A Web Developer's Pet Peeve
Date: 0, 0
In the web bizz since 1995, this is my number one pet peeve. I just have to wonder what folks are thinking sometimes when I hear this.
The Scenario:
A certain high profile person with a website who suddenly lost their webmaster. In past conversations, it had been indicated that if anything happened as such, I would most likely be consulted. The situation arose and I tactfully approached the potential client.
The Kick
I was told by the potential client that a family member is now handling the site. A FAMILY MEMBER. Is this person a website professional? No. Is this person fully immersed in the website industry with their fingers on the pulse of new technology, etc? No.
This is so often the case with websites. A company in town who is very successful has a very amateurish website. They do a lot of business from referrals, but to look at their website, I would immediately be turned off and figure they just started and don't care much about how their image holds up to eyeballs on the web. "Oh, my husband is doing the site." I pulled up the site and started screaming and gouging at my eyes...."MY RETINAS! MY RETINAS!" Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but you get the picture. If I go to a website and it looks like their kid did it, or their kid's friend or whatever--I'm not likely to do business with them. If they don't care about how they look, will they care about providing me with excellent customer care? I'm not sure...
Another thing is search engine visibility. I looked at the client's site that I wanted so dearlly. Can seach engines find that site? Probably...but since I do this stuff all the time, I know what it takes to be positioned properly with search engine spiders. The necessary elements were not there, not in the least.
Anyhow, I hope that in time I will get a call or email from this coveted client. Sure, some people have family members who dabble in the web, but would you have a family member create all of your marketing material and depend on that person and content for your livelihood?
Getting down off of the soap box...