How to Hire The Web Designer or Design Agency You Need

How to Hire the Web Designer or Design Agency You Need

2 | How to Hire the Web Designer or Design Agency You Need


There are many ways you can set your businessor brand apart from the competition - you can offer better

customer service, a revolutionary product, hilarious or insightful social content, or even lively events that help you better

connect with your customers. But perhaps the most direct and psychologically powerful way to establish your business and

set it apart is through exceptional design.

Design will touch many areas of your brand - your logo, offices, and, most importantly, your web presence. That’s why it’s crucial to hire the right web designer or design agency for your site.

In this eBook we’ll offer some tips for finding the right web designer for your small business. We’ll discuss the importance of a website that looks good on a desktop or Android or iOS mobile device; establishing a look and feel for your brand; and what to do when the PSDs a designer sends aren’t quite looking the way you want them to.



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Establishing aDesign Perspective

Before a single pixel gets created or a single email to a designer gets sent, you want to give some serious thought as to how you want to use design to present your brand identity. Is your brand youthful? Serious? Futuristic? Modern? Simple? Complex? Getting creative and brainstorming a list of terms that accurately reflect your branding goals will be hugely helpful as you go through the design process.

Look at other brands both inside and outside of your industry and see how they use design to convey their purpose and values. What do they go they get right? And, just as importantly, what do they get wrong? How do they use color? What navigational elements on their site are new and exciting? Boring and cliché? Hidden and difficult?


Establishing aDesign PerspectiveIt’s probably a good idea to talk to your colleagues, customers, investors, family, and friends to get their impressions of your brand. Ask them to create short descriptions of their interactions with your brand and where they think it’s heading. Yes, you are the ultimate authority when it comes to branding your business, but a little outside input can provide clarity.

Put all of this information in an Excel or Word document soyou can easily share it with a designer when the time comes.


Do Your ResearchWhen it comes to hiring a Web designer, you may be tempted to hire an old friend, your talented neighbor, or the first impressive design agency you come across online. However, if your goal is to build a Web site that you’ll be happy with for quite some time, it’s worth doing your research, even after you think you’ve found “the one.”

Not sure where to look for a web designer? Start with your favorite websites. Chances are many of them discreetly mention the person or agency who created the website. Check the bottom of the homepage. Fiverr®, of course, offers a wide range of design professionals that can help you create the websiteyour business needs.


Do Your ResearchBe sure ask around. A colleague or friend may have worked with someone who did a project for them that went particularly well. However, if this is the case, be sure you get to see their work before you commit to hiring them - you want to make sure their design aesthetic and level of talent is right for your project.

Look for a designer who has a strong portfolio and a boatload of happy clients. Generally, their past clients are happy for reasons that go beyond their love of the designer’s visual work. Good reviews mean the designer probably responded to emails quickly, worked at a fair price, and finished the project in an ideal amount of time.

And of course, you’ll want to look at other sites they’ve designed.If you see something you like, ask the designer or agency if theycan incorporate that interesting element into your site. And if yousee something you didn’t like, clarify whether this was their ideaor something their client insisted they do (it happens!).


Gather ProposalsWhen looking for a Web designer, it’s easy to get into the mindset that they’re helping you or doing you a favor. But remember, you’re paying them for their services and giving them business, so you’re offeringa similar level of assistance.

Before you decide to hire a designer or agency, askthem to send you proposals that clearly communicate their plans for your Website. Their proposals should include plenty of visuals and explanations of how those visuals map back to your original goals or concepts.The proposal should also set forth the price, the schedule for completing the project, and how anypost-launch needs will be handled (for instance, willthey help you update the site at a discounted rate if it should need it at some point down the road?).


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Gather ProposalsIt will also be good to know what kind of platform they suggest using for the website. If it’s a simple Wordpress site, it’ll most likely be easy for you to update on your own in the future. However, it’s a custom or unfamiliar CMS, you may have to get used to its quirks and peculiarities. If a designer or agency encourages you to go with a CMS that you haven’t heard of or used before, do some research and ask around to make sure it’s a reliable system.

Again, while you are the ultimate authority when it comes to what your brand is about, but you can - and should! - get input from other people that you trust. Share the proposals with team members, friends, and colleagues. And in the end, go with the designer or agency who is offering you the best looking site under the most ideal terms.


Be a PartnerSo let’s say you’ve found the web designer or digital agency that’s going to design your site. They’ve come up with a great proposal that matches your needs, you’ve settled on a fair rate, and you’re ready to let them go off and return with a great, fully functioning website.

Stop right there. It’s probably wise to temper your expectations.

A newly designed website goes through many iterations before it is officially born. So be prepared to go back and forth several times in order to land a design that works with your needs. Ideally your designer will allow you to go back and forth a few times to get your website exactly where you want it to be. There’s a chance that their proposal only allowed for a set number or revisions and feedback rounds, so look for this when reviewing proposals.

One way to make the process go smoothly is to outline everything you need your site to do for you. Will there be an e-commerce section? Will the designer need to create everything from scratch, or do you have photos and PSDs that they can use? Have you remembered to create a site that looks great on any device? The more you can tell your designer when you start, the better off you’ll be.


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When the Job is Done


It can be hard to envision the daywhen your website is completely done, but we promise

that it will eventually come. When it does, support the creative community by letting others know about your experience with the

designer. If they have a profile on Fiverr or a testimonial section on their personal website, leave a detailed description of their talents and

the job. You should also consider allowing them to put their name and/or logo somewhere on your site so the world can know they were the ones

who helped you make it. And of course, when your friends,colleagues, or clients are looking around for a Web designer or

agency, be sure to pass along your designer’s name.

How to Hire The Web Designer or Design Agency You Need

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

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