Retiring from web design and why I switched to free WordPress templates
Posted by admin | Filed under Blog
These days I’m a mostly retired web designer. My passions are focused on the Touchwood Project, an eco lodge and social enterprise, but also because I realised that the stress and anxiety of creating websites for good people was outweighing the joy. Now I just do the occasional charity website or friend’s site because frankly, I can’t bear to still see so many truly awful sites out there and there’s no pressure when it’s not my main source of income.
Now when I get a request to do a small website, I happily use someone else’s free Wordpress template, spend maybe 10 hours setting it up and thinking about what kind of information needs to be on the site and how to organise it so it makes sense to people, think about the mood the site should create, and work with the people running the site to help them write for their audience.
It’s a far simpler, scaled down version of what I use to do for clients, and I couldn’t be happier to have made the switch.
The main reason for my stress as a professional designer was the tension between the kind of people I want to work with (i.e., small businesses who love what they do) needing to pay as little as possible for a website and my standards of what constitutes a “good” or effective website.
I’ve worked with a lot of great people and businesses, but the problem is most of them want to pay around £300, but need their website to generate business for them. They need the site to compete with thousands of businesses and websites just like theirs.
That’s pretty hard to do with £300, even if you’re willing to invest a huge amount of time doing it yourself. Still, I’ve found through doing the charity sites that if you’re not too bothered about using a design others can also use, and you can work within the constraints that using an off-the-shelf design gives you, you can save a huge amount of time and money using a free Wordpress theme.
In fact, today I changed the Do Good Design website design from the completely original, custom designed WordPress theme to an off-the-shelf design called Paper that I downloaded for free. That’s because I kept getting this “Catchable fatal error” on most of my web pages and Googling around told me that it was a flaw in my customised theme. Since I had to use a PHP developer to build this template for me, I couldn’t just fix it myself. Arrrggh.
So poof! I’ve switched my design to this widely available theme and problem solved. I miss my painstakingly crafted design, but easy come, easy go.
Enough about me — if you’re wondering how to get a cheap website that works well, and you’re willing to spend some time learning, then I recommend using WordPress. Google “wordpress themes” and you’ll get a whole slew of websites with free themes. WordPress will give you info on how to get started as will several other articles and tutorials. You WILL spend a lot of time doing this, as you will with ANY web design templates (Yahoo, Microsoft, Homesite, etc) but from what I’ve seen, WordPress is the biggest and the best.
If you don’t want the hassle of doing it yourself, are an Orkney business, or do anything related to knitting and sewing or eco-friendly living, then get in touch and I can possibly do a WordPress site for you for £300 or so. Barters happily accepted.
I’ll leave up my previous articles in the hopes that it helps some of you. All the best!
Planning your web strategy
Posted by rachel | Filed under Blog
Planning is perhaps the most important part of your website’s success.
Don’t plan your site well and you’ll lose barrels of money and time. Skip the planning, and you might as well open your wallet and throw your money in the toilet.
Why? Because if you rush right into “just getting a website,” you’ll end up constantly making revisions and fixes as you figure out what you want.
So many useless websites
The internet is cluttered with deadweight websites — sites that may look impressive, but don’t pull in the business. Their owners didn’t carefully map out ahead of time what their site needs to do and how.
While it’s not the sexiest stage in web design, it’s the planning of your web strategy that can make or break your website.
And the first question you need to ask is:
How much business do I need to get from my website?
All of your business? Most? Is your website your main marketing channel, or have other channels like word-of-mouth or seminars worked well?
If you need most or all of your business to come from your website, you’ll have to invest time and money in it. It’s that simple.
Here’s why: you’re competing with thousands of other websites.
Invest in a top-notch website
With so much to choose from, how will you stand out? Just having a website isn’t going to do it. Neither is buying into the get-rich-quick promises of some SEO (search engine optimization) salesmen or PPC (pay-per-click) vendors.
You’re going to need a top-notch website: one whose planning, writing, design and management sets its apart from everyone else.
It doesn’t have to be flashy, it doesn’t have to cost the earth, but neither is it something you can do all yourself or hire your next-door-neighbor’s grandson to do.
Or go for the business card website
However, here’s a secret I’ll let you in on: not everyone needs a top-notch website.
Some businesses just need a site to act as a business card, a quick reference for clients you’ve already contacted through other channels, like an face-to-face meeting or via a referral.
For a business who’s getting enough clients through other marketing channels, an all-singing, all-dancing website is overkill. Stick to a simple 5 page website with your contact details and services information.
So, let’s say you need a top-notch website because you want to get a lot of business through the internet. Now what?
It’s time for your web strategy.
Mapping your web strategy is where a good web designer or consultant makes all the difference. Their experience will help you think of what you need — and what you don’t — saving you a lot of time and money down the road.
What’s in a website strategy?
Part of the strategy you’ll devise with your designer will list what functionality you want, like a shopping cart, customer service area, contact form, database, etc.
