Bespoke Web Design
The value of a professionally designed Web site

by Daniel Janal

• The eras of the 'Net: Design doesn't stand still on the Internet.
• One size does not fit all: But how do you keep your individuality and keep up with the changes on the Internet?
• Hiring a designer: Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and get some professional help.
• What do you think? My new Web site lets me stand out from the crowd.
• Maintaining it yourself: with NetObjects Fusion, you can keep it looking good yourself.
• I am not a cookie cutter: Here are a few steps to follow to make your Web site one of a kind.

Used to be that anyone could design a Web site and compete with IBM on the Internet. After all, everyone was limited to a gray background and you could use any color font you wanted, as long as it was black, as Henry Ford used to say. I call this era in Web design "the Model-T" look.

Then came the professionally designed templates included with Web site design and editing software programs. They were fine in their day, too, as design was reduced to picking up an approved style and pouring in your text and images. I call this design phase the "Men's Wearhouse Era." You can't go wrong picking up any suit there. You'll fit in. You won't stand out.

Some are better than others. For example, those included with NetObjects Fusion (you can see them using the Stylizer) look professional and, if you chose wisely, can fit your company fairly closely. They're certainly a good place to start.

Then we entered the "R&D" phase of design. "R&D" stands for "Rip-off and Duplicate." You know. You've done it. You copy Yahoo's latest look and feel, change a few colors, add your logo, and voila! You're competing with Yahoo.

Remember the pages with the colored border running down the left-hand margin? Every Web site looked professional because everyone looked the same. It is easy to look good when you stand on the shoulders of giants.

One size does not fit all

Now we are entering the "One Size Fits All" era of Web design, where so many web sites are starting to look like Yahoo that you can't tell them apart. I call this era the "Better Safe than Sorry" phase (Editor's note: I call this the boring phase :).

But if you are running a business, do you really want to show the world your Web site that looks exactly like 5,000 others.

A key rule of marketing is to be able to tell customers how you are different and better than competitors. That's awfully hard to do if your site looks and feels like everyone else's.

Sure, you need to follow certain accepted principles of design and navigation, but too much sameness means you lose your individuality.

Well, in this latest generation of Internet Dog Years, I am here to proclaim two things:

• One size does not fit all.
• You don't have the graphic talent to design a page that can compete with IBM.

You really don't.
I know. I tried. I competed (for a while).
I failed.

I cobbled my site together in the very early days of the 'Net. I figured out HTML was no big deal and posted my site. To keep up, I relied on Laura LeMay's wonderful books on HTML. Every few months, I'd add a new design element, adopt the hottest colors, add columns, create frames (and then delete them), and add every other cool-thing du jour. And abandon them when the next big thing came along.

No longer.
I give up.
The world has passed me by.

There are too many things to know about Web design and the mysterious coding that runs it all. Active Server Pages, Cascading Style Sheets. Java Beans. Forms that tie into credit card processing. Forms that tie into your company's database. Arrgh! I give up.

Hiring a designer

I realized I could do one of two things:

• Spend the rest of my life staying current with learning the latest programming tools and design trends (and not make a dime).
• Or, hire a designer who knew what to do so I could run my business (and make a few dimes).

It is like deciding whether you want to paint your office instead of selling your products and services. Sure, you could do it in a couple of weekends, but you'd lose the selling time you need to grow your business and service your customers. Is that a good tradeoff of your time and money? You decide. But also realize that when you are done painting the office, there will be telltale signs of the amateur: the little lines of paint on the windows, ceilings and carpets – and your forehead.

I bit the bullet. I hired a designer, Daniel Will-Harris, (editor of eFuse.com) whom I have known for a million years (give or take 999,985). We agreed on a price and he promptly created a draft design.

I loved the typeface he chose: elegant and flowing. Just like my speeches and presentations. I was a bit concerned with the artwork: He used a big, artistically rendered picture of me as the main graphic element. I wondered if this was immodest. He assured me: "You are the brand. You are the product. You are what people should see."

Being a branding consultant, I agreed with his concept, although it is difficult to be impartial when the product is you.

