Making Smart Web Design Decisions

There’s a reason almost all of us know someone who has had a bad experience with a web designer. The market is saturated with thousands of individuals or small companies operating as if they’re the end-all solution to any of your web design and development needs. Yes, there are some companies out there that are certainly capable of delivering your vision. Unfortunately, there are also companies accepting projects outside of their skill level and taking your hard-earned money.

If you find yourself in a situation where you’re unhappy with the quality of work being provided, the communication throughout the process, or feel you’re being taken advantage of, you should carefully consider your next steps. You must take into account the time, money, and energy that will be consumed by a sinking project. Now is the time to make smart decisions for your business, and unfortunately, sometimes the smartest choice is to cut your losses and move on. 

When evaluating your web design decision, consider the following:

1. The revenue or leads you’re losing or will lose by not having your website up and optimized.
2. The potential damage to your company image or reputation from having website issues.
3. The lost time from redoing and fixing any problems that have been created.
4. The additional cost of fixing any unnecessarily created problems.
5. The potential cost of having to start the project over from scratch completely. 
6. Additional bad money you’ll throw at fixing the problem with the same deficient company. 
7. Any negative energy and frustration you’ll create for yourself due to the situation. Consider how much that can take away from your daily productivity. 
8. Your competitors are thriving while you’re stuck in limbo. 

Then, ask yourself:

1. Do I really want to do business with this company or individual?
2. Do I feel they’ve been dishonest with me at any point since inception?
3. Am I 100% confident they can deliver my vision and get the project on track? 
4. Have I learned more through this frustrating and unfortunate process that I can now make more informed decisions going forward?
5. How important is it that I succeed in growing my business and not allow someone else to control my success or failures?

If the answers to the last five questions don’t have the most pleasant undertone, it’s clear that you should move on. Although it may be an expensive learning lesson, it’s essential to understand how you found yourself in this situation so you can avoid similar issues going forward.

The web design industry is one unlike any other in the world at the moment. There is no other industry that has the sheer amount of people competing for the same business at drastically different skill levels and ethical levels. 

To you, the business owner, you are spending valuable resources to see a return on your investment down the line. This investment could make or break your business, and it’s incredibly important that it gets done correctly. Your website is a crucial aspect of your business.

To the web designer, some may see dollar signs and an ability to make a quick buck on someone that doesn’t know any better. Although this is awful to hear, it’s the unfortunate reality of this industry. Everyone is an “expert” nowadays, and a lot of individual contractors or companies choose to learn as they go on your dime. They may go into a project with the best intentions only to realize they’ve gotten in over their head and cannot deliver on what they promised. This is when they either do their best and fall short of expectations. Or the communication starts to break down as they avoid reality, and things will get uncomfortable for both parties. 

The worst part is, for the average person, it’s tough to discern who is an actual expert and those that are merely talking a big game before they sign on the dotted line. On the one hand, you have business owners that know very little about what goes into building a website that will generate results for their business. There is a ton of lingo that can be thrown around to describe design features, functionality, and SEO, which often confuses the average person. This lingo slowly breaks down the confidence you have in judging their capabilities. The less of an expert you are on something, the more hesitant you may be to question things. 

On the flip side, the less of an expert you are on your profession, the more buzz words they may use when describing their service. Some designers think this shows they know what they’re talking about, but your customer has to understand you to trust you. This type of dialogue gives the designer the upper hand as they can deflect questions and situations by confusing you. This back and forth with the average customer and an individual or business that knows just enough to be dangerous is what causes so many customers to wind up disappointed with their web designer. 

Good Business is Good Business In Any Industry, Even Web Design

Yes, there are numerous different platforms on which you can build a website. There are thousands of variables for images, fonts, functionality, user experiences, and ways to do things. Let’s remove all the misunderstandings, complexities, and buzz words from the equation, however. Let’s get back to the basics of what constitutes high-quality business in any industry, regardless of your familiarity with it. 

• You want to be treated fairly at all times and not be taken advantage of just because someone can. 
• You deserve a high level of transparency at all times.
• You need to have a clear timeline of what to expect throughout each stage of the process. 
• You must have a clear understanding of what you are paying for. Your billed charges should be in a language you fully understand.
• You should be able to view previously completed work that you resonate with and is executed to your standards.
• Each party should have clear expectations of the features and quality of work that is to be delivered. 
• At the conclusion, you absolutely should receive a fully functional, mobile-friendly website that is free grammatical, design, and technical errors. It should be exactly what you asked for and exceed any expectations you initially had. 
• Your website should drive traffic, make sales, and create leads for your business.

If you’ve found yourself in a situation you aren’t comfortable with and need a second opinion, allow us to be your trusted resource. There’s no obligation to do business with us. Our intention is to help improve your situation and provide expert advice from our decades of experience. We want you to focus on your strengths and what you’re most passionate about. We’ve built our business on always being transparent, consistently meeting our deadlines, and continuously delivering the highest quality work. That’s the standard we operate at, and that’s the standard you should expect, regardless of the industry.