My opinionated definition of what a “Web Designer” is…
September 4, 2007 by Valerie "Serendipity" Anderson
Overview of the Web Designers role
“What does a ‘web designer’ do?”
A Web Designer weaves together the role of structural architect (skill-sets will vary in degrees between Web Developer and Web Programmer depending on the needs of the client) with a strong focus on the originality of the graphical interface.
A good Web Designer is skilled at using various image-branding techniques that help create a clear statement about the product or service being offered.
In addition, they typically possess strong Graphic Designer skills that further enhance a client’s opportunity to sculpt their entire corporate image, both online and in print.
If someone has a good idea of what they want their graphics to look like and their site does not need a complex internal structure, a Web Designer is probably the best partner to join together with.
Major Benefits
“There is value in uniqueness”
Choosing to use a Web Designer virtually guarantees a unique-looking web site will be displayed on the Internet. Props are frequently given to those daring to be unique on the Internet with their published materials. Unique logos can create “familiarity” value regardless of the printed medium. If you truly connect with your Web Designer, you will enjoy the virtual image designed especially for you.
Minor Side-Affects
“There is value in similarity”
A good Web Designer is very conscious of traditional visitor “habits” such as expecting hyper-links to be in hyper-link blue, menu bars being consistent on all pages, internal search abilities, etc. while remembering “rules” such as people tend to scan web pages from left to right and in a Z pattern, never use dark text.on a dark background and vice versa, and other visual rules and guidelines.
Therefore, if you have a Web Designer attempting to persuade you to re-consider your desire for bright red text on a black background, they aren’t doing it to be mean or tempermental…you just need to be prepared for possible negative backlash such a choice can generate.
If you want to gamble with the odds, visitors tend to intereact more positively when a site feels “familiar.” This means possibly preventing your Web Designer from talking you into a design/ layout that doesn’t make sense to the average Jack or Jessica.
Augmented Benefits
“Additional uses for website materials!”
Once the web site is finished, you should be given a CD containing all of the materials on the web site. Unless it was stated otherwise in your contract, you are the sole owner of said work-for-hire and those graphics can be put to good use!
At the beginning of the project, you might want to ask if black and white versions of the graphics can be made at no or little cost, especially if you have to keep your printing costs low. Black printers do not always properly convert the image and will make your newly polished image look blurry and fuzzy.
Begin integrating the new graphics into your printed materials. Use the logo on your next set of business cards or stationary. Use one of the photographs in a brochure. This will help augment the on-line branding effort.
Diminished Benefits
“Why can’t I win the Search Engine popularity game?”
A Web Designer frequently does not intimately understand how programming, layout and content affects the search engines. If someone is hoping to seriously compete in the search engines using some of the more popular keywords, this is a completely different industry, which is why there are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialists, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Specialists and Viral Marketing Specialists.
If a site isn’t designed properly and to certain standards, it can significantly impact how effective an SEO or SEM Specialist will be with the materials presented to them. It isn’t necessarily their job to write the quality content either and if the code/content ratio is too code-heavy, the search engines will promote the site that has seemingly heavy content…even if the information you display is of more “value” than the higher ranked site.
Do you provide Web Designer services?
Although I have some skills with graphics, if a client is looking to significantly alter their existing logos/graphic art or has a very specific image in mind, I tend to recommend hiring a Graphic Designer.
Other than the above exception, I include Web Designer services as a part of my Web Developer packages. I certainly concentrate on how a web site “looks,” however I tend to place a higher priority on visitor conversion, which means asthetics are frequently negotiated with the projects I work on.
For example, I have had people request flash home pages, however I also know that including such an element on the home page can really scramble how the search engines score/rank a web site. The search engine results for the few people I persuaded away from having a flash home page are continuing to display higher content quality in the summaries, which has significantly contributed to visitors entering the site using other paths than typing in the actual address. Also, many browsers have add-ons designed to block flash elements and may it not be forgotten there are people who still access the Internet using dial-up.
