Time for a quick quiz. Website About pages should be about: The owner The company Both For a small company, one in which the owner is still guiding the ship, the answer should be primarily #1, the owner. The About page SHOULD NOT be another list of sales pitches, cliches, “we
First, How a Website Works A website is a bunch of files filled with the contents of a website and coding called HTML and CSS (and others) that your browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc.) reads to know how to put together a website. That coding includes things like box sizes, place
From an excellent article by Hubspot, here are the 8 reasons to redesign your website: You aren’t getting the results you want. The purpose of your site has changed. Your website just doesn’t work. You have an effective web design strategy. Your site isn’t responsive. You want to inco
You don’t have to be crazy to be a web designer but I’m sure it helps. A website front page has to do two things that are at odds with each other: Inform the web surfer in less than two and one half seconds he has found what he wants, and Be interesting enough the surfer
Last month, Google released a blog post covering common mistakes found on mobile sites and how to fix them. According to the post, they’re getting ready to roll out an update that will most probably de-list sites performing below par on mobile devices. This update could also mea
Townsquare Interactive Websites are Expensive. For a small two man painting company Townsquare Interactive charges $400 per month for a very basic website. That’s $48,000 in ten years. OUCH! Townsquare Interactive Websites Lock You Into a Contract. They may say their websites ar
I’m not talking about some fancy new drag-n-drop website maker that enables you to put together a website yourself without knowing any coding. I’m talking about the folks that put out those beautiful and functional WordPress themes that serve as a great starting point for
Tripwire Magazine regularly puts out lists of the best of. This one showcases 45 gorgeous ecommerce themes that give your website a look you would have to pay a very talented designer thousands of dollars to create for you from scratch. Most of these you can buy for about 50 bucks. U
Serve up content that provides the best experience for the device requesting it—whether it’s a desktop, tablet, mobile phone, TV or Internet fridge While some retailers struggle to maintain separate websites for tablet, mobile and desktop users, others are taking advantage of responsi
Open Source isn’t just another veiled term only understandable by geeks like me. OK, maybe it is, but you’re more familiar with it than you realize. Have you ever heard of or used the internet browser Mozilla Firefox? Firefox is Mozilla’s answer to the corporate d
Potential website owners not familiar with a blog sometimes think it’s just a way for overly loquacious people to get their thoughts out when nobody is within hearing range. Yes, it is that, but much more than that since blogs have evolved into a premier tool for business owners
Mashable.com article written after they converted their website to responsive design. Quoting from their article, “The aim here isn’t merely prettiness or technical trickery, however: Media companies like ours are seeing a major shift in the consumption habits of their aud
Call me a design nut but I love looking at great website designs. This link will take you to Tripwire Magazine’s compendium of premium WordPress themes organized by categories such as blog, ecommerce, photography, or portfolio, to name a few. If you don’t already have a we
What Does Dex Know? I don’t know what all DexKnows but I do know they know how to charge over twice as much as Kirbyworks for their websites in the first year, and then keep on charging $200 per month after that when you wouldn’t have to pay Kirbyworks a single dime. Why t
What Is Responsive Web Design? A responsive web design is a website built to adapt with the purpose of giving tablet PC and smartphone users a better surfing experience. A responsive website automatically adapts its layout and formatting to suit the screen size and device being used t
I don’t have them on payroll, but I do pay for what they have to offer, and it’s money well spent. They are the ones that produce the most gorgeous, feature rich WordPress themes available. You can see some of them (and imagine having one yourself) at places like: Ten Best
Seller’s Bay has reasonably priced websites that are good for small businesses. Here’s a few reasons why Kirbyworks websites are better: Kirbyworks websites use Responsive Design. That means every part of the website will work on any size viewing device, whether it is a c
Some companies will build you a website that looks good on a computer monitor but not on a Smart Phone or a Tablet PC such as an iPad then charge you extra to have it work on small devices. Funny thing about that is it takes very little extra effort to “do it right the first tim
When it comes to building you a website that doesn’t look like a template, even though it is, this is where we start. These gorgeous themes are fully responsive so adapt to any size viewing device, even a smart-phone. The website you are looking at was created from the Modernize
$94.95 per month doesn’t seem like a bad price for a website, unless you actually plan to keep it for awhile. After 10 years that turns into $11,394. Now that is a bad price for a website. But what if you just want to have them design the site, which they will do for free, and t
A side-by-side comparison of Kirbyworks websites and those by large companies like Deluxe (the check printing people), Yellowbook, DexKnows, and Web Design Giant. I think we’ve got the big boys beat by a quite a bit. Our ten year cost is $2400 compared to DexKnow’s $26,500
Web Design Giant has some pretty big names as clients including Starbucks and Budweiser and some pretty expensive names: Audi, Gucci, Chanel, Rolex, Burberry. I guess that’s why they would want to charge me $5000 to $6000 for a WordPress website for my painting business. Problem
Yellowbook offers an economical though very basic website geared for the small business. Here is another David vs. Goliath comparison: Yellowbook Websites Does Not Offer a Content Management System What you will get is a static website that does not allow you to upload pictures, post
It’s great having a painting business because I can pose as a painter needing a website and/or SEO. I talked to a gentleman from Deluxe, the people who probably make most of your checks. I would like to take this opportunity to compare what Deluxe has to offer to what Kirbyworks
“Too good to be true” pricing is all too common in the world of website design. It’s tempting business owners every day. If a company you’re considering, or your kid’s college buddy, has a much lower quote than everyone else, BE CAREFUL — they may not offer all the services you
If you have a website that is over three years old you are probably dependent on your webmaster to make updates to your website for you. If your web designer programmed your site so you could make changes yourself, you probably paid an arm and a leg for that custom coding. And even if
If you throw down a design challenge in front of me at a party I won’t be able to resist. I’ll start designing your house or your website and probably even take it home with me. My children will be neglected, the dog won’t get fed, and I may be up all night with my addiction. But b
SEE THEM HERE! Click on the title at the top of this post or the “Read More” at the bottom. Once you are on a single post page you can click on the link above. Sorry, it’s a WordPress thing.
I’ve gotten several quotes for creating a website for my painting business and though at first I thought $2500 was ridiculous now that I’ve learned how to do it myself I’m thinking that’s not a bad price, though still way over what most small businesses in a sm