Job Descriptions

So what are the key Web Design Skills and Knowledge Requirements?

Learn from Others
One of the most important attributes is the ability to learn from others. The beauty of the web is that in an instant you can have a view of what some of the biggest most successful web based companies in the world have done. Analysis of Amazon.com for example will give you an expert lesson in ecommerce user experience. You can pick up some key points and principles in 5 mins based on millions of dollars worth of research and testing by simply looking in the right places. This whole process is imperative to web design, the ability to learn from others and adapt best practice into your own design and creative process.

Web Design Creativity
Creativity is still hugely important but creativity bounded by some guidelines and best practice. A 100 % flash based animation site is now out of the question however interesting animation to demonstrate a point, display a product in the right way or covey humour could be very effective. Content such as Infographics are very popular online as they condense key information in a fun and engaging format. Therefore, the creation of graphically bountiful, yet informative Infographics would be an example of important and creative web design.

User Experience
Every website and online application needs to be designed with internet users in mind. Typically you need to cater for an audience with varying levels of web know how so ease of use, consistency of navigation and minimum number of clicks are all important elements to web design. Again, this can restrict creativity to an extent but attention spans are short online and you don’t want to lose site visitors who get lost or confused on your site

Accessibility and Search Engine Optimisation
Web Designers should also have a good knowledge of website Accessibility guidelines and design sites which are compliant. Search Engine Optimisation is also important and they must have a solid understanding of what is required from a site design and structural perspective in order to optimise a site for search engine ranking purposes.

Web Analytics sits at the heart of all internet marketing activity. Whilst analysis of website traffic data is a central component of the role, a web analytic pro should also be looking at monitoring, measuring and proactively influencing, improving and adapting all areas of online marketing such as:-

Input into creation of key measurement metrics in line with business objectives. Technically setting up mechanism to measure and report on these metrics

Paid online marketing campaigns: Monitor campaigns, measure effectiveness, find out what works, split test keywords used in campaigns, marketing messages, social campaigns etc and identify best converting and most cost effective ads

Organic SEO measurement – report back on keyword effectiveness. Which keywords are generating traffic but also how is that traffic performing in terms of visitor engagement, conversion to goals etc

Analyse all website behaviour and identify problems in site structure that may be preventing maximum visitor engagement and goal conversions

Analyse email marketing campaigns and proactively work with marketing team to maximise effectiveness of these campaigns according to user engagement, key goal conversions etc.

Use a variety of tools and techniques to analyse Social media presence and activity (and that of competitors). Using appropriate analytics advertising reports, identify tactics which increase engagement, find industry influencers, report on social traffic referral etc