10 Questions to ask before hiring a web designer

"I want a website, but I don't really know what to ask you...can you help me?"

This is the question we hear the most when talking to people who need a website. This article is designed to help some of you who aren't sure which questions to ask.

Here are the 10 most important questions to ask:

1. Can I see your portfolio?

First thing to do is see their work. If a web design firm has websites that you like, then you're off to a good start.

2. What will my fee be after the first year?

Most design firms will charge a fee up front to create the website, and then either a monthly or yearly fee for hosting and maintenance.

Make sure you ask what the estimated cost will be going forward...the initial fee may be reasonable but if you can't sustain it after that then find something cheaper.

3. Can I update my own website?

If you plan on making updates to your website on a regular basis, then it's usually a good idea to do it yourself rather than paying your web designer to do it for you. It can really save you a lot of money down the road.

Read our article here about how to easily update your website.

4. How are we going to make conversions?

This is very often overlooked but extremely important. A conversion happens when a visitor comes to your website and does...whatever it is you want them to do.

For our website, when a person contacts us by phone or email that's a conversion.

So a good answer to this question would be something like:

• We'll put your phone number at the top of the site so people can easily see it
  
• We will feature your upcoming events in a "What's New" rotating slideshow that is visually appealing right on the home page
• We will make sure that we're pushing people to download your brochure
• We will have your featured products that are on sale on every page so that people can see them no matter where they are in the website

There are just a few ideas, but a good website doesn't just sit there...it's a revenue generator. Make sure your web designer understands that and has some ideas on how to make it really work.

Read our article about how to create a good call to action button.

5. Can we link my Facebook and Twitter accounts to my website?

For some reason we've talked to a couple people who said their web designer wouldn't do this for them. Or that it would cost a lot of money.

For the record, it takes approximately 20 seconds to link your Facebook or Twitter page to your website.

6. Will my website be Search Engine Friendly?

If a web designer looks at you blankly when you ask this question...run away.

A good response would be something about:

• Using CSS instead of Tables
• Using text instead of images
• HTML valid code
• Good title tags
• Adding keywords to the text in key places
  

Your site doesn't necessarily have to be optimized for the search engines, but it should still be search engine friendly. In other words, you may not be on the first page of Google, but at least you'll get some traffic from Google.

Read our article about how to improve your SEO.

7. Can my website grow if my company grows?

Say your company offers a new product or service. Is your website built in such a way where it can add new buttons without having to redesign the whole thing for a large fee?

Make sure that your website has room to grow.

8. What happens if you disappear?

Everyone's worst nightmare is that their developer will just leave one day and you won't be able to access your website.

If this is a concern, just make sure you ask for a backup copy of the website once every few months or something. It's a legitimate question to ask especially if your web designer is a freelancer. Freelancers are great because of the low cost, but there is risk involved.

9. Are you using a template to design my website?

Some designers use templates when creating a website because it saves them time. Rather than create a unique, custom design they just throw your information into a template.

The problem with templates is that your website may look the same as someone else's. And that's not a good thing.

If you know that's what you're getting and you're paying less, then that's OK. But if you are paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a template, then you're probably paying too much.

10. Will you give my website a Fresh Look?

Studies show that unless the term "fresh look" actually appears in a companies name...ok just kidding. In all seriousness, there are a lot of good web design firms out there, just make sure you ask the right questions when getting started. Good luck!

Easy SEO Checklist

One of the most often asked questions is on the subject of SEO or "Search Engine Optimization". Simply put - how can my website get found on the search engines?

There are a lot of ways to improve your search engine ranking...more than we can put in one little blog post. But here is a helpful little guide for beginners so that you can have the basics down.

1. Use your words

Search engines love content. The more words you have on the page, the more likely the search engines will like your page. This has to be balanced with keeping your website succinct and easy to read for your users, but make sure you have good content on each page describing your products, services, etc.

2. Have a good title tag

Look at the very top of this page - see where it says "Fresh Look Web Design | Easy SEO Checklist"? That is the title tag.

Essentially what you want to do in your Title Tag is put the name of your business, and a very brief description of what you do.

So for example, a fictitious auto mechanic shop in Chicago called Joe's Professional Auto would have a Title Tag something like this:

"Chicago auto mechanic and car repair shop - Joe's Professional Auto"

That way if someone looking for a mechanic in Chicago types "Chicago car repair" into Google...well what do you know, Joe has that exact phrase in his Title Tag.

"Chicago auto mechanic and car repair shop - Joe's Professional Auto"

3. Use text instead of images for links when possible

Search engines can't read what an image says. If possible, use text on a background image instead of just an image. It requires more work and expertise to create that type of link, but in the long run the search engines will thank you.

