5 Branding Elements You Should Get From Your Website Designer

If there's anything I've found out during my time as a coach is that ignorance is not bliss. What you don't know can harm you and, sadly, almost always does.

And among the biggest unidentified realms for coaches is the innovation that goes along with running a business-- particularly, your website.

When it comes to getting your website developed and out into the world, you are practically (pardon the pun) at the mercy of your web master. You might not even realize that a few of their "perk services" such as buying and hosting your domain for you, might seriously compromise your organization in the future.

So to help guarantee that you have total control of your brand name, here are a couple of things you ought to work out with your website designer prior to employing them.

1. You ought to always register your domain.

Your domain is your service's online address and a big piece of your brand name, and it needs to be on an account you own. If your website designer owns your domain and they go out of business, or you have a dispute (which may seem unlikely, however it takes place!), you might run the risk of losing your domain.

I wasn't so clever when I started one of my very first services. A design company contacted me and offered to set up my website for no in advance fee, and after that if I liked it, I would pay a low regular monthly membership for continuous maintenance. It sounded like a great offer; they even registered the domain for me as a convenience. I thought to myself, "Oh, how nice of them!"

When I chose I didn't desire to utilize the website they developed (it was beyond dreadful, so far beyond), they stated I could not move my domain to a new host unless I paid them $2000. Yeah!

Recalling, it's amusing how ignorant I was, however at the time, I was devastated and needed to develop something completely brand-new.

2. Ensure you own your logo design and graphics.

It may appear obvious that, obviously, you own your logo design and graphics. You paid for the designer to develop them! However that's not always the case.

In your contract with your designer, make sure that when payment is complete and the design is approved, it is yours to keep, and they can't use the exact same design in other places. (and this goes both methods, obviously, if you haven't completed the payment, then you can't utilize the design aspects or take your mockup design to somebody else to reproduce.).

As part of this, you might likewise wish to request for the graphic source files. This is generally in the form of an Adobe Photoshop file that contains your site's design. The source files will have layers that make up your design components that can be separated and changed as needed.

This way, if you need to have actually changes made by your assistant later, or even another designer, they have the original files to deal with. I also find these files practical when making other branding aspects like your social networks profile images so that they match your website without starting from scratch.

3. Get your logo in high resolution.

Expect you can get it as a vector file that's even much better (a vector file can be resized without compromising the image quality). Sometimes this costs a little extra, but it deserves it! A logo design developed just for your website will look fuzzy when you use it on your business cards or other printed products unless it's been constructed for high resolution.

4. Self-hosting is typically a good concept.

With all of the trusted and easy-to-use hosting companies, hosting your website is really simple (and low-cost!). Some web developers offer hosting, keeping the website up to date, and a couple of hours of upkeep each month. And most of the time, this is an okay arrangement. It simply always makes me anxious not to have overall control of my account if they fail or we have a conflict (similar to above). Of course, they might shut down your website whenever they choose, though it is not likely.

At least, ensure that, if required, you get FTP access to your website if you need someone else to work on the website or you wish to maintain the site yourself. If you utilize WordPress, for example, and something breaks, in some cases FTP gain access to is the only method to bring it back, and if your designer runs out town for the weekend, you will run out luck.

5. Premium plugins on your website.

If you're paying your Singapore web designer to acquire premium plugins for your website, you may ask to buy them yourself, so you have the login information. That way, you own the plugin and can get assistance yourself if required.

Frequently designers will have a special license to utilize the premium plugin on numerous websites, so this may not be essential, specifically if they will be your ongoing support for the website. It doesn't injured to ask, however.

These aspects are essential to keeping your brand online and don't constantly "come standard" with your website design, so it's worth asking about them. The more control you have more than your brand, the much better!