Cheaper is not necessarily better

No one likes to over pay for things. The internet is a great leveller and gives us a quick way of gaining the best prices and services available. The dreaded “Credit Crunch” has also helped add to the price consciousness of purchasers but cheaper is not always better especially when it comes to web design.

The rise of out sourced web designers and independent consultants through sites such as eLance and Odesk have opened the market up further. This has tended to make web design almost a commodity and many businesses are treating as this. UK businesses need to recheck their perspective! It is no longer enough to simply have a web presence. You must remember what a website actually is. For many people it is the first contact a prospect has with your business and they can visit your competitor in seconds. If you were looking for a new TV and on your local street were 2 consumer electronic stores; one which was perfectly laid out with a great selection of TV’s all in one place and helpful assistants whilst the other was a little shabby, with a few gaps on their shelves and a bit confusing in its layout – which would you trust and choose? It is the same with your website!

Remember your website is your 24/7 representative, your PR agent, your business card – essentially it is more important than your premises, marketing literature and sales pitch –so you must invest in it and be sure it is 100% So here are a few tips when choosing a web designer or web design company:

·         Company Understanding: This is number 1. Whilst you may not have all of the skill to develop a website you need to be a major part of the process. This is your web site based on your business! You are the master of your business and its vision. Your web designer must show a keen interest in your story, vision and plans for the future. This means you are building a valuable brand and not just a website.

·         Market Understanding: Your web designer must also do his/her homework! I would expect and decent web design company worth their salt to look at the market you compete in and how the competition are positioning themselves to ensure the pitch is right and prospects choose you other your rival.

·         Business and Marketing Understanding: Whilst little Timmy can design a nice site from his bedroom on the cheap, what does this 14 year old know about marketing and business for that matter? Marketing does not work well in isolation, your marketing, sales pitch and outlook all needs to be linear to give a powerful, unified stance and not mixed messages which can put doubt into the mind of your potential customer. Your web designer might be exceptionally well skill and able to produce awesome 3D graphics but if people visit the site and don’t really get your business or see too many ideas jammed together they will think “nice site” but leave for your competitors. Your website has a purpose, this could be to sell, get people to call you, to inform or to capture opinions – it really doesn’t matter but it does matter if the whole site does not inspire the visitor to do what you want them to do. One of our customer sell high tech computer equipment. Before the worked with Igneous Marketing they had a flash site with every technical detail you could ever wish to see about the product they sold. They also had the price clearly marked. What they didn’t have was the customers. They had a great deal of traffic but people would simply use their site to learn about the products and then use the price and knowledge gained from the site to negotiate with the company’s competitors. Their site was a great sales tool.....unfortunately it was for the competition!

·         Commitment: This is another big point. Many of these independent web designers are essentially “box shifters” which sell websites then move on. So what happens if you need a few edits or changes to keep up with changes in your market? Where are they? Are they interested in helping or will they focus on the next big pay day by designing a new site for another business? You need to see your web designer as a partner for the long term. The closer you get, the more they will understand about your business and be able to tweak your site to be a true representation of your business.

Your website is crucial to your business and it’s future. A good website is never static, in fact one of Google’s new search engine ranking criteria is how often the site is updated and added to. You need to select a web designer that is committed to your business and understands your business, your market, your struggles, your successes and your rivals. A good web designer needs to see the bigger picture and have great business and marketing skills, not just the ability to create flashing images!

If you want a full, no obligation critique of your current site why not contact Igneous Marketing. We are offering a full analysis of your site for free as a loyal reader of our blog. Click here and get in touch!

Creating A Website Brief

Hiring a web designer to build or revamp your website can be a major investment for a small business, so it is essential to get the brief right. Give your web designer unclear instructions and you could find yourself forking out for something that does not do the job. We explain the art of writing a good web design brief.

Talk through what you want with the web designer first. This will help you to draw up a specification for an acceptable design. They should tell you the pros and cons of the different choices you can make, and most will do this for free if they think they’re going to win the business.

These discussions will help you write your web design brief — the instructions telling the web designer how to build the site. While not legally binding, the brief is an important document. It can pull the designer back on track if they don’t deliver what you wanted, or go over budget.

Structuring the web design brief

Consider three things when writing a brief. Start with the technology. You need to ensure your site can be displayed by different web browsers on different devices. If your clients are likely to view you site on a mobile device, for example, you should seriously look at whether to use programmes like Flash.

The second key area is look and feel, so include some of your marketing material showing the colours, logos and house style in the brief. Make sure you give examples of websites you like and those that you don’t plus the reasons why.

Finally, be clear on what the site should achieve. This will help the web designer understand your business model — what you sell and who your customers are. Don’t forget that people scan websites, so it’s important that your pages aren’t cluttered with information and that people can easily find what they’re looking for.

Bear in mind that what you want the website to accomplish and what your visitors require from it may differ. Think about the needs of your audience and reflect these in the design brief.

Sticking to the web design brief and the budget

Plan ahead for the future development and maintenance of the site. You should be able to update it yourself rather than using external specialists. Otherwise you may be charged every time you want to change product information.

Throughout the process you need to keep an eye on the quality of the work and the budget. Give a clear date when you brief the web designer when the work has to be completed and regularly check the progress. Also remember that every time you change your mind and amend the brief, it might have an effect on the overall cost of the project.

Of course we are always ready to assist! Contact us today to talk through your web design plans. PLUS a new web site is part of our low cost, pay monthly marketing packages!