With so many web designers and web design companies ready and waiting to take your order, who should you choose to work with and why?
It's a daunting question, made all the more difficult by a total lack of regulation in the industry. Literally anyone can call themselves a web designer, set up a company and begin trading. But don't despair, there are ways to tell good web design companies from bad, and great designers from good.
There are also some considerations to make based upon the size of your organisation, and these should be done first as they're likely to affect what kind of designer or company to look for, or at least the size of your budget.
In this first part of a two part muse, I'll talk about setting a realistic budget. Then in part two I'll give tips on how to ensure that budget is spent wisely.
A Good Fit for Your Organisation?
Naturally, the kind of designer or web design company you should be looking for is somewhat dependent upon your own organisation.
If you're a low-investment startup, or small business with a very limited budget, then you'll get better value for money and likely more attention from an upcoming designer or smaller design company, than from an established designer or larger agency that's used to clients with larger budgets.
Conversely, a medium sized business, or startup that has attracted sufficient investment to make a proper assault on the web, will likely overwhelm a single designer or very small company, resulting in missed deadlines and frustratingly slow progress.
Setting a Realistic Budget — or put another way, how not to bring a knife to a gunfight
The line of business you're in also has an impact on the kind of designer or company you should choose.
There are web designers and companies that will build you a website from as little as a few hundred pounds to whatever you're willing to spend, but how much should you spend?
Well it will come as no surprise you pretty much get what you pay for. Sure, you might catch a rising star in their early days, or chance upon a good company that has too little work, but ordinarily the usual rules apply. Think about what your company or organisation charges for employees time, and compare this with what you're looking to spend on your website. Good IT skills still fetch a premium and good web designers are no exception.
For example, some prices you'll see advertised for websites suggest either the designers have little to no talent and cannot charge adequately for their work, or they spend very little time developing the sites they build. Either way, it's not good news for your business.
If you're really strapped for cash, Google's pay per call advertisements, where the potential client is forwarded to a telephone number of your choosing, removes the absolute need for a website entirely.
The last major consideration for budget is competition. Depending upon how competitive a sector you're in, you'll need to spend progressively more to make an impact. Not just on a superior website, but also on search engine optimisation and pay per click advertising. These other costs will also be ongoing, though with careful management these can be tailored to a level that is acceptable to your business.
Part 2, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly — or how to spot a good web designer, coming next week.