Most sites are designed by techno-geeks and / or graphic artists who are not salespeople. … They do not know when they are disrupting or destroying the selling process with their technological bells and whistles.
- Dan Kennedy "No BS Sales Success"

Many websites are a waste of money as they are built to achieve the goals of the developer rather than the business which is actually putting up the money. The fact that a website must provide a return for the business is often secondary or, at worst, ignored.

Many websites are developed by web developers who develop websites part-time. The usual suspects are:

• Computer technicians doing troubleshooting, software development or computer training. They are able to put together the code for websites and so do website development “on the side”.
• Graphic designers putting together brochures, advertisements and multimedia. Using specialized programs they can generate websites from a design so they do website development “on the side”.

Unfortunately for most websites this part-time approach can cause some problems.

These sites tend to have the latest bleeding edge technologies and a massive amount of bells and whistles. It has more controls and flashing lights than a seventies sci-fi movie set.

However…

• It takes ages to load.
• It confuses any visitors
• It is prone to long-term-breakage as bleeding edge technology is often relatively untested and not always adopted.

As a result of this your new website brings in few (if any) customers to your business.

If you believe flash graphic design is vital to a successful website consider craigslist.com (or even google.com).

Both of these sites are so successful because they recognise that visitors are there to achieve something and they don’t let the graphic design get in the way.

Your site looks beautiful. It is truly a wonder to behold. Future generations will talk about it in the same sentence as the Sistine chapel and prefer your site as a work of art.

However…

• The information your customers want is absent (as that would spoil the minimalism of the art).
• Google has no idea what your site is about.
• The navigation system, a master piece of visual sculpture, requires several minutes of study to work out how to use it.

Your beautiful but confusing site causes visitors give up and move to your competitor's site. You rarely get a call or customer from your site.

So... You're not making money. I'm sorry I don't understand the problem.
– Anon Web Developer

I admit that these are pretty extreme examples but they are chosen to prove a point. The point is that everyone involved in the website has slightly different goals.

The technician wants to show off the latest technology, the graphic designer wants to develop something beautiful. The biggest problem for you is that once the website is developed they consider their job mostly done, their involvement largely over. That is long before the website has any chance of making a return.

You cannot afford to have a website built by someone who considers their job done once the website is developed. You need someone who is committed to getting a return from it.

To be fair most of the time these guys are trying hard for you. They are just stuck in a reality that is a few years out of date. Their assumption is often that if you build a website the world will flock to your door. Many web developers seem to genuinely believe this. Certainly if they don’t believe it themselves they are quite happy for their customers to believe it.

The “build it and they will come” myth may have been true in the earlier days of the Internet but the reality is different now. Try this. Go to Google and do a search for your industry. Make note of how many results are returned by Google. That is your competition. How are you going to stand out from the crowd?

Don't get me wrong, there are still great opportunities for smart businesses online. The point is that these days success depends on a lot more than just building any old website

We don’t consider ourselves graphic designers. Nor are we the best programmers in the world. When we need those skills we hire experts.

What we are experts in is teaming up with businesses to develop a website that gives a return. There is a lot more required for a successful site than designing the look and putting together the code. Your website needs to stand out from the crowd and turn visitors into customers. We recognize that value of your site only comes after it is built. We believe in working with you constantly to maximize that return. We are full-time web developers. This gives us the time to concentrate on doing just that.

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