What Is A Web Consultant?
Many people simply refer to me as the "web guy." In a way, this is true. Since 2001, I have been paid by companies large and small to help them with their website. However there are many things you can do with your website. Design, programming, content, marketing, hosting, managing web servers, and more.
So, what exactly do I do? I refer to myself as a web consultant. Ultimately, my job is to help clients make their website better. A good website can do okay for your business. But a great website will take your business to a whole new level. A great website gets new customers and builds loyalty to the brand.
In particular, I help clients understand what they need to be doing with their website for their business, in all areas. This includes helping clients:
- Analyze the website's design to improve the way users interact with the website. I also test out new designs to compare the designs with hard numbers. I then help clients find the right designer to work with as I do not do the design.
- Determine what kinds of content they need on their website and, more importantly, figure out how the pages of their website connect to each other. I do not write the content.
- Figure out how the website is structured on the back end. I do sometimes write code though lately I do less of this and more of the strategy.
- Make sure their website follows the best practices for search marketing, though I am not an SEO or marketer.
- Make sure their website has the correct tools installed to measure what their website is doing as well as making sure the client knows how to use these tools. Though I enjoy analyzing data, and work hard to put the data to use for clients, I'm not a statistician.
- Select a correct hosting company for their website. But, I'm not a server engineer so I find people to help clients that require help solving complex server problems.
Why do clients hire me? They hire me because their website is in trouble. Many times, they are getting traffic to the site, but are uncertain why the people coming to the website aren't calling to place orders. In other cases, they are confused about how their website is working or how their website fits into their other sales and marketing work. Other times, they want to start over—take the best of the current website and make something new.
What do I get for clients? For every single client, I have two main goals. First, did I help the client better understand how to manage their website to help their business? Second, did I help the client grow their business? I'm happy when I achieve one of those goals but I'm thrilled when I achieve both.
See what I mean? There is a lot I do, but there is a lot I do not do. Yes, I am a web guy. But what I really am is a web consultant and that means my job is to guide clients through the very involved process of successfully managing their website.