Communicating with your web designer can be hard at the best of times. They are usually very good at what they are doing but getting your design ideas relayed to them is not always easy because typically web designers aren’t good communicators. Here are some good tips getting your site to look the way you want:

  1. KISS. It’s and old saying, keep it simple student but it is very effective in this case. Web designers are very good at taking the detail to the enth degree, and in some cases starting with too much detail can end up making your site way to cluttered and also very different to what you want.
  2. DRAW. Alot of people probably aren’t all that visual but if it doesn’t look good on paper it’s probably not going to look good on a site either. I suggest that you draw some layout ideas on paper, scan them and email them to your designer. Many good web designers will prefer this as it gives them a great entry to work from.
  3. BE CLEAR. This may sound obvious but in alot of cases a client doesn’t really have a clear picture of what they want and when they get a mockup design of the site done, they are disappointed that it doesn’t look like what they had in mind. Your web designer isn’t a mind reader (although if he/she was this would save alot of hassles ;)). Look for different site examples and borrow ideas. Once your layout is pretty clear in your mind, draw it or email the sites to your designer. They can take it from there.
  4. HAVE REALISTIC TIMELINES. If all that you want a simple 5-8 page site done and the 1st mockup has been given the green light by you, your designer may only take a few hours to finish this task but if you plugins for ecommerce, membership databases or custom work that needs done it will take longer. Your designer should be able to give you a clear picture before they commence work on the timeline.
  5. TAKE CHARGE. Remember who your designer works for, if you don’t like a mockup of your site, tell them. Their role is to build what you want or tell you that what you want isn’t buildable. Many customers see their mockup and settle for second best only to be disappointed in 3-6 months time when there are limitations or the design is outdated.
  6. DON’T PAY THEM UP FRONT. The industry standard is to pay a deposit but you also want to hold back a generous portion of the fee until it is delivered upon and you are happy. If you pay them up front they will most likely want to finish the job as soon as possible to maximise their profit margins.

It’s possible that follow all of these steps and still have a site that you are not happy with. The main cause for this is that you have the wrong designer or an inexperienced graduate. Ask to see their previous work. Remember, you don’t want to just be a resume builder. If they can’t do the job then it doesn’t make a difference how cheap they are. In the end you will end up paying anyway for a redevelopment.

If you are looking for a brisbane web designer and want someone that has strong communication skills and knows what they are doing contact www.gcommerce.com.au and they will be more than happy to help.