Anything beautiful you see on the interwebs has, most likely, been lovingly created by a professional graphic or web designer – but not all are created equal in how they work and what files will ultimately end up in your Dropbox.
Over many years of virtual business management, we’ve learnt that there’s not a standard understanding of what a designer does, and this has been a costly and painful lesson at times.
So, here’s what to consider when hiring a web designer to ensure both the design and the relationship always stay high-res.
Set your goals with them upfront
As creative people, the biggest issue we’ll face time and time again in our work is not lack of experience or ability – but rather, how we communicate our needs, or receive what’s being asked of us. After all, a lot of graphic design work is based on a brief, where the mental vision of one person or team is transferred to another.
Remember, this isn’t a direct file transfer between brains – so clarity and conciseness in the briefing process is super important. Your web designer isn’t a mind reader but they likely are very visual in how they like to be briefed, and the more detail and context you include, the better.
Ask yourself:
- What’s the purpose of your website, brochure or other designed collateral? Is it for e-Commerce, to convey information, or a work portfolio?
- Who is the target audience? How and why would they come about your website? For example, are they going to randomly scroll past a paid search advertisement, check you out after meeting you at an event, or happen upon you from an ad or brochure?
- Are there specific design preferences or brand guidelines they need to keep in mind? If you don’t have anything concrete here, even a few basic design principles or themes can be helpful.
- What features do you need your website to have? Will it have a blog attached that needs to be primed for SEO, embedded contact forms, or an online store plugin or checkout facility?
- How responsive should your site be? If you’re a digital creative or coach, for example, think of your website like a shopfront. It should really convey the feeling of what it’s like to work with you, so interactive elements that feel intuitive and responsive should be of high importance.
- Are you going to be needing more creative brand assets in the future? So, their work may be to include design files and logos in multiple size formats and types that can be saved and used again.
- Do your styles align? Great design is highly subjective! Have you looked at their portfolio of work for similar projects? Do you actually like what they’ve designed for others? Have you curated your own collection, list or Pinterest board that clearly shows examples of design elements that resonate with you? This will allow your designer to identify whether they can achieve what you are aiming for.
Check pricing (and respect the craft)
In thinking of what to consider when hiring a designer, it’s never a bad idea to clarify your price sensitivity with them from the start.
This helps your designer avoid presenting options to you that are out of your reach, so you don’t make any emotional purchases, while also allowing them to communicate limitations they foresee between what you’re asking for and what they can actually provide for your budget.
Remember to double-check the difference between your overall project budget and the design work portion because often, they’re not the same.
Things like website hosting fees, domain registration and a solid privacy policy – these don’t fall under the remit of a designer, but can be costly and need to be factored into your overall website project spend.
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If you’re on a shoestring budget but pumping out proposals regularly, consider getting a template designed in Microsoft Word (or another relevant file type) rather than a PDF.
This means you can customise each document yourself and simply save it as a printable PDF before you need to send it (instead of getting it designed each time).
It won’t cost you any extra to get a quote on both options. Check that they’ve all been uploaded within a week of paying the final invoice.
Try and stay clear on what success looks like for you.
For example, would you be happy if your website worked to boost sales or garner functional and well-qualified signups directly through the embedded contact form?
Perhaps you measure success through the amount of time spent on a page, like in the case of a blog post, where you derive advertising revenue from clicks and engagement.
In many cases, success might be a combination of a few things. One of our tips for hiring a web designer is to talk about what success will look like and how the designer can help you achieve it.
Remember, let them tell you what their limitations are and be open to receiving this. Ask them: ‘Am I shooting for the sky for what I’m asking here, and do you have recommendations of how we could achieve it without being so audacious?’
Potentially, it’s the opposite, too – they could make some recommendations beyond what you had originally envisioned.
You’re using them for their expertise after all, otherwise you’d do it yourself, right?
Inspect the inclusions of your agreement
One of our top tips for hiring a designer is knowing intimately the details of your agreement and what deliverables are coming your way.
Doing this preparation will save you time and money when you’re ready to get something designed and serve as the North Star to come back to if either of you deviate from the agreement.
File types
Most clients don’t think to ask if an estimate includes all the original design files for a job.
These are the file types designers open to edit the layout, layers and colours – and while some designers are very clear that they don’t provide them, others may only mention they don’t in their lengthy terms and conditions document.
What to keep in mind about design files:
- If you take a PDF, .png or .jpg file to a designer, they will have to reproduce the content from scratch in order to make a slight change. It’s much cheaper to provide the original design files and just pay for the changes.
- Don’t get too excited about finding a super cheap rate until you know those original design files are included.
- Ensure the quote you’ve received assigns you the ownership of all designs and includes the handover of all design files to you by the time you make your final payment.
You’ll know you have the right file types when every PDF or raster (e.g. JPEG, GIF, PNG) file also comes with a vector version (e.g. EPS, AI), which you can’t open without suitable software.
Some print jobs will also require specific file types. You want all file types possible on hand for future use to save you the time of going back and waiting for the original designer and, potentially, additional costs.
