How to Outsource Website Designing

It would be interesting to hear the work flow of some of the people offering web design services.

I don't quite understand. Do you have a designer or not yet?

If I was you I'd offer him two options. (I do this myself)

1. Cheaper option of a modified template. Tell him you can change the information but the layout will stay much the same.

2. Offer a complete custom website. Ask them what colours they like, if they have a logo and what competitor website they like. Give this to your designer and move on from there.

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Now if you don't have a designer use a site like elance. First get them to pay you 50% up front. Then use a website like elance so you only pay when you are 100% happy with what they have done.

Alternatively I have some free time if you wanted me to design it for a pretty small price. But maybe I shouldn't be plugging myself here.

Before I had my own team of designers I used to outsource the work, you just need to find someone good and gain that trust. First couple of jobs ask them if you can give them a small percentage then when the design is done you can pay them in full. Most designers do not have a problem with this and if they do something is not right, you have to explain to them you are looking for a long term relationship and not a one time deal and of course if they are smart they will appreciate that and work on developing the long term business. Other times 50% to start and 50% when job is completed works. Another way is 25% to start, 25% when first mockup is designed and changes are done and then the rest when the whole project is completed

I basically outsource it but I still do some fine-tuning by myself, especially some graphic/layout bits (I just learned to be little techy over the years). If you want to handle a decent number of website clients, you gotta outsource a majority part of it and you just need to try a few to find a good one. That is probably the only way if you want to have a good designer/developer whom you can trust for a long run.

My workflow is pretty simple:

- I work on referrals, because I have a good deal of business relationships.
- I meet with a prospective client, talk about their business, close the sale. Give them my quote (usually $1,000 to set up the site, $200/month to maintain and blog).
- I have them sign up for hosting (using my Bluehost affiliate link).
- I have my SEOClerks guy build a Wordpress site, choose a theme, and build out all of the pages for content.
- I hire my Fiverr article guy to write copy for each of those pages.
- If necessary, I hire a graphics person on Fiverr for a logo.
- I have my Fiverr writer on retainer to do an article each week (Content Marketing, yay).

My total out-of-pocket cost is about $150-$200 to build the site. I make $1,000, and upsell the $200/mo. maintenance and blogging service. I'll upsell logo creation, social media management, etc.

For design I ask the client to provide 2-3 websites that they like. 1-2 in terms of structure and function. 1-2 in terms of colors and look. Ask them what menu items they need and if they need any specific features for their site. Ask if they have the logo in electronic format.

I've used a team on Elance before and then hired a full time designer in the Phillipines once business increased enough. My process for knowing if they were good or not was reviewing previous samples of work that they have completed.

Send the information to your designer you found. They should send a home page mock-up. Send that to your client asking for revisions.

Once received send those back to your designer and so forth until a final version is reached. Your designer should give you a PSD file to send to your programmer once the design is finalized and completed.

You then start making designs for the inner pages while your programmer starts slicing and building the site.

That mostly covers it for design. Be careful about clients who make continuous revisions after the design has been approved. Make sure there is a per hour rate in your contract for design revisions after approval of the page by the client.

Position yourself differently... it isn't about what the client wants, it's about what works. If you're the expert, you're the one that gets hired to create a professional design and functionality.