How to choose a web designer

Every business needs a website. The questions is – how do you find the right web designer to take care of your internet presence? Will the web designer you choose take the time to know your business inside out, and be able to help bring you customers?

Unlike other traditional marketing strategies, a website has a global reach and can attract potential clients 24-7. Sometimes it’s hard for business owners to grasp the internets potential, but those who invest the time and money into a professionally built website will see the positive results immediately.

Unfortunately, sometimes it seems everybody and their brother claims to be a web developer. This is not a carefully regulated industry, you do not have to have a license to practice, and so many business owners just do not take the time to fully understand the potential effect a website can have on their business. There are even some business owners who make the important decision to hire a designer based on price alone.

There is no consistency or base line when it comes to web development companies – one company may charge $5,000 for a basic site while someone working out of their home with no overhead may claim to be able to do create a comparable site for a fraction of that amount. One day I passed a home with a sign in the yard that read :”Websites $400.00”.

With thousands of Web developers out there, ranging from individual freelancers to larger marketing and web design agencies, how can you make sure you choose the right one?

You need to decide what you want the website to do. Do you want a site that is nothing more than a glorified brochure? Maybe you are a small pizza restaurant and want to simply have a menu up on the internet. Of course, a properly designed and search engine optimized site will bring you more customers and more business, so you should always try to take advantage of all the internet has to offer. It is understandable that many businesses in this economy have limited budgets, so there is nothing wrong with starting small and having a plan to expand the site over a period of time until it is most effective. I would rather see a business do this than have no site at all.

So ask yourself what kind of information will you have on the site – what do you want to share with your visitors.

Remember – your website can be your single most important salesman – and he never sleeps. Many times your website will be the first thing a potential customer will see – so it is important to make a good first impression.

Those of us who are Web designers can spot another good web designer easily. But for the average person - choosing a professional can seem an overwhelming task.

Testimonials and referrals help greatly. If you are part of a Chamber of Commerce, or other networking group – ask around and talk to people who have worked with the designer you are considering hiring. If you use referrals and do your homework, you will have a much better chance of finding a designer who's right for you.

There are many designers who claim to be qualified but have no real experience. Some designers are great at creating beautiful graphics but do not have a clue when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. I actually know a business owner who asked his web designer to perform some SEO on his site – The designer refused to do the work and claimed he was only concerned with creating beautiful sites, and did not have time to waster on working with SEO.

Obviously you should ask to see examples of previous work. But also spend time talking with the web designer and make sure they are going to be the best person for your site, If you are a air conditioning contractor you probably don’t want someone who has only built restaurant websites.

Be clear about who owns the site once it is created. Some designers like to retain copyright, and can hold you hostage by not allowing you to edit or transfer your site. In my opinion - the site should belong to you no with conditions at all.

Facebook Common Sense

#1 Use great passwords

A good password uses a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. An example of a great password: Ke4%rdSs

#2 Nobody’s home…

Never mention that you will be away from home. Always be very vague about the date of any trip, or better yet – wait until you get back to tell everyone all about it.

#3 Don’t post your full birthday

The exact year month and day of your birthday could be a target for identity thieves. It is possible they could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you must post your birthday – Use only the month and day.

#4 Privacy controls

Use privacy controls to limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information. Of course it’s always a good idea to leave political and religious views off your Facebook page anyway – especially if your employer or potential clients may see it.

Be careful what contact info you post – and never use your address. If you have small children – never use their names in photo tags or captions!

#5 Everything you do and say, is on the internet to stay!

It is always best to not put anything on Facebook (or the internet for that matter) that you wouldn’t want your mother, employer, or a client see. In our “reality T.V.” world too many people feel the need to tell everybody all about themselves. Just remember – anything you put on the web is there forever! No matter how careful you are – sooner or later someone is going to see those embarrassing photos of you, and it’s always the last person you would ever want to see them!

A little bit of common sense goes a long way.

Social media – or social mediocre?

Social media is about connecting us to other people, and allowing us to access topics, information, and entertainment. It can also be just another distraction that decreases what little productivity there is to begin with. Never before in the history of man (or woman) have so many people had so much access to so much technology – but no idea how to utilize even the smallest fraction of it.

Word of advice: Like my grandfather always said “Don’t ever get a tattoo where the judge can see it” If you do end up diving into social media – just remember that everything you say and do will be on the internet forever!

Never before in the history of man has so much technology been available to so many people who have absolutely no idea what to do with it.

“Outside a dog – a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog – it’s too dark to read” – Groucho Marx

Antisocial Media: In our anything goes reality TV world are too many people sharing too much information? The old saying was that “any exposure is good exposure” – but I don’t think that is true anymore. People lose jobs because employers see their drunken party photos on MySpace. Houses get robbed when people post that they are not home on face book. And you never know for sure who you are really talking to. Maybe it’s time for AntiSocial Media? Maybe we all should start being more mysterious?