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!

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.

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:

• Theme Forest
• Woo Themes
• Elegant Themes

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!

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!

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!

 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!

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!

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

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!

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.

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!

found via Identity Designed

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 that delivers the results you’re looking for.

Whether you’re thinking of hiring a designer or taking the DIY route I’ll be giving you plenty of handy hints, and if you have any questions along the way, leave a comment or email me and I’ll do my best to help!

By the end of the series you’ll feel confident about the choices you’re making, and be able to choose the best tools and people for the job… 

…So let’s start!

What do YOU need?

Before you start worrying about how you’ll build your site (we’ll cover that next week) you need to understand what you’re website needs to do. If you have a clear idea of what you’d like to achieve with your site it will keep you on the right track through the rest of the process.

I’ve put together a FREE worksheet (pdf) you can download and use alongside this, but if you prefer, a good old pen and paper will work just as well!

The Questions…

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself some questions. Imagine it’s a few months in the future and you’re brand spanking new website is up and running and answer the following (write as many things as you can think of for each question):

Q1. Who is visiting your site? Is it new customers? Existing customers? Future customers? People looking for information? What are they like? What do they have in common? Describe them.

Q2. How did they find your website? Had they heard of you before? Did they do a general search online? Was it via a magazine or blog article? or advert?

Q3. What do they expect to do as a result of visiting your site? Learn more about what you do? Buy something? Check opening hours? Get inspiration? Again write anything & everything you can think of down.

Q4. What do you want them to do as a result of visiting your site? Do you want them to buy something? Sign up to an email list? Come into your shop? Go to an event? Etc.

Now considering your answers to Q4…

Q5. What information do they need to make a decision? e.g. If you’re a shop, what do they need to know to make the decision to buy? If you’re a blog, what do they need to make them come back again, sign up to your email list or subscribe to your RSS feed?

Q6. What steps do they take to actually do it? e.g. For a shop they’d need to find a product, add it to a basket, go to checkout, fill in their information, pay… etc.

The Priorities…

At this stage I’d suggest you sleep on it, take some time out and come back the next day and see if you’d like to add or change any of it. (Mind you if anyone ever tells me to sleep on things I usually ignore them and steam right on ahead!)

For Q1-Q4 go through & prioritise your answers so for

• Q1 – Most important visitors (the ones most likely to result in you achieving your goals) through to the least
• Q2 – Most likely way of finding your site through to least likely
• Q3 – Your visitors highest priorities through to the least
• Q4 – Your highest priorities for what you’d like your visitors to do on the website, through to the least (these should tie in with your business goals)

What type of website is right for me?

After answering and prioritising your answers should help you understand which categories below it falls into.

Information Website
This is for you if people already know your business exists, you have plenty of custom and it is growing offline. People search for your business by name or go directly to the site and all they need is a bit of information about the business, and practical things such as how to contact you, your opening hours and how to buy.

Marketing Website 
If you’re growing your business and will use your website to attract new customers then your website needs to do a bit more than an information site. You need a site that clearly shows what you do, can be found through search engines, that you can promote on other websites and update it regularly (e.g. a blog you write once a week)

eCommerce
In addition to one of the above, you may want to sell your products online (physical or digital) and for this you’ll need to set up an online shop and let people make payments.

There are other types of sites, such as membership sites (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) but a majority of businesses will fall into the categories above.

What next?

Once you know what type of site you need and what it needs to do you have enough information to decide HOW to do it and that’s what we’ll cover next Tuesday.

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 find out how to decide whether to do it yourself or hire a pro, and get some advice on avoiding the pitfalls of asking friends and family to help you out.

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

Helen

Mariposa provides web design, branding and marketing services to independent businesses across the UK. Get in touch with Helen now to find out more.

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 week for you to enjoy.

HarperWells by Click Design

HarperWells seem to do anything and everything to promote and sell interesting, unusual and rare wine. Click Design have masterminded visual identity that works for them in so many brilliant ways, for all their different wine related escapades!

found via identitydesigned.com

The Great Catering Company by Strategy

I love food and I love art, so perhaps that’s why I love this project so much. Full of colour, painted using food. The Great Catering Company provide private and corporate catering and their brand philosophy is “serving amazing anywhere”

found via Good Design Makes Me Happy 

Malika Favre at Kemistry

I wish I’d known about this exhibition when I was last in London (that’ll teach me to keep up to date with my Google Reader!), I love Malika’s bold illustrations. The good news is you can buy screen prints of both of the images below in Malika Favre’s online shop.

found via Creative Review

See you here the same time next week for more Delicious Design… and in the meantime follow Mariposa on Pinterest to see all the other lovely things I’ve found!

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 the A1 & A167 just a stone’s throw away, the salon is easy to get to from plenty of places across the North East. To give business a boost, it was time to give the salon a virtual makeover and get it online.

Jean, the owner of Beau Visage, doesn’t really do computers so she wasn’t sure where to start, but we worked together to design a website that would be simple to use and easy to maintain. 

And the whole family got involved. A couple of days before the site went live I popped round to give Jean, husband and her daughter a quick training session on how to keep the site up to date. Now we’re working on promotion, so in the not too distant future they’ll be saying hello to lots of lovely new customers. Take a look at the new Beau Visage website >>>

Contact Helen to find out more about working with Mariposa on website design in County Durham and across the UK

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 couple of miles through the almost countryside I can’t complain!

Things I learned on my first commute. The 20 minute train journey is only actually 10 minutes. It takes longer than 10 minutes to drink a hot cup of tea. 10 minutes is still plenty of time for Dave Gorman to make you laugh.

And then at the Newcastle end there were blue skies and the Olympic rings to put me in an even better mood. The sun doesn’t come as standard unfortunately… gale force winds and rain are also available.

I can no longer moan about missing the art galleries of London, I now have the Baltic right on my doorstep and the Sage right behind. Five minutes away from inspiration, a nice cafe and a shop where I will spend far too much money!

And this is it… Mariposa’s new home! The Toffee Factory… colourful, historical, fun and quirky. What more do you need from an office?! Cake Friday? Luckily they do that one too!

The calm before the storm…

…and the amazing stationary I need to sail right through it. I might be a techie geek, but there will never be a day when brightly coloured pens are not essential for a good days work.

Now I just need to make some time to explore the area and get to know my new neighbours. Ouseburn I have arrived!

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 morning I was preparing for a first client meeting on Skype. We’d done some preliminary work via email, but this was our first face to face. As I picked an outfit, and did my hair and make up I wondered if it was odd that I was taking as much care with my appearance for a meeting on Skype as I would for meeting with a client in person. Let’s face it if I had my scruffy jeans on under the desk they would never know!

But I would know.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter what people can and cannot see. Why treat a client differently just because they’re on the other side of the country, or even the other side of the world?

Wherever you’re dealing with clients it’s important to remember that you still want you and your business to look your best. You want them to feel they can trust and have confidence in you however you interact with them. You want them to go away with a great impression.

It’s all part of being consistent with your brand. And the great thing about running your own business is that your business brand and your own personal brand/style/personality should have lots of things in common. So when you meet people in person or video call online, being the best you that you can be is the way to go.

The secret to dealing with clients who are hundreds of miles away is to treat them just the same as your clients down the road. If you do this then you’ll always make your business look good and hopefully get some great recommendations along the way!