Web Hosting Blog » Web Design

Looking beyond web design: Why web design must become one service amongst many

Matthew — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:48:33 +0000

The web design industry is very sensitive to the pikes and troughs of the economy, especially so for agencies and freelancers. If businesses are doing well and someone brings up the idea of refreshing their website, the consensus is often “Yes, we need that new website, pronto”. On the flip side, if there is a down turn, the purse strings are suddenly much more difficult to prize open; “No, we can make do with what we have got for now”.

So, as a web designer, how do you continue to do what you love, and still earn enough money to do it professionally when work becomes harder to come by? This is a question a lot of web designer ask themselves, so we decided to try and find out.

The survey

Earlier this year we conducted research amongst the web design community in partnership with designshack.co.uk. The survey asked for their experiences as a web designer, their approach to work and how the industry is developing. Of those who took part in the survey, 3 in 4 said they believe it is more difficult, or just as difficult, to find work compared to this time last year. Naturally, there are a lot of factors that feed in to this, with responses varying from more competition, client’s expectations rising, and of course the general down turn in the economy so many businesses are struggling with.

Additional sources of income

Interestingly, the survey also showed that over half of web designers are supplementing their income by diversifying their services, through ventures such as premium resources, advertising driven blogs, web hosting, premium membership websites, and digital marketing services including SEO & copywriting services.

Due to increased competition coupled with less available work, it is clear that forward thinking web designers are responding by expanding their core skills and services to areas that have traditionally been seen as added value services. These are increasingly becoming essential tools to maintain a regular income. Search optimization, copywriting, web hosting and other digital marketing services available all under the same roof is what sets the modern web designer apart from the masses.

For example, how often have you been asked by a client to recommend a host for their website and you have pointed them in the direction of your own web host? You could have offered to do this yourself for a monthly fee. You have a client base that you can continue to profit from far beyond the initial web design stage.

Shifting the primary source of income

In fact, it is possible to earn enough money through these supplementary activities, that designing websites for clients can become the secondary source of income. For example, I’ve seen web designers running free PSD resource websites which attracts a lot of traffic and incoming links. From here they then refer visitors to their work on theme directories, many of which are in the best seller lists. In one instance the designer has earned well over £250,000 from the theme directory alone.

A final thought

As the web design industry becomes more and more competitive, and there are few signs of a full scale economic recovery any time soon, the web designers who can offer more services beyond traditional web design and expand their revenue mix are the future.

Name:Matthew Telfer

About:Matthew is Heart Internet's Marketing Manager, and has held senior marketing positions in the web hosting industry for 5 years. With a passion for online marketing, Matthew is responsible for shaping strategy and developing the Heart Internet brand.

Posts by Matthew (242)

Half of web designers are not considering mobile users

Matthew — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:40:28 +0000

According to research we recently conducted with the chaps at Design Shack, a lot of web designers are still not taking into account mobile web browsers. The survey of 500 web designers found that that only 50% are considering mobile web access when designing a new website. (If you think 500 doesn’t sound like a lot, it is worth pointing out that it is possible to apply the findings from a sample of that size to a population of 15 million*.)

Mobile phone web access has grown dramatically in recent years, rising from 0.2% of all UK web traffic in 2009 to 15% in 2011**. As more and more users start accessing the internet via their mobile phones, websites built for large monitors and high broadband speeds become more difficult to read and slower to load.

This increases the likelihood of a visitor bouncing before the page has finished loading, which in turn means the number of websites missing out on sales and returning traffic is also increasing.

Products such as goMobi have moved to fill this gap, offering users point and click mobile web builder tools. With the increasing prevalence of these Do It Yourself tools, professional web designers may be missing out on a lucrative source of revenue.

The volume of traffic accessing websites using mobile phones is only going to rise for the foreseeable future. Web designers need to start adding mobile usability to their list of services quickly, and those who fail to adapt to these changes risk being left behind.

