Web Sites: Learn to Build Smart and Buy Smart

A potential client recently asked that I analyze her Web site and some of her competitor's sites, all of which I later learned were fairly expensive. Not only did the results surprise her, I suspect it left her with an empty feeling when she thought about what she had received — or did not receive — for her money.

From my perspective, it made me realize that I have to raise my fees for building Web sites.

The reason for her empty feelings:

• Her site was among eight of the 10 that were made with WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors, and like most it used templates that come with such programs.
• It had no title.
• It was not among the half that had adequate META information.
• There was only one site that used style sheets and it was not hers.

The reasons for my feelings:

• She paid about three times what she could have and should have paid for a much better, more professional site of equal size.

Having spent $7,000 for her site, the fact is she could have produced the same thing herself by spending $99 for the program used to make the site and a few hours for production. A real professional would have charged more, but at least she would have gotten her money's worth.

Sadly, this same type of scenario is played out daily throughout the world. People willingly, albeit unknowingly, pay good money for a less than good product. Here is a look at what consumers and Web builders could and should do to avoid making these mistakes:

Using WYSIWYG Editors

There is nothing inherently wrong with using WYSIWYG editors and their templates for doing personal home pages or sites such as one done voluntarily for a local organization. Such programs are designed for beginners and occasional users, not professional Web designers, and require little more than the ability to drag and drop items onto a page. With practice and long claws, the family cat can learn to do that.

In theory, there is nothing wrong with using WYSIWYG editors to do original design work on Web sites, but that only happened on one of the 10 sites analyzed. Most used the templates that came with the program.

Should you look at the page source and see a tag such as this:

you know originality is quite unlikely and you have wasted your money. Clients paying any amount for a Web site deserve original work and design specifically aimed at their goals. Thus, the difference between being a Web designer and a Web builder.

While WYSIWYG editors can conceivably make the family cat a Web builder, they can't make it a designer.

Another problem with using WYSIWYG editors — in addition to the fact that they often are quite expensive — is that many of those programs create bloated, redundant, or proprietary codes. That makes pages load slower. Frequently, these programs use spacer graphics and other tricks to enable users to put objects where they want them. Further, some will even strip out good coding to put in their own coding, and many do not keep up with current HTML standards.

Additionally, should the Web site owner later wish to have the site redesigned, perhaps by a professional, that bloated code is often so convoluted that it would have to be replaced with more efficient coding, thus adding to the cost of the redesign. Even more troublesome is that some WYSIWYG editors make it difficult to even access the HTML code.

So, how can you tell if a WYSIWYG editor was used to create your Web site? Simply view the source, and look for a line near the top (in the head section) that says something like this:

If, indeed, your site does have that information and you paid $7,000 for your site, there's a pretty good chance you've been had.

Not all WYSIWYG editors are created equal, but it is important to evaluate the quality of the HTML coding before using one of them.

Why Use Style Sheets? - Page 2