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Hiring A Custom Website Designer
By: Matthew Coers, Thu Apr 6th, 2006
Hiring someone to build or promote your website costs
considerably more than building it yourself, but it can be a
good way to quickly get your site online and start doing
business, especially if the site you intend to build is
relatively complex or you need to implement an e-commerce
solution. Obviously, if you decide to hire a custom website
designer, then you will want to make sure the website designer
specializes in the skills you require. That means learning to
ask the right kinds of questions – both of yourself and your
candidates.
There are three primary types of small business website
designers and developers:
- Custom Website
Designer – These are typically individuals with a great deal
of creative talent who specialize in the look and feel of your
website. Custom Website Designers will typically focus on user
interface issues, but will not venture much past the HTML of the
site. Most designers will not do heavy programming or get
involved in business processes or e-commerce. You can typically
find good website designers for small business in the $25 - $40
per hour range. A typical small business website may cost
somewhere between $2500 and $5000 to design, and you will be
responsible for writing the site’s content.
- Web
Developer – These folks are typically more expensive than
website designers and may or may not be able to assist you in
the user interface design or “look and feel” of your website.
They focus primarily on the programming and development of more
complex websites and web-based applications. You will want to
bring in a developer if your site requires building a custom
database, you plan to have some sort of specialized
functionality that you can’t purchase off the shelf from your
web hosting company, or you need to implement an e-commerce
solution, and you don’t feel comfortable with doing it yourself.
Custom Web Developers will charge between $35 and $100 per hour
depending on the type of service you require and how large the
project is. A very basic e-commerce site will cost at least
$10,000, with more complex sites running much higher..
- search engine optimization Specialist – Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing are both hot
markets right now with lots of snake oil salesmen who would love
to take your money. A good Search Engine Optimization specialist
will be able to show you examples of sites that he or she has
optimized, and demonstrate how that optimization has led to
increased traffic and sales for their clients. You can expect to
pay monthly retainers between $500 and $2500 for a competent
SEO. Those that charge less are probably not giving your
business enough attention. With SEO the true test of ability is
results. You should start to see improvements in your site’s
positioning within 90 days of bringing on a Search Engine
Optimization expert. It isn’t good enough to be “ranked” on some
particular term, you are hiring these people to bring in
qualified traffic.
So, depending on the type of website
you are putting together, and what sort of help you think you’ll
need, you may work with several different types of consultants.
The most important thing is to try to identify your needs up
front and plan the site as thoroughly as possible. Believe me,
web developers and designers make a lot of money off of
entrepreneurs who do not plan out their sites well enough in
advance. The changes and redesigns can quickly add up to quite a
bit more than what the sites would have cost if they had been
planned out correctly from the beginning.
If you feel that hiring a custom website designer is not your
cup of tea, and you want to try to do it yourself for less
money, take a look at our section on “How To Build A Website”. You can do it yourself; you
just have to take it one step at a time.
If you don’t know any “techies” to help you build your website,
you can find one at www.elanceonline.com. This site allows you to post a job and have qualified
professionals “bid” on it. You can also browse through service
providers that have posted portfolios online and select a vendor
based on their past work. Either way, this site provides an
efficient way to put you in touch with qualified technical
resources without undue effort on your part.
In any case, you will want to make sure you have a detailed
scope of work agreement and contract in place before you start
working with a developer. There is nothing more frustrating for
either you or your designer than to have a miscommunication
about what exactly you expect to receive and how much your
developer expects to get paid. Make sure you get it all in
writing!
In conclusion, you should hire a Custom Web Designer or
Developer if you feel that you are too busy or not capable of
creating a quality site yourself. There are three types of site
developers: Custom Website Designers, Web Developers, and Search
Engine Optimization/Marketing Experts. If you do not have
technical contacts to do the work, you can find qualified
professionals here: www.elanceonline.com. You should make sure you have your ideas organized about your
website, and you should make sure you get a contract with a
detailed scope of work signed by your consultant before work
begins on your site.
About the author:
Mr. Coers specializes in helping entrepreneurs build effective
web businesses. His website, contains useful articles on website
design and website planning.
