You evaluated your old website, set goals for a new site, and developed a redesign strategy. Maybe you’ve started writing your website copy and gathering photos. Now’s the time to partner with a web designer. If you don’t already know and trust one, where should you begin?

1. Define a Budget

First, consider how much you’re willing to spend on a site. Your budget will determine the quality of web designer you can hire. Designers with hands-on experience and a solid education (self-taught and/or formal) will require more compensation. As with several other types of products (think very low-priced clothing, automobiles, and appliances), bargain-basement sites can ultimately cost you more because of poor quality and untapped potential. An excellent web designer knows how to instill value in your website and make the design long-lasting.

With this caveat, think about how much business your site could attract and retain, and decide on a budget you are comfortable with. This number or range will be one of several determining factors in your designer selection.

2. Search for a Designer

How do you find a high-quality web designer? Start by requesting referrals. Who have your friends and colleagues worked with, and would they recommend them? Log onto LinkedIn and check your immediate and extended network. Does anyone have ties to a professional web designer?

Next, try searching the web. Check for web designers in your city, state, or beyond. Many designers have out-of-state or out-of-country clients. The array of modern communication tools facilitates the remote working process.

You can also browse various sites and note designs you admire. Check the footer to see if a design credit is listed, or get in touch with the site owner to see who built the site.

3. Evaluate Design Candidates

After rounding up several candidates, review each of their business sites carefully. Is the presentation professional? Has the designer described his/her background in the industry? Browse the designer’s portfolio and decide if his/her aesthetics and abilities would be a good fit for your project. If you’ve chosen a CMSA CMS or Content Management System allow a website administrator to update the site content with little or no knowledge of code., interactive features, and functionality for your site, note any relevant experience and samples.*

Begin the process of requesting estimates. Conscientious designers will interview you about your project. They’ll ask about your business, your goals for the new site, your timeline, and your budget. This discussion will allow the designer to write a proposal.

With several proposals on hand, compare and contrast them. Note how each document arrived. The appearance, organization, and details will indicate the candidate’s thoroughness and preview what it would be like working with him/her. Has each designer summarized your interview? Which proposal best fulfills your site requirements?

After selecting the best designer for your project, you’ll begin the exciting process of building a new site to represent your business.

*If you find a potential candidate online, consider contacting the person’s former clients to see if they had good working experiences. A person searching for a web design company once contacted me and asked if I could recommend a particular business. He believed I was a former client because the company had listed my site in their portfolio. The web design company claimed to have developed my site. Needless to say, I was shocked to find a fabricated portfolio, and I informed the person who had emailed me of this. It’s worthwhile to do a little sleuthing when relying on web searches.

After evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your current site, you should be ready to map your new site. Recording your redesign goals will help you during this and later stages. You may aim to increase business, strengthen brand perception, and better connect with current customers. Write your reasons down so you can refer to them as you progress through your project.

How will you address these goals? Your strategy can surround the site’s structure, visual perception, interactive features & functionality, platform, search engine optimization, and maintenance. Analyzing these six areas will jumpstart your redesign project.

1. Structure

Start by outlining your site structure. This should be a list of pages indicating hierarchy and a description of content for each page. You can repurpose your current site architecture if your visitors find it intuitive. Or start anew. Refer to competitors’ sites and examine their organizational ideas.

Keep in mind that online audiences often expect certain pages in universal navigation,A site's universal navigation is the menu included on all pages. including: Home, About, and Contact. You may wish to include these pages in your main menu and meet their expectation.

When deciding on content placement, consider your existing resources and those you can create. Do you have a company logo, print materials, and branding specifications? What about photos and videos? Where can this content be used most advantageously? High-quality assets that complement your business will prove invaluable during the design phase.

Engaging copy likewise is essential. Short, informative paragraphs written specifically for the web should grace your pages. Decide now how this copy will be created. Are you going to write it yourself, or do you need to hire a copywriter? The lack of ready website copy is one of the most common missing site assets and will delay your project.

Whatever structure you finalize, consciously decide what will make sense to your visitors and highlight your company’s strengths.

2. Visual Perception

How should the site be perceived? Choose several descriptive adjectives that align with your brand. Should the design be modern, innovative, spare & minimalistic, sophisticated, rich & bold, or casual? Your choice will guide the design decisions and affect the overall website appeal.

3. Interactive Features & Functionality

Selecting the right interactive feature set will captivate your audience. A slideshow on the home page, for example, could showcase your best photos, promote your current campaigns, and present a refreshed front. Other functionality can make your pages more compelling while increasing usability. Depending on your site content and goals, you may consider enhancements such as accordion lists, social media integration, media galleries, custom Google Maps, and an e-newsletter signup.

