How to FAIL stylishly and properly in your web design business

Several years ago, I launched a small web design company in a rural area of California. Market conditions couldn't have been better, my skill level was above average, and I had a large pool of acquaintances to which I could market.

Within 12 months I went broke.

My business failed because I made some very fundamental mistakes, and made them consistently.

I now work in the web hosting industry. I have had the opportunity to interact with numerous self-employed web designers and have found that the mistakes which I made are extremely common, and usually fatal.

If you are hoping to make a go of your business over the long term, you may want to memorize my top 5 mistakes, and avoid them like the plague.

If, on the other hand, you are determined to run your web design business into the ground, the following list may be used as an expeditious roadmap to failure.

1. Underprice your services

This is the most common mistake web designers make. The temptation is to break into the business by producing a few cheap websites in order to build a portfolio. Don't do it!

Remember that you will only be spending about 40% of your time designing sites. The other 60% will be spent hustling up the next client. If you think your time is worth $10.00 per hour, consider asking for $30.00. This will give you sufficient revenue to pay for all the non-paying time you spend marketing your business.

2. Fail to set and enforce boundaries

Everyone loves a nice guy, and the temptation to be one is a trap which many of us fall into. It 's crucial to remember, though, that you are in business for one primary reason - to make money.

You will, doubtless, encounter clients who will pay you for a small website, then end up wasting all of your time with questions about how to remove spyware from their computer and requests to add "one small thing" to an already completed website.

You can avoid this, somewhat, by establishing clear boundaries with the client from the very start. A contract is useful here. Make sure that your client knows exactly what can be expected of you, and what you expect of them.

If your client asks for extras, and you're amenable to providing them, give them a quote. Never toss it in for free. The only thing you have to sell is your time and expertise. Don't give away either.

Remember, you're in business. Try asking a service station owner for a little free gasoline. They would be shocked by your question. Likewise, you should be shocked when someone asks you to provide free service.

3. View your clients as temporary

Many of us get into this business because we love creating something new. By the time we finish a website, we're tired of that site (and sometimes that client) and we're ready to start a new project, and put the old project well behind us.

This attitude can cut deeply into your potential gross.

Over time, your client will need numerous updates to his or her website. updates are sometimes bothersome, but can add a significant revenue stream to your business. More important, a satisfied client becomes one of the major links in your marketing network.

4. Ignore recurring revenue opportunities

During the best of times, web designers live from project to project. While finishing one project, you will be lining up the next.

Every business, however, has slow stretches.

Unfortunately, your own creditors will still expect payment, even when your own revenue slows down.

A wise web designer looks for ways to provide his business with some sources of recurring revenue. Even $400 a month which you can count on can get you through a dry spell.

There are numerous ways to set up some recurring revenue. Take a look at maintenence contracts with your clients, reselling webhosting, etc.

5. Build pretty websites which do nothing

Your best source of advertising is word of mouth. Nothing generates great word of mouth like a satisfied customer. You can build the flashiest, prettiest, most cutting edge websites on the net, but it 's all for naught if your site doesn't perform.

Every website has a purpose. That purpose might be to sell goods, leverage an advertising budget, disseminate information, assist in personnel management, or one of a million other possibilites.

Your first job, as a web designer, is to ascertain what the web site is supposed to do. Once you find that "thing" - the thing it should do - make sure that the site you deliver does that particular thing like nobody 's business! By doing so, you will ensure a client who will sing your praises at the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce meetings, and to his or her friends and family. A client like this is golden, and will bring a steady stream of customers to your door.

About the Author

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How To Understand Website Hosting

Whether you're a growing business planning on starting a website business or just a website programmer looking for a good hosting account, its a good idea to learn how web hosting works to ensure that your website launch goes smoothly.

There are many website hosting companies on the internet, and all of them offer a different list of services for different types of websites. Here are some of the common features that you'll see on most web hosts and how to decipher them.

