By now most people trying to run a business should be aware of the importance of having a website. I do not think it's a secret anymore that the printed yellow pages have seen their day. Verizon, this year will not print their yellow pages anymore, and they have started to direct all their yellow page business to the Internet. Small and large business owners that have depended on the yellow pages for years are now forced to change how their customers will find them by means of the Internet. This can be a very frustrating process if you are not computer savvy. It's not enough today to be listed in a hand full of business directories, because people searching for products and service expect to land on a website to get their answers.
If the new or old business owner knows nothing about web design, then finding the right person to do the job will become overwhelming and sometimes frustrating. Lets first create a scenario that is very common with this process. For the reminder of this article we will call our business owner Joe, he is a plumber. Joe has come to realize that if he is going to remain in business, he has to join the digital age and now conduct business on the Internet.
One of the first big problems that Joe has, and he may not even be aware of this problem, is the fact that web design is an unregulated industry. How is this a problem for Joe? Anyone and their mother can call themselves a web designer. There are all types of software that helps people to easily put together a website without having any working knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP, the computer languages that is behind a web page. Since the release of Joomla and WordPress, content management systems, another web application software, more and more people entered the web design market. The above applications create sharp looking quality websites. But many do not understand that these applications were designed for blogging, they are basically a blogging website. These applications have limits, as they primarily work with templates, and in many cases are just not appropriate for many businesses. That's not saying that professional web designers do not build sites with Joomla and WordPress, they do, but they also know when it's appropriate to use this application.
So that presents another problem Joe might have. How will Joe know if he is dealing with a real professional or an armature that is misrepresenting them self as a professional? Joe needs to do his research and learn as much as he can about web design. A professional web designer offers many services with his or her business. Joe needs to ask questions, such as, what other services do you offer? Can you design a logo for my business? Can you design postcards, flyers, and brochures? Do you handle the printing of these materials? And here is a very important question, can you design my website to look good with a mobile device? Today's professional is on top of all the new technologies, and will be able to design that website to look professional in both the desk top monitor as well as the newest mobile device. People are searching the web with their cell phones, I-pods, and tablets, and the same search habits will apply. If the website is not auspicious to look at or easy to navigate, people will simply move on to the next website to look for their answers.
Some red flags to watch for when searching for a web designer. Any Designer that does not provide a portfolio should raise a red flag. The designer's portfolio only has images of the website home page he created, but can not be linked to the actual site. The designer may not be willing to provide you with reference. The designer's email contact information is an Internet email service such as Yahoo or Gmail and not a company name dot com email.