Web Design

Should You Choose an Industry-Specific Web Designer?

Roofers do it. Attorneys do it. Chiropractors do it.

Hire web design companies who specialize in their industries, that is.

Rather than work with a web designer who builds sites for all sorts of companies, some business people choose web design specialists who focus on building sites for particular niches.

Is this a smart idea, or not? Let’s look at some of the pros and cons.

Pros: Working with an Industry-Specific Website Design Firm

They speak the lingo (They can actually SPELL “chiropractic.”)
They understand the issues and concerns faced by business owners in that industry because they’ve worked with multiple companies.
They understand the customer base and what’s hot, trending or topical; they may already know where to find current research, appropriate images and current content.
If that design firm also does SEO (some don’t) – They have real-world experience, they should already know which keywords are most important and how difficult they are to rank for.
Often – but not always – these are well-established larger firms with the resources and expertise to handle a variety of marketing needs.

Cons: Working with an Industry-Specific Web Design Firm

They can be extremely expensive; you’re paying for the industry insight, the pre-built templates or the array of options, even if you don’t use them.
They may also be working for your competitors. How would you feel if you’re paying a web design company to get your website to the top of Google for a particular search term – and two local competitors are paying them for the same thing?
If they use identical templates and content for multiple websites, it hurts your search engine rankings because your site is less unique. This is more common among lower-cost providers. Sometimes you don’t even own your domain name.
They’re less likely to innovate or offer perspectives from other sites/industries.
Proprietarial design and content management systems may make it difficult for you to make site updates, get help with site management, or redo the site if you ever change your mind.
Larger firms may be impersonal and less focused on the success of any individual website/company. You may find that they’re less inclined to answer your questions or make site modifications to suit your preferences.

What’s most important to you?

One angle to consider is not only what you have to gain but what you have to lose by a particular decision. Which costs more? What kind of support are you getting for the money? How much are you willing or able to do on your own? How difficult will it be to use a different web designer if the relationship turns sour?

A lot of the advantages are less important than they might seem, in my opinion. As someone who’s built websites for many different kinds of companies, I can tell you it’s not that hard to find websites to give me ideas. And I have the tools and experience to do keyword research for the search engines; it’s not that time-consuming or expensive to do, especially for local markets.

Besides, part of my job is to get to know your business and your online marketing goals. You, presumably, can tell me what you do and what’s special about your business. You can probably show me sites you like (and don’t like) to use as examples.

I believe that personal connection is key, regardless of the size of the web design company or the industry specialization. Are you working with someone you can trust as a business adviser, someone who has your best interests in mind?

If so, working with an industry web design specialist can be a distinct advantage.

If not – the possible savings or convenience aren’t worth it.

Be Suspicious of Award-Winning Web Design Firms…

… unless the awards are for the sales they generate for their clients.

David Ogilvy, considered by some to be the “father of modern advertising”, puts it this way:

Be suspicious of awards.

The pursuit of creative awards seduces creative people from the pursuit of sales. We have been unable to establish any correlation whatever between awards and sales. At Ogilvy and Mather, we now give an annual award for the campaign which contributes the most to sales. Successful advertising sells the product without drawing attention to itself, it rivets the consumer’s attention on the product. Make the product the hero of your advertising.

More great quotes from David Ogilvy

Ben Hunt, author of “Save the Pixel”, puts it this way:

“Design your content, not the box it comes in.”

How do you know you’re talking to a web designer who’s focused on your sales, not their design? By the questions they ask. If she’s asking about what products make you a profit, the most desired response from your website, how you want to follow up with prospects, your plan to keep site content current – that’s a good sign. Those questions relate to generating leads and sales.

If the conversation revolves around colors and layout and custom graphics – the designer is focused more on the “box” (the site), not your product. Yes, the graphic and visual appeal of a site is important – but look for a designer who realizes that the underlying goal if your web presence is to make you money.

To put it another way – look for a web design company who values sales rewards over sales awards.

Web Designers Facing Extinction

Web Designers Facing Extinction? It’s a tough time to be a website designer – how do you make money providing a service that people can get dirt-cheap, if not altogether free?

I’ve been hearing radio ads about a partnership between Intuit and Google. They’re offering a free domain name, free hosting for 1 year, and a free theme. Most hosting companies have their own website templates – in fact 1and1.com is offering theirs for free through TV ads.

WordPress itself, the CMS (content management system) that has rocketed to popularity in recent years, is absolutely free. You can buy high-quality custom themes (site templates) for less than $100. This site was built using the extraordinarily versatile Smallbiz Theme, and I’ve used it for quite a few websites.

So what’s a web designer to do? If your primary qualification has been “I can build you a nice-looking site”, you’re in trouble. Because it’s never been easier to get a nice site without a web designer at all.

Disclaimer here – yes, some business people don’t have the time or inclination to build their own sites, even if they are free. People aren’t so dumb as to think 1&1 or Google will hand them clients on a plate. And of course there will always be a need for higher-end, custom design work.