I showed the design to a few friends who are sensitive to self-promotion for their advice. They gave their approvals. So I gave Daniel the go-ahead.

Being unique

The result is my new Web site, which I launched Nov. 1, 1999. See the home page, above.

You can see it at http://www.janal.com. I think it looks pretty good. What do you think? The pages are very simple, and all feature me ("enough about me, what do you think of me? :) Below is an inside page with two levels of navigation along the top.

Maintaining it yourself

But I wouldn't let Daniel off the hook just yet. We agreed that he would teach me the few things I needed to know to update the site with new content, such as articles, revised schedules and bios, and whatnot.

One of the great benefits of using NetObjects Fusion to design and maintain a site is that it makes it so much easier to update. For example--I can change the name of any section, and all the graphic buttons are updated automatically and instantly. I don't need to go into a graphics program and make them, then replace them on all the pages manually, as you have to do with other programs.

Because Fusion sets graphic text automatically, I can change the graphic page banners at any time, just by typing. No, these don't look like traditional "banners in a box," with Fusion they don't have to--they can just look like elegant text on the page. Even the text at the very top of my pages "Dan Janal: unforgettable Internet marketing," is created by Fusion, and I can change it in an instant, all over the site.

I can even rearrange the site sections, just by dragging them around.

Other programs don't make it as easy to make all these changes.

Now, I have a professionally designed Web site that is unlike any other on the Web, so I stand out from the crowd. And I have the tools I need to update the site so I don't have to shovel cash into a money pit at my designer's studio. We actually both win, since he probably doesn't want to do the drudge work of updating a site anyway.

And one day, probably sooner than I like, the Web will change its design standards once again, and I'll call Daniel to come up with a new look for my site. And he'll design it while I am out giving my speeches and seminars. So I do what I do best, while he does what he does best.

Bespoke design

I call this the "Bespoke" period of Web design, named for the time-honored, English process of hand-tailoring suits based on the customer's individual characteristics and needs. Done right, the suit fits like a glove and lasts a lifetime – or until the waistline needs to be altered.

"Bespoke" has a nice ring to it. After all, a Web site should "be speaking" for you. Only a talented Web designer can do this.

Here are the steps you should follow to turn your Web site into one of a kind:

1. Hire a designer. Ask for references from friends and colleagues. Surf the 'Net. Find sites you like and ask who did them.
2. Decide what your marketing goals are and create a game plan for your Web site to reach those goals. Create a site map or a blueprint that shows the connections between pages.
3. Discuss your ideas with the designers. Do they get the concept? Do they listen to you? Or, are they out to win design awards?
4. Do you get along? Can you see yourself working with this person?
5. Find out how the designer works. Make sure you can maintain the site yourself. Daniel uses NetObjects Fusion, which creates all of the banners and buttons automatically. I don't have to learn and use a graphics program. I don't have to be an HTML wizard. I just make the changes I want and click on Publish and the site is up and running and right. It does make a difference what program the designer users, because some designers can create pages that are extremely difficult to edit and update.
6. Can they deliver on time? What is their time frame? What is on their calendar that could slow up the delivery process? Set target dates for deliverables. Tie payment into those dates.
7. Decide on a budget.
8. Will they make modest changes to the design as part of the agreed upon fee? Will that be an extra charge? Have them spell out what is included and what is not. For example, if you decide it would be cool to create a star burst saying "buy one, get one free," that really is a new work agreement. Don't be surprised if the designer wants more money. But if you decide you want to bump up the size of the headline type, that shouldn't be a problem – if you agree in advance.
9. Will they teach you to update the site? Do you even want to know how? How much will it cost to update the site?

These questions will help you begin your journey to a site that says, "I am an individual. Not a cookie cutter."

If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to hire a professional designer

About the author

Daniel Janal is the author of Online Marketing Handbook and is a popular speaker and consultant who was on the PR team that launched America Online and has consulted with IBM, Reader's Digest, Health4Her.com, and many others. You can reach him at dan@janal.com or visit his Web site at http://www.janal.com.

Illustration: Business concepts by Barton Stabler for Artville