Blog posts

While many clients are aware that security is very important for their site, few understand the importance of web hosting security. The web host is a company that provides server space for your website to live.
Your website is only as secure as the place it lives.
I still today have clients who need to be educated on why they don’t want their website on their own servers. Simple answer: are you spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to protect your servers from the latest cyber attacks and malicious code and  back them up in different locations? Also, do you…

The most important rule in web design is the Martian Rule:

Can a Martian tell in 4 seconds

Who you are
What you do
Where you are?

And in less than 8 seconds

What makes you the answer to their problem or need?

Martian Rule Content
First, the name of your company should be absolutely clear, and preferably in a way the visitor will remember. No point in selling them on a product if they don’t remember your name.

Second, it is wrong to think that visitors to your site know what you do. They may have stumbled on your site accidentally and may,…

The different ways browsers present a website has been an issue since there was more than one browser. All browsers have the job of interpreting the web page code and displaying it to the user, but no two browsers display all code the same way. What that means is that a website may look fine to one person and not to another, depending on what browser, and what version of the browser, each is using. For example, if I create a website in Internet Explorer , it probably will not look exactly the same in Chrome or Mozilla Firefox or…

Responsive Web Design is the new version of mobile website design. Ideally it takes into account the variation of sizes on which a site can be viewed as well as the difference in processing capability to view it. The goal of responsive web design is to have the website transition gracefully between different sized devices as seamlessly as possible. This can be a challenge. Here is how it usually works-

code on the site determines on what size device the site is being viewed
depending on the size, it will call on a different style sheet and possibly a different…

I have several clients who have a good visual eye, knew what they wanted and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I am very happy with the final product of their sites. Clients like this push me to stretch my vision and talents to meet theirs, so that the site moves from good to great. I first need to stress that these clients have a good visual eye. Without that, they would merely have been difficult clients. I am proud that I have several clients who, either by vocation or avocation, are highly visual people.

With Wordpress websites, it’s sometimes easy to install a…

I signed up for a newsletter years ago that was the only one I consistently opened and read. When I went on my occasional email purging campaigns, it’s the only one I’d maintain. The reasons I stayed on this list were:

I subscribed in the first place
There was always newsletter content that I found useful.

The layout changed over time, and that never mattered to me because the quality of the content always remained high. Even the (few) times the content wasn’t exactly what I needed, I knew it would be interesting and valuable. All of this to say that the way your email…

We all like a little bribery. What can you use for a an email signup incentive? A great option is the e-book.  However, if you offer an e-book to give as an incentive to join your list, it should be:

on a topic related to your product or service
what to do, not necessarily how to do it
about which you know a great deal and
would be of use to your potential client whether or not he employs you.

As daunting as it may feel to find a topic for an e-book or, for that matter, a blog for your…

In a December post, Adding People to Your Email List, I discussed the importance of capturing email information from potential clients visiting your site. This is important because sending emails to them gives you an opportunity

to stay ‘top of mind’ so, when they are ready to purchase, you are the one they think of first
to let them know more about your business, your expertise and your offers.

But, how do you get people to sign up for (or opt-in to) your list? I have seen all kinds of incentives for email sign-ups, including a trip to Hawaii (which…

Many people ask me, “how do I know if I really need a new website?” or think, with a really outdated website, that their site is fine.

The web is old enough now that there are a lot of dated websites out there.  Here are some of the most common signs that its time for a new website:

The website is not responsive- that means it does not automatically adjust in size and layout for laptops and cell phones-without pinching and expanding. Google penalizes websites for not being responsive, and its a pain for your clients if your website does not…