Tag: web design

Web Design Proposals: Fixed Price or Estimate?

This is probably one of the most asked questions by web designers. Do you provide fixed price quotes or estimates?

Many choose to go down the estimate route as often jobs can expand or go over budget significantly and leave the designer out of pocket. An estimate stops this by allowing you to add a clause such as the following:

These figures are an estimate, not a quote. They are based on information provided, and may be inappropriate if additional information is forthcoming, or job specifications change. It is valid for XX days.

This gives the designer a way to ensure that all work not covered, or for extra time spent changing a photo/colour/insert-element-here 20, times is compensated for. But is it the best approach?
For a long time in my web design career I used estimates. Last year I moved to fixed price quotes. Why?

  • It’s simpler for both me and my clients. We both know where we stand and what we’re getting.
  • It’s much easier to covert a prospect if they know exactly what they’re going to be paying for their site.

But how do you manage continual changes, additions of new features and so forth I hear you ask? Simple.

  1. Define what your quotes do and don’t include.
  2. Define how many updates, changes, re-designs etc you will do within that figure.
  3. Communicate with your client. If they want something outside the scope of the quote explain it to them. Most clients are fine with this as long as you communicate with them clearly – before you do any additional work.

It’s up to us to manage the design project and our client’s expectations. I always use the “is it reasonable” test. I’m happy to be flexible, if a client decides the photo they wanted to use looks no good and would like it changed I’ll change it. If they ask me to change it 10 more times it’s no longer reasonable and outside of the scope of the quote. 99% of the clients I have dealt with would find that reasonable too. And those that don’t aren’t clients any more. 😉

This way is not for everyone, I’ve been designing websites for long enough to be able to quote accurately, but I definitely think it’s the best approach.

Who Owns Your Website?

One of the most important, and often overlooked, aspects of getting a website designed is the issue of copyright. Who owns the finished website, you or your web designer?

Over the years I’ve seen quite a lot of people burnt by copyright issues. They hire someone to design their website and assume that on completion they own it. This is not always the case. In fact I know of at least a dozen examples where people have come to me after loosing their website to their last web design company when they decided to change designers.

Of course not all web design firms have the same copyright policies but generally speaking you should expect that you own the end product – your website. Bear in mind that there may be some applications that you license rather than own.

The bottom line is talk to any potential web designer and make sure you know up front what you will own when the website is finished. You should also check any contracts you have with them to make sure it’s covered there too. A professional web designer should be open and up front on the issues of copyright and ownership and be happy to explain anything you don’t understand.

I’m Speaking Your Language

Many years ago a client finally admitted to me, after 12 months, that they didn’t know what a URL was. I was horrified as I’d been referring to website addresses as URL’s the whole time and she obviously had no idea what I was on about!

Never again. From then on I made a decision to explain things as simply as possible. It’s paid off, one of the most frequent comments I get from clients and prospects alike is my ability to explain things to them in a clear, easy to understand manner. Recently I’ve had a number of people ask me to explain something they were told by another web designer or marketer. When being told what the original person said I’m usually dumbfounded that they would assume what they said would make sense to the average person.

Our role is to walk our clients and prospects through the complex area of web design and online business. It is up to us to make sure what we say is being understood by those we say it to.

Giving Back

Over the years I’ve had a lot of really, really fantastic people give me advice on building and promoting my web design business.

Today I received an email from someone starting out and asking me for advice. I was flattered and more than happy to give back.

I thought I’d sumarise some of my points for others out there looking at building a web design business. In no particular order:

Find a niche. There are so many web design companies out there you have to really think about what makes you different. Do you want to specialise on one particular area? Are you known for something or is there something you could be known for? A great book to read is Purple Cow by Seth Godin. Seth talks about transforming your business by being remarkable.

Get your website online. Now! This is one mistake I made and really wish I hadn’t. Learn from me. 😉

Learn about markets as conversations and having a human voice. Another must read: The Cluetrain Manifesto. You can buy it or read it online.

Join some relevant forums and start conversations and make connections. I spend most of my time at Cre8asite Forums under the nic sanity. Others to consider:

Forums are a way of getting help and advice, sharing help and advice, showing off your skills and of course – networking.

Write articles.

Start a blog.

Get links to your website!

Collect and post testimonials on your website.

Add case studies or a portfolio to your website. If you haven’t done a lot of sites yet look around and see if you can offer your services to a charity or something similar.

This list is by no means exhaustive but I hope it offers some advice for those just starting out. Trust me, we’ve all been there.

Good luck!

Are You Hiring a Professional Web Designer?

I came across a person this week who was offering web design services whilst asking how to build a website. Yup, seriously. While most cases aren’t that blatant it does happen far more often than it should.

