Small Business Website Design

Web Design For Small Business

Published on September 24, 2012 by: James H. Hobson

Not for Beginner Web Designers!

I once heard a very naive person say "you can hire any high school kid to make a website". This was said by someone who should have known better, and seems to be a common perception among many business owners. The people with this belief are making a loud statement to the effect that they do not have a clue about what is required to make a good business website. In a tech savvy market like Atlanta it is even more important to have a professional web design company handle your website design and development project - this is no place for beginners!

Wordpress Is Easy!

Sort of. While some Wordpress sites, or similar do-it-yourself web design platforms are relatively easy work environments, it still requires a very good nowledge of web design fundamentals in order to produce a great looking website. In fact, when you need to customize your website (and you will need to do this!) it is nearly impossible to do without some knowledge of coding best practices and SEO best practices.

What about the quick plug-ins and widgets? Plug-ins and widgets are nifty little items for a Wordpress site. As with anything else, being able to acquire something does not mean that you will truly know how to use it. Compare Wordpress to Turbo-Tax, Legal Zoom or other do-it-yourself ways of handling what would otherwise be done by a skilled professional. Certainly you can fill in the blanks but you don't have the level of understanding that is required to avoid problems and get optimal results. Simply put, you know what you know but you don't know what you don't know.

It is well worth noting that your do-it-yourself project is going to be competing with the work of skilled professionals. The probablity of winning in this arena are incredibly low - and your business is what you are betting.

What Do You Need To Know?

Website Design! Graphic design requires knowledge of the use of space (which really does include EMPTY spaces), color psychology and how to coordinate colors, content layout and presentation and more. Add upon this the need to understand online user behaviors because user friendliness and intuitive flow is absolutely critical.

Copy Writing! Writing effective copy is far more complicated than typing out everything you know about a particular subject. Knowing how to structure the presentation on each page, and across the website is vital. Knowing how to create a logical flow of information and paying attention to special callouts, pull quotes, bullet lists and otheer text treatments is important. Knowledge of grammar, punctuation and composition is essential. And you will definitely need to know how to implement SEO tactics into your copy development.

Graphics Design! You will need to create custom graphics to create a high performance website. Copying images from other websites, or downloading images from a place like Google Images to use on your website is very illegal! Such activity can cost you as much as $250,000 per incident for copyright infringements or violation of intellectual property laws. You will need to take photos or otherwise acquire licensed images, and create special graphics in expensive software such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

Internet Marketing! You will need to understand SEO practices, website conversion strategies, effective use of calls-to-action, and a LOT more. Simply adding a lot of words and some pictures does not create an online experience that will engage or entice potential customers.

A Website Designer Costs Too Much!

You may think that an Atlanta website designer costs too much but this thinking works only if you compare their costs to your free labor. What you are failing to recognize is the is all of the new business that "will not happen" when your website is ranked on page 12 and looks like a high-school project. Hiring a qualified company that offers web design Atlanta, and that can include Atlanta SEO, Atlanta digital marketing services and general Atlanta search engine marketing services is your best option for online success.

If you live in a town of a few thousand people it might make sense for a friend or relative to do your website. If you want to compete in a major market like Atlanta, you will find that it is no place for a web design beginner.