1. There are plenty of designers out there desperate for a decent front-end developer. If you know HTML, CSS (especially media-queries and other modern wizardry) and Javascript of some kind, there is plenty of work out there.

2. Marking up someone artwork, while having no input in the design, is seriously frustrating.

3. People still use Internet Explorer 7. So progressive enhancement is a must for anything clever.

4. Two screens are a must if you want to get anything done.

5. If you’re thinking of employing the services of a web developer, always let them choose what software will power your site..

6. HTML emails are a nuisance. If the design you want for your email isn’t similar to something in Mailchimp’s gallery, it’s either not possible or not advisable

We’re currently growing to love Drupal and the lovely grabaperch because instead of creating pages in which anything goes, they allow us to create templates in which specific content (times, prices, adverts, images) is always displayed how we imagine it. So we can do what we do best (design iconic websites) and clients can do what they do best (generate tip-top content).

All the research suggests, the way people read online is completely different to how the read offline, consequently the copy you provide online should be different.

There’s stacks out there, but for those getting started, here are some basic guidelines we provide our clients:

Keep it relevant

People reading online, don’t have time to read about your great aunt Sally. Leave it out. Conversational stuff like this can be helpful in conveying your brands personality, put publish it on a blog or Twitter, not on your services page.

One idea per paragraph

Keep it short and sweet. People don’t read web pages they scan them, so short, chunky paragraphs beat long rambling ones.

Use action words

Avoid the passive voice. Tell people what you do and keep the flow of your pages moving.

Formatting

Use lists instead of paragraphs, they’re much easier to scan. Keep sentences short, using only the words you need to get your point across.

Include subheadings to help readers scan to the sections they’re interested in rather than get bored and move on. Include links and make them part of the text

Proofread your work

Typos and spalling errors (see what I did there!) make you look silly and unprofessional.

If you want to read more there are some great tips about writing for the web over on Web Designer Depot »

Both pieces are being letterpressed and the business cards will also be edge painted, so fingers-crossed the end result will be really special. We can’t wait to get the finished pieces in our sweaty little palms but for now we just wanted to share a sneak peek of the artwork (all done in-house) and promise to update with a couple of shots of the finished articles once they’re here.

We wouldn’t call ourselves experts in the fields but here is an introduction to the different packages available.

Shared hosting

As the name suggests, shared hosting means your site sits on a server with other sites (usually hundreds). It’s cheap as chips, but performance and security suffer. If one site goes down, then it usually drags the rest down with it.
Costs: £5 per month
Suitable for: Static, non-critical sites with low level traffic

VPS

A stepping stone between a shared and dedicated hosting package. A server is partitioned into multiple chunks and each chunk given an allocation of the server’s resource, so even if someone else’s site goes down, yours won’t suffer.
VPS also gives you added control over software, security and configuration.
Cost: £25 per month
Suitable for: Small and medium businesses needing content managed or e-Commerce sites

Dedicated hosting

The bees knees. You get an entire server to yourself and can do what you like with it. But with added power comes added responsibility!
Cost: £25 per month
Suitable for: Companies who outgrow a VPS or new companies who have the need and the money.

Other stuff to look out for

Security
If you’re asking users to transmit sensitive information, you’ll need an SSL certificate.

Databases
If you’re looking for a content managed or e-Commerce site, you’ll need a database. We mostly use MySql databases which are the most popular.

Support
At some stage you will need to contact your host. Make sure you’re comfortable with their support arrangement.

Server config
Most servers run Apache in combination with the Linux operating system, MySQL and PHP (LAMP). This is the most popular combination because:

• It’s cheap as chips (no software licensing)
• It’s secure
• It’s easily configured

The other option is Microsoft’s IIS setup and though there are some advantages the major downpoints are its cost and the increased likelihood of malware attacks.

On big sites, I can imagine it would get pretty irritating. But for smaller sites, which are quickly trying to get the users attention it makes a great impact. We recently used this technique when building a site for Rob Bell and his forthcoming book tour using Stellar.js . Take a look »

The above screenshot is from a the analytics account of a recent client whose site receives around 20,000 visitors a month. The screenshot shows that as well as doubling the number of visitors on the site over the last year (well done you!), the percentage of people accessing the site on a mobile device has nearly doubled and now makes up around 45% of the site traffic.

If you’re planning a new website, you need to consider people who are going to access your site using a tablet or smartphone. This is something we learned when working with edgeofmyseat on the redevelopment of the Greenbelt website. It was imperative that people who visited the site via Twitter or an email on their mobile had a great experience, so instead of building the site to a fixed width we made the site responsive, so the width of the site adjusted depending on the size of the window in which it is being viewed.

This site, along with most of our recent work, is responsive too, so if you’ve no idea what we’re talking about, resize your browser window and see stuff magically hop around.

We’ll add to these articles over time but to get started over the next few weeks we’ll try and cover:

• The basics of Search Engine Optimisation, and why you shouldn’t pay someone for this
• A primer on why designing for mobile matters (Done. See Why Mobile Matters)
• Advice on getting your first website
• Guidance on writing copy for the web
• Hosting (Done see Website hosting)