I’m sorting out my bookmarks and am amazed at the number of web designer’s sites who’ve changed the file extension of their homepage and have not redirected the old to the new or created a 404 Error page. Not even a crappy out of the box 404 page. I wonder how many prospects visit their site from a bookmark and assume they’re no longer in business. Really web designers should know better.
I receive a lot of enquiries from people wanting a website. Unfortunately in many instances the prospect has no idea of their budget, or they don’t want to tell me what it is. I understand that they feel that if they give out a budget that’s what they will be quoted but they are so off the mark.
Giving the web designer an idea of how much you want to spend helps us suggest a solution that fits your requirements and your budget. I always use the car analogy - if I’m looking at buying a new car I give the car salesman an idea of what I am looking for and my price range. That way he knows whether to direct me to the Mercedes or the used car lot down the road. Without giving him that information he’s not able to make any professional recommendations He’s just flying around in the dark.
You don’t have to give an absolute figure, consider a ballpark or a price range. And remember the web designer you choose must be within your budget but it is just as important, if not more, to make sure the web designer you work with is one that has a good understanding of your requirements, can deliver a successful solution and is someone you’d want to work with.
This is just a quick post while I try to get back into the swing of things but it’s one I thought worth a mention.
When was the last time you filled out your own online forms? If you’re thinking you haven’t lately how do you know they are working?
I always recommend that my clients test their forms regularly. It’s a good way to ensure that they are working properly. It’s also a great way to find any usability issues. If you find them hard or annoying to complete I suspect your site visitors are too.
So if you haven’t - go test your forms. Now!
I’ve just discovered FreelanceSwitch and boy am I glad I did.
Their post: 12 Breeds of Client and How to Work with Them provides great insight. Rather than just bagging out clients they describe 12 common types of client and give advice on how to work with them. Types include:
I’ve worked with a lot of clients in my time and can tell you the list is pretty spot on. For some rare insight into client types and how to make sure you work well with them the post is a must read.
When designing a website one of the most fundamental rules is ensuring that you’re designing with your target audience in mind. If the site doesn’t appeal to them it’s less than useless. The most obvious example of this is the Bunurong Memorial Park. As someone who has recently lost a loved one I can assure you: “NEW GRAVES SITES AVAILABLE PHONE 9788 9488 NOW!” in huge letters ain’t gonna get my business.
I had another article published in My Business magazine recently. You can read a PDF version here: Seven Sins of Website Design.
I’ve just had an article published in My Business - an Australian business magazine. The article is called Building a Website on a Budget. It’s a printed publication but I do have a PDF version you can read. Let me know what you think of it. The deadline for the next one is this Friday - eek!
There’s a great post over at Blue Favor on Pricing Web Design Projects. The post is excellent and definitely deserves a read. A couple of points I really like:
A crucial problem to accurately pricing projects is that proposals happen so early in the process, as the vendor we only have a couple of meetings, phone calls or a document to understand the project. We do our best to come up with a fair and accurate price, but it often feels like a shot in the dark.
This is something I have grappled with for years. To be able to give an accurate idea of price you need a clear idea of what the client is after. And to know this you need to spend time working with them to determine their goals, requirements and strategy. Which brings me to the next point in the post:
Though every book I’ve read on the topic of pricing says to never ever ballpark, I have a tendency to do so. If they can’t disclose the budget I typically try to start throwing a few numbers from previous projects to help gage the scope of what we are talking about, call it a good faith effort to start the discussion.
I too often do this, partially for the reasons above. Ideally I like to get a budget but that is not always possible. If not I try to do a rough scope of the project and give the client an idea of costs. If we’re on the same wavelength we take it from there.
The post also goes on to talk about determining hourly rates, quoting by the hour or project and tips for clients when pricing a web design project. Definitely worth a read, and an addition to my feed reader.
There’s one element of designing a website I find constantly overlooked - the copy, or text, or to put it more simply the words on the page. Even when I go to great pains to explain that a website needs compelling, easy to read text it takes ages to get little, if any copy to add to the site.
I think one of the reasons for this is for most small businesses a website is the first time they’re marketing their business in a medium that allows you to add lots of copy. Think about it - most traditional advertising mediums charge by the column centimeter (or similar) so for much of their advertising there is only a small space to work with. A website changes that, and with unique compelling content (eg copy) helping your search engine rankings suddenly copy is really important. Not that it wasn’t before but you get my drift.
In initial discussions many prospective clients say they’re happy to provide the copy. But when it comes to the crunch it is often easier said than done. Which I understand. Most of them are busy enough running their businesses without having to sit down and put together pages of copy. It’s also not something they usually have a lot of experience with.
These days I find the easiest solution is to write the copy ourselves. As we usually optimise the website as well as build it it works out well. We’re able to write keyword rich, compelling copy that is beneficial to both visitors and search engines. It makes our lives easier and our clients can get on with the job of running their business. Which is what they do best.
I know I’ve been a bit quiet lately but I’ve been furiously finishing off some websites for clients. One of which we launched today. So if you have a moment you may want to check out Pleasurelea Tourist Resort. Pleasurelea offer accommodation in beautiful Batemans Bay, a place I would love to visit some day!
