In short, absolutely not. Just because a website designer has created a handful of websites does not mean that he or she is up to the challenge of creating a website for your business. How can a designer that has only designed sites for auto repair garages turn around a design a site for a spa or salon? The answer is simply… they can’t.
Who’s Job is it After All?
Why should you have to hold you website designers hand and educated him or her about your industry? This is a waste of time, money, and a headache to you. You need a website designer with a background in catering to a diverse range of business and industries.
The Professional Steps In:
For example, Advertising Solutions, Inc. is one such company that has experience in catering to hundreds upon hundreds of industries over the years. Chances are Advertising Solutions, Inc. already knows your industry and probably already has designed a website dealing with it. Rather then having to hold the hand of your designer or educating your designer about your business, Advertising Solutions, Inc. already knows what you do and has an idea of your specific need. This unique ability allows Advertising Solutions, Inc. to quickly design a website for your business and industry that not only makes sense… but gets results.
Tags: designing your own site, internet marketing, knowing your industry, myths, professional website design, website design, website marketing
Once again watch out and be cautioned that you get what you pay for. As we have talked about in previous Website Design Myths you need to understand what separates a Professional Website Designer from everyone else.
Before you commit to having a student design your web site shop around. Chances are the amount of money he or she wants is two or three times the average rate. If not, explore their work.
When we originally published this article we wrote:
Unfortunately most collages do not have actual classes for web site design. Instead they have graphic design courses that my dabble in the subject.
Today this has changed a bit. Website design classes can be found at most colleges but once again designing a website from instructions you read in a book is no substitute for real world experience.
Graphic design is not website design. They are two separate medias. While someone may use their graphic design skills and apply them to a website, they will not have the programming skills or knowledge of web site design to create a site. Lastly, even though a person knows website design, does not mean they are an expert in marking. A must in order for your web site to succeed.
Finally a big consideration will be how accessible will this person be? Will there be support? What if he or she changes career paths? We see many many business owners that get stuck when they can’t get in touch with their designer. Be careful and only hire a professional website design firm.
Also be sure to read our article about Graphic Designers and Website Design to learn more about why Graphic Design is not Website Design.
Tags: college website designers, designing your own site, hiring a website designer, myths, online shopping, professional website design, website design
Although graphic design is a major part of website design it is not the same. There is a big difference between the person who designs the shape of a car and the engineers that actually build the car. The engineers are responsible to make sure the car runs, that its parts fit and that it performs and functions the way it is supposed to.
In no way can a graphic designer create a website in the same way that a professional website designer can. In the big scope of website design, the graphic design of the site is just one of the important factors. Other factors include the layout, navigation, coding, programming, development, construction, launching, marketing, search engine optimization, hosting, promotion, and maintenance. Only a reputable and skilled, professional website designer can provide all of these important services. A graphic designer will only be able to provide a design… however even this design may not work when applied to the Internet as a whole. This is why finding the right website design firm is so important.
Tags: designing your own site, myths, online shopping, professional website design, Search Engine Optimization, web design vs web creation, website design, website marketing
Website Designers vs. Website Creators:
Today, many people claim they are website designers when in fact they are website creators. Web design is a art form… a professional service. There is a huge difference between creating a website and designing a website. Just because someone puts paint on canvas does not mean they are an artist nor does someone who strums a guitar mean they are an musician. Just because someone puts a band-aid on a cut does not make them a doctor. Skill, talent, experience, and knowledge is the critical difference in all these cases.
The point here is that a website creator is anyone who types information into a website and hits save. While anyone can create a site, not everyone can design a website. Couple this with the fact that most websites on the Internet are suffering from poor design, layout, programming, SEO and other issues and you can see why a real, professional website designer is so important to have.
Software is Everywhere:
Today, anyone can go to an office store and buy the equipment needed for website creation. Actually in recent years, even discount department stores have started to sell software to create a website. Unfortunately when you go to the store you will not be able to buy the most critical parts… experience, knowledge, talent and skill.
Experience, skill and knowledge is something you can never just acquire overnight. It takes years of practice to get it just right. Website design is not about throwing words and pictures on a page and calling it a website; its marketing!
A Website Is Advertising!
Website design is a form or advertising. Just like any other form of advertising you need to have marketing sense to make it work… something that many so called ” website designers ” simply don’t have.
A few wears ago we had a business owner approach us about redesigning their website. The website was horrible. The designer that they hired made the images of the products for sale so small that you could barely see the images on the site. The designer also used colors that contradicted each other (i.e. red text on a blue background) to the point where you could hardly read the site’s text. Finally the oddest and quiet funny thing about the site was the graphics that the designed used all of the place. It seems that during the consultation, their old designer asked this business owner what they liked. The business owner mentioned she liked flowers and so the entire site had huge clip art images of sunflowers all over the place. It looked like you were entering a nursery or funeral home with the number of flowers on the site. It was horrible. This designer also thought it was good idea to photoshop little “sale” tags onto some of the products… needless to say adding the phrase “I’m Cheap” to a photo of a $1,500+ item was not a smart idea as it turned clients off thinking the item was cheaply made. We were able to completely tear their whole site down and replace the shopping system with an affordable and professional solution that they are very pleased with.
