I had a new bathroom suite installed a few weeks ago, and the builder (Gary Scriven) asked me what I wanted, did his magic, and hey presto, a week later I had a new shiny bathroom. He asked me a few questions along the way, such as what taps I wanted, but I generally left him to get on with it. Why? Because he’s the professional, he has spent years perfecting his trade, whilst I struggle with a paintbrush. I put my trust in to him, and the end result was better than I had imagined.
When it comes to website designers, most of us have years of experience (I myself made my first commercial website in 1997) and know how each of the separate components of a website interact. Yet many clients feel that it will be beneficial for them to instruct their web designer on how to do their job.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ll happily create websites to a client’s exact specification or design, but we have decades of experience between us and so it would be silly for clients not to utilise this. After all, this is why we are not charging £20 an hour.
At Webbed Feet UK we will always play Devil’s Advocate and tell our clients what they need to hear, even if it is not what they want to hear. Our goal isn’t to be difficult, but to produce a website that works, a website that makes money. This strategy is one of the reasons for our success.
Clients occasionally produce their own designs, but often these are not as good as they may think, they are very much looking at it through rose-tinted glasses. Furthermore, without the experience of a professional web designer, they may have missed out the implications with browser or mobile compatibility, with search engines, with the user experience, or with many technical aspects.
We are not saying that clients shouldn’t get involved, quite the opposite, but if clients are investing a decent sum of money in their website, they should trust their web designer and use their wealth of experience to add as much value as they possibly can.
The first step, of course, is to find a web designer that you trust. Base your choice on recommendations, gut feelings, and find someone that you get on with… but once you’ve chosen them, let them do their job and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Webbed Feet UK are web designers in Salisbury who have been producing beautiful bespoke websites since 2001.