Choice of Web designer can make, break site

Online, there are no second chances.

A Web site that is slow to load, hard to navigate or poorly designed will send potential customers elsewhere, so a company's choice of Web site designer can make or break the online experience.

In selecting someone to design the site, it is important to shop around, said Doug Pitt, of ServiceWorld Computer Center Inc. Talk to different designers and visit sites they've done. Get the person's online resume. It isn't necessary to sit next to the designer, review his or her sites and make a decision on the spot, he said. Get the Web addresses and review the sites at your own pace.

And be sure the designer has the experience needed.

"If he only gives two or three Web sites as a reference I don't want someone who's just done two or three. A guy with only a couple of references, I'm going to have to say no thank you.' I want a list of 15 or 30," Pitt said.

Also, call the companies that own the reference Web sites, he added. A call may reveal that while the Web design company did design the site, the individual you are dealing with did not.

What goes on behind the scenes is critical. While doing homework on a designer, if the reference site is slow to load or keeps coming up with error messages, those are red flags. Slow loading in particular can be the kiss of death. "If it takes 30 seconds to get into your site for loading, zing! you've lost me," Pitt said.

The visual element, the picture, is very important, added Steve Kirks, of Gabriel Communications. "If they can't see it, they won't buy it."

And poor design is a turnoff, said Mike Mylenbusch, Cisco systems engineer. A site that "looks like it was just transferred out of Word 2000" isn't going to do any good. He recommends selecting a Web design firm that has artists on staff.

"I recommend contacting an advertising or communications agency" that knows how to communicate a message visually, Kirks said.

A company does not have to have its Web site designed and hosted by the same company. The client can hire a company that just does design or just hosts, Mylenbusch said. And just because a company does both doesn't mean the client has to do all its business with them. "If the host company is not up to standard on design, you should shop around."

Another factor to consider is timeline, Pitt said. When they say it will be done in four weeks, is it, or did the time estimate grow from weeks to months? That period of time is downtime for the client business, he said.

Having the site in-house can be a solution, but there's a right and a wrong way of going about it.

Having someone in-house divide their time between their regular full-time duties and Web development is a bad idea, Kirks said. If you split a person's time, and their usual job is vital to the daily operation of the company, "which do you think will get done?"

It's frustrating to see companies that want so badly to succeed but want to do all the work on staff, Kirks added. If a company has the right person in-house, that person needs to be dedicated to the Web site as a full-time occupation.