With many tools available for anyone to create a website, some of them free, why does the world still need web designers? Should they all just pack up and go home?
Systems such as WordPress and online website builders mean that you do not need to be a web designer or have knowledge of HTML code to build a website. The use of readymade templates means that it is easy to produce a site that looks pretty good as well. It’s just select and click and, hey-presto, you have a website.
In theory, these website building tools could mean the death of the web designer, but there are many reasons why web designers will continue to be highly valued and are unlikely to become extinct in the near future.
Web security
If a website stops functioning, there can be very negative consequences for a company. If an ecommerce site goes down, sales are lost. If personal or financial details of customers are stolen, then the company will no longer be trusted. Potential customers searching for products or services in your business sector will go to competitors if your website is unavailable.
Hackers seek to take advantage of low security websites. A good web designer will make sure that the websites they construct do not contain any out of date or vulnerable security technologies, something that amateur web designers know very little about.
A web development company can be employed to regularly maintain a website and make sure that there are no emerging security issues, keeping your website up-to-date to combat the latest threats and developments.
Web designers as part of the marketing team
There is a tendency to regard web designers as IT people, but it is better to see them as part of the marketing team. The web designer is establishing a company’s brand online and web pages need to reflect the company’s marketing message. Ideally, web designers will be experts in content, marketing and branding; all areas that traditionally come under marketing.
Many skills
The online world is evolving. At one time, most businesses had only one online channel – their website. Now, there is social media, blogs and business branded apps, video and other channels. A good web designer needs to have knowledge of all these areas so that the website is seen as one element in what can be viewed as a multichannel ecosystem.
Website designers as artists
OK, hear me out.
User expectations are growing. They want a website to look and feel great. To achieve this requires attention to fonts, backgrounds, colours and layout. A web designer needs to think and create like an artist to meet or exceed users’ expectations.
Quality versus standard
A web designer who is skilled in all the above areas creates a quality website, not the standard website that the do-it-yourself web building tools achieve.
A business that merely wants a web presence can be satisfied with a web building tool, but for businesses that need their site to have a real impact that will translate into increased customers and profits, then a quality website built by a highly trained web designer is the route to go.
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