Choosing a web designer

Let's be right up front. I design web pages so keep that in mind as you read on.

The age old principle of caveat emptor applies to web pages at least as much as any other service that you can purchase, perhaps more because it is relatively new. Within the last two weeks I've come across two local firms with newly acquired websites who are wishing that they had heeded that principle. The first ended up with a site that's visibly inadequate, technically inept and grossly overpriced. The designer even pinched their domain name. The second, more fortunate firm has a decent website but a VERY much lighter wallet.

The first thing that you should do is look at lots of web sites so that you can get a feel for what you might like to have on yours. When you find one that looks good, see if the developers link is on the page and follow it back to their site. Check out the local service providers, somebody had to design their pages. There may also be a listing of local developers.

Most of like to brag about the work that we've done and so will have links to many of our client sites. Check all of the listed pages to be sure that it's not a cookie cutter operation (unless you really like that design).

As you begin to get an idea of the things that you might like on your site, start to be really critical of similar pages. Do they load quickly, is the site easy to navigate, is the information on it easy to find?

Go to AltaVista (http://altavista.digital.com/) and search for the company name. If the name's not registered here then it's not likely to be found anywhere and that should be a part of the designers job.

As you get closer to a decision try to find other people who have different browsers maybe an old version of Netscape or better yet AOL. If you use a PC then find a Mac or vice versa. It's important to know if the designer has taken different equipment into account.

You can check for yourself if the pages are well written by going to http://validator.w3.org/ and entering the address of a page that you want to check in the format http://www.mnsi.net/~review/index.htm. Exercise caution when using this as a benchmark because a good designer knows the rules and knows when they can be bent. This is something that you can use when you have a short list of designers. There is nothing quite like handing a person the report from this validator and asking for an explanation of the errors to help sort the bs out of a presentation. (Yes it does matter, its your site and your money)

The bottom line? Shop around. If you've more money than you know what to do with then give it to that woman who just walked in the door (better yet call me). If not, be prepared to do your homework.