Summer vacation is your time to get away from your work and enjoy life! That's why you are working so hard, right?! But breaking away from the needs of your web design business and focusing on having fun isn't always as easy as it should be. This summer vacation, make a vow to yourself to be more mindful and present in your summer vacation so you can enjoy it and recharge, instead of being distracted by the needs of your business! 1 | Set Limits If you don't have set office hours now is the time to set them! Office hours are a time frame that you will be around your computer, working, and your clients will know you are reachable. Set your hours in whatever way works for you, but do ... // read more
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The Beginner’s Guide to Child Themes (And How They Make Your Web Design Life Easier)
If you've been around WordPress for a while you've probably heard the term child theme. What is a WordPress child theme anyway, and how can it make your web design life easier? Child themes aren't as complicated as they might seem! They are useful tools that help you code less and build amazing WordPress websites. They are a valuable tool that you can use to create a custom designed site or tweak an existing theme. What are WordPress Child Themes? Child themes are really a theme based off of another theme. Child themes use the styles and functions of the theme they are based on and add their own unique styles and functions. One of the more famous examples of child themes is the Genesis ... // read more
6 Ways to Amaze Your Web Design Clients
Giving your clients an amazing website design isn't the only way to leave them speechless! Amaze your web design clients throughout your work with them! By planning your client interaction from start to finish you can ensure your clients have an exceptional experience working with you that leaves them coming back for more and recommending you to all their associates! Here 6 tips you can use to amaze your web design clients. 1 | Welcome Them Your client interaction doesn't just start when they sign a contract with you. It starts from the first moment they encounter you be it on social media, from your website, or in real life! Make sure your first impressions are a favorable one to get ... // read more
How to Improve Your Web Design Work Flow to Grow Your Business
What's the first word that comes to mind when you think of your business's project workflow? Confused? Complicated? Different every time?! If that's you, you aren't alone! I have struggled with my workflow too and let me tell you. It felt like every time I started a new project I had to tweak how I did things. This year that changed. I made it a priority to stick to a schedule and create a project workflow that made sense and worked every single time. Now it's time to get your workflow under control so you can stress less, feel more confident in your process and deliver your clients a consistent (and amazing) experience every single time. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a ... // read more
5 Things That Happen if You Ignore Your WordPress Website Maintenance
You're busy. The last thing you have time to do is make sure your WordPress website is up to date, there are just more pressing priorities! What's the worst that could happen if you just ignore your website's maintenance? I'm sure it would be totally fine...nothing bad will happen, right? 1 | The SLOOOOOW DOWN Over time your website can slow down. You add new content, and comments (don't forget all those spam comments) which takes up space on your website. This can cause your site to slow down. Your WordPress installation, theme, and plugins updates also can address issues by optimizing files sizes and other tweaks to improve performance. The optimizations help your site to run more ... // read more
3 Tips to Work On Your Web Design Business (Not Just In It)
When was the last time you spent working on your web design business? Not, client work, but growing and nurturing your business. Doing all those little things like tweaking your marketing, updating your site, and making sure your own brand is spot on? Getting caught up in client work and everything else that goes into your business can make it difficult to actually spend time nurturing your business. We get stuck working in our business, not just on it. Can you relate? I know when I'm busy with client work my own business takes a back seat. Who has time to write blog posts when clients are waiting? Then when things slow down a bit and you have time to take a breath you head over to your own ... // read more
How to Go on a Summer Vacation From Your Web Design Business (And Still Take Care of Your Clients)
Warm weather and ample sunshine bring thoughts of summer vacation to mind. As a busy web designer, how can you leave your business and go on vacation? I mean, really go on vacation, with no emails. no messages, just you enjoying life beyond your business? How do you go on a summer vacation from your web design business? It is possible, and with these tips, you can set up your business to run on autopilot while you enjoy your well deserved time off. 1 | Plan Ahead. The most important action you need to take is to plan ahead. Select your vacation time and block it off on your schedule! Don't schedule clients, don't schedule phone meetings, don't schedule anything. Treat your vacation time ... // read more
6 Unexpected Ways a Web Developer Can Support Your Design Business
Web developers aren't just there when you need to create a site, there are many more ways a developer can help grow your web design business, and help boost your productivity. You may not have thought of these unexpected ways a web developer can support your web design business! By outsourcing these common tasks to a developer you can spend more time doing what you love and help your web design business grow. 1 | Website Maintenance & Backups A properly maintained website is more secure and runs better than a website that's not. Maintenance is necessary to protect websites from known security issues, and to prevent disasters in case the worst should happen. Backing up your WordPress ... // read more
4 Keys to Restore Your Website after a WordPress Security Breach
Your website is the heart of your business. Protecting it is essential to keeping your business running. No one wants to be the victim of a website hack, but it can happen even if you prepare! If your WordPress website was hacked, here are 4 actions you should take immediately to secure your site and get it back up and running. With these 4 keys to restoring your website after a WordPress security breach, you'll be able to quickly recover your website and get on with life! 1 | Change Your Passwords Immediately. You need to change all of the passwords associated with your website, that includes your WordPress user account, hosting account, domain account, and email account. Change your ... // read more
How to Empower Your Design Business by Partnering with a Developer
You slump back in your chair and rub your tired eyes. The jumbled mess of a website on your screen looks nothing like the pixel perfect mock-up you designed. The client's due date is slowly getting closer with every hour that passes. You should have completed this two hours ago, but that widget won't center and now the rest of the layout is messed up too! This isn't what you imagined, you wanted to create beautiful and perfectly designed websites, not stare at code all day. Can you relate? Imagine your web design business, is it really you frantically search for answers to the latest bug you encountered? Or is you creating a pixel-perfect design which seamlessly turns into a fully ... // read more