4. Put physical address on every page

There are indications that Google puts more trust in your site if you include your physical address on every page. It also helps build trust with your customers if they know where you're actually located.

A couple good places to put your address on each page is at the top (http://tidewaterrcd.org/) on a menu on the side (http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/) or at the bottom (http://www.cross-associates.com/).

5. Link your social media to your website

Every business should at a bare minimum have a Facebook business page. Whether you have just Facebook, or a large number of social media presences, make sure they have a link to your website.

6. Write a good meta description

The meta description tag is a bit of HTML code in the head section of the document. You'll sometimes see the meta description tag in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

What you put in the meta description tag is simply a brief description of your business and maybe some specific information about the page it's on.

Do your best to include a couple good keywords, but make sure it's readable and helpful to your potential visitors. Here's what our meta description says:

Fresh Look Web Design is a full service graphic design and web development company serving Hampton Roads and all of Virginia.

Notice that we not only describe our business, but include some good keywords as well.

7. Put good keywords in your h1 tag

Each page should have a header at the top identifying the page. Search engines specifically look for the h1 tag on your page. It should appear one time and include a keyword if possible.

It's not enough to just have larger, bold text at the top. It specifically needs to be an h1 tag.

8. Use a readable URL

Sometimes when a website is setup in a CMS, the URL's for each page are not search engine friendly. Here's an example of what they might look like:

http://freshlookwebdesign.com/index.cfml?productid=3&categoryid=5 to go/productid/3/categoryid/5

Not very search engine friendly. Instead, it should say something like http://freshlookwebdesign.com/services/small-business-web-design.php

You want to include a good keyword in the URL if possible as well.

Using these tips will go a very long way in making your website search engine friendly. Even if you can't implement all of them, even just a few should improve your position in the search engines and bring more visitors to your website.

5 things web designers don't want you to know

OK Let's be honest...if you have had a not-so-good experience with a web designer at one point in time you are not alone. We talk to folks all the time who are very wary of being burned again. It's very unfortunate.

Today we want to share a few facts which will hopefully enlighten some of you and give you the insight you need to make smart business decisions. Here are the top 5 things that web designers don't want you to know (but we're going to tell you anyway).

1. Most maintenance updates take less than 30 minutes

If a website is constructed correctly, then 90% of maintenance updates are a piece of cake. Even creating new pages of brand new content is not a time consuming process for a professional.

Some things will take longer of course, but the important thing to take away here is that if you're being billed hourly, there are a couple things you can do to reduce that hourly rate.

• Combine your updates into one single update. Rather than sending five separate small updates over five separate days, send them all at once. It's possible that your developer can do all of them in an hour, which will make your invoice an hour worth of work instead of five hours
• Try to hire a web developer that bills in half hour increments. For small updates, this will reduce your cost in half

Another thing to know is that your developer should be able to make your changes very quickly. It really should never take longer than 3 or 4 days. We try to do our updates within 24 hours.

2. Hosting is not very expensive

Hosting is pretty cheap...especially for a fairly small static website of less than 50 pages.

So what does this mean? If you don't ask your web developer to change your website very often, then really you shouldn't be paying him a whole lot. Most of our small business websites pay us between $400 - $700 a year for hosting AND 5 hours of maintenance.

3. It's possible to update your own website

This fact is more well known now than it was 4 or 5 years ago. But one way to drastically cut down on expenses is just to update your website yourself through a "Content Management System" or CMS.

A CMS is simply a tool that lets you manage the content of your website. You can add new pages, update your information, add pictures, etc.

Now of course you need the time to do it, which a lot of people simply don't have. But if possible hire an intern or get some help. If you're making updates to your website on a regular basis, it pays to have a CMS.

4. Your website needs to be constructed correctly to get found on search engines

It seems like half the websites online are not search engine friendly. Whether it's because the person who created it didn't know the right way to do it, or they were lazy when they created it; so many websites today are not suited for search engine crawlers.

Make sure your website is constructed correctly. As any SEO firm will tell you, there are many different things to check. Here's a free article which will answer the question is my website search engine friendly - it's our Easy SEO Checklist, mainly for beginners.

5. Your web designer might not be an actual web designer

Say what? A web designer is someone who is an expert in graphic design, SEO, HTML, CSS, and website usability (at a minimum).

Most "web designers" are people who may know how to do one or two of these things, not all of them. Just because you know HTML doesn't mean you can create an effective small business website.

When talking to a web designer, make sure they don't just know how to make a website, but how to make it look good, and how to make it work.

We recommend that you ask to see their portfolio, and then ask them to show you some real life examples of businesses they've helped. Then talk to those businesses as a reference and see what they say.

Hopefully these facts will help give you the knowledge you need to make smart business decisions. Don't forget to contact us if you need a free consultation. Good luck!