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So you need a website? : Week 4 – How to hire a website designer

by helen on November 6, 2012

The world of web design can be a confusing place with bamboozling choices. Making sure you end up with a site that looks great, delivers business results and has the right technology behind it can be overwhelming. And so can hiring the right person to take care of it for you.

Well fear not. This week I hope you arm you with some things to consider and questions to ask so you can find the right web designer for your business.

The Shortlist

First you need to get together a shortlist of possible designers. Here’s some suggestions of how to track them down…

  • Find out who designed websites you love
  • Ask friends and family for recommendations
  • Look at websites of local businesses and find out who did them
  • Use social media to ask for recommendations (I’ve got jobs via Twitter before!)

You don’t have to be limited by your local area, many designers work nationally and internationally, and working via Skype can be just as effective as meeting in person.

Do they get to know YOU?

I’d suggest having a chat with at least two designers to compare and contrast. The very first thing to notice is whether they listen to YOU. They should be interested in your business and your goals, otherwise how will their design help you get the results you’re looking for? (If you’re not sure what you want your website to achieve, take a look at ‘What TYPE of website do I need?’)

You should also feel comfortable asking any question (even the ones you think are stupid). They should be able to answer your questions in a way you understand. This is really important, because if something in your website breaks, you need the confidence that they will be there to fix it and not fob you off with technical jargon!

What questions should I ask?

Q. Do they design AND develop?

Designing is the way the site looks and how people will navigate around it. Developing is building the site and making it work. Some people only do one part of the job. Some (like me!) do both.

Q. Do they offer domain and hosting?

As I explained last week, your domain is the address of your website and hosting is where it lives. Find out if they include this in their package, and how much it will cost per year to maintain.

Q. What is the timescale?

Will they give you a timescale for having your website up and running? What happens if they don’t hit the timescale? Make sure they are clear about what you can expect and when, and also what they’ll need from you to achieve it (e.g. feedback on design, images, text content)

Q. Do they offer ongoing support?

Websites are little buggers, sometimes something can just go wrong. Can you phone or email to ask for technical support? How quickly will they respond? You don’t want to be forgotten about as soon as your site is up and running!

Q. What happens if your website gets REALLY busy?

Out of the blue something might happen, like a link to your site is featured on a really popular blog, and suddenly 10,000 people visit your site in one day, instead of the usual 100. Great for business… unless your website goes down because there is not enough bandwidth and all those potential customers see is an error message! Ask what would happen in this situation.

Q. Can you update the website?

Does the website come with a Content Management System (CMS)? This is somewhere you can log in and easily make changes to your website without having to call up your designer and asking them to do it for you.

Q. Do they back up?

You’re editing your website, press the wrong button and suddenly your website has disappeared… arg!!! This is why you need back ups! You can always ask for access to the backend of your hosting (usually called a cPanel) to do your own back ups, but if they manage your domain and hosting you should expect them to back up your website at least once a month, if not more often.

Q. How do you pay?

Don’t pay everything up front! It’s never a good idea. I usually have a 50/50 agreement with clients, 50% up front and 50% on completion – that way it’s fair for both of us. Come to an agreement you’re comfortable with, but never pay it all before the site is up and running.

What else should I consider?

Do feel comfortable with your designer ? Do you have confidence in them to create a design that you’ll love? Do you trust them to deliver your site on time? You’re website is an investment for your business, and you should feel that you can give honest feedback, raise concerns and any ask questions you have along the way.

Your website is going to be the first impression many potential customers get of your business and that is why it’s so important to work with someone who is going to help you get it right.

And what should I pay?

The answer to this question depends on two things.

The first is what are you willing to pay? You need to think of your website as an investment in your business. Will your site drive sales? Or is it something that you need to have, but won’t deliver huge returns? And how quickly would you like to get the money back that you’ve invested in your site? Do the sums and get an idea of what you’re comfortable with paying.

The second is what can you get for your budget? Get quotes from the designers based on your needs, and make sure they are explicit about what they include e.g

  • Design
  • Development
  • Ongoing Technical Support
  • Domain
  • Hosting
  • etc.

If the quote is too high don’t be scared to negotiate, but be prepared to compromise on what you’ll get – if the price is lower you may have to forgo part of the package.

Then use these two bits of information together to help you make a decision!

What next?

Once you’ve found your website designer you’re going to want to really get to grips with what you’re website is going to be like – and next week we’re looking at the bare bones of your site. What does it need to include, and how will your customers navigate around it?

If you have any questions leave a comment below or email me and I’ll get back to you with an answer as soon as possible.

See you back here next Tuesday!