But no longer are people willing to shell out a significant sum of money for web design work. It’s time for customers to challenge their web designers to be web marketers. To expect traffic and leads from their websites.

In my opinion, website designers who don’t “evolve” to this changing environment are going to die out.

What do YOU think?

Who Works on Your Website?

I’ve had a couple of web design prospects tell me lately that they want employees or friends to build or design their company websites.

For example, one gentleman told me that one of his employees was “really into graphic design” and didn’t like the look of their existing, professionally designed, website. (This was a health care company, by the way.) So the business owner said something to me about letting this employee design a new site and I could just “put it up.”

Another prospect (automotive industry) told me that the husband of one of his employees wanted to learn how to build websites. So he was thinking he’d let this guy build the company site.

Folks – this is your LIVELIHOOD we’re talking about, right? Your website is your first impression to a prospect.

So why would you let someone who doesn’t know anything about it, do it for you?

In the first example – the employee may know what she likes, but it doesn’t mean she’s studied graphic design OR that she knows how a site should be laid out. And if she did create another site for the business – now there are TWO sites that need maintained. And TWO sites competing in the search engines. Not smart.

In the second example – if someone you know wants to learn how to build a site, let ’em work on their own. Suppose this employee wanted to learn how to be a mechanic – would you give them your Mercedes to work on as they learned, or some old clunker?

I DO believe in building sites that my clients can update on their own, which is why I typically build in WordPress. It’s easy to learn, you can update a site from any computer with an Internet connection, and you can assign different people varying levels of access to your site. (Plus you don’t have to pay a web designer $100 or wait two weeks to make a simple change!)

For example, an Administrator can change anything on the site, including layout options. An Author can publish and manage their own posts, nothing else.

But otherwise – if your site represents you professionally, let a professional build it for you.

How to Create a Website for $111

Want to build your own website? You can do it for about $111, here’s what you need. Numbers are approximate, and I’m assuming you want to go the “professional” route with your own domain name and hosting.

Domain Name Registration (Godaddy): $11/year
Web Site Hosting: $100/year
Site Builder (WordPress, Weebly, others): free
Blog (WordPress): free
Market Research (Google Adwords Keyword Tool): free
Traffic Stats (Google Analytics): free
Search Engine Optimization (WordPress All-in-One SEO plugin is one way): free
Email: free with hosting; Gmail is also free
Image Editing (Irfanview, Picnik, Microsoft Picture Manager): free
Newsletter Management (Mailchimp): free
How-To Instruction (Youtube, Google, forums): free

Total Cost: $111

What else will you need to spend?
A lot of time.
A lot of effort.

Suppose that’s acceptable to you. You don’t need your site done quickly and you have lots of time to figure out how to make it look and work correctly.

What else are we missing?

Oh yeah. Copywriting expertise. Online marketing expertise. SEO expertise.

Have you heard the story of the airplane mechanic?

A very expensive and rare old airplane developed a worrisome engine noise that had mechanics baffled. They spent days trying to figure out the source of the noise, to no avail.

Finally the aircraft owner tracked down a mechanic who specialized in restoring these old planes and offered him $5,000 to find the problem. The specialist agreed.

When this expert arrived, the aircraft owner and the previous mechanics watched eagerly while the specialist listened to the engine and walked around the plane. After about 5 minutes, he asked that the engines be turned off, requested a specific screwdriver, made an adjustment to the engine and told the pilot to turn the engine on again.

Wow! The noise was gone!

So the specialist wiped his hands on a rag and presented a bill for $5,000 to the owner.

The owner and his mechanics had a quick whispered conversation. Then the owner told the specialist, “You know, $5,000 seems like an awfully large payment for 5 minutes’ work tightening a screw, don’t you think? Would you reconsider that price?”

The specialist thought a moment, nodded, took the bill and wrote on it, and handed it back to the owner.

The newly revised bill said:

1) Tightening screw on engine – $5.00

2) Knowing which screw to tighten – $4,995.00

No more wimpy web designers!

I’m fed up with wimpy web designers.

But unfortunately, that’s what many people (small business owners, in particular) have come to expect – it’s become the norm, because they don’t know any better.

I don’t mean body build, of course. I mean lazy people who do the bare minimum when it comes to building a website and convince unsuspecting business owners that what they just spent $5,000 on is quality work.

Web design is about a lot more than mechanics. It’s not about being able to hand-code a site. It’s not about taking a class in high school or buying a copy of Dreamweaver or figuring out how to install WordPress and dress it up.

Nor is it about having a big advertising agency or charging higher design fees than anybody else in town.

Truly powerful web designers focus on much more than just “building a website.”

They don’t just “do SEO” (search engine optimization) – they UNDERSTAND it, and have a track record of building websites that are easy to find in the search engines. They know that the most beautiful website with the most powerful marketing message is a waste if no one can find it. So they build sites accordingly.

Strong web designers also understand marketing (generally) and online marketing (specifically.) They know how people read online, how to track performance, and the importance of engaging website visitors. They know that a sexy delivery doesn’t compensate for crappy content.

You don’t have to settle for wimpy web design, and you shouldn’t.