You need a website designed and have been posting ads to find the right person to hire. You get tons of replies about how people can potentially design your site for you. Choosing who is trustworthy and who is not is one of the hardest parts. Not to mention choosing between all the good ones out there. We want you to be able to choose the best web designer for you. One that fits your needs and makes you feel comfortable while working with them. In order to give you specific guidelines on hiring I would need to know all the details of the website your are looking to build, but because I don’t I can give some simple rules to help you along.     

           The first thing you could/should do is ask friends if they can recommend any web design companies or freelancers that they have used in the past. These types of recommendations are always good because good feedback from someone close to you is the best testimonial you can get. Second thing that you should do is review these web designers’ websites. Check out their site’s web design and see if it something you find acceptable and professional. Also be sure to check their portfolio out to see what websites they have completed. Review a bunch of them to see if they are functional and good looking. If they aren’t designed well or their quality is less than what you expected, you can count them out of the running. Never settle for something less than what you are looking for.

          Something that you should also try to ask you potential web designer is how they would approach the whole web design project. They should tell you how they go about collecting information from you and keeping you in the loop as far as the project. You should bring a list of websites that you find attractive and ones that are close to what you are going to want from your own site. This way the developer/designer knows kind of what you are looking for and also so that you know what you want from them. It helps set a standard for both of you to look to. Time frame is another important thing to talk about. Be sure that you both are clear on what a reasonable time is to have your project done. Be flexible with your expectations because there are a lot of factors that can come into play. They may have other job they are attending to at the same time for example. Some important information to get from a web design company or freelancer is a quoted price at the end of discussing the website you want built. You should always ask what the price includes, what is not included in the price. Things like hosting, registration of your domain name or possible monthly updates. For more on web design take a look at DreamCo Design – Web Design.

          My first two posts on this subject covered mistake numbers one through seven. This will be the last of the trio, closing it off at number ten. They are not in any specific order and therefor can be read in whatever way you would like. Trying to narrow it down to ten was and wasn’t difficult. There are many mistakes that someone can make while designing a website. In fact, there are probably hundreds of things to do wrong. This is why it is important to make sure you are knowledgeable in web design before you attempt to build a website. The reason it was easy to pick out ten main mistakes is because these are the mistakes that people make most commonly and the ones that are seen to the viewers most often.

          Eighth on the list is mismatched pages. I’ve also heard them called “alien” pages. These are pages that are on your website that don’t match the rest of the site. They have a totally different feel and makes the user think that they have traveled to a different website, or an alien planet. Try to decide on one design for your pages, one pattern, one layout, and keep it the same. Keeping your pages uniform looking is important because it makes the visitors feel comfortable and secure. Another subject that can go along with this is orphaned pages. These are pages that don’t have a way to get to them. No navigation, no link, nothing. They will never be found by anyone and they unintentionally become useless. Make sure all your pages are linked to and are able to be accessed.

           Nine is something that people overlook a lot when doing web design. When adding content into your website you should never have a font that is too small. This really strains readers’ eyes and they won’t attempt to read it at all. Make sure that your font is at least either a 12 or 14 point font. This will make your text easy to read and not harmful to readers’ eyes.

          The last mistake that someone can make when doing web design is music. So many website load up with music playing and usually it is the most annoying sounds ever. Although you may like it, the visitor usually does not. Either make sure you have a button to turn off the music or, better yet, don’t have music at all. There is also one other option and that is to have music but to allow the visitor to turn it on when they want.

          This concludes the top ten mistakes made by most amateur web designers. When you read all these mistakes you’ll start to judge websites a little harsher based on their quality and you’ll definitely be able to see all the mistakes I just pointed out. For more information on other types of web design take a look at DreamCo Design – Web Design.