How to Choose the Best Website Designer for Your Website

When it comes to building a website, choosing the best website designer is essential. After all, this person will be responsible for creating a website that represents your business and meets your needs. So, what should you look for when hiring a web designer? Here are 8 qualities of a great web designer to keep in mind:

Creativity

A great website designer will have a creative vision and be able to bring your ideas to life. They should be able to take your concept and turn it into a beautiful and functional website. There are many website currently on the market that all look the exact same. The main reason for this is that a great majority of them use templates and have lack of creativity involved.  When you’re looking for a web designer, be sure to look at their portfolio and see if their style matches what you’re looking for along with making sure that their projects are creative and out of the box.

Technical Skills

They will have the technical skills necessary to create a well-functioning website. In the oversaturated market of "website design/development"  there are a lot of people who try to do it all on their own without any formal training or education. This results in many website that may look great but don't work well. A website that doesn't function correctly is frustrating for users and will result in them leaving your site and going to one of your competitor's sites.

Technical skills are essential for any  web designer. Make sure to ask about their education and training to get an idea of their technical skills. You can also ask for examples of websites they’ve created and see if they are technically sound.

Our CEO, Nathan Felizzola puts it this way:

"UX is the sum of all things. There's no style over substance here. We bring together forms and the function to create something that looks great and performs brilliantly. Simple."

Attention to Detail

This is a huge one! A great website designer or agency will pay attention to detail and ensure that your website is free of errors. Far too often,  we see websites with misspellings, broken links, and other errors. This shows a lack of attention to detail and can be very off-putting for users.

When you’re interviewing web designers, be sure to ask about their process for quality control and how they ensure that their projects are error-free.

Its the little things that often get overlooked but can make a big difference in the overall user experience.

Good Communication Skills

A good website designer or agency will be able to effectively communicate with you to understand your needs. One of our principles here at NFDEVELOPMENT is that effective communication is crucial and instrumental to the successful completion of any project. Constant communication with our clients is one of our tip priorities.

Without communication a project is set up  for failure from the very beginning. How can a web designer or agency create a website that meets your needs if they don’t even know what those needs are? Be sure to ask potential web designers about their communication process and how often they will be in touch during the project.

A recent statistic was released by  Forrester that said:

“44% of companies have experienced a project failure because of inadequate communication.”

This just goes to show how important communication is!

Along with this, you should also consider time differences when hiring a web designer  or agency. If they are in a different time zone, there may be some communication issues.

We make sure to avoid any miscommunications by having a clear and concise understanding of our client's needs before we even start the project.

Flexibility

A great website designer will be flexible and accommodating to your needs.  They should be willing to make changes as needed and not be set in their ways.

Of course, you should also have an understanding of what is possible and realistic. A web designer can’t create a website out of thin air, they need some direction from you. However, they should also be able to take your vision and turn it into a reality.

Reliable

You can count on a great website designer to deliver what they promise. One of the top ways of doing this is checking  references and reviews. Make sure to read through reviews and see what other clients have said about their experience working with the web designer or agency.

You should also ask for a timeline of the project and what you can expect at each stage. This will help you to set expectations and ensure that the project is completed in a timely manner.  

A great web designer will also be honest with you if they think that your timeline is unrealistic. They should be able to provide you with a realistic timeline of what to expect.

Organized

A great website designer will be organized and efficient in their work.  This will help to save you time and money in the long run.

They should have systems and processes in place for managing projects from start to finish. This includes everything from the initial consultation to launch day and beyond.

Passionate

Last but certainly not least, a great website designer will be passionate about their work and strive to create the best possible website for you.  

This passion will show in their work and they will be constantly looking for ways to improve the website and the user experience.

A great website designer should also be up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices. This will show that they are truly passionate and are consistently learning. They should be able to provide you with insights into what is working well in the industry and what might not be the best solution for your website.

Conclusion

Keep these qualities in mind when hiring a web designer, and you’ll be sure to find someone who will create a website that you’re happy with. Do you