Remember how the web looked like just five years ago ? Almost no dynamic content (with the exception of Flash content that took a great while to load, and everyone was avoiding it), almost no taste in the way websites were designed and almost no stability at all.

The web has since changed very quickly - we are in the middle of Web 2.0, with Web 3.0 coming up rapidly. As web design was so profitable, designers popped up everywhere and you needed little in the way of skills, so long as you could configure a template. Quality was extremely varied.

You are probably looking for a web designer because you want a professional website built for you or your business, therefore you cannot start mixing with beginner designers. If you own a business and want to promote it through the help of a website you have to be very careful with the website - it has to be useful, fast and appealing. Customers do not give second chances - if your website takes a million years to load, they will find another place to search for the product.

Usability is another factor that you must pay attention to - you don’t want visitors leaing your site in droves because they can’t find what they are looking for. For this, a professional designer is vital - selecting purely on the cheapest price will cost you more money in the long term, due to the potential loss of business. Here’s what you need to consider:

? Open-minded ? It is very important that your web designer is open-minded. Obviously, you hired a web designer because you cannot do the job yourself, but that does not mean your opinions do not count. See if he listens to all your ideas and at this point, he should try to incorporate only the best of them. Allow him to explain why one idea or another does not fit the whole plan, and allow him to come with his own ideas too. Rather than making it a one-mind plan, why not put two minds at work.

* Good and Fast - Keep a track on what your web designer is doing. No matter if you are weeks away from the deadline, always keep an eye on what he is doing. From the beginning, ask him to do his work in steps, and to outline the necessary time for each of them. Look at each task after he finished it so that you will make sure everything is just as you wanted it to be.

* Promoting Usability ? As mentioned before, you need a website that is useful, rather than glittery or flashy. You have to check if your web designer understands that need - if he can construct a useful website that still looks good.

Finding the perfect web designer is a difficult task but should not be totally impossible, if you follow what we have discussed . Review his portfolio to see if his past works are usable and well designed, ask questions and you shouldn’t go too far wrong. If anything arises that makes you think he might not be suited to your business, then walk away and find another one.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Web Design Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.