How to Choose a Website Designer

You may not need a web designer at all, but someone to guide you in choosing the right platform, template, and marketing content. Make the right decisions at the beginning to create an effective website that supports your business model and suits your budget now and into the future.

What Kind of Website Do You Need?

Before hiring a designer, make a list of what you want your website to be and do. This will help you determine how your site should be built, who can build it and what it will cost. 

​For ideas, look at other websites in your industry to see what they're doing. Pick and choose the elements that fit your business model.

​Knowing what goes into creating a website will help you make an informed decision about the kind of help you're going to need. No matter your budget, it can make sense to at least do some of the work yourself, but that will depend on your tech and marketing skill level. Doing some of the easier bits yourself, with guidance, can save money. 

Think about your answers to these questions:
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• What outcome am I looking for? Collect leads, sell products, build a membership, educate...? This will help you determine what platform will work for the functionality you need. We built the site above using an ecommerce platform​
• Do I need a site built from scratch or can I use a website builder? For most businesses, unless you're building an original app, you won't need to know how to code. A custom coded website is necessary when the site requires unique functionality. Building one can be incredibly time consuming and expensive. If you want to go the custom route, you'll need to hire designers, developers, coders, etc., which can be a challenge if you're not familiar with the process. Avoid custom code even when using a builder, because it will make your site difficult to maintain as well. We suggest finding a website builder that provides the majority of functionality you need, and then use proven plugins or extensions for extra features.
• How important is original design, beyond customizing with logo, branded colors and fonts? You may not need a "designer" at all, but someone who can guide you in selecting the right themes, templates, and imagery. In other words, paying for original design can be expensive. Paying for a pre-designed theme, and then adding your own colors, fonts, and images, will save money and time.
• Will you want to make modifications to the site yourself without needing to go back to the designer (even for minor changes, like adding pictures or changing text)? This means choosing builder tools you feel comfortable with; there are many platforms that are easier than Wordpress.
• Who will write the content and what will you do for images? This is where you may want to spend more of your budget, unless you feel you have a very good grip on your marketing strategy and creating content that is high converting.

Get Help to Make the Right Decision
​Choosing the right platform and content strategy according to your budget, tech and marketing skills can be a challenge. Many of our clients weren't sure where to start and we worked through their business and marketing requirements to determine the best solution for them in terms of their tech skills and budget.