What is a True Website Design?

Hello again!

I want to talk about the "sameness" that has spread across the Internet.

Have you ever noticed that almost every business website looks almost the same?
Why is that you ask. It is that everyone seems to use the same WordPress template. Besides the sameness, the sites take forever to load because of all the extraneous code WordPress adds into the template.

Website "designers", or so they call themselves, charge thousands of dollars for a "design", load on a WordPress template, plop in a logo, add a little text and call it a "design". This is NOT designing!! There is NO creativity in this process. Most of these people have no graphic art background in order to be really creative.

Don't be fooled! Ask questions! Ask what you are really getting for your money. Look at
the sites the designer has done. Is everything in the same place for every site? If so,
then it is all the same template and the designer has NO creativity. Ask why you need to have a WordPress or other Content Management site. If you are not going to be managing the content yourself or needing fancy plugins for your site, then don't get a WordPress site. Ask for a CUSTOM website - one that sets you apart from every competitor. And lastly--save your money! Do your homework!

This has really become irritating to me!

A fellow designer was recently asked to do a site for a business. He designed a CUSTOM WordPress site (yes, a REAL DESIGNER CAN DO THIS). The client then sent him to a layout to see that they liked. It was the "SAME" WP layout used by thousands of businesses. If I went to that site, I would probably leave as I figured the company wasn't very creative since they looked just like all their competitors.

Check these important items:
1. You want your web site to stand out from your competitors.
2. Load quickly in order to keep your visitors on your site.
3. Look creative so customers are interested in what you have to say.
4. Add important text to your front page (SEO) not just a huge, fancy slide show.
5. Add a "call to action". Usually a phone number or contact info so people can quickly get in touch with you.

As time goes by, I will be adding other important website facts and comments.

FINDING A DESIGNER & HOSTING

FINDING A DESIGNER & HOSTING

Are you looking for a web designer to do your small business web site?

Before you sign with anyone - DO YOUR HOMEWORK! I cannot stress this enough.

I recently received a referral from another business person. I called the local business
immediately, but they informed me that they had already hired a designer. I was gracious and thanked them for at least speaking with me.

I was curious to find out what the other "designer" was charging them (for the small 2 - 3 page site). When they informed me that they would be paying OVER $85.00 a month, I almost dropped the phone in SHOCK! YIKES!!

Why would ANY web site designer charge a small business this kind of money in today's economy for 2-3 pages? And, why would ANY business pay that kind of money per month? They said they had contacted other designers, but this was the least expensive. Over $1000.00 for the year is NOT inexpensive - it is a ripoff!

Years ago, when I was doing corporate web sites with 15 to 25 pages, I would possibly have charged $2000 to $3000 for many, many weeks of work. But, with today's available software, a web site page can now be designed in a few hours.

You also should do your homework when finding a hosting service. There are so many companies out there now that "pull the wool over" people and make them think they have to buy all this other stuff. DON'T fall into their traps!! Especially those companies that tell you that you can do your own web site by just dragging and dropping info/images in place. Unless you know what you are doing, you can mess up an entire page by using these so-called content management programs. Beside that, hundreds of other people may have used the same template so your site looks just like all of theirs.

Besides all this they charge anywhere from $25.00 a month and up!! Hosting companies I send my clients to only charge $8.00 a month to host a web site and also do "add-on" domains for free. So instead of getting ripped off for over $300.00 a year, you could be saving $200 by using a local hosting service.