Miniature Pincher/Bishon Frise
Both are dogs but are a breed apart.

Search Engine Specialists/Graphic Web Designers
Both design web sites but they too are a breed apart.

Most web designers take an instant dislike to search engine optimization web usability specialists. Their concentration has been on presenting the most visually attractive and entertaining web site as is possible. Now there is a person telling them that they must use more text and less graphics.

Web usability specialists encourage conformity and the use of conventions. People immediately feel compfortable with a web site if it looks and feels like the majority o web sites they have visited in the past. In his book "Don't Make Me Think", Steve Krug writes:

Designers are often reluctant to take advantage of them (conventions). Faced with the prospect of using a convention , there is a great temptation for the designer to reinvent the wheel instead, largely because they feel (not incorrectly) that they have been hired to do something new and different, and not the same old thing. (Not to mention the fact that praise from peers, awards, and high-profile job offers are rarely based on criteria like "best use of conventions.")

The best approach is through tactful education. In the kickoff meeting for a search engine optimization project, explain how search engines "think". Explain how the aesthetics of the web site do play an important role in search engine optimization by encouraging the visitor to spend more time on the web site. Explain how a knowledge of search engine optimization is a resume builder setting them apart from the crowd. Lastly, make sure that the graphic web designer walks away knowing that both aesthetics and search engine optimization can both be served.

I highly recommend that copies of the books Designing Web Usability and Search Engine Visibility be provided for each web designer giving them a solid background in web usability and search engine optimization. Make every effort to make them accept the project as beneficial to both themselves and the company. Challenge them to produce a web site that is both attractive and search engine friendly.