Helen

p.s. If you do happen to be looking for a website designer and developer why not get in touch, we can have a chat in person or over Skype – it’ll even give you a chance to practice asking all the questions above!

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So you need a website? : Week 3 – Building your own website

by helen on October 23, 2012

If you’ve decided that the DIY website route is best for you after reading last weeks post, then this week I’ll give you the basic information you need to get a website up and running.

Build your own website - DIY Domain Hosting WordPress

To get started there’s three steps… the first two are all about finding somewhere for your website to live.

1. Domain – This is the address of your website (e.g. www.mariposadevelopment.com) also known as a URL. It’s how people get to your site. They can do this by typing it into the address bar, clicking on you as a result of a search, or via a link from another website.

2. Web Hosting – This is where your website lives on the Internet. If you were opening a shop on the high street you’d need to rent premises, this is just the same on the Internet. Hosting is renting space in the Internet where your website can be stored.

Where do I get my website domain and hosting from?

Some websites provide both domain and hosting together. If you want to avoid the technical stuff as much as possible this is the route for you. If you buy your domain at the same time as your hosting, most providers will link it up behind the scenes for you.

The other way is to buy your domain and hosting from two different providers. This is what I do.

After a few nightmares with hosting providers I switched to 5quidhost, who have been brilliant. So far they have been very reliable, there’s not been any downtime, and when something has gone wrong (which is very rare) or I have a question, their support is lightening fast! They’re also based in Edinburgh, and I like the idea of using a UK company. However they don’t do domains, so I manage those through Fasthosts. They make it really easy to manage stuff, and I have total control over domains without having to contact customer support.

Do some research and read reviews before you decide which company to use. The best bet is to ask friends and family who have websites, they’ll be able to recommend what’s worked for them, or steer you away from the awful ones with bad customer service!

One thing to keep in mind is the 99% uptime claims. It might sound like a high percentage, but if your website is up for 99% of the time it still means it can be down for over 3 and a half days a year. If that downtime is spread throughout the year you could still find your site is down for 1-2 hours a week and you can’t complain because it’s in your contract. Not good. So ignore 99% claims and read reviews from real people to see hosting companies REALLY perform. 

If you decided to get separate domain and hosting your provider should give you instructions on how to point your domain to your web host using DNS Server information.

Now what?

3. Build Your Website – Now you have somewhere for your website to live, and an address so people can find it you can think about building your website. I’d recommend WordPress as a good place to start.

Most web hosting accounts have cPanels which include a WordPress installer, making it really easy to install. But if yours doesn’t, you can download the files and find out how to install it on the WordPress website.

If you haven’t got a clue where to start with your website design, go back to the work we did in week one, thinking about who your customers are and what you’re trying to achieve, and then used that information to look around for WordPress themes that fit your business.

If you do a Google search you’ll find there are bzillions of themes out there. Try narrowing your search by adding keywords. e.g. If you are a photographer you might want quite a simple clean website so you might search for:

WordPress Theme Portfolio Gallery White

Or if you prefer to browse themes and see what’s out there you could start with these:

When you’ve found a theme you love, you can follow the instructions on using WordPress Themes to find out how to install it. And if you want to make changes to the way the theme looks (e.g. If you want to change the CSS) then find out about how to use Child Themes.

With these few steps you should have a website that looks great, but isn’t difficult to keep updated. If you have any questions about building your own website, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

What Next?

If all the above sounds like gobbledygook, or you’ve decided to hire a professional web designer, pop back next week. I’ll be sharing with you all the questions to ask so you can find someone who can design and build a website that will help your business go from strength to strength!

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Delicious Design: 18th October 2012

by helen on October 18, 2012

This week is all about everything fun, and while I’d normally find things from different corners of the internet, all of this weeks ideas were found on Design Work Life – a brilliant blog that is full to the brim of inspiring projects!

FlexFit Headwear ft Tupac Shakur by Timothy Goodman

I love a good bit of illustration, and after spotting his work for FlexFit I’ve been having a good look at Timothy Goodman’s website and there’s so much there to make you smile… here’s a tiny peek!

Flex Fit by Timothy Goodman

Time Magazine illustrated cover by Time Goodman

Ace Hotel by Timothy Goodman

Nocciola Design Tooth Fairy Receipts

These are simply amazing! I have a niece who is fast approaching wobbly tooth age and I may just have to buy a few of these from Nocciola Design on Etsy to pass on to the tooth fairy!

