I'll bet you're wondering why you're wasting your time reading a tutorial (written by a web designer) on finding a great designer. I'm sure you think there's some sort of trick here, but there really isn't. Even though I can build a website in a day, I don't necessarily have one day to dillydally with my own projects. Anyone with a busy life knows that time is more important than money and that's usually when people come to the conclusion that they need to find a web designer to do the dirty work.

Finding designers is as easy as waiving a dollar bill in the air. Keeping a designer and making your project easy and palatable takes a little more work.

Things You Need to Think About to Help your Designer

[1 Money]     How much money are you willing to spend on this project? You'll need to make a deposit ($50 - $200 is standard), pay for hosting ($40 a year), buy your domain name ($10), and pay for the rest of the website including additional fees for time, graphic design, photo shoots, etc. Most designers don't want to hide the costs from you, they just forget that people don't already know. Explain your project in full and ask for an exact price.

[2 Time]     Do you need to write the text for the site. Gather the photos. Talk to designers, find one you like, and explain your project. They need between 2 weeks and 3 months to design your site. Ask them how long. Every time you delay on providing them with information, the site is delayed.

[3 Content]     What is your site going to be all about? Are you selling something? Informing people? Visually explaining most things? Textually explaining things? Will it require frequent updates? Will you need someone do this for you or are you going to need to do it yourself? What categories do you need?

[4 Design]     Everyone's worst nightmare is a designer building something that is extremely... not... right. A cloth diaper company that has a black & chrome site with a repeated spike background. So, minimize the chances of that happening and familiarize yourself with the other sites out there like the one you're trying to build. Make a list of sites you like-- some for color, some for the way the content looks, maybe some for the cool menu, etc. Send them to your web designer and they'll be grateful!

Things To Look for In a Designer

Well, this part is easier. There's only one rule-- trust your gut.
Does someone seem a little fishy? Trust your guts and don't work with them. Qualified web designers rarely try to play games with your head. If you think about it, there's really no need. As far as we're concerned, every person on earth needs a website-- so the market is unlimited. However, because web design is a terrain where many people are still completely uninformed, you get web vultures. You'll need to trust your designer with all your information, maybe even your credit card. If you can never feel comfortable with someone who hasn't shaken your hand, arrange a meeting and never agree to work virtually. If you can tell by emails, great! It'll help.

Good luck!