* With a confidence interval of 5 and a confidence level of 95%
** Sources: tecmark.co.uk & Econsultancy.com

Name:Matthew Telfer

Posts by Matthew (242)

New Video Tutorial: Customising HostPay – Part 2

Ben — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:59:22 +0000

From our hotly anticipated video series on how to customise a HostPay template, i’m pleased to announce the release of the second installment.

In this video you’ll find out how to create gradient images, change the background colours of page elements, changing bullet styles and also how to change button colours.

In the third and final installment of this video series, we’ll be finishing off the skinning of the front-end template and also how to make changes within the control panel. Part 3 will be coming soon!

As usual, all the videos can be found within the video section of your customer control panel or alternatively you can check out our YouTube channel (Make sure you subscribe to be the first to know about new video releases).

Remember, you need to have HostPay installed before you can follow this tutorial, luckily we have a demonstration on that as well! – Check that out here.

Customising HostPay: Part 2

Any questions or feedback please leave them in the comments box below!

Cheers

Name:Ben Scott

About:As Senior Web Designer, Ben oversees all of Heart Internet's design, usability, SEO and conversion optimisation. Since joining the team in 2009, Ben has redesigned the Heart Internet website as well as the newsletters, HostPay templates, control panel and much more.

Posts by Ben (92)

New Video Tutorial: Customising HostPay – Part 1

Ben — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:07:20 +0000

Over the past few months we have been inundated with requests to create a series of videos on how you can customise the look and feel of a HostPay template.

Well, the wait is finally over! You spoke and we listened! Fresh from the Video production studio (Well, me and my laptop) is the first in a series of step-by-step video demonstrations taking you through the process of customising your HostPay template.

The first video from this series is giving you an overview of changing your HostPay templates, swapping in your company logo, CSS tips plus a brief explanation on transferring and editing files.

All the videos can be found within the video section of your customer control panel or alternatively you can check out our YouTube channel (Make sure you subscribe to be the first to know about new video releases).

Remember, you need to have HostPay installed before you can follow this tutorial, luckily we have a demonstration on that as well! – Check that out here.

In the next installment of this video series, you can expect to get into much more detail about changing background, link and text colours and also creating new pages. Part 2 will be coming soon!

Customising HostPay: Part 1

Any questions or feedback please leave them in the comments box below!

Cheers

Name:Ben Scott

Posts by Ben (92)

Top 40 list of lists 2010

Ben — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:31:57 +0000

Last year we ran a blog post titled “Top 40 lists of lists” which got a lot of good feedback so we thought we would make it an annual event. Here is 2010’s top 40 list of lists. They have been grouped in to broad categories of:

Coding and scripting
Web design
Freelancing
Web copy & blogging
Social media
Online marketing
WordPress
Analytics, optimisation & usability

Coding & scripting
10 useful online code editors
http://www.catswhocode.com/blog/10-useful-online-code-editors

22 handy HTML5 / CSS3 tools, resources and guides
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/resources/22-handy-html5-css3-tools-resources-and-guides/

35 fresh JavaScript jQuery tools and resources
http://www.noupe.com/javascript/35-fresh-javascript-jquery-tools-and-resources.html

45 fresh useful JavaScript and jQuery techniques and tools
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/12/45-fresh-useful-javascript-and-jquery-techniques-and-tools/

43 essential controls for web applications
http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/essential-controls-for-web-applications/

Web design
44 free stylish graffiti fonts for designers
http://naldzgraphics.net/freebies/44-free-stylish-graffiti-fonts-for-designers/

100 essential web development tools
http://www.noupe.com/tools/100-essential-web-development-tools.html

40 fundamental illustrator tools you must know
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/tutorials/fundamental-illustrator-tutorials/

30 examples of attractive nav
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/trends/30-examples-of-attractive-nav/

9 things you can’t forget when designing a blog
http://www.tutorial9.net/web-tutorials/9-things-you-cant-forget-when-designing-a-blog/

Freelancing
16 Common Freelancing Mistakes and Misconceptions
http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2010/03/16-common-freelancing-mistakes-and-misconceptions/

