SLD Interactive Blog: Are all web development firms or web designers created equal? Pt. 1

Blog: Are all web development firms or web designers created equal? Pt. 1

Jul 1, 2008

Well, in short, no. Of course our view on this particular subject is a bit bias, but there are real differences in how firms produce projects that can affect website quality and effectiveness. Website quality and effectiveness can effect online sales, conversion rates, etc... very real, measurable performance marks.

Parts of this series:
* Design: gotta be pretty, right?
* July 7 - Content: you're on your own... well, you shouldn't be.
* July 14 - Process: how it should, but often doesn't, work.
* July 21 - Post-launch: project done, we're out of here. Just kidding.
* July 28 - Larger Picture: ever try making a recipe with only one ingredient?

Design: gotta be pretty, right?
Actually, insure that the focus is more towards content instead of an over-the-top design. This misnomer is often found with "friend of a friend" freelance web designers. The self-applied name tells much about an individual's or small company's focus. If "design" is the key word used and the discussions focus around how great your site will look, the actual content development will most likely suffer. Red flags should appear if the individual or firm you're considering immediately wants to embark on creating a design proof (sometimes even before you've committed to the project or discussed budget).

What's wrong with a strong focus on design? After all, if a website doesn't look amazing the website isn't effective... right? It's an interesting study. A overly designed art-piece website will attract praise for the outstanding design (most of the time from an irrelevant demographic) but the content will be completely missed. While a simple website with a clean, basic structure that allows for easy navigation to solid content will never attract praise for outstanding design, but could become a destination for the target demographic. Yet, a poorly designed website will immediately scare off even the correct demographic.

The key is to have a great, yet not art-piece, design that allows the content to speak and is correctly focused at the demographic. The youth demographic can handle a flashier website while the corporate demographic becomes easily frustrated if content isn't immediately accessible. Case in point, the original default design of the popular Wordpress blog platform -- amazingly simple design to which both of the above demographics easily attached. Even more true in a blogging environment, visitors should attach to the content, not ogle over the design.

Next Up - July 7th - Content: you're on your own... well, you shouldn't be.