links to your site originating from these FFA pages or link farms. The way to improve your link popularity is simply by advertising your website.
Issues With Formmail (14)
After you download it, you will need to modify the code in order to adapt it to the form you have created. The first challenge you will face is changing the code, if need be, so that it automatically checks to make sure that all required fields from your form have been completed.
Choosing A Web Designer (15)
Professionals charge more than anyone else, but they have more experience. The only time you should use a freelancer is if you can meet with that individual in person, explain exactly what you want, and if the project itself is very simple and the design work necessary for the job is not too extravagant.
What Is DHTML? (16)
Though there are certain drawbacks associated with using it because it is interpreted differently by each browser, you should still become familiar with DHTML and know how to use its different versions so that you can create dynamic web pages.
A Brief Introduction To E4X (17)
E4X adds direct support for XML to JavaScript. An XML object declared with E4X is written like this: var x = new XML() Using this method, it is much easier to parse an XML document than it would be using JavaScript.
What Is DTD? (18)
The wireless revolution changed everything. Almost every electronic device now comes equipped with access to the web and email. Palm tops, laptops, cell phones, even computer screens installed in automobiles are now connected to the internet.
What Is RSS? (19)
They contain descriptions of or links to any new information that has recently been posted on the web site. These may be links to articles, or links to certain pages of the web site where new content has been published.
How To Hire The Right Web Designer (20)
If you need someone to develop a very simple, static website that is merely a personal homepage or just an informational site about your business, then you pretty much have carte blanche.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Your First Online Form (1)
If you do not have the patience to do the work, use an outside service that creates the form for you. Either way, it is important to have an online form so that people can contact you directly through your website.
Learn How To Use Formmail (2)
To create a Formmail file, you can either write the PHP code yourself (which is impossible unless you are experienced), or you can download the code from one of the many sites that have made the code available.
How To Make Your Traffic Explode (3)
Also, you can submit your site to bloggers through a popular service called Blogitive (they will write a review of your site and link to it, further boosting your link popularity).
Your First HTML Email Form (4)
There are many different versions of Formmail floating around the internet, and some have built-in spam protection while others do not. Many times, inexperienced programmers will put an online form on their website that does not include code to at least try to prevent spammers from utilizing the HTML email form to send spam to hundreds or even thousands of people.
Learn To Create An Online Form (5)
However, if you want to create a sophisticated online form to collect information from your visitors and respond to their questions, you need to know something about HTML and another programming language called PHP.
How Traffic To My Site Skyrocketed (6)
There are hundreds of different search engines and directories on the internet where you can submit your web site for a listing. This is fairly easy to do. Simply sign up for a monthly submission plan with a credible search engine submission service.
Your First Web Form (7)
Keywords: web form If you have recently established a website for your first internet business, adding a simple web form to your website, such as a feedback form, contact form, or other online form, can be a tough task.
Internet Marketing For Beginners (8)
The best way to promote your site, if you are actually selling something, is through an affiliate program. You need to provide an affiliate code to other online merchants so that they will place your banner on their site; every time you make a sale that resulted from an affiliate referral, the affiliate gets a commission.
How My Website Became Popular (9)
If you are persistent and use all of these methods, you will continually increase your traffic over a period of time. It will probably take approximately 3 years of performing each of the tasks outlined in this article, on a daily basis, to get where you want to be.
How To Make Your First Web Form (10)
Instead, they process it for you on their own servers. If you are comfortable with programming, you might want to try to create your web form yourself with the help of some online tutorials.
How To Start A Digital Information Business On The Internet (11)
Another thing you can do is do the research and then hire someone to create the book. Even if you are not a particularly good writer you could put together an outline and key points and hire a ghostwriter to write the actual words.
How To Create A Content Rich Website (12)
The only way that a person can create a content rich website is to do the research. Use research tools like overture to find out what keywords people are hitting up in search of information pertaining to your niche and make sure that you make use of the appropriate keywords when it comes to your content.
7 Internet Marketing Secrets That Will Curl Your Toes (13)
Before you can see marketing results you need to establish trust with your prospective buyer. Help them to see that they can feel safe, giving you their personal information and making the purchase.
Google Page Rank Is It Relevant To Your Websites Placement? (14)
The free results will show up with all the link info and page rank score below the text listing. You can compare all the sites for yourself and can make a partial determination that the Google Page Rank is still a large factor is determining your placement for targeted keywords in the free listings.
How To Beat Marketing Competitors (15)
From waiting tables to millionaire at 29, Mike Dillard, is a professional marketer who has taught over 100,000 entrepreneurs from around the world how to tap into the power of his attraction marketing techniques.
Successful Strategies For Marketing (16)
The people that will agree to receive your emails are the ones that have an interest in your product or service. Opt-in email works to your advantage. If the customers already have an interest it increases your chances of making a sale.
Writing Article Reviews (17)
Search Google for other review articles and compile the points you would like to highlight/summarize in your own words. Include the good and the bad comments of the customer's experience that you found.
Keywords Are The Key To Success (18)
Then, looking at the keyword phrases, you could evaluate each of them to learn which is most probable to draw in maximum traffic to your website. The main criteria to use to decide on the best keyword phrases would be popularity, specificity, and the motivation of the user.
Magnetize Your Affiliate Marketing Site (19)
One way is by having an upfront privacy policy statement. Also, provide authentic contact information online so your customers can ask you valuable questions concerning their business. Your customers will tell you what they are looking for, and you can provide the info or product they need.
3 Quick And Easy Ways To Building A Profitable Opt-in List (20)
When you feel that people trust you already, you will be able to start your own opt-in list. You can build a base as well with other forum users.