It is extremely easy to purchase web design services online today. There are freelancers working online by the hundreds of thousands and most of them can do a good job on your website design if you give them the chance. The market is stiff, which is why you need to ask the right questions before hiring one service provider.
Following are five basic questions that should always be asked before hiring a professional web designer. There are other questions that you can ask to get more detailed information about a service, but these questions are the must-ask every single time.
#1: How long have you been designing websites?
This is a tricky question because you cannot assume that someone who has only been designing websites for a short period of time is inexperienced and useless. Web design is a professional attractive to the younger generation and it doesn’t take long for a dedicated, passionate designer to learn everything needed for professional website design.
What you are looking for with this question is basic information and honesty. Looking at the samples of their work later on will help you decide whether they have enough experience to take your web design to the level you want it to be.
#2: Is this your full-time business or is it a side job?
Don’t count out someone who does website design on the side as inferior in any way. The reason you are asking this question has to do with turnaround times. Someone who does web design full time to make a living is more likely to deliver your website quickly so they can be paid in full and move on to the next paying project.
Someone who works part time or on the side may be a bit slower with turn around times or they may not take on as much work as other services. It is important to ask follow-up questions here to determine how much time it may take to create your customized web design.
Remember, the more complicated your website design is the longer it may take to create.
#3: Do you have any formal training in web design?
Again, don’t rule someone out because they haven’t been to school for website design. What you are looking for here is the combination of their response to question number one on this list and their response here.
For instance, someone with only a couple months of web design experience and no related education may not have as firm a grasp of the industry as someone who has ten years of experience but no related formal education.
There should be something going for your web design professional, whether it is years in the business or some type of training.
#4: Do you design and maintain any websites of your own? Can I take a look at them?
This question is related to the next one. A web designer should always take better care of their own web space than they do anyone else’s. Even the website they use to advertise their services can tell you a lot about what they are capable of designing.
#5: Can you give me a list of some websites you have designed within the last month?
This is where you go when you are satisfied with all other questions asked. You learn more by looking at recent examples of their work.