How to choose a decent web designer
With practically no barriers to entry, web design is one of the most over-subscribed vocations in the first world. It only takes a quick online search to discover probably a dozen or more web designers within a 20 mile radius of your business. If you’re based in the city, double that and then add some more.
Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of start-up web designers see the internet as a chance to make a quick buck, without ever bothering to learn how it works, or what their clients need. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that as business owners, we’re so used to seeing poorly designed and poorly performing sites, that we’re confused about what works and what doesn’t.
Identify your website’s goals
First things first – if you’re commissioning a website, you’re doing it for a reason, yes? You probably want your website to increase your brand’s profile and help to generate sales. But from looking at a lot of sites on the net, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they’ve got nothing to do with making money. Why? Because they aren’t focused on the customer.
Before commissioning your website, it’s essential to establish its primary goals. For example, to generate a list of email addresses for direct marketing. To generate telephone enquiries. To sell £xxx worth of your product each month. The more specific your goals, the better your chance of success.
Your website is not about your company
This is perhaps the most common mistake. You have a business, and you want a website. Often your first thought will be that the site needs to be about your business. Stop. And read the next sentence slowly and carefully. If you want your site to generate revenue, it needs to be about your customers. It needs to identify with their needs, desires, problems and social status. Whatever makes your customers buy your product needs to be the foundation for your website. Anything less than that is a waste of money and opportunity.
Design is not art – it’s communication
This must be the most fundamental reason why the web is full of flaccid and ineffective websites that cost businesses money without ever paying their way: the majority of web designers don’t know what design is. Take a moment to digest that. It’s their job, but they don’t actually know what it is. Why? Because they’ve never bothered to learn; instead, they’ve just copied what they see on the net and learned to make pretty graphics for their clients’ web pages. That’s not design, it’s art. And since when has art ever sold anything but itself? A case in point is this: your website may look beautiful, with well-chosen colours, fancy graphics and a multitude of shadows, gradients and 3D effects. But it probably says more about your web designer than it does about your business, and is probably a better sales tool for his product than yours. I’m not saying a website should be ugly – I’m saying how it looks is only one part of a much greater whole.
Information is everything
So, armed with this knowledge, how can you use it to find a web designer who’s actually going to create an effective sales tool for your business? Well, the designer’s own website is usually a good start. Take out a pen and draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper. Write ‘good’ and ‘bad’ at the top of either column. Now, visit the designer’s website, and for every time you read about ‘clean websites’ or ‘beautiful design’ or ‘awesome graphics,’ place a tick in the ‘bad’ column. For every time you read about return on investment, increasing sales, or conversion rate optimisation, place a tick in the ‘good’ column. You get the picture. If the designer’s website is about tangible benefits for your business, then they’re probably a good choice. At the end of the exercise, count up all the ticks, and disregard any designer who gets more bad than good.
Knowing how to choose the right person or company could be the difference between success and failure. Now you know how to choose, you’re already one step ahead.
About seoblogger:
Our SEO blogger is an expert in Web Marketing, Usability and Interface Design. He has been a vital part of The Blue Cube Communications since 2003. As the West Midlands fastest growing web marketing agency, we always strive to maximise return on investment for our customers.
