10 Things To Think About When Selecting A Web Designer

1. Look at the detail of the web design company's own website. This is almost always a good indication of the level of detail your new website will have. See if you can find any areas that have added level of detail, such as images with added effects. This could be rounded corners, gradient effects, colour fading etc. No matter if you do not want those design elements on your own website, it gives you information about the designers and their eye for detail and quality.

2. Know what you want. Even if you don't know the technical aspects or terms of web design, you should have a fairly good idea of what you want the end result to look like. If you leave vital parts of your website design and functionality to the web designer, you are likely to pay more than you have to. If you don't know what kind of features you could ask for, look around online at some larger websites. If you are selling products, you could try and look at ebay.com or amazon.com for some design ideas. If it works for them, it most likely will work for you.

3. Ask if a detailed quote is available. Just as with other areas of business where you have little or no idea how things are done or how long they take, it is important to get a breakdown of services that you are paying for. Are they only giving you a total price for the web services you have been discussing over the phone or email? If so, they are not giving you information that you can use to compare other web design companies with. You should ask what their hourly rate is which can help you figure out from the total cost how long it is going to take to design the website!

4. What level of support is available during and after building your website? It is very important to know how many changes you can make to your website while it is being built that are not going to cost you extra. Is the web design company giving you an option to view work in progress? How about if you change your mind on a design aspect after the website has been designed? These things need to be part of your contract before you agree to have work done. You don't want a surprise invoice for "additional requested web design work" to land in your inbox. Always be clear on what is going to be charged for and what is part of the web design package.

5. What do other clients think about the web designer? If you want to get an honest and unbiased opinion about this, there is no better way than going straight to the source! Find a previous client's contact information and send a quick email asking if it is possible to have them share some of this information with you.

6. Will your site be search engine friendly? Becoming part of major search engines such as Google and Yahoo is the inevitable next step after standard web design work has been completed. When you have a brand new website filled with information about services and products you offer, you want people to find it! Search engine optimization, or SEO as it is usually called, is an art form that takes years to master. It is a constant challenge for the web designer to keep up with ever-changing rules that the search engine companies make for who is more "important" in the search engine rankings.

You should not expect to get this service for free if it is done properly by a knowledgeable person, since it can potentially take more hours to complete than your entire website, and it is an ongoing process. You should be able to settle for a level of search engine optimization that suits your budget and still gives you an increased level of visibility online. Always ask how the search engine process will be carried out since anyone can say they are "optimizing" your website and all they do is adding keyword phrases in a few places.

The most important thing to remember about search engine optimization is that it must be supported by strong research into your specific business niche. If your web designer does not find out exactly what people are searching for when trying to find your type of business, you are just paying for guesswork and are wasting your money.

7. How will you be billed? You want to know how work is being billed, both for web design work that is part of your contract and for extra services or additional hours of work. It is common that a percentage of the total contract is charged up front before web design services have started. It is not recommended without a valid reason to pay more than 50% up front, which is a fair level for both parties. It can be agreed on that additional hours of work are added to the final payment, or invoiced immediately. As long as you feel that your needs and requirements are being satisfied, either way is standard procedure.

8. How much control will you have over content? It is still very common today that all additional work that you want done on the website will be carried out by your web designer. If you want to be able to update content on a regular basis, look for web designers that allow you to log in and update information on your own. This requires your website to be dynamic, using elements of programming code that can separate you from your visitors.

The best type of website for this purpose is a CMS-based website. CMS stands for Content Management System and is a completely different style of web design than a standard static website that only displays the same information every day. If your web designer uses a CMS to design your website, you will be able to have website visitors give comments or write articles directly on your website such as in a blog, or give different people different level of access to content on your website.

This is the direction the Internet is moving today, with so-called "Web 2.0" websites such as YouTube and Facebook popping up everywhere where users can add their own movie clips, images and other information. Of course, your website does not have to have these features to use a CMS, but a content management system allows your website to grow and expand easily for future needs. It is important you try and figure out how you may want to use your website in a few years from now and if you need a CMS or not. This type of design usually comes at a higher initial cost, but will make all changes and additional work on your web site a breeze later on.

