The Scary Truth About Web Designers

Once you begin developing your online business and look for a website creation provider which will implement your complete requirements for the internet site you must realize that it's a serious phase because you tend to be trusting your company along with its reputation and future.

That's why it's very important to make the right choice. There are several factors that must define your choice, and one of them is portfolio of previous web design works the company has done. It can tell you more than all words and promises, just be attentive and try to analyze. I recommend that you play close attention to:

1) Presence of portfolio

Yes, it seems to be obvious that web design company must have own web site with portfolio of previous works. But don't be astonished too much when you see one without it. The reasons are endless for this, however it's best not to tempt fate. Portfolio is the face of the company and it needs to have lots of fresh, good looking projects that are regularly updated...and IT MUST BE!

2) Total number of works

This can tell you much however there is no standard number that will guarantee you are going to deal with web design guru. Absolutely, the more finished websites is always better, however don't forget quality of work. It's good practice to compare the number with the overall time which a company has been in operation, then calculating the average amount of projects each week, month or year. Remember that average web site design takes 2-4 weeks to be finished.

These details can give you? Firstly, you can see that the company has got enough expertise. Then this shows that it has stable flow of works, adjusted schedule of development process, and enough staff to perform it, so if you commit your web site design to the company you can be sure that the work won't be for them like a bolt from the blue or well-paid but not feasible overloading.

3) Type of works

Look attentively at each work in the portfolio. How many projects are similar to the one you need by type of site, technology used, industry, and look and feel? At least 2-3? Good! More than 5? Excellent!! None? There can be a reason for this - owner didn't want to make it published, or web site is no more live - so if all other works show professionalism and expertise, you should ask the company if they have ever done the task you need.

If there's a specific technology or platform that you require for your website, it's extremely important to investigate how well your candidate web company can work and has worked in the past with it. This can sometimes happen if the technology isn't commonly used, yet your prospective designer hasn't used or worked with it commercially, however has used it for their own projects, so nothing will be lost if you ask them to display their internal samples if they have them.

If you need a web site for exact business, for example dating site or real estate site, it's also better to view such previous works in the portfolio because there are can be specific features and it's better to make sure that the web design company is experienced with them. As well as a variety of website design companies making demonstraion programs and packages that also demonstrate their creativity and effectiveness.

4) Quality of works

Learn carefully each live site (or the ones which are similar to the site you need). How long does it take to load the site home page? A few seconds? Great, the web designer knows how to optimize images. A few minutes? It's normal if this is a Flash site because usually the whole site is loaded at one time, not only the home page; or it's actually a Flash intro which goes ahead entering the site and as well can load for a longer time because of video and sound.

But if a simple HTML web site loads more than 2-3 minutes and you can't see all images or they are shown partially, you must be watchful. Check another HTML sites from the portfolio - if it takes a long time to load, you'll be better off looking for noe that loads faster and is more professional.

All the previous information is correct, as long as your bandwidth and connection speeds are normal and you have no issues with loading websites.

Look over the site and make sure that it's user friendly, is easy to navigate and the colour scheme doesn't clash, so you get an initial feel for the site - all this must reflect professional work. On occassion a website creation firm has strict guidelines to follow from their client, and if the guidelines are out, so will the look of the website be out and perhaps not look as good, as a fantastic designer could produce for them. There could be a couple of such examples in the portfolio, but not every one!

5) Happy owners

Web design business is a highly competitive area and as in any business there are honest and dishonest players. Sometimes it happens that you see the same site in portfolio of two different web design companies and it's difficult to find the truth to which of them the work really belongs. There's a possiblity that some companines put templated websites in their portfolio of which the owners don't even exist.

That's why it's very important to know real references of real owners of the web sites the web design company has made. Ideally this info must be accessible on the web design company site under Portfolio, Testimonials, or Clients sections. Attempt to connect with ALL the people in the list and compare their thoughts. You'll probably uncover some insightful facts.

6) Own site of web design company

And finally compare the own site of the web design company to web sites presented in its portfolio. Is there similarties in quality, feeling and the technology? If the works from the portfolio look much poorer than the own site this can mean that the own site was ordered from another web design company, more professional. Yes, it happens sometimes in web design business that start-up amateur company commits its web site design to "older" professionals. In such case you better to continue searching for another web design company.

So these 6 rules can help you to make the right choice. Don't be worried about spending longer than normal on searching and analyisis, or even hiring a neutral knowledge expert in the are of web design to help you, in the long run it will certainly help your business be more profitable and generate way more leads and success.


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Adam Price is a full time internet marketer and the founder of Nett Knowledge, a Newcastle based company that helps business owners find and plug the profit gaps in their website strategy. Get your free internet marketing business blueprints, tips and tricks to growing your local business at www.NettKnowledgeBlog.com & www.Magic-Minisites.com