April 25, 2025 | Armen Varadian
“I thought that by hiring a good web developer I would get a beautiful website!”
In an ideal world, every web specialist would produce just that. Even competent developers will build your site on a solid, secure platform, thoroughly test all plugins, establish proper integrations with your CRM and other marketing platforms, maximize AI features, and establish a solid foundation for SEO. So why does your site still look so uninspiring?
Same planet, different worlds
The problem is the left-brained genius web developer you hired is rarely also a right-brained professional graphic designer. If you desire both a well-functioning and beautiful website, you must learn to separate those two deliverables. Are there unicorns out there that can handle both? Yes—and some surgeons are also excellent rock guitarists…but that does not make it the norm! Almost always, an individual who claims to be a web specialist lacks either advanced training in visual design (i.e. an art degree) or advanced training in web development (i.e. CSS certification). Websites should always be thought of as consisting of two parts: front end visual design, and back end structural design. If either are not being handled at the professional level, then the overall website gets compromised—and the results are usually glaring!
So what are the common issues with most websites?
From almost twenty years experience in web design, I have observed the following results as most indicative of a missing piece to a website’s development process. For sites that are built soley by visual designers, the following pitfalls are most common:
- Mobile glitches
- Ineffective SEO content
- Abysmal load times
- Untrustworthy plugins
- Poor site security
- Complete dependency on the designer for updates
For these types of websites, I can’t begin to list the amount of times our back-end team has been required to strip out thousands of lines of bad coding, replace outdated plugins, re-upload all imagery at proper optimized sizes, completely rebuild the mobile experience, and almost always shift the entire website to a more user-friendly platform—not exactly a cheap task!
On the flip side, we see the following issues with sites that are built solely by back end developers:
- Stale, uninspiring layouts
- Cheap, overused templates
- Ineffective user experience for engaging visitors
- Overload of textual content
- Little to no interactivity (animations, videos, etc.)
- Overall failure to execute clients’ vision for design
For these websites, our visual design team jumps in and first ensures that a cohesive brand has been established for that business. Branding includes a professional logo and established colors, fonts, imagery and graphics that speak clearly and cohesively to the business. This step is nearly always overlooked by a back-end development team…for good reason—it’s not their job! Coders need not claim be brand strategists, just as visual artists need not excel in back-end development. Are you beginning to see the disconnect?
Even after a brand has been established, an effective user experience is still pivotal for your website. Expensive SEO campaigns prove all but worthless when they lead a prospect to your site, only to lose them within seconds due to poor design and negative user experience. Remember, the ultimate goal is for the visitor to be persuaded to inquire about your product, not just arrive at your site.
So, What’s The Solution?
We get it. Having specialized in serving small to mid-size businesses for almost 20 years, we know that not everyone can afford an entire creative team for their website project. However, everyone still has the ability to plan smarter! If you can budget a seasoned visual designer to at least handle the conceptual design of your website—as well as ensure your organization’s branding is well established—do it! If not, ask your back end developer to provide you some options of attractive pre-designed templates to pick from within the platform they are using to build your site. However, just note that these polished online templates are incredibly fragile and usually get compromised very quickly when your own text and images get uploaded. Plus, if you ever want to present as a legitimate business, establishing your brand design should be a non-negotiable!
Ideally, the web development company you hire will have this visual designer on their team. Always ask questions about their in-house graphic design capabilities. What is their process for integrating a company’s brand into their website? What site-building platform do they use and is it easy for you to make updates yourself? What’s their plan for hosting, security and ongoing maintenance?
Many companies misrepresent themselves. Unfortunately, fixing either front end design or back end development problems afterwards is not only frustrating, but quite expensive. When it comes to web design, think twice before you pay twice!
NON-NEGOTIABLES
- ESTABLISH your branding before your website is designed
- VET your web company before you begin work
- KNOW the difference between a designer and developer
AMVCreative combines expertise in video, web and graphic design—all under one roof! Have an upcoming project that you need help planning?
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