Taking on a website designer – what you need to know

Your website – your business

Your website is likely to be a key part of your business.

The design of your site will potentially attract and retain customers and it’s important to get it right.

Many businesses choose to employ a specialist website designer to ensure that their website fits their business requirements perfectly.

Working with a website designer – key points to consider

In order to ensure that the web design process runs as smoothly as possible you should bear the following in mind:

• Be as detailed as possible in your brief to the website designer – think carefully about what you want your website to be able to do and how you want it to look. The more detailed you can be in your specification, the more likely you will be happy with the end result.
• Decide on your budget and timescale and communicate these to the designer. If you have a key date that the website must launch then make sure that your timescale is realistic as
  delays are common.
• Agree with the designer the cost of the project or how this will be calculated if it’s not a fixed amount agreed at the outset of the design process.
• Design rights and copyright apply to websites – in other words, your site shouldn’t look substantially the same as anyone else’s (and vice versa). It will be worth your while to check
  competitor’s websites.
• You may need to divulge confidential information about your business to the designer – it may be an idea to get them to sign a confidentiality agreement at the outset of the project.
• You should agree a timetable for the work with the designer and make sure that this is included in the contract. Think about interim targets and how the website will be tested
  when it’s finished.
• Consider what should happen if the designer doesn’t meet the agreed timetable – for example financial penalties such as payment only upon completion of agreed stages.
• It’s wise to consider your future plans for your business and make sure that your website can be expanded to cope with your success.
• You may also need agreements with other third parties – for example if your website is hosted
• Agree what is to happen in the event that your specification for your site changes as the design process unfolds and how the costs will be calculated in this event.

Making sure that your website belongs to you

You need to make sure that at the end of the design process the web designer assigns the copyright and design rights to you in writing.

Otherwise, the website can still ‘belong’ to them and you could be forced to pay the designer if you want to change the website in the future even if they have stopped working for you.

To find out more about the assignment of IP take a look at our guide when should you consider the assignment of intellectual property.

Likewise, you need to ensure that the domain name of the website (e.g. www.websitename.com) is registered in your name and not that of the designer.

If you have commissioned bespoke software for your site you should also ensure that the copyright of the design of the software is assigned to you.

You should ensure that you have the appropriate licence(s) for any software that is used in the site.

Your designer should also provide you with warranty that they have the right to any intellectual property used in the site and indemnify you against any claims in the future.