Part II: Planning for Success - Choosing A Website Designer

What Type of Web Site Design Services Are Available

by Pauline Sugarman

Created July 2004; Revised February 2006

Everyone has heard the unfortunate stories of businesses choosing a web designer only to find that the site they end up with does not reach its targeted audience, or worse, repels them with Flashy but slow loading pages, confusing layout or unusable elements.

Often, when choosing a web designer the decisions to be made can be overwhelming.  To help you choose the best web designer lets first review what types of services that are available to you today.  When it comes to creating a web presence for yourself or your company, which type of help is best for you?

Advertising Firms

Many large Advertising Firms have created in-house web design departments. This can be a good choice if you are creating an entire “image” and marketing campaign for your company, as the results should be more consistent across mediums. The downside is that these Firms are often expensive, as you will be helping to pay for their (often extensive) overhead expenses. You may also miss out as they may not be that knowledgeable about the web, with main interests concentrated in traditional advertising mediums and logo and packaging design. If you are a large company with very advanced website creation needs (mobile authoring, interactive rich media campaigns, cross channel initiatives etc.) make sure the Advertising Firm you work with is well versed in web design with an experienced internet creation department available to meet your needs.

Web Hosting Companies

Many ISPs, Web Hosting Companies, offer cost effective service packages that include website Templates along with hosting and email. This can be a good choice if you are very small and just trying out the web. The downside is that the use of Templates will often make your website look and feel generic. And on the web, the “voice” of a website is very important.

Web Design Companies

Another choice is to work with a large professional Web Design Company. This can be an excellent choice as their sole reason for being is to create web sites. A large Firm can be helpful if you plan to create an very extensive presence on the web. They will usually have in-house specialists in all areas of web design, including databases and web eCommerce design. The downside is that once again, you may be looking at a very large outlay of funds as you help pay for their full-time staff and management overhead.

Web Design Boutique

A Web Design Boutique can be an excellent choice for those that want all the benefits of concentrated expertise, without the high overhead charges of a large web development company. If you are a small to medium sized company a Design Boutique will often give you better service, while creating just as professional results as a larger Firm. If they do not have the expertise in-house, they will often put together a “team” of experts to work on the project.

The downside with a smaller Firm is that they may SAY they have all the skills needed to create the perfect website to meet your goals, but actually be lacking in essential skills. It will be important to make sure they can indeed complete your desired type of website - on time - with all the varying skill sets that it will be required.

Interviewing your prospective designers with a solid check-list in hand can go a long way towards choosing web designer that is most qualified to meet your specific goals.

The next article gives a Check List for Choosing a Web Designer ...

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