Have You Been Burned? | It's Hard to Trust Another Company Again After a Horrible Experience

A lot of my clients come to me because whoever designed their current website didn't do what they had hoped ... didn't do what they had promised .. or they dropped off the face of the earth all together and my clients are at a loss because that website designer had full control and they can't make changes without their help.  This is all bad stuff.

If you have been burned in the past it's going to be hard to trust another person to do that job again - and to trust that person will actually DO IT this time around ... well, yeah!!  If you are considering hiring someone to redesign or recode your website or to start from scratch and completely reinvent your company online, here are some questions you should be asking to make sure you have it all covered:

1.  Will you be selecting the images or will I be choosing what images I want used on each page of the site?

This is an important question!  Images these days are EVERYTHING!!!  With my clients, I image select for every page and gallery using the same editorial eye I used while creating publications for Style Unveiled ... and I am extremely picky about what I put out there in the world.  Not everyone can do that!  So, if you are working with a techie coder, you may want to be sure that you have a hand in every image that goes on your site ... or that you hire a 'designer' to work alongside the coder to make sure your website not only has up to date code, but is pleasing to the eye as well.

 2.  When the website is complete, how easy will it be for me to update the entire look and/or images on the homepage or the galleries?

Your homepage will mostly likely be the first thing a potential clients sees when they hop into your online world .. it's gotta ROCK!  It's gotta be CURRENT!  It's gotta make you SHINE!!  With something like weddings, which trend change almost monthly, you need to be able to update your galleries and homepage with ease ... it shouldn't be something that costs you hundreds of dollars each time just to hire your coder to upload an image or change the theme/colors.  Every website I redesign can be fully updated in under an hour ... sometimes even under 15 minutes.  You need to know what you are in for down the road with image changes or color updates ... and make sure you understand that if your new site is going to be super hard to update and change, you will be the one paying that bill.  I teach all my clients how to make simple and search engine optimized changes to their site.

3.  Will you search engine optimize my urls, images, and blog for online search friendliness?

What f*cking good will your website and blog do you if it's not optimized for online searches?  Not any.  A great website designer will add the layers of SEO as they design your site so that NOTHING is missing!  I have had way too many of my clients or potential clients come to me and show me their site and say "the person said they search engine optimized it for me" ... I do my tests and see that NONE of it is helping them ... it's really sad!  Here's the thing:  there are people out there who will take advantage of the fact that you probably know nothing about SEO ... so when they say "yeah, it's on there" - you just believe them because you don't know any better.  These people are BAD people and have zero business designing websites for people :(

4.  Will my website and blog be mobile device friendly?

OMG ... if the answer to this question is 'no' ... MOVE ON!!!  DO NOT HIRE THIS PERSON ;)  Also, get in your contract that they guarantee every page and image will be mobile friendly and if it's not, you get ALL your money back!  Every website and blog I design is 100000000% mobile device friendly.  I have a potential client now who was promised a mobile friendly website and blog and it's not at all ... and their designer isn't doing anything about it.  You need to get the security before you move forward with hiring them (as far as a refund if it's broken on a cell phone or ipad) because the only way you'll know if it's mobile friendly??? That's right:  when the work is done and the site is live.  Don't get screwed over in this way!

>> Some other considerations before hiring someone to redesign your website <<

• How easy are they to get a hold of?  The last thing you want is to be waiting for days and days to hear back or get something fixed if your website gets all wonky!!  You need someone who can fix problems ASAP!!
• Do they know weddings?  Weddings are a special niche ... they are an EMOTIONAL niche ... you need someone to design your website who understands the type of client you are trying to reach.
• Do they allow you to help in the process?  If you are hiring someone who doesn't let you have final say over your website design, that's bad news!!  This is YOUR online face ... you need to be able to have input on what is out there in the world regarding your services and product.

Want to know my approach to website design?  Contact me and we'll chat!

XO~ Heather