Jack Read

Hiring the right web designer can make all the difference to your business. But with so many options out there, how do you choose the right one? Our latest blog covers 10 practical tips for hiring a website developer or designer. From defining your goals and reviewing portfolios, to understanding technical skills, SEO, and ongoing support – we’ve got you covered. We also highlight the importance of location, communication, and experience, so you can make informed decisions that suit your budget and objectives. Read the full guide here: https://lnkd.in/e9HYYRUa #WebDesign #WebDevelopment #SEO #DigitalMarketing #WebsiteDesign #SmallBusiness #WebsiteTips #ContentStrategy #UserExperience #WebsiteDevelopment #LocalBusiness #TidyDesign #OnlineMarketing #BusinessGrowth #HiringTips

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Another week in the life of a web designer. Every week is so different! Lots of little changes for current clients, a change of email address here and some documents added there. A couple of clients retiring, which is sad for me as they were such lovely customers, but it makes me happy to see them embracing their new lives. One meeting with a CEO who wants me to rebuild his site, but he said that before that happened he was going to bring in a consultant to define their target audience and web strategy. ‘But that’s exactly what I do!’, I said. Within an hour we’ve: ·        clarified who the site is actually for ·        untangled mission language that sounded impressive but wasn’t clear ·        mapped the primary user journeys ·        identified what needs to sit on the Home page and what doesn’t With: ·        no personas workshop ·        no 30-page slide deck Just structured thinking and long experience as both a coder and an analyst. And one meeting with a business owner who has three separate income streams. Each needs online booking and payments, but each works slightly differently. That brief sounds simple, but it isn’t. It meant: ·        designing three distinct user journeys ·        keeping the experience coherent ·        selecting the right booking tools ·        understanding payment processors and their fees ·        ensuring GDPR compliance ·        avoiding a system that overwhelms the team ·        keeping everything within budget ·        automating where possible so admin doesn’t spiral That’s not just picking a plugin to do it all, it’s infrastructure, risk management and operational realism. And after all that, with any luck, I’ll get to “just knock up a couple of websites” because that's all that this job is, isn't it?

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jQuery 4.0 Launch Well done to the jQuery Team on the release of jQuery 4.0, timed to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of John Resig unveiling the JavaScript library he had created. On IProgrammer, Ian Elliot reminds us that jQuery is still JavaScript's standard library and reports that with the new major version, jQuery has been brought up-to-date and can still help JavaScript developers "write less, do more."

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One of my web design colleagues and I (he's been going 20 years) have seen a small shift recently to the DIY website creation, and yesterday, one particular client of his had changed the absolutely incredible website he had created for them into what can only be described as an absolute amateur mess. 🤦🏻 I had this happen recently too and the disappointment and sadness is hard to take. We both spent around 20 minutes going through all that had been lost. It wasn't minor. 😥 They had missed so much including: ❌ Call to Action buttons ❌ User Journeys ❌ Image sizing - leading to blurred images ❌ Responsiveness - What does the website look like on smaller screens. ❌ 301 re-directs ❌ Alt Tags ❌ Title naming ❌ Meta Description ❌ Internal Linking ❌ Choice of WordPress theme I love cars and have a passion for them but I would never attempt to repair a Lamborghini 🛠️, so why did they decide to make the change .... and make it worse. They thought they were saving money. 💴 And for the re-build they did. But they may have just cost themselves a whole lot more than that.... .... their ranking and reputation as a premium brand. Success takes time to build and can be lost in an instant. Don't put your business at risk. #callaprofessional #webdesign

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Something odd happened to me this week that I think every web designer and developer should be aware of. I received a seemingly normal enquiry through my website contact form: “Hello, how can I get in touch with someone about improving my website?” Nothing unusual there. After replying, I received a very professional email from someone claiming to represent a company called Choice Organics. They explained they were looking for a WordPress developer to implement improvements, shared a timeline, and asked me to review their staging environment so I could provide a quote. So far, it looked like a completely legitimate project enquiry. They sent a staging login link and asked me to access it using Google OAuth as part of their “internal SSO system”. That’s when things started to feel off. The staging URL looked like it belonged to WP Engine, but the domain structure didn’t quite match what you normally see. When I attempted to sign in, Google threw a connection error before I entered my password. That prompted me to take a closer look. It turns out this is a phishing technique targeting freelancers and agencies. The goal is to get developers to authenticate via Google and approve permissions, potentially granting access to their Google account through OAuth. In my case, I stopped before entering my password or approving access, so nothing was compromised. But it was a good reminder that even well-written, professional enquiries can be malicious. A few takeaways for other developers and designers: • Be cautious when a “client” asks you to log into a staging site with Google authentication just to review a project • Always check the actual domain structure of staging links • If something feels slightly off, pause and investigate before proceeding • A legitimate client can always provide a public staging link or temporary credentials Scammers are clearly getting more sophisticated and are increasingly targeting freelancers. Has anyone else in the web/dev space come across something similar recently? #webdevelopment #wordpress #freelance #cybersecurity #webdesign

