There are many ways to build a website. However, the question is, what is the website for. I have had many customers contact me wanting an estimate on their new website. However, most don’t have a clue as to what they are looking for. While some of them do have a clue of what they want, most just simply want a website with their company name on it. They don’t care how it looks and they don’t care who builds it. As long as they can go to www.blahblahblah.com, they are partial satisfied.
I have come across many websites that are just terrible in design, but the owner is satisfied because it works. They don’t care about what it looks like or how their readers view it, they just love the fact that they can place a website address on their business card. 
What’s the issue? The issue is that every website has a purpose. That purpose can be to gain new customers, to satisfy old ones, to provide information or to sell products. The question in making sure that you have a good website is what does your website do for your readers. Forget about what you want and think about the customer. They are the ones that you are trying to connect with. If your customers don’t like it, they wont visit it again or do business with you.
A website is like a resume. If you put your resume together distorted, with old photos and information and it has no structure, there is a guarantee that you aren’t going to land that dream job. However, if your resume is put together professionally and well structured with relevant current information, you have a much greater chance of being looked at for the position. Your resume isn’t about what you want within it, it’s about what the employer wants. Your goal is to satisfy them.
How do you find out what your customers want? You simply ask them. Do some user testing to see what your customers think of your website. Don’t ask your family or friends, but ask a new customer or a potential customer. You could even ask a stranger at the coffee shop. Ask them to be honest and don’t worry about your feelings. If you wanted to, you could even give them a list of questions to answer or let them rank the site.
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Dr. Elijah Clark (November 17, 2014). How does your website look? Really? [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://elijahclark.com/how-does-your-website-look-really/
