website designer

The world is online and you should be too. If you don’t already have a website, you’re putting your business at a huge disadvantage. Time to hire Greymouse! But where exactly do you start? Here’s a primer on hiring a web designer: what you need, where you should look, and how you can best prepare to hire new staff.

Know how to hire staff

If you’re just starting out, it’s essential that you have everything in place before you start searching for employees. There’s nothing worse than hiring a killer web designer — only to bungle basic things like equipment or payroll.

Always have your area set up and ready for employees. Have a robust payroll system in place that includes time tracking features to simplify team management and employee timesheets. You might also look at a system that includes payroll and inventory integration, real-time reporting, and the ability to use it on the road through a mobile app.

Know what you need

The world of design and development is a big one. Some designers specialize in e-commerce, while some specialize in app development. Some specialize in the front end, while some in the back end — the list goes on.

When you’re hiring a killer designer, you have to know what skills you need them to have. Are you building an e-commerce website? Perhaps you’re building a multi-level game app? Whatever you’re building, you have to know what skills are needed to help you achieve your goals.

Do some research into how your target product is made. Understand what type of coding is used, how it’s designed, and what scope you need. If in doubt, consult us.

Know your budget

In the web development world, you get what you pay for. This means you need to know what the going rate for good design is and be able to meet that demand. Do some research and figure out what your competition is paying for their own talent. Be ready to meet or exceed that benchmark.

Knowing your budget is essential when hiring a web designer. Be prepared to pay for the skills you need and pay well. Anything less than that is going to net you sub-parr talent and land you in hot water.

Know where to look

There’s very little use in advertising for web design services in the local paper. Your audience isn’t there and it’ll be a waste of money. Instead, you should look to online platforms.

Generic job seeker platforms are a good start but can be a mixed bag of talent. If you want to be proactive about your search, you should do some research and figure out where your ideal employee spends their time online. Look into specialized message boards or design platforms. Social media can also be a boon — platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, particularly if you have a robust presence there yourself, can be great sources of talent.

Know how to test their skills

Hiring a web designer is much like hiring any other employee: You need to ensure they have the skills they claim to have. This is where a paid trial can come in handy. It allows you to see how they’d work on the job and lets them prove their skills in a real-world environment.

Just take note of the “paid” part of that sentence. If you organize an unpaid trial, any designer worth their salt is going to walk away from the opportunity because you’ve proven to them you don’t value their skills.

Hire smart

Hiring a web designer can be tricky. You have to know what you need, where to look, and be in a good position to hire staff. Now you know a little more about how to hire the best person for the job. Take a look at our portfolio to see if we’re a good fit!