Basic guidelines to select a web designer:1) Look at the portfolio of the designer, avoid jumping to grand conclusions by the impressive graphics. Go to all the portfolio sites and try to measure the success of these sites. You may want to research about the company and how successful its web presence is. Measurements of eCommerce Success: (i) System quality: availability, response time and usability (ii) Information Quality: completeness, relevance and ease of understanding of information (iii) Use: the number of site visits and number of transactions executed (iv) User satisfaction: repeat visits & purchases (v) Individual impact: impact on individual (vi) Organization impact: impact on employees and firm
2) Ask the designer whether he has proven expertise in usability centric web design. It is not easy to find a good usability expert who is inexpensive but there are some companies that offer usability centric design services at highly competitive prices.
3) Education background and qualifications of the designer or all the developers of the design firm are important. There are many people who can design a great web site without any formal education but it is hard to find such people. To be on the safe side, ask whether the designer has a formal college degree in engineering / computer science.
4. Live support is the most important? This is extremely important. You should talk to a live person not through email and chat.
5. Designer's reputation? Ask whether the designer/company is in good standing. The best way to find a company's reputation is through Better Business Bureau. Also look at their ratings on the Trustlink.
6. Always sign a formal contract. Always sign a formal agreement with the designer. The agreement should indemnify you against all copyright infringements and other violations of law.
7. What is your budget and how reasonable are their prices? Some web design expert said this in one of his article; "Nowadays, you can find websites for $500, or "package deals" that will "save" you money. You'll soon find that these kinds of deals are like going to McDonald's when you should be going to the grocery's healthy foods section. If you can't afford for all the features you would like to have for your website then settle for a smaller website and progressively elaborate the design. Don't settle for a cheaper designer. You get what you pay for.
8. Can they design SEO friendly pages? They say, "If you build it, they will come"; that is Hollywood hype. Online marketing is the key to your website's success. Millions of consumers use online search engines every single day and, believe it or not, many of them are looking for your company! Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes it easy for your potential clients to find you online. Your designer should know how to design SEO friendly pages.
9. Real references from satisfied customers. Always check at least three references from your web designer's customers. Look at the testimonials page and find out what their customers are saying about their services.
10. What about web Usability? Ask the designer whether he has proven expertise in usability centric web design. It is not easy to find a good usability expert who is inexpensive but there are some companies that offer usability centric design services at highly competitive prices.
11. Project development methodology Treat your web design as a project and a formal project development methodology is very important. You will lose track of your project progress without a proper development methodology. It is always better if your project is executed by a Certified Project Management Professionals (PMP). PMP is the most globally recognized credential for project managers
12. How about their Quality plan? Your web site quality is the most important aspect of your web development project and it is always better to deal with a designer/company that has a quality plan, which conforms to international standards such as SEI/CMM (Software Engineering Institute / Capability maturity model).
13. Post completion and ongoing support Web sites evolve constantly and you need to update the content on a regular basis. You also need to incorporate certain changes periodically as per your business needs. Always ask about the post completion support and monthly on going maintenance support.
14. Do they know anything about project documentation? Project documentation is extremely important. You may not find the same designer/company after two years or in case you hire another designer/company for future enhancements. Project document acts similar to that of a blue print of a foundation of any structure. Without it you cannot modify the original designs and you will have to completely demolish your structure.
15. Never rely on a cheap online freelancer. Most of the online freelancers work from home part time and have limited skills.. You need to hire a designer who has proven track records in usability centric web designs.
2) Ask the designer whether he has proven expertise in usability centric web design. It is not easy to find a good usability expert who is inexpensive but there are some companies that offer usability centric design services at highly competitive prices.
3) Education background and qualifications of the designer or all the developers of the design firm are important. There are many people who can design a great web site without any formal education but it is hard to find such people. To be on the safe side, ask whether the designer has a formal college degree in engineering / computer science.
4. Live support is the most important? This is extremely important. You should talk to a live person not through email and chat.
5. Designer's reputation? Ask whether the designer/company is in good standing. The best way to find a company's reputation is through Better Business Bureau. Also look at their ratings on the Trustlink.
6. Always sign a formal contract. Always sign a formal agreement with the designer. The agreement should indemnify you against all copyright infringements and other violations of law.
7. What is your budget and how reasonable are their prices? Some web design expert said this in one of his article; "Nowadays, you can find websites for $500, or "package deals" that will "save" you money. You'll soon find that these kinds of deals are like going to McDonald's when you should be going to the grocery's healthy foods section. If you can't afford for all the features you would like to have for your website then settle for a smaller website and progressively elaborate the design. Don't settle for a cheaper designer. You get what you pay for.
8. Can they design SEO friendly pages? They say, "If you build it, they will come"; that is Hollywood hype. Online marketing is the key to your website's success. Millions of consumers use online search engines every single day and, believe it or not, many of them are looking for your company! Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes it easy for your potential clients to find you online. Your designer should know how to design SEO friendly pages.
9. Real references from satisfied customers. Always check at least three references from your web designer's customers. Look at the testimonials page and find out what their customers are saying about their services.
10. What about web Usability? Ask the designer whether he has proven expertise in usability centric web design. It is not easy to find a good usability expert who is inexpensive but there are some companies that offer usability centric design services at highly competitive prices.
11. Project development methodology Treat your web design as a project and a formal project development methodology is very important. You will lose track of your project progress without a proper development methodology. It is always better if your project is executed by a Certified Project Management Professionals (PMP). PMP is the most globally recognized credential for project managers
12. How about their Quality plan? Your web site quality is the most important aspect of your web development project and it is always better to deal with a designer/company that has a quality plan, which conforms to international standards such as SEI/CMM (Software Engineering Institute / Capability maturity model).
13. Post completion and ongoing support Web sites evolve constantly and you need to update the content on a regular basis. You also need to incorporate certain changes periodically as per your business needs. Always ask about the post completion support and monthly on going maintenance support.
14. Do they know anything about project documentation? Project documentation is extremely important. You may not find the same designer/company after two years or in case you hire another designer/company for future enhancements. Project document acts similar to that of a blue print of a foundation of any structure. Without it you cannot modify the original designs and you will have to completely demolish your structure.
15. Never rely on a cheap online freelancer. Most of the online freelancers work from home part time and have limited skills.. You need to hire a designer who has proven track records in usability centric web designs.
About the Author:
Amit Sarkar is a silicon valley based project management consultant. He is a certified Project Management professional (PMP) and a certified scrum master. He has 18 years of experience in many areas such as Aerospace engineering, Software development, Project management, Products / Projects development, Offshore development, Strategic management etc. To learn more about web usabilty visit ezwebguru
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