Website Space: Website space is the actual location of where your website files and images reside. Your HTML web pages and even your web programming pages will be stored at this location. Some web hosts offer 100MB and others offer up to 10,000MB or more.

If your company 's website only uses up five to seven pages then even 100mb might be too much space because almost all average web pages take up very little space.

If your website is content based and requires tons of images, text, articles, videos, then you should ensure that your host has more then 100mb of webspace. Many times though webspace will not be a major factor when searching for a webhost. Most hosts will provide you with a lot web space for the average website.

Bandwidth / Traffic / Monthly Transfer: Bandwidth is how much information can be transferred from your website.

Think of it this way. If you have 1 webpage which takes up 1mb and you're monthly bandwidth limit is 100mb. This means that once 100 people visit your website, then your bandwidth limit will be maxed out. You will not have any bandwidth available until the next month. Most of the time though website hosts offer monthly bandwidth limits of 3,000 MB or 10,000 MB. Don't worry about bandwidth because 99 percent of your webpages won't take up 1mb.

Once you start generating thousands of visitors monthly and see your bandwidth increase then you may have to pay additional fee for that month for the extra bandwidth, and consider upgrading your hosting account. As with website space bandwidth should not be an issue when searching for a webhost because most will provide you with adequate bandwidth for your website.

Website Programming Language: If you have features like Comments Form - to email comments directly from visitors to online email account, Newsletter Opt-in for your visitors or any other dynamic features then you need to have support for a web programming language. There are several web programming languages. To find out which one you need for your website ask your website development team and find out. They might already know which programming language they plan on using for your website. Common Web Programming languages include PHP, Net and CFML.

Web Programming language will be a big factor when searching for a webhost because each firm will offer a different combination of support for web programming languages, so pick carefully.

Database: If your website needs to store visitor 's email address, name and other important information, or keep a catalog of all your products then you will need to use a database. Some of the most common databases that are widely used include Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and Access. Almost all hosting plans will provide support for atleast one of these databases. As for web programming, you need to ask your website development team which database they plan to use.

Domain Hosting: Most of the time though a website hosting company will allow you to host one domain name such as a com, or net, but some website hosts support hosting for several website name. This is a great feature because this allows you to host multiple websites on one host, and manage everything from a convenient place. The downside is that you will have to share your website space, your bandwidth, and maybe even several other features with your other website. If you're goal is to have more then one website then it 's a good idea to find out exactly how many domains your web host allows on your account.

Email: Email should not be an issue when searching for a webhost. Many web hosting firms support some type of email account which allows you to have an email address with your website name: sales at yourwebsitename or something like that. Remember the amount of website space you use for your email may be limited to your overall website account, so if possible delete large and unwanted emails.

Customer Support: Support won't be a factor until it becomes one. This is why its a good idea to speak with a hosting staff and see how they respond. Great customer service will become a very important factor, and usually up to your website firm that will be working with them.

So how do you decide which webhost is right for you?

A good method is to first find out which of these website hosting is more important for you. If your website offers business training videos that takes up a lot of bandwidth then you should find a website host that can provide you a lot of bandwidth unless you'd rather wait until it turns into a bottleneck. Videos often take up hundreds if not thousand times more bandwidth then regular webpage and in this case your first priority during your search should be to ensure that your host includes adequate bandwidth. If you find a host that you like and if bandwidth does turn into an issue then make sure that the hosting firm allows the ability to upgrade your hosting services. Be prepared and make sure to find out the expenses for the upgraded plan.

Once you find a good host try hosting your website on a monthly basis instead of the long term discounted plans. Just like other companies, firms will offer lower price to motivate you to buy long term contracts. There 's nothing wrong with having a long term contract, but it 's not worth it if you decide you don't like this host, or if you find a better host.

If you're still not sure which host to sign up with then just ask you webmaster. They can recommend web hosts or offer to host your website with them. You will also see website hosts provide you with additional features such as ecommerce functionality, website statistics, easy to use control panel software such as Plesk, and other great features and software programs that can help you manage and create a great website.

