Welcome to our B2BeeMembers series! Today, we want to introduce you to a website designer based in Los Angeles, California and Cape Town, South Africa. He joined B2BeeMatch to offer his professional website design services through his web design agency, AB Designs. Meet Arnaud Brunel!
Arnaud is an experienced web designer who took some time away from the business of hex codes and information architecture to answer our questions about what a website designer does, why WordPress is super important in the world of web design, and why entrepreneurs and small business owners really should hire a website designer instead of going the DIY route. (Psst... it’s because DIY designers make a lot of mistakes!)
You’re a website designer. But what does that mean? What does a website designer do exactly?
Basically, a website designer is a creative professional who designs websites. This is totally different from being a back-end developer or coder. Without any coding or with only a little bit of coding, a website designer strives to create something as original as possible while still catering to the client and the user. Because I want to build beautiful websites that work for my clients, I consider both the UI (user interface design) and the UX (user experience design). I will get creative—to a certain point. But I won’t compromise the functionalities of the website and how the website aligns with the client’s business model.
That’s a great explanation! Can you tell us what got you started in website design?
I was always very tech-savvy. When I started another company a few years ago, I paid an agency to do my website. But, as I am very specific and pay attention to detail, I ended up amending my own website and learning how to use and master the website design tools. I really enjoyed the experience of creating my own website. So I made another website—this time for my wife. Then I took a few short courses to fill in my knowledge gaps. I know how to build businesses (I was in the corporate world for many years), and I love how I can create a website and tailor its functionalities to a client’s specific business, business model, and long-term business strategy.
You usually use WordPress to design websites for your clients. Can you tell us why?
The real deal with WordPress is that it has been around for sooooooo long! WordPress is used by many big businesses and WordPress powers approximately 39% of websites globally. Because it’s been around for so long, many third-party developers have developed multiple plug-ins and add-ons for WordPress—the possibilities are infinite. It’s endlessly customizable. I mean, whatever I need, if I need a plug-in or add-on, I will probably end up finding it, and it will probably have some juicy additional features. If I don’t find the plug-in or add-on I need, then it’s probably not available on other platforms. But with WordPress, I can easily have a developer write something for me and create a custom plug-in or add-on tailored for my use.
With all the DIY options for website design, why should small business owners hire you? What value does a website designer bring to an entrepreneur?
Most small business owners are small business owners—they’re not tech-savvy. I mean, I see so many common mistakes on websites built on DIY website design platforms: inconsistencies in fonts, colours, styles, and spacing, obvious stock photos, no CTAs, broken links, broken images, underperforming websites, websites that are unresponsive on mobile devices, and so much more. Now, the reason you pay a professional website designer is to get the job done well and fast. Time is the commodity here. A small business owner could do it themselves, but they could end up wasting time that could have been better used elsewhere in their business—it’s a simple matter of resource allocation.
The value I bring is my experience, expertise, and the ability to deliver a quality product in the shortest time with after-sales support and website maintenance. This is what the business world is about today: do what you do best and outsource the rest. If an entrepreneur goes to a professional website designer, it will cost less time and money, and the entrepreneur will get a better result.