9. How is communication between you and the web designer? How fast do you get responses to your emails? Are the responses long or short and do they seem to get shorter for each question you asked? You want to make sure that you can ask "dumb" questions and still receive the highest level of professionalism from the web designer. Is the person you are talking to the same person that will do work on your website? You want to have direct contact with the web designer(s) that are going to work on your website, to avoid miscommunication and "lost-in-translation" scenarios. If you call the web design company, try and get a feel for if they are dedicated to your satisfaction by listening to what you have to say, or if they are constantly doing sales pitches to try and convince you to pay for other services.

10. Ask for a resume. A professional web designer should be willing to give you a resume of his or her previous work and background. Knowing the background of the person or company that you are going to work with (usually over a period of several weeks) gives you a better understanding if you have found a web designer with skills that will suit your needs. What you want to be looking for is someone who truly enjoys his or her line of work and has dedicated his professional life to this field. If a person enjoys doing what he/she is doing, it shows in the detail and quality of the work produced - and eventually in your new website!

cairns web design [http://www.orbstudio.net/articles]

Don't Get Burned By Web Designers

If you bring up the subject of web design with small business people, it wouldn't take long to find someone who has been burned by a web designer. Perhaps they have even come to the conclusion that a web site is not worth the expense. Let's look at how and why that happens, and outline some success principles that will help you when you need web design services. Since so many web designers get it wrong, the web design principles that actually work may surprise you.

One of the problems with web design is that software programs have made it seem easy to create a web site. If you have the software, it would not take you long to build a web site. There are an abundance of inexpensive templates available to make it even easier to put together a web site. Getting a professional looking web site is not difficult at all. So you may wonder, why is that a problem?

The process of creating a web site does not end with making it look professional. In fact, that could very well be one of the least important aspects of a web site design. Let's face it, there are ugly web sites that make a lot of money. Since life is not fair, there are great looking web sites that make little or no money. I'm not saying the professionalism of your web site is not important; I am saying it's not enough.

There is a serious flaw in the web design industry, and small business owners are especially prone to fall victim to it. The problem is that usually, very little business planning goes into a web site design. Too many web designers are more concerned with selling web design than taking the time to build an effective web site.

This deficiency stems from the fact that very few web designers are marketing people. Small business people do not have big advertising budgets, so they are easily attracted to the low rates of average web designers. Good marketing means setting priorities and effectively using your resources to accomplish goals.

The one element I find seriously missing in web design is the very thing that is fundamentally important; that element is uniqueness. A Unique Selling Point (USP) is one of the basic tenets of marketing. You must answer the questions: why should I buy from you, and, what makes you different from my other choices? If you fail in this area, your web site visitor will not be kind to you. They will leave and not come back; they will probably not tell you why they left either.

Read your web site copy to see if it contains another common error. Does it say, "We this," and, "We that?" Do not "we" on your web site visitors! Your web site copy should speak to the visitor, address their needs, and solve their problem. It must compel them in some way. You need to draw them in and sell them on your solution.

When you take notice of how many web sites violate these basic marketing principles above, you will begin to see how you have the opportunity to rise above your competitors. Just think, if the majority of business web sites are violating even these most basic principles, how much more could you benefit from hiring a web designer who understands marketing?

There is a lot of emphasis placed on search engine optimization (SEO), and there should be, because this is very important if you want to have your web site found by people using the search engines. For most web sites, search engines account for 80% to 95% of all visitors. However, as important as SEO is, if you have a web site that is not creating sales with the visitors you are already getting, SEO is the wrong priority.

The next principle is the one you will probably find the most surprising. People actually read web sites! Yes, they do have a short attention span, and we will look at that point next, but they do read. There have been many studies done to document the way people use web pages. Even though so much attention is given to graphics, the studies show that well over 75% of the time, web page users read the text before they notice graphics.

This does not mean that graphics are unimportant. Visual elements are one of the many advantages a web site can provide. When you consider that people use the Internet to seek information, then it does makes sense that they will read your web site's content. Providing the right information can mean the difference between winning a customer, or surrendering them to your competition.

I also promised to cover the short attention span issue. It is often called the 3 second rule. According to web studies, if you cannot capture the attention of your visitor in approximately 3 seconds, that's how fast they usually leave your web site. I suspect the reason is because so many web sites are such a horrible waste of time, that people's patience has been worn down. The solution is to have a fast loading page that quickly clues them in that you can solve their problem. If they can "skim" in a few seconds, and you grab their attention, you have successfully drawn them in so they will stay a while.

