Singapore Web Design Company Blog

Almost every month, we hear stories from clients claiming how their previous designers have “cheated their hard earned dollars”. Some of them paid up to $1000 for a web site designed but not fully functional.

We provide you a small checklist here so that you know better what to look for:

• First, we urge you to check your designer’s background before any commitment. If your designer operate as a freelancer, he/she may be able to handle a 50 pages web site well. If your web site is over 100 pages and you need to meet deadlines, we suggest that you outsource the project to reputable web design companies. Or at least make sure that the freelance designer has someone to work with him.
• Normally, you see what you get. NEVER commit before asking for your designer’s portfolio. We believe it makes sense that experienced designers can produce good quality work and beat the deadline too. If your designer is not able to let you see any of his past projects, then we suggest that you ask for some trial period or pages.
• Ask your designer to prepare for proper quotation and web design contract agreement. Words and promises are empty. Without proper agreement written down black and white, there is no trust between both parties. A major issue you need to address is: “Who will own the design work, logo, and graphics of the site after the project is completed”. Normally, clients have the right to claim all the design work done by the designer. But again, its safer to put this in paper.

For web applications, you may want to check the programmer’s profile. Of course, we are not asking you to look at 100 pages of source code and analyze the programmer’s abilities. Again, you can ask for sites which has been programmed by him/her. Are those sites popular with high traffic? Or, are those authority/important sites These are only some of the pointers.

For me, I am a trained programmer from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Programming becomes part of my life now, writing too =). Currently, I have a full time and a freelance designer to help me. With our resources and experience, we are definitely able to handle any large scale projects. Of course, you are always welcomed to ask for our portfolio or even clients’ testimonials.

Some of my clients assume that our web design plan include copyrighting, (or we provide content for their web sites).

We hope we can clear the misunderstanding. We will not be able to provide content for your web site. In fact, clients need to provide us their web site content in time so that we can complete any project within the given time frame.

There are reasons why we do not include copyrighting in our web design plan:

• We are not in your trade or industry. So, clients will know their trade or industry best. If you are an expert in your industry, generating good web site content is easy.
• We do not want to get ourselves legally involved in any copyright issues. And owners have to bear the responsibilities for the content that they publish.

However, we are confident that we are professional in our copywriting. You may check with us regarding our copywriting and translation services, which we do not list on the site since these are not our main services.

Recent findings indicate that e-shopping for 2005 holiday increase by 33% compared to last year. This is a research carried out by Nielsen//NetRatings. With the increase in information availability and improved search technologies, new and experienced internet users are researching for products and services online. Books, CDs and Videos continue to be the fastest growing category.

There is a similar trend in Singapore. Online spending is increasing as indicated by Straits Times report: Over 60% of Singaporeans are making their purchases online. With the affordability of internet broadband subscription plans now, we will see more Singaporeans shop online.

This is good news for IT professionals like us. For business owners, we urge that you tap on this growing trend. You may consider setting up an online e-store. It is quite affordable and you may find out more.

Your store is no longer geographically constrained and limited to Singapore market. Now, you can reach the world with your e-store, and start accepting credit card payment from all over the world.