There are lots of sites where you can have individuals and teams bid on building a website for you (i.e., elance.com, guru.com, etc.). But unless your site is straightforward and simple, you might want to reconsider. Hiring a web designer should be more about finding the right partner and forming a long-term relationship.

Hiring a web designer isn’t a one night stand

Outlining a series of specifications, a list of pages, and having one or two phone or email conversations isn’t a strong foundation for achieving the best web design results. Sure, it might obtain you a ridiculously low-priced estimate - but these low-cost alternatives rarely go smoothly. They’re often fraught with problems. Overseas developers can introduce time-shifting troubles (since they’re halfway around the world). and language barriers. But even if that all works out, we’ve never heard of a low-ball project that actually came in on budget. Sometimes it’s feature creep. Other times it’s simply a miscommunication between the teams. But there’s always some unseen “complication” or “up-charge” that seems to pop up.

Moreover, it’s been our experience that the best website outcomes aren’t accomplished overnight or in a few weeks. They continue to evolve over time. Perhaps it’s because we do a lot of ecommerce websites, or because we generally provide more services than just web design. But after we launch a newly designed site it’s seldom the end-of-the-line.

There’s always room for improvement.

The design and initial execution is only the first step. Post-launch we run A/B tests, monitor traffic, review seo results, conversions, etc. We’ll tweak copy, page designs, create content, and start building landing pages for online campaigns. Rarely do we simply hand-off the site and wish the recipients “good luck.” Instead we prefer to forge long-lasting, fruitful partnerships. After all, it’s not a field of dreams - just because you build it doesn’t mean they’ll come.

Our advice, consider you’re courting your web designer

If you’re shopping on price alone or if your site is very simple, then definitely try the bidding sites. We hope it works out well. But if your site is complex or in-depth or needs more than simple web design - start dating (interviewing) web designers looking for your perfect partner. Think of it like trying to find Mr. or Mrs. Right. Don’t rush into a relationship. Make sure you truly know who you’re getting into bed with. If you hire correctly, you’ll be working together happily for years. Hire poorly, you’ll be divorced faster than a Kardashian, and it’ll cost you dearly.