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How To Choose A Website DesignerSteve Lillo Now that you have decided that it is time to create a website for your business there are many questions you must answer. One of the most important questions is "Who should create my website" I like to use the analogy of playing music; in as little as a few hours, some people can strum a few chords on the guitar and play a song. But to really play the instrument and make your instrument sing requires experience and understanding. Likewise, although there are tools which are readily available to assist in the process, effective website design requires experience and understanding of many diverse areas including: marketing, Internet graphics options and limitations, effectively creating a site from the perspective of search engines, the differences and limitations of different browsers and computer platforms as well as knowledge of the software and coding required to move beyond simple static html pages. It is also vitally important that your designer understand you and your business and know how to most effectively communicate you and your uniqueness to your Internet audience. To answer our question, we’ll look at some important pieces of information that you’ll need to find out before you choose your website designer. What do you want in a website What are your needs and intentions for having a website Does the prospective designer listen to and understand your needs and intentions Have you checked other similar businesses to see what they are doing on the Internet Can a prospective designer offer any suggestions for improving upon what others have already accomplished The more clarity you have about your intended results for having a website, the more accurately you can communicate your needs to your designer and the more likely it is that you will achieve these results. Is the designer experienced in website design How long has the designer been creating websites What is their background How long have they been using the Internet Three years is a long time in Internet terms. More than four or five years is a seasoned veteran. Ideally, your site designer has a variety of experience. What are the designers strengths and weaknesses The range of skills required for creating any type of website is more diverse than you can imagine. If a designer tells you they have done or can do any project, I’d suggest you take that statement with a grain of salt. Is the designer easy to work with and talk to Is she/he able to communicate technical information so that you can understand it The process of creating a website can often be an overwhelming process for some people. Consider hiring a designer with whom you have a good rapport and find communicating with easy. Look at some of their previous clients sites. Do they all look the same Do they load quickly Are they easy to navigate through Do you like their previous work Do they accurately reflect their clients’ business Does the designer custom create each site or would they have you select from a list of prepackaged sites What is your budget and what is the typical cost for the designer’s projects As a generalization, the larger the company, the more they charge for their services and often the more elaborate the sites they create. Companies which create sites from a prepackaged template often cost less but don’t provide you with custom solutions which may more closely meet your needs. Site designers who are getting started will often create your site for a lower fee, essentially using your project to develop their skills. Your decision should be based on many of these important questions. Also use any other questions you find useful when hiring any other service business for a project. Comparing website designers is sometimes like comparing bananas to bicycles instead of apples to apples. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You might consider writing pros and cons for each designer on a sheet of paper to develop a more objective point of view. The selection of your website designer is an important step in the creation of a successful website. With time and patience, you too can join the thousands of businesses with successful websites.
| | | | RELATED ARTICLES Dotcom Business Plans Archive project One of the most important initiatives in the domain of business documentation is that of professor David Kirsch from the University of Maryland, who thought of a dotcom Business Plan Archive - , a project that consists of collecting business plans for posterity. The project was started in 2002, through the Web portal businessplanarchive.org. The site was built by Webmergers.com and the University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business, in collaboration with the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.The project received financial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Domain Names Security : How safe is yours The security of domain name registrations is an increasing concern for domain name registrants and registrars. However, there are steps you can take to increase the security of your domain name registrations. Adding Sound to your Web Site - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Many webmasters like the idea of adding background music to their web sites but most shy away from doing it worrying about slow loading pages and large file sizes. There are many different ways to add background music to your site and some of them dont require large files to achieve professional results. Lets examine all the different ways to add background music to your site and rate them to find the best solution for you. Difference between Shared and Dedicated Web Hosting This article will explain the key differences between 2 web hosting services available today: shared and dedicated web hosting. How To Get Repeat Visitors To Your Site When you have a website online it is important for you to try and get new visitors to your site, but it’s also important to take care of the visitors that you actually already have. This is because you will want your existing visitors to keep returning to your site again and again. What Constitutes a Complete and Effective SEO Campaign Unfortunately, not many Search Engine Optimization companies know what this involves. You may see a "one size fits all" package, link popularity development in the form of submitting to link farms, or even the dreaded "Submit Your Site to 1000s of Search Engines" scam. While the basic premise of each of these ideas is true, the execution of them is extremely important. Online Marketing Law! Whats Happening You read that right. Theres a new law in California for online marketing. This law is thanks to the CaliforniasOnline Privacy Protection Act. Protecting Your Business From Spam Even being as careful as possible with my email address, I still used to receive more than 100 email messages a day, which is no exaggeration. Only about 10% of those emails were from people that I knew and the rest of the messages were unwanted email…”spam”. And I’m sure you can relate to my frustration. It is estimated that over seventy-six billion unwanted email messages were delivered in 2003, costing companies more than $10 billion each year. Why Have An Article Website Know the fact Optimizing for Visitors not Search Engines Most people feel that optimizing is to target the search engines alone. In my opinion, this is not the only case. Optimization requires a balance of traffic enhancements and a user friendly atmosphere that provides clear navigation. Most will agree it would be much better to have people accept offerings from a Site, rather than masses of people who do nothing. Here are some general tips and thought to make pages user-friendly. 10 Indirect Ways To Get To The Top Of Search Engines There are millions of web sites trying to get listed in the top 20 spots of the major search engines. That amounts to an awful lot of competition and even after spending hours and hours on Search Engine Optimization techniques you may still not be able to achieve a high ranking for your competitive keywords! Bulk Email, Spam, and Email Marketing Excerpted from PlanetLinks Enews - an email newsletter delivered for FREE to your computer. To subscribe, go to www.planetlink.com The Secret Benefit Of Accessibility Part 2: A Higher Search Engine Ranking An additional benefit of website accessibility is an improved performance in search engines. The more accessible it is to search engines, the more accurately they can predict what the sites about, and the higher your site will appear in the rankings. Boost your Application Development “Reduce Time Intensive Phases during Software Development with TierDeveloper” Ten Basic Steps For Building A Web Site That Works Tips to Protect Your Downloads or Products 1. Upload robots.txt file in to your root directory and include the folder name where you set your downloads. "Get It All" with Good Web Content No matr how goud th infomation... why wood you tak content like this seriusly No mater how good the infomation, if is riddiled with typos its asta lavista baby. You lose. Affiliate Alternative; Google Adsense The Rise and Fall of Affiliate Programs Profitable Websites for Exclusive Industries In the region where my company is located, South Bend, Indiana, the demand forweb design and associated services could be described as:leery.It’s not that the locale is horribly lacking evolvement technologically; rather that so many proprietors in this area are very uncertain as to what the internet can do and how they can go about forming profitable web sites for their exclusive industries. Choosing the right web host Whatever type of website you want to host, choosing the correct host can be tricky. Most hosting companies offer you more than you will ever use, their sales staff recommend high-end packages for small websites. |
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