We’re often asked what we do that makes us different. What is it that keeps customers coming back and makes new clients choose us? Not technically – but professionally. You can have all the technical prowess in the world, but if you’re going to run a web design business like a dodgy back-street used car company – then you’re not going to last long.
Well….tough, we’re not going to tell you! Only joking. The rules by which we adhere are ones we thought we’d share. This is an informational website for a wider audience than just prospective clients, so let’s make that information valuable to all.
This series of articles is written in no particular order upon publication but concentrates on specifics aspects of the web design profession and our approach to them – think of it as a dip in and jump out reference to the management of clients and professional ethics.
Who is this aimed at?
Whether you’re a budding web designer, an established one, or even someone looking for a web design company that wants to know a few things they should look for – here we’re going to tell you what our views are on making yourself stand out from the crowd.
Why do this?
There are benefits to us doing this too – for a start we’ll hopefully meet a lot less people who have a very cynical approach to web design. Unfortunately, it is a fact that the bad apples infect the good. Web design on the whole has acquired a very tainted reputation because of the exploits of a proportion of the trade that see it is a get rich quick job.
The “Say It as It Is” rules
Google and Search Engines
These are the items that fall under the honesty category, yet they’re so often forgotten. Some of them can be difficult to relay to a customer and need conviction and the ability to say ‘no’.
Believe it or not, a lot of people struggle to say ‘no’ and unintentionally end up saying they can do something that they can’t. However, even more people say it just to get an order – and that’s when the web industry suffers.
To begin with, whenever the topic of Google and search engines in general arises – never EVER tell a client that you can guarantee them even a first page result. Just don’t do it.
The fact is, you can’t. You’re lying. You might say that you know you can for a very specific search term – but you know that’s not what the customer is thinking.
So, don’t do it. Tell them about Google and how it works, evolves, and how you can put a lot of effort into search engine optimisation and getting their site ranked well – but ultimately you cannot promise them anything more than a Google listing.
Be very careful with the words you use. If you think a client is presuming a high page rank within 6 weeks without actually saying that to you – raise the subject and ask them what their expectation is. Tell them all about the value of content, its regular updating, and the flow of a site, navigation, back-links and more.
Qualify your scope
If you’re going to produce their website and never revisit it – make sure they know that. Explain what your responsibility is and how long it lasts for. If you’re going to optimise it for 3 months, 6 months or however long – tell them and put it in writing. Make it contractual. Do not tell them you’ll do X every month and Y ever quarter if you have no intention of doing it.
You commit yourself contractually as well as define the scope of what you're doing - and whilst some designers may see that as a negative we view it as a positive because it is another proven way of building trust with a client.
Itemise and add value
Give them a list of all the work you’ll do that relates to search engine optimisation. Explain what you have done. By simply telling them you’ve optimised their site isn’t enough. For a start you’ll find you add value to your own services by letting them know all the effort you’ve put in.
Tell them, in plain English, what each of those pieces of work does in the scope of the project. You don’t have to get into finite detail and you can produce a document that is sent as standard to clients – but only give them it if you genuinely intend to do the work or have already done it.
Ultimately, the golden rule with search engines is a clear one – you can do an amount of work that you know will result in a set of circumstances, but those circumstances do not include you being able to guarantee anything more than a position in listings, on a map or for a very specific search phrase – and even with the latter you can’t be absolutely sure.
How will the client react?
For those who are thinking clients would react negatively to such honesty, you’d get a surprise. Most are incredibly grateful for an open approach that doesn’t mislead them. You buy their trust with your integrity and professionalism.
In doing so you’ve also done something without realising it – you have managed expectation and explained the value of client input through content.
If you tell them how important content, regularly changing content, is you’ll be amazed how many companies adopt the view that it makes sense and that you really do only get out of something what you put into it.
This approach has added value in respect of making your job of producing the site much easier too. You’re much less likely to receive a mass of copy that they just expect you to drop into the site without input. If that’s what you want then we think you’re in the wrong job anyway, because part of any web designers brief is to advise on content and the impact it’ll have with search engines. If you’re happy to drop misspelled words and inaccuracies into websites you might put your name to – then that’s your mistake.
When clients won’t listen
Some clients won’t listen. You try all you reasonably can but they just won’t have it – so make your position clear in an e-mail, politely and courteously, telling them of what you believe the possible implications could be for their site and its ranking. You’ve done your job if you do that and have protected yourself from possible future complaint.
The nicest of customers can turn nasty if something doesn’t work out as they expect it to and they may develop a very convenient memory loss – so be armed as you would be in any other profession.
In the next article we’ll be looking at the image you market. What you say about YOU.
This article wouldn’t be complete without referencing a few of the tales we’ve heard when visiting new clients.
We visited a client who already had a website and to say they were dissatisfied with it would be the understatement of the century. The site had been written by a freelance developer who gave the impression he ran a much larger company.
The client paid for the site up front and expected a series of meetings and phone calls to agree on the design and content – as anyone would.
What actually happened defied belief. The web designer turned up with a camera one day, took shots of the inside of the premises, didn’t speak to anyone, went off site…and they never heard from him again.
A month later the client contacted him to ask when they were going to get together. The web designer dropped the bombshell – the site was finished and live!
The client was obviously surprised at the fact it was possible to produce a website without any discussion whatsoever – but that’s exactly what the designer had done. He took the pictures, designed the site as he saw fit and then never even bothered to tell the client it was live (maybe he was worried of their reaction as anyone would surely be!).
The unprofessionalism was astonishing. Who on earth would think that level of service and complete lack of communication or involvement would be acceptable?
It’s a completely true story though and not in isolation. We’ll be telling you more as this series progresses – so make sure you bookmark the articles index and revisit us because the stories get worse!
This is just one of many articles we've published. You can see the full index HERE.
If there is a view, opinion or article you'd particularly like to see us publish, write to us and let us know. We'll happily give our feedback on subjects, news items or matters that concern the web or technology in general.
If you want to republish something from our articles index the only thing we ask is that you let us know where it is going to be published and give us a credit for it. Nothing more. We don't mind our articles being shared so long as people know where it came from.
In this series we'll be covering all elements of web design ethics, but a sneak preview of what is to come:
The image you market and what you say.
The first meeting with a client.
Getting content - good content.
Dealing with client problems.
Risk.
Quality control.
There will be more and if you've any suggestions for what you'd like to see included - drop us a line!
