Hi Andy:

Of course I *had* to add my two cents worth here..
: )

> Most businesses that look to start a web
> site will consult an ‘expert’. In fact if
> you have a small business you can’t avoid
> them. You will be receiving several calls a
> week from web site ‘designers’ wanting to
> sell you a web site

Herein lies the first mistake that MANY, MANY people make. Being able to use softare to create a website does not make a person a "website designer" any more than being able to carve a turkey with your carving knife makes you a surgeon. Yet, it is true that there are many people who install their software and hang out their "website designer" shingle.

Quite often, these "pseudo designers" contact people like me and ask if I will do some of the work - invisibly, of course - for a fee so they don't have to fess up to the fact that they haven't a clue how to do the job they claim they can do.

Clue one to the consumer. If a "designer" calls you to make a pitch, check them out thoroughly. Know why? The people who are turning out sites that work don't have to advertise and we still can't keep up with the work coming in. When your work speaks for itself, you don't need to advertise - your customers do it for you.

> The fact is it’s the web designers that are
> deciding the content of the site because the
> business owner feels impeded by their own
> lack of knowledge. Web designers compete
> with themselves by who has the best looking
> and technologically advanced sites

In an ideal world, the website designer would be determining the content with the assistance of the client - and based on the needs of the customer. Same reason I defer to the doctor's opinion if I need surgery. He knows his field.
Sadly, that is not always true of website designers.

> Web designers will not tell site owners that
> words sell. Or that sometimes they do not
> need to take orders from their sites but
> develop a lead or an incoming phone call or
> visit as this is the most appropriate method
> for their business.

I am a website designer. Not a pseudo designer, but one that can tell you the difference between display on a Mac vs a PC. (yes, there IS one). One that can tell you why images can look different on the AOL browser. And more. To completely blow your generalization out the window..

1) WORDS SELL! Words are electric. People are magnetic. Put them together and you have magic!

2) NOT ALL MY CLIENTS HAVE SHOPPING CARTS. Just the ones that need them for products that demand instant gratification.

Let me also assure you...

3) Graphics sell, too. ZDNet just released a study in which they actually strapped gear onto the heads of surfers to SEE AND TRACK what they look at. Number one with the eyeballs every time? Graphics. BUT... if the graphics are accompanied by weak WORDS, the site did not sell! PAir a picture of the product with ELECTRIC WORDS and you have a winner. I'll save the tidbit about the hotspot on your page for later. : )

> What’s made the business successful so far?
> Selfless customer service? The owners
> personality? Isn’t this what needs to be
> ‘sold’?

People are magnetic. Yes. But, if the person is a nice guy and you sell the guy without paying proper attention to the product, that's a stupid move, too. Most individual components work best in synchronization with the whole.

I have taken sites that didn't have a shopping cart, added one, and shot the sales through the roof!! Literally. Ditto for dumping the cart on a site where personal contact was the touch needed. Where everything points to making that 1-800 call.

> But then again a web designer would be
> laughed at by their contemporaries if all
> they did was put up a two page web site with
> a bio of the owner, testimonials,
> professional sales copy that encourages
> opening dialogue by whatever method. Yet in
> the vast majority of instances this approach
> would be of
> much more use to the client

Personally, I have never worried about what my "contemporaries" have to say about me. They are not my clients. What I care about is what my clients say, and what my work does for their profit margin.

Stereotyping is not generally a good thing. : )

> Of course emerging technologies should be
> included if they help sales. But if all they
> do is make the site and developer look good
> at the expense of sales it’s a pretty sorry
> state to be in. But that’s the reality.
> There has to be a balance and at the moment
> it all swings one way

I AGREE 200%. Ironcially, if a site doesn't sell, does it really make the website designer look good? I think not!

Jakob Neilson said it well in one of his website useability reviews...

The biggest problem is that most people are (and always have been) bad content creators. That's why we have professional writers, graphic designers, filmmakers, speakers, musicians, and other types of media professionals.


A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that because they can create a website, they should.

> It has lead to the crazy situation where all
> this hype exists about the benefits of the
> internet with little evidence of general
> success……and the small business owner
> threatening to do something physical to
> the*next*sales call he gets from a web
> designer:-)

Success online depends on many variables, the website being only one of them. The business strategy behind it is an even bigger one. Pity that most people don't know they need one, and many designers don't even ask. They just build the site, charge the customer, and move on.

> A spiral of self defeating actions and
> reactions that show no signs of abating.
> This will not change until a new general
> model of operating appears. But its hard to
> be seen to go backwards in the face of
> technology racing forward even if it would
> mean becoming more successful

If you hired a construction company to build you a "brick and mortar" store, you wouldn't expect the finished store to come complete with customers. True?

The same applies when you build a website. Yet, many people don't realize this.

All the people armed with Frontpage and Pagemill and all those other programs don't realize it either. Or perhaps they prefer not to address it.
I have no idea where their thoughts are.

To add to the confusion, there is a "marketing program" fad running rampant on the Internet. Supposedly, if you "follow the program," success will follow. If I had a nickel for every person that has asked me why these programs aren't working for them, I'd rival Bill Gates for net worth!

The reason is simple. Marketing is one teensy weensy step of the path to success.

Funny thing is, the path to success is not hard to learn!

One of my clients, that doesn't even have a shopping cart, netted over 5 grand in orders from the site within 6 weeks of launch.

Another site has had to hire staff to fill orders.

I won't go on... you get the point, I'm sure.

But you're right - people need to learn what works in a way that is easy for them to understand. A program that isn't rehashed hype.

I am very proud to say that I have been working my butt off writing just such a program. I have pulled more late nights in the last 4 months than most people do in their lifetime.

It's a BIG dream - but I hope to be a small part of teaching people what REALLY works on the Internet and how to avoid lining anyone's pockets by paying for garbage that won't work for their specific business.

Wish me well... it's almost ready and I have people lined up and waiting for it! : )

You see, Andy, we "website designers" are not all cut from the same cloth. My grandpapa used to tell me that we should judge each man by his own merits and not to create labels based on generalizations.

Thanks for "listening" and I hope I've managed to slightly alter your opinion of "website designers." : )

Sincerely,
Linda Caroll


Website design... with a difference. (my sites work)