Don’t Do It Yourself!! Some Basics on Website Design
Copyright 2006 Audrey Burton
If you already have a website, how’s it working for you?
How much money are you making from it? When’s the last time
you updated it? If you don’t even have one yet, what are
you afraid of?
There are some things you should know about website design,
and you need to understand a little about the internet
world before you start, but when it comes right down to
execution, Don’t Do It Yourself! You may find yourself
spending 100s of hours in education and correcting your own
errors. So, unless your time is worthless, just learn the
basics and hire professionals.
I do not recommend you just hire someone without knowing a
little bit about web design yourself. Although most of the
designers are honest, there are those that are not and
those who overestimate their abilities, and I want you to
spend your precious money wisely.
The first thing to know is the difference between a graphic
designer, a web designer and a web developer. What you can
count on:
• a graphic designer is an artist and may have a specialty
(logos, home pages, business cards/stationary, etc.) And,
according to allbusiness.com’s Buyer’s Guide:
• a web designer designs the look of the ‘front end’ of
your site - what the visitor sees
• a web developer makes sure everything works properly -
the ‘back end’
You may need someone with all these skills and they are not
difficult to find. Just make sure you hire the right person
- ask her if she can do it all.
Of course, it’s not just that easy to create a successful
website or I wouldn’t be writing about it!! On top of
artistic and technical expertise, I suggest you also hire a
designer with marketing expertise. This may not be so easy
to find! Here are some questions to ask:
1. What marketing training do you have?
2. How much business has been generated for websites you
have designed?
3. Once it’s finished, how do I bring visitors to my site?
If you find this to be impossible, and that may be the
case, it might be worth your while to hire a group of
professionals. In chronological order:
• You may need to start with a coach with small business
expertise (like me) to select and fine-tune your marketing
foundation (target market, benefits). This is probably less
expensive than paying a marketing consultant to do this
work for you, and then you’ll know how to make these
decisions in the future.
• Hire an experienced copywriter to write website content.
This is especially important, even critical, if you plan to
use your site to sell. If your site is informational, look
at others’ sites and write it yourself.
• Hire an internet marketing consultant to make sure you
have all the components necessary (photos, copy, location
of everything) and to explore your internet advertising
options. There are some consultants who have industry and
marketing expertise in designing websites.
• NOW hire the web designer and developer to make it all
work attractively. The designer can be a different person
than the developer.
• Test, test, test. Test the design on several types of
computers on both dial-up and other internet connections.
Too many graphics will turn off visitors if your site is
too slow to load. Make sure everything works - every link,
sign-up, payment function, form, etc. Do this yourself
before you make final payment.
This is not the absolute word on designing your website; it
is based on my experience and education. If you can’t
afford all of this, then you’ll need to do plenty of
research to do some of it yourself. Here are some tips:
• Check out what others in your industry have on their
websites - especially people who are actually making money!
• Especially if you’re selling a service, put a
professional picture or caricature of yourself on your site
• Keep your target client in mind at all times. Before
putting anything on your website, ask yourself if your
ideal client would benefit from that information
• Know what you want your visitors to do when they visit
your site – what is your intention?
• Put contact info on every page - twice if applicable
• Site needs to be easy to navigate and easy to read
Building and maintaining your website is a commitment, and
requires some experimentation to figure out what works best
for your personality, your target market and for your
industry. The process is not an easy one, but hopefully
you will have an easier time of it after reading this
article!
—————————————————-
Audrey Burton is a practical Small Business Coach. She
eliminates business/marketing overwhelm and gets you
excited to work on your business again! To sign up for her
free, monthly email newsletter, visit her site:
http://www.TigressCoaching.com
