How to choose a web designer

You have a business in Pattaya or Thailand and you need to get a new website designed to get more business for your business but you have a dilemma. With so many web designers now popping up all over Pattaya, you are left with the difficult question of how to choose a web designer in Pattaya? Or, how to choose any website designer in general? This article will help guide you into making the right choice.

In this article we will cover the basic questions that you should ask yourself, the important things you must check and what to look for when it comes to hiring a web designer in Pattaya for your business.

Choosing a web designer is like choosing a bottle of wine

Here is a hint – take note of the words in bold while reading the below:

You have a first date lined up and you want to impress your date with a nice home cooked fancy meal but you need a nice bottle of wine to accompany the food. You know that the first impression one gets is very important, so you want to get it right at the start and make the right choice. So you head to the supermarket to select your bottle of wine but now you are faced with so many choices in all sorts of price ranges from all over the place. So what do you do?

First, you should never pick the cheapest option. The cheapest option will generally result in the poorest quality and leave a bad taste in your mouth and certainly won’t impress your date on the most important time to make the best impression. You do not want to pick the most expensive bottle either even if you can afford it. Why? Because there is a very good chance you are wasting your money and unless your date is a sommelier (wine expert) or you tell them how much you paid for the bottle of wine, then they will never know how much the bottle cost. They won’t be impressed that you paid a fortune for it either (well, not unless they are a gold digger). But paying the highest price for something doesn’t mean it’s the best or that you made the best choice.

So look for the wine section that does not break the bank and use one of the best tools you have, your gut instinct. Pick up a few bottles and read about the wine. The country of origin, it’s region and it’s age will generally be a good indicator of the quality of the grapes used, it’s in house production as it aged in it’s oak barrels and the end product in front of you.

The same principles can be applied to picking the right web designer. If the prices are too cheap then one must ask why? If the prices are too expensive then one must question why? PATTAYAMEDIA.com are not cheap and we are certainly not expensive, but we are exceptional value. We feel we generally provide the best level of service for the best prices regardless of who you are or the company you represent.

The keywords analysed

The above section is an example about making a choice when picking something we need. The keywords found in that explanation were highlighted for good reason, because these same keywords are significant when it comes to making a choice for your website designers so should be taken seriously.

1. First, impress, first impression, best impression
2. Get it right at the start
3. Don’t pick the cheapest option
4. Poorest quality
5. Most expensive
6. Gut instinct.
7. Country of origin
8. Age
9. Quality
10. In house production
11. End product

First, impress, first impression & get it right from the start

Ask yourself one question. How many times have you been searching for something on Google, you hit enter, click one of the links in the search results, open the site and don’t like what you are looking at or can’t find what you were searching for and so hit the back button and try another link or another search term. We all do this every single day.

You only get one chance with your website to make a good first impression. If your website visitors are not visually impressed with your website or can’t find what they are looking for with ease, then they will take their business elsewhere.

It is not about having a fancy looking website. It’s about a wide range of factors such as having a clean, uncluttered, friendly, beautiful, great colour combination and modern design. These are just a few of the features that you must combine to get the desired result,

You simply must make the best first impression and get it right from the start.

Don’t pick the cheapest option & poorest quality

People will have their own definition of what is cheap or what is expensive to them. A top of the range Aston Martin is a car I can not afford, it’s way too expensive for most of us. But if you are a movie star, a professional footballer? Aston Martin? No problem.

All that being said we sometimes will just know what seems too cheap and what seems too high a price to pay when it comes to using services as opposed to products. So in that case, you have to look at what you are getting for your money or if it’s too good to be true.

Designing high quality websites is no easy task, even for us professionals. Then there are the other important factors like SEO that is actually far more time consuming than building a website and is a constant ongoing job. You should never think or have the mindset that you can get a website and gain instant sales or success just because you now have an online presence. Yes you can, but it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of hours, weeks and months to both build a website and to then market it to the right audience.

So if something sounds too cheap then it generally means you will get a lower end product or lower level of service.

Most Expensive

The same principles of not choosing the cheapest option generally applies to not choosing the most expensive option. If you do choose the most expensive option, then you really must ask just what are you getting for your money?

I have been building websites for many, many years now. There were many times when I could have charged 5 times what I charged for a website based purely on two or one of the two factors below:

1. The customer had a large budget.
2. The customer didn’t understand the web design process and general prices but was willing to pay anything.

