Paul Brooks | 19 Jul 2005

Everybody knows a web designer. Your brother, sister, cousin, nephew, aunty or uncle are certain to have the skills? If not, then someone you know from the pub? Or a long-time family friend? Maybe even you?

Many small companies - and some larger ones - rely on these resources to take care of their web strategy. Its a cheap way of getting a website built and, if you play your cards right, you might even get it done for free!

But the cost of an amateur website could be far more than you pay to the designer.

Unless you're lucky enough to know a qualified, experienced web development professional, you may find yourself with a marketing tool that does more harm than good.

Many of the web designers you know may not be as competent as they claim. It is one thing to know how to build a website, but quite another to know how to make it effective.

The key to building a successful website is having an understanding of its role in a company's marketing strategy. It should help to increase sales, promote your brand and support your offline marketing. When potential customers visit your site, it should make them feel comfortable about doing business with you and make it easy for them to make a start.

A poorly designed website can be disastrous. It will certainly not help to generate sales, but it could also undermine all of your sales and marketing efforts. Nowadays, many customers will visit your website at some stage before making a business decision and the way it looks, feels and works could greatly affect their opinion of your company and services.

So how do you tell a good designer from a bad one?

Take a look at their portfolio
Visit the sites they've worked on before and see if they're any good. Would you be tempted to buy from those websites? Get others to cast their eyes over them and gather their input. And if the designer doesn't have a portfolio, stay well clear - experience is the most important tool in web design.

Talk to them
Discuss your requirements with them in detail.  Do they seem to have a good understanding of your business and are they able to contribute something useful? If they seem more interested in how it will look, rather than its effectiveness, they should be avoided.

Compare prices
Your web designer should provide you with a written quotation.  As with any business purchase, you should compare this with other possible suppliers.  If their price seems too good to be true, then don’t take the risk.

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In web design, you really do get what you pay for. Most designers will base their prices on the amount of time they will need to spend on your project. Although you won't always be given an hourly or daily rate, a cheaper supplier is probably planning to put less effort into your website.

Don't be tempted by low prices unless you are confident that you'll get what you're looking for. An effective website can help to increase sales - a poor website will help you lose them.

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