Comments on: Why hire a web site designer?

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:41:51 +0000

That’s very true, but sadly a lot of web designers – particularly amateur designers, like those discussed above – only think of web sites as pictures and codes, not strategies and content. And because many small businesses don’t know the right questions to ask, the business case gets left behind by both parties. Small businesses should look for a designer or firm that will seek to understand what it the business is about and why they need a web site to support it, rather than talking exclusively about themselves and how great they are with the very latest graphic software.

For businesses which don’t know much about online marketing and need help in learning how to translate their business idea to the web, there is a useful little volume called “Internet Marketing” by Nigel Packer which is worth a read.

By: Web Business

Web Business — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:25:52 +0000

I guess the old adage that ‘you get what you pay for’ applies to web design as much as anything else. Even if you get a professional designer to build your website, without good, content rich articles then the money spent on the design is wasted, since no one ever visits the site!

Developing a successful site is an ongoing process and transcends a website looking good or passing w3 standards. For a website to be successful it needs good marketing, good vision & proper maintenance. From a business point of view, I think you need a solid business idea before even a professional can make you a good website!

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:47:52 +0000

As you discussed on my own blog this morning, web site design sadly has as many cowboy builders as any other profession. The problems with that particular site could have been eliminated by an open and accountable procurement process, but that would have hurt the poor boy’s feelings…

As far as the “mom and pop” organisation site comment, I respectfully disagree. As I discussed above, a homemade web site implies a company that has to cut corners. The visitor’s thinking may be: if they can’t afford to build a proper web site, what other corners are they cutting? Is this the kind of B&B where the shower is attached to the sink by a hose? Unless someone in the mom-and-pop organisation has an outstanding level of web and graphic talent, it’s highly unlikely that a homemade web site can promote a business in the best possible light.

A few weeks ago I took a call from a local businessman who was literally raging about why his site wasn’t “at the top of Google.” (He had just come from a seminar and was convinced he was now an expert on such things…) When I asked him what his contract with his designer stipulated about ongoing SEO work, he replied – “Aw, there’s nae contract, it’s just a mate.” That phrase, and all of its implications, is the difference between amateur and professional design in a nutshell.

There is no one easy answer to the maintenance question. I consider the “lifespan” of a site to be about three years, with 33% depreciation of its value each year.

By: Brian Woodroffe

Brian Woodroffe — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:29:24 +0000

I am an amateur, who maintains a hobby website. Whilst there are many appropriate points in this article, a web site designed by a ‘professional’ is not a universal panacea. I know of many professionally built web sites that fail W3 validation; i.e. a professional web site builder service is not guarantee of success. Is web site design devoid of cow-boys?
Further if you are a ‘mom-and-pop’ operation (say a B&B), then home grown is fine – IMO, especially if one avoids trying to be flash. In fact professionals over use fancy gimmicks; less is more usually – compare Google with eBay/Amazon/whoever.
The most common fault with any organisation is to think that a web site requires no maintenance. What is the profession’s view? The maintenance cost (per annum) should be about 25%/33% of set up costs?

By: Helmut Watterott

Helmut Watterott — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:39:27 +0000

Thats right. Quite a challenge especially in the last few months. What I try to do now is charge less on the actual development but push for a maintenance/support contract (so I do the updates). This means I have a bit more control over their site performance like seo and making sure their content STAYS W3C.

By: Heather Burns

Heather Burns — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:16:17 +0000

Helmut, the answer to that problem usually lies in the pricing strategy. I have found that when web sites are on the lower end of the pricing scale, the owners tend to skirt around them, take forever to get their content in, and then generally treat the web site like a piece of office furniture. But if the web site costs them a bit, it’s the wake-up call they need to start taking their web presences seriously. So your challenge is to convince your clients why they need to spend an amount that reflects what their web sites and the effort you put into them are really worth.