Boileau Communications Management LLC

Forget Best Practices

Lots of people claim to be experts on the “best practices” of web design, but the fact is that web design takes many shapes and forms, and a true best practices list would be 100 pages long, 960 pixels wide, and (according to most experts) a font size of approximately 15 points with a maximum line length of 85 characters – not to mention a budget too large to escape the boss’s eyes.

So I’ll spare your eyes the 30 hours of reading, and do what we Millennials do best – tell you what people are doing wrong and what we would do differently if we were in charge. So lean back, grab a nice cup of Earl Grey and a sliver of lemon, and enjoy reading about three common problems in web design.

Problem 1: Skipping Content Strategy

The single largest mistake I’ve watched developers make (never myself, of course…) is rushing straight into design without thinking about the content.  How would Randy sum it up? Probably with a fishing metaphor like, “they’ve launched their proverbial boats without any nets,” or “they’ve eaten their 12-cent cheese on a three-dollar cracker.” (He’s super-annuated).

For web strategy, thinking is key. As with any other type of communications, the first step of the process must be to think about the message. Put the client and the developers in a room and lock the door until they know what they really want to do with the site. And, have a mop ready for clean up.

What is the purpose of this website? What type of meaning do we want to convey? What type of experience do we want users to have? For that matter, who are our users and what do they want? Take time in the beginning to ask the difficult questions, and give it a budget. No one likes thinking for free. Putting time and money into this first stage of the process will make life much easier down the road.

When you start asking questions like “should we use lightboxes or a flash image gallery here?,” you want to have already asked the questions, “do we even have pictures of our products?” and “what kind of visuals will best sell our products and services?”

Content is king. As a web developer, there’s nothing more depressing than a beautiful site with “Lorem Ipsum” staring you in face. It’s as frightening as a blank page.

Problem 2: The Aesthetic Doesn’t Match the Company

Websites have a personality. Some are wise, some edgy, some like Beethoven, others like the J. Giles Band, some are clean and trim, and some don’t brush their teeth or shower. Whatever the personality is, it should match the personality of the company it represents.

We recently redesigned our website (a few months ago), and had to spend a lot of time thinking about our personality. We wanted to convey our professionalism and our skill, but we also wanted to show our clients and vendors that we are easy going, fun people.

To achieve this, we designed the site to be a clean, content-driven (not graphic-driven) site. The design of the site is almost completely line and white space. Our careful planning of layout directs readers’ attention to the most important sections of copy, and our inclusion of visually stimulating photography breaks up the monotony of an all-white design and brings some much needed color to the page.

The content does the most work on the site. It is filled with the warmth and personality of our company, and there are even some stretched attempts at humor (Randy tries).

The bottom line is that if your company is a business-focused, success-driven corporation, don’t try to represent it using the latest “grunge” designs with “hip” language. If you’re not an adolescent blogger, don’t pretend to be. Be yourself, and avoid creating a disconnect between your company and your website’s users.

Problem 3: The Site Isn’t Promoted

Web Design, as my college professor Charlie Lowe so elegantly put it, is not the Field of Dreams. If you build it… they may come if they like. But they probably won’t because your clients have to pick up the dry cleaning, take their daughters to soccer practice, and maybe squeeze in some time for a crusty Velveeta vegetarian casserole (none of our clients eat this).

If your site is hard to find, and it’s not a top result on Google, your potential clients are thinking it’s time to find a new vendor (if they even know you exist). People are busy, which means they aren’t going to go the extra mile to find you. You have to bring it to them.

When you create a website, it isn’t magically going to boost itself to the top of the search results. It’s not going to advertise itself, and it’s not going to go out and find its own users.

Websites need to be promoted. Luckily, it’s easy and cheap.

Google AdWords and some limited search engine optimization (SEO) are great places to start. Google allows you to place specific, targeted ads right in front of your audience. Google will even scan your site for information and provide you with a list of related keywords to integrate into your sites copy for better search results.

Further Reading

Check out the “Develop a Personality” section of this article on A List Apart.

Douglas Adams discusses the perfect cup of tea: Earl Grey.

Let Google find the keywords on your site. For Free.