Being in the business of building websites, it’s easy to forget that no matter how great they look, how well they perform, or how optimized they are for search, a website alone will not attract visitors back to it. You have to give them a good reason to return. Blogging and other content generation is one way to do this. Running special promotions is another. Lead magnets are a good idea, too. That said, we still run into the problem of how to let...

My name is Suzanne Scacca and I am a tool snob.  Before I became a writer, and before I entered the world of marketing and web design, I was a long-time project manager. And although I could’ve stepped into any of my project management jobs and simply executed the tasks employers asked of me, I was never happy with the status quo.  We’re living in an amazing time for technology and I knew there would always be a better way to work, if only we could...

Thankfully, you no longer have to rely on a resume to try to communicate how talented you are to others. Your skills as a freelancer should be shared with others through visual media. It makes a lot more sense than writing up a one page summary that says, “I graduated from so-and-so university in 2010 and worked as a designer for XYZ Agency for three years.” Yes, your history is important, but not as much as what you’re able to do with the knowledge...

Truth be told, there’s a lot of value that comes from doing design sprints. However, it’s not as simple as adopting Google Vision’s original system and instantly being able to create better digital products or getting greater consumer buy-in.  Let’s take a look at what design sprints are, why they can be valuable, but why you also might need to steer clear of them.  What Is a Design Sprint? In basic terms, the design process looks like...

Unfortunately, over half (54%) of the businesses surveyed for the 2018 State of SMB Cybersecurity report believe they’re too small to be a target for hackers. But the data paints a different picture:  67% of small- and medium-sized businesses were attacked in 2018; 82% of those attacked had antivirus software installed on their systems; 72% had intrusion detection systems in place. In reality, businesses aren’t failing to secure...

Thinking about doing some blogging for your business? That’s a good idea. Content marketing is one of the best ways to establish credibility and authority, regardless of what kind of business you run. So, how do you decide where to publish your content?  Medium was the platform of choice for some time. Everyone from the hobbyist blogger to the major corporation was publishing content there. Considering it was built specifically as a blogging...

Hubspot estimates that a 400-person conference on the level of something like Hustle Con could realistically cost around $20,000 to host, not to mention all the time and coordination that goes into running an event that size. As you can imagine, conference organizers have to charge outlandish registration fees in order to make an event of that size profitable. What’s more, many of them gate off the most valuable parts of the events (namely,...

Which Roles Do You Need to Fill? This really depends on why you’re hiring someone as well as the direction you see your business going. Consider the following: Your client base is growing and you’re tired of turning down work. In that case, you’d likely want to hire designers and developers to share your workload with. You spend more time responding to emails and managing finances than actually building websites. If you’re passionate...

When you design a website for a client, you’re in charge for the most part. You’re the one that’s mastered the art of web design, who understands search engine optimization strategies, and so on. However, there may be cases where the decisions your clients make before hiring you end up adversely affecting how you design their website. Web hosting is a critical part of every website, whether you’re building on a self-hosted platform...

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the best ways to get new business — and high-quality business at that. But unless you’re focused on a very small space where everyone knows each other, it can be hard to get your clients to refer you to others on their own. That’s why you need to be willing to ask clients for testimonials and online reviews. Look, consumers are smart. They know that anyone can build a website for their business and claim that...

How long ago did you start your design business or side gig? Three months? Three years? And how long has it been since you evaluated your business since then? As a web designer, your job is to think critically and creatively for your clients, which is why you ask them probing questions like: How old is your business? What’s its mission? Who’s your target audience? What’s the personality of your brand? Where do you see your business in five...

It’s no surprise that some businesses are convinced that all they need is a Facebook page and some awesome paid posts in order to go viral. I get it. It’s relatively cheap. It’s easy. And they see it as a faster way to success than taking the time to build a website, grow an audience organically, and wait. But social media virality is hard to come by and, when it does happen, can be short-lived. Now, making a website or blog go viral? That can have...

Design work is very time consuming. But it’s not just the labor you put into building websites that takes time and concentration. Because the projects you work on typically have a short shelf life, you’re constantly having to find new gigs, woo potential clients, and sign them onto your service — which is like another job in and of itself. So, when do you find time to look for more work when you're so busy actually doing it? You could set aside...

As you draw closer to the finish line with a website, does your client see it just as clearly as you do? Or are they still wavering on design and copy choices even while you’re in the final stages of QA, or talking about additional features they’ll want to add to the site “some day”? Unless you are getting paid — and paid well — for every single hour you put into a website, you have to be willing to enforce a final stopping point. If you don’t,...