Until last week, the current iteration of my website was around for 7+ years. That is a long lifetime in terms of a website. That old saying about the cobbler's children having no shoes applies here too -- I am lucky to be really busy with author website design clients so rarely have time to update my own site. But after developing a few frustration Read more...
As a website designer, one of the first things I do for my clients is make sure that they have a good web hosting solution. These days, many of my clients already have a website, they just need a new one, so I need to look to make sure that their existing web hosting plan is going to be a good solution for them moving Read more...
I regularly have web design clients who either don't yet have a web host, and need one, or have one they don't like and want a new one. I make my recommendations available here on this Website Resources page. It's two companies, really, Bluehost and SiteGround. But I don't get into very much about WHY I recommend those companies, so I thought I'd do that Read more...
I work with lots of solopreneurs. If you've never heard that word, no worries ... here's the featured definition in Urban Dictionary: An entrepreneur who works alone, "solo," running their business single-handedly. They might have contractors for hire, yet have full responsibility for the running of their business. It's similar to being a freelancer in some ways, but rather than working under the umbrella of Read more...
I love WordPress – I really do. There’s a reason it’s currently the most popular website platform out there. It allows you to build an amazing website (including a blog, if you want one) filled with great functionality that’s friendly to search engines and easy to use. This site is built in WordPress. But the people behind WordPress made a mistake when it came to Read more...
Web designers have online portfolios — that’s just the nature of the business. I’m a web designer here in (currently) rainy Portland, Oregon, and my own portfolio has been through multiple iterations since I started in the year 2000: outboxonline.com. So, if you’re looking for someone to be your web designer, you’re likely going to see lots of online portfolios. It can be overwhelming, but Read more...
I recently ran across this wonderful illustration: It’s funny because it’s true! How many times have you seen these same posters for one movie or another? But you know what? With a single glance, you instantly know lots of information about the movie & whether it’s something you’d like to learn more about. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to leverage that same idea Read more...
Unlike a print publication, the web is fluid. This is one of its many charms & can be embraced when it comes to launching and maintaining your website. Of course the launch of a new site is a big deal and you want to make sure you’ve dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s before sending it out into the world, but are you better Read more...
With so much competition for attention, how do you make sure your website rises above to make a great first impression? More than anything else, making strategic decisions for your brand by asking the right questions will ensure that decisions about design or messaging are made with your overall goals in mind. The result being not only the lasting impression you're looking for, but cohesion Read more...
You’ve assembled a great team to build your new website: Congrats – that’s huge! Besides providing content & monitoring their progress, what should you be doing to help the site succeed? Read more…
