Update
I’m getting way more than the normal (almost laughably low) number of hits on this article, and wanted to address some of the comments I’m seeing around some link/news sites. This guide is intentionally simplistic and meant to help people that have no experience dealing with designer/developers. It is not the end all be all of deciding to hire someone. These are warning signs, not drop dead deal breakers.
Perhaps speaking to the arrogance and altruism of some freelance web designer/developers, a Google search of “web designer warning signs” yields plenty of results written from the perspective of a web designer looking out for “bad clients.” This is important, and there are certainly bad clients, but I couldn’t find (in the first few pages, anyway) the reverse perspective.
If you’re in a position to hire an independent web designer (and more and more people are these days, especially with the proliferation of start ups and smaller companies), there are plenty of red flags you should look out for. If you’re talking to a person to do your small organization’s site and they exhibit one of these behaviors, be warned. If you can mark off more than two, find someone else. These rules are specifically for freelance web developer/designers. They may not apply to bigger firms, copy writers, marketing consultants, etc.
hotmail.com email address
Or yahoo.com, or aol.com. This is usually (but not always) a sign that the person doesn’t have a good grasp on branding for the web and is probably in general not really web-savvy. A good web presence has it’s own domain name and doesn’t rely on free consumer services like these. Hotmail puts ads at the bottom of your professional emails! One exception might be Gmail, because Gmail is actually pretty awesome and many web people take advantage of it.
Glorious SEO Promises
Any web developer that guarantees you will be on the first page of Google (or any search engine) is lying to your face. Anyone who says that they know the “insider secrets” of search engine optimization are lying too. SEO is a voodoo science. There are plenty of respectable, honest SEO/marketing firms that can help your site help your business, and they won’t make these kinds of promises.
Look for: “I can create the site in a way that makes it easy for search engines to index, but your content is what drives search engine rankings.”
Avoid: “Your revolutionary social networking site will be on the first two pages of Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask Jeeves, Lycos, and AltaVista for every imaginable keyword.”
100% Browser Perfection
Your website isn’t going to look 100% the same in all browsers on all operating systems. It isn’t possible unless the whole site is wrapped in a plugin (like Flash), and anyone that says they can do it is setting you up for disappointment. On a related note, as a general guideline, don’t work with a web developer who uses Internet Explorer as his or her main browser. Almost all legitimate web designer/developers loathe IE.
Look for: “Your site will look great in modern browsers and degrade gracefully while retaining functionality on older browsers.”
Avoid: “All of my sites look perfect in all browsers, back to NSCA Mosaic”
“I make Flash sites”
Chances are, if you’re reading this, you don’t want a Flash site. Flash sites, in my opinion, are good for highly interactive micro-sites, marketing pieces, tech demos, etc. An informational website for a smaller organization has zero reason to be hidden behind Flash. Flash sites (especially bad ones) hurt accessibility and SEO, besides being generally annoying, and don’t play nice with the most popular mobile devices. If the developer pushes Flash on you or says they can only do Flash sites, stay away.
Look for: “I have experience with Flash, but we shouldn’t do a Flash site without carefully considering your needs.”
Avoid: “I build shiny, interactive flash sites with lots of motion and eye catching, attention getting animations and effects that set you apart from the competition.” Load of bullshit right there.
Ridiculous Turn-around and/or Improbable Pricing
If someone tells you your site will be ready in three days, either the site is going to be extremely generic, with little to no attention to detail or customization for your brand, or they’re lying. Same goes for “websites starting at $49” or some other ridiculous proposition. A lot of times these sites are outsourced to overseas developers using templates who are interested in one thing only: getting as many sites done in one day as possible. Don’t waste your time.
Look for: “I work at a rate representative of my skills and experience. You can meet and talk with myself (or my team) throughout the project. I can give you a rough timeline, but there are many factors that can affect when your site will hit the web.”
Avoid: “Your website will be ready in four hours for $15, or your money back.”
You’ll never have to know any markup!
Many designers can and will set you up with a content management system (CMS). This is a great way to be able to edit the content on your site without having to deal with the markup/code directly. Be wary, though of promises that you’ll be able to do this all without knowing any HTML. Even the best text editor on the best CMS is still guessing at writing markup for you. It’s just the way the web works. Invest 20 minutes (literally) of your time to learn basic HTML (or Mark Down, or Textile) tags. If you’re going to be publishing web content, this is a skill you must have.
Look for: “I can install a nice CMS for your site and show you basic markup skills so you can make technically sound edits to your web content. Alternatively, I can make these edits for you as part of our contract.”
Avoid: “Edit your site’s content just like editing a Word document! No intertube skillz required.”
“Site by” credits—just say no
You should never allow anyone to put their own branding on your web presence. Never, ever, ever. The only exception could be pro boon work for a non-profit or something of that nature. Most designers, once they ask for this, will allow you to decline, but the mere suggestion is an indicator of shaky practices. I can count on one hand the sites I’ve seen that were well done and had a “site by” credit at the bottom.
Look for: “No, I’m not going to put my logo/contact info on your site! That’s super tasteless and makes you look cheap. I appreciate referrals if you are satisfied with my work!”
Avoid: “A requirement of my contract is that you let me put my self-serving watermark on the bottom of your website”
Design background is key
If you’re in the mindset of starting up a new company or creating a site for your organization, you likely see technical skills as the number one barrier to getting the site online. A lot of people fall into the trap that all “computer people” can make websites because they’re “good with that kind of stuff”. Don’t forget the brand strategy, design, and attention to visual detail a good web designer will bring to the table. A 10 year veteran of software development will be great at building a database backend, but will likely be clueless on the design front. Remember, your visitors don’t care about the code behind your site, they care about their experience!
Look for: “I am skilled in web programming, but I have a strong interest and background in graphic and user interface design and internet branding strategy. Here are some examples of my design work.”
Avoid: “70 years experience in .NET, VB, C++, C#, Pascal, AS, JS, PHP, MySQL, ASP, BASIC, ASM, and punch card binary.”
Ask around
This list is not all-inclusive, and every situation is different. It’s best to ask around, use referrals, and make every effort to educate yourself on how websites work and are built. Hope this helps.
