Once you’ve hired a web designer, how do you ensure your requirements are met, your job is done well and it comes in on time and on budget?

Start with problems, not solutions

By far the best way to prevent your website from meeting its objectives is to be too prescriptive about what you want at the start. We all use the web alot these days and it’s easy to confuse the amount of experience you have as a user with actual design acumen. Just because you drive a car every day, it doesn’t make you a car designer.

Be prepared for “why?”

Interactive maps? Words flying in from the side? A Flash intro? And an image gallery of your cat? A good web designer will question such things – and it won’t be because they can’t do them. Most things are possible, but it’s important to realise that anything distracting your visitors from their goals (and your own goals) is a complete waste of money.

Don’t worry too much about how it looks

Instead, focus on the content. Some of the best websites in the world are plain, dull, even ugly. Ebay, Google, Amazon and CraigsList are classic examples – fabulously successful household-names with possibly the most basic-looking sites in the world. Do you wonder why, with all their millions, they don’t hire a decent designer? Maybe they do.

Realise that it’s not going to run itself

So you want a site that always looks up-to-date? Then you need a site that is always up-to-date. Printing the current date at the top of the page won’t cut it. There is no magic bullet – keeping a website fresh takes dedication.

Budget beyond the launch

During the project it may seem that the launch of your new site is the finishing line – the end of the journey – but all you’ve done is release the ship down the slipway. Make sure you have a plan beyond the launch date and the budget to support it.