10 sure fire ways to make your clients love you
http://designshack.co.uk/articles/business-articles/10-sure-fire-ways-to-make-your-clients-love-you

The 20 best productivity and personal development blogs
http://freelancefolder.com/the-20-best-productivity-and-personal-development-blogs/

Web copy & blogging
Top 25 blogs about blogging
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/top-25-blogs-about-blogging/

5 tips for getting readers viewing your old blog posts
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2010/03/02/5-tips-for-getting-readers-viewing-your-old-blog-posts/

How to choose a blog niche [6 tips]
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2010/03/12/how-to-blog-how-to-choose-a-blog-niche/

5 simple ways to improve your web copy
http://www.cmswire.com/cms/web-content/5-simple-ways-to-improve-your-web-copy-004512.php

10 tips for creating compelling web copy
http://webdesignledger.com/tips/10-tips-for-creating-compelling-web-copy

Social media
35 social media tools that make life easier
http://freelancefolder.com/35-social-media-tools-make-life-easier/

Top 55 Twitter tools to use in 2010
http://www.businesscomputingworld.co.uk/?p=2670

25 must read social media marketing tips
http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/04/social-media-marketing-tips/

42 top social media tips and tools
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/24209

10 small business social media marketing tips
http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing/

Online marketing
7 best tips to create landing pages for PPC campaigns
http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2009/11/create-landing-pages/

20 PPC tips for 2009
http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/20-ppc-tips-for-2009/

PPC segmentation: 4 tips to better target customers
http://searchengineland.com/ppc-segmentation-4-tips-to-better-target-customers-21142

55 quick SEO tips even your mother would love
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/55-quick-seo-tips-even-your-mother-would-love/6760/

Top 25 SEO blogs
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/top-25-seo-blogs/

101 web marketing ideas and tips
http://www.seopedia.org/internet-marketing-and-seo/101-web-marketing-ideas-and-tips/

WordPress
10 blank/ naked WordPress themes perfect for development
http://speckyboy.com/2010/03/22/10-blanknaked-wordpress-themes-perfect-for-development/

13 free plug-ins to transform your WordPress based site
http://designm.ag/resources/wordpress-plugins/

20+ WordPress recipes (codes)
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/20-wordpress-recipes-codes/

15 incredible WordPress plug-ins you need to use in 2010
http://www.sitesketch101.com/15-incredible-wordpress-plugins-you-need

32 essential WordPress plug-ins
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2010/01/32-essential-wordpress-plugins.html

100 best WordPress premium themes of 2009
http://www.levoltz.com/2010/01/06/100-best-wordpress-premium-themes-of-2009/

25 best free WordPress themes
http://www.elitefreelancing.com/free/25-best-free-wordpress-themes/

Analytics, optimisation & usability
20 fantastic usability and conversion analysis tools
http://spyrestudios.com/usability-conversion-analysis-tools/

55 Google Website optimizer tips
http://www.conversionrate.net/55-google-website-optimizer-tips

10 completely free wireframe and mock-up applications
http://speckyboy.com/2010/01/11/10-completely-free-wireframe-and-mockup-applications/

24 UX articles to start 2010
http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/24-ux-articles-to-start-2010/

Name:Ben Scott

Posts by Ben (92)

6 great ways to ruin your website

Matthew — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:18:52 +0000

Here are a handful of sure fire ways to ruin the user experience for your visitors, increase your bounce rates and make sure you get very few returning visitors.

Random colour palette
With all the free website colour tools available there is no excuse not to have a consistent and pre-planned colour palette throughout your website. Even subtle differences such as a slightly lighter blue in the .gif logo than you used in your

tag can create a sense that something is off and be uncomfortable to look at.

