If you are on the look out for a Web Designer there are a few things you should consider.

• Have the web design company got a good portfolio of past projects?
• Do they rank well in search engines?
• Can you see evidence of repeat business in their portfolio from existing clients?

The above are 3 simple points to check before you select a web designer, evidence of repeat business from one particular client can often show that the company’s clients are happy to re-use them often proving that they have a good after care service and support, it’s really does worry me how many web design companies are out there that give a really powerful sales pitch but offer no form of ongoing support or care to their clients.

Repeat business counts for a good amount of our work and we adopt the principal that if you look after a current client it can often develop further business not only from that client but if they are happy to reccomend you to others, word of mouth advertising is certainly one of the best forms of advertising.

So remember when selecting a Web Designer or Ecommerce Web Design company, check their portfolio, evidence of repeat business and you should be well on your way to a great website.

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Been a  web designer goes without saying that to succeed in the industry you have to know it pretty much inside out, keeping up with the latest disciplines and technology can be a time consuming factor and difficult for many. Its very important that the web design company keep upto date with the technology whether it be, Google, CSS, HTML, Search Engine Optimisation, Javascript or anything else linked to web design.

However, alot of designers make the mistake of overlooking the important client related factors, below are some tips to keeping your clients happy and some well known mistakes made by many web designers in today’s competitive market.

Be a Successful Web Designer

Aim to Beat Your Timescales

This is one of the most common complaints in the web design industry, so many companies competing for the work and doing everything in their power to get the projects in, one of the most common complaints is web designers failing to meet timescales they have given, think if you were expecting to get your brand new car and the dealer tells you it will be in and ready in 3 weeks you will be excited probably prepared the garage and organised a day out to then find out its not ready and will be another 2 weeks, then another 2 weeks, this is exactly what happens with many web design agencies in today’s market.
Use your previous experience to estimate a timescale, then double it, and add abit onto that for problems and sometimes client response time. If you meet deadlines, or more importantly beat them your more likely to get repeat business, word of mouth recommendations which are by far better than any advertising, you could soon see your business turnover rapidly increase the more clients you impress with your timescales.

Communication. Updates, Communication, Updates. Communication, and more Updates!

I can’t stress how important communication is when it comes to managing your clients.
Clients simply love to be kept in the know, be in regular emails, telephone calls they will love the fact your letting them know what stage you are at.
Sometimes websites go through stages of silence where you are developing backend databases, programming codes that the client wont understand, don’t leave this for weeks without contact, drop them regular emails, the odd telephone call will give them so much more confidence in your work.

When creating initial designs do that bit more than just sending them a jpg, code your design into a quick html page and load it to the web, let them see it online in a browser, its amazing how many people like a design when they see it in a simple jpg format then change when its online in a browser, avoid this and get it right first time.

Send clients regular updates by email of progress, let them know any hurdles you may hit in the project, certainly if it is going to delay it, call them and explain the reason for this delay in development.

Another problem many web designers face that work across all sectors is the lack of experience in a clients industry, go that extra mile, don’t just rely on the client to give you the information, search for their competitors websites and do some research into the industry, I recently took on a project for a lighting supplier who supply emergency lighting, before I went to meet with the client I spent a good few hours on wikipedia, looking at their competitors websites and gathering as much information as possible on their industry, this will help you no end in the design and development process of the website design.

Go that extra mile and impress your clients and let the word of mouth advertising promote your business.

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