Web Design Specialist
What is a web design specialist, or Internet Solutions Architect as I like to think of myself?
Well, here in Pittsburgh as is true I’m sure in your town, a web design specialist is more than just someone who will design your website and give it back to you. They are (or should be) a person or a company who will work with you before and after you start work and ask questions to find out who you and your company are and what your goals for a site are. Then follow up to make sure that things are working as expected.
It’s important that you think about this in advance, so that you can convey to your designer a good idea of what you expect. A web designer should not tell you what your site is all about. Of course, it’s good if they make suggestions about style and interaction with your visitors, but remember it’s your name, your site and your visitors.
They should also help you with interactive tools to help keep your visitors engaged. Things like blogs, calendars, forums and more. Your designer should also be able help you connect your site to social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. These tools can help promote your site and business.
NOTE: Unless you’re willing to add content to these sections on a regular basis you may be better off without them rather than let them sit there unchanged for long periods of time.
Finally, your website designer should be able to give you reasons why they want to do things differently than what you want them to do. If they have experiences to back up their opinions you should at least consider what they’re proposing, but in the end it should be you with the final decision and if it’s not you should consider someone else.
