You are right that there needs to be a greater emphasis on the client having a large impact on the success of their web site.

client and designer must understand each other.client must give all information through proper way.short but sweet.and designer should add his own idea also for a better creativity

I like the phrase: "The unfortunate truth. Remember, the customer is NOT always right!"
It reminds me of the line in the film "A Good Year", saying: "Remember, In France the customer is always wrong!"

Anyway, what you are saying is very often true, but at the same time I believe it is the designer´s responsibility to convince the client of this. Back-up the design choices with research, analysis and user-tests. It shouldn´t be hard to "Stand your ground" as you put it, since the designer should have the experience and education to back him up. This is after-all what the customer is paying for.

Wow.this is a really great post! Very useful advice. Keep up the great work!

Great Post. You have explained very well the roles of clients and designer. This will helpful for both to do work in a good manner

"Recognize that designing a web site is about compromise"
This is the most important thing, sometimes we are forced to compromise the web design because our client has different opinions!! sad :(