Writing a Critical Analysis
Article Title: Selecting a Web designer by Simon Griffiths
Introduction
The article is titled “How selecting a web designer” by Simon Griffiths. The author presents answers to several concerns that business owners have in regard to effectively getting their businesses online through development of websites.
The Author
The credibility of the article stems from the credentials of its author. Simon Griffiths is a web developer based in Brisbane, Australia. As of the time he wrote this article Griffiths had been running his business called webxopt for a period of three years. His business concentrates on getting business websites to work and deliver a Return on Investment (ROI) to business owners. His work includes not only designing the websites but also optimizing their usability, enhancing website backend systems, analytics, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), copywriting among other functionalities. In this article the author presents the factors business people should consider when hiring web developers in order to enhance their businesses and gain an edge over their competitors.
Critical Article analysis
The article advises business people to clearly establish the aim of setting up a website. Some of the reasons fronted include improving brand loyalty, selling products online among other functions. Griffiths advises business people to study the sites of their competitors. This is critical in helping them identify weaknesses and therefore avoid getting into the same pitfalls. Creating a website using hindsight gathered from one’s competitors helps the business person issue specific demands to the web developer. Though the article presents this crucial advice, it does not give examples of the deliverables that business people should look for in a website. Small specific deliverables such as ease of navigation, appealing theme colors, presence of appropriate links in a website, among others are some of the issues that business people should look for as they study the websites of their competitors.
The author also stresses on the need for business people to hire competent web designers. He cautions against technicians who have never run businesses, whose creativity is unproven. Moreover, a person looking for a web developer should avoid developers who use complex technology jargon without being able to explain the terms in simpler and understandable ways. At a time when colleges are churning out thousands of graduates in Information Technology, the threat of unqualified and incompetent web developers looms large. This article is therefore timely to warn business people against such.
In addition, the business person should be wary of web developers who boast of great success stories. This is because most of these stories are usually exaggerated. The article goes on to explain that business people should not expect to put up a website and have instant returns, “Don’t expect to put an online selling web site in place and to sit back and have the sales pour in – there is a little more to it than that!” (Griffiths, 2001). While this advice sounds credible, the author does not give tentative periods within which to expect ROI. Moreover, the article does not expound on some basic ways a business owner can evaluate the performance of their website. Some of these ways include the number of site visits recorded, the ability of the website to handle additional pages, the ease or speed with which the website opens and one is able to browse and navigate the site.
The article also comes in handy to help business people select web developers based on concrete facts on the size of the websites they have created in their careers. According to Griffiths (2001) small websites average 3 pages or less, medium sites average 5-30 pages while huge websites have 100 or more pages. Since website content is rated in terms of pages, this advice is vital in helping business people select appropriate web developers.
Most importantly, the article urges on the need for business people to select web developers who will increase the profitability of their enterprises. Good web developers focus on the future and are thus open to changes in technology. Technology is highly dynamic and therefore it is imperative for web developers to develop websites that can are adaptable to changes in technology. One way the web developers can do this is by using advanced programming and web development languages. In line with this, business people should quiz web developers about web hosting. This is crucial in establishing the future of the website should there be changes in content, pricing, security and legal status of the involved companies among others.
The article proves to be more useful to business people by emphasizing on the need to consider the audience constraints prior to developing a website. Some developers neglect aspects such as the internet connectivity of audiences when developing websites. It is imperative that the web developer develops simple sites that are accessible by people in areas with poor internet connectivity.
As highlighted in the article, the focus when developing websites should be on the audience. As such, business people should be wary of web developers who are fond of overusing features such as sounds, videos, images and so on. In particular, the article mentions plug-ins as software packages that must be downloaded and compel the need for newer web browsers. These demands could limit the usability of the website to one’s target audience. The author poses a question that both business people and web developers should ask themselves, “Is this going to help promote my business and help my clients?” (Griffiths, 2001). Business people should select web developers who go for simple, effective, secure and cost-effective websites. The author gives amazon.com as a perfect example of a website that is highly successful due to focusing on the ease of use.
Interestingly, the author advises business people to use references based on word of mouth when choosing web designers. He urges business people to try and discover a web developer’s skills by what other people say about that developer. This is true because reliance on other sources in selecting a web designer could prove very costly and ineffective. When a business person receives advice on a good web developer from a friend, they are able to gain more information on the qualifications of the developer, sample some of his/her works and a close, mutually beneficial working relationship could stem out referrals.
In order to gain trust in a given developer, a business person should look at the developer’s own website. The author advises business people to avoid web developers who own terrible websites and try to hide under the guise of being too busy to improve their own. Instead the author advises business people to go for web developers who exhibit a combination of excellent content development, programming ability, graphic skills and knowledge of how the web works.
According to Griffiths (2001), the key to a good website is the ease of navigation and the readability of the site’s content. Moreover, the web developer should show evidence of developing unique websites that promise to pull audiences to the site. By spending time studying the sites of successful companies such as McDonalds, the business person will get acquainted with what a good website looks like and therefore make him/her know what to demand from the web developer.
Conclusion
This article presents a comprehensive combination of factors that business people should look for when choosing a web developer. In a simple and clear language the article bears advice that transcends the boundaries of time in an industry that is highly dynamic - technology.
Reference
Griffiths, S. (2001) Selecting a Web designer. Technology Solutions Retrieved 6 Jan 2013 from http://www.techs.co.nz/downloads/selecting_a_web_designer.pdf