4. Platform

Your site’s CMSA CMS or Content Management System allow a website administrator to update the site content with little or no knowledge of code. will affect multiple factors during site creation and after launch. The platform will determine which developers you can work with, the features you can incorporate, the speed of development, and how easily you can update the site. Popular platforms include: Joomla!, Drupal, ExpressionEngine, DotNetNuke, TinyCMS, MODX, and WordPress. Quiz the experts on which will best satisfy your project requirements.

5. Search Engine Optimization

Is it important that Google indexes your company? If so, plan on optimizing your site for search engines. Decide on your keywords and weave them into the site copy. Ask your web developer to put these keywords into your site’s title tag. The developer can also add a sitemap, robots.txt file,Robots.txt is a plain text file placed on your server. Read by many search engines, it provides instructions on which directories to index and which to ignore. and interlinksInterlinks are body copy links that allow users to visit other relevant pages on the site. to improve SEO.

After your site launches, you can continue to work towards search-engine success. On an ongoing basis, seek inbound links from an array of sites. Possible targets are: search engines, internet phone books, directories, social bookmarking & social media sites, forums, and blogs.

6. Maintenance

Resolve to update your site on a regular basis. New, interesting content gives your customers a reason to revisit and interact with your company. How often can you commit to writing posts and adding new media? Be realistic in your commitments and build them into your schedule.

Conclusion

Though the planning process is detailed, reflecting on the above areas will help you form a sound project strategy. An effective, long-lasting website that satisfies your goals will reward all your efforts.

Redesigning a website can seem like an insurmountable task. A few weeks of careful forethought and planning make the process easier. You can choose which aspects of your current site to apply to the new site and which to eliminate.

Love the way the site is organized, but dislike how difficult it is to update? Or maybe your site was visibly designed 10 years ago? As outlined in a previous post, the most compelling reasons for a redesign include: 1) the website uses previously-dominant development techniques, 2) the design and content don’t reflect your business, and 3) the site suffers from low traffic. Luckily, you remedy these problems with your new site.

Two key ways to evaluate your website are gathering customer and internal feedback and analyzing your Google Analytics reports.

1. Customer and Internal Feedback

Since your customers are representative of your target audience, their opinions are invaluable. Can they easily find the information they need on the site? Ask them how often they visit the site and if the structure makes sense. You can collect your clients’ feedback through informal conversations or more direct methods. Email a short survey to your clients, or send a hard copy with a stamped envelope.

If you work with a team, some of the same tactics can be used for gathering internal feedback. What are your co-workers experiences with the site? Does the design accurately represent the company? Upon launch, you and your team members should be proud of your site and anxious to share it with potential customers.

2. Google Analytics

If you have Google Analytics installed, part of the planning process should involve combing through its data. The software reveals helpful information such as the number of people visiting your site, where they are geographically based, and what sites referred them.

Google Analytics allows you to evaluate your site content. To view which pages are the most popular, login and select your profile. Click “Content” in the left nav and then “Site Content” and “All Pages” in the dropdowns. The report on the right will rank your pages according to pageviews. Which pages on your site are viewed the most and least? Click the “Avg. Time on Page” column header to sort the content based on time spent on pages.

Under the “Site Content” dropdown, you can also view your site’s “Landing PagesInstead of first visiting the home page, some users enter the site via a subpage or landing page.” and “Exit Pages.” Can you replicate aspects of your top landing pages? At minimum, note their URLs so you can incorporate them into the new site. Conversely, the site’s top exit pages require examination. Why are they sending visitors away? The design, functionality, and content of your exit pages are areas you should consider.

Conclusion

Instead of rushing into wireframing and design stages, you can learn from the strengths and shortcomings of your current site. The feedback and reports you gather can inspire your redesign goals. At the end of your evaluation process, you can create a website that meets your business needs.

Beyond keeping basic client records, it’s important to track and assess business leads. About a year ago, I researched several ways to accomplish this. I discovered the incredibly useful online app, Capsule.

Capsule includes basic CRM features but also allows you to track project opportunities. The Sales Pipeline page is the hub of this activity. You associate your contacts with opportunities and categorize these possible projects by their latest milestones. Capsule provides a default set of milestones, or you can use your own. As you complete stages, Capsule suggests your “probability of winning” the project increases. The app uses the resulting percentage and the expected value of your open project opportunities to assign a dollar amount value to your Pipeline. You can use this number to inspire your marketing and follow-up efforts and to roughly predict your income.

Capsule can improve your business approach in additional areas. It has helped me with the following:

1. Developing a Consistent Project Creation Process

When adding an opportunity, I assign it a custom “Project Creation Process” track. This is a series of staggered to-do’s. Capsule emails these tasks to my inbox, ensuring I don’t forget about an important step.

2. Following Up With Potential Clients

The Sales Pipeline links to a page of open project opportunities. I check this list about once a week and know who to follow up with. I can also see which clients are “not today,” or have decided to put their project on hold. I occasionally reach out to these contacts to keep the lines of communication open.

