Choosing a web designer can be harder than it probably should be.
Search for a web designer on the Central Coast and you’ll find freelancers, small studios, larger agencies and plenty of businesses that aren’t actually based here at all. Prices can vary too.
So how do you compare them?
A good place to start is by looking past the homepage and asking a few practical questions. Who will actually build your site? What happens once it’s finished? Will you own it? And perhaps most importantly, is the designer thinking about what your website needs to achieve, or just what it’s going to look like?
Here’s what I’d be looking at before signing anything.
Look at websites they’ve actually built
A portfolio is the obvious starting point, but don’t just flick through screenshots.
Open a few of the websites.
Try them on your phone. Click around. See how quickly they load and whether it’s immediately obvious what the business does.
You’re looking for more than attractive design. A good business website should make information easy to find and give visitors an obvious next step, whether that’s calling, booking, buying something or sending an enquiry.
It’s also worth looking at the variety of work in the portfolio. If every website has essentially the same layout with different colours and photos, there’s a reasonable chance you’re looking at a template being reused rather than a site designed around each business.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with templates for a low-budget website. You just want to know what you’re paying for.
Find out who you’ll actually be dealing with
This gets overlooked.
The person you speak to when getting a quote isn’t necessarily the person designing or building your website.
With a larger agency you might deal with an account manager, designer, developer and SEO person at different stages. Some businesses also outsource part or all of the build.
That model can work perfectly well. What matters is knowing beforehand.
Ask who will be working on your site and who you’ll speak to when you have a question or want something changed.
For a small business website, being able to talk directly with the person doing the work can make the whole process considerably easier.
Make sure they understand more than design
A beautiful website that nobody finds isn’t particularly useful.
Web design and SEO aren’t separate things anymore. Decisions made while a website is being built can affect how easily Google understands and ranks it later.
Page structure matters. So do headings, URLs, mobile performance, page speed, internal links, image optimisation and the way your services are organised.
You don’t necessarily need an ongoing SEO campaign when you launch a website. But your designer should understand SEO well enough to build a solid foundation from the beginning.
Fixing a badly structured website six months later is a lot more frustrating than getting it right during the build.
Ask who owns the website when it’s finished
This is one of the most important questions you can ask.
You don’t want to discover two years from now that your domain is registered under someone else’s account or that you can’t move your website without paying a large exit fee.
Ask about ownership before the project starts.
- Who owns the domain?
- Where is the website hosted?
- Will you have access to the hosting account?
- Will you receive administrator access to the website?
- Can you move the site to another provider later if you want to?
Your website is a business asset. You should know exactly what you own and what you’re paying for.
Understand what’s actually included in the quote
Two website quotes can look similar on the surface while including very different amounts of work.
One might cover design and development only. Another could include content planning, basic SEO setup, image optimisation, forms, Google Analytics, Search Console setup, training and post-launch support.
Then there are ongoing costs.
Hosting, domain renewals, premium software licences and maintenance may be billed separately.
Ask for a clear breakdown before comparing prices. The cheapest quote isn’t necessarily cheaper once everything else is added.
We’ve covered this in more detail in our guide to how much a small business website costs in Australia.
Ask how the design process works
You shouldn’t have to guess what happens after paying a deposit.
A web designer should be able to explain their process in plain English.
At Willow Jam Media, for example, we start by understanding the business, its customers and what the website needs to accomplish. From there we work through the site structure and design before moving into development, review and launch.
Other designers will have their own process.
What’s important is that there is one.
You should know when you’ll see the design, when you can provide feedback, how revisions work and roughly when the site will be ready.
Find out what they need from you
Websites rarely get delayed because someone couldn’t work out how to write the code.
Content is usually the culprit.
Copy hasn’t been written. Staff photos aren’t ready. Nobody can find the logo files. Service information is still being approved.
Ask your designer what they’ll need from you and when they’ll need it.
If you’re providing the website copy yourself, find out whether they’ll give you guidance on how much is required for each page. If they’re writing it for you, make sure that’s included in the quote.
Getting these things organised early can shave weeks off a project.
Check what happens after launch
Launching isn’t the end of a website’s life.
WordPress plugins need updates. Software changes. PHP versions change. Things occasionally break.
You’ll probably want to change something too.
Find out whether your designer offers ongoing support and whether it’s optional or tied to a maintenance agreement.
Also ask whether you’ll be shown how to make basic changes yourself.
You shouldn’t need to email your web designer every time you want to change a phone number or replace a staff photo.
Be careful with guarantees
There are some promises I’d be wary of.
Guaranteed number-one Google rankings are an obvious one. Nobody controls Google’s search results.
Very fast turnaround promises can also be worth questioning, particularly for a custom website. There’s a big difference between installing a template and having a finished website ready in a few days, and taking the time to understand a business and build something around it.
Ask what you’re actually getting.
Clear answers are usually a good sign. Vague answers wrapped in technical jargon aren’t.
Does your web designer need to be local?
Not necessarily.
Web design works perfectly well remotely, and we’ve built websites for businesses well outside the Central Coast.
There are advantages to working locally though.
A Central Coast web designer should understand the area, the suburbs you service and how people search for local businesses. That’s particularly useful if attracting customers from places like Gosford, Erina, Terrigal, Tuggerah or Wyong is part of the plan.
There’s also something to be said for working with someone nearby who understands the local business environment.
But location alone isn’t a reason to hire someone.
Their work, communication and understanding of your business matter more.
The questions I’d ask before choosing a web designer
If you’re currently comparing web designers, you don’t need to interrogate them with a 30-point checklist.
I’d start with these:
- Can I see a few live websites you’ve built?
- Who will actually design and build my website?
- Is the design custom or based on a template?
- What’s included in the quoted price?
- What isn’t included?
- Who owns the website and domain when it’s finished?
- Will I have full administrator access?
- Is basic SEO included in the build?
- What do you need me to provide?
- How many rounds of changes are included?
- What happens after the website launches?
- Are there any ongoing fees or contracts?
You can learn quite a lot from how someone answers those questions.
Finding the right web designer on the Central Coast
There’s no single web designer who’s going to be right for every Central Coast business.
A new sole trader who needs a simple online presence has very different requirements from an established company rebuilding a 50-page website. Budget matters. So does the platform, the complexity of the site and how much support you’ll need afterwards.
Look at the work. Ask about the process. Make sure you know what you’re buying and who owns it when the job is done.
Then choose someone you actually feel comfortable working with.
You’ll probably be speaking to them quite a bit over the next few weeks.
If you’re looking for a web designer on the Central Coast and want to talk through what you need, take a look at our web design work or get in touch. We’re happy to have a chat before you decide whether we’re the right fit.