The 6 Types of Web Designers
The various types of web designer include:
- Freelancers offer cost-effective options compared to larger teams, but seasoned freelancers might charge higher rates reflecting their expertise.
- Agencies have a diverse team of highly skilled professionals for all aspects of web design and digital marketing, ensuring a well-rounded and strategic approach to enhancing your website.
- In-house Teams ensure loyalty and minimise potential conflicts of interest for various aspects, but involve greater cost implications.
- Offshore Companies may provide cost savings and access to experts with specialised knowledge, but managing security and communication across different time zones can be challenging.
- Hourly Rate Designers allow for a pay-as-you-go approach, making them suitable for smaller, short-term projects and effective for budget management.
- DIYing your website may be the most affordable option, but it may take significantly longer to build without the expertise and might not look or function as well as hiring a web designer.
Considering Hiring a Web Designer?
If you are considering hiring someone to create a website for your business, you may be trying to figure out the different types of web designers available and who to choose. These include freelancers, agencies, offshore companies and in-house teams, each with different benefits and pricing structures.
If you are struggling to decide which website designer is right for your business, we can help by guiding you through the options and explaining what qualities make a good web designer great.
The Various Types of Web Designers
Whether you opt for a freelancer, agency, in-house team, offshore company, hourly rates or DIY, let’s see what each type of web designer has to offer to best suit your business requirements.
Freelancer Web Designers
As a solo operator, freelancers offer a cost-effective option compared to larger teams while delivering quality work. However, seasoned freelancers might charge higher rates, reflecting their expertise. Consequently, the adage “you get what you pay for” rings true for freelancers. While less experienced web designers may offer more affordable rates, highly skilled designers may demand higher fees, resulting in higher quality work.
Moreover, freelancers may provide personalised attention to your project and may be willing to accommodate your specific requirements, whether part-time or full-time. Their specialisation in certain areas of web design means they may need to outsource certain tasks or seek additional expertise to address various aspects of your project due to their independent work structure. Additionally, reaching them in case of illness or holidays may pose challenges.
Agency Web Designers
Web design agencies typically take pride in having a diverse team of professionals who are highly skilled in all aspects of web design. This includes web developers, copywriters, and marketing and SEO experts, ensuring a well-rounded and strategic approach to enhancing your online presence.
While their services may come with a higher price tag compared to freelancers, the depth and breadth of expertise offered by agencies often lead to highly impactful and successful results. When working with agencies, you can expect ongoing support and maintenance for your website even after the initial web design is completed. Furthermore, they usually provide convenient and accessible channels for communication, making them easy to reach via phone or email.
In-House Web Design Team
Employing an in-house team for web design services is commonly observed in larger companies due to its significance and greater cost implications. This approach involves direct employment by the company, which includes expenses such as salaries, pensions, and holiday pay.
Nonetheless, the team’s exclusive dedication to a company’s web design requirements ensures loyalty and minimises potential conflicts of interest for various aspects such as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). The advantage of an in-house team is their ability to deliver efficiency and high-quality results if the right people are recruited. If you own a small business, in-house teams might not be the right choice for you.
Offshore Web Design Companies
Hiring offshore web design companies has the potential to provide cost savings while boosting operational efficiency. In addition, such companies may offer access to experts with a wealth of experience and specialised knowledge in your particular industry.
However, you may encounter logistical challenges, such as managing communication across different time zones without face-to-face interactions. Furthermore, it could be difficult to monitor their proficiency and the quality of their work until they deliver the final product, by which point making changes may not be feasible. You might also have security concerns with them not residing in the UK.
Hourly Rate Web Designers
Platforms like Fiverr offer the option to hire web designers based on an hourly rate. This pay-as-you-go approach allows you to pay for the actual hours worked rather than in advance, making it ideal for smaller, short-term projects and effective for budget management.
While this might be a cheaper option to go for, these website designers may be hit and miss, as you may encounter experienced freelancers as well as novices or students with limited knowledge and skills. Additionally, keeping track of their dedication to your project could also be challenging.
DIY Web Designers
If you are thinking about designing your website yourself or having a friend or family member do it for you, it is important to do your research first. While this may be the most affordable web designer option, without expertise, it could take significantly longer to build. Additionally, they won’t necessarily have expertise in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) or CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation).
Using website builders like GoDaddy may be easier, but you will be limited by template-based designs, which may not give you the professional look you need for your business. You also won’t have access to ongoing support or SEO experts, and as your business grows, you may not be able to add features like a quote calculator or customer review widgets.
What Types of Websites Are There?
You might be surprised to hear that there are many types of websites, and it is highly unlikely that you will come across two identical ones. Depending on the type of web designer you hire, you may also find that some specialise in certain websites as opposed to others.
Some websites are dedicated to e-commerce, which involves the online sale of goods. Additionally, there are informative websites with brochures, crowdfunding websites, educational websites, forums, social media platforms, subscription websites like Netflix, booking websites for accommodation and activities, websites for trades and services, and more.
What Are the Different Types of Website Builders?
