As an owner of a business I know how important it is to make sure that all my customers are happy. Especially in the economy as it stands can anyone afford to alienate existing or new customers?

One of the most important things I learnt in my first year of running my business was how to handle customers in the correct way. The way you project yourself and how you communicate will lessen the chance of a customer being unhappy. Especially in the design industry this is very important as there is no right or wrong answer, listening to your clients needs and wants is essential in order to produce a final product that meets their requirements. Of course the customer is not right all the time, but it is your job to guide them through the process of design, explain what is and what isn’t possible so that their expectations of a project are met.

No one wants to receive bad customer service, and no one have to put up with receiving bad customer service. If you are unfortunate and are at the receiving end then you need to find a new company who understands your needs and can meet them. I believe companies with bad customer service rely on the belief that people will just put up and shut up. I for one will not put up with it for one second, and if everyone did the same then these companies will be where they belong: without customers.

Having been a web designer that has created bespoke websites for the past 10 years it should be obvious which route I would always take, but there is also a lot of very good reasons why you should not go down the seemingly cheaper route of a template website.

1. Creating a website that does everything YOU want it to do.

The great thing about employing a web designer for your new website is that you get to start off with a blank piece of paper. You are giving the potential to have everything you want on the website. You want a certain layout, you got it. Want to have images at a specific place on the website, you got it. Want something slightly quirky and different from the norm, guess what? You got it!

The good but also the incredibly bad point about template websites is that you do not start with a blank piece of paper, your website is half complete before you even start. Templated websites are just what they say on the tin: templated. Everything has a position and place already dictated, but what if you don’t want that? That is great if you do not have a clue what you want your website to be like, but do you really want your website to be a replica of hundreds of other websites? Having a good website designer will mean you do not need to worry about such details. Based on conversations they have with you, it is a designer’s job to create a website that fits you and only you. A unique website will make you stand out from the crowd, be more memorable that the competition – what business would not want that?

2. Spend your time and money wisely

Your time is precious to you and your business so is a do-it-yourself website really the best use of your time? You may think up get a templated website up and running it is just a simple copy and paste exercise, but it is a lot more than that. Not only will you need to create the hierachical structure of your website but you will need to source imagery to use, buy a domain name (if you don’t have one already), decide on a suitable colour scheme and last but by no means least make sure the website is Search Engine Optimised. If you have never built a website before this can be incredibly daunting, and all of that doesn’t take into account the time it will take to learn how to use the template website software in the first place.

So what on paper seems like a much quicker and cheaper way of creating a website can quickly take up a lot of your time, and therefore your money too. Using a web designer means that not only will someone else be in charge of the techincal side of building of a website, colour schemes etc, but they will do it at a set price and in a set timescale.

3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

A website is much more than the content it displays. Understanding how Google works can be a full time job, but it is essential knowledge if you want your website to really work for you. For anyone starting out SEO can feel like a minefield of contradictory information, understanding everything you need to put into a website can be confusing and hard to grasp. A website designer can not only do the more technical side of SEO, but they will also be able to advise you on the content of your website so that you perform well on all the search engines. Keywords are essential, and finding the right keywords that will help your business be found on search engines is critical. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that a website that isn’t being found on search engines is worthless so SEO is something your company cannot afford to ignore.

At Catlin Designs we specialise in the designing and delivering of bespoke, cost effective websites for both individuals and organisations. We understand that every company is unique so whether it is web maintenance or designing a website from scratch, our web designers will work with you to develop a website that truly reflects your business. View our website design portfolio here.