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Why you should never let
“IT guys” design your website

One day many years ago an older brother had to break the news to me that the food I ate didn’t originate in the supermarket. Growing up in New Yawk, I was thunderstruck to learn that a cheeseburger starts out on a Colorado cattle ranch, bread begins in a Kansas wheat field, and craziest of all, orange juice sprouts from trees in Florida! Is that really true…?

Good web design doesn’t start with an IT guy

When it comes to websites there’s a lot of very smart city folks who indulge in the illusion that any website should originate from and be completely dependent upon ‘computer guys.’ You know, the ‘IT department.’ The thought process goes like this, “After all, if it’s on a computer screen, responsibility must belong to the same people who fix my laptop, connect me to the network, and console me about all that email spam. Right?”

Not really. You know when you think about it most of us understand that many “IT” guys are programmers. They generate technical code. We hire them to use a specialized language to communicate with and retrieve information from a database. They write applications that make data entry easier for the accounting department or crunch numbers for the annual report. Other IT guys are ‘server techs’ that keep the bad stuff from messing up the company’s computer network. And, yeah, some IT guys deal mainly with hardware issues. They can (sometimes) fix your laptop.

IT guys are tech specialists, not steely-eyed marketing pros

One thing they generally can’t do is ‘design.’ They are certainly not graphic designers. You would no more assign them to do a brochure layout than you would the human resource manager. And, what can the average IT guy tell you about viral marketing or advertising metrics? So, we know they’re not experts in business development. I mean, we’re not dissing anyone when we direct the correct job to the right experts. So, why the heck do many businesses still hand off responsibility for their websites to IT guys?

One major reason could be that a lot of marketing managers are not experienced with the nuances of Web usability standards, search engine optimization and other aspects of good web design in 2007. Frankly, they are assuming that the IT guys know what they don’t. But, that’s wishful thinking.  IT guys don’t produce orange juice and they sure as sunshine don’t grow customers.

Websites should start life in the marketing department

Websites are much more than the public face of an organization. Your website extends your reach to new markets and customers. The Internet empowers the customer to choose, or not, your products and services over those of your competitors. Your pages establish your reputation and credibility in your industry. A website can provide first-tier customer support, media relations and sales leads. It's about marketing, dude.

Here’s my recommendations for any marketing manager considering their next moves with regard to their website:

• Before you do another thing, read Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug. Understanding what happens when a visitor appears on your web doorstep is absolutely fundamental to website success.
• Then, you need to know how search engines work! Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day is an easy, fast read and required reading if you expect anyone to even find your web pages to begin with.
• Moving on, you need to learn about Google AdWords and how important CPC can be for web marketing. Read: Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords.
• Consider integrating a business blog into your website. Scoble & Israel's book, Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers is a must read for anyone interested in engaging customers online and viral marketing.
• Of course, hire a professional web design company. Jordan Creek Web Design is our firm, but there are too many good ones to count out there.
• Finally, don’t be afraid to bring in an Internet expert for advice and analysis. (Yeah. We do that too.)

So, what about your IT guys? Give ’em a break. Besides, they’re all tied up trying to stop evil email spam from invading your inbox. Right?

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