The blog (and general ramblings) of a freelance web designer

I get so many clients asking me about SEO. “How can I be number 1 in Google for my keywords?” – well, the truth is, there really shouldn’t be a ‘method’ to this. Google are trying to make everything as natural as possible, and whilst other companies and I can help you to improve your […]

Anyone who has been following my blog or been on my site will know that I currently do something called Freelance Friday. It’s an initiative where I give one day of my time each month to a small/medium sized charity and help them to develop their digital strategy and work out a method of growing […]

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Laura and Gillies at Fiuran Property (the very best estate agents in Oban, in my opinion) for their kind blog post about me. Read the blog post here: http://www.fiuran.co.uk/website-designer/ It is always so lovely to hear from happy clients, and especially nice to hear that the […]

I am looking for one or two junior level freelancers to come in to my new office space (which is based in Wimbledon TV Studios) and work with me on a variety of projects.

Contrary to my previous blog post, I can also think of a million reasons for you to NOT become a freelance web designer. Some people are fantastic designers or developers, but just cannot manage the business side of things. These are 10 reasons why being a freelancer may not suit you.

I can think of hundreds of reasons to be a web designer, and even more to be a freelance web designer – but you have to make your choice carefully. Being freelance isn’t just about being good at what you do. You have to know how to run yourself as business. It isn’t enough to […]

Yes, this week, I’ll be doing my Freelance Friday on a Wednesday – I’m very accommodating like that. I’ll be working with the fantastic Alive and Kicking for the day, helping them to devise a solid digital strategy for the coming 12 months and help them to work out the best ways of revamping their […]

There are hundreds of tips, hints, tidbits and rules when it comes to selling your stuff online. If you are thinking of moving into the world of e-commerce with your product, the biggest trap you can fall into, is assuming that when your site goes live, you will start to make sales. It’s like a […]

Having a store with a low conversion rate is a real kick in the teeth. You know you have great products, you know they should be flying off the shelves… but what is happening? Follow these 5 simple rules, and you should see your conversion rate improve dramatically.

I get asked this on an almost daily basis. And the answer is: Exactly the right amount to make it work. There is no magic answer to this question. Us web designers and web developers, we don’t quote projects up per page anymore, those are days of the long ago past.

Yes, yes, I know. I haven’t posted on my own blog in months. November was the last post, and although I have the best will in the world to write a weekly blog post, I just get way-laid with client work.

Building on the stuff from Episode 1, another question that I get asked A LOT, is ‘how much will it cost me to rank on page 1 of Google for my keyword?’. This question is usually followed by my reply of ‘How long is a piece of string?’. I know, it isn’t very helpful, is […]