It is important to have an effective help system as this determines the quality of the website as a whole. Even if a website has good content in it but offers a help system that is badly designed, it cannot be user-friendly.

Help systems are those sources that you can find under may different terms, such as the “FAQ,” “Support,” “Knowledgebase” to name a few, and that provide help and assistance to your readers. These help systems must be easily accessible on the websites so that readers can locate them immediately when browsing through the site. It is important to create these help systems effectively as they need to serve a specific purpose and these are the last places readers will go to before leaving your website. If these areas cannot provide help then you have lost a potential customer.

Unfortunately, many web designers underestimate the importance of these help systems, due to the lack of perception they grant to these areas. Most web designers do not give enough attention to help systems as they consider other areas more important for the promotion of the website. It is important to make these systems available right from the home page and not place them on separate help section areas. It is important that users can easily find these and do not have to waste time browsing through the various pages of the website.

You can add contact information and operating hours on the footer of a home page, as it will provide basic information without the need of looking for it on another page of the website. Contact information is also part of the help system of a website.

A FAQ page of a website is where users can find the most frequently asked questions that provide useful information for any question they may have in mind. This type of help system provides brief guidelines that can lead to a more vast help system page.

The terms Help and Support are good keywords to integrate, as users will be immediately attracted to these. “Help” can designate a link towards more help pages, that can in turn be divided into subcategories and sections such as “How to Use,” “How to Buy,” or again “FAQ.”

Most of these help system pages, even though they present different features should have common characteristics if they are to be effective. Use attractive features, such as bold text and bullets and stick to short paragraphs. Keep the descriptions short and to the point, so that each subject can be browsed through quickly. Most users who end up on help pages are looking for information and can be puzzled. If they read long descriptive content, they will no doubt give up before they start.

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However, demanding this may be well worth adding to your professional experience, but you should also ask yourself whether or not to be frank with your client and admit this is new for you.

The best way to undertake this new experience is to fully understand what elements are involved and where to find help. Look through books, tutorials, blogs or in any medium that can help you get a general idea about what the work involves. Once you have found out the basics, you can decide whether you are up to the task.

If you decide to take on a new project that involves new concept you had never tackled before, this has to work to your advantage as a professional. Will this new experience open up new possibilities for the future, and more importantly does it interest you? New concepts should be carefully evaluated in the long term.

It takes time and effort to learn new methods and applications, so you have to decide if you have the time and can take on the extra work. You must also consider that any new skill needs to be kept up-to-date constantly, which also takes up time.

You should really consider whether this new skill is coherent to your current work and if it will help you in future projects. There are certain new applications including those for mobile web designing, which have good possibilities for the future and are worth considering. Others which will be obsolete in a few years are certainly not worth spending time and effort on. Basically, if the new skill you are going to learn does not make you professionally marketable then there is no sense wasting your time.

Try and get a clear picture on where this new skill will be leading you to and decide if this is where you want to go. After all, you are the person who will be working and it is important you like what you are doing.

You can also ask for help and contact another freelancer who has experience in the field. He or she can help you and lead you through the initial process. All the advice you can get, is worth the investment, as it will eliminate the stress of not being sure if you are doing things right.

Be honest with your client. If you lack experience, you can simply tell your client that you can accept the project, but that you will need time to work on it to achieve the best possible results. People appreciate honesty and are more likely to award you with the project because they are sure you will be making a big effort to please, which is sure to lead successful results.

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Explaining to the Client their Errors
The most important thing is to be confident about your work.  This will make things go easier and keep the client from disagreeing with you. Of course, this does not guarantee that you will have success. You need to ‘diplomatically’ make the client know that you are not their unconditional servant.

Your Past Projects
It is, sometimes, not enough to remind the client about your qualifications.  Sometimes, you need to bring up to the client what projects or elements of your past projects that have worked in their past.

It is their idea
Somewhat more difficult, is to make them think that it was their idea to keep the current design. Show them that this is the best design and reflects what they originally wanted.  This works in some cases. The key is making sure you ask a plethora of questions before you get too far in the process. You can say to them, ’remember you said _______?’

Don’t Put up Your Guard
Being too defensive can be counter-productive, Keep calm and have a professional demeanor.

Don’t Challenge Them
Don’t create a situation where it appears that you are calling their judgment into question. It has to appear that you are working for their best interest.

Talk Business, Not Style
Yes, design is important. But, if you seem stuck on design and not making theme money or how it helps their business to be more efficient, then you have lost them.

Never Be Dismissive
The client needs to feel that you are listening to their ideas. If they feel that they are being ignored then you will have a tough time when you want to get a resolution to some of the issues that they have.

Don’t Talk Down to Them
Don’t come across as you are superior to them. You do need to explain things and how it will help them with their goals.  Explain the why your certain tasks in a particular manner.

Consider A Different Perspective
Your clients may be interested in one thing—money. They are not in this for charity. They need to make a living too. Be creative and try to view these differences.
Contractual Clauses
Hopefully, you and your client signed a contract. It is not a prudent decision to start a project without a contract and most designers do prepare and sign a contract.  Make sure that you write a clause, which states that all design decisions are ultimately yours.

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