Web Templates an Automated Systems

I spend a lot of the time on Web design forms and there is not a day that goes by that some old timer is not bragging about how he hand codes everything. These guys believe that if you are not hand coding then you are not a real designer.

I can understand where they are coming from, these guys spent years in college learning how to code everything by hand and here comes programs that do it all for you.

I agree that a Web designer needs to know how to code by hand but I disagree that a website coded by a program is less efficient than a website coded by a person.

But the big factor is the price and time spent coding by hand. You will spend a lot more time coding by hand than using a program. Because you are spending more time on the site you have to charge the customer more. And because you are spending more time fooling with the code than with the Web design, it is not going to look as good as the guys that use the program and spend more time on the look of the site and less time on the coding of the site.

That said, the thing that really gets me is all these template sites that are popping up all over the Internet. You can purchase a Web template for 100 bucks that is already set up with flash and a good-looking design. There are thousands to choose from so getting the perfect design isn’t hard. You can then take that design and modify it a little to fit perfectly into your niche.

When web design templates first came out I was totally against them.

However, the other day my guys were tied up designing websites for customers and I wanted to change the design on one of my sites. So I bought a template.

I actually like the template site better than http://www.geeksonsteroids.com and I’ve spent years trying to get the look and feel of Geeks on Steroids like I wanted and only a couple minutes on the other site.

Could template sites be the way to the future?

There is more to a professional website design than just some pretty images; yes it goes way beyond just the look. It’s a combination of several things put together in hopes of creating the right mood that will cause a website visitor to become a website customer.

And I personally believe that it’s the job of the web designer to create that mood and make sure it flows throughout the site. Other words, if the client wants to add text or something else to the site, that will interrupt the flow of the site, the web designer should offer an alternative or explain to the client that it will break the flow of the site and could cause the sites conversion to not be as good as it could be.

A website design is a lot like creating a package for a product. A good package should grab your attention, tell about the product and get you to purchase that product.

When someone is creating the packaging for a product I am pretty sure they don’t just make it look pretty and allow the client to through some text on it and call it done.

While I’ve never created packaging for a product I’d think there is a lot of hand holding and communication back and forth between the client and the company creating the packaging. I’d even go so far as to say that the package creator’s reputation stands on the success of that package.

So why should a web design be any different?

Purchasing a Website Design

Most people miss the amount of art involved when they get ready to purchase a website design. Web designing is art that goes beyond the standard form of art.

A web designer has to be able to take several different forms of artwork and work them all together to create artwork that is able to move the person viewing it.

And not only move them but to move them in the direction the web designer wants to move them.

Because of the amount of artwork used in a web design I am always looking for different ideas. And when I see an artist that is unique and has artwork that could easily be implemented into a web design or marketing campaign I get excited.

And it is that excitement that I felt when viewing this site. Checkout some of his artwork below.

SEO Should Be Dead

I want to start by saying I do not believe in onsite SEO or believe that it will still exist five years from now.

SEO is about things like; optimizing a keyword in the H1 tag, enhancing the title tag, keyword density, keyword proximity, internal linking with proper anchor text, validating your code, using CSS over tables, optimal use of flash and Java, we know the search engines like certain standards, so we use them.

However, if your web designer is on top of his/her game then they should be developing quality websites that go by the book.

Your site should validate!

Flash should be a movie or used sparingly and not be the entire website!

If your web designer builds a quality, well built website, by the book then it is optimized for the search engines.

Now, as the website owner, if you want people to come back to your site then you need to have fresh content. And you also need to understand the jargon people use when searching for your product or service and implement that into the text.

You do this for your website visitors however, the search engines will love you for it and it’s the final step in onsite optimization.
Onsite optimization is about the design and common sense.

But What about Off-Site Optimization, which carries more weight than on-site optimization?

If you have a local business then common sense says handout flyers, business cards, run ads on the local cable channel, put signs on your car, attend trade shows, chamber meetings and speak at local events as well as get involved in school, sports and church.

If you have an internet business then common sense should say post on forums, blogs, and directories, write articles, create profiles on social media sites and do videos.

Those things will also build back links and increase the visibility and ranking of your website.

Social media is a part of online marketing just like schools, sporting events and church is part of offline marketing, rather we like it or now.

Google understands more then we think or want to give them credit for, the best way to rank in Google is too ignore them.

I’ve posted before about how I believe a website design is a lot like a box for a product. And I honestly believe this to be true.

If you agree with me then my question to you is how much control should the designer have over the content of the site. In the past I’ve always put the content off on the client.

However, I’ve seen many sites were I know the content is not going to work as well as it could.

But I am not a writer nor do I claim to be one however as a web designer who wants my clients to get the most out of their web design should I have a sales copywriter on staff to work with the client to get the content as good as it should be?

When you look at packaging in the grocery store the content and the design work together.