Everything I've ever written about.

Write More Like You Talk

Try writing a bit more like the way you talk. For most people this actually takes some practice. Most of us have had it DRILLED into us since our youth to write in a much more formal way than we actually talk. We think that sounds more ‘professional’ and ‘credible’. But what that often leads to is a very formal delivery that is nowhere near as engaging as if we were having a regular conversation. One way many of us […]

Are you kidding me?

This is what I say when I dig in on the pages of ninety percent of the client sites I visit. Spelling mistakes. Punctuation errors. Basic problems with syntax that your fifth grade English teacher would have a conniption over. Look, I understand why these so often happen. For most of us, fixing these types of errors seem somehow ‘beneath us’–especially in the age of auto-correction and Texting and Twitter where it’s all good so long as the other person […]

You Need A Video

Most sites need at least one video, typically an introduction that describes who you are and what you do. There are several good marketing reasons to do this, involving a ‘human touch’. But one less-appreciated idea is this: search engines like videos. (Google especially likes Youtube videos–since Google owns Youtube.) What do I mean by ‘search engines like videos’? If you look at a typical Search Results page, you’ll notice that videos now tend to rank at the top. The […]

Why should I care that you document your work properly?

Every once in a while a client (usually someone who is in marketing) will wonder why I bother to say ‘I document my work properly’ on my home page and in videos. They think it’s a minor detail; that it’s just not something clients will care about. But that’s exactly my point! I put that sentence front and center because it is an important benefit to the work we do here. And I’ve noticed that most clients need to be […]

What is your logo message?

When thinking about the right logo, as with all marketing, the first step is to know your audience and know the message they need to hear. Now for many owners a logo may have real personal meaning–a bit like a family herald. Often that is a great thing. But sometimes, the message that gets you up in the morning; the image that motivates you to do what you do with such pride is not necessarily the primary message your clients […]

Two Sites

I’m a big believer in what I call ‘practical design’. And to give new clients an idea of what I mean by this, I will often mention two web sites. The first is Amazon.com (which is considered by many to be the gold-standard of practical web site design.) If you were to take a look at Amazon.com about once a month you’d see that it is always changing in a very slow way; kind of like how people change as […]

SEO Sticker Shock

One of the human challenges developers run into when designing budget web sites… and Lord knows I’ve tried to avoid this… is what I call ‘SEO Sticker Shock’. The client typically approaches me to do a new web site with the primary goal being to update the look. But as a secondary goal they also want the site to rank better with search engines. This second goal is not an unreasonable request. But where it gets tricky is when the […]

New Isn’t Always Better

There is a tendency for all businesses to want to ‘refresh’ their web sites periodically. I get this. Every ad campaign needs periodic updating and let’s face it, for most of you your web site is your single biggest ad campaign. But what’s frustrating me recently is a new wave of ‘updates’ that are actually less user-friendly. For example, have you taken a recent look at the NetFlix web site? It now has a re-design that is seriously frustrating. Yes, […]

Why logos matter so much?

Face it, we’re creatures of first impressions. A logo hits people right down at the lizard brain. So it has to say what you are about at the most primal level. Now there is a lot to be said about what makes a good logo, or more to the point, what makes a good logo for you. But to get started remember that vision is one of our most basic senses. It developed long before language. So we respond to […]

What Is Your Background?

I began my career as a software engineer more than twenty five years ago. I wrote mission-critical applications in accounting, inventory control and payroll for Fortune 500 companies. I quickly started seeing the importance of writing good documentation and I came to the conclusion that the best program is one that doesn’t need documentation! I got hooked on how best to make programs that people enjoy using and that don’t need a lot of ‘explaining’. And that led me into […]

Self-Promotion

I used to tell people that a web-based business was like farming. Unfortunately, people took that to mean that, after a hectic period of building the site (planting), you basically just waited around for the orders to come in. But what I meant was that a web site is like… FARMING. 😀 Anyone who has done any real farming knows that you have to work at it every day in order to get any kind of harvest. Web sites are […]

SEO Included ‘Free’ With Your Hosting Account!

Many hosting services now include all sorts of ‘free’ or very low cost add-on services, such as mail, ‘web-site builders’, ‘SEO’ or ‘visibility improvements!’. Despite the ever-present risk of appearing self-serving most of these do not provide good value, especially the ‘SEO services.’ As I’ve explained before, there are two basic flavours of organic search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM): on-page and off-page. And I’ve tried and tried to get clients to understand that on-page SEO/SEM is […]

Great Ingredients

My cousin is a fine dining chef and he once told me something I’ll never forget. “I’d rather spend 80% of my budget on ingredients and 20% on tools. In fact, I’d rather using a hand mixer all day if that’s what it took for me to get decent meat, veg and spices.” Like I always say, I want you to have the same quality web site as the big boys. The only way to do that is to do […]

Content. Privacy. Nosy Questions.

I routinely work on sites where there is lots of ‘stuff’ my clients aren’t even aware of. Maybe it was left from a previous employee. Maybe it was put there for some ‘temporary’ purpose and then forgotten about. Occasionally, it’s even junk deposited by some malware. So one of the first things I do when I start work on a site is take a mental inventory and if I see anything that looks unrelated to the site’s goal, I’ll ask […]

Four Types Of Web Sites

Every site is an individual, of course. But the truth is this: your web site almost certainly focuses on one or more of the following: credibility, information, transactions and advertising. Credibility: I put this first because that’s the primary driver for many of you to have a site. I often use the phrase ‘business card’ for this. When people look at the web site it creates an immediately positive impression which makes people want to contact you—just like a classic, […]

Before. After.

I recently re-did the site theme, which I mentioned in the September 2013 newsletter.

As I said in the article, “if I don’t keep my site fresh, how can I recommend that you do the same?” Here is a discussion of why I did this, how I did it, and how such changes can benefit you.

Should I Build My Site With WordPress?

WordPress® is the largest web site platform on the planet. It is used for sites of every size, from one page to very large commercial entities. The basic package is free, it’s easy to install and works well. So why not use it for everything? The answer: it’s not always the right tool. But it’s not right for every site. Part of my job is helping select the proper site for you that provides the best value for money. In […]

How Much Does It Cost?

How much do you have? 😀 Actually, my reply to this question is usually ‘How much do you want to spend?’ Within reason, any decent designer can fit a site to a given budget. As you pare down the price, you have to omit features and dial back expectations, but often that isn’t a bad thing. Unfortunately, often people have unrealistic expectations. In short, in my not altogether unbiased opinion, I offer the best balance you will find between great […]

Why Shouldn’t I Just Get Some Site For $399?

It depends on what you want the site to do. Many of these ‘site builders’ allow one to make an extremely pretty looking site for next to nothing. They are extremely ‘cookie-cutter’–which is fine for many people. Most all of them seem best suited to a ‘business card site’ design. However here are some hard truths: They offer absolutely terrible search engine results (SEO). No matter what they may advertise, they cannot get your product or service noticed. It is […]

Choosing A Hosting Company?

I only provide hosting for special projects–and usually just for testing. I can help you make the right choice, but I have no ‘arrangement’ with any company. In general I am fairly agnostic about hosting. The truth is that if you have a small web site just about any of the well-known hosting companies will probably be more than adequate. However, for some reason, this choice seems to matter to a lot of first-timers. My guess is that you’re thinking […]