From time to time, I go on CraigsList to see what's going on in the industry (i.e., what specific web design services businesses are looking for, what applications heads of IT are looking to build, what web design companies are hiring for, etc.).
Needless to say, I get a great view of where the industry (at least here in Miami) is headed. Lately, I've noticed a trend... and not a good one.More and more people are designing sites using what I call, straight CSS. Straight CSS is a site that strictly utilizes CSS stylesheets to define all graphical and style elements. You can easily spot these by printing the page. On paper, you'll notice all the design elements have been removed and you're looking at headings and copy in basic, unstylized fonts with little to no graphics.Typically, these sites are visually appealing — unless of course you print them out, which I do whenever I see an interesting article I want to read offline or share with a colleague — and offer the benefits of a quick redesign (assuming the designer is a CSS zealot) and mass replication without looking mass-replicated.Here's where everything goes horribly wrong
Most websites won't benefit from the ability to redesign a complete website in 10 minutes. If you're building a site with thoughts of a redesign, you need to step back and question the direction your business is going.So who benefits? The web designer working on a draft of the final layout and design does. Imagine being a designer and being able to quickly go through five different designs on a single phone call... but how does this help you, the client?Anyone who's learned anything about search ranking can tell you that replicated content will not rank well. Google indexes at a minimum, millions of pages each and every day. When your strategy is to get all your sites' pages indexed, it isn't advisable to break Google's golden rule: Do not spam Google's search engine.Although every project is unique and has it's own set of requirements, most people can get a stunning website that is scalable AND optimized for the search engines without sacrificing themselves to Straight CSS. The answer is CSS in moderation, not fanatical CSS'ing.Don't take my word, this is how Google sees it
Yes, search engine spiders disregard design and notice only content. In theory, this would mean they see the copy the way you would when you print the Straight CSS page, right? Wrong.What you see is a cleaned up version. What "spiders" see is tons of coded instructions and typically indistinguishable flash. These coded instructions dilute the real content and actually hurt your chances of ranking well. The following is the copy Google's spider initially "saw" when it reviewed a Straight CSS site an SEO consultant was recently optimizing:   1. font   2. align   3. color   4. face   5. size   6. georgia   7. etc....I could go on, but you get the point. This is prime real estate to display relevant keywords. Smart web design goes beyond merely looking great. It is a marriage of form and function.Here's the deal...
Good design sells and good design means thinking beyond the look. If you're in need of a new website or a redesign of an existing one, you should be thinking about your overall strategy. What [specifically] is it that you want to accomplish with your website, how does it relate to the way your business makes money and most importantly, don't just take what your designer is offering. After all, you're paying for it so get it done right!