Website Wizardry (WAW)

For this week’s Write Anything Wednesday, I thought I’d talk about the work behind the scenes…on websites. Sometimes, I a website like the Art Encyclopedia and think, “Even with my limited coding experience, I would like to try my hand at improving the look of it.”

It’s a very simple design that serves its purpose.

But the truth is there is so much work that goes behind it. (That’s an excellent referencing website by the way. I would recommend it for art students.)

This week has been pretty busy for me and I am reminded of a post from the Vivid Concepts website. I had commented on that post weeks ago but lost the link. Fortunately, I was able to find it after going to The Bloggers Meetup site and seeing another Vivid Concepts webpage. You guys are awesome! And LOL at the comment from tmisseghers.

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What the Post Was About

Now, the name of the post in question is “5 jobs in 1 (or more).” IdyaGurl (Idea Girl shared part of an ad for a graphic designer position. However, the ad was jam-packed with so many qualifications and proficiencies one would expect the person who was hired to have an ulcer within a week.

The job description was unbelievable. Not only was the designer required to have advertising, public relations, and social media skills, this prospective employee was expected to have basic HTML knowledge and blogging experience. Here is a list of skills included in the ad:

• Adversiting/Public Relations
• E-marketing skills
• Event planning
• Photography
• Marketing
• Graphic Design
• Blogging
• Social Media Management
• Knowledge of HTML
• Content Management Systems
• Project Management

That’s crazy, right? Even though all that was listed as “Desired Skills and Experience,” it was pretty much understood that an applicant was expected to have those qualifications.

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Why the Ad Was Crazy

I wondered if the person who wrote that knew exactly what a graphic designer did. Now, I wonder whether the CEO or someone in the HR Department wrote that up. There are often disconnects between what those in HR departments and hiring agencies write and how an actual company boss or supervisor would describe a position they’re familiar with.

Let it be known that the description called for one person to do the job or multiple people. While a graphic designer might study things like advertising and web design, that person might not be entirely proficient in all those fields. I know from experience.

Depending on what that job entailed, any blogging required might have been extreme. I wonder how many words would be required for each post and how many other people would be involved. And I was surprised that web copywriting wasn’t included, too.

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What I Know Now

Has anyone reading this post ever had any experience with copywriting?  Have you worked as an editor for a printing publication or on a website?

Either way, that is one difficult job! Whether you are “talking” in your own voice or trying to convey another person’s voice, there is so much work that goes into it. Being an editor is hard enough because you have to look over so much copy from different people, check for errors, offer solutions, and try to unify it to fit one voice.

Now, I can write over 2,000 words easily if you give me some time to think and get comfortable and I know what to say. That is a challenge if writing for someone else.

And don’t get me started on web copywriting. That’s different from blogging and it can be far more difficult.

Or have you worked on developing a website? That is extremely difficult, based on how you want it to look and function. You would have to create wireframes in order to figure out where everything would sit and make different wireframes for different pages. You would also need to know which plugins to use and how to use them. Without the proper knowledge and training, those things look foreign to me. And first and foremost, you would have to know about coding.

You know what happens when you roll over text or buttons online? That is Javascript (with some CSS). Javascript can be placed on a page (an HTML file) with the aid of webpage-editing software (like Dreamweaver) or do it manually. That is but one secret behind web wizardry.

It’s difficult for many of us to wrap our heads around some of the coding on WordPress for free sites! Just imagine the amount of hard work that goes on to build a site from scratch…or to improve the usability and appearance of an established one.

The job of a graphic designer differentiates from that of a web designer. A graphic designer would create images and logos for the website. They might even If you can do both, you’re a witch! Just kidding, but I hate you. I’m jealous. It really is two jobs in one.

Depending on what you do, you might need TEAMS of people to help you build your website or make gradual changes, also with some outside help. On top of that, the web writers and developers would also need to know about search engine optimization (SEO).

What’s more is that you would need different people to work on promoting your company. These are all different disciplines.

Have I lost you? Sorry about that. I just wanted to say how awesome I think people who work on websites are. Hats off to you guys. That is all.