How
to Choose Right Web Designer:-
Once you have registered a domain name its time to create your web presence through a website. The best option is to outsource the designing of your website. Most business small or big prefer outsourcing it either to individual freelancers or to small web designing firms. Choosing the right web designer is as important as choosing a winning domain name simply because a well designed website can bring in more business and a poorly designed website can drive away the customers.
The first step is to generate a list of few web designers through referrals or web directories. One such web directory for web designers is www.freelanceindia.com Once the list is ready then the actual work starts of zeroing down on the right web designer
WORK PORTFOLIO
Reviewing the past websites designed by the web designer is crucial. Analyze the following aspects for:
- Portfolio size and diversity: - The person should have designed atleast 5-6 websites and should be on varied subject matter. All the websites should not have the same look feel to it. The websites should look different from each other and at the same time appealing.
- Evaluate your needs: - For this you first need to know the type of your website. Is it simple website with display of information or interactive website like an e-commerce website or a gaming website. See if they have done such work in the past.
- Fast Loading Sites: - Users navigate away from webpages that take more than few seconds to load. So it is important to ensure that the portfolio of your potential web designer has websites which load quickly. A well designed website will load quickly, even if it is heavy on graphics.
- Easy Navigation:- The site navigation should be clear and simple. It should be easy to find the required information because users want immediate access to information or otherwise they would steer away from the website.
- Horizontal Scroll: A horizontal Scroll bar indicates that the designer has not taken into consideration the various resolutions and monitor sizes users have.
Going through the above basic tests may help you determine if this web designer is one that you can trust to work on your site is not a novice.
Other aspects that have to be considered:
SOFTWARE TOOLS:
If you have any specific technology on which you want your website to be created. For e.g ASP and sql server 2000 or PHP with Oracle. Checking with the designer on this is important before you go ahead. Explain your requirements very clearly to the designer and ask if he will be able to deliver it.
LOCATION OF WORK:
Though not necessary but it is always better to choose a designer in your town. Meeting face-to-face helps in better explaining your requirements, easies follow-up and establishes trust.
COPYRIGHT:
We suggest that the copyright to the entire website and the original editable source of files to be with you. Copyright should be obtained even for the pictures and graphics have been custom created for your website.
TIME FRAME:
The time frame for the various milestones for deliverables should be discussed with the designer. This timeframe should be reasonable and acceptable to both the parties.
MAINTENANCE:
A good thing to do is to enter into a contract of minimum 8 to 12 months for maintenance of the website to minimize the cost and effort at your end.
COST:
A designer can charge for their service in one of the following two ways:
- Per Page: This is charge by page where in
the Home Page would have a higher cost and the
subsequent pages would be relatively lower priced.
- Fixed Price: A fixed price for the entire
website depending on your requirements
The Per Page charges work better if you need a small website while for a website with many pages Fixed Price charge is better. About 6-7% of the cost should be retained and released only after the final code with the copyright is handed over by web designer.
Get quotes from as many designers as possible and compare the rates inclusive of all taxes and surcharges.
TERMS OF CONTRACT:
The terms of contract should be clearly defined in writing and duly signed by the all the parties to contract. The following should be included in the contract. Each of these have been detailed above:
- Copyright
- Cost
- Timeframe
- Framework and Software tools
- Maintenance period
- Payment Terms
Now that you have clearly understood all the facets for choosing a web designer, start your search with www.freelanceindia.com .They have a very large list of freelancers in all locations with expertise in every possible skill.
Tanmay Agarwal
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