Establishing Yourself As A Local Web Designer Getting Off on the Right Foot

[kraizii88z 0]

That's great advice..I may be using it in the future.Also you should implement the use of Css in webpages.. it improves the overalll usability and makes it faster, easier, ect..

[Mahzian 0]

This is a great topic , Ive just finished a 2 year web degree and Im starting my own company soon , and the one thing that seems to be the hardest for me is finding the clients , but these posts have given me some pretty solid ideas. Thanks dudes!Id like to add that if you can , try and learn Flash , as general bandwidth increases we will see more and more of it and I predict that one day (in the next few years) all sites will be pure flash because of its accessability between platforms/browsers and freedom of design.

[Maybe Skate Team 0]

Wow, I spent some time reading all of this information and I must say that this was very useful to me. I am starting to learn CSS and its pretty easy for the most part. Also if you guys are looking for graohical designer jobs I recommend looking in the Jobs section of the news paper. They usually have 2-3 graphical designer wanted ads, well atleast in my town they do! :rolleyes:Thank you again for clearing everything up on how to get started!

[AnarchyCow 0]

Thanks,This is very useful for a person like me to know even though I'm only 14 and still only into html, and hoping to go into web design around 16...I only privatly make sites for my friends those site i offer to them cheap sense its not like a million dollar website...I also have another question, When it comes to bandwidth limits they may inform you about if they dont have their own servers, what is a good thing to tell them...Like if they have a cheap web host (whice i dobut they'd be paying you 100+ to make a website) and they have 75GB whice i heard is approx 1 mill. visitors, What kinda limitations should you make with a low bandwidth website...Also 1 more ? what is the most commonly used server OS...I know the 2 big ones are Lenux and Microsoft...Thanks,Brandon

[iceblade1405241492 0]

Awesome article.As someone asked sort of before, i would like some clarifacation, when you say domain name and web hosting, should you charge them monthly to work with the web hosting and stuff? Also can you "buy" a domain name forever? Like say i was going to make a website for Carpert cleaners R us (just a name i got out of the air) would i beable to get a domain name forever for them that was say, CCRU.com or carpetcleaners.com or something? Or would i buy a 10 yr domain or whatever and then charge them to renew it or whatever every 10 years (if they were still around at 10 years and if they still wanted me to design for them...) and can would it be better to set up my own server or should i get a web hosting company to host it for me?Thanks for the info, from reading the rewards from web hosting (it was something i was interested in already) i might be getting into the business perhaps. Thanks again and thanks in advance!

[evion 0]

Great! I was looking forward to an article about commerical web-designing. Basically you've just answered all my questions but there are many more from me. Firstly, should i charge more for the use of "third-party" applications? Lets say Flash if he wants to make the site fancy? Flash might take awhile because I'm more into graphic design than animation. Secondly, how am i supposed to as kthe customer if he/she wants a HTML, PHP, XHTML or other kinds of websites? OK so maybe i can only do HTML now but i have to learn sooner or later right? My web-design skills are quite amatuer and thats why i review many other websites like you said to enhance my knowledge on how other webdesigners captivate the viewer. When my friends ask for a website done for maybe a small club or society i usually do it for free because even if i don't make money out of it, i am also learning all the way about what kinds of websites customers like. Last but not least, I should ask when you're done with the website do you host it immediately or give a variety of hosts to show to the customer and make him/her choose. Of course a lot of features some customers with basic knowledge about the internet may not know so is it required to explain it to them? Thanks.

[iGuest 3]

