5 Get Started Basics You Should Keep In Mind When Hiring and Working With a Website Design Team

You’re ready to upgrade your website because you know it’s the next step in up leveling your business and image.

You also know it’s an important marketing device in your business.

So how do you get started on the right foot so you can rest-assured you’ll end up with the business-boosting site of your dreams?

These basics will help:

• Do Your Work

How well YOU prepare before you hire your design team will make all the difference!
If a design team is good they will have their own “intake” process but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until the moment you hire them to start your work on creating the website of your dreams!
Before you hire your design team start thinking about what would make YOUR new site the exact site you know you need to build your business. The clearer you are the better your site will be.

• Trust Your Instincts

The day has come to hire your design team and you feel a little twinge of self-doubt.
What should you do?
It’s OK to put the project on hold or delay your decision for just a little while longer until you are absolutely sure the team you’re hiring is the team for you.
More than once I’ve heard stories about business owners that “just knew” the team they were hiring wasn’t the right fit but they moved forward anyway.

What do you think the outcome was?

Your instincts will tell you if you’re on track or not, so listen to them.

• Hire a Team That’s Talented AND Likeable

Should your decision to hire a team be based solely on talent alone?
I think not!
Talent AND Likeability are equally important.
Talent is the more obvious of the two so I’m going to focus on likeability.
If you don’t adore your team, why are you working with them? You’re going to spend a lot of time communicating with them and it’s important to develop a good relationship from the get go. If you’re not a personality match maybe you should rethink your choice in design teams? It’s a question only you can answer.

• Communicate Clearly

This might sound like a no-brainer but I mention it here because working with a design team will stretch your communications abilities!
If you think you’re a pretty good communicator of your wants and desires now, at some point you’ll be tested to communicate even more clearly than you already do. This can be a humbling experience.
When passing ideas back and forth it’s important to keep the big picture in mind and to stop yourself from taking feedback/ideas too personally.
The road to a great website is paved by open, honest and flexible communication.

• Don’t Be Afraid Of Moving On

Let’s face it, it has happened.
You’ve hired a website designer or team and they’re just not delivering.
The reasons vary why it sometimes just doesn’t work out with the team you’ve hired so if you find yourself in this pinch remember: it’s OK to put the project on hold or to stop it altogether if you’re not getting the results you wanted.
It’s far better to abandon a project that isn’t meeting your expectations than it is to launch a website that is NOT the site of your dreams.

Think of it this way: if you do launch a site you’re not crazy about, will you want to share it with others?

No, you won’t! You deserve and your business needs you to love your website. If you have to move on and hire a new design team then do it. In the long run you’ll be happy you did.