Not once have I overcharged or taken advantage. For starters, I hate double standards as much as you do. Secondly, that is really just not how I was raised or grew up to behave. Our business ethics and principles are very important to us and installed in the very foundation of PATTAYAMEDIA.com. I would not have it any other way.

But there are some companies who specifically target larger brands because they know they can get away with charging millions of Baht that actually, a lot of web design companies could build for a third of the price. But this is the world we live in and there is always a market for those type of designers and those types of clients.

Just be smart with your money. Don’t waste money paying for a cheap product that will break after 5 minutes use. At the same time, don’t waste money for a product that in a few months or a years time will need to be replaced because something new and improved is out there that can and does perform better.

The same principles apply when paying for a service!

Gut Instinct

Your gut instinct is such a powerful ally. It’s your best friend if you follow it. How many times did our head rule your heart or your heart rule your head when all along your gut was screaming, begging you to say yes, or say no, or say do it, or do not.

Trust yourself and your own judgement because you will have an inclination if you feel something is wrong, or something is right and meant to be.

Country of origin

I have to be careful here so not to offend, so let me start off by saying that you have good and bad all over this world so no one should be judged solely on where they are from. It would set a stupid precedent and is an example of what is wrong in the world that we live in. That being said…

There are some situations where using a product manufactured in a certain country or using a service with a work force here or there can be of benefit to you and add some level of trust and accountability. There are lots of vegetables or fruits that when grown in the right country with the right soils are of a higher quality.

PATTAYAMEDIA.com for example, while based in Pattaya, Thailand are owned and operated by a European boss who applies the same values in everyday life having been born and raised in a European country. While not bringing politics, religion or anything like that into the field of web design, I will say that having been brought up in Europe, we do have deep rooted values in our every day lives that we apply to our business ethics such as thankfulness, compassion, endurance, creativity, wisdom etc. These values and more of course are important to build a long, trustful relationship with our clients.

So while you can’t and should never choose a web designer in Pattaya or Thailand based on where they come from, you can at least choose the local web designer based on who they are and what they do.

So pick your web designer wisely and pick them not based on where they are from, but who they are and what they represent.

Age

Age can be a weakness or an advantage in all walks of life. But when it comes to the age of a company or for how long it has been established, then the companies age and length of ownership can be a very important factor when choosing a web designer for your business.

First, you must know how to check when a website was registered. The reason is very simple. Many web designers in Pattaya are new companies or who have not been around for very long. They try to trick their online visitors by saying they were established in such and such year to add more credibility to their business when in fact it is far from the truth.

If a company was established in 2004 for example, you will know because their domain name registration date reflects that in the date it was registered. So to perform a who is on that domain name then all you have to do is perform a simple search. For example, visit www.who.is and simply type the domain name into the form and click submit. There you will see the date the domain was registered.

So if a web design company in Pattaya are lying on their website about the date they were formed and their business domain registration date does not reflect this, then do not use that company. They are untrustworthy and trying to trick you into believing they have been in business for so long when in fact they have not.

Just for the record – PATTAYAMEDIA.com were the very first native English web designers in Pattaya City and we established our web design business back in 2004. We are currently the longest standing web design company in Pattaya and for that we are very proud.

Quality, in-house production & end product

It goes without saying that to check the quality of a web design company, you need only look to their own website. Open their website on a mobile phone and open their website on a desktop PC or laptop and see how it looks and how it works. Is it built in your eyes of a high enough quality? Does the design stand out with easy to find information and links? Does it look like a brand that is trustworthy? How long has the site been in business? If the web design companies own website design reflects this, then you are making a good start in your quest to find a good web designer in Pattaya.

You should also make sure that the web design company design sites themselves and do not outsource their work to cheaper labourers in other countries. There are many, many agencies who do this. Your website code is not to be messed about with and you must take the security of your website very seriously indeed.

Rest assured PATTAYAMEDIA.com do not outsource any of our web design work. All websites we build are built in house by our own team and specialist staff who are hired directly by our company.

This guarantees that the end product will be worth it for you and your company. So if you or anyone you know are in need of a website design, please put them in touch with PATTAYAMEDIA.com as we can service anyone, anywhere, anytime. It’s our pleasure.