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Common Questions from New Web Design Clients

Common Questions from New Web Design Clients

Onboarding, Website Design, WordPress

What makes a great website?

A great website combines several key elements to create an engaging, user-friendly, and effective online presence. Here are some of the most important factors:

  • User Experience (UX): A great website is easy to navigate, with a clear structure and intuitive design. Users should be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
  • Responsive Design: The website should look and function well on all devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. This ensures a consistent experience for all users.
  • Fast Loading Times: Speed is crucial. A slow website can frustrate users and lead to higher bounce rates. Optimizing images, using efficient coding practices, and leveraging fast hosting can help.
  • Compelling Content: High-quality, relevant content that speaks to your audience’s needs and interests is essential. This includes well-written text, engaging images, and informative videos.
  • SEO Optimization: A great website is optimized for search engines, making it easier for potential customers to find you. This involves using relevant keywords, meta tags, and creating high-quality backlinks.
  • Security: Protecting user data and ensuring a secure browsing experience is vital. This includes using HTTPS, secure hosting, and regular updates to software and plugins.
  • Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs): Effective CTAs guide users towards taking desired actions, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or contacting you for more information.
  • Brand Consistency: The website should reflect your brand’s identity, including colors, fonts, and overall style. Consistency helps build trust and recognition.
  • Accessibility: A great website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This involves using alt text for images, ensuring good contrast, and making the site navigable via keyboard.
  • Analytics and Feedback: Using tools like Google Analytics to track user behavior and gather feedback can help you continuously improve your website.

By focusing on these elements, you can create a website that not only looks great but also effectively serves your audience and achieves your business goals.

What questions do you ask a client when starting a new project?

These are some of the questions we’ll ask new clients…

  • Business Goals:
    • What are the primary objectives of your website? (e.g., increase sales, generate leads, provide information)
    • Who is your target audience?
  • Branding and Design:
    • Do you have existing branding guidelines (logos, colors, fonts) that we should follow?
    • Are there any websites you particularly like or dislike? Why?
  • Content:
    • What type of content will you need? (e.g., text, images, videos, blogs)
    • Do you have existing content, or will new content need to be created?
  • Functionality:
    • What specific features do you need? (e.g., e-commerce, contact forms, booking systems)
    • Are there any third-party integrations required? (e.g., CRM, social media, payment gateways)
  • SEO and Marketing:
    • Do you have an SEO strategy in place, or will you need assistance with this?
    • How do you plan to drive traffic to your website? (e.g., social media, email marketing, paid ads)
  • Technical Requirements:
    • Do you have a preferred content management system (CMS), such as WordPress?
    • Are there any specific technical requirements or constraints we should be aware of?
  • Budget and Timeline:
    • What is your budget for this project?
    • What is your desired timeline for completion?
  • Maintenance and Support:
    • Will you need ongoing maintenance and support after the website is launched?
    • Who will be responsible for updating the website content?
  • Competitors:
    • Who are your main competitors, and what do you like or dislike about their websites?
  • Success Metrics:
    • How would you measure the success of your website? (e.g., traffic, conversions, user engagement)

What do you love most about creating websites and hosting them?

I absolutely love helping small businesses and mom-and-pop shops grow their presence online. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how a well-crafted digital strategy can make a significant impact on their business. By enhancing their online visibility, I help them reach a broader audience, which in turn boosts their sales and customer base.

But it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about the people behind these businesses—the families who rely on their success and the local communities that benefit from their services. When these businesses thrive, they create jobs, support local economies, and foster a sense of community. Knowing that my efforts contribute to their growth and success is deeply fulfilling. It’s a joy to see these businesses flourish and to know that I’ve played a part in their journey.

What inspired you to start making websites?

I [Collin] was inspired to start my website design agency out of a deep frustration with the website design industry. I saw firsthand how many small family businesses were being taken advantage of—overcharged for subpar services, locked into unfair contracts, and left without the support they needed to truly succeed online. It was disheartening to see these hardworking families struggle because they couldn’t find a trustworthy partner to help them navigate the digital landscape.

