How to hire a website designer/developer

By: Elizabeth Shrout

I see a lot of posts of people looking for help building their website. I then see many, many comments of people offering their services.?

Options are great, but can be overwhelming if you don’t have the tools to make the right decision and with something as important as your business's website, you’re going to want the tools!

As a longtime business owner, but also as a freelance consultant I’ve hired for websites (mistakenly), learned how to do it myself and do websites for others. I’ve seen a lot and worked with a lot on every end of the spectrum.?

Here are some of my tips & things to remember for choosing the right person to do your website:

Before Meeting Anyone:

1. Determine your basic needs!

• Do you need booking? E-commerce? An????email list, blog etc. Will you need someone to write the web copy (text) for you, or is it already prepared? Its okay if you don’t know everything you need, but have a general idea!

2. Once basic needs are determined, set a budget!

3. Be clear on the type of person you’re looking for before meeting with them. As if you were hiring an employee, what values and traits do you want??

4. Determine if you want this person to be a recurring hire or a one and done hire. In other words- do you want them to maintain the site and make updates as needed, or do you want them to teach you how to do it moving forward.?

While Meeting:

1. Meet with several people. In groups like these you may have 30 people respond. Ask a couple questions to narrow it down and meet in person or virtually with more than 3, but less than 10 (unless you’re really not finding anyone).
2. Ask each developer the same questions to start and see where the conversation takes you! You want to click with the person you work with, but you want to have a baseline to compare everyone you talk to! Below are some questions you can ask:

• What’s your experience?
• Can I see your work?
• Do you have any testimonials? If so, may I see them and/or contact them?
• Ask for their rates and what that includes (just development? Or will it in include SEO and adding in google analytics etc.)
• Ask for their process. How do they operate? (This will help you determine if their organized or scatterbrained- you want them to be organized and have their process streamlined).
• Get to know them! In whatever way that works best for you, have a conversation where you can feel like if you like the person and could see yourself working with them! It’s important to get your facts, but don’t be strictly business without stopping to use your social skills. This is crucial! Nothing is worse than not clicking with someone you work with.
• Take Notes! Make sure you’re taking notes or you’re recording the meeting. This is so you can compare later!

After Meeting:

1. Wait to compare until you’ve fully met with everyone!
2. Use your gut to eliminate anyone who feels wrong for you! If you didn’t click, something feels off, you didn’t like their work, etc. You know you & you need to trust that.?
3. Compare facts! Look at all the data you collected from experience to their work,?to rates, etc.?
4. Like most decisions there will be good and bad in each option. Whether it’s one person is incredibly talented, but costs more or vice versa where one is less expensive but not quite as experienced, etc. In order to deal with this, prioritize or rank your needs in order of importance. If staying in budget is your number one, then make the decision to go with someone who’s a little bit less experienced in order to stay in your budget and so on and so forth- you get the point!?
5. Compare contracts! Once you’ve narrowed it down to your top few, ask to see their contracts, and if you have a legal entity that can help you ensure you’re protected use them. For instance, make sure what’s created is your property, not the developers!
6. Negotiate, if needed!?
7. Decide, Sign & Get Started!

Websites are one of the most important aspects of your business. You get what you pay for and you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. You want to work with someone who’s easy to work with and will give you amazing results! Follow these steps and you should be golden.?

From one business owner to another, I hope this helps!

P.S. If you have questions or you would like to work with me as a coach/consultant whether it be for your website or other areas of your business feel free to drop a comment, send me a private message or contact me and my email [email protected]