So you need to know how to choose a website designers in Johannesburg.
Before we jump in to a guide on how to choose best website designers, saglobal.co.za is one of the top agencies in Johannesburg.
They offer the following services, website design and development, ecommerce and mobile app development.
To access their services, simple visit their website and request a quote.
Consequently, you must understand how to pick a website designer.
But the issue is as follows.
The most useful and accurate response is “it depends.”
In the history of website design, there have never been more options available.
Contrarily though, having so many options makes making a decision harder than ever.
Knowing exactly what you need is the key to making sensible decisions, as opposed to trying to sift and filter all the options available.
Put aside the notion of the “best” and instead list your precise wants, demands, and objectives, just like you would with any other significant purchase, such as a home, car, appliance, etc.
Usually, the solution that is ideal for you will choose itself.
To put it another way, pick a website designer by eliminating candidates who don’t meet your needs rather than looking for the perfect match.
Here’s how to go through the process of elimination to get the best website designer for your project with that idea in mind.
List Your Technology Requirements
What functionality do you require for your website?
Are you planning to create a “brochure site,” a website that contains your contact details and basic information?
Or are you hoping to create something that has a certain feature?
The sort of web designer, developer, or agency you will need to hire will be determined by this phase, which is crucial.
Most of the time, a pure-play web designer doesn’t deal with HTML, CSS, much less classic web languages like Javascript, PHP, etc.
The primary concerns of pure-play web designers are branding, color schemes, images, feel, and user experience. They often utilize Photoshop.
To put a design into practice, a pure-play online designer frequently collaborates with a front-end web developer.
The user navigates and views a website’s front end.
A front-end developer will be familiar with “back-end” technology and have knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
Databases, scripts, APIs, and generally ensuring that all of the systems are properly communicating with one another make up back-end technology.
Now – it’s probable that you’ll employ someone who is an authority in one, knowledgeable in another, and experienced in the third.
They will have all three if you employ an agency.
Additionally, a lot of designers, developers, and organizations will use some platforms that come with built-in fundamental functionality.
Utilizing these platforms can facilitate a quicker and more affordable approach.
It also indicates that the customer (you) must be somewhat knowledgeable about the technologies they are utilizing.
However, the key thing you need to consider is how much functionality your website requires.
This will affect the kind of website designer you require and how to talk about their workflow.
What To Consider
- What feature do you need right now?
- How do you hope to see your website develop?
- Do you need to maintain and change the material on your site?
- Do visitors to your site need to interact with it in any way?
What To Avoid
- Keep your notions and ideas specific.
- Prevent unintentional technological lock-in.
Scenario Examples
Consider a fresh clothing line.
- Do you place more emphasis on creating content or selling clothing?
- Do you have inventory to manage?
- Would you like to create a community?
- What kind of social presence do you wish to incorporate?
Although it could be more difficult to manage inventory and social integration, a web designer might create a self-hosted WordPress website to handle the content and then integrate ecommerce with an ecommerce plugin.
They might also create a Shopify website to concentrate on e-commerce and social media, but this could interfere with your ambitious content goals.
Consider creating a new nonprofit website.
- Are you qualified to run and maintain the website?
- Do you require portal logins or donation capabilities?
- Do you require integration with any specific profiles?
A self-hosted WordPress website might be readily integrated with contributions and may be inexpensive to establish, but without someone who is proficient with the platform, it would be more difficult to maintain over time.
They might alternatively utilize a hosted website builder, such as Wix or WordPress.com, which might have less features up front but is much simpler to maintain internally over time.
Now, the website designers in Johannesburg you select should be competent and adaptable.
It is preferable to put your faith in someone you already know to comprehend your wants in-depth.
Identify Your Design Needs
What feel and design do you want your website to have?
It’s hard to comprehend how challenging it is to transform a nebulous notion from someone else’s head into a physical work unless you’ve had to create anything for a customer.
Although there are some awful designers out there, generally speaking, the more clear your requirements are, the better product you’ll receive.
Draw something, anything, to represent even the most straightforward course you desire.
Outline your complaints about the current designs.
Additionally, remember that you may create certain design elements on your own and hire a web designer to turn those assets into a website design.
For instance, I’ve had customers hire a photographer and hire a web designer to create a website style centered around their incredible expert photographs.
You may use it to find the best web designers in Johannesburg once you have all your details written down.
What To Consider
The ideal web designer in Johannesburg will be able to inform you of the practicality of certain features, appearances, etc.
Consider the procedure you would want to use.
- Do you desire options at each step?
- How do you like to provide and accept criticism?
- What elements of the design are the most crucial?
- What are you prepared to sacrifice or put first when it comes to money?
What To Avoid
- Avoid designers who are unable to describe their strategy for solving a design challenge.
Be wary of designers that lack a clear process. - For both of you and them, a documented design process is ideal.
Feedback cycles can go on indefinitely, frustrating everyone. - Be as detailed as concrete as you can, especially while expressing feelings.
Outline Your Business Needs
What function does your website provide for your company?
A portion of this will relate to your design and technological requirements, but it’s crucial to take into account before you decide on your budget and scope.
Consider your company’s marketing strategy and customer acquisition methods.
How does/will your website generate leads and sales?
Will your sales representatives and referral sources provide it as a brochure?
Or will you need to use your website to generate fresh leads from internet users?
Will it have to interface with any operational procedures like order processing, bookkeeping, or inventory management?
Do you wish to use marketing and sales automation to shift your business activities online?
Do you intend to combine any current software suppliers with your website in the near or distant future?
What To Consider
- Consider your company’s immediate and long-term demands.
- Consider your domain names, as well as the arrangement you desire for your email and internet services.
- Consider the added value of your website. How many leads may it generate?
