Is your web designer the right person to guide your online presence?

In this blog some months ago, we attempted to demystify the web industry by providing a framework for web professionals and thereby explaining who was who in the web zoo, and who you should be talking to about your web presence.

As the web continues to grow and evolve and new terms are invented for new roles, it’s easy for the poor smaller business operator to feel overwhelmed by who exactly they are talking to and exactly what their perspective – and their bias, is.

The most common example of this is when a small business operator is looking to have a website built. Typically, and quite understandably given the infancy of the industry, they look for a ‘web designer’.

Design the most visible component of your mix

The problem is that in these days of more sophisticated and ever-changing eMarketing, the ‘design’ component of your web presence is really just a small but publicly visible tip of your online iceberg.

To that end, the web ‘designer’ has become a specialist in the eMarketing world. They specialise in making your website (ideally) look good.

But what about the raft of other website and eMarketing requirements you are going to need?

Such as your strategy, search engine optimisation, search engine advertising, email marketing, Web 2.0 marketing, usability, website features, content management systems, etc, etc.

While your web designer may well be qualified to make your website look good, there’s every chance they are not up to speed with some of these increasingly important components.

Few designers are across all eMarketing techniques

Even though I am a self-confessed web ‘generalist’, even I have assisted a number of clients optimise their recently acquired website for search engines, when they realised their web designer wasn’t across the barest fundamentals of this vital area.

Don’t get me wrong (and many have), these web professionals are still a critical part of the mix. It’s just that their role has changed as the web has moved away from ‘brochureware’ to becoming a vital part of a small business operation.

Now the skills required for a professional online presence are far broader than the purely visual component.

The above diagram (which could be mistaken for an MCG seating chart – but then again it is AFL Grand Final week…) illustrates the new roles of web professionals and how they fit into the eBusiness picture.

As you can see, what’s evolved is a scenario similar to that scene in the completely unrelated field of medicine.

Taking the advice of doctors

The field of medicine evolved through this process centuries ago as the profession realised that because the human body was so complex, it required specialists to understand and practice disciplines far more advanced than that of the General Practitioner.

However, because the patient couldn’t necessarily know which specialist they needed, the GP became the gatekeeper to their overall health and wellbeing.

This approach is now evolving with eBusiness.

At the bigger end of town, ‘digital agencies’ have been around for some time now. Evolving from their mass media predecessors, advertising agencies, these firms offer professional advice on most aspects of your online presence.

These firms offer a turnkey solution – whether it’s a fully customised website or a youth eMarketing campaign, these firms can provide very professional results.

However, like ad agencies you need very deep pockets to work with them.

Turnkeys for smaller business

The smaller end of town has been slower to come up with a workable and affordable agency model – due mainly to the variety of skills required to work in this way.

However, there is now a small but promising band of ‘independent webmasters’ who are essentially taking the role of GPs when it comes to the web presence of smaller organisations.

These providers supply a very good level of eBusiness service across the board – usually more that sufficient for most smaller organisations, but partner or refer to specialists as required.

So for small business operators uncertain which mix of website and eMarketing capabilities they require, they provide an excellent yet affordable first port of call for the bulk of their requirements.

Best results are achieved when these professionals are truly independent of either technology or technique – customising your web presence to your specific marketing, operational and budget requirements.

Independence more important than ever

This independence really is critical. In the design example provided above, because you have approached a web designer, they are naturally going to spend your budget on design components. What this can lead to is a good looking but essentially ineffective dog.

Whereas an independent provider will look at all available tools and techniques to come up with a plan that is going to provide you with the best possible results.

That doesn’t mean it needs to look sub-standard; it just means that you are more likely to get more tangible and measureable business results.

So when looking for guidance in this increasingly complex arena, it pays to ensure that the provider’s motivation is lining your pockets instead of theirs.

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Craig Reardon is a leading eBusiness educator and founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which provide the gamut of ‘pre-built’ website solutions, technologies and services to SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.