Statistically, it takes 7 visits before you make a sale. If your web site is not done correctly, you will have dismal results because you can't get them to come back seven times. That is why so many web site owners are disappointed with their success. That is why some web designers provide what seems to be a bargain, while other web designers have to charge more to give you a better value. It takes more time to plan and create a good web site design.

The good news is that most of your competitors will go for the bargain and suffer the same fate as everyone else who does not realize the value of an effective web site design. Very few of them will invest the resources needed for success. If you do, you can win. This does not mean you need the big budget of a major corporation, or that it has to be expensive, it just means you need to be willing to do better than average. The rewards are much greater when you stretch beyond the norm.

Steve Chittenden seeks to help business owners and organizations market themselves effectively and succeed. His company, Creative Business Services, provides carefully planned web design, graphic design, writing, and marketing services aimed at achieving this goal. Please visit www.cbscreative.com for more information.

Usability of E Commerce Web Design

The World Wide Web has offered a new platform of business. In the past, hardly a number of business concerns could trade globally. But, with the introduction of web there has been a drastic revolution in the market trends. Today, business companies make websites to reach to the millions across the world. In fact, small business enterprises are equally competing with big multinational companies to make their presence felt in the web world.

Increased competition across the cyber market has sped up the growth of new technological development. The obvious outcome was attempt to devise new ways to make the website more user friendly. E commerce web design became the ideal choice of the business concerns for its flexibility and user friendliness.

Usability

One of the most important feature of an e commerce web design is that it is very much user friendly. Moreover, an e commerce website is highly feasible solution for the web owners. Certain basic usability of e commerce website design are stated below:

* Easy product upload - New products of sale can be easily put up on the web page. These new goodies stored in the database of the website is uploaded in no time according to requirement.

* Quick price modification - The prices of goods displayed on the web page can be easily modified. According to the market standards, the prices of commodities are become lower or higher.

* Easy transaction of goods payment - Payment of commodities is done through the Internet. Customer payment is directly deposited in the owners account.

* World market - Websites make an indefinable presence in the global market. Successful e commerce websites create a favorable image of the business company in the eyes of the global consumers.

* Cost effective - An e commerce website is highly cost effective for the web owner. Web owners can trade with their global customers with great ease. These web owners are not harried of setting up business location, manpower etc.

* Fast marketing - Web user can easily shop in the Internet. The products of sale are displayed on screen within seconds. The web users order their requirements through the shopping cart facility.

* Highly convenient - It is the most convenient kind of shopping. The web user can market products according to choice sitting in a remote room from various websites across the world.

* Less time consuming - Internet marketing is very less time consuming. Web users can easily shop within less time.

Ways to make an e commerce web design usable

Business cannot grow if it fails to satisfy the needs and desires of the prospective consumers. An e commerce website must offer easy accessibility to its customers. Some guidelines to design a usable e commerce website design.

1."Bill of Rights": The company must have ready information about the fact that it is working in conformity with the laws of the trade. It is extremely essential to provide the prospective consumers with details that the website has been designed only to meet their needs.

2.Easy navigation: It becomes essential that an e commerce web design must offer the prospective users the liberty to easily navigate through the web pages. An e commerce websites contains numerous products of sale. The web designers must design according to the needs of the customers. The web users must be able to browse the products of sale through name, price and data with ease.

3. Clear business policies: An e commerce website design of a website must clearly demonstrate the business policies of the company. Make clear conditions with regard to purchase of products, the entire shipping process which is convenient for the user.

4.Earn trust of the consumers: It really very difficult to earn the trust of the customers. There is no direct communication between the web owners and the users. It important to provide the users with all possible information such as telephone number, postal address.

5. Simple checkout process: Web designers must design the check out process in a simple way. The user must not face any difficulty in the last phase of the transaction process. Generally the users turn to other sites and the obvious result is that there is the web site meets a fatal end.

6. Simple and organized design: A cluttered web design creates confusion in the visitors mind. Web users tend to turn to other sites, which offer easy access. An e commerce web design must be simple and organized so that the web users can easily access the site.

eCommerce web design has been witnessing huge technological changes. With increased competition, web designs are constructed to provide the consumers with state- of - the - art facilities to be more at ease. A usable e commerce website design is more attractive to the consumers and the most successful one.

This informative article is written by Debdulal Dey. He is a content writer and regularly writes for Quality Web Solutions.