Hey everyone,Techocian first (your question is easier )Charging more for 3rd Party applications, that really depends, if it's quite intensive work, then charge more, but only if that's what the client is wanting, you'll need to describe things that these 3rd party applications can do for the client and whether that's what they want to go with.You don't specifically throw jargon at them, you really put the words into their mouth, you ask them what type of interactivity do they want, do they want to be able to sell products online, have customers email them, get hold of them, view online reports, statistical information, etc.All the behind the scenes, jargon terms etc, you handle and should not speak to your client, unless they ask you what it is, you're going to get paid because you understand designing the web pages than they do, half the time, your clients have no clues about flash, php, mysql, etc... that's why you just talk about what they want out of their site, and you decide on the best methods to use.Again, you should actually form a relationship with the domain registrar you want to use and the web hosting servers (just an on-going commitment really), that way you maybe able to make better deals than what they offer everyone else, otherwise source for cheap alternatives (that cover what you need) and use them until you've made some ground, the client really isn't going to know too much about this, you should have it all sorted with him, and be ready to explain what it all means, since the best way to actually getting the job, is to be very knowledgable and just explaining how it will benefit the customer. Remember, put your client first.As with domain names, the client should own them, but you should be able to sort all these things out for them on their behalf, you'll just have to explain the process through to them, you can add an extra charge for helping set it up for them. With your first setup that's it, if they wanted to pay for a year (should state domain names are mostly charged yearly), charge them a year's price, and then let them know that near the end of their expiration they'll be informed and sent a bill to their email address, asking to whether they want to register it for another period of time. In which you will have no control, so all domain registration will now go through the domain registrar and your client. However you could own it if you want and bill your client every year, but it's better to leave it in the registrar's hands, no hassles what so ever left with you involving the domain name otherwise you'll need to become an official registrar (maybe later you'll look into this, but not when you're trying to get your feet on the ground, give yourself less problems to solve). Your client will be choosing how long they want to renew their domain, so best leave it up to them, but you can provide them with all the options so they may choose what's best for them.As with bandwidth, this usually deals with the amount of traffic you expect, small businesses, depending on how popular they'd be, probably won't need more than 1GB, if however they do require more, they do have the option of upgrading their server. Again web hosting, you should handle the initial getting it ready for them, but they should deal directly afterwards with the web hosting company.Pretty much the main reason, is to lower your support with them and that you only manage their websites and leave all the servers and domain name hosting payments in their hands, also if they have problems with these things, it's really no point in asking you for help, when you can't provide a solution if it deals directly with domain name problems, hosting etc.Although, I'm just saying this when you start out, if you're big enough to take on domain names and web hosting, then by all means take on bigger responsibilities, but for now, just try getting yourself out there, and more active, you don't want to limit yourself to fixing those types of problems, since you'll miss out on generating your income designing sites.Cheers,MC

[mimi_m 0]

just out of curiosity, what hosts/servers would you guys recommend to use for clients? Any suggestions/tips?

[jcguy 0]

I would definitely recommend reliable commercial web hosts for my clients' websites. A commmercial web designer cannot afford to host his clients' websites on a free hosting account. It not only make you less credible, but also there is a danger of your client losing all their data if the free webhost collapse. I would recommend Netfirms or Yahoo! Hosting, these big providers are highly unlikely to go out of business anytime soon. Also they're definitely reliable.

[iGuest 3]

Excellent advice. Most of what you have said is generally common sense, which most designers do not apply when doing web-design as a "living".By using examples you have really set your point in place, and the rates which you give really brings to home how much it actually costs.Thanks,--mik

[delivi 0]

thankyou pbolduc for sharign those great tips, they were really useful in helping me to make my Web Profession better.

[Aequitas619 0]

HelloThank you for your post. I found it very interesting. I have been saving money for a while now and I thought maybe I should use it to start up a Web Design company. Your post fuelled that idea and now Im quite keen.I know how to use HTML and can do basic Cascading Style Sheets. I can also write basic scripts in PHP. I also stil have a whole file on advanced PHP that Im going to go through.You spoke alot about addons. What are addons? Are you talking about things like shopping carts and message boards etc?Also, do you know of a good tutorial to learn Java scripting?

[WeaponX 0]

By addons, I think pbolduc anything else extra in general. It could be forums or other software and also different web scripts (be it javascript, DHTML, ASP, etc.).

For web scripting and other programming tutorials, I usually recommend going to W3Schools to start yourself off:

http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp

They have a bunch of other scripts on that site, so browse around and have fun learning them

[Aequitas619 0]

Thanks. I actually found W3Schools just the other day. It seems to have great tutorials! I will start with them soon!Thanks!

[Vue 0]

Irrelevant, but first off, I think you should be using the slang term "wannabe".

I found what you said useful, but I think it should be shortened.

Take the time to search for other web designers on the internet. Review several sites. Type in web design and your local town. The results will most likely bring up any competitors in your area. If they have prices posted this will give you an idea of the going rates in your area.

I'm really confused when you say this. Wait, no I'm not. (After searching "web design" and "Sydney".) I wonder what the benefit of knowing the "going rates" in one's area would be. Does it really matter where your web designer is? After all, it's the World Wide Web.

Nice post, pbolduc; I haven't seen someone post something like this yet.