Choosing a Website Developer in the Bay Area: Tips you Need to Know to Avoid Hiring the Wrong Web Developers and Designers

You are finally ready to bring your business to the next level: It is time to get a good website for your business, or if ever you already have a site, get a significant upgrade for your old one. Let us assume that you have already tackled the first problem which is creating a suitable website for your business. You know the site is perfectly built for you.

You do not have time to learn all the ins and outs of web designing. Even designers themselves or other Bay Area web development agencies have things that they don’t know when it comes to designing. At least 50% of startup and small businesses outsource their website and graphic design, that’s according to a report conducted by WASP Barcode 2016 State of Small Businesses.

That’s just one of the many issues. How much will it cost? Do you want to everything done, from top to bottom or only a section of your website? Where can you find the right designer for your project? How can you make sure they are the right one and if they are good or not? They are all excellent questions, and here is how to answer these issues:

How much will it cost?

Website designer’s hourly rates can vary from $15 to over $100 an hour depending on their experience. An average hourly rate is somewhere between $40 to $75 an hour. It is beneficial information, but it does not tell you the actual cost of your new website. How do you know if you have five hours or fifty hours of work?

To give you an average estimate, a six-page site can cost around $700 to $800. For example, the designer asks for a $60 an hour rate, one page will take approximately two hours to complete, that’s $60 times 2 hours, and since you asked for a six-page website, multiply that by six.

That is around $720 for a six-page site. That’s just a rough estimate. A web designer can add another $300 for developing the design and for the time they spent coordinating with you. For an elaborate re-design, you will be looking at around $1,680.

It includes one to two hours per page to re-design or re-do the old pages, an additional two hours for every new page. All are billed at around $80 an hour — a lot more expensive the first design mentioned above. Maybe the designer has more experience, or the design is more complicated that is why the prices vary. Some startup or small business owners don’t have that kind of money to spend.

If you can only spend $500 or less on a website, it can be done. But you need to remember that you will get what you pay for. The best way to make a website without spending a lot of money is to do it yourself using site builder tools like Yodle, Weebly, or Wix.

What are website building tools? Visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_builder to know more.

Do you want to everything done, from top to bottom or just a section of your website?

Knowing what kind of job, you want with your site will help you figure out how much money you need to spend on your project. It is also important to choose which designer to hire. For example, if you are just a startup, small company, or micro business, you may only need to make a six-page site.

The basic pages will be enough. It includes the Homepage, Contact Us, About Us, Testimonial page, Our Services and Pricing, and a landing page or events page. That is enough for a first step if you don’t have a big budget to spend on a website.

Where can you find the right designer for your project?

If you haven’t made a “Websites you like” list, you better make one. It will serve as a guide for your website. It will give you an idea on how you want your website to look like. If it is possible, you need to contact the owners of each website. Find out the company that made their site.

In most cases, it will be a full-time employee that makes their website. It is possible that these people will help you when they are not busy, but it is better if you can find a self-employed, full-time website designer. In addition to having a site list, you need to reach out to some business groups or business people you are connected to. There are times that a name will pop up during your research.

If you are lucky, one company will keep coming out as you check every company’s web designer. List down three, often mentioned names of designers. Contact them and tell them what your specifications for your website and give them the list of sites that you like. Make sure:

• They are available to do the project.
• The price of their services is within your budget.
• They can provide at least one or two references.
• They can set up your website in a way that you can make edits easily after they turn over the site to you.
• You don’t forget to ask their payment schedules.
• They can provide you with deadline schedules as well as milestone throughout the project.

Hopefully, you can find the best web designer who can help you make your site and a good business partner that can help you promote your business site.