What are designer's strengths and weaknesses? The range of skills required for creating any type of website is more diverse than you can imagine. If a designer tells you they have done or can do any project, I’d suggest you take that statement with a grain of salt.

Is designer easy to work with and talk to? Is she/he able to communicate technical information so that you can understand it? The process of creating a website can often be an overwhelming process for some people. Consider hiring a designer with whom you have a good rapport and find communicating with easy.

Look at some of their previous clients sites. Do they all look same? Do they load quickly? Are they easy to navigate through? Do you like their previous work? Do they accurately reflect their clients’ business? Does designer custom create each site or would they have you select from a list of prepackaged sites?

What is your budget and what is typical cost for designer’s projects? As a generalization, larger company, more they charge for their services (and often more elaborate sites they create.) Companies which create sites from a prepackaged template often cost less but don’t provide you with custom solutions which may more closely meet your needs. Site designers who are getting started will often create your site for a lower fee, essentially using your project to develop their skills.

Your decision should be based on many of these important questions. Also use any other questions you find useful when hiring any other service business for a project. Comparing website designers is sometimes like comparing bananas to bicycles instead of apples to apples. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You might consider writing pros and cons for each designer on a sheet of paper to develop a more objective point of view.

The selection of your website designer is an important step in creation of a successful website. With time and patience, you too can join thousands of businesses with successful websites.

At PlanetLink we look at process of website creation from three perspectives; artistic/creative, technical, and marketing. A good design company will have skills and expertise in those areas. In general, more skilled and experienced team, higher their rates and higher their minimum project fees. Some design firms don’t take on a project for less than $20,000. You will also find designers that will create your site on a per-page cost (okay for simple, low cost sites, but not recommended for anything beyond that). Someone who is just getting started in business may also do your project for free just to get experience.

What can you afford to budget for your project?

This is really an important question to ask yourself. What are your current expenditures for marketing? For sales? For support? What are your expectations/projections for revenue, or reduction of expenses from your website? What is current annual revenue for your business? Your budget should, to a degree, be commensurate with level at which your business is operating. If your website were for a large corporation, budget would be higher than for a small sole proprietorship.

Let’s take a look at two examples:

A small business needs a website for their business so they have a presence on Internet. The site is simple - about 5 pages with information about business, services they provide, and a form that can be submitted and information received via email. The budget isn’t available for creating a graphic "look," and existing images will be used. A smaller, less experienced designer may take on a project like this for a few hundred dollars. A medium sized firm might quote $3000 to $4000 depending on variables. A larger firm would probably not take a project this small.

A mail order company wants to get into online sales. They currently have no website. They have a narrow mix of about 200 products with a broad target market; it’s also time to update their image. Depending on a wide range of variables, a project like this could start at about $7000 and go into six figures.

So back to our question, cost for your website is determined to a large degree by what you can afford to spend. The complexity, size and needs play an important role as well as level of expertise and experience of design team. Generally, more you spend on your website, more website you will get for your money, an obvious statement but true none-the-less. In developing budget for you project; remember to consider your needs and expectations, level of design, size and complexity required for your project's success.

Additionally an important component, beyond scope of this article, addresses promotion and marketing of your site - best project in world isn’t likely to be successful if no one knows about it. Be sure to include costs associated with your marketing program.