How to Choose a Website Designer

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What Kind of Website Do You Need?

Before you consider hiring a designer, your first step should be to outline what you want your website to be and what to include. This will help you determine how your site will be built, who can build it and what it will cost.

Think about your answers to these questions:

• What outcome am I looking for? Collect leads, sell products, build a membership...?
• 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 people and tools for the job?
  
• Will you want to make modifications to the site without needing to go back to the designer for even minor items (like adding pictures or changing text)?

Understand Your Options

Knowing what goes into creating a website will help you make an informed decision about the kind of help you're going to need. Unlike large businesses, small business owners don't have the resources for marketing, so they need to do at least some of it themselves.

Perhaps setting a strategy is too difficult, and that's the kind of help we provide, but doing at least the easier bits yourself, with guidance, can save you lots of money. Not all of it is brain surgery.

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Build from Scratch or Custom

These days, it's very possible to create a website without needing to know how to code. A custom website is necessary when the site requires unique functionality, but can take a lot of time and money. 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. In many cases, you'll need to keep hiring them if you want to make changes. 

There's a lot more to it

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. Read more about DIY websites

What to Pay for SEO Services

There's a lot you can do on your own or for low cost when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (making your website visible to search engines). You first need to determine how important, relatively, it is to be at the "top" of search results. That can be quite costly, depending on how competitive your industry is. At minimum, you'll be paying $500/month, according to some SEO experts. That money may be better spent by allocating it to other activities that drive your business.

For a starting point, get our SEO guide. It covers the basics and explains what you can do to make your site more attractive to search engines on your own.