There is a wide variety of website builders to choose from in today’s market, from WordPress to Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and Webflow. Each of these platforms offers different levels of usability, aesthetics, functionality, content management systems, and scalability. Therefore, depending on the specific needs of your business, one website builder may be more well-suited than others. For those needing an e-commerce website, Shopify, Squarespace, or WooCommerce are excellent options. Alternatively, WordPress, Wix and Webflow are great for building websites to showcase your business, services or trade. Some sites are more complex than others when creating a website. Therefore, they may require more expertise with specialists in web development than others. If you are interested in learning more, feel free to explore our blog post, which delves into detail about the various types of website builders available.
What Makes a Good Web Designer Great?
When looking for a website designer, consider the following key factors to differentiate a good web designer from a great one. If they promise to get your website to rank number one on Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), you should be wary as they may not be knowledgeable or could be misleading you.
1. Communication
A great website designer with strong communication skills will thoroughly understand your needs, leading to a website built to your precise specifications. Providing detailed information will result in a more tailored and effective website.
Although experts at creating websites, they may not possess complete knowledge about your business, making clear communication essential. Therefore, it is vital to select a designer who is easily accessible via phone or email.
2. Expertise
It is crucial to select a web designer with the expertise and ability to develop a visually appealing, user-friendly, and fully functional website. While your new website may look nice, its practicality and ease of navigation are equally important. Otherwise, visitors to your site may not stay long if they encounter issues with its performance or user experience.
3. Specialisation
Web designers who specialise in a narrow range of industries and focus on specific types of websites can deliver top-tier work for your website while also saving you valuable time and resources in the long term.
For example, a designer specialising in brochure sites can craft a website that adeptly showcases your products or services in a compelling and informative manner. Conversely, an e-commerce specialist can ensure that your online store is not only user-friendly but also protected with security measures and optimised for driving sales. Moreover, website designers proficient in using a single builder can ensure that your website is designed for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
4. Longevity
Unfortunately, many web freelancers and companies come and go in the industry, which can limit your options for long-term maintenance and updates for your website. Finding a reliable team of website designers who can provide ongoing support is essential. Selecting a company with a proven track record will give you the confidence that your website will receive consistent updates, security measures, and maintenance to keep it up-to-date and functioning optimally for the long run.
5. Honesty and Transparency
Make sure your web designer is honest about what they can and cannot do. Ask for a detailed list of the services they provide and their costs. If you choose SEO, you will also need information on how well your website is performing. You don’t want any unexpected costs or surprises halfway through building your website.
6. Support
You should carefully select individuals who are responsive and easy to collaborate with. Choosing a website designer who provides ongoing support and maintenance services is vital to keep your website functioning well. It is frustrating to encounter a “404 error – page not found” on your website and not know how to resolve it. Your visibility to your customers is crucial, so any major issues should be addressed promptly.
7. Reviews
Checking reviews and feedback from past clients is an excellent way to gauge a web designer’s expertise, work quality, and customer service. Examining their portfolio is also essential to assessing whether their previous work aligns with your needs.
8. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
It is crucial to consider whether the website designer is capable of building an SEO-optimised website. This means creating a website with search engines in mind to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs). It also involves conducting keyword research to understand what your target audience is searching for and creating informative, relevant, and helpful content about your services.
In addition, it is highly advantageous to have a unified approach to web design and search engine optimisation by integrating SEO into the website development process. This means having the same team that designed your website also handle the SEO aspect, as they are already familiar with your website and business goals. In turn, this approach can lead to optimal performance in search engine rankings and the overall user experience of your website.
9. CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)
It is also important to select a web designer who can optimise a website for conversation rate optimisation. This entails designing the website to turn visitors into customers or leads. Just attracting people to your website is not enough. If they leave quickly, they are unlikely to become paying customers or interact with your business.
10. User Experience (UX)
Your website should prioritise user experience with easy-to-use navigation, compelling content, and prominent calls to action that prompt visitors to engage with it. By focusing on creating a website that delivers an excellent user experience, you can significantly increase the potential for visitors to stay on your site, explore your content, and ultimately become loyal customers.
11. Compatibility
Your website must be compatible with different devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and desktops, to ensure it looks good on all screen sizes. However, Google’s search engines prioritise indexing your website’s mobile version. This means if your website is not mobile-friendly, it will not appear on search engine pages.
Need the Right Web Designer for Your Business?
So, there you have it: the different types of web designers and what makes a good website designer great. If you need an SEO-optimised, New Website, the Web Design and SEO Company could well be the ideal choice for you.
Who do we work with exactly?
We work with lots of tradespeople, such as plumbers, heating engineers, electricians, tree surgeons, gardeners, decorators, and conservatory installers, among others – up and down the UK.
We also work with other Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, such as Consultants & Advisors, Business Services, Driving Instructors, Pet Services, Engineers, Manufacturing Companies, Motorhome Hire, Holiday Cottages, and B&Bs to name a few!
Get in Touch
If you are interested in our SEO-optimised Websites and SEO Services, head to our Online Shop for Websites for Small Businesses and Tradesmen. Alternatively, if you have unique functionality and/or styling requirements, Book a Call with us for a Bespoke Website Design.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to explore our Knowledge Hub, where you’ll find FAQs and useful resources, such as Blogs, Videos, and even eBooks on choosing the right website design company and SEO agency for your Trades or Small Business.
You can also reach us by calling 01752 291865, messaging us on WhatsApp on 07457 404241, completing our contact form, or starting a Live Chat now!