Web Design

How Procrastination Kills Projects

by | Jul 5, 2022 | ,

Procrastination kills projects. Life goes faster than you think.

Life goes faster than you think.

I was going to write about how procrastination kills projects seven months ago. That article wasn’t going to be so personal.

Then life got in the way. As it always will, if you let it. So what happened?

Out of the blue, my partner of over 25 years got a diagnosis so terrifying that we had an emergency wedding. “Emergency” as in, we woke up that morning not knowing we’d be married by teatime.

Eternal thanks to the Newport Registry Office, the Royal Gwent Hospital, and the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff for facilitating that. Even more so for making her condition more manageable for now.

Yeah, writing a blog post pales into insignificance in the face of that, doesn’t it?… Read the rest “How Procrastination Kills Projects”

Why Small Businesses Need Professional Websites

by | Jun 15, 2022 | ,

Professional websites are marketing vehicles

Professional websites are marketing vehicles

Professional websites can seem like big investments to small business owners. Online marketing is such a huge topic that it can be hard to work out where to begin.

So why do small businesses need professionally designed websites? Why do their competitors invest thousands in professional web design? Here’s an analogy that may help.

Professional Websites Are Marketing Vehicles

Your website is your main marketing vehicle in the non-stop race for sales. To extend that analogy, hosting is the garage you rent for it, and your domain is the address of that garage. Site visitors are passengers that you pick up briefly, and some of them convert into customers.

However, your vehicle won’t get far without regular maintenance (support and updates) and good driving (active marketing).… Read the rest “Why Small Businesses Need Professional Websites”

Automatic WordPress Updates – The Pitfalls

by | Oct 27, 2020 | , , , , ,

WordPress updates and website maintenanceHere’s a great example of why automating updates in WordPress is only smart for non-business websites. As I write this, one of the WP plugins published by Facebook just released an update with invalid code.

Not just a bug — code so wrong that it crashes sites. Code that wouldn’t have passed basic testing.

I’m sure “Facebook for WooCommerce” will be fixed promptly. However, over 900,000 online shops use it. If they were all running automatic updates, almost a million shops would be offline right now.

Other WordPress Update Problems

This comes on top of the GADWP fiasco earlier this year, too. In that, ExactMetrics changed the nature of their popular plugin without warning, through an “update”.

Version 6 of the “Google Analytics Dashboard for WP” plugin was “redesigned from the ground up”.… Read the rest “Automatic WordPress Updates – The Pitfalls”

Why Do Website Prices Vary So Much?

by | May 24, 2020 | , ,

Websites vary so website prices vary

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Small businesses often want simple, affordable web design packages. That’s fine, we can do that — but then some call professional web design “expensive” and “overcomplicated”. So why do website prices vary so much?

Because web design can mean several very different things.

Business websites serve a wide range of purposes. Some of those purposes are common, others less so. So there are at least three levels of web design to consider.

Affordable Web Design Packages

Common requirements can sometimes be standardised, and processes streamlined, to keep costs down. However, flexibility creates complexity, so in practice, “streamlining processes” always means “restricting choices”.

For some people, and some purposes, that makes little difference — and cash flow is often a bigger concern for small businesses.… Read the rest “Why Do Website Prices Vary So Much?”

Ten Common Website Design Mistakes

by | May 1, 2020 | ,

Web design is like cooking — it may look easy, but it’s easy to get wrong. No microwave can make you a chef. Similarly, DIY website builders let you make costly mistakes. So Base22 kindly provided this infographic of ten common website design mistakes, and I’ve added a few more points below.

Ten Common Website Design Mistakes

Whilst DIY web design often makes these mistakes, so do inexperienced web designers. That’s why experienced professional web design is a better business investment, even in affordable web design packages.

Poor User Experience

Whilst user experience is also affected by most of the points below, visual design plays a big part too. It’s not just a matter of making things look pretty, either.… Read the rest “Ten Common Website Design Mistakes”

The Hidden Costs of DIY Web Design

by | Feb 26, 2020 | , ,

DIY web design has hidden costsYou may not expect a professional web designer to say this, but DIY web design does have its place. However, when building business websites, the hidden costs of DIY web design are far higher than most people think.

As a small business owner, it can be tempting to ignore these costs. They will still affect you, though — and can easily cost you more than engaging a professional web designer. So consider them carefully before falling for the hype about DIY web design systems.

When To Consider DIY Web Design

If you don’t aim to make money from your website, any money spent on it is pure cost. So then it’s wise to minimise that cost, and doing so has little impact.… Read the rest “The Hidden Costs of DIY Web Design”

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