What to Look for in a Web Designer for Your Tourism Website
Prerequisites: You’ve decided to hire a web designer to help you build your tour or activity website, but you’re not sure how to separate the wheat from the chuff.
Estimated Time for Completion: 10 min reading time
Details: There are a lot of web designers, some good, many bad, and a bunch in between. So how do you, as a tour operator, know what to look for in a good web designer? Well, there are a lot of resources on-line to help you build a list of questions to ask your prospective web designer. The problem I have with most of the lists is that most people asking the questions won’t know the answers and, to me, that lack of knowledge doesn’t make asking the question particularly valuable. What you need to know, as a business person, is whether or not the person or company you are planning to hire is going to be able to deliver on what you need for your business. It is for this reason that I have only three questions that you need to ask a web designer, all of which you should be able to answer on their website:
- Can I see your portfolio? Any web designer worth their salt will make their portfolio available. Take a moment to go through each of the sites that they list in their portfolio. Be wary if they don’t list the URL but remember that just because a site is no longer available doesn’t mean that the designer didn’t do a good job designing it. There are a lot of reasons why a site might be off-line that have nothing to do with the designer. If you’re curious, simply ask the designer directly why a site is off-line.
- Can you provide three client references? This should be a no-brainer for most designers and they will be happy to provide you with the name of references who can confirm the quality of work and the viability of the business (or individual). Make sure the reference is a third party whose site is live. Ongoing relationships are better then one time relationships because you’ll get a better idea of how the designer handles long term relationships.
- What are your blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, & Facebook addresses? If they don’t have these things, move on. In this day and age, if the designer you are looking at isn’t familiar with and using social media for their own promotional purposes, then they won’t understand how to design for the social web.
- A good understanding of social media concepts and how the social web affects interface design. As has been pointed out by several designers, the individual use of social networks is not necessarily a requirement but the designer you choose to work with should have a good knowledge and understanding of how social features affect the interactivity of a web interface. (Thanks for everyone who contributed comments regarding item 3.)
Don’t be afraid to ask around and remember that design is only one part of the puzzle. Make sure that your design is part of your web plan.
Outcome: You are now armed with the questions you need to determine whether the web designer you are talking to is right for you. By using these three questions you will be assured that you are working with a company who has a reputation and client base to match.
I would say C: is completely false. I am a freelance web designer that works on Fortune 500 websites for 10 years now. I don't have a Twitter or Facebook address. I do however have a LinkedIn account to keep up with business contacts. To say that a designer needs to have all of these and doen'st know how the social web works because they don't choose to participate in them is downright idiotic. The social web is only one small aspect of building a quality website. It is very limited in its functionality and in all reality a trend that is in its infancy. Not to say that it does connect people, but it shouldn't be the bases for how you choose a designer. Their portfolio is key. Knowing what role they played in each and every one of the projects they show you. Did they design the whole page or simply the banner in the corner? References from past clients is definitely more valuable than coworker references. Don't count someone out because they aren't A.D.D. and looking at Facebook and Twitter 24/7.
For Fortune 500 websites, I wouldn't disagree with you, however, the businesses I am talking about here are small operators (usually single owner/operator). The use of social media, which by the way is no longer in its infancy, needs to be a critical part of their web strategy and hence, an integral part of their overall design. So, I disagree that the social web is one small part of building a quality website, it directly affects how visitors will interact with the business and therefore, how the interface needs to be built to support that interaction. As a designer, it seems necessary that you be familiar with or use the tools so that can you make design recommendations that are based on a clear understanding of the platforms.
That said, your bring up a very important point that the portfolio is a key and understanding the role of the designer is also key.
I have to agree with “Designer”, not Stephen Joyce. I am also a designer who has been working for nearly 10 years on websites that receive millions of visitors per month. I do not participate in any of the social media sites, except LinkedIn. I have created fake accounts for several social media sites (Facebook, etc.), so I know how they work. But, I do not actively use and participate in those sites. Just because I do not post on my Facebook wall everyday, nor tweet what I am eating for breakfast does not mean I am a bad designer and don't understand the web.
I recently heard that Fortune 500 company Coke, has an entire department staffed with over 50 employees who do nothing but keep up with Twitter and FB activites. So I don't believe you should have backed down from “designer”.
Social Networking in the Corporate world has gained traction in the last year, and should be part of ANY web site design going forward.
Got agree with 'Designer' Stephen – the services that designers/developers provide are primarily b2b services…..They don't need to be twittered about every day.
Whilst I use twitter, it's mostly for industry-related (interesting) content.
B2C/FMCG companies will have more of a use for twitter/facebook as their product offerings are continually changing to respond to market need.
I would agree with you however, that tour operators need to make use of social media – destinations that are prone to hurricanes/rainy seasons need to be worked around and taken into account.
I started designing websites and developing web applications many years before this micro-blog and social networking nonsense showed itself.
Twitter is a hype, and will eventually loose its appeal. Webdesigners on the other hand, will remain. With or without “Twitter”.
Great article. But I suggest to look for a team instead of an individual called 'web designer'. To build a great online experience you need strategiests, information architects, storytellers, designers, coders, marketers who understand every single aspect of this industry.
Regards,
Marc-Oliver ~former Razorfish Art Director
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According to me for a tourism website the basic things need to be focused are all the accommodations,Reservation to rooms and other services,extra facilities such as dining and party time assets.These all should be focussed with specific domain so as to retrieve required information.
I agree with this. When you look for a web designer he should must have an portfolio and experience especially when you want to create an advance and more professional looking website.