How much is a fresh lead worth?
What To Avoid
- Avoid making your website too complicated; integrations and adaptability will make it last.
- Your website is an investment, so try not to think of it as a cost.
- Avoid designers who cannot build out the functionality you want or who can not deal with integrations.
- Stay away from designers who can’t justify modifying your current business practices.
- Avoid designers that are unable to articulate how and why their strategy will be effective over the medium term.
- Avoid using “duct tape” or hasty fixes.
Scenario Examples
Consider a neighborhood property management.
A “brochure website” for an accounting business that just directs visitors to phone and in-person consultations could be successful.
Perhaps a good brochure website will do.
What happens though if the company decides to add client tools, secure portals, content marketing, direct listings, etc.?
A website that can grow and change over time would be necessary for such functionalities.
It can be worthwhile to hire a designer to create a self-hosted website.
Consider starting a new jewelry company.
A jewelry store that only conducts business on Etsy would wish to communicate with consumers through a blog.
On a hosted site like WordPress.com, getting a unique theme could be simple.
However, it can also be preferable to start out in a different route and incorporate Etsy or establish the groundwork for an online business that is not Etsy.
Outline Your Scope & Budget
What resources do you currently have in terms of time and money?
And if you’re thinking that “as inexpensive as possible” is the best option, you shouldn’t be looking for a bespoke website designers in Johannesburg.
You should consider other choices.
Your website is not an expense; it is an investment.
If you go about it the same way you would go about buying office pens in quantity…
then you won’t obtain the outcome you seek.
Now, I appreciate your desire to maximize your investment’s return.
However, keep in mind that it’s typically preferable to maximize return rather than reduce investment.
What To Consider
- Consider your current cash flow scenario.List the value of a single new lead.
- List all current expenses related to having a subpar or nonexistent website.
- List the priorities for features, functionality, and design decisions.
- Consider the payback term when you amortize your budget.
In other words, R750.00 each month if your budget is R10 000.00 and you anticipate the site lasting 50 months.
Does it reflect the outcome you anticipated?
What To Avoid
- Always link your budget to scope or value to avoid thinking about it in isolation.
- Don’t believe that you can have it all.
Consider maintaining a flexible mindset. - Avoid considering your endeavor as a one-and-done.
Consider the recurring expenses for you, your team, or your designer.
Establish Your Sources & Contingency Plans
What kind of designer are you looking for?
How can you locate them, too?
The bad news is that it might be difficult to locate skilled website designers.
The good news is that your rivals are unaware of this.
You’ll have a lot wider selection of options if you put in the effort to identify the best website designers in Johannesburg.
What To Consider
There is a significant demand for good website designers.
Spending a lot of money on advertising and acquisition usually indicates a large agency with a churn and burn strategy.
Good website designers seek for clientele who share their values.
When I used to deal with customers for web design, I would choose a wonderful client for half the money over a lousy client.
In reality, there comes a time when there isn’t enough money to take on a lousy customer.
The exchange of ideas and information is not chargeable.
You and the designer both lose out from that.
The better is to be more detailed.
What To Avoid
- Search for what other people are searching for.
- Expecting more than is realistic considering the amount of work you’ve invested into a platform or individual.
Where To Look
You could always conduct a Google search right now.
But I guarantee you’ll probably be let down.
Here are several more suitable locations to look.
Request for Proposals
The next step is to submit a proposal now that you have a few website designers in Johannesburg to pick from.
Your possibilities will be better the better your proposal is.
Consider how you, as a site designer, would like to be contacted.
Would you like a cryptic email inquiring about the price of a website?
Or would you rather a thorough explanation of the job and a rough estimate of the cost?
What To Consider
The quickest, easiest, and most accurate approach to communicate with a website designer is to provide a rough budget.
Your budget does not affect your final cost; however, it does affect who you even speak to.
To offer an analogy, it’s how web designers determine if you’re looking for a pre-owned Toyota Corolla or a brand-new Ferrari.
Make accepting your project simple, keep the core query and next step short and concise.
What To Avoid
- Avert sending several emails that are only feelers with no plans to hire.
- Sending emails with too many requests or too much information is not advisable.
Follow-Up Questions and Reference Requests
The project will proceed in the manner that the designer in Johannesburg specifies up front.
Over a project, communication never gets better; instead, it becomes worse.
Look for a high bar to begin with.
What To Consider
- You are utilizing your specifications, inquiries, and information to weed out potential site designers.
- Consider your priorities – both sending too few and too many queries are problematic.
What To Avoid
Don’t take complete control of the process.
Keep in mind that the questions the designer asks you might reveal just as much about you as the questions you ask them.
Try not to make the designer make too many changes.
Do this entire step over the phone if you believe a call will be required throughout the design process.
Ask For A Contract and Project Plan.
Everyone benefits from clear expectations in writing for every interaction.
You need to be able to select best website designers in Johannesburg at this stage.
The next step is to ask the designer you wish to work with for a contract and a project plan.
A written agreement benefits *everyone* involved in the endeavor.
An adjudicating body, fees, obligations, and “deliverables” should all be clearly stated in the contract.
A project plan aids in everyone’s understanding of goals, duties, and deadlines.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to achieve this.
However, it should make it obvious who is in charge of what and when.
Last but not least, make sure to politely refuse from the designers you did not select.
Even if it’s only “Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.”
We’ve chosen to collaborate with a different business.
We’ll keep your business in mind for recommendations and upcoming projects.
Everyone will avoid pointless follow-ups thanks to you.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Selecting a website designers in Johannesburg need not be a difficult task fraught with anxiety and uncertainty.
It does call for you to be very clear about what you want, when you want it, and how you anticipate things to go.
If you stick to the steps, you won’t have any trouble finding a professional website designer.
