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Helping webmasters that are having their first paysite designed to get the best out of the designer

Article by Sarah_Webinc from Webinc.com

Deciding to hire a professional design company is a vital step for anyone preparing to launch a new paysite. If it your first time having a paysite professionally designed the process can feel more than a bit daunting. There is more to finding the best design company for your project than just finding the best price. However, if you prepare yourself before you approach a designer the whole design process from start to finish can go a lot faster.

The following are a few tips for making the relationship between you and your designer as productive and painless as possible.

Give your project a realistic deadline:

If you read any of the threads on the industry message boards when a webmaster is looking to hire a designer you will find that a good number of the design requests are from people that are stressing that they need their design done ASAP. The truth is that most of the quality designers are in such demand that it will often take them at least a week before they can get to a new design order.

It isn't that they are dragging their feet but more that they would rather take a reasonable time to produce the best possible design and that means that people that are demanding their design 'today!' are going to have to be turned away. Which leaves those webmasters with either having to postpone their project until the top quality paysite designer is available or settle for a lesser quality design from a design company that has quicker turn around times.

The simple way to avoid such a situation is to plan ahead and give yourself enough time between contacting a design company and your deadline. In an ideal world it would be best to start hunting for your designer a month before your deadline so that even in the busiest times most paysite design companies will be able to turn around your project in the required time.

Have an idea of the style you want for your site:

Think of talking to your designer for the first time as a bit like going into a hairdressers for a haircut. You wouldn't simply sit down into the chair and let the hairdresser loose on your head with out any direction. Instead, you are likely to have looked through magazines for pictures of a hairstyle you would like to try. Prior to going to the designer it is a good idea to have spent some time looking around at other websites so that you can get a feel for both the styles of design you like and those you don't like. No reputable designer would offer to copy another sites design but if you can show them examples of the type of site design you want it will be much easier for them to design the site you really want. It wouldn't even hurt to look through the company's own portfolio for ideas.

One Size doesn't fit all:

Most design companies have design packages that they advertise on their site. Each package will likely include a splash page, a certain number tour pages, a join page and maybe some banners. While it is true that there is usually at least one design package on order that will meet the needs of most of that design company's customers that doesn't mean they will be exactly what you need for your project. You might need more tour pages then those offered in a package or you might need a member's area template designed instead of a join page. Look at these set packages as suggestions rather than rules. There is no reason why you can't contact the design company and ask for an individual quote based on the exact number of pages and types of pages you want.

Be prepared:

It may sound like common sense but it is best to approach a designer after you have already collected all the content needed for your site. This way the designer will be able to start as soon possible rather than waiting for you to get them the content they need to design your site. Plus, when you have all your content you are best able to pick out the pictures you want to use on your tour and promotional materials.

Also remember that a tour is made up of more than just pictures. Text is also a vital tool in seducing a potential member for your site but yet it is often overlooked with a webmaster goes to a designer. Most design companies will be more than happy to help you with some of the text but they can't be expected to be experts on all the niches for which they design sites. So, it is a good idea to think through ideas for the text you want before you go to the designer. Also, if English isn't your first language don't be afraid to ask the designer if their company also offers a translation service that would be able to translate text from your native language into perfect English.

Don't forget the design companies are offering a service:

Design companies are offering a service but so many of the designers and their webmaster clients forget about the service side of the transaction. A company may offer great prices and good design but if they don't provide a professional service then they aren't really value for money.

It is important to do your best to figure out how responsive a design company is prior to placing your order. Make your first approach to the company through ICQ. If there isn't an icq number on their site at all that should be a big red flag but most do have an icq number on the site. Send a message to their ICQ and see the sort of response you get. If they take ages or never get back to you then it should give you an idea of how important communicating with their clients is to them.

If you do get a timely response to your message the best thing to do is to request your quote through the ICQ conversation so you can determine how well their spokesperson communicates in your language. It is acceptable for the design companies representative on ICQ not to have all the answers to all of your questions but how happy they are to find the information for you will give you an indication of how interested they are in helping you. If they aren't interested in giving you good service when you are a potential client it should make you wonder what the service will be like once you have booked your design.