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Filtering Through the Mess: 4 Red Flags You Should Look for in a Web Designer

Finding the right web designer to build your new site, improve your existing one and maximize your digital marketing is tricky. This is in part because there are so many professionals out there, but also because you need to work out which individual or agency will do the best job.

To help you steer clear of the designers that are likely to create more problems than they solve, here are a few red flags to look out for as you begin your search.

Lack of strategy

Good web design is only achievable with a cohesive, coherent strategy in place, so if a designer is either unwilling to explain their plans for your project or unable to answer basic questions on this topic, be worried.

The team at Parachute, a Toronto based agency, note that this is where working with experienced specialists makes sense. They will be able to talk you through the steps they will take to achieve your aims and give you unambiguous updates at regular intervals so that you are always in the loop about how things are progressing.

No examples of prior work

While you might be willing to hire a designer who has not got an especially large portfolio of past projects to demonstrate their skills and capabilities, you should definitely avoid working with anyone who has no evidence of what they can do.

A designer who lacks a portfolio could either be a complete newcomer, or may simply be bad at their job and thus not feel comfortable sharing the half-baked creations they have concocted for past clients. In either instance, insist on seeing examples of prior work before entering into a partnership.

Suspiciously cheap rates

If the price of a web designer’s services seem too good to be true, then this is probably the case. That is not to say you should be suspicious of all competitively-priced packages, but rather that you should compare their pricing to equivalent competitors and market averages to make sure there is a rough parity.

Likewise if a freelance designer or agency is pricing their services far higher than their rivals, this could also be a sign that something is amiss, or that the services they are offering might not be suitable for your particular needs.

Sloppy communication capabilities

In some senses, if a designer’s work is good and their prices are fair, then this could be enough to convince you to commit to using them, even if they are not especially on the ball when it comes to communication. However, it is rarely worth taking a risk of this kind, because as soon as something goes awry you could be tearing your hair out when trying to get in touch with a reticent individual or organization.

Instead it is better to make sure that they are not only responsive to your communications, but also proactive in letting you know of any issues that arise or points that need further discussion. Building a website should be a collaborative effort and good communication is central to this.

In the end, you should trust your instincts and also do your research if you want to find a web designer that’s right for you.

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