So you have decided you need a website. What next?

Before you contact some web designers to get a quote, you will save yourself time, money and trouble by first sitting down and thinking about what you actually need. The more you can “nail down” your requirements, the more likely you are to get a better price, and not be surprised by getting a bill for extras at the end of the project.

First, think about what you want from your website:

Do you want to sell products online, using a shopping cart and some method of accepting payments?
Do you want your site to be a “static” online brochure, showcasing your products or services?
Do you want your site to generate leads & enquiries for you to follow up directly?
Is your site primarily aimed at providing information for existing customers?
Is your site going to be a useable, interactive service e.g. searchable property database?

Now consider how many pages you will need. Web designers will use this as an important factor when quoting you; if you initially ask for too few, you may get a bill for extras. Ask for too many and you may be paying more than you need to.

Think about the titles of the pages you need (as they appear in the site navigation) As a minimum, you will probably need “Home”, “About Us” and “Contact Us”. Now give some consideration to the design of the site. Do you have a colour scheme in mind? Do you want some Flash animation? What sort of imagery do you want used? TO get some ideas, surf the Net and note down any websites you find that you like the look of, and give the URL to web designers. This will help them get an idea of what you like.

You should also consider which technical issues are important to you.

Does you site need to be:

* Fast Loading? If your target market are home users, a large proportion may still be on slower dial up internet connections.

* Graphically Intensive? Perhaps you need to appeal to corporate users, by employing a strong, professional design.

* Optimised for a particular screen resolution? Do you want the site to look best on 1024 x 768 resolution screens, or perhaps your target market is more likely to have older PC’s with screen settings such as 800x600.

* Updated yourself? If you regularly need to change the text/images of your site, you may need to ask for a quote for a Content Management System (CMS). Ask fort his to be identified as an optional cost, so you can judge if it is cost effective for you. Alternatively, you could purchase web editing software (such as Macromedia Contribute) though you will need to make your web designer aware that this is what you will be doing.

* Aimed at specific end users? Perhaps your target market are printers or music industry professionals, who tend to use Apple Mac computers. If so, make your web designer aware of it – many designers do not pay much attention to checking web sites run correctly on Macs.

By taking a little time to consider the needs of your website, you will help your web designer immensely, getting the site you want at a cost effective price.

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How To Choose A Web Designer That Won't Rip You Off

Choosing a web designer for your business is a minefield. The industry is unregulated, is fragmented, has a wide variety of pricing and is plagued by "cowboys". So how do you choose?

Prices vary tremendously, so first you need to shortlist companies that are clearly reliable and reputable. So how do you do this? Check how long they have been established as Web designers as the industry is known for it’s “here today, gone tomorrow” operations.

A company that has been around for a few years is much likely to be a safer bet than the one man start up that is offering discount prices. Who would you trust more - the car dealership there has been established 10 years or the new one that has just sprouted up last week? hile their website may tell you how long they have been established, this may not necessarily be the correct information. Of course, limited companies will file records at Companies House which you can check to see how long they had been established. However, a far easier and quicker option is to check how long their website domain name has been registered .

You can do this and typing in their Web address into the Whois lookup search box. This gives you information on the registrant, their address and the date the domain was first registered. While this is not entirely foolproof, it does give a good an indication and you should be wary of any company where a domain name is only a year or two old.

Look at their track record. They should have a good portfolio of the sites they have built available to see via their website, as well as customer testimonials. Their portfolio is a good indication of their design skill -- if you like the websites in their portfolio, then they are likely to satisfy you on the design side.

Check the company works from an office. Web design is an industry with a multitude of different operators -- from freelance work at home designers to large new media agencies. If the company works from an office, it is more likely to be still here next year than the guy who just does it from home.

Does the company have online marketing expertise? Look for a company that it is experienced in marketing websites online as they can give you lot of free information to help market your website. Not all designers know about online marketing.