Know Your Designer First… Before You Buy:
The point is before you go to hire a website designer, do your homework. Get specific details as to what they will be doing. If you are hiring to redesign, get them to tell you what they want to do differently. Explain to them your problems with the design or your requirements and then listen to their answers. If they are vague or it sounds like they are not sure at what they want to do or if their solution sounds weak, then be wary. Check out their work and ask for an overview of services they have provided other clients in the past and how they worked out. Ask if they do website design for a living or as a sideline. Professional website designers do website design for a living. Beware of those who do it as a hobby or a part time job as that is a flag that support will not be there once the job is done or at the very least that your website design job will be a part time thing and will usually take much much longer to complete.
Tags: designing your own site, professional website design, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, web design vs web creation, website design
Can a business owner or the friend or family member of a business owner put a website together? The answer is yes. But there are many problems with this line of thinking. We will review and discuss each of the main problems with this method of design below:
Time & Effort
Ok so now that you have decided to setup your website you need to find out how to do it. Well first its best to run to the bookstore and buy some books on website design to learn about good techniques and get some tips. Each book will tell you something different so you will have to take the overall balance of the information and use that as a guideline. Now its time to do research on what software to purchase to design your site. Once you have your software installed its time to run back to the bookstore and buy some books on how to actually use the programs you just bought. After about 10,000 pages read and months of research you are finally ready to start designing your site.
So you spend the next few weeks putting together a website. After designing, deleting, modifying and starting over several times you finally get a site that you are satisfied with. Its been months since you first started out, it costs thousands of dollars in books and software but you are finally ready to put it online. meanwhile if you had hired a website design firm such as Advertising Solutions, Inc. you could have spent a few hundred, had the site done in a few weeks and spent the entire time focused on your business.
Tools
The software to create an attractive, professional and quality website is expensive. Professional website designers have thousands of dollars of software and hardware at their disposal. The initial investment in all the software that one would require to create a successful and professional website and then maintain that website later on is huge. Not only is it cheaper to have a professional website designer put your website together you can take advantage of the tools they have at their fingertips.
Technology
In today’s world of website design there are tons of different technologies and frameworks that you can build your website on. Do you use static HTML or go with something more dynamic and scalable such as PHP or ASP? What about components such as AJAX or technologies such as XML? What about interactive flash elements requiring Actionscript? What about customizing online shopping packages or blogs or podcasting feeds? Almost every site can benefit from these technologies. In fact, to create a search engine friendly website, you will need to some of these technologies added to your site and used correctly. So how do you incorporate them into your site alone?
Deployment
Once the site is designed the issues comes to publishing your website to the Internet. This sounds easy but this is where the real headaches can begin. It would seem that website hosts are a dime a dozen but finding the right host for the right price and offering the right technologies and servers is a huge project. Every hosting company out there has a different hosting package that includes different features, technologies and restrictions. Experience with the technologies you used on your site and the Operating Systems and server technology you will require to run it is a must here.
Once again relying on a experienced and Professional Website Designer will solve this problem and headache because he or she will know what your site requires and where to find servers to run it.
Website Marketing
Internet and Website Marketing is overlooked by most business owners and sadly the majority of almost all web designers and firms. Once the site is designed, it’s important that it be search engine optimized, marketing and publicised. This is a daunting challenge and feat in itself. Without the proper knowledge of what to do and how to go about doing it, it is impossible. You can spend days and weeks reading articles and books on SEO and Internet Marketing but you will find that many of them contradict each other. The best solution is to once again rely on a experienced, proven and professional Internet Marketing Firm
Experience
The biggest and largest hurtle to overcome is experience. Experience cannot be learned overnight. Any good quality and experienced website designer will know exactly what needs to be done to produce a attractive, quality and successful website.
Unless you have experience in website design, you site will not succeed. It is only by experience, expertise, and knowledge of the industry that you can design a site that will stand the test of time on the Internet, thrive, and become successful enough that it makes money. If you have never done it before it will take a lot of time, money, research, and lots and lots of cups of coffee to gain the knowledge of a skilled, reputable, website designer. Just because someone knows some of the basics of website design, does not automatically make them an expert website designer.
Most Business Owners Eventually Fall Back to the Professionals
In the long run, most business that design a website themselves, either shut them down or eventually hire a company like Advertising Solutions, Inc. to point them in the right direction.
The easiest, most cost effective thing to do is to hire a real web site designer and marketing firm that will take the time and honestly tell you what you should do, without wasting your money, time, or resources… a company like us.
Tags: designing your own site, internet marketing, myths, online shopping, professional website design, search engines, website design
A lot of potential clients have commented that they saw our portfolio but missed our Online Shopping and Video Production portfolios. We have changed our website to add our Website Design, Video Production and Online Shopping Portfolios into one place. Take a look at the new setup at http://advertisingsolutions.net/pages/portfolio/index.html.