You’ll also look at what areas of content you need on your website: the usual suspects like “Services” and “About Us” plus more specific areas that showcase your specialized knowledge to your audience in areas like “Tips and Tricks” or “Articles”.
The best part is where you have a look at your competitors’ websites as well as any that you personally like for whatever reason. By showing your designer real examples of what appeals to you, you’re helping them build a website that’s better suited to your needs and desires.
Measuring success
Once you’ve launched your website, you can use analytics (traffic monitoring software) to look at how your site is performing against the goals you set.
So if one of your goals was to get 15 people contacting you per month from your website, you’ll be able to see whether your site is delivering on that goal. If it’s not, you can look at improving your copy, or analyse where people are leaving your site before the contact page.
We’ll look in depth at analytics in Stage 4: Manage Your Site in later articles.
Bottom line
Take the time upfront and plan what your website needs to do, and you’ll be well down the road to a kick-ass website. Then relish the fact you did it right and spend some of that extra cash on something fun.
Ready to take action? Why not:
Start working on your own Web Strategy:
Website Strategy (Word version)
Website Strategy (pdf version)
Do Good Design services
Find out more about the our“top-notch” and “business card” website packages.
Contact us to find out how Do Good websites can grow your business.
Tags: strategy
Website and logo: The Vegan Mentor
Posted by rachel | Filed under Blog, Portfolio
Our latest project was for Sarah Moon, a.k.a. the “Vegan Mentor.” Sarah needed a website that supports and inspires people wishing to change to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, as well as those who are already vegetarian or vegan.
She had a limited budget, but needed to update and expand the website herself, including being able to add additional pages and sections as needed. So we built her a simple but effective site with a Wordpress content management system that lets her have complete control over the website.
Her target audience is primarily in the 20s and 30s, with an interest in eco-friendly lifestyles and animal welfare. So the design and feel of the site is fresh, vibrant, and fun to promote a positive and can-do attitude.
Sarah drew the bird design herself, and I felt it had a very personal, fun feel so I added the colours and chose a cheerful, slightly funky font to go with it to create the logo.
Visit The Vegan Mentor website and get tips on healthy eating and living a veggie lifestyle.
Battling the deadly siren song of sugar
Posted by rachel | Filed under Blog
For the past 3 months, I’ve been on a strict anti-candida diet: no dairy, wheat, sugar, alcohol or fruit. I did this crazy thing for my health, to get rid of ailments ranging from achy joints to random attacks of moodiness and lethargy.
As I mentioned in my initial post on Day 18 of the diet, it was surprisingly easy to do. Really. I think going all the way like that was actually less of a hassle than trying a bit here and there, and the rewards were mercifully quick to show up, keeping me motivated.
I’ve really enjoyed all the benefits these past few months, from more energy to better skin to losing 20 pounds to pain-free joints. It’s one of the few times in my life I’ve actually stuck to something, and each day I stay on the wagon, I’m proud.
but it ain’t a picnic anymore
I’m in the home stretch now, and every day, right around 4pm, the longing for sugar strikes. I’m battling the same demons I was 3 months ago before I started.
The plan is to do this diet until all my symptoms have virtually disappeared, then keep it up for a whole year afterwards.
I’ve reached the point where the symptoms should start disappearing in earnest, but every day feels like a week, and it’s getting harder and harder to stick with the diet. I’m bored with the foods, irritated that I can’t bend the rules, unbelievably annoyed that my husband Malcolm effortlessly avoids all sweets and sugars and has done for years.
A black cloud of sullen irritability descends. Why can’t I have just one little piece of chocolate, hm? Or some apple juice? Surely that can’t be too bad.
the almost sugar-free, wheat-free chocolate cake
It’s just so tempting to give in and stretch things a bit, massage the rules. The latest enticing demon to show up: the Sugar-free, Wheat-free Chocolate Cake recipe that my stepmother kindly made me for my birthday.
The problem is, the “sugar-free” part isn’t exactly true — the recipe requires 226 grams (1/2 pound) of semi-sweet chocolate, which actually means 33 grams of sugar if I use the 85% dark chocolate I bought. But it’s so goooood. Like a torte or dense cheesecake.
the sugar addiction
But Erica White, nutritionist and author of “Beat Candida: The 4 Point Plan”, is very clear about sticking to her strict diet. Every time you lapse, it’ll take that much longer to get well. Every time you eat sugar, you’re feeding the disease that could one day kill you.
I also met so many people in the US who cheerfully discussed having battled candida for years, as if it’s just something you live with, like the common cold. None of them were following this strict a diet, which is why, sigh, I know what the right thing to do is if I’m going to get completely well.
following my instincts underneath the craving
As I write this I realize I’m really just whining, casting about for some expert to tell me it’s okay to eat what my body is screaming it needs. That’s the sugar addiction talking.
As in so many other areas of my life, I’m learning to listen to myself, to wade past the advertising junk and even the insidious voice in my own head that coaxes me to go places I know I shouldn’t go.
Take it one day at a time, as alcoholics say. Today: no sugar. But it looks like the grumpiness is here to stay for a while.
Tags: food and eating