So you’re serious enough about your business to get serious about your website. Congratulations! Finding the right designer can be like searching for any other type of professional. Here are 10 tips for hiring the right designer.

Some people just seem to click – they can understand each other easily and just get along well in general. Other people can make you feel nervous or uncomfortable. Having a web designer that you click with will not only make the working experience pleasant – it will also save you money! If your web designer quickly understands your needs, the job will get done faster and your bill will be smaller!

While there are several self-taught web designers that are extremely talented professionals, this is quite rare. Make sure your web designer has professional training and also continues to learn. Technology is always changing and a good web designer will consider themselves a life-long learner.

A professional web designer knows code. Visit http://validator.w3.org/ and enter a page from their site or a site from their portfolio. A few errors may be okay, but if there are more than that, ask why. If they are using a Content Management System such as Joomla with 3rd party plug-ins or modules, that may be the cause of the errors and they have no control over these errors. However, if this is not the explanation, they just may not be a professional.

Copyright issues vary from designer to designer. Some will sign over copyright to a website after the final payment is received, others retain the copyright. What this means is that if you own the copyright, you can make changes to the site whenever you want – whether you do it yourself or hire a different web designer. If the web designer retains the copyright, you’ll need to either have that web designer make the changes or ask for a license to make changes (again, either yourself or by hiring a different web designer). Often, there are some parts of the site owned by the client, and some by the web designer (for example, written content is owned by the client but the design or “look and feel” of the site as well as the code is owned by the web designer). It’s best to be clear on this up front.

Don’t expect a web designer to slash their price just because you can’t (or don’t want to) pay full price for a full blown site.   A lot of people are afraid of taking that leap and investing a lot of money into a website, not sure if their business will thrive. Some web designers may be willing to design a smaller “starter” site that can grow with your business so it’s more affordable. Just don’t be surprised if they want to retain the copyright while the site is small in order to insure that they’ll get the job when you are ready to expand your site!

Updates to a website can be handled in different ways. It’s not uncommon for clients to want to be able to do this themselves with the use of a Content Management System (CMS). Other clients don’t want to have to deal with this at all and would rather have the web designer handle updates.   A CMS may cost more upfront but if you expect to make updates very frequently, it may save you money in the long run. On the other hand, if you don’t expect your site to require many updates, a site maintenance contract with the web designer may be your best bet.

Most web designers will require that you pay some sort of deposit, retainer, or percentage of the full estimated price of a website before they will start work. The reason for this is that you are paying your web designer for their time and ideas. It’s common to expect a third or half the full estimated price at the beginning with the remainders due at different benchmarks of the project. Some web designers may be willing to set up a monthly payment plan – don’t be surprised if they want to retain copyright to the site until you have paid for it in full. This is similar to taking out a loan to buy a car. You “own” the car and can use the car, but you don’t get the title until you have paid for it in full.

Testimonials on a web site are obviously going to be the best of the best. See if you can actually contact a client and ask about their experience with the web designer. Is the web designer easy to get a hold of? Do they make finish work and requested updates in a timely manner?   Are they easy to get along with? Would the client work with them again?

Most web designers have a niche market that they cater to. Some excel at B2B (Business to Business) or corporate sites while others prefer to work with small business owners and/or create themed sites. Make sure your web designer not only can design what you need, but that they enjoy it – the work will go quicker, be better, and save you money!

Make sure the web designer really understands what you’re trying to accomplish with your website. If they understand your target audience, they’ll also have a good understanding of how to reach them over the internet. This will mean more success for your website and your business!