You know a few years ago I would have suggested checking out a web designer’s site to determine whether or not they had the skills necessary to design your site or not. I have since changed my view on this because a less-than-savory web designer’s site may be the result of a designer being simply too busy with other clients to spend time developing one’s own site. I know that my initial website was horrendous and the second round wasn’t much better due to lack of time. Sometimes we just need something up there. Even now I am using word press just to simplify things and enable me to quickly update everything but it took me over 4 years from the initial start to even get this far.

Now of course a bad website isn’t always going to mean they are a busy web designer, it could just as easily mean they are horrendous and have no design sense at all.

So this begs an answer to the question:

“How do I choose a good web designer?”.

Check their portfolio and/or ask for a list of websites. If they don’t have any to give and their personal site is hideous, my guess is that is about what you can expect.

If they do have a portfolio or list of sites, ask what they did on each of those sites. Sometimes a designer only does a portion of the work or starts with something already created and merely edits or adds to the site.

If you see a site in there that looks less-than-appealing, ask about it. Often times the client asks for something that is against the advice of their designer: like animated, spinning email logos **shudder** or worse. It is not always easy to convince a client to go with something friendly.

Inquire about their practices and methods. A good designer usually has a pretty established way of operating and will tell you not only what programs they utilize but where they go for resources and stock-images.

Be wary of designers (or really anyone in the industry) promising you something for a price well below industry standards. Quite often these are inexperienced beginners looking to get their name out there often lacking the experience to do the job correctly and/or the inability to complete the job.

Collect references from your potential designer. A good designer typically has at least a few clients who are overjoyed with their product(s) and are more than willing to share.

Pry a little deeper into their abilities and find out what weaknesses they might have. The best designers typically don’t try to get in over their head and inform the client about what they can and cannot do. Be wary of people who promise the universe as very few individuals are capable of such a feat but those who know their limitations will often know how to find the person capable

Finally, try and find someone whose overall style matches your own. If most of their sites appeal to you and look like something you would want to see for your own, then you have found yourself a designer. Otherwise, keep looking. There are many good designers out there and finding the right one for you will make things run smoothly when it is time to put it all together.