Why Do People Think Their Web Designers Are Jokes?

By Brooke Long

People often tell me that they hold a low opinion of their past Web designers. No matter what they said they wanted to accomplish, or what they would like in their design they felt they got a "canned" Web site - the same site that their designer created for other clients. Following is a list of topics that should be discussed between you and the designer of you choice when undertaking a Web design project to help make sure that you will be happy with the site created for you.

Look at the overall marketing plan. Your designer should learn how your company attracts customers, look at the themes of your current marketing plan and come up with a site design plan that ties together well with your marketing plan.
What is the goal for your site? To create a successful Web site your designer needs to understand your goals for the site. Do you want to sell a product online, provide information for customers and prospects, or advertise your products and services?
Utilize a consistent look. To maximize the return on your Web site investment your designer should create a site that maintains a consistent look and feel to your other marketing materials. This allows you to build on a "brand identity." If your current marketing plan does not have a consistent theme this would be a great time to start!
Discuss the design aspects. Your designer should be discussing your needs and preferences relating to how the site is designed. This would include the size of the site, the navigation structure, whether to use frames and tables, where you would like to link to from your site, and the fonts and colors that you want used in the design.
Consider the Search Engines. Your Web designer needs to be considering the search engines from the beginning of the design process. Prior to registering your site with search engines your designer needs to code in the site title, site description, page names, and alt tags. The coding of Meta tags, the keywords that many search engines use to direct searchers to your site is also an important step in the creation of your site. If you plan for your site to generate a large amount of traffic from the search engines, your designer should discuss search engine optimization with you.
How to best use graphics in your site. Your designer should demonstrate expertise in the quality of look and layout in the graphics they use in their Web projects, as well as design to make the graphics download quickly.
The functionality of the site. It would be difficult for you as a customer to make a determination of the quality of a Web designer based on the coding of the site. But, if you look at how well the site functions - does it drop you into dead ends, do the graphics take a long time to download, does it feel busy or inconsistent? If so, the site is not user friendly. If you are able to navigate through the site easily, the look is pleasant, and it works quickly you've probably hit on a good designer.

Many people looking for a Web site feel that it is a commodity - anyone could do it. Yes, with the right software and a little knowledge just about any can design a Web site. As the saying goes, "a little knowledge can be dangerous." As you can see above there is quite a bit that goes into the design of an effective, quality Web site. By shopping smart you can avoid the "my designer is a joke pitfalls."