Determined to make a difference, I decided to create an agency that prioritizes honesty, transparency, and genuine support. My goal is to empower small businesses with beautiful, functional websites that help them grow and thrive. By offering fair pricing, personalized service, and ongoing support, I aim to build lasting relationships with my clients and make a positive impact on their businesses and communities.

Why should we choose you to make our website?

Clients, especially small family businesses, mom-and-pop shops, and startups, should choose me as their website design partner because I offer fair pricing and take a proactive interest in their success. I understand the unique challenges these businesses face and am committed to providing them with the tools and support they need to thrive online.

My journey into website design and hosting began with a desire to help these businesses get off the ground and grow. I saw how many were struggling to establish a strong online presence due to high costs and lack of reliable support. This inspired me to create a service that prioritizes their needs, offering affordable, high-quality website solutions tailored to their specific goals.

By choosing me, clients can expect personalized attention, transparent communication, and a genuine commitment to their success. I am passionate about seeing small businesses flourish and am dedicated to being a trusted partner in their journey.

Can you provide your services online or remotely?

We provide website design services remotely, allowing me to help small mom-and-pop businesses all over the US, Canada, and occasionally the UK. My team and I specialize in getting their websites launched and secured with super-fast, reliable hosting, along with ongoing support and maintenance.

With decades of experience in systems and process development, having started creating websites in 1997, we have honed our skills to deliver top-notch services. Our remote capabilities mean that no matter where your business is located, we can offer personalized, high-quality website solutions tailored to your needs.

We are dedicated to continuously supporting small businesses, ensuring their online presence is strong, secure, and effective. Our proactive approach and commitment to your success mean you can trust us to be a reliable partner in your journey to grow and thrive online.

What changes have you made to keep your customers safe from Covid-19?

By working with us remotely, we significantly decrease everyone’s exposure to Covid-19. This approach ensures that we can continue to provide top-notch website design services while prioritizing the health and safety of our clients and team members.

In the rare event that we need to meet face-to-face, we observe strict sanitary practices to protect all of us. This includes wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and using hand sanitizers. Our commitment to these practices ensures that we can safely collaborate and achieve your business goals without compromising anyone’s well-being.

Why Bluehost Doesn’t Suck

Hosting

In response to: http://www.wpsitecare.com/why-wordpress-org-should-stop-endorsing-bluehost/

(the version on this site has been updated to correct some minor typos, and to clarify a few points–to read the original click the link above.)

NOTE: Bluehost customer service / sales chat reps are mostly useless… I have through a series of very frustrating chats with Bluehost support / sales reps, accidentally discovered a rep that is actually helpful: always ask for “Braxton”.
on that note, if anyone finds another helpful rep at Bluehost in any department, please post a comment below.

Several of our clients host with Bluehost. Are they the same as having your own Dedicated or VPS server? NO. They are a commodity level SHARED hosting company.

Does Bluehost work well for MOST WordPress sites? YES — if you have reasonable expectations, and are a responsible website owner…

Ask yourself these questions:

