Branding is in the Mind of the Beholder

Website owners who tweak or dabble in the design by updating their own websites are sending a clear message to their website audience – “we do not put any value on the appearance of our website.”

And that subtle message will be picked up by the consumer and potentially cost you sales.

Many business owners take this route to save some money, but more importantly, because they think they can do it well. They do so many other things well, why not web design? How hard can it be?

Surf around the Internet. I bet you can tell who hired a professional webmaster with experience at graphic design, typography, color, layout, flow, etc. and who decided to do it themselves.

And when the world doesn’t come flocking to their door, they wonder why. News flash. The world isn’t coming to a website that looks old and outdated, and is hard to understand and navigate.

Most Internet users know there is an easier way to get what they want – and they will click off your website in a heartbeat and find a website they can relate to and use with ease.

Here’s another way to look at it. Several years ago my wife threw a wonderful New Year's brunch at our home. She pulled out all the stops and created a table setting of food that would score her high in any Top Chef competition. She had set the table with beautiful white, modern plating, custom silver ware and wonderful food to match.

When one of our first guests arrived he and his wife brought along some food they had prepared as well. Very thoughtful indeed. It was tasty barbequed meatballs in a well-used, sloppy-looking crock-pot, which he proceeded to plop down right in the middle of my wife's beautiful table spread.

I would liken this to having a large wart placed in the center of Beyonces' nose.

When the guests left that evening, I really got an earful.

This analogy applies to what business owners are unwittingly doing to their own websites when they become the designer and editor. They are making text styling, photo cropping and other modifications that slowly morphs their website from being a polished, relevant, well-designed marketing tool into a cheap-looking, helter-skelter website people will avoid.

If you are a website owner and know the difference between a rayon neck tie bought at Wal-Mart and a silk neck tie bought a Barney's in New York, then you know quality.

For those who don't. Edit away my friends.

Rick Vidallon is President of Visionefx, a Web design company based in Virginia Beach, Va. They provide services to national companies as well as small to medium businesses throughout the United States. Rick can be reached at (757) 619-6456 or rick@visionefx.net.