Eight Questions to Ask--Before You Hire a Web Designer

by Mike Matera

If you don't want to tackle Web authoring yourself, or you have complex or highly specific needs, consider hiring a professional. However, if you do intend to hire someone, shop around--and get references--before you commit any money. To that end, here are the most important questions to ask any prospective Web designer:

1) How much control will I have over how my site looks? Some designers will ignore your ideas either because they can't design what you want--or because they have their own conceptions of how your site should look. Make sure your designer understands that he or she works for you.

That said, recognize that no Web professional can do everything. The World Wide Web is a broad medium, but has unique limitations. Some of your ideas may not be practical or even possible. In any case, have your Webmaster explain why an idea cannot be implemented, in clear, jargon-free language.

2) How do I handle updates? If you intend to update content regularly, ask whether (and how much) the designer will charge. Will he or she be reasonably quick to make your changes?

Alternately, if you expect to do a lot of updating, see whether your potential designer can set up a content-management system, one that will let you update the page content yourself online.

3) Who will own the domain name? This refers to www.yourname.com. Make sure that your designer registers your domain in your name, or at least offers the option of transferring it to you without additional cost.

Otherwise, your designer may hold your domain name "hostage", possibly refusing to release it without a large fee (for the record, a domain name costs less than $10 / year to register, and I always give my clients the option of registering it themselves).

4) How much will the hosting cost? Hosting refers to having a place for your site to be reachable when people type your domain name or find your site via a search engine. Some designers will quote you one fee for building your site without telling you how much you'll pay monthly to host it. Unless your site handles a lot of input from visitors, particularly in the form of online transactions and/or data exchange (e.g., an e-commerce site), you should not agree to exorbitant hosting fees.

If your designer plans to charge you more than $10-$15 a month to host an informational site (one with minimal customer input), not including fees for maintenance and content updates, find a better deal. As with domain names, I give my clients the option of signing up for their own Web hosting, an easy process that I'm happy to walk them through.

One great advantage of owning your own Web hosting (as well as your own domain name) is that you can have a different Webmaster take over your site without much difficulty. You may even decide, later on, to take over the site yourself.

In any case, make sure that your hosting provider is reliable. In particular, ask about the "uptime guarantee", which should be more than 99%. That means that your site will be up and available more than 99 times out of 100, on a constant (24/7) basis. If it's not, you could end up losing business.

5) Will you also handle the writing? If you're not a writer, be aware that many Web designers do not offer professional writing services.

Find out whether your designer will include the services of a professional writer, and have that amount quoted in your estimate before you agree to anything. Alternately, find a writer who can work with your designer, and get hard copy of all estimates before you begin.

Of course, your best bet is to find a designer/design firm that also offers professional writing services. Even then, ask to see samples before you agree to anything. And have all estimates sent to you before you fork over any money.

6) Can you include interactive features? Make sure your designer can accommodate any dynamic needs your site may have. Will you want a feedback form that can collect and send you customer information? Do you need to accept credit cards? Are you planning to take surveys or offer customers the ability to upload files? Are you maintaining a database? Would you like "members-only" password-protected areas? Or are you running an online course?

Those things require varying degrees of programming and/or complex configuration processes. Make sure your designer is up to such tasks before you begin.

7) Do you offer search engine optimization? If your customers can't find you, your site may as well be invisible.

Make sure your potential designer knows how to make your site "search-engine" friendly. While SEO (search engine optimization) is a specialized field, a good Webmaster knows the basic tricks and techniques of getting your site into major search engines.

8) Do you offer a guarantee? Make sure you have an exit strategy, in case you're not happy with the work. And don't pay your designer the full fee until the site is up and running.

-- Mike Matera is a professional communications consultant, specializing in Web design and development.

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