3. Evaluating Proposal Success

To evaluate the effectiveness of my proposals, I compare the number of won and lost project opportunities in the last 30, 90, and 360 days. Capsule even pinpoints my proposals’ conversion rate. This data helps me analyze my proposal and follow-up process.

The automated and consistent aspects of Capsule’s project tracks, calculations, and its overall lead tracking system make it an invaluable business tool.

Shortly after entering the business world, I learned the importance of detailed customer records. I worked at a financial advisory firm for about a year. Every day my co-workers and I depended on the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software known as ACT. We recorded every single meeting, phone call, and email through this program. We scheduled reminders to get in touch with clients in 6-month or annual intervals.

ACT allowed the advisors to work seamlessly together. With a few clicks, they could each access the full history of client communications. Even if only one person typically interacted with a client, anyone can suffer from a memory lapse. And reminders were a great tool so no customer was forgotten.

As a freelance designer, I work in an entirely different realm. I’ve found great value, however, in the CRM practices I learned years ago. I use Highrise by 37 Signals on a daily basis. Though it’s not close to the robust feature set of ACT, it’s a sufficient way to maintain a database of clients and colleagues. The data is stored online, so you can work from any connected device.

When I’m trying to remember the last conversation I had with a colleague, Highrise allows me to review our communications. And the easy-to-set tasks remind to reach out to clients at a future date.

Whether you work with ACT, Highrise, or different CRM software, these applications makes it easy to focus on your customers. Let me know if you’ve found a system that works for you!

Much like the previous year, my work in 2012 concentrated on web design and development. In some projects I was solely the designer, establishing the look and feel of a website (eg. the Bell Sports Product Page). In others, I focused on development and integrated functionality into static designs (eg. the Park Tread Site). The majority of my projects combined the two roles. For clients such as St. Luke School, Rodeowave Entertainment, and Dr. Cynthia Bulik, I designed and developed custom WordPress themes. These clean and modern themes provide my clients with professional, long-lasting designs and allow them to manage content on their sites.

Because of my diverse clientele, I was privileged to learn more about several areas. I now know more about marketing for fields such as primary education, the music business, and the publishing industry. In all my projects, I strived for an optimal user experience. My design work for a local custom product manufacturer, for example, revolved around creating a fluid and enjoyable shopping experience. Coordinating with the company owner, I created an intuitive checkout process. (This site will launch later this year.)

I continued to contract occasionally for Nemo Design. Projects like the Nike Athletic Training Digital Directive and the Nike Surfing Site kept my schedule interesting and varied. And the many Nemo antics (eg. Mimosa Fridays and a Kentucky Derby Celebration) are always entertaining.

Luckily I spent some necessary time away from my computer. I attended two conferences – WordCamp San Francisco and WordCamp Portland. The chance to mill about and learn from my fellow WordPress enthusiasts was really valuable. I also participated in two art classes – Screen Printing at the Multnomah Art Center and Jewelry Making at PCC. Getting away from my screen while still exploring art helped relieve some stress.

I ventured on three memorable, just-for-fun trips – Hearst Castle (flew to San Francisco and then took the train to William Randolph Hearst’s former abode), Nashville (for my dad’s 70th birthday), and Gatlinburg (hiked to Laurel Falls with my parents and sister on Christmas Day).

The combination of work, continued education, and travel made 2012 an exciting and successful year.

My recent mailing to clients and associates featured hand-assembled cards. Along with my New Year’s wish, I included an updated version of last year’s post-its. These notes, with checkboxes down the side, are ready for 2013 resolutions. Or maybe today’s action items!

Happy 2013!

When embarking on the freelance career, many revel in the freedom and flexibility offered by the lifestyle. You are your own boss, so passion and self-initiative drive your everyday schedule. You control the types of projects your company accepts. Achieving the highly-sought-after “work-life balance” is much easier.

Not all aspects of the independent business life are joyous, however. The administrative and project management work are your responsibility. You must consistently market your services, even when at full capacity with billable work. Gone is the lovely cushion of paid time off.

Slaunwhite, Gandia, and Savage address each of these hurdles and more from their unique perspectives. All three are successful copywriters, but most of their tips apply to any profession. My favorite tenets from the book include:

1. Get started immediately instead of researching further.

If you have a goal, don’t research for weeks on end or wait until “everything’s perfect” to pursue it. Gather enough information to make an informed decision and take action. Keep learning along the way and adjust as necessary.

2. Be tenacious; endure the joy of discipline.

Adhering to your business guidelines such as a defined work schedule, a project process, and a marketing plan will help your business grow.

3. Wealthy freelancers design a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Despite the hardships and stresses, directly controlling your career will improve your quality of life. The rewards make the journey worthwhile.

If you’d like to gather pages of inspiration and action items about improving the state of your business, I recommend checking this book out.