Christian Web Design & Hosting

Believe me, I come across a lot of clients who have come to me after having been through many web designers and developers and are totally disillusioned with my industry. It's not an easy place to be after having been let down, cheated, ripped off, or manipulated. Often they sit in my office and look at me through skeptical eyes and understandably so! Most have spent thousands of dollars already in web development with not much to show for it or with a website that is not what they wanted.

It is unfortunate that this happens but as in any industry, there are people who promote honest and dishonest practices. Based on the information that I have gathered from clients and talking to other professionals within my field, there could be three major causes to having a bad or negative experience with your web designer or developer.

1. Personalities just do not blend.

It's very important to find a web designer whom your personality best blends with. You will be working with this person for most likely a long time and if you don't feel you can work with this designer or developer from the initial start, it won't get better. There will be many decisions and suggestions you'll need to make on the road ahead so its crucial this relationship is one your comfortable with from the onset.

2. Not understanding the difference between a web designer and web developer.

There are essentially two breeds in the web world and both are very different from each other. The two titles are not interchangeable, really. Speaking in general, the web designer is the creative being that if skilled, can create beautiful designs and concepts for you. Clearly, this is a left brained thinker and would also be the more personable one of the two. Often however, a really good web designer can lack the technical skills to take their design concepts to the coding or development of a website. The web developer on the other hand, can be a highly skilled, technical person and can take a design from start to final phase. However, the right brain developer lacks the creative skills to manifest beautiful designs and concepts. Because each have a weak area, they often contract the other to compensate for other. This is fine but what happens with the overall cost is passed down to the client. It's important to find a web designer/developer who is well rounded and able to do both equally well. You'll save time and money in the long run.

3. Lack of understanding about the Web Design process.

Unless you are a designer or developer, your not going to have a good knowledge of the flow and process it takes to design or develop a website. But at the same time, your web professional should assist you in helping you understand the process by educating you along the way. This is where trusting your web professional is important. You need to be able to trust him or her knowing that they have the best interest for your website. Too often, a lack of understanding causes misunderstandings and opens the door to future problems.

Doing your homework and interviewing several web designers or developers is a must before you employ anyone with your website. You will be investing a good amount of money for a website and its critical to find someone whom you can trust and will be able to work with for the long haul. Having a web professional who is local in proximity is good but if you are able to find someone who meets the three factors listed above, then its perfectly fine to have a web designer or developer from a remote location. Just make sure that he or she is always accessible either by phone or email.

Because the web jargon can be confusing, it is easy for you as the customer to be manipulated. Be cautious and always ask for an explanation that you can understand. I believe the need to find good, honest, ethical web professionals will continue to rise. Christian web design and hosting companies are often sought after because those seeking them already have a preconceived notion in the type of ethics and character of a Christian website designer. Its good to work with others who share in the same belief system as you and that work and service is done at a higher standard.

Most Christian web design companies offer hosting as well as design & development services. It is always a good idea to host your website with your design firm if that is available. This way, the designer can work more efficiently since they are already familiar with their hosting servers. Finding Christian web design & Hosting will be worth the effort!

Carole Galassi is a senior web developer of Creative Media Web aka Bay Area Website Design, a Christian Web Design & Hosting company located in Northern California and has worked in the Information Technology field for 15 years. She also has a background in creative design and offers a full Graphic Design studio.

Carole is the Creative Director for The Funeral Programs Site, that offers beautiful funeral programs templates.

Good Web Design

What is Web Design?

A Web site is the final output of a Web design. The Web site sits on a Web server where electronic files are stored. The Web site presents the contents and interactive features or interfaces to the end user in the form of Web pages. How the information requested is displayed to the user is par of the Web design process. Additional controls are embedded in order to display more complex media like animations, sounds and other forms.

Whats New? The Clouds of Course!

Everybody wants something new from time to time and yet some need a fix of something totally different. In the realm of the internet, that is quite a common occurrence with the many innovations that are always popping up and with all of them, none can be as exciting as the move into the clouds.

The Open Design Community: Free CSS Templates!

If youre most people out there who dont know CSS and have no time, or care, on how to do one for your blog, then the next action for you would be to find a place where you can download one for free. Thank goodness that there are a lot of sites out there that give them away for free. The only problem is, that since you were not the one who created it, you will be subject to their designs and whims.

