Articles

How often should you redesign your website?

By Keith on March 29, 2019

At some point you’re going to wonder when it’s time to redesign your website. No matter how much maintenance you put into your site, eventually it’s going to be an antique from the past. Ah, the joys of website ownership – a website is just like owning a house, the “work” is never done. But how […]

Read More »

Logical thinking can hurt your website

By Keith on March 27, 2019

As humans, we love to boast about our intelligent, super-evolved brains. It doesn’t feel like we’re primal animals anymore. Even after millions of years of evolution, we humans still rely heavily on urges, impulses and emotions when making decisions. That’s right, all of that smart research and planning you did before you bought your last […]

Read More »

Find out what people need from your website and make it easy to find

By Keith on March 25, 2019

I think can predict the future I’m going to pull out my crystal ball and make a prediction. The next time you visit a restaurant’s website, you’re going to be looking for one of three things… It’s going to be some combination of: 1 – Location 2 – Menu 3 – Hours That’s my prediction, […]

Read More »

Fail Fast: One advantage small businesses have over larger competitors

By Keith on March 22, 2019

List reader Brian had a thought in response to Wednesday’s letter about failure in business (shared with permission): “A very popular keyword in startup culture is ‘fail fast’. It can be applied in almost all situations and it works at any business level, high or low.” “Failing fast” is something that I try to incorporate […]

Read More »

Repurpose your unused business materials

By Keith on March 18, 2019

As I was driving from my parents’ house over the weekend, I went by a house with a handmade sign in the yard that said: “Topsoil for sale” Makes sense, the homeowners dug up the ground for some project, they don’t need the dirt, so they’re selling it. It reminded me of a business concept […]

Read More »

“You” statements vs. “I” statements on your website

By Keith on March 15, 2019

Every networking event I’ve ever been to feels the same – a room full of people looking to sell themselves. The worst type of person at a networking event is the person that introduces themselves and then immediately goes right into their sales pitch… “Hi I’m John, I’m a web designer. I’m great at making […]

Read More »

Reader Question: Managing Large To-Do Lists

By Keith on March 13, 2019

A list member wrote to me with a question: “Sometimes with my business I see the list of “to dos” and it can seem overwhelming (especially when you’re an entrepreneur and you’re wearing many hats). Instead of looking at that list and saying “tomorrow I will get to it,” can you give tips on how […]

Read More »

“If You Think It’s Expensive To Hire A Professional To Do The Job, Wait Until You Hire An Amateur.”

By Keith on March 11, 2019

“If You Think It’s Expensive To Hire A Professional To Do The Job, Wait Until You Hire An Amateur.” This is one of my favorite quotes. I keep it in the back of my head whenever I need to hire somebody. Take Frank, for example. Frank’s car is making squealing noises so he brings it […]

Read More »

What’s the most important thing on a website?

By Keith on March 08, 2019

When people first come to your website, what do you think are the most important things they look for? A call-to-action? Your services? A detailed “About” page? All those things are important, of course. A productive website is a harmonious balance between many different elements. Like all things in life, there isn’t a one size […]

Read More »

3 Questions You Must Ask For Each Page Of Your Website

By Keith on March 06, 2019

I like to think that whoever designed my inherited washing machine sat down and said to themselves: “How can I make this look as complicated as possible?” I assume that their thought process was to make it convoluted and over loaded with useless features so that it looks more sophisticated (and thus more expensive). Why […]

Read More »

The Lazy Fisherman

By Keith on March 04, 2019

Once upon a time there was a wealthy businessman who took a week vacation to a small beach town. While he sat under an umbrella on the beach, thoroughly enjoying his vacation, he noticed a fisherman launching his small rowboat into the ocean to start his day’s work. After 2 hours, the fisherman came back […]

Read More »

Ask “why” to really impress your clients

By Keith on March 01, 2019

People hire me to make them websites, right? Well, not really. There’s often something deeper that they’re looking for. 90% of the time, when I first ask somebody why they want a website they have a broad answer, like “my current website is old” or “it’s not mobile friendly”. But that isn’t the real reason […]

Read More »