A professional web designer is your partner in online success. They can help make or break your online venture. So with that in mind it’s vital you hire a professional that, as well as understanding web design, has knowledge about selling online, internet marketing and building brand and business credibility.

One of the hardest parts of selecting a professional web designer is knowing what to look for. So whilst this list is not exhaustive it should help arm you with the knowledge you need to make a wise choice.

As a starting point you want to make sure your potential website designer:

  • Provides examples of previous sites they’ve designed.
  • Offers testimonials from real people.
  • Has an understanding not only of web design but usability, search engine optimisation, search friendly design, marketing, blogs etc, etc. They don’t have to be experts in each of these fields but some knowledge and the ability to partner with people who can offer these services is vital.
  • Understands that a website not only has to look good but achieve your goals – such as lead generation, subscriptions, sign ups or sales.

The internet is a fast paced medium and keeping up to date with technology and trends is also important. You’re web designer should also:

  • Keep up to date with design trends – as long as they fit a site’s goals.
  • Move with technology – are they still designing using tables or CSS/XHTML?
  • Follow online marketing trends.

Taking into account the tips above, spend some time researching potential web designers and either talk to them on the phone or in person. This will help you get a feel for them, their knowledge and how it would be to work with them. It should also help you determine whether you’re dealing with a professional or not.

Good luck!

3 of My Favourite Web Design Books

I’m a book lover. Everything about books, from their smell and design to the content inside appeals to me. So you can imagine my pleasure when discovering great books about my other great passion – web design. So without further ado here’s 3 of my current favourite web design books:

  1. Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug

    2. As much about usability as web design, this book is one of the best resources on building effective websites. As Steve says:

    It’s a fact: People won’t use your website if they can’t find their way around it.

  2. The Big Red Fez by Seth Godin

    3. A simple, straight forward book focusing on how to make any website better. Again focused on usability as much as web design The Big Red Fez provides real world examples of what it takes to create a website that satisfies your visitors and ensures they keep coming back.

  3. The CSS Anthology by Rachel Andrew

    4. As a relative newcomer to CSS this book provides practical solutions to building a CSS, standards compliant website.

This list is by no means exhaustive but it’s a great start. I’ll keep adding to it as I discover new books I love. It’s also an excuse to keep buying them. 😉

It’s Called Karma Baby

Customers Are Always blog has a great post Enthusiasm, Spirituality, and Karma in Business. I particularly like this quote:

Yes, I truly believe that there is such a thing as karma in business. What you give comes back to you tenfold.

I couldn’t agree more. A number of years ago I did a blog design for a friend, free of charge. Another acquaintance noticed me for that design and recently I have started doing some web design and blog designs for them. Without doing that first site I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been recognised by my new client.

I never did the original blog design expecting anything but sometimes what goes around comes around.

How Much Does a Website Cost?

Anyone involved with web design would have heard that question thousands millions of times. My answer, how long is a piece of string?

When you go to buy a car you usually have an idea of what you are after and a budget. When it comes to websites these simple pre-requisites seem to go out the window.

I can understand it in some ways. Anyone with a computer, a few programs and an internet connection can say they are a web designer. It’s not quite so easy to get into the car building market. This low entry barrier means there are a wide range of people and prices offering web design services.

I find this makes people reluctant to discuss budgets fearing that whatever they say will be what they are quoted. “Our budget is $5,000”. “Perfect”, says the web designer, “the website is $4995”. Most professionals would not do this, but that’s for another post.

Things You Can Do to Help

If you are reluctant to give a budget or are still in the early planning stages with no clear budget in mind, you can help us web designers by giving us a clear idea of what you are after. This will help us give you an idea of how much you will be looking at. Things you should consider:

  • Is it a design or a re-design?
  • Have you a domain name and/or web hosting?
  • Have you taken into account any online marketing, search engine optimisation etc etc.
  • What do you want your website to say? What information/content do you want to include?
  • Are you providing copy and images are or are these required?

As a starting point the structure of a basic website would most likely include the following:

Homepage

  • Products/Services
  • About
  • Contact
  • Site Map
  • Privacy Policy

Additional considerations would be separate product/services pages and how many, case studies, staff profiles, news etc.

Even a rough, initial outline of your requirements, based on the above, would go a long way in giving both you and your prospective web designer a clear idea of your online goals and requirements. This in turn makes it much easier for us to give you an idea of costs.

One final comment on budgets: I strongly suggest you discuss this with your prospective web designer. Even a ballpark figure helps us make sure you get the most bang for your buck. If we don’t know what you’re willing to spend we don’t know whether to recommend a second hand VW or a brand new Porsche.