Some customers are very surprised that I can't build their sites instantly. They expect that once they have said they want a site, that it will be done. Some don't even give me any clues as to the content!
Gone are the days when I could nearly always turn a site around the day that I got the work. OK, if it's a small site for an easy going customer and I'm in the right mood then yes, but on the whole now you have to wait a week to get a draft back, wait another week to get that finalised and then a week or two to get more out of me.
Am I slow? No, just I'm very busy. I'm no longer sitting here waiting for the next piece of work - I've got it coming out of my ears and I pick and choose which one to get on with next.
Many people know decorators, plumbers etc who can't be booked in for at least a couple of weeks. In the case of one local decorator it's about 8 months. This adds to his reputation - he's that good you need to book him 8 months in advance.
Well, it's the same with webdesign. When you get popular, you have a backlog of work and it's hard to keep on top of it. See it as a sign of a good investment.
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
This Google Thing Doesn't Work...
This one isn't so much an upset, more it sends waves of panic and fear through me.
It's happened many times. I set up the customer's website and to help them get a bit more income from their information site, I suggest we put on Google adsense. When they understand that they don't need to pay for this service, they agree.
The site is implemented, the adds are running nicely, then the email comes back from the customer:
"This Google thing you've put on my site doesn't work."
What do you mean, I ask. "Well, I've been clicking on my adds all day, but Google is showing me as not earning anything..."
It sends shudders down my spine. Their account might be about to be blocked and in the days of referals, it could be associated with mine. Would that count against me??? I always emphasise not to click on own adds on the few occasions I've installed Google Adsense, but some customers just don't get the message.
Please, don't click on the adverts. Google uses cookies and IP address checks and other mathematical checks to make sure you aren't doing it. A couple will lead to unpaid clicks. Too many and you account will be suspended.
It's happened many times. I set up the customer's website and to help them get a bit more income from their information site, I suggest we put on Google adsense. When they understand that they don't need to pay for this service, they agree.
The site is implemented, the adds are running nicely, then the email comes back from the customer:
"This Google thing you've put on my site doesn't work."
What do you mean, I ask. "Well, I've been clicking on my adds all day, but Google is showing me as not earning anything..."
It sends shudders down my spine. Their account might be about to be blocked and in the days of referals, it could be associated with mine. Would that count against me??? I always emphasise not to click on own adds on the few occasions I've installed Google Adsense, but some customers just don't get the message.
Please, don't click on the adverts. Google uses cookies and IP address checks and other mathematical checks to make sure you aren't doing it. A couple will lead to unpaid clicks. Too many and you account will be suspended.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Prawn Cocktail
Picture the scene, sitting in a restaurant, out of hours, talking to the owner about the new proposed website. Finally, money is mentioned and you know the reaction: "But my nephew can do it for £50!"
You ask yourself why then is he inviting a web designer to quote for the work - is he expecting significantly less than £50. But a glance down the menu comes to the rescue:
"A bag of prawns for £1.99 and a jar or sauce of 60p from the supermarket. I could make a dozen prawn cocktails for a little of 20p each." A quick look at the £6.95 on the menu for the same dish and a little understanding is built.
Yes, family might well be able to produce it and call it the same for a lot less, but will the finishing touches be there? Will the support be there when the site needs changing?
We charge more than your nephew to build the site, but unlike him, but like your business, we're in the game of selling our time to make a profit and put food on our own table.
You ask yourself why then is he inviting a web designer to quote for the work - is he expecting significantly less than £50. But a glance down the menu comes to the rescue:
"A bag of prawns for £1.99 and a jar or sauce of 60p from the supermarket. I could make a dozen prawn cocktails for a little of 20p each." A quick look at the £6.95 on the menu for the same dish and a little understanding is built.
Yes, family might well be able to produce it and call it the same for a lot less, but will the finishing touches be there? Will the support be there when the site needs changing?
We charge more than your nephew to build the site, but unlike him, but like your business, we're in the game of selling our time to make a profit and put food on our own table.
Saturday, 8 March 2008
I Want Every Page A Different Colour...
This one is bound to get under the skin, especially on a larger site and especially when the changes started with "Can you do me a favour - it will only be quick. I've got a one page site and just need some help adding 5 more pages. Should only take you an hour or so to add a few buttons..."
And many, many hours of coding later, the colour scheme is still not decided upon. A nice calming cream colour for the home page, with contrasting purple 'glass effect' buttons.
Another page in Lilac (or will it be purple???). A yellow page, although it might be dark green by the time we're finished. One is in a nice shade of blue, which really hurts the eyes against the purple buttons and the next in bright red.
The best has to be the page with a blue band on the left, yellow in the middle and green on the right, plus those purple buttons and a rainbow coloured banner!
I'm sorry, but this site is never going onto my portfolio! The customer even wants to be able to change the colours daily!!!
