Here is a basic overview of little things that really bugged me on “professional designers and developers” websites.
Leaving watermarks on images
This is from a real designers website…I haven’t the heart to contact them about it.
Seriously, as soon as a client sees something which has possibly been stolen from another person website, they will just assume you will screw them over and they will avoid you.
No Easy way to contact you
I love seeing a lovely portfolio with some clearly fantastic work, but it sucks when I can’t get a quote. Clients will tend not to bother poking around (or doing a WHOIS) for a way to get in touch.
Make sure you have a big “Contact me for a quote” link somewhere.
No Portfolio
Clients tend to like to see you can do to check that you can actually do what you say. Make sure you have an accessible portfolio of work. If you need to build a portfolio, do some work cheap or even free.
“So are you a company or a guy in his basement”
Be honest with clients, if you’re a one man band, tell them! Clients will not punish you for not being a large corporate company (in fact, most companies will see you as lower cost labour).
Try and make your website reflect the amount of people who you work with. In some cases being a small company (or even a sole trader) can allow you to have a blog, twitter or even be a little more informal.
Invalid Code
If your website does not work in the client’s browser (which will always be IE6, because clients are idiots) it is unlikely the client will think your worth £500 per hour. Make sure you cross browser test and use good CSS (also, advoid tables).
