Why Choose A Professional Web Designer

November 20, 2008 at 1:06 am · Filed under Web_Design

It seems that almost every Tom Dick and Harry do web design in one form or another. Everyone seems to know a friends’ brother’s son who can build websites for real cheap. Why choose to pay the sometimes high fees that web designers charge?

There’s a right way to build websites and there’s a wrong way to build them.

There are a number of considerations when building a website. The first is that the website being created is search engine friendly. I’ve seen some websites built in such a way that search engines couldn’t see more than the home page. This results in a fraction of the traffic potential that would otherwise result for the website.

Professional or Mickey Mouse?

A poorly designed website reflects on the business that it is attached to. When your prospects visit a website that is poorly created, they will tend to project that first impression onto the rest of the services that your company has to offer. This can affect everything from how often you close sales to how much you can charge a client. In other words, it hurts your bottom line.

Anyone can create a simple web page. How many people can create a professional image?

What kind of recourse do you have?

If a high school kid is creating your website and something goes wrong or you spend months waiting for it only to find out you wouldn’t want to use it anyway what can you do about it? When you choose a professional web design firm that can provide you with a list of satisfied customers, you can at least look to a track record you can count on.

You get what you pay for

If you pay someone to build a simple website for you that ends up turning customers off, how much has that website really cost you? Getting a professional looking website may be more costly up front but it will pay for itself many times over in the long run.

Communicate a consistent Business Image

By having your website created by a professional and having the content of that website written by a good business writer, you can have a powerful ally towards increase business sales and customer satisfaction. Choosing the right professional website designer can go a long way towards helping you achieve your business goals.

Joe Duchesne is a professional web designer who co-founded his own company called http://www.yowling.com. Yowling offers a web site builder that makes it really easy for anyone to have their own professional website. Reprint freely as long as you maintain the keyword rich links in this resource box.

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Web Designer Professional vs. Amateur

November 2, 2008 at 4:03 am · Filed under Web_Design

There are as many “For Business” amateur web designers as there are professional ones. This article will help you weed them out in no time. First and foremost a professional web designer provides the following services to their client:

• Completely builds the site with organized content in a contemporary design layout that’s user friendly.
• Implements up-to-date Search Engine Optimization techniques.
• Provides full site maintenance for client.
• Updates the site on a regular basis.
• Redesigns the site every 8 to 12 months with new content and layout.
• Provides hosting services or finds a reliable hosting company for client.
• Continually researches client’s type of business for online compatibility with offline business practices.
• Keeps client abreast of innovative online business solutions that best fits their type of business for continued success online.

What an amateur web designer offers their client:

• Often designs a site similar to other sites in the same business category, prefers to place important content all over the page in an unorganized layout that’s not user-friendly or may provide clients with online web building tools to do it themselves.
• Implements out-dated Search Engine Optimization techniques.
• Provides little maintenance or trains client on how to update content themselves. Often referred to as the “CUT AND PASTE TUTORIAL” service.
• Does not provide their regular clients any redesign services . . . they seem to have no conception as to why a site once built, needs new content and layout for “repeat visitor” convenience.
• Mostly provides hosting and or web design services that includes paid training services in advertising and promotion of web site.

There is also a distinct difference in how a professional web designer advertises their business as compared to an amateur. A professional designer …

• Always lists services available stating that they are a partnership-with-client orientated business.
• Does not use scare tactics in their ads such as: “Did you know that there are limited options available for getting your business online!” or “Some other web designer may take your site down for no reason” or “Your web designer may be hurting your online success!”
• Has a company name that does not rely on metaphors from outside the web design business such as “Your Website Doctor” or “Your Website Co-Pilot” to try to gain your confidence.
• Does not need to offer discounts on services or provide special offers.

One sure thing about a professional web designer is that they get the right type of client that needs and wants their services. Amateurs will take anyone. To be perfectly blunt … professional web designers have no competition. There’s not even the slightest competition with online companies that offer web building tools or web site generators. Why? One look at at a site built by a non-skilled individual using such tools will convince you.