Tags: clients, online shopping, portfolio, video production, website design
You’re Left Out:
You would be surprised how many people have websites now days. A recent statistic said that a few million web pages are added to the Internet every day! Years ago it was a big deal to have a website but today it has become more then common. When you hand out a business card today people assume on it will be your name, address, phone number and your website. Even small, one-man proprietorship’s selling handmade items have websites now days.
When we originally published this Website Design Myths Guide we commented that:
“there were some industries where websites are not so common as other industries”.
That today has changed. If you do a search for even the most abstract industries or niches you will find websites. Don’t believe us? Try to search for “mustache combs” on Google and marvel at the results. At the time of this post there were 111,000 results!
So What Does This Mean?
So why bring up mustache combs? Searches in niches and industries like these may not be the most popular search topic. Not everyone needs or wants to buy a mustache comb. So “mustache combs” might not fare as well as say “diamond engagement rings” or “iPhones” but the point is, people are still searching for mustache combs and your mustache comb competitor down the street is already in the results. Are you?
What is a Website’s Purpose?
Let’s go back and lets think about the purpose of a website. Most people think that a website’s only purpose is to attract new business off of the Internet. That’s a really great reason and that’s one of the goals that we here at Advertising Solutions, Inc. strive for, we must be honest and also admit that is not the only purpose nor is it the most important purpose in many cases.
“What?” You say? “An advertising and Internet marketing company is telling me that getting business off the Internet with my site is not the most important thing? Are you mad?” We know it sounds odd but lets stop and work this out for a minute.
Direct Website Traffic
Research has shown that businesses that advertise their websites in other ads such as your phone book, television, radio, newspaper / magazine, flyer, brochure, business card, or even your store’s window get more response. The reason? When many people need a service they want to learn as much about the company they will be doing business with as they can. Shoppers and consumers like to know that what they are getting is real and more and more are doing research. It is faster and easier to look at your website then it is to drive all the way down to your location. Likewise, in most cases it is also impossible to call you 2:00 am to find out if you have a specific product or a service. So you can see that while it might sound crazy to say that the primary goal of a website is not the get new business off the Internet… it’s better to say that the primary goal of a website is to reinforce and complement your business’ face and appearance and also to reach a new Internet market.
One of our clients once wrote and told us:
“A customer left his glasses in my store today. Did he call me? No. He went on my site and sent me an email from my contact form asking me to put them on the site for him. He could have called but he decided to go to my site and contact me there”
Even in a situation as dire as leaving your glasses behind, the choice was still to visit a website and send an email over calling over the phone. As a business owner consumers have come to regard a website as standard and expect it.
Shopping and Economy Makes It Necessary
Another factor why it is so important to have a website in today’s market and world can be best summed up in a study that recently came appeared. In early 2009 a report came out that looked at the number of retail sales over the 2008 Holiday Season. It found that while brick and mortar store’s sales fell, Internet sales went up. The fact is at this time it is very important to get a website out on the Internet and if you are selling products, to get those products on your site and for sale via online shopping.
Physiological Reasons
Years ago when we first published this article we wrote:
“A physiological reason also takes effect. Most people think that ‘If this business has a web site… it must be a large business… therefore it must be better then the guy down the road that doesn’t have a site.’ This physiological reason works because the public does not know enough about website design to realize that their assumption is a mistake… a mistake that can be used to your advantage.”
Today this idea has changed. Many would think it has balanced out where people don”t care if you have a site or not. Instead what has happened is the consumer assumes and expects you to have a website and will actually raise an eyebrow when you don’t. One client recently wrote to us and told us about his time at a large product fair where he was selling his products.
“I was sitting at my booth all day and almost everyone interested in my products were asking for my card and my website address. No matter if people bought or didn’t buy from me that second, they still asked for my website. I had one guy to my left selling other items. People kept asking them the same question ‘What is your website?’, Do you have a site?’, ‘I want to check out your website.’ This poor guy must have said ‘no’ over and over again a thousand times. One of the other vendors selling there with me mentioned he does web design and the guy said he didn’t need a site. I was amazed that he still didn’t think he needed it. But then again I’m sure lots of businesses thought they didn’t need a telephone for 20 or so years.”
That’s just our point. You cant survive without a website today. A website has become another extension.. another way of getting in touch with you.. another enterence to your store, services or products. You have a mailbox. You have a phone number. You need a website.
Tags: myths, online shopping, website design
Many years ago Advertising Solutions, Inc. published a guide of Website Design Myths based on a lot of the misconceptions that many business owners took as fact or what they were told from shady website designers. This guide was a staple on our website for many years but was taken offline a few years ago during an update of our site.
The guide is still relevant today as it was almost 10 years ago when it was written. We have updated it and will begin to post each myth right here under this new section. Look for a new myth every few days.
We have updated our website design portfolio again. Due to the Holiday Season we had not updated our portfolio with our new clients, however it has now been updated. Be sure to check out some our exciting new clients and designs.
For those of you who have not seen our portfolio yet, you can check it out here: http://advertisingsolutions.net/pages/portfolio/index.html.
It will give you a good idea of the different services we offer, the industries we have served and are experienced in, our skills, and the superior quality of our work. For more information on our services or to view more web sites that we have designed, please contact us.
Tags: clients, hosting, portfolio, website design