Aesthetically pleasing, easier to read, more professional, clear branding… there are dozens of reasons why you should maintain a consistent colour scheme and only one why you shouldn’t; laziness. For a list of the best colour scheme pickers, read Ben’s blog post about his favourite website colour scheme inspiration & tools

Link to pages that don’t exist
Pages can come and go but it is important that your internal navigation reflects this. Linking to a 404 looks unprofessional and is a sure fire tactic to losing that visitor. To avoid this set up a 404 redirect to a special error page. Avoid redirecting to your home page as the visitor will not know there was an error, only that he’s not where he thought he would be.

Create a .htaccess file (using that exact name) and put it in your root directory with something along the lines of…

`ErrorDocument 404 /404.html`

Don’t check it is compatible across the browsers
The days of designing a website with one or even two browsers in mind is long gone, and even with the movement to kill off IE6, that still leaves IE8, FF3, Chrome, Safari and Opera to think about. If your site breaks in Opera because of the 1,000 visits you get per month ‘only’ 5% of those are using Opera, that is still 50 visitors per month, and if you have a conversion rate of 10%, that’s a potential 5 sales you have missed out on. Designm.ag has a great list of resources for cross browser testing here http://designm.ag/resources/cross-browser-testing/

Intrusive advertising
Too many adverts on the page, pop-ups and pop-unders, and adverts that illicit an epileptic fit no longer have any place on any website. Advanced internet users certainly won’t put up with it and will be quite vocal about it but the more casual internet users are passively annoyed by it too. Integrated text links and clean banners near the content both increase visibility and click through rates without impacting on user experience.

SEO takes priority over your visitors
In all honesty, an unnatural over use of keywords can help a site’s ranking in the search engines. The paragraph below is taken from a real site but with the keyword they are targeting replaced and highlighted with the word ‘Toaster’.

“Toaster services are offered by most toaster providers and are an affordable way for most users to get started with toaster services. Toaster services are the cheapest form of toasters available and it is important to remember that a toasters service is always going to be more expensive than a grill toaster service.”

The search engines clearly love it, but a human being and potential customer it’s just plain odd, tells me very little and is boring to read. It’s not going to convert me. Use of keywords is absolutely vital to be ranked high in the search engines, but using them in your title, a couple of times in the content, and in some anchor text is enough. SEOMoz’s SEO guide for beginners offers some basic tips for writing search friendly text: http://www.seomoz.org/article/bg4#4c

Irregular navigation from one page to another
People don’t want to be made to work out how to navigate your site. They want clear consistent navigation that allows them to find what they are looking for as quickly as possible. Navigation on the “home page” running along the header suddenly snapping to the left on the “about us” page and then back again in the product pages is going to confuse, frustrate and anger your visitors and drive them away pretty quickly.

Name:Matthew Telfer
About:Matthew is Heart Internet's Marketing Manager, and has held senior marketing positions in the web hosting industry for 5 years. With a passion for online marketing, Matthew is responsible for shaping strategy and developing the Heart Internet brand.
Posts by Matthew (242)

9 great GIMP tutorials for beginners

Stu — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:46:39 +0000

This post lists some of the best GIMP tutorials we have come across for beginners looking to flex their design muscles and learn something new and useful to apply to their designs and websites.

If you haven’t already got GIMP you should! One of the most popular blog posts we published in 2009 was Ricky’s “5 Great Open Source Graphic and Web Design Alternatives”. The open source alternative to Photoshop Ricky recommended is GIMP which in his words… “GIMP is almost a ‘clone’ of Photoshop. It works in very similar way with its layers, selections, filters and painting tools. It can even read and write in Photoshop format, making it ultra compatible with your Photoshop using colleagues or clients. The software doesn’t feel quite as polished as Photoshop does, and its text manipulation is a little behind Photoshop’s. But, if you’re like the majority of people who use Photoshop to resize their images, reduce the colours, and maybe add the odd special effect to add a little extra to your websites, then the GIMP is definitely something you should try!”

Now you have the software, what can you do with it?

