Thread: Finding web designers

Hi

I might be in a position to help you with this - if you would like to pm me with a few details of what you're looking for we can discuss it in more detail if you're interested.

So you are looking for someone who can optimize the design for conversions(something that is hard to get right with one try), build you a simple yet very good looking customized design, and then code it?

If you are serious about your business then of course you have to pay more.
If you just want to 'get by' with something simple, then an edited template with some minor customizations is what you are looking for. This won't cost much.

I am a freelance web developer myself, so hit me up if interested I can show you some of my work, and maybe we can work out something.

Originally Posted by e_fastlane

I'm looking for appealing yet simple designs that are optimized for conversions.

I've been a web designer and developer for about 7 years and have hired many web designers for outsourced purposes. The biggest thing I can say is to first know what you want as an outcome for your website.

What I mean is, do you want just a brochure type site or a full web app.

Once you know what you need, then look for the best person who does what you need.
I usually stick to odesk.com as my best source for talented people.
I've hired multiple web designers and developers there.

Check out their work first and foremost, make sure it's actually good and is related to what you want.
For example if you are trying to build a cute fun site for kids, don't hire someone who makes boring dentist sites mostly (no offense to dentists). Find someone that matches the style you're looking for.

Next, and most important, don't be cheap especially if its important to you. Almost every time I hired the cheapest I always got crap quality delivery. Why? because they aren't making enough to care about your project, and if they are freelancing they are probably working on someone else's project at the same time who paid them more. This will lead you to chasing them down about your project and wondering why it's taking so long to get done. Now to be fair I don't always choose the most pricey designers either because sometimes they do the same thing but on a higher level. I usually just try to find a good balance of skill level and price. If they are good at what they do they will get it done fast anyways with quality so the costs come out less then the guy who charges less but takes 8 months to finish. I also like to give unannounced bonuses to people I hire for help. I have given an extra $100 or even stuff like movie tickets. People appreciate this type of stuff, and in return I've been given services free of charge or discounts later I would have gladly paid for anyways.

One last tip is run small test project first, especially if you are doing a big project. Don't throw your new hire immediately on the big project. Test them first without them knowing they are being tested on a smaller task of the big project or on a smaller site. This way if you see they are hard to communicate with, or never do things right you can let them go before going full in on the big one.

Ok I'm done rambling hope it helps anyone even a little

Originally Posted by e_fastlane

I'm sure many entrepreneurs out there have this same issue...

Who do you get to do your website design?

I currently own a few 'successful' businesses. Just from being a heavy computer user for years, I have learned how to design and create websites myself. The first 2-3 businesses I spent hours upon hours creating the websites. We have many products that we are planning on releasing within the next couple months and I just simply don't have the time to invest my heart and soul into a website, like I used to. My time is better spent elsewhere. Can you recommend a place that does websites for a reasonable price?

The problem I have found is that many services charge you $xxxx and all they do is take a generic website template and stick your images in there. No thanks, I know how to download a template and stick in a couple pictures in a few minutes as well. I'm looking for appealing yet simple designs that are optimized for conversions.

Any help would be appreciated.

I recommend you check out the "express fix" on sitetuners. The founder of that wrote the excellent book "landing page optimization". They will create a mock up of a conversion optimized site for you, which you would then take to odesk or elance and have somebody make.

I will mention that the price difference between most cheap services and the domestic USA developers is large. In creating my site, I spoke with several international providers before finally settling for a guy in tennessee, who did an excellent job creating the site I had laid out for him, but he charged $4500, which is reasonable but still 1.5-2x the international offers. I designed the site myself using the sitetuners book I mentioned above. A craigslist post also gets lots of domestic responses, and is a lot easier than elance. My craigslist ad "create a website and landing page that looks like ___.com" got me twenty replies with prices all over the map.

You should approach whatever developer you find with a design that you either buy from sitetuners or similar site or at least sketch out yourself using your research. This way you can design it using the latest conversion science. Be sure up front that your developer understands you want it to look exactly like your mock up. Too many developers are also designers and like to add elements that look very nice but don't contribute to the goal of money in your bank account.

Conversion rate optimization is our specialty. Email me at joe@prodigalsolutions.com and we can talk.