Whether you’re building a site from scratch or you’re ready to revamp an existing website, your web designer is an integral part of the process. Web designers work on the visual elements of a website like the text, graphics, videos, and animations.

Your site's user experience is driven by the work a web designer does, which also impacts SEO.

Hiring the right web designer is important, so don’t get stuck in any of the following common mistakes.

Not Paying Enough

Don’t base every part of your decision of who to hire on money. Yes, you likely have a budget you need to stick to, but you can’t approach the hiring of a web designer by thinking only about finding the cheapest person.

You will regret this approach, and it’s very likely to cost you more in the long run.

You want to balance your budget by making sure you’re hiring the best person for the job and someone who will ensure you’re happy with the outcome.

Not Taking Into Consideration All the Costs

If you have a budget that you’re working with, which most individuals and businesses do, you want to make sure that you include all the costs.

Costs can include your domain, the platform, and photography, for example. You may also need a copywriter, and you might have to hire a separate SEO specialist if this isn’t something your web design team offers.

Some web design companies will include SEO within their packages, but you need to ask about this explicitly.

Not Knowing the Different Types of Professionals

Within web design, there are a lot of specific subtypes of professionals. For example, a graphic designer isn’t the same as a web designer, and neither is the same as a web developer.

There are overlaps in these subcategories, but you need to understand the specifics of what each type of designer does to ensure that you’re working with the professionals you actually need.

Hiring a generalist who will understand user experience design and all the comprehensive components of designing a great site is possible. A generalist will probably cost more, but approaching things this way streamlines the project and may be well worth the additional money you pay.

Ignoring SEO

If your website is a marketing tool, or you want people to visit it, which is the entire purpose of a website, you have to consider SEO from the start. The design of your site plays a role in how well it’s optimized for search.

Not every web designer will inherently build your website with SEO in mind. You need to specifically talk to a designer about this before hiring them. Otherwise, you’re going to have to pay someone to do it later on.

When SEO is built into the design of your site, you can start to get results faster.

Finding a design agency with SEO capabilities is another one of those things that can cost more upfront but is worth it in the long run.

Skipping the Competitor Analysis

Ideally, before you even start thinking about hiring a web designer, you should have already done a competitive analysis. You need to see what’s out there, and analyzing your competitors will give you a better idea of what you need and what you’re looking for in a designer.

Hiring the First DesignerYou Talk to

You have a lot of available options when it’s time to hire a web designer, but sometimes that can lead people to hire the first person they find, which can be extremely problematic.

You want to thoroughly vet someone because your web design or redesign is a big project.

You should do your due diligence when you hire anyone, and this certainly doesn’t exclude a web designer. See what people are saying about potential designers online, browse candidates’ LinkedIn, and get a feel for the type of work they do.

Also, something else to keep in mind is that a web designer should have their own site that looks well-branded and professional. Why would you hire a designer with a poorly done site or someone not showing up in Google during your searchers? If they can’t manage their own site and SEO, it’s unlikely they’ll do much better for you.

Not Evaluating the Work

Once you hire someone and they’re providing you with deliverables, you shouldn’t take for granted that the work is being done as you expect it to be.

Before you make a final payment, you should ensure that your deliverables are actually there, and you should check your admin or CMS page, as well as your Google Analytics and Search Console.

Go over not only the aesthetics of your site but also the functionality. Check the site's function across multiple devices, including desktops, tablets, and phones. All functionalities should be supported across all browsers and devices.

You should check the page speed results using something like GTMetrics or PageSpeed Insights, and you should go over the page titles and meta descriptions.

If you see anything that could be missing, talk to your designer about it right away.

Not Having a Contract

Finally, one of the major mistakes that so many people make when hiring a designer is not having a contract. Your contract should outline your timeline and all the expected deliverables. It should be clear on expectations and the entire scope of work.

Having a contract eliminates confusion and helps everyone know what the project entails and how well the deliverables are being met.

If your designer doesn’t want to work under a contract, that’s a red flag.

Most of the worst experiences people have with designers stem from a lack of a contract, which is a blueprint for your working relationship and how you’ll solve problems should they arise.

From delayed projects to changes in scope, make sure that you take the time to include every detail of your project in a contract.