Web Design vs Internet Marketing

Are some designers too concerned with design and not enough with marketing?

[sunnyland]

Good site design helps with conversions and sales but the real magic is getting people to the site in the first place.

Some designers are very good at web design and have great skill in that area. Yet know nothing about internet marketing. And if you were to work with them to create a new site, they would think that a good web designer is equal in value to a good internet marketer.

My contention is that a very good web designer is easier to find than someone who is very good at internet marketing. A good web designer can create an aesthetically pleasing, functional site that makes no money. But a good marketer can take almost any site and make money with it.

[hannamyluv]

Of course that is true, the problem is convincing Joe Business owner that a usable site is better than a pretty site.

[henry0]

Can we for once forget about major SE and focus on how Joe business owner can help himself in marketing its web (actually what shall we suggest)
The usual:
Add address on stationary
Have a few plastic tents on front desks and other public areas
Be sure that TV, radio ads and paper ads mention it
Same with bags, wrapping paper
Mobil fleet
Phone "soothing message"!

And .. any input?

[WebStart]

If you are an Internet only retailer, marketing is first. You can have the greatest looking site on the Internet, one that is appealing and easy to use, but if it is not visible on Google or Y!, you are not there. Period. You can buy that visibility via PPCs, though that can be rather expensive if it is your only way to get visibility. But it's much much better to have a top listing on Google and Yahoo, and be a piece of crap as a website, than to be the web design star and not show up on either of those two until bottom of page 2 or even worse, succeeding pages.

[ControlEngineer]

Good design is primarily a mater of good usability. A pretty site--or a creative site--is part of design but less important.

Web design is part of web marketing. If the site is to sell something, marketing is important. But for some very important sites, sales and marketing are not the purpose

For example, a few years ago I had a small part in the design (usability analysis) of a site that was to provide detailed information for field service people if all else failed and they couldn't get some equipment working with other information (it would send the question to a text pager of an expert repair person). The fewer hits the better. The company will be happy when there are no hits, meaning that the field service people are able to handle the work with out the special help (its now a couple of hits a week). However, good design was critical, and much was spent on design and testing.

So it all depends upon what is needed. Is the site for sales? Do the buyers come to the site just to enter an order (refills of stuff they regularly buy) or does the site have to persuade the customer to buy?

Like about everything... it depends.

[rcjordan]

>Good design is primarily a matter of good usability.
>So it all depends upon what is needed.

I'd merge the two, sorta;

Good design is primarily a matter of the intent of the site.

Sometimes, usability and salesmanship can be at odds.

[tomda]

Add address on stationary
Have a few plastic tents on front desks and other public areas
Be sure that TV, radio ads and paper ads mention it
Same with bags, wrapping paper
Mobil fleet
Phone "soothing message"!
And .. any input?

- Add address on your car (on the spare plastic cover).
- Be a freak and do odd/stupid things (like opening the first cemetery for CPU, typing with your nose, or hanging your car in a tree - with the ads on it, that clever), you are sure to be mentioned in the Guiness book of records and therefore have a 5 seconds spots at the end of the evening local news if not national news.

Well, seriously, spend AT LEAST 30% of your time and 30 % of your budget on marketing.

Always give a little more to your customer (free gifts such as pens, bags if possible) and be funny - this reminds me of a German websites selling socks : funny, friendly and nice. Always tell nice stories about your product and name (how you are ecofriendly for example)