Perhaps due to the popularity and relative ease of use of programs such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver, there is a common misconception that web design and logo design are ‘easy.’ This results in the deadly “my nephew” syndrome, which translates as hiring a relative or friend with little or no experience to perform one of the most important and influential aspects of starting or restructuring your business. A sound analogy would be hiring a 7th grader with good drawing skills to draft the architectural plans for a multi-million dollar building. Don’t do it.

Thankfully there are many qualified and trained professionals in the field. If you want to work with someone locally, look in the yellow pages as well as on line. Companies that offer web design should have a web site with a portfolio of their previous work (if they don’t, go elsewhere). Take a close look at their portfolio before you begin a conversation with them. After all, you are hiring them as a designer, so their design style should have some appeal to you. Here is a list of the different types of professional designers you are likely to find.
• Independent – This is a solo designer, working out of a small office or even their home. They might work with a programmer or two, or provide some packaged solutions for more customized programming.

• Collective – Consists of several independent designers working together. They can often offer more experience and a wider range of services.

• Boutique – A Boutique is an established company with offices, employees, and a well polished presentation and service department. They will have a complete slate of services, and usually have an area that they specialize in. Expect to pay a higher price for this level of service.

• Agency or Firm – This is a s big as it gets. These are giant national or international companies working with fortune 1000 companies and large corporations. Unless you meet those criteria, the price tag for this level will not be feasible. They produce the highest quality of work and are worth looking at just to see the quality of their product.

Accessibility

Working with a web site designer should be like working with any other professional. You expect them to be courteous, timely, knowledgeable, and willing to listen to what you want as well as be able to tell you what you need. They should have phone, fax, and email and return your communications within a reasonable amount of time.

Quality of work

While it is impossible to convey an aesthetic sense to someone, we can share some tips about determining the professionalism of a site designer to help you avoid the worst cases.
• Do their sites load quickly or are they graphic intensive and slow loading? Excessive file size is sure to drive traffic away from your site to faster loading competitors.

• Do they use glaring or clashing color choices? Color has a direct influence on a viewer’s initial reaction and their emotional response and poor color choices can make text difficult to read or evoke the wrong emotional response.

• Do they use font sizes that are too small, too large, or use inconsistent styles?   A good designer will have a proper understanding of typeface and how to create an easy to read and professional look.

• Is it easy to navigate their site, or are there inconsistent or unclear navigational tools? Even in the largest web site, your content should never be more than 3 clicks away. The worst errors are navigational tools that do not work or are misleading.

• Are there major display errors on the site, such as broken images or misaligned graphics? Are the graphics of poor quality or badly cropped? These are all indications of sloppiness or of not paying attention to detail. Go elsewhere.

• Does the site contain spelling errors or egregious grammatical mistakes? This is a good indication that the designer cares about getting paid, not about helping their client. Go elsewhere.

Pricing

If you are smart and avoid the dreaded ‘nephew syndrome’ then you should also be prepared to pay a professional rate for your design product. As in most industries, you get what you pay for. Regardless of how easy the development tools for web sites have become, no qualified professional will design a site for you for $300. Can you get a website produced for that amount? Certainly. But if you do you will be giving you and your business a huge hurdle to overcome to become successful with your site.

Here is an apt metaphor. Say you are lucky enough to own a vintage Alfa Romeo. To maximize the value of the car it would need both body and engine work. Your neighbor across the street is a small engine repairman who fixes lawn mowers and chainsaws, and he says he will do the work for you for $500. Do you trust him with this highly valuable piece of machinery? Of course not! You take the car to a qualified shop that has a track record of detailing classic cars, has a warranty on their work, and you expect to pay top dollar because you know that it will ultimately increase the value of the car, especially if the shop you go to has a great reputation. Developing a successful website in today’s highly competitive Internet environment is exactly the same. For any small business website you should expect to pay no less that $2500. A slightly more comprehensive site or a simple ecommerce site will be in the area of $5000. Any large company or mid-sized corporate site will run from $10,000 to $50,000, and Fortune 1000 companies routinely spend 3 to 10 times that amount.