Business IT Articles

Professional v Free Website Development: Ten things that make the difference

If your high school son can build websites why would you even consider paying for a professional to build one for you? Here are ten reasons why choosing a website developer can be good for your business.

1. Life experience (1): Website Users
   Professionals that have spent a number of years in the web design field get to know the habits of website users and their ways of thinking. This might be gleaned from research and articles or from experience of past projects features that either did or didn't work. Taking such opinion into account at the planning stage can prevent you going down the wrong route, saving time and money.
2. Life experience (2): Success comes from mistakes
   Even the professionals get it wrong sometimes. Whether the mistake is not meeting the expectations of a customer or a website that fails to deliver the speed that was promised, it happens. While outwardly negative, these experiences serve to strengthen the problem solving skills and knowledge of such professionals. It is often worth asking web designers or developers that you are considering engaging to detail a past bad experience or mistake with a customer and how they handled it.
3. The Design that your customers want
   I am sure you would agree that the design of the website isn't based on what the designer wants. However, a lot of people that don't fall into that trap fall into the next one: The website design isn't what you want either, it is what your customers want! If your customers like blue and you like green, then blue will win! After all, you are the only person that will probably never buy anything from your website!
4. Consultative, thought provoking preliminary
   The first step in any design and development process should be the consultative step of ensuring the site will deliver what is expected of it. This should be led by the client with the developer acting as facilitator and/or catalyst for directing the customer along the lines of their business interest. So often this step is overlooked and the site turns into a living CV for the designer and developer ... no thought is given to the needs of the customer at all.
5. Compliant website code
   The cry from the novice developer that it works in my web browser but it doesn't in others is one that professionals are often called in to sort out. Often the reason is badly coded web pages that are either CSS or HTML non-compliant. OK, the site looks fine on the developer's browser but what about IE8, FF3 ... a screenreader?
6. Understanding of industry trends and contemporary methodology
   There's a saying that "when you're holding a hammer every problem looks like a nail." In the web world, that translates to if you are skilled in only one technology or approach you are going to make that solution fit every scenario that comes along. While this might happen with the part-time designer and developer it is not a trap that professionals fall into. They select the most appropriate technology or design solution and work with it. This often results in a much more focused and user-friendly website.
7. SE Optimisation starts at the build stage
   Knowledge about what makes good coding and content for search engines is important from the build stage of even the simplest website. Such knowledge can not be learned overnight ... think of it as an "art" rather than a "science" and so choosing a designer that has professional experience in this area can increase your website exposure as soon as it is launched.
8. Long term partnership approach
   Your website is going to be with you for, say, 3 years. During that time it is fair to say that your business is going to change in some way. Prices will alter, products and services will come and go and client testimonials will need updating. You need to ensure that a web designer who knows your website coding is around to assist you with such things.
9. Lower risk factor
   Because your professional web designer needs to afford to pay his bills from the income his design and development generates there is a large incentive for them to continually improve what they do. The result is a lower risk of failure from a business investment point of view. Particularly when time limits on design and development are involved (and when aren't they?) higher price and lower risk is often better than lower price and higher risk.
10. Quality of design
    Here we're talking about the ability to take high quality design techniques and apply them to web world. There is a huge difference between graphic design and web design. Things that work well for other kinds of marketing material don't necessary work for online design. Magazines and adverts may well have text in columns ... not something that you should see on websites. In addition, there are expectations of design that your customers have: Make them feel uncomfortable or make it hard for them to navigate and they're out of there!

When you are next considering a website investment - indeed any kind of investment - be sure to make the business case and ensure that you have a sound understanding of risk v reward when making price and expenditure decisions.

Good luck with your business!

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