Don’t you hate it when you’re looking at a product on a website and you think “I wish I could see that image a little larger…” and then you notice a “View Larger Image” link and think “Oh! Perfect!” and then you click on it, and the larger image is about 5% larger than the [...]
Web Design
I’ve owned and managed a web site design company since 1999. We’ve built real estate websites, ecommerce websites, websites in Flash, websites that are optimized for search engines, and all sorts of business websites. Here are some things I’ve learned along with advice and opinions.
One of my new side businesses is creating niche directories. It’s a simple business model with ever-expanding opportunities for revenue growth. But I’ll get into that in another post. The thing is that I’ve got a few hundred domains, but I’m looking for more. I’ve got plenty of ideas, but I figured perhaps you could [...]
A few years ago a my father told me that he had been asked by an businessman friend of his how I was keep my business going in light of the competition from India that was going to be able to provide web development services for 1/20 the cost I was charging. That was several [...]
MWI turns away approximately 75% or more of the web design requests we receive through our RFP form due to pricing issues. Since MWI’s pricing for a static, basic, corporate site starts at $15K (and we’ll probably raise it to $20K soon) that puts us out of reach of all but those clients with the [...]
And I quote… Ogden – December 28, 2006 – Ogden based Wadman Corporation has been awarded a 1st Place Marketing Communications Award by Society of Marketing Professional Services, Utah Chapter, for outstanding electronic general for their newly redesigned website. Criteria used to judge the entries included research and planning; implementation practices; budget and cost data; [...]
From time to time I’m asked about these website templates you can go buy for $50. There are websites that sell them and you can browse through hundreds until you find the design you like. Then you buy it, put in your own logo and content, and you’ve got a decent looking website without needing [...]
How does a web development firm prepare to go about redesigning its own website? Feel free to follow along with me as the MWI website goes through that process over the next few months. Step 1 – Planning
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May
What is Web 2.0?
By popular demand, I give you a new post. If you’re hip to all things web, then you either know what people mean by “Web 2.0″ or you think you do, or you’ve at least heard the term. If your business isn’t principally on the web you may not even have heard the term, but [...]
Inspired by Drew McLellan’s Five Most Important Considerations, I decided to come up with my own list, prior to actually reading his so that I wouldn’t just be rewriting what he had already said. Every time MWI puts out a proposal I go through the same exercise of trying to show the potential client that [...]
I couldn’t resist reading an article by Dion Jones entitled Want to help Web visitors? Speak to them. In the article Dion, who is described on his own website as “very experienced in marketing online” claims that adding audio instructions to a website “will increase your e-mail list opt-in rate while decreasing your order page [...]
If you visit this website www.betterwebsite.com and think “Hmm, sounds interesting” as you put put your right hand to your chin, look up and left, and slowly nod your head while considering the content of said website seriously, then you do not have what it takes to gain any measure of sucess online. That is, [...]
I enjoy discussing viewpoints that oppose my personal opinions. While not completely opposed to what I believe, the article Are Websites Judged In The Blink Of An Eye? by Gerry McGovern (wasn’t this guy a presidential candidate once?) could be used by some as justification for making what I feel are incorrect decisions with regards [...]
When choosing a web development firm to work with, it is helpful to understand that there are different types of web development firms, and one or the other may be a better fit for you. While there are several categories we could talk about, for the purposes of this post I’ve divided all firms into [...]
I’ve been saying this for years due to finding from a study done at Stanford University about web credibility. Now here is more evidence of what is common sense: Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds.
Yes, I’m a procrastinator. I tend to do whatever seems important at the moment, which means that some things don’t get done until they become what is important at the moment. That’s why my web development firm uses a project management system and why I use a PDA. If I didn’t plan ahead, then many [...]
Ok, you web developers and designers are going to be offended that this is under the “advertising and marketing” section of this site but the fact of the matter is that a lot of business types don’t understand how separate and different advertising and marketing is from web development and design. And the fact of [...]
Sometimes you read something and just have to shake your head. I’m not going to name names because this is a company that employs people I like, but on their site they have this statement: Studies have shown that it doesn’t matter how pretty your site is or how many “bells and whistles” you have. [...]
