How do you Choose a Web Designer?
In recent years, the web design industry has experienced a
growth rate of huge proportions, due entirely to the numerous
companies that have appeared as a result of continued Internet
expansion. The business world's appetite for websites and
ecommerce solutions show no signs of abating in the near future,
and organisations and individuals who want to commission the
services of a web design company are faced with a dizzying
choice of options.
Companies will rightly advertise their creative skills,
technical expertise and design know-how. They will use lots of
technical terms and buzzwords in their marketing literature, but
because of the sheer number of companies all offering more or
less the same services, the point is reached where all the
advertising can begin to look almost identical.
How then does one go about choosing a competent design company
from the many available? If you are new to the workings of the
Internet, then the most obvious and perhaps safest method is via
personal recommendation, which by its very nature is a vote of
confidence from a satisfied customer and presents a golden
opportunity for an organisation to excel itself; after all,
there is nothing like a referral to start the ego twitching and
make a company go all out to impress.
An alternative method to a referral is of course to look on the
Internet itself. You will find literally thousands of web
designers advertising their services and at the same time
providing visual proof of their abilities via their own
websites. It is always a good idea to look at portfolio and
testimonial pages; you can then contact one or two of their
customers to get verbal references; these may help you in
deciding which design company is best for you.
Another option is to choose a company at random and talk to them
about what you expect from your intended website. Good designers
will listen to what you have to say and work with you; they will
gather as much information as possible from a customer before
going anywhere near a computer. Moreover, they will always be
willing to offer sound advice and will develop solutions to help
bring your ideas to life.
In addition, and perhaps the smallest sector of the web design
industry are the self-taught individuals who whilst having no
formal training or qualifications, do possess a natural talent,
aptitude and enthusiasm for web design, and who for the most
part produce extremely high-quality work often at a fraction of
the cost charged by the larger companies.
It is worth mentioning that there are so many capable and
talented designers available, that the hardest part of getting
your website built will probably be deciding which company or
individual you want to do it. Taking the time to look into all
the options should help to ensure that whomever you chose would
produce the required result.
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