Web Design News

At a recent search engine conference one of the speakers presented the SEO’s 10 Commandments. It was interesting to see that most of them are applicable to web designers too and number 5 is one that we all should live by.

5. Thou shall honor your client’s wishes and goals.

The Online Digital Business Initiative Translation:
Listen to your customers and respect their opinions. Do not pretend you live in an ivory tower, but rather give back to your customers and they will give back to you ten fold.

You can read all 10 of them here

Now there’s an interesting question to ask your web designer. Obviously Google is the leading search engine on the planet but what come in at number two?

If you’re designer tells you that it’s Yahoo! or MSN/Live then he’s either out of touch or he doesn’t care and either way you really don’t want him working on your site. In the last couple of weeks Yahoo! has slipped to the number three spot and something quite different to your normal search engine has taken its place.

Things have been a little quiet here on the blog for the last few weeks. A lot of new search engine optimisation work for two or our regular clients plus all the ongoing work we do for other clients has kept us rather busy.

Keeping up with some of the never-ending changes in the way the search engines look at your site has also kept us very busy and Toni and I … and two of our staff … are working today just to keep up with the demand.

Before I head off to get stuck into some more of it here’s a little tip for anyone who is looking for a web designer. It can apply here in Hervey Bay or anywhere else around the world for that matter.

At your first meeting with a web designer don’t be afraid to tell them that you’re inspecting them to see if you and the designer will be a good fit. It’s quite possible that you won’t work well with them and when that happens it inevitably costs you money.

So assess them carefully and if you’re uncomfortable with them be prepared to move on.

A potential client came to see us last week after spending several thousands of dollars having a site designed by one of our competitors. It was only after the work was done and paid for that he realised that the designer was quite bright but had little experience and didn’t listen to what the client wanted to see in his website.

Now it’s a case of putting up with a site that he has no confidence in … because getting the designer to make even the most minor of changes is extremely difficult … or spending a lot of money to have the site rebuilt by someone else.

Being able to listen to the client and produce what the client wants comes with experience and you can usually tell whether your web designer has that experience or not.

Last week was another big week for us here at Total Website Management and Copy Text Online with three very different websites going live.

The first to be released was ABargain.com.au - this is an e-commerce site that we built and now will maintain for a local businessman who imports his stock direct from China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Our client has run a very successful bricks-and-mortar business here on the Fraser Coast but now wants to take his business to people around Australia.

The second site to be released went live last Tuesday and doing the ground work for the Gayndah Museum website was very interesting. Local history is fascinating and the Gayndah Museum has one of the finest collections of very rare steam engines, vehicles and farm equipment in Queensland.

Finally the Fraser Coast Patient Transfer Facility site went live on Friday. As I said over on our small business blog, every small business should be involved in the life of their community in a meaningful way and being one of the sponsors for the committe that is raising funds for this much-needed facility is our way of being involved in the community.

If you’re here in Hervey Bay then please donate to this very worthy project because with out it the time may come when it could be you, flat on your back on a stretcher and getting wet as you’re transferred from an ambulance to the Royal Flying Doctor Service for a life-saving trip to Brisbane.

This coming week looks as though it’s going to be just as busy and we’re certainly looking forward to the challenges.