How To Hire The Right Web Designer
Keywords: web design, hiring a web designer
If you are a novice internet businessperson, and 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 under a single umbrella, 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 email forms.
Previous Articles Highlighter:
What Is AJAX Programming? (1)
The second part is XHTML, which is a more versatile version of HTML that is compatible with XML files. AJAX also uses the Document Object Model (DOM), which is a standard set of objects that can be used to modify web documents.
What Is XML Schema? (2)
If you do not make use of versatile languages such as XML, XSL, and XHTML, your website might be invisible to those who surf the web on wireless devices, and you might be putting your career as a web designer in jeopardy.
Introduction To HTML DOM (3)
Keywords: HTML DOM, Document Object Model Web sites used to be created exclusively with HTML. Formerly, a web site consisted of nothing more than some text and a few HTML tags to provide the structure and formatting for the web page, accompanied by some graphics to provide style.
An Introduction To VBScript (4)
VBScript functions are to be placed in the head section so that the functions are loaded before called upon in the body section of the page. VBScript code that is involved in displaying certain elements of the web page immediately upon the loading of the page would go in the body section of the page.
Introduction To SQL (5)
When someone using that dating website searches for a profile that matches certain criteria that they are looking for in a potential mate, their query is converted into an SQL statement.
What Is XML DOM? (6)
Multiple browsers support the XML Parser, such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla, to name a few. The XML Parser is also used to check the syntax of the XML as needed.
What Is WSDL? (7)
It is written in XML, and it describes the location and methods of a web service. The definition of a web service as it pertains to this discussion is a software system designed to support machine-to-machine interaction over a network.
What Are XForms? (8)
The kind of forms that website owners now want to compose for their websites are so incredibly diverse and complicated that simple HTML code no longer suffices. So, another way of building forms has evolved in response to this need.
What Is XSL? (9)
XSL uses XPath to find parts of the source document that should match a certain predefined template. When XPath finds what it is looking for, then XSLT takes over and performs a transformation, turning the source document into what is called the result document.
What Is SOAP? (10)
Without SOAP, it might be difficult to communicate with the server that contains the stock price. SOAP uses HTTP and HTTP is the best way for applications to communicate with one another across any kind of platform, server, or web browser.
Is Pay-Per-Click Worth It? (11)
Keywords: pay per click, pay-per-click If you've just launched your first website, you'll soon realize that there aren't many realistic ways to drive traffic to your site other than through pay-per-click advertising.
What Is XML? (12)
XML is a device independent, cross-platform language. This is extremely important, because people are now using a wide variety of gadgets to connect to the internet, as almost every electronic device on the market now comes equipped with email and internet access.
Broadband High Speed Internet: Choosing The Right Service (13)
One cannot surf and talk at the same time. The cost for dial-up is $10-$25 per month. Reading further, one finds that with broadband high speed Internet, there is no comparison to dial-up Internet.
Search Engine Optimization Tips For New Websites (14)
So, how can a new website receive this many links? Well, it can't. However, you don't need a million websites linking to you to get listed on the first page of the search engine.
Promoting Your MLM With Free Reports And Articles (15)
Earn their trust by offering pertinent, timely content designed to do exactly what they need done. Offer some means of interaction so that if there is a question about your report or article, there is a way for you to take those questions and answer them for your website users.
Do You Really Have To Pay For Internet Marketing Knowledge? (16)
This is rare, but it happens. Even without a personal mentor, you can get all the assistance that you need from a network of like-minded people. They'll be at different levels of accomplishment and experience, but gather together for a common cause.
World Methanol Market Acquires New Characteristics (17)
Production of acetic acid remains a major methanol consumption sector. This year may witness augmentation of methanol use as a fuel, since further development of direct-methanol fuel cells is expected (like in new Toshiba's methanol-driven devices demonstrated at CeBIT 2007).
How Affiliate Software Helps You To Succeed In Your Affiliate Business? (18)
You will still have to do all of the hard work. The software will only help. Once you have some perspective, then you need to list your companies needs.
10 Tips When Choosing A Web Designer (19)
By purchasing your own domain name, you can make sure that you have complete control over your website. Web designers may come and go but the domain control will be yours.
Using Internet Marketing Strategy Can Double Your Sales Overnight (20)
Internet marketing and Internet advertising, when done properly, can drive traffic to your website and practically double your sales overnight. In fact, advertising your site may be the only way for you to compete with larger, more established competitors.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
What Is RSS? (1)
If you have a web site that contains a lot of content that is updated frequently, using RSS is not an option; it is a necessity. Jim Pretin is the owner of www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make email forms.
What Is DTD? (2)
The problem with HTML is that it defines data and also tells the browser how to display it. XML is different in that it merely defines the data, and allows the browser to display the data as it sees fit.
A Brief Introduction To E4X (3)
However, none of the mainstream browsers currently support E4X. A beta-version of Mozilla is compatible with it, but not the actual version. Firefox 1.1 works with E4X, but Internet Explorer, the most popular and widely used browser, does not work with it.
What Is DHTML? (4)
This .css file specifies a layout for a webpage given certain tags and attributes. Then, all the programmer has to do is reference that .css file in the code for the webpage he or she is developing and just layout the webpage properly, and the .css file will automatically format all of the tags and attributes as specified.
Choosing A Web Designer (5)
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.
Issues With Formmail (6)
Also, you will need to make sure that included, somewhere in the code, is protection against spammers who will try to send spam through your form by altering the recipient field.
The Importance Of Link Popularity (7)
Keywords: link popularity If you have a website, then you probably wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night fretting about your link popularity. Link popularity has probably become the cornerstone of internet marketing.
Can Anyone Really Make Money Online? (8)
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.
A Guide To Internet Marketing (9)
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.
Internet Marketing Made Simple (10)
This can be extremely costly and ineffective. It is not uncommon for webmasters to blow thousands of dollars on PPC advertising and make only a few sales. The best way to promote your site, if you are actually selling something, is through an affiliate program.
Website Marketing Made Simple (11)
Once you pay the initial deposit and the SEO company begins working on your website, they will often optimize your website in such a manner so that you will be able to quickly rise to the top of the rankings for a keyword that is either not significant or will not attract any real traffic to your website.
An Introduction To Internet Marketing (12)
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.
Introduction To Pay Per Click Marketing (13)
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.
Do You Need An HTML Form? (14)
Another problem with Formmail is sometimes it works with certain web hosting companies and not with others. Formmail is written in the PHP programming language, and sometimes certain web hosting companies have certain versions of PHP running on their servers that are not compatible with certain versions of Formmail.
Improve Your Search Engine Ranking (15)
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.
My Internet Marketing Secrets Revealed (16)
Just stick with it and your efforts will be rewarded in the long run. Jim Pretin is the owner of www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make a free HTML form and download formmail.
Getting Ranked Higher On Search Engines (17)
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. They often make dubious claims that they can get you ranked on the first page of the search engines within a few months, and they will usually offer a money-back guarantee.
Creating Your First HTML Form (18)
Most programming novices create their first website using pre-developed templates and have no advanced knowledge of HTML programming. As a result, creating a simple form that can email the responses from the form to the webmaster can be a difficult and frustrating task.
HTML Might Become Obsolete (19)
Keywords: HTML, XHTML, XML Every web designer is familiar with the HTML programming language, which stands for Hypertext Markup Language. The language has been in use since the advent of cyberspace, and although it will probably always be used, it is already being supplemented by newer, more versatile versions of HTML.
Finding A Good Web Designer (20)
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.