This post isn’t likely to make me any friends from my colleagues in the Web Design community but as they say…”sometimes, the truth hurts.”

Generally, the problem is that the “left hand” has no idea what the “right hand” is doing. The end result is that important details involving your site are left undone. In this case, the left hand represents the website designer, and the right hand represents you, the client.

Most client’s naturally assume that their website designer will be optimizing their website for the search engines. Most web designers’ assume that the client will hire an SEO specialist to handle optimizing the site.

See where this is going?

The website design has been completed and the site goes live. The client reviews the work, marvels at the beauty, and makes the final payment. The problem is that the site has not been Search Engine Optimized at all and the client is completely unaware of this fact.

I’ve seen sites that have been live for years that still have “meta titles” that read, “Untitled Document.” This is a sure sign that no SEO work has even been done and the site’s poor traffic rankings usually are a result.

Now, I’m not blaming my fellow web designers because I don’t think it’s mandatory that they SEO the sites they build in the first place. I do, however, believe that they should communicate that fact with their clients. Some web designers perform basic SEO to the sites they are building and some outsource the work to a SEO Consultant.

Regardless of what is done in terms of SEO, make sure you talk to your web designer to see what, if any, SEO services are included with the site. This way, you will understand what it is you’re paying for and will know to look for a SEO Consultant if that work isn’t being performed.