Why, well it's great for a fun site, but it's a health site - supposed to give a professional, calming feel. There's no uniformity across the site - I've tried, but that's not what the customer wants.
As designers we're not infallible, but if we suggest a colour scheme isn't the best option, we're probably right. Maybe I'll confess to it one day over on my other webdesign blog!
And many, many hours of coding later, the colour scheme is still not decided upon. A nice calming cream colour for the home page, with contrasting purple 'glass effect' buttons.
Another page in Lilac (or will it be purple???). A yellow page, although it might be dark green by the time we're finished. One is in a nice shade of blue, which really hurts the eyes against the purple buttons and the next in bright red.
The best has to be the page with a blue band on the left, yellow in the middle and green on the right, plus those purple buttons and a rainbow coloured banner!
I'm sorry, but this site is never going onto my portfolio! The customer even wants to be able to change the colours daily!!!
Why, well it's great for a fun site, but it's a health site - supposed to give a professional, calming feel. There's no uniformity across the site - I've tried, but that's not what the customer wants.
As designers we're not infallible, but if we suggest a colour scheme isn't the best option, we're probably right. Maybe I'll confess to it one day over on my other webdesign blog!
Friday, 7 March 2008
Can We Make The Font Size Bigger?
Just about to implement a new site a while back and the owner asked the question: "Can we make the font size bigger - at least twice the current size?"
Not sure if he was on a very high resolution monitor with tiny writing, but the font size was already Arial 10pt in the body of the site. Going to Arial 20pt is really massive...
What difference does it make doubling the text size during implementation? Well, for a start, arial 20pt font isn't what you would get on a normal site for the body of the text (maybe if it was visually impaired etc, this wasn't). But by asking for the change all of the proportions are suddenly thrown out.
The nicely linked in images that position relative to the text are suddenly spaced incorrectly. Titles, with bigger font sizes, need you to sit back to read. Links in the margin are suddenly flowing over the edge of the margin - requiring the entire graphics on the site to be rebuilt.
And it looks 'unusual'. Maybe a lot of his customers are visually impaired - I don't know. It certainly looks as though that's who he is aiming at.
Not sure if he was on a very high resolution monitor with tiny writing, but the font size was already Arial 10pt in the body of the site. Going to Arial 20pt is really massive...
What difference does it make doubling the text size during implementation? Well, for a start, arial 20pt font isn't what you would get on a normal site for the body of the text (maybe if it was visually impaired etc, this wasn't). But by asking for the change all of the proportions are suddenly thrown out.
The nicely linked in images that position relative to the text are suddenly spaced incorrectly. Titles, with bigger font sizes, need you to sit back to read. Links in the margin are suddenly flowing over the edge of the margin - requiring the entire graphics on the site to be rebuilt.
And it looks 'unusual'. Maybe a lot of his customers are visually impaired - I don't know. It certainly looks as though that's who he is aiming at.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
The Cheque's In The Post
"The cheque's in the post, whilst you are waiting for it, can you also do these changes ASAP...."
If I've been waiting for a payment for almost 4 months for a new site, do you think I'm going to drop other work to get your 'important' changes done? Hmm, think not.
I don't know what it was, but 4 sites that went live 4 months ago - all in the same week - have proved almost impossible to get the owners to pay up. 2 eventually paid after 3 months and a third gave a first payment of just under 10% (was going to be 50%, but he spent the rest on the way over...).
And I don't know what it is, but the post around here seems very slow, for some people. There's one or two customers who's cheques take weeks to not arrive, whilst at the same time other cheques arrive next day.
And it's always the slowest to pay that expect the most changes and the quickest response. Those that transfer the money the moment the invoice arrives are usually very polite and apologise for the disruption if they need the slightest of changes.
If I've been waiting for a payment for almost 4 months for a new site, do you think I'm going to drop other work to get your 'important' changes done? Hmm, think not.
I don't know what it was, but 4 sites that went live 4 months ago - all in the same week - have proved almost impossible to get the owners to pay up. 2 eventually paid after 3 months and a third gave a first payment of just under 10% (was going to be 50%, but he spent the rest on the way over...).
And I don't know what it is, but the post around here seems very slow, for some people. There's one or two customers who's cheques take weeks to not arrive, whilst at the same time other cheques arrive next day.
And it's always the slowest to pay that expect the most changes and the quickest response. Those that transfer the money the moment the invoice arrives are usually very polite and apologise for the disruption if they need the slightest of changes.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Complain When I Correct Your Spellings???
Following on from the customers that send text littered with spelling mistakes, there are times when the spellings are so bad that I notice when I'm cutting and pasting, so I do something about it.
Usually this goes unnoticed, but recently I had a new customer who complained about me amending his text and getting the spellings wrong. I had to explain that in fact the spelling were correct and maybe he should look in a dictionary before he complained about how bad my spelling is (is is pretty poor, but spell checkers are fantastic...).
