5 Things You Should Consider Before Hiring A Web Designer

So, you’re looking for a web designer? In this post, we’re highlighting five key things to consider before hiring a web designer, ensuring a smooth project and success well in the future!

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5 Things To Consider BEFORE Hiring A Web Designer

We designers each have a specific set of skills and style that work best when they align with your brand identity and ambitions. Hiring a web designer is a vital step for small biz owners who want to build a really strong online presence. Whether you’re planning to launch a new website or revamp your existing site, choosing the right web design company can determine the success of your web design project and how well it aligns with your brand. But with so many web design firms and service providers available, how do you know which one is the best fit for your business? At The Good Canva s we are committed to ensuring that we’re clear about our process, what to expect and our expertise.

1. Aesthetic Style: Does Their Design Match Your Brand Identity?

The first thing to evaluate in a potential web designer is their aesthetic style. Review their past work and see if their designs resonate with your brand identity and target audience. Those things are hard to force, so if the aesthetic and design style matches yours to some degree, the relationship will be a much more natural one. A good web designer should be able to create beautiful websites that are visually appealing and consistent with your business’s personality. Looking at their past work is a great place to start to see how well they’re able to understand different brands and tweak their style to meet their clients’.

Here’s what to look for:

Look for design elements like typography, colour schemes, and layouts that suit the type of website you need.

Consider creating a mood or vision board with inspiration for your new website. This can help communicate your ideas and give your potential designer an opportunity to respond with their impression and if your project is one that they want to take on. It’s kind of a two way street, right?

Our Style

We’re firm believers that a well-designed website isn’t just about looking great—it’s also about creating a better user experience for website visitors, which is our happy place! We want to help you stand out with a website that looks and feels so on brand that it’s jaw-dropping and then, follow through with a really smooth experience making your visitors want to stay and take it all in.

We spend a lot of time upfront making sure we know you and your business so well that it feels as though we’re designing our own website. We work with brands that care as much as we do and understand how important visual communication is. Our aesthetic style is gentle, kind and easy on the eyes. We use smooth transitions, beautiful imagery, text and colours to create websites that are welcoming, cosy and convert well.

2. SEO and Technical Know-How: Can They Build a Responsive, Search-Optimized Site?

A professional web designer must have a solid understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) and technical skills to build a responsive site that performs well on search engines and across different screen sizes. This is especially important for reaching your ideal client and ensuring mobile responsiveness.

Key questions to ask include:

Do they understand responsive design to make your site compatible with mobile devices and tablets?
Do they stay involved after the website has launched to help you track and analyze performance? In other words, are they following up on their know-how?
Do they follow best practices for SEO to help your site rank higher in search results?

A website designer with knowledge of SEO and technical skills ensures your new website not only looks good but also functions seamlessly for website visitors and search engines, alike.

Our Know-How:

We’re committed to making sure we provide you with the best service we can – and that includes technical know-how to make sure your site is functioning in the exact way you need it to. We have a team of experts that help in hosting, web maintenance, SEO and social media strategy. Resourcefulness is something we pride ourselves on and are always looking for ways to make everything we do the absolute best it can be. We’re SEO certified and believe in solid, honest SEO practices that are human and relatable. When you work with us, you’re getting real people doing real things.

3. Team, Accessibility, and Involvement: Who Will Be Working on Your Project?

This is a really good question – who will actually be working on your project? Some web design companies have a full development team with graphic designers, web developers, and project managers, while others are smaller operations where one person wears many hats.

If you’re not sure, consider these points:

Ask about the scope of your project and whether you’ll be working with a single designer or a larger team.
Assess their customer service approach and how accessible they’ll be throughout the process.
Clarify your level of involvement—will they need much content or input from you during the web design process?

Knowing the team and their workflow is the best way to ensure a successful project and avoid surprises or additional costs in the long run.

Our Team:

We’re a small business doing big things, but one thing that I promise you is that when you hire us, you get us – we never hand your project off to someone and all of our communication comes from us. I schedule our one-on-ones and in those, I’m sitting with you, brainstorming and working on your business. That’s something that gets lost as businesses scale but it’s one thing that I refuse to let go of; that close, complete involvement in each project.

4. Core Values: Will Your New Site Meet Future Needs?

The last thing you want is to invest in a new website only to discover it doesn’t support your long-term goals. A professional web designer should consider the scope of your project and your future growth.

Key considerations include:

Mobile responsiveness to ensure your site works flawlessly on mobile devices, providing a better user experience for all visitors.
Support for professional photos and visuals, as a professional photographer can elevate your site’s look and appeal.
Compatibility with a website platform that grows with your business, whether through easy content updates, e-commerce integrations, or analytics tools.

Think beyond the launch. A responsive site with a strong content strategy will save you time, effort, and money in the long run, making your investment worthwhile.

We build creative and aesthetic websites for creative entrepreneurs. At the heart of this space is our undeniable love of the arts – the ability to create with our hands and to enjoy the benefits that come from beauty and sharing it with the world. We believe is space for all and consuming content online slowly and consciously.

If this sounds like something that resonates with you and you’re looking for a web design company to bring your vision to life? We’d love to chat with you about your goals and aspirations and how we might be a great fit! Start by exploring our services page, reviewing our client testimonials, and then booking a free discovery call to get to know each other!

5. Platforms, Certifications and Integrations

The last thing I want you to think about when choosing a web designer is how flexible or confident they are in the systems they have in place. Do they understand that designing a website is more than just a pretty landing page? Are they willing to work with you to integrate the things that are important to you – your newsletter, booking system, financial integrations?

There are some web designers that will only design on certain platforms – be it Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, Showit, etc… And while that may be fine and completely justified, if you’re open to finding a platform that really works for your needs you want a designer who understands the differences and is willing to work to meet you where you are.

Another great sign is that your web designer is willing and wants to continue working with you on your site SEO, maintenance and updates. That likely means they’re willing to vouch for their work and want to see it through.

When all is said and done, hiring the right web designer is about asking the most important questions and aligning your needs with their skills. It takes time and once the site is launched, you can also agree to site maintenance and updates. So, the relationship can become quite a long-term kind of thing. From evaluating their past work to understanding their web design process, take the time to really pick the right person – they are holding a BIG part of your business in their hands!

Join The Good Canvas

Looking to hire a web designer for your business?

Book a free discovery call where we can have a chat, learn about your business and answer any questions you may have.

BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL HERE

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ABOUT THIS POST

This post is written by Donata Delano – A Web Designer, Professional Artist and Architect based in Burlington, Canada. She specializing in visual communication and web design, creating branding solutions and websites that are thoughtful, unique and aesthetically pleasing.

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