How to hire a web designer

[cmilerick]

We are looking to update our website.  What are some of the best ways to determine a firm that is best for you and, how important is it that they be Hubspot Certified?  What sort of details do we need to know/ask for if they are not Hubspot Certified?

Here is our site:  www.elliotwhittier.com

Thanks,

Christine OKeefe

Business Development Manager

Elliot Whittier Insurance Services, LLC

[Jsum]

Hi @cmilerick,

You can hire an agency. Some agencies only take marketing contracts but generally the design and development is included or added in somehow and you get a team to run your marketing for you. Other agencies will do one-off designs and/or builds. and send you on your way. Agencies tend to be more expensive but having a person watching the person watching the person doing the work for you can be a good thing, plus it's typically an open conversation with lots of heads which can lead to good ideas.

If you want to play project manager you can hire freelancers/contractors. There are 2 sites I would recommend:

1. https://app.onthebench.io/

2. https://www.upwork.com/

I'm not to family with the first but I am top rated on upwork and no it well. Optionally you could hire a project manager and have them find what you need. You will find that it is much cheaper to go this route but you have to drive your project.

Either way you should make sure that you have worked out a detailed brief of the project and dont forget the little things like hover effects and animation so that they are crammed in as an after thought when you decide you want them at end. The better you describe it, the more accurate it will be when sent back to you.

Need help? Hire Us Here

[MFrankJohnson · Accepted solution]

If you're thinking of having your website (re-)built on the HubSpot CMS you'll find tremendous value listening to about 30 mins from one of HubSpot's leading authorities on the subject, Luke Summerfield. Don't let the 'certification' course title or the course timer scare you away. Just listen to Luke's first 29 minutes on Growth Driven Design Fundamentals.
- see Growth-Driven Design
(see image)

That introduction will help guide your thinking about the 'Why' around your web design project. (uber important)

Next on the list of 'homework' and before you dump a chunk of change on what Luke reports may be a potentially frustrating experience (according to marketer feedback), you'll want to start thinking about what returns you'd like to see from your new website.

Regarding ... "how important is it that they be Hubspot Certified?"
Let's just say that if you're not interested in your website generating any revenue for your business then HubSpot Growth Driven Design and HubSpot Design Certifications aren't that important.

However, if you expect any level of return on your investment for the business, you'll want to have only HubSpot certified personnel with YEARS of experience work on your HubSpot assets. That includes both your Website Design/Developement AND your HubSpot Marketing assets.

Think of it like the new HubSpot version of the old Michelin tire commercial, "Because so much is riding on your website design."

++
Other important reading ...
Design Is Not Art by Austin Knight, Google Product Designer (former HubSpotter)

Design Debt by Austin Knight, Google Product Designer (former HubSpotter)

[Anonymous]

Hi @cmilerick,

When shortlisting on any agency, you can check out their Hubspot Certifications, Customer Reviews and their experience in the field.

Hubspot certifications would generally be important if you're planning to do Growth Driven Design website instead of the normal.

If an agency do not hold Hubspot Certifications, you can consider their experience, customer reviews and also checkout their marketplace templates ( if any ) to see if you like their work.

I can say this with conviction as I have been in the business for 5+ years. I am Kulranjan from PSDToHubspot.  I went through your website and have a few recommendations in mind! Lets connect. Kindly share your skype id/email id. You can also contact me on kulranjan@psdtohubspot.com .

[Yoshi]

Hey @cmilerick! 

Typically, you can search designer who know how to use HubSpot from our HubSpot's partner directory. 

If you can navigate to here (https://www.hubspot.com/agencies), you can easily find HubSpot certified partners! 

[tjoyce]

@cmilerick - I just want to put my brutally honest 2 cents in here becuase given the amount of content in your site and the amount you're probably going to spend on a redesign for all of this content, you should go into any discussion with some artillery:

I'm going to assume that your company has a small or non-existant marketing department and if you do have a marketing department, the people in that position are probably repurposed into the marketing role from another role, like social media manager or secretary or content writer or just someone in the office that happens to be "good with computers". 

Generally, when companies ask for a web designer to redesign their site, it's because, you're trying to get those qualified leads, your website is not converting, you're tired of doing cold calls with no responses. We all want our salespeople to become nothing more than closers and all they do all day is talk to people that are already interested in your product and finish the deal. You don't want them to start all the way from the beginning of a call and go from awareness to delight in one phone call. 

A site redesign might seem like low hanging fruit that would accomplish obtaining those qualified leads and turning your salesmen into closers but it's not that simple.

You bought HubSpot because you know what inbound marketing is supposed to do for your company but if you don't have a marketing strategy, you're going to find it really difficult to get the most out of the platform.

Your current site is an "information dump". There's too much content, too many different forms to choose from, too many CTA's to click and quite frankly too many choices; period. 

When I go to your site, I'm paralyzed with information and choices.  

What your website needs to do is super focus on a CTA (I'm assuming the "GET A QUOTE" form, or CONTACT US form) and start to perform triage on your content.

**The old way of thinking is that you need to put as much content into your website because it's all important and all of your users are going to read every word and they will see that you offer exactly what they need.

This may have been true 7 years ago but, not today. 

It's okay to wipe out a lot of your content and cut it down to just a little information on each of your services. If you give the user too much information, you don't give them a chance to use your CTA's to find out more information from one of your sales reps and let them close the deal.

Even ugly websites can do a content cleansing and restructure and show better numbers without a redesign.

You might think that the ugliness of your website is preventing it's effectiveness. Don't get me wrong, pretty sites keep the user on your site longer and legitmizes your business but content restructure with a marketing strategy coupled with a redesign is the best way to spend your money. You should hire a reputable agency and spend 60% - 75% of your marketing/redesign budget on the marketing and content strategy and then give the rest to the actual design and development of your site. 

I'm not a marketer, I'm a developer, that's why I said this was my "brutally honest 2 cents" because I should be telling you to give your whole budget to a web designer.

The real truth is that a content strategy that helps your business grow and succeed will create a large byproduct of needed work for developers in the long run.

Do yourself and your business a favor and pay for 1-2 hours of consultation, if you have to, and talk to someone like @MFrankJohnson or @Phil_Vallender or other reputable agencies that have your company's wellfare in mind because the more successful you are, the more successful they are. 

Good luck and, don't be afraid to ask more questions in the forum, that's why we are here 😄