Why professional web design’s important
• Tuesday, 2nd November 2010 •
Mixing business with pleasure is always dodgy ground and getting a friend to work on your website could be one of the biggest mistakes you’ll ever make. Do you want your website to give your business a professional online presence? Professional web design is most definitely the only route to take.
There are plenty of people out there who’ve dabbled with a bit of web development while studying IT or are great photographers so assume they’re web design whizzes too. But you wouldn’t expect your nephew to do a Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen quality job on decorating your house because he’s got a GCSE in art, would you? The concept’s the same if you’re considering letting your amateur web designer mate loose on your website; it’s not likely he’ll create something that will blow your competitors out of the water. Here are the downfalls:
Lack of skills – just because a buddy has a good eye for detail does not make him a web designer. Web design and development are professional skills and having expertise in SEO is also a must to make sure websites perform. Having a website complete with Search Engine Optimised web copy is also a must.
Lack of industry knowledge – professional web designers have both qualifications and work experience and they know what’s what in the industry. There are strict guidelines that need to be followed when it comes to web design, such as making sure your website is accessible, has a privacy policy and displays terms and conditions.
Lack of IT support – who’s going to fix your website if something goes wrong and how will you cope if you’re website is hacked. Surely it’s better to have a website warranty or someone you can call on for professional ongoing website care?
Lack of copyright knowledge – there are laws when it comes to images and written content, if it doesn’t belong to you then you can’t just copy and paste it onto your website. When someone has gone to the effort to create original content there are copyright laws in place to protect them. Besides, search engines are not keen on duplicated content and are likely to penalise your website, dropping it down the search rankings, if you cheat.
Lack of communication – you might have a friend that knows you so well that he can read your mind and this could make designing your website straightforward, couldn’t it? How is your mate going to react when you don’t like something about his design? Will he be able to listen to your business needs and not let his personal opinions and feelings create professional hurdles?
Lack of professional etiquette – unfortunately this is where mixing business and friendship can become most complicated. Will your friend expect payment or will you owe him a favour? The last things you want are misunderstandings or negative energy exchanges that can hang over your heads and ruin your friendship.
Settling for amateur web design may seem like a money-saving option but believe us, it’s a false economy. You’ll not only be putting a tremendous strain on your personal relationship but you’ll also spend a lot of time and money putting the website right so that it has a professional look and feel and performs properly for search engines. It’ll soon become clear that you could have saved a lot of hassle by opting for professional web design in the first place.
What's more, Direct Media Design offers affordable web design and a pay monthly option. It’s worth thinking about, isn’t it? Contact us today for more information on our professional affordable web design.
