Well I guess it depends on what "it" and "they" are.
If we're talking about the idea of building a baseball diamond in the middle of your family's farm with the notion that doing so will allow the ghosts of major league baseball to appear and play, then you would be correct. Hell, if Kevin Costner can do it... I don't see why you can't either.
However, if we're talking about the idea of starting a website as way to sell your company's products and/or services with the notion that doing so will result in immediate exposure to thousands of online shoppers eager to spend their hard earned money with you, then you would be mistaken.
Apparently, it is much easier to wake the dead for a baseball game then it is to corral the living into shopping on your website. And, I'd have to agree.
Not a week goes by where I'm not responsible for killing the dreams of some small business by simply informing them that there is more to online success then just putting up a website. I mean, sure, we'll build you a company website so that you can sell your products and/or services, but unless you plan on investing in some form on online marketing (or, offline for that matter) - mainly search engine marketing - then what's the point. You're simply padding our wallets and not yours.
It's absolutely crazy to think about how many people out there are willing to spend their very last coin on having a website created - like it's the answer to all of their e-commerce prayers - but fail to even plan/budget for what they're going to do after their site is built.
I don't get it... how do you suppose e-commerce ever got such a reputation? This shit is not a cake-walk, people!
Labels: commentary-rants
4 Comments:
"This shit is not a cake-walk, people!"
Whoa, whoa, whoa.....watch the language bro!
I think most people/businesses simply aren't aware of how the human mind works. You have to saturate a person with a barrage of advertising just to get them to go to your website.
If these people/businesses just listen to Karl - all of their problems would be solved.
By
dubz, at April 15, 2009 8:26 AM
Don't be so harsh on the customer. I blame the web designer. I deal with the design of many mom and pops who want a website. I can't tell you the number of clients who I advise to save money for advertising and it's like I'm telling them the secret of eternal life. We deal with the smaller clients and they don't necessarily have all the answers. They just see the web as a way out of the 9 to 5 dull job or a way to make ends meet for fear of being laid off.
The designer needs to educate the customer with all aspects of Internet life. How many clients have you spoken with that think if you put a keyword in the meta tags, they will show up #1 on Google?
The designer is the first person that speaks to a customer. The designer needs to educate the customer and help them succeed. And it's not just SEO either. It includes everything from cost differences of real time credit card processing versus manual processing all the way to email marketing.
So if you are talking about small business, jump on the designer that creates fancy flash sites and has all the bells and whistles right out of the gate. I'd rather create a more basic site that allows money left over for marketing. Once sales come in, then they can spend more money on the fancy stuff.
The web site is never finished. It can be updated constantly as funds become available for improvements. Doesn't that also help SEO because the site gets updated regularly and remains fresh?
We designers need to inform and educate customers. To paraphrase my friend Socrates, the customer does not know that they do not know. They fail to plan because they do not know they need a plan to start with.
By
Michael Roebuck, at April 15, 2009 8:48 AM
Michael, I can certainly agree with you to a point.
However, at some point one has to ask why is it the responsibility of a web designer - a person who may not necessarily be knowledgeable in terms website marketing - to be the one that has to educate their client on such complex topics? Why should a designer have to even care about what happens outside of their design engagement?
A designer essentially has two main priorities: 1) design a website that appeals to their client's needs and desires, 2) make money for their company. It just doesn't seem fair to pass blame on to them.
By that same understanding, you'd expect a clerk at a grocery store to tell you about all the hidden saturated fats in specific brands of potato chips, when their priority is just to stock the shelves. I mean, at some point, consumers have to except responsibility for their purchases, and specifically be willing to do the necessary leg-work to make sure that they aren't misguided.
By
Karl Ribas, at April 15, 2009 10:30 AM
Both Michael and Karl make good points. I think both sides need to share the blame. Designers should be helpful but customers can't be so naive.
It's easy to blame the customer when you deal with the same ignorance over and over again, day in and day out. But in the end, you're probably better off trying to help rather than chalking it up to customer-stupidity and leaving it at that.
Educating customers isn't always easy either. Most people want things to "just work" with little effort. You both know that's just not the case when it comes to advertising/marketing.
By
dubz, at April 15, 2009 10:48 AM
Post a Comment | Email Author | Subscribe