QUICK TIPS

A good website isn’t the same thing as a beautiful one, which is an odd thing to say for someone who designs them for a living.

It’s not the pretty logo, or a pile of SEO heavy pages. It isn’t even the awesome photos, though of course those matter, they’re a great multiplier on everything else the site does, they just don’t book anyone on their own.

A good website is simply one that converts people, that gets you inquiries and bookings.

So when you look at your own site, the useful question is whether it’s bringing you work. Whether you like looking at it is a different question, and a much easier one to answer.

When did you last check what yours is actually bringing in?

Your website is probably quoting two different numbers of years.

I’m rebuilding a site at the moment where the experience claim turns up four separate times: 25+ years on one page, over 20 on another, over 8 somewhere else, and over 6 years full-time in the FAQ.

Nobody sits down and writes four numbers. You write one on the page you happen to be building that month, and it’s true that month. Then you build another page later on and write the number that’s true by then, while the first one sits where you left it.

So the number ends up saying more about when the page was last opened than about you. Someone who spots two of them isn’t going to sit there working out which is right, they’ll just start wondering, quietly, whether you’re even still shooting.

It’s also the one thing your designer can’t fix for you. I can find all four, I just have no idea which one is right.

So pick one. And if part-time and full-time are both true, say both in one sentence instead of scattering them across the site.

How many years does YOUR site claim, and do the pages agree?