By Bernardo Carvalho, BRAVO MEDIA http://www.bravomedia.co.uk

Expert advice from BRAVO MEDIA’s Senior PM Bernardo Carvalho on how to choose a web designer

Creating a website certainly does not pose a strenuous job these days. You could buy an “off-the-shelve” package with the domain name and email facilities. The problem with this approach is that your website will mostly look like all the other thousands of other sites that have been created in the same way, and it surely will have a long list of crippling limitations.

Another option is to try and ask a friend to do it for you. However unless the person understands about usability, have excellent technical and creative skills and has some precious time to spare for creating and updating the site, you will probably end up with something that will cause damage to your business profile.

So here are my TOP 10 TIPS on how to get a website that will work for your business, and the good news is, following this advice will not require you to re-mortgage your house. In fact getting a fantastic website should be an investment that brings you very significant returns. After all, your site is the face of your business to the internet and probably the first place people will look for information about what you are selling. So it is imperative that the visitor leaves with a positive impression, or even better: makes an enquiry or purchase there and then.


1) Get your website designed by a professional. Do you get your haircut done by the grocery storeowner that likes to do a bit of styling on his spare time? I didn’t think so.
2) Look at the web design company’s own site. Is the site easy to use? Is the content and navigation well structured?
3) Check where they are based, as it might be hard to get support by calling up your programmer in Hong Kong during business hours.
4) Ask what hosting company will be looking after your site, there is a lot of free stuff you can get and the support is generally far better if you use a well known provider.
5) Ask about their previous clients, and the links to their websites. You see any evidence the Web design company actually has created those sites?
6) Think about what you want on your website, only absolutely relevant material should be included. Try to keep the amount of text to a minimum; nobody wants to read pages of text on a computer screen. Keep it clear and simple.
7) Watch out for the colours you want to use; these should match your logo and brand, and should have good contrast with the text to make it easy to read. Also check if these are Web Safe.
8) Get at least two quotes from separate Web design agencies so you have an idea of what you are getting for you money.
9) Consider other technologies to go along with the site, such as Email newsletters to stay in touch with your visitors,
10) Finally you could use the free Google Analytics, which will give you detailed information on who is visiting your site.


Want to know more information on Website design, email newsletters, E-commerce or corporate branding?
Contact BRAVO MEDIA:
Bernardo Carvalho, Managing Director
Tel: 0207 1931210
Web: http://www.bravomedia.co.uk