Dedicated Server
If none of those plans sound right or if you plan on creating a gateway type website, with tons of content, images, videos, and if you want to be able to install your own custom software then there 's another option for you, a dedicated server. With a dedicated server you can install your own software, support for your own choice of programming languages, and as the title suggests it is dedicated for your website or websites depending on what you need. The cost is usually 8 to 10 times more then your average web host, but it allows you more control and provide you more ways to customize it. And if you plan on hosting dozens of websites then you should consider using a dedicated server.

About the Author

To find out more information visit Netlyte | Houston Web Design. You can also request free information to find out how we can help you build your Website at Website Design Houston

Article Source: Content for Reprint

How To Choose Your SEO Web Designer

Web designing and search engine optimization (SEO) seem to be two very different concepts. Nevertheless, you need to be able to combine both these elements in your business website for two reasons: good design will drive traffic to your site while excellent optimization of your webpages will increase your rank in search engines. All in all, you will benefit through obtaining your desired ROI for your business. There’s much better sales conversion rate.

Where do these things differ?

Certified web designers and SEO specialists see things in different perspective. This could be because of the orientation they have about their own respective roles in website building. Take these, for example:

1. The use of Flash in websites. At an SEO standpoint, the use of Flash in business websites is often discouraged. First of all, it doesn’t really improve your rankings in search engines. As a matter of fact, it can be very detrimental as it becomes a lot harder for crawlers to check on your content and have your web pages indexed. Second, Flash takes sometime to download. Because there are wide choices of websites available, Internet users don’t have to actually wait for your web page to download.

Meanwhile, for a typical web designer, Google has the ability to read Flash. Hence, you will not only capture the fancy of your Internet visitors, but you can also not worry about not getting indexed at all.

2. Multiple optimized content pages. Though Flash websites can still be indexed in search engines, SEO specialists believe that for you to be able to do that you must be able to compensate this elaborate design with a lot of well-optimized pages. If not, you wouldn’t be able to guarantee any inclusion, as search engine crawlers can only read texts, not Flash, Java, or HTML files.

3. Conversion. Web designers, meanwhile, believe that it doesn’t really matter if you have well-optimized pages or not because what’s actually important in any business website is your conversion rate. You should have the capacity to convert your traffic to regular customers. Because of the beauty of Flash, web designers have an inkling that it will be a great method for easy conversion.

How do you exactly choose a web designer?

Based on the things above, you know that you both need a web designer and an SEO specialist working on your website. However, looking for them is like searching for a needle in a huge pile of haystack. It’s even difficult to search for just one competent person, how much more for two individuals? Yet you should always persevere as the rewards are always long term and something that will truly be beneficial to your business.

Here are some ways on how you can pick the right web designer:

1. Make sure that he is competent to do the job. Keep in mind that a true-blue web designer will get you that far. You are looking for someone who doesn’t only know how to create fabulous designs but also understand why he needs to settle for this layout and not the other one. He must know the essence of SEO and apply these to his own web design.

For example, when it comes to SEO, linking related pages in your website will guarantee excellent search engine rankings. You may also need to add a sitemap to contain all the links in your site and make it convenient for search engine spiders to index your pages.

2. Look for a portfolio to prove their worth. You basically don’t need to work with an experienced web designer for your website. What’s important is that the person is capable to do the job. For him or her to be able to do that, you may want to ask for his/her portfolio. Make sure that you have certain criteria in your mind by now, so you will be able to have something to compare their works with.

3. Make sure that they’re very easy to work with. Communication can sometimes be a headache once you start working with a web designer. Usually, they work in their respective homes, so you have to rely on instant messengers and e-mails. Ensure that they can easily be reached and that they can instantly pick up whatever concept that you may have in mind. After all, it’s still going to be your business website.

