Before You Hire a Web Designer - 18 Crucial Questions to Ask

Whether you are hiring a freelance web designer or agency, there are crucially important questions you need to ask. Their answers should determine the best designer to pitch your tent with.

Transcript

1. Before You Hire a Web Designer... 18 Crucial Questions to Ask BY KLEVA DESIGNS KLEVADESIGNS.COM
2. Great Answers = Great Choice Whether you are hiring a freelance web designer or agency, there are important questions you need to ask. The kind of questions you ask will determine the kind of answers you get which in turn will help you determine the best designer to go with. Intro KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 2
3. Will I have access to all accounts created in my name? When all's done, you should get the login credentials to your domain, hosting, CPANEL, analytics, email, live chat, online payment processor, etc so that if you change designers you won’t be held to ransom. Question #1 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 3
4. What are the hosting specifications? Unlimited disk space? Best. Unlimited bandwidth? Best. Not unlimited? Ask for the specifics. Dedicated server? Best. Shared server? Manageable. Question #2 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 4 Be wary of agencies that host you with other clients with the same CPANEL login details!
5. How many revisions can I request for? If you don’t like anything about the design, you should be able to request for revisions and it should be unlimited. This shows the designer is confident of delivering a high-quality job. Question #3 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 5
6. Do you accept down payment and at what percentage? Never pay a designer in full. Ideally, it should be 50% down payment or enough to get the job started. It’s better if you use an escrow service. Question #4 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 6
7. Can I see websites you have designed for other clients? A good web designer or agency worth its salt should have a portfolio of websites they’ve designed. Ask for their URLs and call to confirm that they actually did the job. Question #5 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 7
8. When will you deliver? There’s no hard and fast rule to this. It all depends on your goal deadline and the type of website in question. But it should be a timeline that’s acceptable to you. Question #6 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 8
9. Do you offer “after- sales” support and what does it entail? This is one of the advantages of hiring someone else to do your design. Any designer or agency should offer after-sales support that’s available to you at least during working hours. Question #7 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 9
10. Do you offer any warranty and for how long? You should get at least a 30-day warranty that starts counting after the website has been delivered. Question #8 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 10
11. Who will maintain and manage the website and at what cost? The website designer should offer a website management service at a cost acceptable to you. Question #9 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 11
12. Will my website be backed up daily? Your website should be automatically backed up daily or every hour depending on how often information changes on your website. It should be backed up to a remote server and at least three copies maintained before being overwritten. Question #10 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 12
13. Will my website be mobile-friendly? Your website should display well on mobile devices and tablets. Question #11 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 13
14. Will my website be SEO friendly? It should be. Ask for the SEO best practices that will be implemented at the basic level. If you’re lost, then hire the services of an SEO professional. Question #12 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 14
15. How long will it take my site to load when tested? This has to do with loading speed. There are several site speed testing tools online that can be used to test this. The designer should implement best practices that will make your site load fast. Agree on a target of 4 seconds max. Question #13 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 15
16. Who will create the content? If it’s a web design agency, they should have a content writer to help you create your pages’ content. If not, a freelancer should help you outsource it and factor in the cost. Question #14 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 16
17. Will I be able to edit my website’s content? If it’s a small business website you should be able to. The designer should train you or your staff to do this. This will save you maintenance cost unless it’s affordable. Question #15 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 17
18. What type of images will you use? The website designer should use images that’s royalty-free or custom images. Snapping up images from Google search can land you in legal trouble. Beware! Question #16 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 18
19. What will constitute completion of the project? Ideally, there should be an acceptance checklist stating the deliverables and their statuses. The project will be accepted as completed if the status columns are all showing “DONE” and can be confirmed. Question #17 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 19
20. Do you offer a service level agreement (SLA)? There should be an agreement of sort to bind both of you to. These days there are companies offering such templates online. You should request for one. Question #18 KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 20
21. Kleva Designs www.klevadesigns.com Thank You KLEVA DESIGNS • PAGE 21