Before You Hire a Web Designer

Hiring a developer is not hard. Identifying a good developer who will take the time and energy to fully understand your needs is the real challenge. If you're lucky enough to find such a developer, then the hardest part about hiring them is to take the time yourself to carefully reflect upon what it is that you are actually looking for and that you actually need to succeed in your business.

In dealing with my clients as a web designer/developer over the years, I've found that many clients really struggle with this. Building a website is pointless unless you have specific goals in place and a solid plan about how to get there.

"If you build it... they will NOT come."

That's what I tell all of my prospects. That is not really what they want to hear, but it's the truth. If you are going to spend the money building a website, then make damn sure that you also have an adequate budget in place to promote the website to get it in front of your target audience. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time and money.

"If they come... they will not buy."

Unless you have taken the time to carefully identify your business goals and the needs of the customers that you will be serving, you won't be able to communicate these to your developer. And, if your developer doesn't fully understand these fundamentals, then your website will most assuredly fail.

Here are the minimum concepts that I require my prospects to carefully define before I will even bid on a project:

1. Who you are

2. What you do

3. How you're different

4. Why I should care (as your site visitor)

5. What should I do next (otherwise known as the Call to Action or CTA)

Here's an example to show how I would define those 5 concepts for my own business:

1. iSatisfy.com is a full-service web design, application development and Internet marketing agency headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida. We are made up of a small group of independent web and tech professionals and freelancers located in the south Florida area.

2. We specialize in the design, development and deployment of practical, affordable web-based solutions that help small businesses thrive online.

3. We're not a 'one-size-fits-all' digital agency. We provide a laser-focused approach to the delivery of our design and development services. Our unique blend of consulting, technical and design expertise allows us to be nimble and responsive to you and your company's unique (and evolving) set of business needs.

4. We understand that a pretty website will only get you so far. If the needle isn’t moving, it’s all for naught. Your business needs will always come before our need to impress. When your business succeeds, so does ours. That is why we provide our clients with fully customized web-based solutions AND an accompanying marketing plan that will help to make it successful.

5. Just give us a call and we can discuss your needs and help you to determine if we're a good fit for you and your business.

This is just the beginning. There are many other things to consider before hiring a web designer. Feel free to check out our previous article on "Hiring a Web Designer" for more tips on the subject.

Good luck with your search! Let us know if we can help.

~Mike.