What You Don’t Know About Web Design and Development Really Can Hurt You…
Every web designer loves clients. Not only do they help us keep the bills paid on time, but they give us a good excuse to do what we’d likely be doing without them anyway – finding online outlets for our artistic impulses. In short, that’s why we toast them at dinner, express our deep gratitude whenever possible, and think warm thoughts about them when we settle in to sleep.
Of course, that’s not the whole story. In odd moments and behind closed doors, we also sometimes wish they would make things a bit easier on us. After all, we’re just doing our very best to give them what they want… so why won’t they let us?
The answer is that most clients probably aren’t trying to be difficult, they just don’t always understand the Internet, much less what it takes to develop a business site that does everything it needs to while still looking like a million bucks. They aren’t familiar with code, tags, or layout, and so they can’t always tell what’s involved in making changes or designs.
To help out – and keep your design team from cursing you under their breath – here are a handful of tips to keep in mind when working with web designers. And remember, these aren’t just pieces of advice to keep us sane; the more you stick to them, the better the odds that you’ll end up with a site that’s as profitable as it is beautiful:
Online marketing is not the same as offline marketing. You don’t have to ditch everything you ever learned about promoting your business to put it on the Internet, but you would do well to remember that it’s a whole new animal. To succeed online, you need to think in completely different terms of visuals, messages, and attention spans. Let your design team take your needs and guide you towards practical solutions; it’s hard to make money when you’re always fighting the conventional wisdom.
Having some idea of what you want is a good first step. We meet a lot of clients who could tell you exactly what they like on their pizza, but don’t have the first clue about what they would like their website to do. Obviously, we can help them fill in many pieces of the puzzle, but it helps if they have some notion of what they’re trying to accomplish. If you need your business site to generate leads or orders, say so; don’t leave it to your design team to guess what’s on your mind.
Your competitors aren’t always right. Hypothetical situation: your closest competitor launches a new site that features a video introduction on the front page. That means you need one, too, right? Maybe… and maybe not. I don’t know how many millions or billions of dollars have been wasted on copycat online marketing efforts, but I’m sure the number would make my head hurt. Try to think of your Internet strategy as something that fits in with your long-term business plans – not a collection of tricks you’ve seen other people using.
Get your money’s worth. It’s absolutely amazing how many people will interview a dozen designers or creative teams, check out their samples, scrutinize their proposals, and then choose a vendor… only to disregard every single piece of advice they receive from that point forward. Presumably, you picked your designer because you were impressed with their work, so try to be open to what they want to do for you. You don’t hear of a whole lot of people arguing with their doctors or dentists, but there are a lot who won’t think twice about disregarding their designer’s advice. Your opinions and feedback are always going to be the most important to the process, but try to keep an open mind – you’re paying for our experience and insight, so get your money’s worth.
It’s not the pixels… it’s the pixel-maker. Bids, proposals, and samples can sometimes be misleading. That’s because there are thousands upon thousands of freelance and part-time designers out there looking for business. Some of them come to us as relatives and referrals, interns and international suppliers. The two things they nearly always have in common are low prices and tiny portfolios. Is it worth it to take a chance to save some money?
I can’t answer that for you, of course, but we can give you a good piece of advice: if someone is charging less than professional rates, there’s probably a very good reason. You wouldn’t do your job for a third of what you get paid today, and chances are you’d be suspicious of someone else who would. Your website is one of the most important pieces of your business – maybe the most important – so don’t trust it to someone who isn’t going to get the job done in a way that’s going to make you money for years to come.
Revisions are best made early. Every designer knows the joy of putting the finishing touches on a new site and then finding out that the client wanted something completely different, and many clients have experienced the hidden pleasures of paying for their website twice because they failed to mention an important need or preference in the beginning of the design process. If you see something you don’t like with your design, mention it right off the bat. The longer an element of your project stays in place, the longer it will take (and more money it will cost) to fix or replace it later.
Remember, your designer loves you and want the very best for you. To get the most from their work, however, you need to make it easy for them to do their job. Try to follow this advice and be a good client – we’ll thank you for it later, and you might just think yourself when you see your finished website.
