I love a good list. So here are some questions that you might want to ask a web designer when deciding if their style is a good fit for you.
What is the difference between a Brand Designer, Web Designer and Web developer? While this might seem obvious to some, most folks needing a website get confused about the type of technical service they need for their website. Here is the skinny on the differences.
- A brand designer is usually a graphic designer that will create logos and graphic elements to coordinate your overall business brand. A brand designer can also build websites but not always. Some brand designers will contract a developer to code the design for the project.
- A web designer is a skill set in between a brand designer and web developer. A web designer does not normally create logos but can create custom graphics that will aid in an already active business brand. A web designer looks at your site from a view that draws the customer to your brand like a brand designer but is also concerned about site stability and functionality. Some designers code or use platforms to setup a client’s site but I have seen some that use contractors as well to develop.
- Lastly, the web developer is a traditionally trained pro for creating the functionality and stability of the site. In other words, this person has vast experience in coding. Most developers deal with the structural integrity of the site to insure that every function responds correctly time after time. Not many developers design or brand sites, but it possible.
How could a website cost that much? As with all things, cost is relative to skill and content. Your website is the perfect suit you wear to a job interview to land your dream job. You do not want the suit to rip or wear funny as to give a bad first impression. A website designer is relative to the importance the site is to your business. I must point out that not every cheap designer will do a bad or half-a$$ job. Some designers price jobs lower so they can deal in quantity while others are a bit higher, they can give the customer more time for input and personal attention so the project becomes more of a partnership that a simple transaction. Regardless, you want a designer that can answer your questions and calm your concerns if they arise.
What is a tagline? A tagline is a slogan or a “hook” statement that helps viewers remember your business. Some of the most recognized tag lines are Nike’s “just do it” or L’Oreal’s “Because you are beautiful”
Who is my target audience and why is this important? Once, I had a client say “ my target audience is anybody that buys products on the internet”. Well true to an extent but this client sold hunting and camping equipment. Half or less of the world’s population are not buying camping and hunting equipment. While you don’t want to discriminate toward any audience, we want to focus on those viewers that ARE interested in buying your products. So we drilled down to find those most likely to buy his product by gender, geography and age. By targeting these specific areas we are more likely to find buyers willing to purchase.
Are the colors used in my site really that important? Believe it or not colors set the tone for your viewer’s experience and mood while perusing your website. Studies show that color has a direct effect on mood and memory recall. So it is critical that you are portraying a pleasant and memorable experience for your target audience. Yes, here is that term again. We want to tailor all these details toward that target audience.
You need what kind of file for my logo? I could write a book on the importance of a logo for your business, but I am not an expert so I will not even attempt that subject. However I will address the type of files your designer will need from you to aid in the creation of your site. Most designers would like a file that looks like – logo name.“ai” (adobe illustrator) or vector file. This file enables the designer to easily resize or shape the logo without damaging the integrity. At a minimum, your designer will need a jpeg or png type file to use.
Why is social media marketing important? In this age of internet everything, it is essential that you do some sort of social media marketing. Even hospitals and grocery stores use social media to market their services. Social media marketing can help you find your target audience easier than most any marketing technics.
Which social media accounts help my business the most? This will solely depend upon your target audience. According to Investopedia, “With over 1 billion users worldwide, Facebook tends to appeal to adults, with 47% of its users over the age of 35. Twitter has over 271 million active users who tend to be younger, with 35% between the ages of 18 and 29. Of Instagram’s 200 million active users, 53% are between the ages of 18 and 29.” I would advise to do some research to really flush out where your audience or what media they are using. I pays off in the end to know where to send your ad dollars so you can tailor your message directly and insure it is being received my the right audience.”
What is SEO? Is it important? This is another topic that I could go on for days about, but I won’t bore you. Search Engine Optimization is a method of increasing the amount of traffic to your website by strategically getting higher ranking placement in search results of a search engine like Google, Bing, Firefox and Yahoo. Sounds simple, right? See next question!!!!
Why isn’t my site at the top of the list when searching for it? While the initial principle of search engine ranking sounds straight forward, it is not! Each search engine (Google, Bing, Firefox, etc.) have their own individual mathematical algorithms for how they calculate your ranking taking into factor many items, most importantly regular ordinary traffic. You see as with most things, there will always be folks who try to develop a “work around” to trick the search engines into directing most amount of traffic to their site. Is this cheating? Yep, and could get your site wiped from their search engine. You should ask your designer about their SEO practices. The simple answer with the most integrity would be to advise you that old fashion traffic gives the best purest stats for your site. What do I mean by “old fashion” traffic? ‘Old fashion” traffic is a simple hit or visit to your website that wasn’t gained through a link from social media or another site. Alternately we need to use those other methods such as social media to drive traffic. Sounds simple but this is only a couple of steps in getting your site at the top of search engine. Like I said , this is only scratching the surface of SEO stats and placement.
I can only hope this information was helpful in understanding some of those foreign questions your web person will ask when you are or contemplating a website design. My one last bit of advice, is to encourage you to find a web person who will gladly and graciously help you understand the inner workings of your project without making you feel they are speaking another language.