While the above tips are not exhaustive, I hope they go some way to helping you choose a good web designer.

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Web Page Design is a Reflection of Your Business

Consider this scenario. You're considering patronizing a certain business, and decide to look it up on the Internet before making your final decision. Up pops their website and it looks like someone went berserk with a web design program. The fonts are either unreadable or the text is so large that it screams at you. The colors clash or are so bright that they hurt your eyes. The pictures are out of focus or so large that the page takes forever to load. Hyperlinks lead nowhere, and the site navigation leaves you perplexed. In a split second, you know that you'll never give this company your business.

This may be an exaggeration, but we've all seen bad web site designs. They infect the Web like a bad head cold that won't let go. You can't help but wonder what the business owner was thinking. After all, why have a website if it reflects poorly on your company or actually drives customers away?

Often, small- and medium-sized business owners aren't aware of the impact that their websites have on customers and potential customers. They may know that having a web site is important, but think that professional webpage design is cost prohibitive. So, they conclude that their child, neighbor, or spouse can put something together and that it will be "good enough." Or, ten years ago they may have actually paid a professional web page designer and having done any modifications for years.

In today's business world, there's no getting around the fact that your web page design is a reflection of your business. Whether yours is an e-commerce site, a lead generation site, or simply a small informational website, you need to put your best (virtual) foot forward and project an image that puts your business in the best possible light. Keep in mind that, if you don't have a good website, your competition probably does and is siphoning customers away from you.

If you've hesitated hiring a business web page designer because of cost considerations, it's time to think again. Unless you need a highly customized, programming intensive site, a web designer isn't going to break the bank. In fact, there are web page design firms that specialize in helping small- to medium-sized businesses succeed in their online endeavors.

Today, a website designer can economically provide you with hundreds of templates from which to choose. These templates come in a variety of styles that are appropriate for a wide range of businesses. A professional web page designer can easily customize templates, giving them images and graphics that will make your website unique.
In addition, a web page design company can provide you with a suite of options that will help you develop your online business. These tools might include a shopping cart, an SSL certificate, free hosting, email accounts, domain registration, and even marketing strategies.

If you don't already have a website, your business needs an online presence. If you haven't updated the design of your company website in two years or more, it's time to consult with a web page design company. And, if you happen to have one of the nightmarish sites that turn potential customers away, it's time to look forward, turn over a new leaf, and hire a professional web page designer.

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How to Become a Successful Freelancer Designer on the Contest Forums.

Do you want to know the best method to become successful as a Freelance Web, Logo & Template Designer?

This article will help you save hours hunting around for the best forums and techniques to succeed. There is no better way of improving your skills, getting recognised and building up ideas than to compete in the Graphic Design Forums. With so many different contest forums on the web it is difficult to pick out the ones that are best suited to for you. There are literally hundreds of web sites offering freelance services and forums.

A good way to help you decide is to think about what kind of results you wish to get out of joining. Some people join to compete against other designers in the hopes of winning competitions and receiving financial rewards. Others join up to learn from their professional competitors and slowly build up their skills and reputation. The problem with competing for money is that unless you are a well established and talented designer with loads of previous experience you are unlikely to win many if any competitions. How do I know this? Well, I tried to do that exact thing for over a year and it rarely paid off for me.

It is important to understand that top professional designers with years of experience will be regularly showing of their creative skills by submitting their superior designs. They have a system in place for quickly and professionally come up with brilliant designs to meet the clients specifications. However, don’t let this put you off as competing against the professionals will help you to improve your own works.

When looking at current submission think of how you could improve upon that design. I am not saying rip off their designs, as this will lead to your account being banned from the forums. Simply acknowledge their work and come up with something equally as original based on the guidelines set by the client and submissions already present.

Here are some useful design forums to look at:

http://www.sitepoint.com
http://www.namepros.com
http://www.designcontests.net

Next weeks article will focus on these forums in more detail. We will also discuss how to successful build up a reputation.

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