There are web designers, and then there are good web designers. How do you know which to hire when you want some good, old-fashioned web designing done?

‘Well, I want a good web designer – duh,’ you’re saying out loud to your cat. And who can blame you. (For wanting good web design, not talking to your cat. Your cat cares little about your website. Maybe less.)

In deciding whether to shell out the big bucks for a good web designer, consider this important question:

What do my customers want from my website?

For many small businesses, less is more. Your customers need to know who you are, what you do, and how to contact you. A simple, one-page website is clean, user-friendly and easy on the eyes. A striking image of your product, a statement letting potential customers know what your brand is about (“We make vintage cars look better than new”), some examples of past projects, and social media/contact info: boom. Done and done. Check out this photo, via Design Shack, that illustrates a simple web page:

ds-brill-simple-11

Doesn’t get much simpler than that, eh?

If this is the kind of thing you feel suits your web designing needs, then a decent web designer is what you seek, grasshopper. Your site is a destination site, a place for information gathering, and you want it to be as pleasant, appealing and helpful to your customers as possible. That voice telling you to put everything you’ve ever done or will do on your site, your hopes, dreams, fears, and opinions about Ben Affleck being the new Batman: ignore it. Do you like going to a website and being bombarded with words and flashing images and pop-up windows telling you to BUY BUY BUY? No, and no one else does, either.

Lucky for you, a decent web designer is fairly easy to find. You can visit a site like Sortfolio, type in the name of your city, and voilà: a visual list of web designers will appear, with price ranges. Sortfolio lists both large and small agencies, but if you’re looking for something less daunting (read: cheaper), a freelance web designer might be better for you. Odesk is a good, safe way to find a freelance designer; if you don’t believe me, read more about the company here.

No, no, I need a GOOD web designer

Let’s say you desire more for your customers. You want them to be able to sign up for your newsletter, make purchases, be able to track their orders, comment on your blog – all that and more. Now it’s time to start thinking about finding a good web designer. So how does one, like, do that?

This is where you have to do some research, because good web designers don’t exactly advertise. Why? Because they don’t have to, they’re good, remember? Their work speaks for itself – or, more accurately, fans of their work do the speaking. Word-of-mouth is a good web designer’s preferred way of advertising.

But maybe your friends don’t talk about good web design when you’re sharing a Queso Skillet at Chili’s, what then? Look around, find some websites you like, and find out who designed them. Good web design will cost you – we’re talking five figures here – so be certain that what your business needs at this time is all the bells and whistles. It might mean fewer Queso Skillets for awhile, but at the end of the day, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.