10 Cost Effective Web Development Techniques

I got this off Smashing Magazine who shared this resource from Drew McLellan on Twitter. Man, you’ve got to love social media marketing! Or, as the social media marketing agencies call it; inbound marketing.

I totally love the presentation style but what I do love most is the facts shared in this slideshow. If you haven’t noticed, Drew pointed out numerous times what’s important is planning and knowing your project.

Which obviously is true. The clearer picture a customer tells you of what they are aiming to build or achieve, the more efficient a solution you’ll know of what to use.  Or, do from that point.

And by the way, many interactive companies overseas now offer and request new potential customers to fill in a project specifications document. In this document, you’re asked:

• An introduction of the company.
• Target audience of the users.
• Goals the project should fulfill.
• Preparation of content or stock photos.
• Maintenance terms.
• And, et cetera.

Honestly, as boring as paperwork as it is, I’d normally ask similar questions when I meet my clients on the first appointment. I guess we as people just prefer having speak to someone than interact with our computer.

How would you feel answering a project specifications document with 15-20 questions?

Website Content Trumps Website Visual Design

Being a Malaysia website designer, one of the common comments heard from a client is; there is too much text on the homepage. Well, if you’re the client reading this then here’s breaking news for you.

Website content beats website visual design hands down because of optimization. And, isn’t the next question you’ll always ask the Malaysia website designer; how do I get my website #1 on Google or the first page?

You do it by optimizing the content on your homepage!

But don’t be mistaken, website visual design and website user experience is nearly two different topics. The latter is to plan and strategize your call-to-actions, whereas the other is to focus on your website visual aesthetics.

Therefore, there’s no harm having more text describing your company, its services, its benefits on the homepage of your website. However, I’d like to be clear optimization isn’t only about putting text but optimizing it. Here’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.

And like I told a friend (and client) of mine, it’s not easy finding credible search engine optimization providers in Malaysia. But before that, you’ve a more concerning fact and weakness in your website right now.

Is your website homepage populated with content? Or, did you tell your Malaysia website designer to make it more attractive looking?

WordPress Does Not Support Similar Widget in Multiple Sidebars

Blog layouts have changed from simple 2-column blog layouts into 3 or more columns. WordPress has had the option for you to select and configure the sidebar you choose since I can remember Kubrick. They’ve made it so easy for you to manage the sidebar with drag-and-drop functions they call widgets.

But WordPress blog theme design and development has showed me another limitation to this publishing system when used as a Content Management System (CMS). Have you tried adding the same default WordPress widget into multiple sidebars? In particular, the Recent Comments widget.

Some may ask, why do I need to display the Recent Comments widget in multiple sidebars? Well, I was helping a friend configure her WordPress lifestyle blog; Decorateur.

She wanted to display the Recent Comments on the homepage and the other pages. The challenge here was I needed to widgetize the 2 existing sidebars, which wasn’t difficult. After that, I needed to add the Recent Comments widget to both sidebars so it displays on the homepage and the templates she wanted. This was where I found the limitation.

In the end, my solution was to combine the sidebars into a dynamic sidebar with widget support to distinguish the homepage from other templates. The blog needed a dynamic sidebar because there was some custom styling to certain widgets in certain templates.

I’m sharing this and advicing you to experiment which default WordPress widget actually supports multiple sidebars. Because I know not all WordPress default widgets are affected – like Text widget.

Data Mining is Not Mining for Gold

In case you haven’t heard the term data mining, a simple example is when you subscribe to an email newsletter. The form you fill in with your name and your email is the most common method of data mining. This is the most common method of data mining.

Now, even when you download a free white paper it’s in exchange for the common personal details. Except for WordPress, that is.

Anyway, data mining isn’t mining for gold. Meaning you shouldn’t dig too deep or on the Internet, force your users to give too much personal detail for a single download. Unless, it’s for say the location map to the fountain of youth.

The example above is what made me want to publish this article. I filled up the form out of curiousity and evaluated if the offered white paper was truly worth my personal details. Simple answer, not really.

Put it simply, you shouldn’t dig too deep if your offering isn’t the weight or value of gold. Hence, always ask yourself if you’d exchange the requested personal details in exchange for the offering you are giving your users.

I’ve consulted clients on this before. The smart ones understand and ask for suggestions, whereas the insistent ones later find out not a lot of visitors are subscribing to their offer. Don’t make the same mistake!

What are the most common details you have given in exchange for information?

Pulau Ketam Malaysia Dog Rescue Mission

Humans can be very mean creatures – even, inhuman. The residents of Pulau Ketam had abandoned some 300 stray dogs on a deserted island. According to the rescue mission page on Malaysia Central, half of the number of dogs may have already turned into carcasses and probably are on it’s way no thanks to flesh eating maggots!

Here’s a video recorded by Donald (rescue team member) documenting the inhuman, painful, stressful and hurtful experience of a rescued dog; Grace.

This video was enough to tear my eyes and personally feel anger towards the humans who abandoned these dogs on the deserted island. Mind you, it was mentioned the Pulau Ketam residents did it for RM90 per dog. Even in an economical crisis, I agree with Donald we should probably send these “traders” to a deserted island.

If you’re an avid volunteer or animal activist, please spread the word of this inhuman act. If you love animals (not only dogs) or feel an ache in your heart right now, but are too far away, the Pulau Ketam rescue dog mission needs funds to:

1. Keep the dogs alive (see video below).
2. Hire a boat to travel to the island.

You can find out more about donating to the Pulau Ketam dog rescue team at Malaysia Central. And honestly, I’ve heard ofPulau Ketam to be a nice island holiday in Malaysia. But right now, I’d strongly boycott going there for a holiday – ever.

If you’re a blogger, please tell your readers about the Pulau Ketam Malaysia Dog Rescue Mission. You can also follow updates of the rescue too.