  • Am I using a “shared hosting business pro” account, a “cloud site performance” account, or a “cloud site business pro” account? (and not one of the lower level cheapo accounts)
  • Do I realize that these accounts at Bluehost are SHARED hosting?
  • Do I have a development/testing/debugging server that I can transfer hacked sites to so I can clean them up?
  • Do I clean up my broken site BEFORE asking the hosting company to re-enable my account? — cuz you know, it would be like totally jerk-faced of me to expect all of the other accounts on that shared server to suffer from my irresponsibility.
  • Am I hosting only one (1) site in my hosting account, if my site is high traffic?
  • Am I using a unique username, and not “admin” as my wp-admin username?
  • Am I using the free “WordFence” plugin?
  • Is “WordFence” set to automatically update itself?
  • Am I using the free “Sucuri” Plugin?
  • Do all of my WordPress Database tables start with something other than “wp_”?
  • Do I keep WordPress core up to date?
  • Do I keep all of my installed plugins up to date?
  • Do I keep all of my installed themes up to date?
  • Do I run daily security audits on my site? – or do I wait until my site has become a problem for all of the other accounts on the SHARED Server that I run on?
  • Do I make daily backups of my site to a cloud backup service (Amazon / Dropbox / etc / etc)?
  • Do I make understand PHP (and WordPress Core) well enough to find security holes in Plugins, WordPress Core, and all installed Themes? or do I at least pay a developer that does understand PHP (and WordPress Core) to handle this for me?
  • Do I submit proposed security patches to the Plugin Vendors, WordPress Core, and the Theme Vendors? — and implement them in my own site.
  • Did I use the FREE Sucuri Plugin to “Harden” my WordPress installation?
  • Is SSH enabled in my hosting account?
  • Do I understand Linux and SSH well enough to find NON WordPress based compromises in my Site?
  • Do I know what to do about them when I find them?
  • Do I understand how to use .htaccess to prevent direct code execution in my wp-includes, wp-content and uploads folders? (as well as whatever other folders various plugins create that need to be secured)
  • Do I read the change-logs before I update anything?
  • Do I login to my admin dashboard every day to check for updates?
  • Am I using Plugins or Themes that cannot be updated (because I DON’T HAVE A VALID LICENSE)?
  • Does someone else do these for me? — and do I understand that it is NOT a hosting company’s job to do this for me?
  • Do I realize that is it MY responsibility to maintain and take care of my website? (many blame the hosting company – weird don’t you think — to shirk one’s responsibilities and pass the buck to someone that really has nothing to do with it — that’d be like a Vegan complaining that their Rare Steak wasn’t cooked enough.. makes no sense whatsoever)
  • etc.. etc..

If the answer to any of these questions is NO, then use wordpress.com and stop using the open source community version of WordPress. or Hire someone to do these things for you.

Bluehost is no more insecure than any other commodity level SHARED hosting company. Bluehost only shuts down sites that are problematic for their other customers. (why in the world do people think they can be the only one on the whole planet that is entitled to use any server resources when they are paying less than $20/mo for hosting?)

EVERY OTHER SHARED HOSTING COMPANY SHUTS DOWN SITES THAT ARE BAD TOO.

IT IS NOT YOUR HOSTING COMPANY’S RESPONSIBILITY TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEBSITE. IT IS *YOUR* RESPONSIBILITY TO EITHER MAINTAIN IT, OR HIRE SOMEONE ELSE TO.

There you have it.. My two cents.

And NO, I don’t work for Bluehost. And yes I have several clients at other commodity level SHARED hosting providers. And yes I have several clients with their own VPS / Dedicated server. And Yes I have a few clients that host on their own network of multiple servers.

And YES their sites do get compromised sometimes. And YES they or I fix them. We never ask the hosting provider to do our job.

Collin Mattingly
CollinMEDIA

Read the Reply from Ryan at WP Site Care

Read my Response to that Reply

FYI.. If you are gonna get a bluehost account, get the “business pro” account. (unless you don’t plan on having any traffic or plugins installed.)

Get a business pro account.

Ryan’s Reply

Hey Collin,

Thanks for the comment. Collin’s my son’s name so you’ve clearly got a good thing going there. We actually don’t say Bluehost sucks in our article anywhere. We do comment on how support and reliability have slipped, but even beyond that, this article is a lot more about WordPress.org saying it’s one of the “best and brightest” of the hosting world, which just hasn’t been the case in our experience. Appreciate you stopping by. Don’t be a stranger!

My Response to his Reply

Thanks for the reply.. Perhaps I could have been more clear.. For what WordPress is (and for that matter is not), Bluehost is one of the “best and brightest” SHARED hosting solutions there is for WordPress — mainly because everything else in that realm of hosting is pretty much the same REHL / Cpanel hosting. That said, and more for clarification purposes, if you read the end of my reply you will notice that I have many clients that do not use Bluehost (some have needs that far outweigh the possibilities of Bluehost).

