How to Choose a Web Designer

Note: This page assumes you are looking a web design company to create a serious website rather than a free personal web page designer.

Be wary when choosing a designer, no degrees needed to be a web designer, however there are many who claim to be qualified but have no real experience. Obviously you should ask to see some examples of previous work. You should also ask if the web site designer is able to do the following:

• Manually write HTML and XHTML codes.
• Work with languages such as JavaScript and Cascading Style Sheets.
• Create meta-tags and optimize for search engines.
• Create forms and other interactive content.
• Work with websites in a secure server environment.
• If they use "Front Page" "Dreamweaver" "Adobe Go Life" find some one else
• Only choose someone who is skilled in hand coding HTML

Even if you don't need these things for your website, any half-decent web page designer will have these skills so it's a good way to make sure they are competent. If they are lacking in any of these areas, they probably aren't qualified to work on your website.

Ask what programs they use to create websites. Although it's true that good websites can be made with cheap wysiwyg web site design software it doesn't necessarily mean good websites. There are a few guidelines which can help create an impression of the web designer's skill level:

• Very few professional web designers use Microsoft Front Page for professional web site design this would be a warning sign.
• Some web designers work exclusively with plain text editors. In theory this is a good sign
• It means they write all their code by hand which shows a thorough understanding of the medium.
• Dreamweaver web studio site designers and other similar programs are very good and correspondingly expensive. Although owning one of these programs doesn't mean a web designer knows how to use it well, at least it demonstrates good choice and a financial commitment to having the best tools.

Remember, don't get too hung up on what software they use — it's just an indicator.

Ask what they will do to optimise the site for search engines. If they don't know, or if they say that choosing good metatags is all you need to do, then they don't really know what they are doing.

Ask how they approach the construction of your site.

• How will they go about determining your needs?
• Are they a business web site designer
• Will you be consulted during construction?
• How often?
• What happens if you don't like their design?

Be clear about who owns the site. Some web site design companies like to retain copyright, but in our opinion the site should belong to you with no conditions at all.

Last but not least, ask about web site design cost. Don't be sucked in by cheap web site design quotes — they usually mean that something is missing. On the other hand, if you are quoted more than a few thousand dollars you should expect a stunning result — most web site designs can be made for less than this. Also ask about the cost of upgrades. Make sure to use the best e-commerce web designer you can afford.

The Benefits of Doing It Yourself In-House

If you design your web site you will have the benefits of full creative control and you will save thousands of dollars on internet web site design fees. This cost is just the begining, You still have additional web site optimization service fees to pay in order to drive motivated buyers to your web site.

In addition to these fees, hiring a web designer to do the whole thing will be expensive, and changing or adding to the site in the future can be a hassle.So unless you are willing spend that kind of money, you should consider doing your web site optimization yourself or in house

It will cost a little time, and very little money (less than $10.00) to learn HTML and good design. HTML is not hard, but it takes a little time to learn how to do it right.

The HTML language is relatively easy to learn, making your page look good and work right takes a bit of time and some aesthetic ability. If you have a staff person or volunteer who is design-inclined and has a little free time, that might be enough.

Using Professional Templates

Templates are like a letterhead for webpages. You can purchase templates at very little cost and then you learn how to work with the template to edit your pages and create new pages. You save money, have control over your content, and your site has a consistent, professional appearance.

Why You Should Do Search Engine Optimization In House

To have a consultant give you individual lessons or out source the search engine optimization work, it will cost you from $7,000 to $70,000 a year.

If you have any doubts, call a search engine opiimization specialist and ask "how much will it cost you to design a web site and do the natural organic search engine optimization for your web site" Also ask how much for updates, maintenance and Pay Per Click advertising.

If you dont't do the internet marketing in house, 95% of you will waste 100% of your money because 95% of web developers are incompetent in Search Engine Marketing.

If You Choose To Out Source These Are Your warnings

SEO (search engine optimization) is more than just naming pages and creating keyword phrases. It is a critical tool necessary to “advertise” your website to robots and helps to compel your human visitors to click through to your site.

If you are considering hiring someone to optimize your website remember what I just said: the technical skills needed to key in meta information is beginner level. There are hundreds if not thousands of people offering SEO services that do not have the real skills necessary to SEO a website.

12 Ways to Recognize a Bad SEO Company

A red flag should go up anytime an SEO company makes certain claims or promises. The following list of things to avoid will help you detect a bad SEO company and avoid getting scammed:

1. Free Trial Services
“Try our services free for 30 days. Just give us access to your site and see what we can do for you!” Never, ever, (did I say never?) give your password and access information to anyone who offers you free trials. You might as well give them your car keys and ATM password, too.

2. Under Priced or Overpriced Services
Beware of SEO scams where bidders come in all shapes and sizes. Someone whose price is not in line with others is generally not to be trusted. A low quote is likely to buy you low quality work and a price that seems ridiculously high, well, it probably is. A company with a reputation strong enough to warrant higher fees does not need to get business from scammers : they are getting it based on their reputation.

3. We Promise Your Site Will be Indexed in 48 Hours!
Anyone that promises you indexing by a major search engine without first having visited your website and analyzing it is not doing two thirds of the work of a truly good SEO professional – research. The quality and amount of content and how your site is laid out are just two among many other important factors in getting good listings. Great SEO begins with a great website. If yours is not done well, outstanding SEO might get you indexed, but it does not mean you will appear in search engine keyword queries.

