A professional web designer, or a web design or web development company, has not only a creativity that they have developed for years, but also know-how about technical aspects that impact both the user experience and – not least – about optimization for Google and other search engines. Here I explain not only the reasons, but also the issues to evaluate when choosing a web designer.
Why hire a professional web designer?
The first reason to hire a professional like Fivecube web designer – only the first – is the aesthetic issue. To put it in a direct way, a website made “by lungs” is noticeable; it is evident at a glance. And if you want a website to do business, your cover letter has to account for your professionalism and your orientation to excellence. And your website is just that, your cover letter (among other things).
But there are other less obvious reasons. Among which, surely the most important is optimization for Google and other web search engines. It is at least to be expected that web design or web development companies, or a freelance web designer, also have SEO (search engine optimization) expertise.
If you have a business or business website (or need one), the first thing you want is for your potential customers to find your site when they do a Google search. That’s what I mean by that catch phrase that you can see as soon as you get to the main page of this site: that your next site is visually attractive, but, above all, that it works.
When creating a website, a professional web designer should implement all the SEO techniques at their disposal to give you a search engine-optimized site. But at this point I always insist that the designer’s work is only part of the goal of achieving the top positions in Google. Asking web design companies, or web development companies, or freelance designer, to design a site that appears first in Google, is not realistic. To learn more about the subject, I recommend my article on the misleading promises of many web design companies in relation to web positioning.
What to look at on the professional web designer’s site?
When choosing a professional web designer or web development company, you will surely do a Google search and visit their own website. As in any purchase decision, the price/quality ratio will be decisive. Naturally, I can’t get into your budget or tell you how much money you should spend on your next website (which also depends on a number of variables). But I will leave you some “tips” to which you can pay special attention so that you do not let yourself be seduced with misleading images or bombastic phrases.
Of course, the first thing you will pay attention to is the visual sensation generated by the site or web page. If the web designer’s own site doesn’t look good, leave him, even if he bombards you with posters promoting unbeatable prices.
The equation is very simple: professional website design takes many hours of work. A web design company or a freelance web designer who charges little money cannot spend the number of hours it takes to create a professional website (or web page).
Take time, above all, not only to go through the web designer’s own site or web page, but, above all, to his portfolio of work done. And visit the sites you have designed. If you don’t have links to those sites, be suspicious. If it only shows an image (a screenshot) of those sites, and does not offer you a link to go visit them, you have the right to suspect that there is something that it does not want you to see. Go through some of those sites, pay attention to the design and functionalities.
And pay attention to the loading speed of those sites (both the designer’s own and those of his clients). Especially if the websites are visually stunning from the creative and animations, but you have to wait for long seconds until the page is displayed, my recommendation is to give it thumbs down as well.
There are web design companies (or freelance designers) that put all their focus on visual impact, regardless of whether the site they develop meets the conditions to be effective and bring results to their clients. Those sites are everything you DON’T want for your business: they’re expensive and ineffective, even though they can be visually stunning.
Final thoughts
As I said at the beginning, your business or business website is an investment. You have to think of it that way. Building a successful and sustainable business requires investments, both in time and money. We all seek to reduce costs in the operation of our business.
The key is to recognize the sensitive and strategic areas, and “optimize” costs, which means saving without sacrificing quality and excellence, especially for your target audience, that is, your potential customers.