November 13, 2008 at 11:08 am · Filed under Web_Design
Many people end up hiring either a friend or relative to get their web site done. Maybe it will be free, maybe you will get a discount. Either way, if your friend is a professional, it can be a great deal. If they are not (and sometimes even if they are), it may end up being more hassle than it is worth.
There is some blurry line out there that distinguishes professionals from amateurs. Not only is this line blurry, but it’s somewhat different for each person. I might consider someone an amateur, but you might consider them a professional.
The position of that line is based primarily on two things: Level of skills and level of conduct. Someone can be much stronger in one than another and still be considered a professional by many.
Let’s talk about two mythical web designers. Joe and Suzy Web design web pages for people. They gets paid for it. They makes a living from it. So far, we don’t know enough about Joe and Suzy to decide if we would consider them professionals.
Joe is a people person. He’s great at communicating. He is able to figure out exactly what a customer’s wants and needs are, and the customer knows that he understands. Joe’s actual design skills, while not great, are competent.
Suzy, on the other hand, is a fantastic designer. She feels more at home working on the computer than she does interacting with customers. While she is uncomfortable meeting with clients, she knows that it is necessary, and still acts very polite and tries to communicate well with clients.
Who is the more professional? If you were just looking at portfolios, you might say Suzy. If you were to meet with both designers, you might say Joe. But if both of them have an appropriate amount of skills in both areas, they’re both professionals. The difference of opinion generally comes in what is an appropriate amount of skills.
If you’re lucky, you get one person who’s great in both. Or one design firm that both Suzy and Joe work at.
Of course, running a good business enters into the equation also, but unless specific details are known by the client, that does not necessarily have an effect on perceived professionalism.
Tim is the owner and senior web designer at T&S Web Design. His company has developed and maintained website for dozens of small businesses and organizations. Tim also maintains a blog with free website advice for small business owners, GetASiteOnline.com.
Tags: competent, design, designer, designing, people, person, professional, site, webcompetent, design, designer, designing, people, person, professional, site, webShare This
November 11, 2008 at 3:01 pm · Filed under Web_Design
In today’s age of fast food and high-speed Internet, a business may be tempted to take the “more convenient” route in launching a website - buying a template and customising it.
Website design templates are like off-the-shelf websites and are targeted at people who believe that launching their own, unique and differentiated website is costly and time consuming, which need not be the case.
But what happens when you buy a template, and when looking up your competition on the web, you find that they are using the same template as you! A good example of this happening is the highly competitive real estate business - I have personally discovered 6 (six) South African real estate businesses using the same design template for their website.
Using the example of the real estate business, let’s imagine a guy called Adam wants to look for a new home by looking at several websites.
After browsing a few sites it occurs to Adam that the interface of some of the sites was the same, although the colour scheme may have been different.
After looking at, say six different web sites, he’s decided that he is highly interested in one particular home.
However, poor Adam is at a loss - he can’t remember which real estate company was offering this home! The layout and navigation structure of all the websites are the same and all the websites feature homes for sale in the same format.
None of these real estate businesses benefited from Adams interest in buying a new home - they simply wasted his time and made him feel frustrated. On the bright side, at least Adam won’t remember which real estate businesses made him feel this way!
John Simms is an Internet Marketer for Eiledon Solutions, a website development & design company in Cape Town, South Africa. Visit the website for more info.
Tags: business, competitor, content, design, internet, layout, real estate, template, web design, websitebusiness, competitor, content, design, internet, layout, real estate, template, web design, websiteShare This
October 12, 2008 at 11:01 pm · Filed under Web_Design
Now there are many different criteria to consider when choosing a Web Design Company. One of which is, what kind of website is it you need?
Depending on whether you want to sell products, just advertise a bricks and mortar business or something radically different, will govern the skill set required of your chosen Web Design Company.
Most Web Design Companies will be able to design a simple site advertising a business but may not be very good at constructing sites that use an eCommerce Solution to sell products online. When looking at the portfolio of each Web Design Company, pay attention to the type of sites they are making. If they have never built a site with an eCommerce Solution, don’t pay them to learn how to!
The portfolio is a good place to start with all Web Design Companies. While looking at each site on their portfolio, make sure they are of a good quality and contain a link saying they were designed by the Web Design Company. It’s amazing how often I see Web Design Companies trying to pass other designer’s work of as their own. Also check all the way through the portfolio, a common tactic of Web Design Companies is to place their best work first and hiding their not so good work at the bottom of the pile. Looking all the way through will give you a better idea of their consistency.
Designing websites today isn’t quite as simple as it should be. People Surfing the web use a number of different web browsers e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox etc. try looking at every site you view in these browsers to make sure they all display correctly.
Phone up a Web Design Company and have a good discussion to see if you get on. You don’t want to be working with someone you find hard to get along with.
Ask the Web Design Company if they have any referrals and speak to them as well, asking what their experience was like.
Check the legalities of the web design service, who will own the site after it is completed, who will own the copyright? All of these things will have further implications, especially if you want to start using another Web Design Company due to problems.
And of course we come to price. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. Don’t go thinking choosing a Web Design Company is anything different. A good analogy is buying a car worth twice the amount your paying because it has a hole in the fuel tank. You might be saving money now but other time its going to cost you a lot more until you get it fixed!
James Anderson is a search engine optimisation consultant who works for Podium Solutions Manchester Web Design Company.
Tags: choose, choosing, company, design, designer, designers, how, site, web, websitechoose, choosing, company, design, designer, designers, how, site, web, websiteShare This
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