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Mac computers and Google Drive will generally let you preview any files to check which design type it is.
To make it easier for your designer to transfer ownership of these files for you, provide them with a Google Drive or Dropbox folder to upload everything to.
To check they’ve been uploaded within a week of paying the final invoice, set a reminder in your calendar to check they’ve all been uploaded within a week of paying the final invoice.
Revision rounds
Your estimate or quote should mention revision rounds. Full stop. Namely, how many there are for each stage of the project, even if there are none.
It should also note revisions rounds, or similar wording, rather than just revisions.
What’s the difference between revisions and revision rounds?
A revision is one single change to a design (for example, changing the text and nothing else).
A revision round is an opportunity to list all of the changes (beyond a single revision) on a design. Think changing text, altering layout or adjusting colours.
Two rounds of revisions would look like this:
- Your designer sends you the first design to review.
- You compile one list with all your changes – once you communicate this list to the designer, the revision round is finished.
- Your designer sends you a second version of the design, which shows all your requested changes.
- You have a second and last chance to request any final changes by providing your designer with another list. Once you communicate this list to the designer, any further changes may incur additional costs.
- Different stages of the project may be limited in the type of revisions included. For example, once you’ve approved a website design and your website is built, the revision rounds might not include significant layout changes as this should have been signed off during the design stage.
Your designer should alert you when you’re requesting something outside of the original scope and not surprise you with an addition to your invoice at the end of the job, though it’s worth confirming your expectations regarding this in your initial quote discussions if you’re unsure.
Printing costs
A 101 on what to consider when hiring a designer: if it’s relevant to your design job, check if your designer has included the cost of printing, or whether you will only receive print-ready files at the end.
Even better, ask your designer if they recommend printers for your job if they don’t do this themselves. It’s also worth talking to printers before you engage a designer, so you have a price to compare with.
Plus, if you’re going to be printing in large quantities, design decisions could be made to realise significant savings (e.g. single-sided business cards are cheaper than double-sided, or really large jobs may be impacted by the use of ink).
Digital storage
While some designers will resend work they’ve done for you well beyond your agreement has finished, most will tell you that you need to save the files somewhere safe as they don’t keep them.
Some will even charge an admin fee to retrieve them from their archives – so don’t ignore their instructions to download all the files they have provided and save them in your own digital folders!
This includes all the design files in case you need to engage a new designer to make some adjustments.
So, it’s worthwhile checking whether this is an additional fee before you start.
Website technical hygiene
Technical hygiene is critically important. Who is going to build in the SEO considerations and user friendliness? Who will implement the correct contact forms? Who is responsible for updating the ongoing API feed connection of embedded plugins?
Is that you, or them? Is there an ongoing management fee for it being them? If it’s you, is it easy enough for you to do? Some other things to consider when ensuring the digital upkeep of your website:
- Are touch-friendly elements incorporated for mobile users?
- Does the designer include responsive design elements, like adjusting the layout to fit various screen sizes?
- Will the design keep SEO considerations front of mind, and how much experience do they have in this?
- Are there any post-launch SEO services included?
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If there is no ongoing SEO maintenance or support included in your designer’s package, request that your designer provide a video walk-through showing you how to do it for your own reference later.
This is very easy through software like Loom and should only take a few minutes for them to record. You can then share that information with a virtual assistant to take care of SEO maintenance and updates.
Who owns the final intellectual property rights, trademark or copyright for your designs?
We defer to the Australian legal experts at Foundd Legal here.
Foundd Legal recognise the impact budget limitations have on your ability to protect your IP, and the overwhelm caused by the risk of spending money. Some of our favourite touch-up reads for your knowledge base:
- Trademark vs copyright: What’s the difference?
- Protecting your intellectual property as an online business?
- Someone has stolen my graphic artwork! What can I do?
- A photographer’s guide to all things legal for your photography business
- 6 things to know before you register a trademark
Post-launch support and maintenance
After your website goes live, ongoing maintenance is crucial for ensuring its smooth performance. Our final thing to keep in mind for what you should consider before hiring a web designer is the ongoing work. Be sure to discuss with the designer what kind of support they offer after the project is completed and how these tasks will be delegated.
Things to ask your web designer about post-launch:
- Do they offer training on how to manage the website on your own?
- What kind of technical support do they provide if something breaks? Who will be updating the security patches, content updates, plugin updates and spam filters?
- Do all leads and enquiries come through the contact form to your email inbox? Are there any other productive syncs or collaborations that can be built into this to make this more efficient? Can they assist with future updates and redesigns?
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We recommend always sourcing more than just one quote – ideally, three is your rule.
If you have an upcoming project that could use some specialised web design support, it’s free to post a job on the VA Lead Network, and you’ll have instant access to some of the best and brightest VA web design talents in the country.
Our team can even help you better tailor your job posting for higher quality applicants.
Ultimately, there is a huge range of designers out there, and the pricing can vary wildly.
It’s important you find a designer that suits your style and your budget. So while you don’t want to go with a designer just because they are cheap – it’s worth making sure you look around.
No designer should be personally offended if you do.
Happy designing!
