Hire A Professional Website Designer
If you plan to hire a professional designer, it's CRITICAL that they're able to create search engine friendly sites and respond quickly to requests for changes.
Prior to making a decision, ask your prospective designers these important questions:
- Do you know how to create search engine friendly sites?
- Are your designs professional, clean and easy to navigate? (Ask to see samples.)
- How much do you charge to make changes once the site is live?
- How long will it take you to make those changes?
Whatever you do, don't choose a designer who focuses on creating works of art. You are launching your site to get reservations. A professional looking, easy-to-use site that offers information about your rental and incorporates basic search engine optimization is what you need. Don't get swept away by beauty alone.
DO choose a web designer who knows about search engine design. There are many web designers who lack even a basic understanding of the complexities of search engine optimization. Before you hire someone, make certain they're familiar with this vital issue. Check to see if they've incorporated search engine optimization into past designs displayed on their site.
This means you might need to study up on the subject yourself so you know what questions to ask. And be aware that almost every designer will claim to know all about search engines. So how do you determine whether or not they really do?
Visit the prospective designer's website and read it carefully, paying special attention to their portfolio of work. Then ask yourself...
- How graphically intense are their page designs? Are most of their designs images? Does the designer seem to love Flash (moving images) and fancy graphics that take a long time to download?
No matter how beautiful the work is, if the designer primarily uses graphics in their designs, stay away.
- How much text is on the site's pages?
Your site needs to have content. If the designer doesn't use much text, its a pretty good sign they aren't aware of the importance of text to both visitors and the search engines.
Also, make sure that any text on their website really IS text. Many designers will turn text into a graphic. That makes it harder for the search engines to read.
How to tell if it's text or graphic: Left click and hold down your mouse button over the "text" and see if you can highlight the words. If you can't, the text probably has been converted into a graphic. While this is okay in moderation, avoid designers who turn all text into graphics.
- What kind of page titles exist?
At the very top left-hand corner of your browser window is the page title. Examine the page titles on sites created by the designer you're considering for hire.
Do they include keywords relevant to the site you're looking at? Are all the page titles on the site identical? If the titles are all the same, or if they just say something like "Company Name", this is a clue the designer either doesn't know very much about search engines or doesn't provide this service.
Naturally, titles are only one aspect of search engine optimization. But if a designer fails in this department, they probably won't do very much else to create search engine friendly sites.
- Can the designer optimize pages?
Ask the designer if they'll work with you to optimize each page of your site so the content, the title tag, the navigation menus, the HTML code, and everything else is search engine friendly.
Make certain that this is part of your agreement or you could end up spending a lot of money after the fact to hire a search engine optimization service.
- What kind of navigation menus exist on the sample site?
These are the menu links on each page that direct you to other pages within the site. Are the links text or are they graphics?
Again, try to highlight the words on the menu. If you can't, they're probably graphics. If they are, has the designer included text links somewhere else on the page in order to help the search engines navigate the site?
If the links are text, do they contain keywords related to the product or service on the website? If the designer has included both text and graphic links, they most likely know how to satisfy search engines.
- Are keywords included in the page names?
If the designer is using page names that include keywords, it's another indication that they're capable of creating search engine friendly pages.
Pros and Cons of Hiring a Designer
Pros
- You wont need to learn how to design your own site.
- There are plenty of amazing designers who can create a site that really shows off your rental.
- You have someone to call when things go wrong. And believe me, at some point things will.
Cons
- Can get expensive quickly. Especially if you want to add programming features and need to update pages on a regular basis.
- Not as much control over changes.
- If you aren't careful in selecting a designer, you could end up with a site that isn't very search engine friendly.
Summary
Make certain your designer is prepared to work with you on creating a site that will be search engine friendly first and foremost... without Flash and other graphic elements that just get in the way.
Ensure they're prepared to include important features like title tags and optimized content that will maximize your exposure to search engines.
And your chosen designer must be able to deliver a fast turnaround time on any updates you request.
Of course, if hiring someone to create your website for you doesn't seem feasible, there's still one more option to consider... WebsiteGeneration site design tools.
|
|
 |
|
Become a Goin2Travel.com Vacation Rental Advertiser Now!
Goin2Travel vacation rentals are viewed by over 2 million vacationers each year. Get the inquiries and bookings you need.
Learn More >
|
|