4. He can actually maintain your website. The process of online business will always be continuous. Everything doesn’t end with having a business site. You shouldn’t just stop on optimizing your website today. Rules in SEO will change over time, and you must be able to cope with it. One way to do that is to look for a web designer who can maintain your site, so you don’t get lost among the pages of search engines.

About the Author

Moe Tamani is a Marketing expert with a leading Dallas web design company specializing in SEO web design services.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

SEO Web Marketing, The Evolution of SEO Design, Development and Marketing

In order to acquire a degree of search engine visibility you must pass a battery of litmus tests on three fundamental levels. Those criteria are divided into three categories (1) site architecture (2) content and (3) link building and web site promotion.

By developing quality for these criteria consistently your pages can develop authority and elevate them to the top ranking positions for multiple phrases.

Site architecture (including internal links, titles, tags, the programming platform, the choice of a static or dynamic site and how the programming is configured) is oftentimes the most overlooked component for procuring a high ranking search engine position.

In SEO the balance is three fold, one part site architecture, one part content and one part promotion and links. Balancing these components ensures (1) that your content can be indexed from search engine spiders (2) that is has the necessary grammatical indicators and keyword placement to gain phrase rank / approval (a new method of determining quality) and (3) multiple visitors to read and engage the pages.

A site build with impeccable architecture for example may have the ability to get indexed rapidly, but without quality content it fails to create the necessary semantic hooks required to determine relevance for that topic. A site with great content and poor site architecture for example means that despite the indicators and use of synonyms, keywords and their proximity to contextual information may be omitted since search engine spiders may have difficulty in located the page due to flaws in HTML code or inability to find the page as a result of weak internal links.

Or a site that just has links and bland content, despite the site architecture will send people packing every time they land on one of your pages due to the fact that it is lackluster and fails to impress the reader.

As marketing, form and function unite, it is not enough to just have a website, the purpose is for your pages to reach their target audience and make an impact and entice them to take action.

Traditional marketing is great as a foundation, but with consumer attention receding and online options expanding, your pages are scrutinized for value and visitors either know if (a) they like it and it piques their interest or (b) they will simply move on and find a better proposition.

Before there was SEO web design which evolved from web design, now we have SEO web marketing which has evolved from marketing and web development to craft the ideal landing pages that convert.

As more an more consumers have mobile devices capable of browsing the web seamlessly while conducting day to day activities, depending how visible your site is in search engines can determine if your embrace the technology and position yourself accordingly or hold on to outdated modalities of business and keep advertising in the yellow pages in hopes of breaking even.

With the competition as fierce as ever, I would rather minimize the risk and work on quality content, appealing design and offer functions that benefit the target audience vs. taking shots in the dark based on assumption or prehistoric marketing tactics.

In conclusion, sometimes you do not have to look any further than your own site to determine if it 's time to step up your game, redesign it from scratch (keeping the best aspects), removing obstructions and adding features and benefits.

You only have one opportunity to make a first impression, and every visitor your lose from failing to cater to their needs is another competitor your are aiding to garner more market share in your industry.

You owe it to yourself to engage the market on all four cylinders and hone your pitch, have an appealing site and most of all have the ability to promote it to reach thousands of pre-qualified traffic each and every day.

So, in case you are still thinking about keeping that java script in your navigation (to send search engine spiders away from your content), not distinguishing your headlines or structuring a call to action on your pages (to miss engaging potential clients), or worst yet doing all of that without building links to promote (so you get 10 hits a day instead of 1000), the choice is up to you.

About the Author

Jeffrey L. Smith is an seasoned search engine optimization Specialist and founder of SEO Design Solutions SEO Web Marketing Company. Jeffrey has been involved in online marketing since 1995 and brings fresh optimization methods as a Search Engine Marketing Consultant for businesses seeking organic search engine placement. Call 1 (866) 471-5377 for a free 20 min consultation.

Article Source: Content for Reprint