Free Websites are Bad Websites

I read this on a forum toady about free websites:

[Free websites are] a horrendous idea. Badly designed websites, lack of maintenance, and zero internet marketing is a sure-fire way to lose business. Better to have no website than a cookie-cutter one. That’s why you hire an expert. It’s akin to giving away free wood and some nails, under the banner of “free houses”, and then expect the average person to build a house with it. Internet marketing is about differentiating your brand from “the other guy”, not looking exactly like them…

Google visits Troy

Only 52% of New York small businesses have websites! Google is doing a good job of increasing awareness of the importance of a website (not to mention being lucrative), but to offer a three-page website for free for a year isn't enough. Free websites simply can't perform the way a custom, individualized site can. Remember, "you get what you pay for."

Left Brain / Right Brain

I'm beginning to think that good website design is impossible. Of course, it can't be, because it's done all the time, but for one person to do it well is almost impossible. This is why: You have to be both-brained. "Left brain" people usually write with their right hand and are generally more analytical, mathmatical, and scientific. These are the people who are good at writing computer code and hand coding HTML and CSS. A WYSIWIG interface is something they scoff at because it is for the "amateurs." "Right brain" people usually write with their left hand and are generally more artistic, creative, and perceive things more visually. These are the people who are good at creating illustrations and combining elements together for just the right look on a web page.

But here's the thing: you need to have both be equally good for great web design. I've seen countless sites that are coded correctly yet are completely dull. I've also seen (admittedly fewer) sites that are interesting visually, yet the viewer is not sure what the site is even about. It appears you have to be "Both-brained" to be a good website designer. Now, I'm right-handed, but I consider myself to be more right-brained. It's very easy for me to mock up a design in Photoshop, FIreworks, or even PowerPoint, yet when it comes time to actually turn it into a website, things get more difficult. Lately, I've had to do a lot of research on the internet to learn the code for certain CSS structures to get a website to look the way I want it to. The problem is that so many of these coding sites are written by left-brain people - and I can't understand what the HTML they are talking about!

Please, God, make me Both-Brained. And fast.

Starting a business is not easy

So I went to the bank today to set up a checking account for CT Graphics. I now have to register my business with Schenectady county before I can open an account. SO I have to do that. Plus, I got my business cards, and even I can'r read them. My mistake, but now I have to get them reprinted. ARgggg. Plus, Google Ad Words does not take Discover cards. And, Facebook Ads just don't seem to work at all. Maybe I'm just having a bad day.....

Funny Video

Square

Here's something I hate about web designed - it's made for squares. I don't mean nerds, I mean that the actual div tags are actual squares. This means that I literally have to "think outside of the box" in order to break out of that boxy feel most websites have. Curves and non-straight patterns are tough.

Up and Running

OK. I worked until 2:00 AM on this site - as soon as I got it up and running, I started to tinker and change the layout. Of course.

We're just getting started

I'm just about to put ctgraphics.info online. Hope something happens.