Building an Effective Website – Pt.4

• Jul. 22, 2005

In this series of articles, we decided to go back to basics when getting into the web space.

In the first article, we were introduced to a fictional company that wanted a website.  In Part 2, we went into more detail on the site, including picking a domain name while part 3 gave some tips on picking a web host.

In this part we are going to look at some of the considerations when picking a web designer.

Before I go further I just want to make it clear that while these articles only appear weekly, you can proceed much faster with your site.  While I recommended taking a week to get your ideas on paper for the site, the next few steps can go much quicker.

For example, you can be researching hosting and design firms while still finalizing your ideas.

So now that you’ve picked your host, its time to find someone to build your site for you.  Designers tend to have specialties, so you will want to find someone that will build the site you want.  Remember in the last article when I talked about what platform the hosting supported?  Well this becomes very important now.

For example, let’s say you wanted a dynamic database driven site, but your hosting company only supports PHP and MYSQL – then you need to find a web developer who understands these and is familiar.  One who does ASP and Microsoft SQL may not be able to help.

You want to be sure that if your site only supports ASP then you need someone familiar with ASP. If it only supports PHP then you need someone who knows PHP.

If you merely want a basic HTML site then just about anyone with web design experience should be able to help.

Generally, a web designer should be able to build some mock ups for you early on to give you an idea of what the site may look like.  They can put together some basic navigation, throw in a few images and some generic text to give you a feel for the site.

Also, since this is a new site, you may have to pay a little extra for images.  Since you don’t have a pre-existing site, some images such as the corporate logo will have to be built from scratch and many designers charge for this service.

Also, any other images they create may have to be purchased.  Even if you have your own digital images (such as pictures of your company vehicles that you want on your site) they may have to crop or resize them to fit and you could be charged for this service as well.

Try to stay away from dynamic elements if possible.  For example don’t use flash. Or if you must, try to keep it small and a non-essential part of the site.  Don’t build your navigation in flash!   This is because search engine crawlers can’t follow the links in flash, so your site may not get indexed.

Also, JavaScript navigation and framed sites are not search engine friendly.  The safest bet is straight HTML.  While there are some really nice effects which can be achieved with JavaScript and HTML at this point, unless the designer is willing and able, I would recommend staying away from them.

Above all remember, you are the customer.  You should be able to clearly describe what you want and they should be able to build it for you.  If you have some ideas for styles and colors, be sure to share them with the designer.

For a basic HTML site, the designer should be able to have it to you in a reasonable time.  It shouldn’t take more than a few weeks for a basic site, but it will take longer if you are building it dynamically or require database aspects as usually database driven sites require much more customization (such as defining the database schema, setting up the custom database, building table relationships and so on).

Again, pricing can be an issue – if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.  Be sure to visit a few designers and get a few quotes.  If they can’t quote you a price you probably don’t want to deal with them.

Do they offer any type of guarantee of their work?  For example, you want to be sure that they didn’t steal another site and resold it to you.  You also want to ensure you get a functional site in the end.  Do they offer support afterwards?  For example, if you find a broken link here or there, will they fix it for you?

As with any contract be sure to read the fine print.  You want to be sure the contractor you hire is legitimate and will provide value for your money.

Also, if you can, get some references (again) to make sure they can do what they say and that previous customer are happy with what they got.

While these are just some of the basics with web design they should be enough to get you started.

Next week we look at choosing keywords –the foundation of a well performing website.

Rob Sullivan
Head Organic Search Strategist
Search Engine Positioning by Searchengineposition
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing