Many new companies start out in business with big ideas and little funding. Costs simply must be kept to a minimum, but not at the expense of critical marketing materials such as business cards, local advertising and networking. Most companies, when it comes to the crunch, will hire professional marketing and design companies to create their stationary, magazine adverts and so forth, but too many take a DIY approach to their web presence.
There are many reasons for this – the expense involved, or the lack of trust in companies providing web services, or simply the fundamental lack of knowledge needed to succeed in this area.

There is a certain amount of stigma attached to the web design industry, with foreign suppliers charging very little and delivering even less, bedroom designers doing projects for free and an all manner of so-called web design agencies producing incredibly poor work. The REAL designers have a fight on their hands.

Without sounding pretentious, there is more to good web design than how the site looks. Because the average business owner does not know this, the wool is being pulled over their eyes. To be worthy to carry the title “web designer”, you need to have the following points checked off:

• You need to understand marketing; how your user connects to the piece and ultimately what you want to gain from their presence on your website. With this knowledge, you guide your client through the mine-field and add true value to the expense in hiring you.
• You need to have a strong understanding of technical design. Your website pages should conform to W3C standards wherever possible, and utilise CSS/XHTML over traditional table-based layout.
• You should understand usability issues. Understanding how people use your website will enable you to manipulate their journey and guide them towards a goal.
• Your website should be tested across various browsers and work in each of them. You cannot afford to shut off a percentage of your audience due to lazy or sloppy coding practices.

If all web designers adhered to these practices, web design would be of much more value. Results would be improved and clients would be happier; happy enough to employ professionals and not take the DIY route.