How to Find a Good Freelance Web Designer
Web designers are often a breed of their own. They speak a different language many of us hardly even know exists. We do not know it exists, because we do not directly see it but we interact with it nearly every day. Every time you visit a web site and interact with it, you have web designers and programmers to thank. Often web designers have advanced degrees in web design, in addition to years of experience as freelancers. Many also have additional experience at professional advertising agencies. Many of these agencies work on business to business markets and charge corporate clients hundreds of dollars an hour to design novel ways for them to interact with their clients through digital means.
If a small business person is looking for a simple website to better share the businesses services with its customers, they often don't have to pay the large amounts that web designers charge their corporate clients. That said, it is important to invest in a quality web designer. It is also important to check out what the web designer has done in the past to see if you respect the past work he or she has done. As far as deciding rather or not to have a website, that is really an easy decision in this day and age. Today, if you're not on the web, you simply do not exist. For example, many businesses sell only online. This is why a good web designer is key to a successful business strategy.
A good web designer will start by asking a customer about want they to accomplish through their website. Maybe the customer (or client, as the web designer would refer to them) wants to provide information about products or services on their website or maybe the client wants to set up the site so visitors can purchase items through the website and pay via credit card. Depending on what the client wants, a web designer will often give the client an estimate for what he or she thinks building the site will cost. This estimate often includes hours (the hours the person will spend designing) in addition to out of pocket expenses (hard costs, such as hosting fees and domain name purchases).
A good web designer will give an accurate estimate and wait to begin work until the estimate is agreed upon by the client. Investing in a good web designer will ensure that a site not only does what it is supposed to do but also looks good and gives users a pleasurable experience when they visit the site. Today, business revolves around the web and having a good designer may be just as important as having a good product to sell.