Web
Design for Small Business
What to look for in a web developer
by Tina Boyd
In Spring of 2003 Thomas Regional conducted
a survey of 2400 US small business companies. The survey
revealed that 51% of those small businesses had websites.
That means that on average 51% of your competitors are currently
enjoying the benefits of online marketing. I went out and
viewed some of the sites utilized by small business organizations
in the central Ohio area. Many appeared to be a web design
developed by someone who understood their business very
well, but who didn't understand the mechanics of web design.
Is this how they want to represent their business?
Why don't small business organizations hire
professional web design companies to give their site a polished,
unique look? The survey showed that 42% of those who don’t
have websites in place recognize the imminent need to have
one, but 31% found web design companies to be cost prohibitive.
Small business owners can’t afford to have their websites
developed by high priced web design firms. I ran this past
some of my colleagues here in central Ohio, and they told
me that the only way that a small business will believe
you are a serious designer is to charge a lot for what you
do. Many web design companies respond to this need by creating
template sites, with a "one size fits all" mentality.
I believe they are wrong and have set out to prove it.
So how do you know what to look for in a
designer?
First of all, value added cost has to be
considered. I’ve heard the phrase, “you have
the money to spend on what you want to spend it on."
Most small business organizations don’t have it, because
many small businesses are just barely making ends meet.
Look for a web developer who tries to keep prices affordable
and flexible so that small business organizations can afford
a high quality custom web site.
Second comes training and experience. My
brother-in-law is a nice guy, but he doesn’t know
beans about web design. It's possible that he could go to
Geocities and create a site with their PageBuilder tools,
but I wouldn’t trust his level of knowledge with the
reputation of my company. Will the site be search engine
optimized, will it flow in a manner that is user friendly,
and will the page load quickly enough for a viewer to even
see the small business in question? The real question is,
"can you afford a website that bombs?" Find out
if they have testimonials from their clients as to the benefit
their customized web design presence has added to their
business.
Third, all the training and experience in
the world won’t matter if your web design company
doesn’t find out what you need, and then work with
you throughout the process to make sure that everything
is on track. Before you begin any web design project you
should find a designer willing to sit down with you and
go through your needs and ideas. If they aren’t willing
to take the time to find out what you need they aren’t
going to take the time to give you the type of site that
will work best for your business.
Finally, one of the
most important things to consider is, “does the web
design company guarantee their work?” Purchasing a
website often feels like purchasing an idea. It’s
not tangible, not something that can be held in the hand.
That can make some small business owners a bit fearful of
what’s going to happen to their money, what are their
rights should they be unhappy with the final product? Your
web developer should give you the right to be fully satisfied
with your site, and work hard to make that happen.
Copyright (c) Tina Boyd
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About The Author
Tina Boyd is the owner and head developer of Silken Strand
Web Design. Visit Silken Strand Web Design to find out more
about web development opportunities.
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