Tooth Fairy Reciepts by Nocciola Design on Etsy

 KOMBOH: National Hero Registration Forms

If you’re having a rubbish day you should print out and fill in a National Hero Registration Form this very moment. Go on. Done it? Good. Feeling like a little bit of a superhero? Brilliant!

KOMBOH National Hero Registration Form

My superhero abilities would definitely include baking themed cakes. I’d also like to think I could punch daleks, but after visiting the Doctor Who Experience at the weekend I realise I’d probably run away like a big sissy! What would your superhero qualities be? Answers on the back of a postcard, or even better, post them in the comments below!

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So you need a website? : Week 2 – Should I DIY? Or Hire a Pro?

by helen on October 16, 2012

Now you know what type of website you need you can make those vital decisions about how to get it designed and built. There’s three options

  1. DIY
  2. Get a family/friend to do it for you
  3. Hire a pro.

There’s no right or wrong way to do it, you just need to make a decision that’s right for your business, and hopefully the advice below will get you off on the right track…

Do It Yourself

There’s no such thing as a ‘FREE’ website, you need a domain, hosting and possibly a theme. But the DIY route is by far the cheapest and a great one for when you’re starting out. In the first 12-18 months your business will grow, change and find it’s feet, and cash will most likely be tight, so you don’t want to throw it away on a website that’s going to need a total makeover in a years time.

There are lots of routes for setting up a website yourself, I like WordPress.org the best – it’s free, you have your own domain name, it can be fairly easy to set up and maintaining it isn’t much more difficult than using MS Word. You can find plenty of tutorials online to help you get set up and there are thousands of themes (the design of your website) to help you build a professional looking site, that doesn’t look the same as everyone elses, without you needing too much technical knowledge. If you buy themes from somewhere like WooThemes, they also offer support so if you get stuck there’s someone to help you out.

I hate most eCommerce platforms. They claim to be “easy and quick to set-up” but having looked at the backend they are messy and confusing, even for a pro. Recently I’ve heard good things about Shopify, and the online stores they showcase look great, so you could take a look at that. I haven’t used it yet, but it’s got a 30-day free trial so it’s worth playing about with.

Pros – Cheapest option, easy to update and change

Cons – No expert design opinion, little or no technical support

Next week I’ll cover more about the basics of taking the DIY route!

Friend or Family

Since starting Mariposa I’ve spoken to a few people who have told me that their friend or family is building them a website. However, a few months down the line they still don’t have sites. This is the biggest downside of the friend/family approach.

If you are lucky enough to have a friend/family who has an amazing eye for design or who is a technical wizard, and they have offered to help you out with your website for free (or the cost of a few beers), use the pointers below to make sure things happen. Or so you know when it’s not going to plan, so you can take a different route and keep your business on track.

Do they do design? Do they do techie stuff? Do they understand business?

Find out what skills your friend has before you commit. If they are awesome at the technical stuff but nothing else you’ll have to provide them with a design and make sure the structure is going to deliver your business goals. Or if they design you something beautiful, but can’t write the code to build it, how are you going to turn it from an idea into reality?

When will they do it by?

The lovely person that offered to do it has done so with good intentions. The problem is that they don’t have a deadline, or the incentive of getting paid, and likely they have paid work to do and a social life too, so it can quickly slip down their list of priorities.

This is your business and your priority, so you are going to have to manage them (without being a nag, they are giving up their free time!) Ask them when each stage of the project will be done by (e.g. design, build to test, go live) and ask them how things are going a few days before these dates. Have a cut off date in mind of when is unacceptable to go beyond, and a Plan B if you start to get the feeling that it is never going to happen.

Will you be able to edit the site?

As above, you’re not their top priority, so it’s important that once your website is live you can make changes to your website when needed. If you ask them it might take a few days, weeks, or they could forget all together. The best thing is if they can build it with a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, then you can get on with it all by yourself once they’ve got it live.

What will it cost?

They might not charge you for their work, but you do still need a website domain and hosting. Will they sort that out? Do you need to do it? And how much will it cost?

Pros – Low cost, could possibly be more professional & unique than the DIY route

Cons – Could take a long time or never happen, they might not have all the skills you need

Professional Web Design & Development

Once your business finds it’s feet and is really taking off, professional web design and development can help take your business to the next level. As a start-up, if you are doing a high profile business launch then DIY might not cut it, that’s the time when you need the pros right at the beginning.

There are three parts to creating a website; the structure, the design and the build. The structure is about the content of the site and how people navigate it, the design is what it will look like, and the build is the development of the site so it actually exists.

