Preface

Sometimes I feel like Bill Murray in the film Groundhog Day, doomed to endlessly repeat the same day. I find myself having the same conversations with website owners over and over again and encountering the same frustrating stories.

I’ve been designing websites since 1994 and have worked with hundreds of website owners. The majority of these clients share a similar story. They are marketers, project managers, business owners, and IT specialists who have for one reason or another found themselves responsible for their organization’s website. They often have little or no experience with the web and so turn to an outside agency or freelancer for help.

Unfortunately, their experience of working with these contractors is often far from satisfactory. They’re made to feel stupid, are overwhelmed with technobabble, and are asked to make significant decisions about their web strategy with next to no information. By the time I meet them, they’re usually demoralized and cynical.

I wrote this book in an attempt to stop this cycle of failure. In many ways, it’s a continuation of the work I’ve been doing for some time.

I enable website owners to take control of their sites. I do this by helping them understand their role, the key ingredients of a successful website, and how to work effectively with web designers.