My name is Hilary Quinn. I’m an Irish freelance web designer, based in Cork City.
I have just set up another website where you can direct enquiries to if you wish, Proximo Web Design will be my new alias! I have another excellent freelance web designer on board, and a person to liase with clients for me, so it’s very exciting!
I’m including some examples of my web design and my photography on this site, as an on-line portfolio of my work.
Hi!
Free stock photos and illustrations at www.freestockmagic.com , free to join, easy to use, and looking for uploaders!
I got an honourable mention for a photo comp I can’t even remember entering!
Ok, maybe I am ranting and raving at the moment, but it needs to be done!
So many people making an enquiry for a web site, just want it cheap. They don’t seem to ask the question, so what am I getting for my money? In fact, most people don’t seem to care as long as it’s cheap.
This bothers me hugely. You have to see your web site in terms of value. As in:
A good web designer pays for themselves. That is, a good web designer that does search engine optimisation. As long as there is a market demand for the product or service you are supplying, a search engine optimised web site will pay for itself.
Why? Because it will come up in google multiple times for related searches, and once someone does click into your web site, that is where the professional design, relevant content, and enquiry forms kick in. Again, your web designer has already made sure you will appear in search engines, now the task is to get a sales enquiry from as many visitors as possible.
Your web designer will achieve this by providing an incentive to enquire.
This can be through a ‘feel good’ factor. Whereby the design and content reflect the friendly and unintimidating nature of the company, thereby providing an incentive to enquire.
It can be achieved by simply having an enquiry form attached to every article, so that the visitor, having found the content they were looking for, as they read it, they are presented with a form where they can request further information on this topic.
It can be achieved by having some kind of selling point displayed on the page, whether this would be the testimonial of a happy customer, or the latest news about an award your company has recieved. Little titbits of information like this, placed around relevant content, can also maximise your enquiries, just giving people the final nudge they need to place their trust in your company.
So, as you can see, there are many techniques you can use to get as many sales from your web site as possible, so let’s get rid of this ‘I want it cheap’ mentality, and let’s make that, ‘I want value and a return on my investment’.
So, I used to try and keep up with web design trends.. and I still do from a design point of view. I have to say though it is EXHAUSTING!
One day its cool not to have a drop-shadow, the next day it’s not.
One day it’s cool to use lots of gradients, the next day it’s not.
One day it’s cool to use 770px width, the next day it’s not.
One day Web 2.0 is cool, the next day it’s not.
One day fake glossy is cool, the next day it’s not.
I can’t do it any more people! I don’t want to get stuck in a rut of designing the same thing over and over, that’s why I try to make every web site I build different, and sometimes that means breaking the rules.. at the end of the day, the only thing that matters to me is that the web site I have designed, pulls in business and makes people want to use the company it represents.
I just want to give people the best start possible for their business, maybe I’m a bit of an anarchist, but I think everyone should have a chance to work for themselves and make a decent living that way. Even just speaking for myself, I know my web site has given me, not just a better profile overall, but works harder than I do to advertise my services and pull in potential clients 24/7.
Anyway, those are my thoughts right now!
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A really nice stock photo site, that I am a member of, is calling it a day..
I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t find a buyer for the web site, since they have many members and photos already on the site, it’s a pity someone else couldn’t take it over and see if they could give it more time.
Anyway, commiserations guys, and if at first you don’t succeed..