Starting a Photography Business: Part 3 – How To Find A Trustworthy Web Designer

Oh this is a tough one isn’t it?  Particularly if like me, you know very little about websites other than the ones you browse.  When I decided on an internet company I really did have a few moments of wonder, could I learn quickly enough how to build a site and competently do all the coding required to have an all singing all dancing site?

Well you don’t know until you ask so I asked a man on Twitter who built them and now writes books about how to build them.  Bless Twitter for not giving us a soundtrack for our messages, I doubt I’d have enjoyed hearing the laughter that must have accompanied his reading of my message.  In fairness to him, he replied swiftly, he must have been worried about me blowing up the national grid, informing me that it wasn’t possible and recommending a company that builds them and that is where initially, a very frustrating journey began in trying to find a company to build my site.

At this stage all I know is that I want a clean, stylish design with sharp lines, that’s it!  I don’t know yet how I want to display my photos, where I want the writing with the keywords to go, I haven’t figured out how to set up a shop yet or how I want it to look.  I just want to do a bit of window shopping, have a look at some templates, get some ideas, and get a feel for a company to see how helpful they are.  The company I was referred to and many others that I found on the web hid their templates.  I don’t know if they realise how frustrating it is to be asked for contact details under the guise of a 28 day free trial when all you want to do is have a look at some templates to get an idea of what is possible.

I did find local web design companies who let me see templates then quoted me almost a thousand pounds for a custom built site.  I had a look at a company whose niche is specifically photographers and was put off when my request for a customer sign up box on the homepage wasn’t possible.  In their words “All our other clients are perfectly happy with a contact page rather than a sign up box and this is all we offer” Mmm!

I had to keep reminding myself that this was supposed to the pleasurable part of the process finding a company to help make my dream come alive.  Eventually, I set the intention to find a good web design company with people who actually wanted to help me.  Then my eyes fell on a business card sitting on my desk of artist, Alastair Howie, I’d had it years and regularly used it as a bookmark.  I decided to have a look; I got there, liked the site layout, scrolled down to the bottom of his homepage and there was a link to the designers of his site.

I followed the link and went through to a company called www.smartdecat.co.uk I was like a child in a sweetshop; they had all their templates visible, and after a good look round it was clear I could simply buy and download the software and build the site myself with full support from Smartdecat or have a design done for me which was my preferred option being a novice.  I liked what I saw and the feel of their site, so I took a deep breath and sent an email to ask a few of my standard questions.

Now I should warn you, this company is building my site and I could wax lyrical about them and their service all day and night, however I shall try and resist.

A few things decided me that I wanted to work with this company, the first my questions were answered in a very human way with someone who explained things in layman’s terms.  This was bliss! And the sign up box?  Not a problem with Smartdecat.  Things were looking up.  Also, design, hosting, domain names, software were all under the same roof making my life so much easier.

And the clincher; it was maybe a month later when I next contacted them, fully expecting my enquiry would go to a general email address to be answered by a stranger, as this was the way with previous companies I’d dealt with.  I was delighted when the very same man who had answered my initial inquiry answered this message and it has been that way ever since.  The person you begin with is the person you stay with, which is just fantastic.  I cannot praise their customer service enough.  So my mind was made up after a long search I had found a company who were approachable and that I could trust.

Well now, I could start to tell you all about the fantastic site that www.smartdecat.com are building for me and I will but that’s a future article on web design along with a little foot stamping by me when we got to talk about flash pages and their disadvantages over getting visitors to my site.  Oh my foot did hurt that day!

Notes

• Make a list of the features that are important to you for your site so you can ask perspective web designers questions to make sure they can meet your needs.

• Don’t let people baffle you with science ask for explanations if you don’t understand; it’s your site and your money.

• Don’t feel forced to sign up with personal details before being able to see templates.

• Shop around, don’t simply take the first quote.

• Above all trust your instincts, if something doesn’t feel right maybe it isn’t.

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Ruth Bayley

Living in the beautiful rural county of Yorkshire it was perhaps natural for Ruth to have an affinity with the countryside and its wildlife. Creativity is Ruth’s driving force finding an outlet in television & radio she worked for many years as producer for BBC & ITV.

However a love of photography and for being surrounded by nature called her to go back to her photography training and bring pleasure and joy to people through her connection with our planet.

Staying in the moment when taking her images allows her to experience the natural magnificence unfolding before her eyes. It is this moment of mediation, of gratitude, that she evocatively conveys through her images.

www.healingwithphotography.co.uk