Worst still, and I couldn't get through this series without spouting off on this one, is the old, ever so humble, apostophe.
Where do you put it? When do you use it? Is the rule - if in doubt, use it? Well the site I mentioned on Monday obviously went for the 'if in doubt rule' - and in a most obvious place - the main site navigation.
Apostophes are used to indicate possession or a missing letter - e.g. don't, "the [one] boy's toys". Bikinis as a label doesn't have one (but "bikini's pattern" would), nor do any other words that are purely plural (unless they are plural & show possession - "the [many] boys' toys").
Sorry, but this is one of those simple rules that I see broken all over the place. "Path's cleaned" is on the side of a local van, but he's also got "driveways cleaned" (correct!!!). Well do it different ways and one must be right!
I'll happily correct spellings & grammer, especially for people who tell me they aren't confident - can I check it. But if I do, please leave me alone when I correct it!
Usually this goes unnoticed, but recently I had a new customer who complained about me amending his text and getting the spellings wrong. I had to explain that in fact the spelling were correct and maybe he should look in a dictionary before he complained about how bad my spelling is (is is pretty poor, but spell checkers are fantastic...).
Worst still, and I couldn't get through this series without spouting off on this one, is the old, ever so humble, apostophe.
Where do you put it? When do you use it? Is the rule - if in doubt, use it? Well the site I mentioned on Monday obviously went for the 'if in doubt rule' - and in a most obvious place - the main site navigation.
Apostophes are used to indicate possession or a missing letter - e.g. don't, "the [one] boy's toys". Bikinis as a label doesn't have one (but "bikini's pattern" would), nor do any other words that are purely plural (unless they are plural & show possession - "the [many] boys' toys").
Sorry, but this is one of those simple rules that I see broken all over the place. "Path's cleaned" is on the side of a local van, but he's also got "driveways cleaned" (correct!!!). Well do it different ways and one must be right!
I'll happily correct spellings & grammer, especially for people who tell me they aren't confident - can I check it. But if I do, please leave me alone when I correct it!
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Blame Me For Your Spellings
I mentioned yesterday that Word can be useful for designing websites. How?
Well I certainly don't propose we all start using Word to create the layout and then save as HTML - tried it once, didn't like the result...
But Word has it's place. Have you ever received text from a customer that is just littered with gramatical and spelling mistakes? Quite often the text is sent in plain text and I just drop it into the relevant pages. Then the customers complain that I've made spelling mistakes putting up the pages! I'm the one that gets the blame for their own errors!
I'm not expecting everyone to be able to spell, or even type, perfectly. But please, if you are going to get ratty when 20 pages of text are published in your budget website with your spelling mistakes included, please use the word tools to check them for spelling mistakes first. If you are expecting me to compete with the £50 your nephew was going to charge you on a 20 page site, then please don't expect me to spell and grammer check all 10 different drafts of the 20 pages of text you send through to me!
Well I certainly don't propose we all start using Word to create the layout and then save as HTML - tried it once, didn't like the result...
But Word has it's place. Have you ever received text from a customer that is just littered with gramatical and spelling mistakes? Quite often the text is sent in plain text and I just drop it into the relevant pages. Then the customers complain that I've made spelling mistakes putting up the pages! I'm the one that gets the blame for their own errors!
I'm not expecting everyone to be able to spell, or even type, perfectly. But please, if you are going to get ratty when 20 pages of text are published in your budget website with your spelling mistakes included, please use the word tools to check them for spelling mistakes first. If you are expecting me to compete with the £50 your nephew was going to charge you on a 20 page site, then please don't expect me to spell and grammer check all 10 different drafts of the 20 pages of text you send through to me!
Monday, 3 March 2008
Don't Update Your News
Continuing this look at our trials as web designers, maybe at the end of it we'll learn something!
This time, how about asking for features and not using them. On the whole, this is to be expected. There's always features that sound good, sound use, maybe even appear to be essential, but in the real world they don't work so well. They are fine.
But when the feature is splattered all over the home page, in full view of their customers... Things like 'recent news'. Add a test news item when the site goes live, then 9 months later that very first item is still on the home page, nicely dated so that visiting customers know the site isn't updated.
Just 2 minutes ago I was reviewing a site that I was considering joining the affiliate scheme. Right in prime position on the home page was their news feature - last updated July last year, almost 8 months ago.
If you are going to ask for a news feature, then use it or get your designer to remove it. It makes the site look out of date and not cared for.
Tomorrow, why word could be the web designers best friend...
This time, how about asking for features and not using them. On the whole, this is to be expected. There's always features that sound good, sound use, maybe even appear to be essential, but in the real world they don't work so well. They are fine.
