How to Recognize a Great Web Designer
Date of Update: 05-30-2013
Hiring a web designer, full time or freelance, can be stressful. Because you aren’t a designer, how are you supposed to know what your web designer should look like? Does your designer need to have a portfolio? Should your designer know how to code? The answer is, yes.
And while you may have a small idea of what you are looking for, you’ll want to ensure the designer you hire is a great one. Therefore, the skills below should be, in part, a top priority in your search.
1. Great communication skills
The web designer you choose should be able to communicate effectively. Not only should they be able to understand your vision and site design requirements, but they also need to communicate their skills and design ideas to you. Communication skills are also effective when you hire a full time designer. These skills will ensure your designer can effectively understand and convey design specifications to your clients.
2. Includes you in the design process
One thing that is essential in a designer is that they include you in the design process. This process starts with the initial specifications and vision for the site. Once the site design is underway, your designer should be able to include you in any site changes and ideas.
3. Knowledge of design standards
There are specific standards that every web site should adhere to. Things like easy and standardized navigation, clean design layout, and appropriate ad placement. Without these standards, users may view your site as inefficient or disorganized. However, when these standards are followed, sites can be popular and successful.
4. Exceptional time management skills
Being a web designer is often filled with multiple projects from multiple businesses. An inefficient designer with poor time management skills will be late on deadlines, appear stressed out, and use excuses to deflect from poor work performance. On the other hand, designers who have honed their time management skills will be efficient, deadline driven, and provide exceptional end product results.
5. Capable of design integration
Many people do not need a site built from the ground up. Many companies have either established a web site or at the very minimum have a company marketing design. These designs often span across flyers, business cards, and signage. A great designer will be able to mesh their design into an existing marketing design. Their integration will be seamless and appear that one designer has produced all of your marketing materials.
6. Creative
You may think that creativity is a given in a web designer. However, not all web designers have the creativity needed to push your site to success. There are web designers who will simply copy the designs of other sites. Without an inherent sense of creativity, those designers will not be able to incorporate your specific needs into a functional design. The function of a design, or how the site loads and performs, is much more important than the form, or aesthetics, of a site.
7. Ability to understand and use coding languages
When choosing a designer, you will want to ensure that the designer can take your site from conception to completion. This means that making a mock-up of the site is just the start of what a great designer should provide you. Once the mock-up is approved, your designer should be able to build out that site in a way that is clean and understandable.
8. SEO knowledge
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a complicated skill. Using proper SEO practices within a site when it is being built out gives you the ability to push your site up in the search rankings on Google and other search engines. A great designer will not only know SEO, but they will know how to leverage it so your site sees drastic improvements over a short period of time.
9. Understand and utilize the most current technology, coding and design techniques
Using the latest technologies and coding languages will benefit your site in the long run. Using outdated code can be a detriment to your site. Sites running on old and outdated code can experience loading problems and be inadequate when a change to the site needs to be made. The best of web designers not only understand coding languages, but they thrive on keeping up to date with the latest changes in code and other technologies for web development.
10. Has concern for the user experience
While it is important that you as a business owner love your site and find it fascinating, it is much more crucial that your users have a wonderful experience. Your designer should ultimately be focused on the user experience when pulling together the design concepts. If the user has a good experience, they will return.
Hopefully these tips will allow you to find the web designer you need. If you have been searching for a web designer and need guidance, contact me and I can help you with your web design needs.