One of the sites that give free CSS of cool web designs is The Open Design Community (TODC). The Open Design Community is a hub for open source website designers from around the world providing thousands of XHTML and CSS based free web design templates available for download. So, please feel free to take a minute or two and browse through the designs that our fabulous designers have submitted and see if one might work for you! And remember they are free!

Bad Web Design

Here are some features that can really mar the over all concept of your web design. It is important to take notice of the most common mistakes web designers commit. You might be able to use some insights into creating an effective web design which might be simple but can invoke your projected image. Backgrounds that are gray in color by default presents so many problems most especially with the pages readability. Avoid color combinations that can render the characters unreadable. Backgrounds are mostly effective when it is left simple and does not interfere with reading. Texts must be readable. Avoid small characters. Keep the links colored blue as much as possible because common users are already used with the color.

DIY Web Design

Do it yourself design projects are proliferating in the internet these days. There are a number of web sites that practically teaches you what to do without hiring a web designer. A do it yourself web site design applies perfectly for young professionals who are just starting to learn stuff in business or trying to reformat the existing business that they are running. DIY web site design offers you total control over the project and over the site that is why its simply gaining popularity. It takes the work out of dealing with consultants, designer, contractor landscaper and the likes. In DIY design, your ideas are sure to be heard and taken careful attention to. You get to express your style and personality. because at the end of the day, it still will be your website, selling your products. This has solved constant problems with web designers who are truly passionate in their work who sometime can get overly sensitive to a small correction or observation of his work. Do it yourself web designing surely saves you money and time and energy.

Benefits of Web 2.0 Applications

Web 2.0 applications are the latest trend in website design . Many Internet companies and users are turning to web 2.0 for its added features. It has also increased functionality. It has brought about a new wave in how sites are to be built, designed and applied hands-on. It makes the users enjoy blogging, download, RSS feeds etc. These developments give added excitement to online experience. It is said that Web 2.0 companies sites get higher ranking in search engines, like Google, yahoo and countless others. Web 2.0 benefits are countless. You can post photos, albums, help guides and maps for planning your travel abroad.

It has radically changed the quality of social interaction worldwide. Blogs proliferate. marketing online costs much less. And it has created networking success stories. Web 2.0 gives you full control over your business while adding smaller but very useful features to it.

Website design is of course not giving the visitors with another plain piece of text. Go as per the old saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Here the beholder is the visitor of the website that you are going to design. So as a skilled website designer you should have mastered all the skills needed to create classy and attractive graphics, colors and shapes placed in perfect balance to catch the eye of the visitor together with drawing his focus to the most important sections of your website. Your job as a website designer is to make use of colors, text and graphics and translate into a visually appealing layout, logo, banner, and button system.

As a professional website designer, you need to chalk out a well-devised approach for creating the website. First, you need to understand the specific business necessities of your client and lay out the basic structure of the website. In order to minimize the cost of the set up, the website designer should be equipped with predefined web templates. Having this feature in your armory, you don't need to go hog-wild with the designs for the reason that you are not designing a website by tinkering.

Internet Marketing (Part 2)

Start a blog. Blogs have now become a favorite for search engines. If you go ahead and launch a blog, link it into your main site, print blocks of information and float RSS feeds. If you do these then most of the search engines can locate you much faster. Design some copies of digital books that you can send out to everyone. You can write for articles or courses online that could be submitted elsewhere. Then, create your own write-up in a manner that you can use them in any possible type of media, whether online or offline.

Regards,
Michael Pereira
The Comdyn Group
704.501.4509
mpereira@comdyn.com
mike@sevendegreesmedia.com

.:: The Comdyn Group ::.
.:: Seven Degrees Media ::.

How To Identify Fake Web Designers -- And Choose A Real One

Like going on a blind date, choosing the right web designer can be an adventure fraught with false hope.

Unlike a big corporation, a small business generally has a tight budget--especially when it comes to advertising and promotion--to engage a big web design agency to serve their online marketing needs.

With the understanding that a cheap-looking website is not the best way to represent your business--or that you do not have unlimited funds to throw at web designers on the off-chance that you'll get something that resembles what you want--there exist good small design studios and professional freelance web designers with reasonable rates, fortunately.

Here are some tips on how to choose the right one to meet your small business needs.

Identify the Fake Web Designers

Check out their portfolio!

Do they look professional? Is the style of the designer something you would like to have on your own site? Are they logical, easy to use, and provide what's needed to help customers achieve their (and the clients') goals? That means that a lot of business development has gone into them.

