The Biggest Web Design Mistake Made By Businesses

The connection I am about to make is perhaps stretching things a bit but nevertheless, I think there is a similarity here. I have always though that one of the jobs with a bizarre element to it is a driving instructor. How do we measure whether or not our driving instructors are good or not?

It is by helping us to pass our driving tests first time in as few lessons as possible. Think about that for a moment. In order to succeed, they have to effectively lose their customers as quickly and efficiently as they can.

It is not quite as simple as that of course, If they were to teach you more slowly and try to hang onto you as long as possible then their reputation would go downhill rapidly. So whilst it is true that they must try and lose their customers as quickly as possible, it is in order to build up their reputation and win new customers just as quickly.

The similarity for web design businesses is that in order to succeed, we must sometimes disagree with our customers. That sounds outrageous I know, but in order to preserve a reputation as a designer of great websites, it is a vital part of our business.

Web Designers Who Agree With Everything You Say Are Not Good Web Designers

There are always exceptions but one common trait I know of with small business owners and managers is that they want their website to put forward the information they wish their customers would absorb in a way that the business owner likes. They are aware that they would not respond to websites in the same way but they always think they are unique in that respect. Well they are not.

We all browse websites in the same way and if you assume your customers are different from you then you are sorely mistaken. We want websites to tell us simply and plainly what business the website owner is promoting. We want to see what they do, how much they charge, what to expect from them and how to contact them.

So when you are thinking about what goes onto your website you must step out of yourself and instead of being the expert dictating what you want to your customers, imagine being one of your customers and ask yourself what information you would like to find on the website. That way, you will have a website for your company that truly achieves its aims, to assist in the marketing of your business and brand and winning you new business.

So what has all this got to do with driving instructors?

Well in the same way that driving instructors have this unusual aspect to their business that they must try and lose you as quickly as possible in order to succeed, I as a web designer must try and help you succeed with your website by putting forward my point of view based on many years of experience in finding out what works and what does not.

If you ask us to do something, we might just say to you that we advise doing something totally different because we do not want you to make a mistake with your website. If your web designer always does what you want like a lamb and never challenges any of your ideas, he is probably not doing a good job!