Before we get into this, let me just say I am not a web designer. However, I’ve worked with a lot of people who are – and a lot of customers who I’ve written web content for, so I’ve heard all the horror stories – and also quite a few ecstatic reviews.
Your web designer is not clairvoyant!
When you start out you have a blank page – and, unless your chosen web designer already knows you and your business well, any site they create will be based on their best guess and, maybe what type of site your competitors have.
The questions is, do you want to look like everyone else?
No, probably not – you want to stand out from the competition and that means you need to tell your web designer what you’re aiming for.
Whether you’re commissioning a new site or a revamp of your current site, you’ll get a better result if you:
- Explain to the designer what you want the site to do
- Give them 6-10 examples of websites you like the look of – and, most importantly, WHY you like them
- Provide a hi-res version logo, colour references as hex numbers (that’s the ones that start with #) and your preferred fonts. In relation to these, it’s probably best to have a discussion with the web designer as they will have some input into what works and what doesn’t.
- Some information about who your target audience are, what’s important to them and the problems you solve. While they may not be providing the copy, it will influence the images they choose.
A picture tells a story
But only if it’s relevant.
That banner image at the top of the website needs to support your message. It’s not eye-candy. If you have images you want to use, then you’ll need to provide these as hi-res versions. A picture that looks perfectly sharp when it’s 8 cms by 3cms, can look horribly pixilated when expanded to a full screen size for viewing on a desktop.
If you’re not providing original images that you’ve either taken or commissioned, then be 100% sure that there are no copyright requirements for the images you choose. Most web designers have access to image libraries, so if you’re not sure about copyright, show the web designer the image you like and ask them to source something similar.
If your designer suggests scrolling marquees (image that slide in rotation), resist! Anything that moves is distracting – and nobody sits still to wait for three or four banners to scroll through, so that information is never seen.
Copy comes first
Unless you’ve been told otherwise, do not expect the web designer to write your copy – most designers aren’t commercial copywriters, although bigger companies may have a copywriter on the team, or have a freelancer who will write content – but that will be an additional fee.
In an ideal world the copy should be written first, so you’re happy with the message, the headlines, subheadings and calls to action. A professional copywriter can help with this and your web designer will thank you, as it will make their job much easier.
Before you decide to write it yourself, think about whether you have studied how to position the message for your reader, in their language and know how to write to persuade the reader to take action. It’s not about simply sharing information, it’s writing to persuade.
Navigation
Your web designer will be guided by you. So a bit of guidance!
The menu SHOULD include ‘Home’. Not everyone knows about clever shortcuts, don’t make them work any harder than necessary. If your web designer tells you ‘Everyone knows to click the logo’, don’t believe them – ‘everyone’ doesn’t know that!
The next item on the navigation should be the place you want people to go and where they’re likely to want to go first – that is usually products or services, or both.
Contact is the last item on your menu and About is usually the penultimate item.
Blogs, Resources, Media Centre and other pages are usually between your sales pages and your useful information pages (About, Contact).
There’s a ton more – but with this information in mind, your web designer will find you to be a client that they love working with!