Web Designers vs Web Programmers

There are many web designers who are actually programmers who know little, if at all, about design. They use templates that are created by other professional designers. Unfortunately, templates aren't customized to your unique business.

Moreover, with advances in software applications, it is easier than ever to create and build a website. These software can help anyone build a website without knowing a thing. However, there is a distinct difference between creating and designing one.

Design, be it web or print, is about communication. Without the necessary design knowledge how could the programmers do an effective job communicating with your prospective customers?

How Can Good Design Help Your Business

Design is about you--what you know, what you see, and what you have to say. Behind every design is a vision, a purpose, a reason to be. Web design is not about decoration but communication; about making your words and vision visible, giving it form and body for all the world to see.

While the sales copy of your website remains vital for the effective selling of your products or services, the use of typography, color, graphics and layout help lead your prospects read and navigate your website.

This makes your page a pleasure to read and increases their overall user-experience.

A professional, well-designed website has been proven to increase sales!

Web Design Process

The web design process is also a matter of planning, what to include and what to exclude, good design, appealing text, how to sell, what business plan to follow, and more.

Like any other marketing medium, it requires a lot of work by individuals who understand what visitors and the search engines like to see: properly organized text. Combining a nice layout with SEO isn't easy, make sure the designer understands both the human and search components.

The result is pages that perform well for visitors and rank high for specific keywords.

No doubt, there are many who can turn out professional websites, but few who will volunteer to spend dozens of hours consulting with a client, designing a clear and unconfusing website, and sweating over ad copy, pictures and all the major and minor details -- in essence, creating a online marketing vehicle.

Online Marketing

The number one mistake that most first time web site owners make is that they don't know what to do with their site after it's designed. It is very possible to have a beautiful site designed for you and no one ever sees it.

A website is merely another means of marketing your products or services. With hundreds, if not thousands, of websites sprouting out everyday, competition is fierce. Having a "web presence" for your business has virtually become an understatement.

A good designer will not only help you create a professional looking site, they will also ensure that your site gets a good ranking with the search engines so that your site can be easily found online. Make sure that your designer will optimize your site for the search engines and submit it to the major search engines. Your website need to rank reasonably well in search engines.

Moreover, small business should seriously look into harnessing the power of the social media and sound web marketing design to increase the exposure of your services and products to extend your reach.

Is a Website Just a website

In the online world, traffic and targeted prospects is the life blood for you website. A pretty website becomes a white elephant if no customer visits it.

Does the web designer practice what he preaches? How much traffic is his website receiving?

To get an estimation of the amount of traffic, go to http://www.alexa.com, enter his URL to get the traffic details. You'll see the Traffic Rank for his website. As a general rule of thumb, if the traffic ranking isn't within the 1st Million globally (e.g. Yahoo ranks no. 1), then his online marketing effort certainly has much room for improvement, even for his own business website.

Offline Marketing

Small businesses exist in numbers far larger than big corporations.

It is ever more important for your business to stand out from your competition with a professional, consistent image--your corporate identity, namely from your web design, company logo, to the offline marketing collateral such as business card and flyer designs etc.

Having the same company to design both your online and offline marketing collateral have significant advantages of consistency and cost.

Word of Mouth and Testimonials

Word of mouth is a good indication of someone who knows his stuff.

If he comes strongly recommended by trusted friends or family members, chances are he's created design solutions that work for their business quite well. Ask them whether it was a good experience or not.

Most designers will have testimonials from previous clients on their website. It's a good idea to see what his customers are saying about his services. Follow the web links and try contacting some of them. You should have a feel after talking to one or two. This also ensures the testimonials are not fake ones that were simply "made up".

Chemistry is Key

You are going to have to share aspects of your business, from visions to operations to preferences to competition, with this person.

So it's important that you feel comfortable enough with him to be honest about your business details and goals, as well as ask as many questions about his advise as you need to. Does the designer seem friendly and are they willing to answer all of your questions? Does he respond promptly to your emails and/or phone calls?

A good designer will keep in touch with you every few days, at least. You don't want to get down to the final days of creating the site only to find out you don't like it!

Look out for his modus operandi during the first meeting. He should be asking you extensive, detailed questions about your requirements and goals, in order to analyze your needs.