Creating the light text effect in GIMP
http://puteraaladin.blogspot.com/2008/12/creating-light-text-effect-in-gimp.html

Designing iPod Touch in GIMP
http://bulbing.blogspot.com/2009/04/designing-ipod-touch-in-gimp.html

Round Web 2.0 button with a metal ring
http://gtuts.com/web/round-web-20-button-with-a-metal-ring

Gold text effect
http://gimpology.com/submission/view/gold_text_effect/

Transparent glass lettering
http://gimpology.com/submission/view/transparent_glass_lettering

Fancy glow effects
http://gtuts.com/effects/fancy-glow-effects-in-gimp

Making a pencil drawing from a photo
http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/making-a-pencil-drawing-from-a-photo.html

Mac style wall paper
http://gimp-tutorials.net/mac-wallpaper-tutorial

Turn a digital photo in to Polaroid
http://howto.nicubunu.ro/gimp_polaroid_photo/

If you are still not quite ready for these tutorials the official GIMP tutorials can be found here and we would recommend going through them to learn the basics http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

Name:Stuart Gilbert

About:One of the key members of the Heart Internet Developer team, Stu joined the company in 2008 and has various responsibilities including the development of customer tools, HostPay, and the maintenance of the blog.

Posts by Stu (8)

Interview: thewebdesignblog.co.uk’s Phil Matthews

Matthew — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:32:35 +0000

We had a chat with freelance web designer Phil Matthews (www.twitter.com/philmatthews) about his recently launched UK web design blog www.thewebdesignblog.co.uk, the challenges of writing regular content, his thoughts on the web design trends we will see in 2010 and his tips for anyone looking to set up their own blog…

Could you provide a bit of information about yourself and thewebdesignblog.co.uk?
I’ve been a freelance web designer (www.weymouthwebdesign.com) for nearly six years. In September 2009 I setup The Web Design Blog with the intention of providing web design resources, tutorials, downloads and interviews.

How do you come up with your article ideas and how long does each one take to research and write?
In the strangest of places! I’ve found the best ideas come when I least expect it. I could be sat at my desk for hours wracking my brains for an idea that never comes to fruition. Then, suddenly (normally before I fall asleep at night) an idea for an article will pop in to my mind so I always make sure I have a notepad next to the bed to jot them down for the morning.

Are there any web design trends you are expecting to be big in 2010?
I’m expecting to see a lot more designs push the boundaries of the normal grid and box models and not stick to rigid layouts. The trend for big imagery, logos and headers will probably continue as designers look to provide immediate impact with their creations. I quite like the hand drawn look that has become popular so I’d quite like to try this style out for myself if I get the chance.

The UK has a large and active web design community but why do you think that article/ blog style sites from the USA still dominate so much (e.g. smashingmagazine.com and its network)?
I don’t know for sure. A lot of the big blogs like Smashing Magazine, Web Design Ledger and Web Designer Depot have all earned the right to be at the top because their content and articles are superb. Smashing Magazine has picked up an unfair reputation for writing too many “list articles” but I disagree with this. They have a wonderful archive of resources and information and I love the content they provide.

Although my blog is UK based I try to provide resources that will appeal to everyone. There are so many talented designers all around the world and design is universal!

When you first started the website how did you go about getting people to read your blog?
Initially I just posted links to my Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/philmatthews) which got a small amount of traffic. I’ve been lucky enough to interview some fantastically talented designers for the blog which has proved very popular. They’ve shared lots of advice and stories which have really helped promote the blog to a wider audience.

How big a part does ’social media’ play in raising awareness and driving traffic to your blog?
Quite a bit in fact! Twitter is the main way I promote the blog and articles I publish but I also make sure I submit new stories to sites like Design Bump, Design Float, The Web Blend, Digg and Stumble Upon. I’ve also been lucky enough to have the website featured on CSS Remix which has provided a lot of traffic to the website.

What are the top three tips you would give to someone planning on setting up their own industry blog?
1) Write about something you are passionate about. This could be a niche subject or, like with my blog, a more general subject like web design. Whatever you choose you have to be fanatical about your subject otherwise you won’t have the motivation to keep writing about it. Pick something you love and it will be a lot easier to come up with content.