Hiring a professional is an investment in your business, and so they should be able to use the three stages above to create a site that helps you to achieve your business goals. The cost of professional web design can vary wildly, you need to understand what you’re getting for your money and balance that against what the website will deliver for your business. It’s not about the cost, it’s about the value and the return on your investment. In a couple of weeks I’ll be doing a full post on hiring a professional web designer so you know what questions to ask and the answers you’re looking for.

Pros – Designed to meet your business goals, will take care of all the confusing technical stuff for you, looks professional, possibly ongoing support

Cons – Costs a lot more than DIY

Pro on the cheap…

If you want professional design on a budget then ask around to see if anyone knows of anyone who will do a ‘portfolio project’. Often designers/developers will do these at a much lower cost to boost their portfolio early on in their careers. There’s a bigger risk because they don’t have the experience, but if they are good at what they do you could get a website worth thousands for just a few hundred pounds.

What next?

Now you’ve decided which route to take next week we’ll cover the basics for getting started on your DIY website, then the week after we’ll be looking at how to hire the right pro for your business.

If you have any questions leave a comment below or email me and I’ll get back to you with an answer and might even feature it in a future post. Ask away!!!

Come back next Tuesday to understand the basics of building your own website and some useful links to get you started.

See you next week! (or sign up to my RSS feed so you don’t miss a thing!!!)

Helen

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Delicious Design: 11th October 2012

by helen on October 11, 2012

What a busy week it’s been… and today I’m off on a road trip to Bristol to see the lovely Jen of Head Full of Feathers (the website launch is getting closer!) but I’m back as promised with my favourite projects spotted this week!

N Daniels Stationary by Bureau Rabensteiner

How do you make sure people keep hold of your business card? And share it with others too? Make it fun and interactive. Brilliant!

N Daniels Stationary by Bureau Rabenstein via FPO

N Daniels Stationary by Bureau Rabenstein via FPO

found via FPO

Jacu Coffee Roastery by Havnevik (Tom Emil Olsen)

This next project includes two things I love, which I haven’t had a chance to work with on a project yet – hand stamps and wax seals.   The great thing about being a smaller business is that you can get more hands on, and not only save on printing costs, but create something that’s more tactile and a bit more ‘real’ than glossy stationary.

Jacu Coffee Roastery by Havnenik via Behance - hand stamp and wax seal

Jacu Coffee Roastery by Havnenik via Behance - hand stamp bag

Jacu Coffee Roastery by Havnenik via Behance - hand stamp paper bag

Jacu Coffee Roastery by Havnenik via Behance - hand stamp and wax seal

Jacu Coffee Roastery by Havnenik via Behance - hand stamp and wax seal

found via Good Design Makes Me Happy

The Donkey Sanctuary by The Allotment

I spotted this rebrand a while ago, and when I came across it again this week I remembered just how much I loved it. It’s another tactile project, with the texture of wood playing it’s part in real life and in print. My favourite bit has to be the t-shirt!

The Donkey Sanctuary by The Allotment via Identity Designed - Logo

The Donkey Sanctuary by The Allotment via Identity Designed - Cafe

The Donkey Sanctuary by The Allotment via Identity Designed - T-Shirt & Tea Towel

found via Identity Designed

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So you need a website? : 1. What TYPE of website do I need?

October 9, 2012

Do you need a new website? Or is your current site in desperate need of a revamp? Well you’ve come to the right place. Over the next few weeks (every Tuesday) I’ll be helping you navigate your way through tricky and confusing decisions so you end up with a website that you really love and [...]

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Delicious Design: 4th October 2012

October 4, 2012

Anyone who follows Mariposa on Pinterest will know that every week I find and pin lots and lots of beautiful examples of design I find all over the web. From now on, every Thursday, I’ll be putting together Delicious Design, a post of the three most exciting and inspiring designs I’ve found in the past [...]

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A virtual makeover

September 14, 2012

Beau Visage is a tiny but perfectly formed salon in County Durham. It’s tucked away in the little village of Great Lumley, near Chester-le-Street, run by the friendly and very experienced team of Jean, Linda and Lynn. If you’re ever in the North East you should make an appointment for some well earned relaxation! With [...]

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A new journey…

September 11, 2012

Last week I said hello to Mariposa’s new office… after working in a quiet corner of Durham for almost a year it was time to head a few miles up the road to Newcastle for a bit more excitement! Heading up to Newcastle means commuting again, but when my morning commute starts with walking a [...]

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How to make your business look good when your clients are hundreds of miles away

June 18, 2012

These days thanks to the magic of the internet we’re able to do business with people far far away without leaving the comfort of our home or office. We can complete projects online from start to finish without ever meeting our clients in the flesh, while still getting to know them really well. The other [...]

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