4. We Guarantee Page Rank of XX, or Top Ranking In XX Time
Do not do business with anyone that promises a particular page rank, or page ranking at all in a short time frame. Ranking is done periodically by Google, not on a daily basis, and nothing you can do will speed up the process. It can take weeks or months to get a page ranked and your ranking is also dependent upon other sites rankings. Your site will be compared to other similar sites to determine relevancy and popularity. (By the way, page ranks are dynamic and not assigned one time and never adjusted. They do change. And, low-ranking pages can still appear high in search engine results, and high-ranking pages may not appear at all.) I cannot state this strongly enough: SEO cannot be done quickly unless it is done poorly.

5. Massive Search Engine Submissions
“We will submit your site to 1,000 search engines!” You see it in almost every SEO claim. Big deal. This is something that is simply not worth paying for. Your site will not be relevant to the “1,000” micro-market search engines that few people use anyhow. The truth is, a well-done site does not even need to be submitted to the major search engines. In fact, Google, Yahoo, MSN, advise that frequent or over submitting to search engines will hurt you. And, submitting your site does not speed up the process or guarantee it will be picked up. Think of site submission as sending a post-it note to Google to stick on their wall of millions of "to visit" websites. Besides, there are so many free services online to one-click submit to multiple search engines you can do it yourself for free in a matter of seconds. (But I recommend against this!)

6. Hundreds (or Thousands) of Links to Your Site
Any links you get from such claims are more likely to hurt your site than to help it. Spend time building your own quality in-bound links. The best way to get links is simple: offer meaningful content (and lots of it), and control who promotes your products and services. Another tip: Do not put low-quality links on your own site and avoid reciprocal linking. Robots are smart and know when you are trying to cheat the system!

7. Avoid Companies That Ask for Copyrights to SEO and Meta Data
If at all possible, do not do business with anyone that insists on retaining copyrights to any and all meta data they create, edit, or analyze for you. If they retain or have this right assigned to them, they can legally bar you from using it, or totally strip your site. Unfortunately, some states have bad copyright laws that make transfer of ownership under "Work for Hire" agreements illegal unless the creator is treated as an employee. This means you may have to purchase workers' comp and other insurance to be allowed to receive the copyrights. (Call your states' department of insurance and ask if there are any copyright-based insurance laws in your own state.) But even when there are no laws that prohibit copyrights (or fall unto Work for Hire copyright laws) it is a fairly common practice in the industry for the SEO person/company to ask for copyrights to the SEO data they create for your site.

I find this practice without logic, unnecessary and usually done as a tactic to strong arm people into purchasing more services or staying with the company. (I speak as someone who has done SEO for more than ten years and not once had a need to "assert" copyrights). On most websites meta data can be seen by anyone. Don't believe me? Right click your mouse while on this page and select “View Page Source.” There it is – the “secret” meta data for this web page. Meta data itself does not contain any “trade secrets.” It is a series of words and descriptions and other things that help your website perform. Your SEO should be 100% unique to your site. Presumably no one else should be able to apply it to their own site and get the same results. And, you cannot sell your own meta data – no one would buy it! So what is there to protect? It is understandable a company would ask that you not share their techniques with others and have you sign a confidentiality agreement about work they do for you. But if you sign a contract for services without rights to the product (the SEO on your website) you could find yourself in serious trouble.

8. Flat-Rate and Low Monthly Fees to Optimize and Promote Your Website
Truly good SEO is not cheap. SEO consulting alone can cost hundreds of dollars per hour, and in some cases, as much as $1,000 an hour. Flat-rate, low fees will probably get you little to nothing. It takes long hours to analyze and optimize a website properly. A good company will read your site, study your industry and your competition before even making a price quote or other proposal. It you cannot afford what it really costs to hire a professional SEO expert, buy a book and learn to do it yourself – you will probably do a better job on your own than a cheap, fly-by-night SEO company.

9. Companies That Will Not Answer Your Questions
A bloviate talks over your head or down to you. If they have to prove how smart they are by showing you how dumb you are, move on. Ask questions, and lots of them. A person who only talks about what they can do for you rather than spending time asking questions about your site, your business, industry, and goals and expectations is only interested in your money. If you ask a question and get a shifty reply like “we have a new technique and it’s a trade secret” what they are really saying is “we want you to think we know what we are doing – and we don’t.” Anything you want to know about how to optimize a site can probably be found on the Internet already. What you are really paying for is not trade secrets, but experience. A good SEO professional knows the “rules” and “trade secrets” but s/he also knows how to research key words and put them together in the best possible way. Unless your site is only a few pages long, anyone who claims to be able to SEO your site in a matter days is not going to do a good job.

10. We Know Someone
I was once promised better SEO (my site is already top-ranking in the top three major search engines on some great keywords) because the spammer told me in an email to “undisclosed recipients,” “had an inside contact at Google.” They knew things the other SEOers did not. Doubt it. All search engine company employees sign confidentiality agreements. To blab could land them in jail. If an SEO expert cannot stand on his own reputation but has to name drop, he’s not someone you need to know.

11. Unsolicited SEO Offers
I once got an email from a man who told me he could improve my page ranking on certain keywords on a list of web pages he kindly provided me from my website. Guess what? I was already in the number 1 and number two spot on Google (and number one on Yahoo, as well). Spammers often use spiders to crawl for a list of URLs and email addresses. Anytime you get an unsolicited offer via email from someone who claims to have visited your site, been so impressed that they want to help, and has a deal to offer - put the email where it belongs: in the Spam Folder.

12. Threats and Extortion Campaigns
Yes, there are scammers out there that actually threaten to sabotage your website if you do not let them SEO it for you. These scammers may even say things in emails like, “I want to discuss this with you live, can I call you at …” and then actually list your phone number! They want you to think you have been targeted and if you do not go with their service the underlying tone is that they will do something awful. Ignore them. It is all hype. And, it is also illegal to threaten or attempt to extort money over the Internet. Report them to the Internet Crime Control center

By Lahle Wolfe