A website is often the first impression that potential customers get of your business. Having a professionally designed, functional, and visually appealing website is crucial to portraying a positive image, building trust, and ultimately driving more sales and leads. Hiring the right web designer is a key step for small businesses in Glasgow looking to establish or improve their online presence.
However, finding and evaluating web design professionals in your local area can be daunting. Here, we will cover the key characteristics of a well-designed website, what roles web designers play, what to look for when hiring, and the benefits of partnering with a local web design agency or freelancer in Glasgow. With these tips, you can make a well-informed decision when hiring a web designer for your Glasgow business.
5 Characteristics of a Good Website
Before you can assess the skills of a prospective web designer based in Glasgow, it helps to know what defines a quality, effective website in the first place. Here are 5 key characteristics:
- Visually Appealing – A good web design is aesthetically pleasing and uses color schemes, fonts, layouts, imagery, and other elements that align with your brand identity. This helps convince visitors your business is credible and professional.
- Easy to Navigate – The navigation menus, calls to action, and layout make it simple and intuitive for visitors to find what they want. This improves user experience and reduces bounce rates.
- Optimized for Mobile – With Google prioritizing mobile-friendly pages, sites must dynamically adapt to fit the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. This expands accessibility for on-the-go users.
- Fast Load Times – Quick page load speeds enhance user experience and search engine rankings. Design choices like image compression, efficient code, and minimal HTTP requests optimize speed.
- Secure and Functional – A site should have SSL encryption, follow coding best practices, render properly across browsers, have working forms, and flawlessly facilitate key site functionality.
The 4 Key Roles of Web Designers
Web designers generally serve a combination of 4 primary roles:
- Visual Designer – This role focuses purely on a website’s aesthetics and visual presentation. The visual designer makes decisions on color schemes, fonts, layouts, styling, imagery, icons, and graphical elements to make the site appealing while aligning with brand identity. They may create style guides and mockups showing design frameworks and visual treatments for pages. The visual designer collaborates with front-end developers to translate their vision into actual code and site presentation.
- User Experience (UX) Designer – UX designers structure the architecture and flow of site content and features to optimize ease-of-use, intuition, and streamlined visitor workflows. This includes information architecture mapping out content categories, taxonomies, and naming. UX designers also wireframe key pages showing page elements and user paths to achieve goals. The work of UX designers and visual designers overlaps, with UX focusing more on content hierarchy and interactions while visuals establish aesthetics.
- Front-End Web Developer – Front-end developers receive mockups, style guides, and other directions from visual and UX designers and then program the underlying HTML, CSS, JavaScript/jQuery, and other front-end code that determines how site content and graphics will actually render and respond. They code accessibility and responsive design features so site presentation adapts to any device. Front-end coding also connects sites to back-end platforms if needed.
- Back-End Web Developer – For sites like e-commerce stores, membership portals, or web apps with advanced functionality, back-end programming builds all this custom site logic for key features. Back-end code connects the front-end interface to databases, server-side languages like PHP, and frameworks like WordPress or Magento if used. The work of back-end developers enables complex sites and dynamic features well beyond standard brochureware sites.
The first two roles of visual design and UX design focus on the strategic frameworks for site presentation and user flows. The developer roles translate plans into actual code making concepts reality. Many web designers encompass both strategy and development, with some specializing more in certain areas. Analyzing their competencies guides you in choosing a designer aligned to your site goals. Those with expanded expertise across roles or specific skills in facets like back-end programming for complex sites warrant higher price points.
What to Look for When Hiring a Web Designer in Glasgow
When hiring a web designer in Glasgow, there are a few key factors to evaluate:
Experience:
Seasoned web designers have worked on diverse site types and projects. Ask prospective candidates about specific examples of their prior web design work, including the goals, challenges, and outcomes. This reveals the actual skill level.
Portfolio :
A portfolio with 4-5 real-world web design projects is telling. Review sites they’ve designed to see if you like the aesthetics, layouts, and functionality. Also, check if portfolio sites load fast.
References :
Talk to 1-2 past web design clients referenced by prospects. Ask if they delivered on time and budget, met goals, were responsive in support, and would be hired again. Client reviews are invaluable.
Communication:
Strong listening and communication skills ensure designers understand your brand, goals, and preferences to translate them accurately into website designs. Assess this during consultations.
Price:
Quoted prices depend on project scope and designer seniority levels. Expect to pay more for custom designs rather than templated sites. Compare fee structures of designers fitting your needs and budget.
Customization:
Choose a designer who will create a completely customized website design, not just templates. This results in a more tailored site aligned closely with your brand image.
Local Presence:
Opting for a web design firm with an office or freelancer based in Glasgow makes in-person meetings and onsite support much easier compared to remote-only providers.
The Benefits of Hiring a Local Web Designer
There are several advantages to engaging web design talent within Glasgow versus outsourced or offshore options:
Local Knowledge:
A web designer in Glasgow will possess an intimate understanding of regional business norms, local search trends/patterns, and community preferences that apply to development choices and optimization approaches for city-based enterprises.
Relationships:
Utilizing a Glasgow-based designer often strengthens community relationships through supporting local talent. Their established regional professional networks also aid collaborations on other digital services as needs arise.
Support:
Quick, dependable support for website issues is a core advantage of a local designer. The designer’s Glasgow location enables rapid response for downtime emergencies or urgent troubleshooting best addressed face-to-face.
Trend Expertise:
Local designers frequently showcase their knowledge of emerging web technologies and design program tools relevant to Glasgow customer preferences, which they have gained through interactions with diverse area clients.
Reduced Risk:
A respectable Glasgow designer with numerous case studies/testimonials lowers potential project risk associated with unknown outsourced providers who might disappear without finishing the website or be difficult to reach afterward.
Lower Operating Costs:
Utilizing a local Glasgow web professional with no overseas fees or communication barriers has lowered project cost/complexity over the years through shared language, currency, and streamlined coordination.
Conclusion
An eye-catching, functional website is invaluable in positioning a Glasgow business as a premium provider versus competitors. Hiring the right web designer is thus a worthwhile investment. This guide covers the critical website design characteristics to look for and the roles web designers play. Evaluating designers on experience, portfolios, and references ensures you select one with the visual design skills and technical expertise to fulfill your business goals. Opting for a local Glasgow-based web design firm or freelancer also has many advantages. Follow these tips to hire a web designer capable of taking your online presence to the next level confidently.
