subject: When choosing your web designer a few things to consider [print this page] When choosing your web designer a few things to consider
Things to consider when buying a website.
First of all you'll have a budget in mind, anything from 200 to 5000 should cover most things.
What do you want from your website ? You may only need a few pages, just a basic web prescence, which shouldn't cost you too much, so don't buy an all singing-dancing web site that has loads of functionality that you won't use, but will have paid for.
If you do require more functionality, make sure you make a comprehensive list before you get a quote from anybody. This will avoid paying extra later on.
Have a content management system on your site. This is basically a backend admin area where you can edit and add to your website, without having any HTML or programming knowledge. Most websites come with this now anyway, but it's always best to check.
Avoid using too much Flash animation in your website. (I personally wouldn't use any at all). There are two reasons for this:
1. Googles search mechanisms (spiders) can't read them, and so any information in the flash doesn't have any search engine relevance, so won't be found in google search results.
2. Apple devices don't read display any flashcontent (try it by viewing a flash site on your iphone). Future releases of internet explorer will probably not do so either.
Look for unlimted hosting. Hosting used to vary depending on how much webspace / bandwidth you used. However these days you can get unlimted space from a lot of hosts, such as bluehost and simlar. Some hosts will give you limited space and pages, then charge you extra, the more you use. This is a bit of a rip off really as they're not doing anything extra for you, just making some extra money for nothing.
Search Engine Optimisation.
Once your website is running you'll want to consider Search Engine Optimisation (known as SEO), getting your site high up in Google.
This comes in 2 parts really.
1.Onsite website SEO
2. Linking to your site throughout the web.
As part of your Web design you should expect your site to beSearch Engine Optimisted. This includes things like:
Having a Sitemap for search engines to read. Making sure your web page names are search engine freindly. Having keyword rich articles on your site.
Linking your site through the web is an ongoing process that you wouldn't expect your web designer to do. Depending on how much SEO you need for your website will depend how much it will cost. You can do SEO yourself, but it takes a bit of research before you do, in order to do it correctly and avoid mistakes that can have a detrimental effect on your SEO.
SEO is a large part of getting your site highly ranked and respected. The most sensible approach is to research it carefully, or choose an SEO provider who has proven results, and only use ethical techniques. There are no easy ways of getting your site highly ranked, so don't be temped by anybody offering such services.
That's most of the basics you need to consider. You now just need to find a web designer.
Finding a local web designer is usually advisable. You could approach 2 or 3 and get quotes from them , then compare the best. The reason I would choose a local designer is so that you tend to get a more personal service and can always go and visit them if you need to. You can find a local company just by typing web design then your town in the search engine:- e.g web design wolverhampton , then choosing 3 companies from the first page (not the spnsored listings).
