As a web designer, it is my job to advise clients on what I believe will help them convert traffic into sales. Most people do not understand the fundamentals of web design and most have no reason to. It is very easy to get caught with a client who is extremely opinionated about what he/she wants the website to look like and forget about the big picture. These instances are perfectly understandable and common and it is my job to advise them on the best course of action and explain why.
Some clients on the other hand know a lot more than given credit for.
I recently had a web design project at the company I work for. It was a large project, consisting of a CMS, shopping cart and decent SEO campaign. I knew this client was on the ball as he had multiple online endeavors and was succeeding in most of them. I had sent off my initial homepage mock up, with three call to actions. I received the feedback via email and the client loved the design overall, with one change, he requested 5 call to actions on the homepage.
The email I received was quite thorough and was obvious that there was substantial thought put into these 5 buttons. I strongly disagreed with having 5 different directions to lead the visitor and I put together an email outlining my concerns. I then followed up with a phone call further explaining my email. The client pushed me to give in but I made my case quite strong and told him that ultimately, it was his choice, but advised against it. The client informed me he would think about it and get back to me, then hung up.
Moments later my boss received an email from the client praising that I am, “on top of my game” and that he was just testing me to see if I was looking into his best interests and not just doing whatever he says to do.