But when the feature is splattered all over the home page, in full view of their customers... Things like 'recent news'. Add a test news item when the site goes live, then 9 months later that very first item is still on the home page, nicely dated so that visiting customers know the site isn't updated.
Just 2 minutes ago I was reviewing a site that I was considering joining the affiliate scheme. Right in prime position on the home page was their news feature - last updated July last year, almost 8 months ago.
If you are going to ask for a news feature, then use it or get your designer to remove it. It makes the site look out of date and not cared for.
Tomorrow, why word could be the web designers best friend...
Saturday, 1 March 2008
SEO Experiment - February Page Rank Update
Same review as after the last update:
Site 1: (16 pages on Google)
All pages now grey barred.
Site 2: (26 pages on Google)
PR 0:
February - y-rentals-give-you-widest-choice-of.html
February - low-cost-airlines.html
February - north-yorkshire-moors-steam-railway.html
February - life-in-beijing.html
February - enchanting-edinburgh.html
January - reinvent-your-sports-spirit-with.html
January - best-santa-cruz-attractions.html
January Archive
PR 2:
November - orlando-holiday-home-why-arent-you.html
November - multi-leg-flights-explained.html (pr0)
October - diving-mallorca.html
October - eating-in-paris-gastronomical-guide.html (pr2)
October - things-to-do-in-boulder-colorado.html (pr0)
October - costa-rica-beaches-most-beautiful.html (pr0)
October - saving-money-by-getting-hotel-package.html
October - hello-from-austria-going-back-to-my.html (pr0)
Previously ranked, now grey barred:
Home page (pr3)
November Archive (pr2)
December Archive (pr0)
December - self-catering-cottages-for-families.html (pr0)
October - advanced-diver-in-lanzarote.html (pr0)
October - diving-in-playa-blanca.html (pr0)
Site 3: (25 pages on Google)
PR0:
January - disney-all-star-music-resort-music-to.html
PR2:
December Archive
December - ways-to-mark-your-luggage-for-easy.html (pr0)
November - travelling-in-spain.html
October - playa-blanca-beach-diving.html (pr2)
October - traveling-with-children-in-ireland.html (pr2)
October - hello-from-austria-hiking-through.html (pr2)
Previously ranked, now grey barred:
Home (pr0)
October - family-vacation-ideas-in-washington-dc.html (pr2)
October - car-hire-malaga-tips-to-hire-car-in.html (pr0)
Interesting point of note is that all sites have lost home page PR and almost without fail, the archives have lost page rank as well. A good number of the previously ranked posts are still ranked. Site 2 continues to perform much better, as I mentioned last week - maybe proving my theory???
As for which of the sites with the duplicate article is listed - again, it's site 2, although on the January archive page, not a content page.
Site 1: (16 pages on Google)
All pages now grey barred.
Site 2: (26 pages on Google)
PR 0:
February - y-rentals-give-you-widest-choice-of.html
February - low-cost-airlines.html
February - north-yorkshire-moors-steam-railway.html
February - life-in-beijing.html
February - enchanting-edinburgh.html
January - reinvent-your-sports-spirit-with.html
January - best-santa-cruz-attractions.html
January Archive
PR 2:
November - orlando-holiday-home-why-arent-you.html
November - multi-leg-flights-explained.html (pr0)
October - diving-mallorca.html
October - eating-in-paris-gastronomical-guide.html (pr2)
October - things-to-do-in-boulder-colorado.html (pr0)
October - costa-rica-beaches-most-beautiful.html (pr0)
October - saving-money-by-getting-hotel-package.html
October - hello-from-austria-going-back-to-my.html (pr0)
Previously ranked, now grey barred:
Home page (pr3)
November Archive (pr2)
December Archive (pr0)
December - self-catering-cottages-for-families.html (pr0)
October - advanced-diver-in-lanzarote.html (pr0)
October - diving-in-playa-blanca.html (pr0)
Site 3: (25 pages on Google)
PR0:
January - disney-all-star-music-resort-music-to.html
PR2:
December Archive
December - ways-to-mark-your-luggage-for-easy.html (pr0)
November - travelling-in-spain.html
October - playa-blanca-beach-diving.html (pr2)
October - traveling-with-children-in-ireland.html (pr2)
October - hello-from-austria-hiking-through.html (pr2)
Previously ranked, now grey barred:
Home (pr0)
October - family-vacation-ideas-in-washington-dc.html (pr2)
October - car-hire-malaga-tips-to-hire-car-in.html (pr0)
Interesting point of note is that all sites have lost home page PR and almost without fail, the archives have lost page rank as well. A good number of the previously ranked posts are still ranked. Site 2 continues to perform much better, as I mentioned last week - maybe proving my theory???
As for which of the sites with the duplicate article is listed - again, it's site 2, although on the January archive page, not a content page.
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