Your local website represents your company online and, as a result, should have a look and feel similar to your business: professional and welcoming. When it comes time to choose a Website Designer, you’ll want to make sure you’ve chosen an individual or group who not only understands your needs but has the technical know-how to turn your vision into a reality.

Begin by narrowing the field down to 2 ou 3 strong candidates. Then interview each one, paying special attention to the answers they give you. Their responses will tell you quite a bit about their abilities to design and optimize a website.

May I see your portfolio?

This should be your first request. The first thing you’re looking for is a track record of actually completing projects. The next thing you are looking to find out is, ‘can this web designer creates sites that I think are visually appealing as well as effective?’ Don’t accept pictures or screen-shots, make sure you are able to visit at least one or two websites he completed himself.

What browsers will my website support?

Believe it or not, websites show up differently in browsers. A site may look really great in Internet Explorer but may not look quite right in FireFox, Safari or Opera.. So you need to verify that your site will look good across all the major browsers.

Who will own my website?

Some web designers take ownership of their work, from setting up the domain and hosting accounts and creating the site itself. You are paying for the website, so you should have access to all of the hosting accounts and you should have a backup copy of the website on file. You’ll want to make sure you have the information necessary to move to another designer if you should choose to do so in the future.

How Easy Will it be to Make Site Updates in the future?

Building a website is one thing. Editing the content on your site is another. Make sure you know if you will be able to make simple text updates yourself or if you will have to ask him every time new material needs to be added. If you are able to make your own edits, will you have to learn a difficult web application? Make sure you’re getting a modern built-in editing program, similar to WordPress if possible.

What is the time-frame for delivery and how much will the site cost?

After giving the developer an idea of what you are looking for, he should have no problem giving you a time estimate and a price quote. Clarify whether or not the developer is charging a flat rate for the project or if he has an hourly rate.

What questions do you have for me?

Ask the developer if he has any questions for you. Par exemple, he should certainly be asking you exactly what kind of web design you prefer and specifically what you expect in the way of results for your new site. The more he asks, the greater your odds of getting a site you really like. There is no need to feel that you need to hire the first designer you think might be suitable. Take the time to interview a few and make sure you’re getting the services you want from someone you feel comfortable with. The end result will be a direct reflection of your communications.

Is Search Engine Optimization or Is Search Engine Optimization Marketing Included?

The fact is that many website designers are not very well qualified to drive qualified traffic to your new site. All too often, clients’ assume that their new site will be found and indexed by the search engines after going live but this is a dangerous assumption.It’s extremely important that you know exactly how you are going to drive very targeted traffic to your new site, if your developer can’t help with this, make sure you get recommendations for a great SEO company.