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Finding a Professional Web Designer or Web Design Company

June 27, 2008 at 4:12 am · Filed under Web_Design

Your web site is your storefront window on the World Wide Web. It must grab the viewer’s attention and be clear, all in a matter of seconds. Otherwise, it’s onto the next site listed on the search engine.

Choosing the best person to create your new web site is one of the most important tasks a business must undertake. It is also one of the most difficult because of the amount of freelance designers, advertising agencies, public relation firms and web development consultants flooding the market. Following are a few helpful hints to make sure you select the right web designer.

Why Hire a Professional Web Designer?

Let me phrase the question another way, ‘Why post your billboard in woods’? Most reputable web designers know a thing or two about search engines but that’s not enough to put your business on the map when it comes to search engine results. What you want is a professional designer who knows how to build a ’search engine friendly’ web site.

The key between the two professionals is one will build you a web site with pretty pictures, text links and a welcome page that leaves you invisible to search engines, while the other will do the same thing but with the coding and programming that makes your web site irresistible to search engines. The difference between selling and not selling on the web, and being found or buried on page 15 of the search engine results, is knowledge in building a search engine friendly site.

Create a Web Site Requirements List

If you’re looking for a ‘one-stop-shop-solution’ you should have a solid project plan in place. This will save you money, time and effort in the long run. Browse the Internet and create a list of web sites that have the general look and feel of how you envision your own web site. Note the things you like about each of the sites. You are essentially compiling a list of the ‘best of the best’ features you want to incorporate into your new web site.
If you are shopping for web design quotes, don’t forget to ask the web design vendor some basic questions:

* Do you provide client references?
* Will I be able to edit my own web pages?
* Are the web sites you design search engine friendly?
* Is logo design included in the web quote?
* How many design concepts and revisions will you provide?

Avoid the Template Trap

The problem with Web templates is that they are “closed systems.” Usually navigation placement is hard coded so that custom programming or effects are not allowed or easily configured. Every month someone will call us to complain that their ‘template based web site’ looks horrible, or the web template system is too hard to use or understand. A great example of cookie-cutter, web template web sites abound in the field of real estate. All these sites look the same. Why on earth would a real estate agent not want to stand out from the crowd in such a highly competitive online field? The bottom line is, stay away from templates. They’re cheap in cost and cheap in delivery.

Establish a Web Production Budget

The web design process ranges from the novice who spends a few hours putting together sites of amateur quality, to high-end quality web projects that result in a world-class web presence. If you plan on spending $400 on your web site, don’t waste your time or money. Your site will most likely look cheap, be an embarrassment and actually hurt your business and image. Better off to stay as you were.

However, when you’re serious about launching a Web site to grow your business, you can do it without mortgaging your house. Here are some facts and figures from across the U.S. to consider when putting together the budget for your web site.

Small business Web sites - $2800 to $3900
Small business e-commerce Web sites - $3600 to $4200

Medium business Web sites - $3800 to $5200
Medium business e-commerce Web sites - $4200 to $7200

Large business Web sites - $7200 to $10,000
Large business e-commerce Web sites - $9200 to $15,000

A well-crafted web site can bring you new or additional online traffic resulting in new clients and customers. First impressions matter, so work with your web designer to capture the image or branding that you want to convey to your Internet visitors.

Now that you understand the basic principles of finding a professional web site design company, submit your request for design quotes online and compare what you are getting for the cost.

If you are looking for a design company close to you, check
out Xemion.com. Xemion is an easy-to-use web designer and web design company directory with listings by state and city.

About the Author
http://www.visionefx.net - Visionefx President Ricardo Vidallon has been in the creative business of advertising, cable broadcast, animation and the World Wide Web for more than two decades. His work has been featured on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., Fox News and NBC Entertainment. His career track in Web consultancy includes the global companies of Reynolds and Reynolds, CMGI Solutions, and Automark, Inc.

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