Someone who is more interested in telling you the different design packages he can offer you is probably more concerned about making a quick buck.

Website Maintenance

A common issue with most small business is a lack of technical skills. What happens if you want to update the content after the project has been completed? Can you update it yourself without any HTML knowledge?

Content Management System

Would your website be built on a content management platform such as Wordpress or Joomla? This will allow you to update, edit and add pages on your own without going back to the web designer. Thus saving time and cost.

Engage your Customers via Blogs

If you are marketing your business on the web and you don't have a blog, you will always be beaten down by your competition.

A Blog platform allows you to do things no one else in your market can do with static websites. This means you don't just have a web site, you have a search engine magnet and an interactive community builder that will drive targeted, willing-to-buy visitors to your site.

Price

This is an important factor for any small business to consider.

Although there is no clear-cut rule as to what an "average" price for web design is. In most cases, you get what you pay for. You are paying for this his expertise, time and experience.

Be realistic about your budget. You may not have all the bells and whistles such as animation and special effects.

It is more important to create a successful website that has a good position in the search engine and one that you are very happy with the look and function of than to save a couple of bucks. If you get a good site, your site will be able to grow with your company and, hopefully, that's for a very long time!

The savvy, experienced web designer can implement your ideas and enhance them, spotting possible pitfalls and making recommendations along the way--and he'll help you to understand the procedure and give you the benefit of his experience and understanding of the Web, so that you come away not only with a website, but with an enhanced understanding of the Web and online business. In short, he'll work with you and be effective.

Pagethinker is about web design for small business. A small singapore web design studio specializes in designing effective websites for online marketing. For tips on how to design to attract both customers and search engines, and ultimately, sell your products & services, visit http://www.pagethinker.com

Web Design Tricks

Web design tricks are used by Professional web designers; to create effective web page designs but most importantly to show off beautiful code. A web designer's job is to develop web pages that communicate effective design, while also demonstrating knowledge of html and CSS. Web designers can utilize a variety of web design tricks there are tons of design related resources available for free to  designers, graphic designers or anyone seeking knowledge of creating or learning about website design tricks.  Professional web designers such as Molly, Lynda, and Eric Meyer, often have blogs or have written books, dedicated to helping others learn how to create web design tricks. I have found a great list of web design tricks & resources and have listed them on my website, you can check out the article it's called "Useful websites that offer free web design tips & tricks" I have also included in this article some basic web design tricks that you will be able to incorporate in your next design project.  

The first thing you want to do before designing your web page is to create a flowchart, a flowchart will aid in the outline of your web design project.  Next you will need to decide how you want to lay-out your site. There are a few basic layouts, however most professional designers use layouts that are compatible with the more popular browsers, "this design trick' is very important to know, as you will want all users to be able to access your web pages. The site Just dreamweaver has a ton of free blank or empty layouts that you can use as a guide. Or you can choose from some pre-made templates that are featured free, on smashing magazines website.  If you don't like any of the layouts suggested, you can create your own. Make sure to ensure browser compatibility by incorporating the right browser hacks. Make sure you know how the browser hacks work before you use this particular web design trick. Do some research on website design tricks before attempting to write your own code.  

Next you will use the measurements from you're empty web template to start the design process. Most Professional designers use Photoshop to design the graphical interface of their web page. I like to start my PSD interface template by boxing my layout first. For instance If I have a header at the top of my page, I would first create a big grey box and label it header, than on my side bar I would create another grey box, matching the measurements 100% from my html coded template, this ensures that I have a perfectly even and compatible transition from PSD to html or xhtml. After you have laid out your grey outline you can turn on rulers and guides and start lining up your grey outlines.  

Now if you turn off the entire layer, you will see that the rulers have perfectly lined up your site for you. The next step is to lock the rulers than group the grey layer and hide them and then lock the grey layer as well. Now you are ready to start your design, if you are having trouble coming up with concepts, look at some example sites to get your creative juices flowing. With these Web Design Tricks you are sure to create a 100% cross browser compatible web design that's super easy and fast to create, furthermore now that you know these simple web design tricks, you can incorporate them in your next design project.  

To get instant access to cutting edge graphic design resources click: "Web Design Tricks"

Charlotte Salcedo is an expert web designer who specializes in creating web designs that convert your visitors into customers. You will always get the best price and the wow factor that will blow your clients away an practically hypnotize them into whipping out their credit cards, guaranteed!