That’s a question that I’m not sure how concisely I can answer, but I’m going to endeavor to do just that.
On the surface, most people agree, minimally, you should have three pages, which would be Home, About, and Contact. If you’re selling things maybe you also have a Products page. If you’re selling a lot perhaps you have several product pages. If you’re a creative person, perhaps you have portfolio page, showing off your painting or sculpting, but really that’s about it, right?
Well not exactly, no.
To say my wife is an amazing cook is something of an understatement. And when she puts a meal on the table, all of the essentials are there. The roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, the gravy (which can never be forgotten!)dinner rolls, the whole works. And if you know my wife, you know there’s probably dessert on the counter for after the meal.
And it all looks pretty straightforward really. She makes it look quite simple. But what you don’t see on the table, and what you don’t see when you look at many websites, is the unnumbered hours of preparation that went into it. The cutting, chopping, mixing, stirring, baking, of not just one thing but many different parts.
Websites have similar properties. What you see when you go to a website is the “tip of the iceberg” if I can use that analogy. Behind that front page there is a lot going on that’s keeping your website safe, and free from spam, and a whole host of other malicious things that happen behind closed doors on the internet.
And beyond that, there are things like Search Engine Optimization or SEO, which in itself is very nearly an art form (or some sort of witchcraft depending on how you look at it). There are entire companies, and not small ones, that make their living off of SEO and don’t build a single website.
So when you ask me what goes into a website, I’ll tell you that a web designer is part copywriter, part graphic artist, part server administrator, part SEO wizard, part domain registrar, and part presentation specialist. That list isn’t comprehensive by the way.
So if you get a bill from your web designer, before you think you need to switch companies or find a different solution, consider all the prep that went into putting the last fine meal you ate on the table and all that had to happen so you could enjoy that meal for half an hour, and consider the value in what you’re eating (or seeing, if you’re looking at a website. 😊)