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For most web designers, building a great-looking website is only part of the job. Clients increasingly want more than clean layouts and responsive pages, they want enquiries, leads and proof that their website is actually doing something for their business ... #WebDesign #EffectiveWebsites #LeadCapture #BusinessGrowth #ResponsivePages https://lnkd.in/ek29PpyV

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I'm not talking about who makes changes to your website or web pages. But if something was to go wrong on your website, who do you have in place to sort out any issues? You? Your colleague? Your Spouse? Your mate? Or so you not bother and just leave as it is in the sheer hope that you'll be one of the lucky ones? I am still pretty raw from last week, after having to rescue a new client from a Wordpress website that had been compromised. It was a very long and messy job. In the case of this particular site, it was about 16 years old and had seen volunteers and helpers come and go but no one really had a hand in keeping an eye on it. In this case, keeping everything updated and checking regularly for out of date plugins. The cleanup took about 2 days in total and involved a lot of random files being removed, checks and scans. Today I am glad to say its clean, but jeez that was a long and arduous task! WordPress is one of the best content management systems there is, it is also the most popular to exploit. If you are one of the few that sticks their head in the sand until there's an actual problem, then you are a ticking time bomb. We can provide an online (or onsite training session) for up to 2 people to ensure that your website stays up to date, performing at its best and stays secure. Don't leave your website exposed in this way, take action today. My link is in the comments.

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You're losing potential clients right now, and you don't even know it. They land on your website. They're interested in your financial advice, accountancy services, or mortgage expertise. They're ready to enquire. But then they hit your contact form. Too many fields. Unclear next steps. No obvious way to just pick up the phone and talk to someone. So they leave. And they enquire with your competitor instead. In financial services, where trust and personal connection matter enormously, complicated enquiry processes are killing your conversion rate. Every unnecessary form field is a barrier. Every unclear instruction is a reason to abandon. Here's what's going wrong: Complicated contact forms that ask for too much information upfront. Potential clients don't want to fill in 15 fields just to ask a question. Keep it simple: name, email, phone, brief message. That's it. Unclear next steps after someone submits an enquiry. What happens now? When will you respond? Who will contact them? Transparency builds confidence. Only one contact option. Some people prefer email. Others want to call. Some like booking systems. Offer multiple routes: phone, email, contact form, and ideally a calendar booking link. Hidden contact information. Don't make people hunt for your phone number or email address. Display them prominently on every page, ideally in the header or footer. No indication of response times. If someone enquires, when can they expect to hear back? Setting expectations reduces anxiety and builds trust. The solution isn't complicated. Make it ridiculously easy for prospects to take the next step: ✅ Simplify your contact forms to essential fields only ✅ Display your phone number and email prominently on every page ✅ Offer multiple contact methods (phone, email, booking system) ✅ Explain clearly what happens after someone enquires ✅ Set response time expectations ✅ Make your primary call-to-action impossible to miss Every finance professional we work with faces this challenge. The ones who get it right see significantly more enquiries. The ones who don't wonder why their website traffic isn't converting. Your website might be getting visitors. But if your enquiry process is unclear or complicated, you're losing them at the final hurdle. Make it easy. Make it obvious. Make it simple to say yes. #FinancialAdvisers #WebsiteConversion #AccountantMarketing #LeadGeneration #FinanceSector

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There’s a lot of fuss about digital ID‘s in the UK and one of the major concerns appears to be centralised data. But honestly? The problems already here. Have you ever heard of HMRC Connect? It’s part of a multi-layered partially AI powered tool that pulls information from all sorts of government departments and public sources like social media. HMRC officially uses this for fraud detection and investigating potential tax evasion. In reality Connect has access to almost anything: - Claims you’ve made with DWP - Cars registered with DVLA - If you ever bought or sold a house (Land Registry) - When you enter and leave the country (Home Office and Border Force) - Your bank and savings accounts - Your pensions - Your social media history - Your credit history - and many more things from insurance, to companies house, and even eBay and Airbnb are monitored And you really think that Digital ID is a privacy issue? Whoops.

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Businesses don’t just have a new website for the sake of it. It needs to solve a problem, for the business owner and their customers.

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If your website looks nice but does not convert, this week’s blog might help you see why. I discuss in the post what great web design really means for coaches and consultants, and how small changes can lead to more enquiries, whether you’re in Bicester, Southend or further afield. #webdesign #womeninbusiness #southend #bicester

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I’m getting very concerned about the influx of AI agents being introduced into business workflows. Sure it can help manage some tasks for you, but if you give it access to your email, phone, credit card, client list what happens when it accidentally commits a crime, threatens a difficult client or spends your entire budget in a day? Who’s legally responsible? You? The Agent? The creator of the technology? Clearly we’ve blown past the clear copyright infringements of using AI, but I’d love to hear a lawyers thoughts on the liability of agents acting on your behalf. Who gets fired or goes to jail?

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I have seen lots of people posting about the Government rebrand saying they can't believe they've spent £500k 'moving a dot' and changing the colour. But that is not the whole story. There's so much that goes into a rebrand - it's not just a logo. Defining the brand's vision and goals, understanding the audience, messaging and voice, colour psychology, imagery and assets - and how all of that is used across customer touchpoints and platforms. What do you think?

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