You’re tired of hearing about how profitable the Internet is, especially knowing your website is an increasing expense never to be recouped, continually bleeding your bottom line. The time has finally come to choose a new website design company. Ironically, most websites are not profitable and many brand new websites are hamstrung in regard to ever being profitable the moment, the very moment, of publication to the Internet. Profit generating website development is a puzzle with dozens of critically important pieces. First and foremost, your website must be found in native or ‘free’ search engine queries. Nearly as important to website profitability is graphic design perfectly definitive of your unique business or organization.
Picasso, Monet and Rembrandt-‘like’ creativity, coupled with compelling creative genius is certainly not a prerequisite for a career as a web development graphic designer. The evidence is everywhere on the Internet. Through the ages humanity has sought to make personal and beautiful the things we have to view in day to day life. Architecture, public places and dwellings have been made visually unique and personally representative since prehistoric times. American Indians painted walls and ceilings of dwellings, ancient Egyptians built architectural wonders of the world as celebrations of culture and Romans built stone monuments of extraordinary beauty for entertainment and worship. The dominant culture of the last two hundred years is adorned with graphic appeal in every glimmering facet of our, “Shining city on a hill.” Homes bristle with intended graphic appeal, automobiles continuously change visually to suit human interest. Is there a home that doesn’t have a few pieces of art adorning the walls or shelves? Even our clothes make visual impressions defining us as individuals to the rest of the world. With graphic appeal having all encompassing human value, why do so many websites have none? Why do most websites visually say nothing about a business? Why do so many websites graphically confuse who or what a business is for site viewers?
Unlike the exterior of a building where there may be little a small or even large business can do about visual appeal, a website walks customers directly in the showroom or executive offices where visual impression make or break a business. Nothing says, “I am overpaying for this oil change,” like fine art, luxury furniture and a 72 inch plasma television in a corner garage waiting room. Nothing stokes pangs of anxiety like lawn furniture, stained emerald green polyester shag carpet and a toothless receptionist in a dentist office. Accountability for failure of graphic design in the website industry lies squarely on the backs of website graphic design professionals and the proliferation of, ‘what the customer doesn’t know’ approach to website development so many website design and development companies adhere to. What you know/don’t know determines what you get… Even what you pay. There is much all but the very best website development firms don’t know about website development; it simply is not feasible for a business person or manager to understand what is required for profitable website development.
Most graphic website designers are perfectly happy putting minimal thought into the visual creativity of their customer’s websites. Minimal work and maximum profitability is a great motivator for many web design and development firms. These template website designers are content to create websites requiring the site viewer to discern what the website is about or to read it. Like it or not, most website text rarely gets read. With website visitors spending less than five seconds on the ‘average’ website homepage, unique, definitive graphic design may be the single most important factor, once a visitor lands on your website, in having a web marketing platform literally adding to your business bottom line.
Great graphic website design instills customer confidence. Intriguing website graphics slow Internet shoppers down. Well done, unique website graphic design defines a business or entity visually and precisely as the business marketing team or owner defines the business in written words or conversation with The single customer the business must acquire to succeed or even exist.
The ‘kicker,’ so to speak is; the cost of a Custom Creative Genius inspired website design, coupled with template free code achieving at the highest level in search engine rankings is often less expensive upfront than half baked, template website development. While ‘file tab’ navigation buttons on the left or top margins, with base-color predetermined boxes to plug an individual business’s logo, marketing and photos in is, ‘classic website design,’ classic website design is a complete and utter failure for business’s desperately needing to capture every customer who experiences their web based marketing platform as a new business client.
So what is a business or organization to do in choosing a website developer? Shop around for a website design and development firm with many examples of custom design websites at the top of free searches on major search engines. The custom designs must make sense, visually defining the services or products the business offers. While great, custom website design and development firms are but a drop in the ocean of all website developers, finding one will not only make the likelihood of return on investment at any price point much higher, a real website developer who, ‘gets’ the importance of graphic design, who has the ability to do great graphic website development will make for your business, an Internet based marketing platform generating profitable new business.
Follow these simple keys to find a website developer and your business will have the greatest chance to experience the deep refreshing profit filled waters of the Internet revenue stream. Ignore these simple keys and you will likely end up with a website only profitable for your template website developer.
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Avoid any website designer/developer who pushes pay per click. Even asking you to consider pay-per-click is a RED FLAG. If your perspective web developer is a pay-per-click pusher they likely use template code or don’t have the ability to install your web marketing platform where it needs to be to generate profit. Template code very often stops search engine spiders. Template code is often indicative of web developers who don’t know how or don’t want to do the work to get your website to the top of free searches where profits are generated on the Internet.
- Look at your prospective website developer’s portfolio page. If they don’t have one ask for twenty examples of websites they have developed. If they can’t come up with twenty, quickly flee. If they come up with twenty after not choosing to display them on their own website, call all twenty and ask if they are experiencing profitable new business, undeniably related to their website… If not flee. Past performance is the single greatest indicator of the result you will achieve with any website deign/development firm.
- Avoid any website developer who offers templates like the plague. Offering templates is a clear indication the website developer is willing to take shortcuts to maximize their own profitability at the long term expense of their clients. The shortcut mentality is a form of rot spoiling everything it touches in website development. Template development is almost always indicative of a website developer who will deliver a solution with very little hope of ever achieving profitable new business via the web.
- Finally, in keeping with this article look, REALLY LOOK, at the website developer’s portfolio. Do all the sites look very similar? Is the logo in the same place and all of the navigation always on the left side, with boxes for content? Does even the website development company’s own site lack any kind of graphic uniqueness? Could you unplug their logo, put another in its place, and the website would be a different type of business website? If so, look elsewhere. If they can’t do it for themselves they won’t do it for you.
A graphic design equivalent of a Monet website no one other than your existing customers can find is a bad website. A website at the top of free searches for your choice of keywords, with great graphic design, perfectly definitive visually of your business or organization, is a profitable website for YOU. Your best choice for a website designer/developer is a developer who proves they will put you on the top of search engines like Google and Yahoo, AND who is a designer capable of developing a unique image, intuitively endearing customer confidence while gently pushing your online customers into the contact or purchase process. While it may take a little more effort to choose your website developer, your graphically superior website will be the single greatest return on investment marketing your business ever invests in, IF you make the right choice.
Steven Libbey
CEO at iNET Web in Waukesha Wisconsin, known for my "MEOOOWWW" radio ads!
Creative Genius Website Development
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