What To Expect From Your Web Designer
So, you’re looking into hiring a web designer to create your new - or first - small business website. It’s an exciting time and you've got loads of ideas about style and layout and functionality. And you want to make sure that you’re on the same page as your designer.
You want to know what you're going to get for your money and when. And, if we're being really honest, you also don’t want to sound like you have no idea of what you’re talking about (even if you don’t).
We've all been there! So, to help you sound the part, here’s the basics of what you should expect from any good web designer for a standard small business website:
- Great references and a clear track record of producing small business sites
- A comprehensive questionnaire/scope upfront to assess and discuss your ideas, plans and requirements
- A great site that incorporates your colours, branding and business style
- Functionality - everything works as it should and is easy to navigate
- Good upload speeds - this also depends on your images/documents and your internet speeds but ideally it should load easily
- Site responsiveness - it can be viewed on any device
- Social media connections
- SEO - on page titles, descriptions and settings
- Clearly formatted and well presented content - even if you didn't hire them to proof it for you
- Basic Google analytics, including registering your site with Google
- A blog - set up and ready to go, even if you don’t want to start it right now
- At least one comprehensive set of changes
- A period of ongoing technical assistance and/or guidance on maintaining and updating your site
- Answers to all your technical, not so technical and random questions
Remember, don’t be afraid to ask questions, this is the service industry, after all! Your web designer should be happy to walk you through the process. And you should feel comfortable being yourself and putting your ideas and suggestions upfront.
What is the most valuable part of your business website?
About the author: Lilani Goonesena is an Australian freelance writer, SEO copywriter and Squarespace web designer based in Vientiane, Laos. She loves boosting freelancers and small businesses with web design, SEO content and digital marketing strategy. She writes an awesome weekly newsletter on digital marketing, social media, blogging, web design and "all that online stuff". Lilani also blogs at the delectable Eat Drink Laos, just for fun.