Blueprint for Design

This is the follow up to a previous post.  The last one was full of questions you as the site owner should know before seeking a designer. Now, we’ll move into some general questions you might want to ask perspective designer. In my opinion, these four request/questions should be considered above all others.

Do you have client references?

A good company will.  It tells a lot about the designer/client interaction and can be the best way to find out more about the company.

Do you have a list of clients?

Don’t always check the references.  Those are almost always the good clients.  Seek a client list and reach out to a company or two who aren’t references and see what they have to say.

Can I see your portfolio?

If for some odd reason, they don’t have an online portfolio, make sure to see it. Make sure that you believe they are capable of the work you are seeking.  Some firms only take on small websites while others have the ability to take on large ones.  You might want to find a company that performs work with a similar scope of work that you are seeking. This gives you a greater likelihood to receive an accurate quote. A firm that’s used to working on $2500 sites may have trouble estimating the work that’s involved with a $20000 site build.

Do you have examples of how the site you created helped the client?

A good designer will know this. If the objective of the site was to sell products, is it?  Do the sites they create get good traffic and search well on Google?  A designer is typically given a set of goals or parameters from the client.  Knowing that they fulfilled these and knowing how they did it are good traits for a designer to have.  You, as the client, want to know that the designer is listening and that they are successful in implementing a client’s desires.