What Do Site Designers Talk About At Their Secret Meetings?

Website Source Listens at the Keyhole

Frederick Townes knows search engine marketing. He’s a broadly-published author on the subject, he’s the CEO of the site design firm W3 EDGE, a Boston web design company, and he’s designed countless web sites during his career. Recently, a reporter from web hosting firm, Website Source, sat down for an interview with Mr. Townes to gather some insider tips for new website owners.

Website Source: Let’s start by talking about the biggest problems you see in site design today.

FT: A lot of site owners want bells and whistles when their target audience wants functionality…and ease of use. I tackle each design from the point of view of the typical visitor – a teen-ager, a sports fan, what have you.

I see too many sites that have been decorated instead of designed. They look great but the navigation is a mess or the coding slows down site interaction for visitors. When I first meet with a new site owner, I ask two standard questions: Who is your perfect visitor and what do you want the visitor to do on site? A lot of my clients have to stop and think about this. The questions may sound simple but they’re not easy to answer.

Once I have the answers, I go through a “discovery period” with the client to learn as much as I can about the target demographic and the client’s needs.

Website Source: Shouldn’t a site owner know who he’s selling to?

FT: Not all online business owners come from a retail background so marketing and site design are new [to them]. When the site owner can describe the ideal visitor and the purpose of the site, I can design the site to fit the needs of visitors. Without a clear picture of who you’re selling to and what you’re selling you can’t design an effective site.

Website Source: So what’s your definition of an effective site?

FT: Simple. A good site is one that communicates with visitors. Communication is at the center of any sale of any product. A good site communicates the benefits of a product or service.

You see a lot of sites that talk about product features but, for many products, buyers are motivated to purchase by benefits not features. We highlight benefits on every site we design.

So content needs to be the focus of nearly every site we produce; that’s what the visitor is there to consume even if their goal is to make a purchase at the end of their visit.

Website Source: Got any thoughts on increasing conversion rates?

FT: Any good site designer will stay with a client during the tweaking phase of the site’s development. Using stats and analytics you can usually tell what’s going on with the site. But here’s one important thing. Collecting data on a site’s performance doesn’t do any good if that data isn’t interpreted correctly.

I’ve got clients who send me data they’ve collected to prove point A or B. But site data are just numbers. And they aren’t even new numbers. They tell you what’s already happened. The key is to analyze this data properly and make adjustments accordingly. Too many site owners jump to the wrong conclusion based on misinterpreting site metrics or even worse, change too many things at the same time making future analytics even harder to dissect.

Website Source: And site metrics are used to boost conversion rates?

FT: Absolutely. The web is a fierce place to do business. So, usability takes on greater importance than shopping in a store. Everybody knows how to push a shopping cart up and down the aisles of [a big box store] but it’s not that way when you’re online. Using good analysis of your site’s performance makes it easier to buy something…..[and] the easier it is to buy something, the more times it’s going to be bought. If you don’t analyze a site’s performance regularly you aren’t going to see great conversion ratios.

Website Source: Let’s talk about working with new site owners. What kind of things should clients look for when choosing a site designer?

FT: The more the client can tell the designer the better. Problem is, a lot of new site owners don’t know what they don’t know…I always ask any potential client “when do you need it?” Hitting delivery dates is essential. Some of my clients spend a lot of money with nothing to show for their investment until the site is launched. So, the site owner needs to set the deadline and the designer has to hit it.

Website Source: What else can new site owners do to get what they want?

FT: Two things. The first is to make a list of “must haves.” Maybe you must have a secure checkout. Or maybe you must have a blog or streaming media. The site owner knows what he needs so I always ask clients to put together some kind of list. Any good designer can take those notes and build the site the owner needs.

The second thing is to stay involved. Don’t let the designer disappear until site launch. I always get input from clients as we develop each piece of the site…right look and feel, right typography – as a designer I want to know these things as we go along. So, the more a site owner stays in the picture the better, though I’m sure some designers would disagree.

Website Source: What are some of the common problems you encounter when working with new site owners?

FT: We see it all. Approvals followed by changes [WSS: a no no]. Projects that expand as they go along [WSS: scope creep]. Clients who don’t return telephone calls, which makes no sense to me. …the worst is working with multiple stakeholders. That creates more problems in development than any one other thing. Great designers will have solutions for all of these complications – we do. Some designers don’t.

Website Source: What do you mean by multiple stake holders?

FT: More than one decision maker. For example, I might but contacted by an ad agency to design a site for one of their clients. Now there are multiple stakeholders – the agency that hired me and their client.

Website Source: This slows down development?

FT: Yes, because you get the approval of stakeholder number one then number two comes in with changes. The more stakeholders you get involved, the less effective I can be in designing the right site to meet the client’s needs and the timeline bears the brunt of it all.

Website Source: What can clients do to eliminate the problem?

FT: Before they even start looking around for a designer they should designate the point of contact. That is the person who tells me about changes and approvals. One person who speaks for all of the other stakeholders. I don’t care if they get into a big debate about whether the home page should be red or blue. I can do what they want once I know, for sure, that’s what all the stakeholders want and it’s a final decision.

This speeds up development time and lowers development costs because I don’t have to do a lot of revisions and increase the quote. Any designer needs to keep things moving forward just to stay in business. Unexpected changes at the last minute might mean the designer has to develop “work-arounds” and other band-aids to make those changes work, which compromises the quality of their work.

Website Source: What about marketing a new site? Any suggestions?

FT: Most new site owners don’t set aside enough to market their sites. They think that once they have a nice looking site people will just show up. When budgeting for a design and SEO project, we always tell the client they need to look into their marketing strategy for short- and long-term results, and then plan their budgets accordingly. Depending on the industry, the short-term options mean they will realize an ROI in 30 to 60 days, which will cash flow them into their long-term strategy; in short hit the ground running.

Website Source: Do you recommend viral marketing?

FT: Sure, when you can get it. But viral marketing is fickle and it’s not for every industry. You can’t depend on viral marketing alone to have a successful online business. You have to market the business and that costs money. Pay-per-click [WSS:PPC] programs can work. Paying to have your article posted on another site, links auctions – all of these require money out of pocket. Most new site owners don’t set aside enough for marketing their sites. They put it all into the site itself, which is simply incorrect.

Website Source: Final tips?

FT: Go with a reliable web host. Today’s websites are a lot more interactive with the visitor. That means you’ll need more horsepower to provide multiple users a positive experience. I’ve seen clients spend $25 thousand dollars on building the perfect site then go with some low-ball host to save five dollars a month. Get a good designer, get a good SEO [search engine optimization specialist] and get a good web hosting provider.

Google Frederick Townes for a listing of his insider posts on webmaster sites.