I’d like to clarify a few things, but before I do… perhaps a bit of my background:
13 Years as a Unix / Linux Systems Administrator – with emphasis on Web Hosting, specifically PHP / Apache (or Nginx, and a few others) / MySQL
4 Years as a Visualization / Cloud / Cluster Hosting Engineer – with emphasis on Xen, Proxmox, CEPH, MooseFS, etc.
18 Years as a PHP / MySQL Developer.
5 Years developing WordPress plugins and Themes.

So.. to be very succinct and hopefully a lot more clear…
1. Bluehost is just as good as every other SHARED hosting provider for WordPress (and honestly better than most).
2. The reason most people have issues hosting on Bluehost is that they themselves have not done their part to maintain their websites.
3. The reason Bluehost (and all of the other SHARED hosting providers) shut down accounts (sometimes without notice) is to protect the integrity of the server itself.
3-a. If i lock someone out of my house, it is because I don’t want them causing me problems.
4. If someone has a bad experience hosting WordPress on Bluehost — and that someone doesn’t correct their negligence of their website – the WILL HAVE A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH EVERY SHARED HOSTING PROVIDER.
5. If SHARED hosting isn’t enough for someone’s WordPress site, there are other alternatives.
5-a. SHARED hosting IS enough for MOST WordPress installs, and Bluehost’s specific server setup is among the best of all SHARED hosting providers. (I have personally toured their data center, discussed technical things with their management and their server technicians, as well as with their network engineers.) I have also done this with several other hosting providers. Bluehost – thus far has the best, most stable, and most extendable (without network downtime) setup of all SHARED hosting providers that I’ve extensively looked into.
5-a. I did all that to make sure I was making an informed decision when making a hosting recommendation to my clients.
6. So Bluehost supports WordPress with some kickbacks.. That does not negate their network and setup.
7. Bluehost just recently (late spring 2015 through mid Summer) finished installing a whole load of new, top-level servers for their SHARED hosting customers.
8. I never said that you (or any commentators for that matter) said anything to indicate that Bluehost Sucks — didn’t even use the word Suck or Sucks at all. [Ctrl] + F … for “Suck”
9. Some commentators did actually say that they suck. Well they don’t. Irresponsible webmasters suck.
10. I really was replying more towards the irresponsible webmasters on this thread that B/Flame Bluehost for their own lack of responsibility towards their own website.

Non-the-less, I like your site, and I do appreciate your article.

And to all readers out there… WP Site Care offers these: http://www.wpsitecare.com/plans/

** No I am not an “affiliate” or otherwise related to WP Site Care ** (I just wish people would take some level of responsibility for their website — or hire someone that can)

So, if you don’t want to, don’t know how, or simply can’t take the time to maintain your WordPress site (wherever/however you host it) there is a solution for you… http://www.wpsitecare.com/plans/

Another thought… Saying that Bluehost isn’t among the best in their class of hosting without touring their data center, and interviewing (face-to-face) their staff/management/techs/engineers seems contemplative at best. Actually I thank you for that. People should contemplate these things. (Yes, I realize that this entire paragraph is an assumption on my part… so please correct my assumption if it is unfounded.)

And, the final thought.. Your son has an excellent name — he will grow up to be a well-rounded genius, liked by all. I am sure of it. 😉

My best regards,

Collin.

ps.. Other good hosting providers:
Digital Ocean
Linode
Hostmonster
Godaddy (If you can get past their egregious terms of srevice)
Dreamhost
Aplus.net was good a few years back.. (not sure now, it’s been a while since I investigated them)

p.ps.. My personal experience with “WordPress” optimized hosting has NOT been good, they all seem to have caching problems, and are prohibitive to a whole lot of common and very useful plugins.. like, for example: Woocommerce.