2) Let your users interact with your website. Providing a place for visitors to post comments on your blog will help you get feedback on what articles are popular, help promote your articles and keep the interest on the story going. Also make sure you provide a way for people to spread the word about each article to all major social networks.

3) Focus on content above everything else. It is easy to focus too much on the things that are less important when setting up a blog. I’d recommend putting the time and effort in to the content first and then everything else should fall in to place.

You use WordPress to power your blog, why did you choose that over all the other blogging and CMS programs available?
I chose WordPress as I’ve used it regularly for client websites so it was the obvious choice. Despite WordPress being a blogging platform I’ve been using it more and more as a full content management system in recent months because it is so flexible to work with. Every time I setup a new website with WordPress I find I learn something new!

Which are the essential WordPress plug-in’s you always use?
One of the best things about WordPress is the huge range of plug-ins that are available. I always use “All In One SEO” and “XML Sitemap” which are invaluable for search engine optimisation. For my blog I found “Related Posts” and “WordPress Popular Posts” were ideal for promoting older content at the end of each article.

Although I’ve been lucky to avoid spam comments (so far) on my blog, I’ve setup “Akismet” in anticipation of this starting in the future. I am currently looking to improve the comments section of my site so I’ll be on the search for some comment enhancing plug-ins soon.

Are there any UK focused resources and sites that you would recommend for beginners and advanced designers?
Grace Smith (www.gracesmith.co.uk) always has really useful design links on her Twitter stream (twitter.com/gracesmith) I also love both of Chris Spooner’s websites www.line25.com and http://blog.spoonergraphics.co.uk which contain tutorials and resources. I’d also highly recommend www.boagworld.com (both the podcast and forum) which is a treasure trove full of knowledge and a must for every web designer!

Thanks for the interview!

Name:Matthew Telfer

Posts by Matthew (242)

Web hosting guides

Matthew — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:13:14 +0000

Over the year we have been putting together a series of web hosting guides covering various aspects of managing a website in detail. Below are links to the current crop of PDF web hosting guides available completely free for anyone to download and use. Note: The links below all open a PDF.

Web Design:

Marketing:

Web hosting resellers:

Resources:

These web hosting guides can be along with our series of beginner’s guide to web hosting

Name:Matthew Telfer

Posts by Matthew (242)

Web designers/ developers: Integrating web hosting in to your existing services

Matthew — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:13:25 +0000

Being able to buy everything from one place is always an attractive proposition to clients who don’t want to have to shop around. If your core product is providing web services for small sites such as banners, logos, HTML emails etc you can easily integrate web hosting in to your product mix.

Attracting your customers
If you already have a client base, the first step is to tell them about the range of services you can do for them. Phone or email your clients with details about your hosting service and why they should sign up. Getting your foot under the table is always the hardest part. To reduce the client’s perceived risk offer them an introductory low price or a scaled down version of your service so you can demonstrate your value to them. A lot of the application developers for the iPhone and iPod touch offer a ‘Lite’ version of the application to get people hooked and wanting more (which they then have to pay for).

If your customers don’t bite straight away or you want to run a promotional campaign, you could consider offering bundling your core product (e.g. web design) and web hosting at a rate cheaper than if they were bought separately. To create a sense of urgency and prompt a quick response, run it as limited time only.

Up-selling & cross-selling
Up-selling and cross-selling are not about the hard sell or getting someone to buy something they don’t really need or want. When done properly the process should almost feel like a service in its own right. One of the best examples online of up-selling and cross-selling is Amazon. Put an item in your basket and you are presented with “Customers who bought this also bought…” with the majority of the suggestions being more expensive items. If you go back to the home page it will have changed to show you items based on your browsing history along with items they feel are associated with that item e.g. putting a men’s skater brand watch in a basket would prompt the site to show jewellery, skater trainers and related accessories. Always keep an eye out for opportunities that may arise from any offhand comments a client may make about needing work in a particular area.

Click here to find out more about our reseller hosting product and features

Name:Matthew Telfer

Posts by Matthew (242)