10 Deadly Web Designer promises

There is a very serious problem blighting the web design industry. It's one that has obtained the profession a bad name and that we hear all too often - the false promises.

Whilst it could be argued that all sectors suffer from people giving guarantees and promises that they can never realistically meet, there is a very obvious plague of such behaviour in the web design sector.

We regularly get told from clients what they've been promised in the past from other designers, or even what our competitors are saying they'll be able to do.

So it's only apt that we share what we view as a blend of the sublime, ridiculous and downright flagrant lies.

10. Tags

If we hear one more time that a customer was assured their site had been optimised because its tags had been completed - we'll scream. Why on earth do so many companies (and freelancers in particular) feel it necessary to sell on the basis of something that is such a fraction of a solution?

Your client finds out eventually - usually when they've had a handful of visitors to their site a year later and then they come looking for you.

9. Templates

Clients often tell us how their site was custom designed - and then they usually bounce off every wall in their office when we show them another ten sites using the very same template theirs does.

Joomla, CSS templates, whatever it might be - if you're going to use a template then at least do the client the service of telling them!

We all know why designers don't do that - because they know a client will find out how much the template cost (if they even paid for it) and that the amount of work that went into the project was much less than they thought. Profiteering - blatant and unprofessional profiteering.

Your client knows you are in business to make a profit, so why deceive them into thinking you're putting in a lot more effort than you actually are?

8. Hosting

It's amazing how many people we visit that think their existing websites are running on dedicated servers. One such client wasn't very pleased when we told him that his very large hosting bill was for the pleasure of being sat on a server with another 3,600 sites and that the appalling speed might be explained by that.

Many web design companies will resell the services of dedicated servers - dedicated to them - but not dedicated to a single client website. They'll have ten, twenty, a hundred or three hundred sites on them and tell the client they have put their website on a dedicated server.

Literal interpretation means you haven't and you're just deliberately exaggerating a point. Be honest with them and explain that the server will easily cope with lots of sites (as long as you're sure it will) and that theirs is one of a number on the server.

If you're going to host them on a shared server of much higher volume and out of your direct control - tell them. Legally they could meet up with you in a court of law in the future and ask a judge what he thinks of it - so just tell them the truth from day one.

7. Browsers

If your web design has browser limitations (i.e. the good old "it won't run in Safari") don't tell them it has been designed to be functional in all known browsers. We know of a lot of designers who won't make any browser commitments at all because they'll not put the effort in that is required for multi-browser operation - but if you don't promise it then you're a lot better than those that do.

6. 100% Uptime

This is arguable, as you may offer hosting through a company who promise 100% uptime. However, our advice is not to tell your client you will guarantee them 100% uptime. If you offer an SLA to your clients with any form of compensation in place you could find yourself with difficult questions to face. Offering 99.7% to 99.9% gives you that little bit of slack in the event that circumstances beyond your control occur. If you promise 100% - it really must be 100%.

5. Developers

If you're not going to be the one writing the site, because you're using freelancers or short term programmers, don't say you are. This is our biggest pet hate.

Most clients probably won't object anyway but you shouldn't claim to have all the skills in-house if you don't. We have heard a multitude of stories of web designers not answering e-mails or phone calls months after a site went live - all because they'd subbed the job out to someone else and had no idea how to make the changes themselves.

4. Estimates

Grrrrr - we detest estimates. Don't give your client an estimate. Don't promise the project will come in below X when you know it is going to come in at a much higher price.

We know of one client who was given an estimate of £1,200 for a site that was invoiced at over £6,000. Upon investigation we could see no reason for the estimate and invoice varying so widely, but some design companies will try it - don't be one of them. You'll lose the customer and a lot more future business with other clients once they tell everyone they meet for the next five years!

3. Timeframes

If it is going to take you 2 months to complete a project, say so. Just because the client needs the site in 4 weeks and you know you'll not get the order if you say you can't meet the deadline isn't a reason to lie.

Tell them why it'll take 2 months, even if it is workload related with other clients. You'll only find you have an unhappy client who gets bored of your excuses and refuses to pay the final invoice or wants compensation for it.

2. Technical ability

If you don't know how you're going to get their new website to seamlessly integrate with the clustered server CRM system they're running in house, communicate orders real-time for instant credit checking with their finance system and SMS message their IT department when the server reaches 60% of CPU capacity - don't say that you do.

False promises that relate to your company skills set rarely meet a happy ending. If it is beyond your technical capability - say so.

1. Google Page One

Do we really have to say?

FACT - you cannot promise it unless you are incredibly specific and have deep insider knowledge of the algorithms that Google plan to use for the foreseeable future.

FACT - you don't know what other sites are being developed as you sit there with your client. They're getting excited about being number one on Google in 4 weeks time and being a billionaire after 3 months. Do you really want to meet them when it doesn't happen?

FACT - they're paying you to do a job. The least they deserve is honesty.

We deplore the practice of promising page one of Google returns. There is absolutely no grounds for you to claim it. You should be selling the effort and work that it takes and educating your client on the standards and culture they'll need to breed if being number one on Google is what they're expecting.