Google for web developers or web design firms and you are certain to get countless results for companies all promising very similar things: timely delivery, budget-friendly, internet search engine optimization and cross-browser compatibility, etc. Now if they were all so great, why exist so many crappy websites you may ask. Below are a few qualifications that can help you to weed out the good web developers from the bad ones. web design uganda

Great Portfolio

A good portfolio displays creativity, style variety and above all has examples of real client work and not only spec work from school. Make sure that the net designer's overall style inside their portfolio matches everything you are looking for. Test out their previously launched websites to ensure they are user-friendly, error-free, suited to their target market and fast-loading.

A good portfolio always trumps design experience or education. Site designers with an excessive amount of experience might be set inside their ways and less available to new ideas or trends. And because someone took a few classes for design doesn't mean they have an eye fixed for it. We've encountered many websites offering web design services with hideous websites.

Customer Service

No matter how stellar your designer or agency is, if they can not answer your calls or emails in a timely manner during business hours, they most likely cannot meet your deadline. This can mean death to your company if your project is time sensitive because of something such as a product launch. Some freelance web developers are moonlighters meaning they have full-time jobs and they get the odd project here and there for added cash. Keep clear of those folks because they'll likely not be around whenever your project goes awry forcing one to forfeit your deposit.

Required Skills

Whoever you choose ought to be proficient with the net technologies your project requires. If you need Flash for an animated clip, ensure your web developer is experienced in Flash Actionscripting 3.0. If you want to convert your website into a CMS, ensure that they are well versed in your chosen CMS and the net technologies that support it. Most open-source CMS' are controlled by PHP. It is obviously more straightforward to hire a professional who will excel at what exactly you need rather than jack of all trades who's just mediocre in everything. Usually, you need to be able to judge this based on the online portfolio.

Their Timeline Fits your Timeline

All projects have a deadline or some preferred time range in that you simply would really like it to be completed. Inexperienced web developers often quote overly optimistic timelines. No matter how simple your website design or redesign is, it is almost impossible for the style process (from concept to completion) to take significantly less than fourteen days because there can be revisions. I usually laugh whenever a potential client emails me and estimates that their new website is very basic and should take only 2 days. It is a lot more professional to quote a lengthier timeline and deliver sooner than expected. However, if your web designer says it will take much more than their competitors, they may be moonlighting.

Full-Service

Full-service is generally made available from design firms because it needs a group of developers, designers and marketing experts. Full-service implies that they provide all-encompassing web solutions like SEO, ecommerce, branding, mobile compatibility and social media marketing marketing all in one place. Rarely will you find a website designer who's a professional in most of these categories, which is why some companies hire design firms if they've the budget.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are simply as important as design and programming skills because if your web designer communicates with bad grammar or spelling mistakes so will your website. Do they articulate issues well? Can they translate complicated technical jargon into laymen terms? It is simple to evaluate their communication skills during your initial calls, emails and project proposal.

Marketing / SEO Experience

What good is the website if your target market cannot believe it is? Your online designer or design firm must understand how to promote it. In the event that you found your web designer by via Google with industry-specific keywords then they must know something about SEO. Listed below are other simple SEO techniques your web designer should implement to build your web presence:



Generate fresh content relevant to your target market with a blog
Write a meta title and description tags
Include your keyword search terms in your headings and subheadings (H1 and H2 tags respectively)
Sprinkle your keyword search terms throughout your content
Develop a sitemap for search engines to crawl
Add your website to online business directories
For more SEO strategies, refer to my blog post about Driving High Quality Web Traffic.


Customer References

Ask for client references and create a point about calling them. Ask their clients whether they were responsive, punctually and within budget. Some web design firms try to find work through freelance websites such as for instance Guru where you could find reviews.

Social Media Presence

Social Media can help you answer people discussing your brand and understand how they perceive your company. There are so many social media marketing networks but the ones to monitor are Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. A great practice is to post a status update if you publish a blog post or new web content.

Cost / Budget

It is key to take into account all the above and then consider cost or budget if everything else falls into place. The least expensive quote is rarely the best.

Jeanette Kwok Web Design is just a full-service design agency with clients in US, Canada and Europe that gives: