We’re getting ready to launch a new website that’s been many months in the making, and I’m taking a little bit of time in between meetings and quality control, thinking about what a huge undertaking a large scale website rollout really has become.

See, I remember the days when my partner and I would, after meeting with a client, slam out a killer website, including some form of database functionality or eCommerce, sometimes over just a few weeks of late night pizza deliveries to the office. Sure, it was hard work that often went late into the night- but it was fun, and that’s what one’s twenties are for, right?

These days, while a lot of the tools we use to design and develop websites have made our lives much easier on a lower level, the fact is almost every decent sized website rollout has become incredibly complicated and quality websites require a rather large, sustained team effort by both the agency and the client to succeed. It requires more than excellent creative and technical. It requires a true partnership between client and agency.

The work is still a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong. It’s just different.

This particular project was also the first large scale website project I’ve personally been a part of where I didn’t do actual design or development. I did project management, and I was the creative director on the job. It was a huge change for me, but it was absolutely the right decision: Ryan’s design work is stunning, Tyler’s coding was top-notch, and Jeff’s hardcore development skills are outstanding. Tip of the hat to Crystal, too, who kept things humming on the admin side.

The team on the client’s side was also excellent, and I am very proud of our joint efforts. I think we exceeded the client’s expectations, and that’s the name of the game when you’re a digital agency.

Great job, people!

We finished a great little website for a midsize b2b company recently. The work was wonderful. What’s more, the client loved it, too. What’s even better- web traffic went up 20% and online sales went up commensurately with the new design. We were cooking!

So it surprised me when the client stopped paying to support and improve upon the site. Still, it’s their money, and their business… But what really got me was seeing the client completely trash the great design work we did, junking it up with amateurish third rate “improvements” that were very poorly thought out and which made the site harder to use as well as ugly.

I asked our old client contact at the company about it, and he told me that his boss had decided that we cost too much and that nobody cared about great design in a recession, so he was making changes to the website himself. Our contact noted that their traffic had indeed dipped since we were on the account, and that sales had dropped as well.

I shook my head and hung up the phone. But then, a few weeks later I ran into the company president, and asked him about things. He told me he truly didn’t think people cared about good design, and he was convinced that his heroic efforts to ’save’ the website were working. I pointed out that i knew sales had dipped after he took over, and I offered to help at a reduced rate, but he wouldn’t hear it.

It’s now 6 weeks later, and that company is no more. They have folded. Kaput. Gone. I heard from their advertising agency that the president, in his last throes, had tried to take over their ad campaigns, too, trashing months and months of work.

I’m not happy that this company floundered and failed. But I talked about this client and their failure today for a reason- a great website or tv commercial or social media campaign cannot save a sinking ship, but a crappy, poorly thought out effort can certainly hasten your demise. Your digital marketing is your company’s face to the world. It represents you. Yes, even in a recession, good design matters.