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That’s not to say we’re very expensive. We’re not. In fact, among colleagues we find ourselves to be priced very low and feel we’re very competitive. But on the flip side, we frequently get inquiries from people who are in the market for a website and have no idea where to start, and then are…
The most powerful tool in your marketing arsenal is your knowledge of your business. When clients ask me, what can I do to optimize my site for the search engines, my first response is, “Write a blog.” Let me back up. Last December I went to a Wordcamp conference. One of the sessions was on…
We blog a lot here at Sumy Designs because websites that blog generate more traffic. Writer’s block, or blog block, happens to all of us bloggers every now and then – and we understand how frustrating it can be when your brain is stuck in la la land and you have business to conduct. So I’ve taken…
When you set up a domain name and web hosting, you may be asked at some point to change the nameservers. This terminology throws many people for a loop and scares them into thinking they can’t make that change and need to hire someone. Don’t be alarmed! A nameserver is the same as DNS, AKA the…
I received this question over the weekend, and it made me realize that it’s a great question. These days, everyone uses a smart phone and your website needs to be able to handle that. People on their phones need to be able view your website, and use it easily. So what’s the difference? A responsive…
The transition from web design to print design can be tricky but if you keep a few things in mind, the process can be a smooth transition. DPI or dots per inch resolution. Monitors only need a resolution of 72 DPI whereas print items need at least 300 DPI. Make sure you download images for…
The WordPress sidebar is made of widgets that you can add or edit in the Appearance section of your Dashboard … and the number of sidebar plug-ins available is limitless. It is easy to get carried away with the ease and flexibility but there are a few items that should be included in your sidebar that…
If you are landing here, you may be in the market for someone to develop a website for you. Maybe you’re launching a new book, starting a new business, or just want to write a blog. Those are great reasons to have a website! But, how do you know how to choose someone to set…
Many small businesses don’t figure a photo shoot into the expense of their website and often it shows when profits are not there. A great website is your best marketing tool and with so many websites out there it is important that your website stand out. One of the best ways to accomplish this is with…
This is one of the first questions I ask people when we begin the process of starting a new website. And often times, this stops people in their tracks, because so often they are concerned about what *they* want the website to do, or how they want it to look, instead of what they want…
When people ask me what to include on their website to make it work, I always start with telling them what NOT to put on their site: Just say no to the flash intro. Sure it was cool in the 90s, but today it is annoying to get to a site and have to wait…
Maybe. It really depends on what type of business you have. Is showing your potential customer examples of your work important? Then yes, a photo gallery is great. Some examples of sites that I recommend photo galleries on include: contractors who do renovations or custom builders landscapers artists If you are a business that offers…
Hi, I’m Susan Sullivan. I’m co-owner and web designer at Sumy Designs. I represent the creative side of the Sumy team. This fact will impress you even more when you know I have degrees in English and Anthropology. I graduated from Ball State University many years ago, but not many, many years ago, a distinction that…
When we started out in web design eight years ago, we didn’t use WordPress. We were old school, using lots of Photoshop and lots of HTML and CSS. It wasn’t a bad way to be, but we got more and more requests for blogs (this was before WordPress evolved into a full CMS) that we…
Got a lot of WordPress websites? I do! Since about 99% of all websites we create are with WordPress, as you can imagine, that leaves me with a lot of sites to manage. Each time a client asks for a change, I need to login to their WordPress dashboard and update it. With well over…
Working from home is fabulous on many levels – it also has its challenges, but today’s technological tools make it easier than ever. Sumy Designs has successfully operated from home offices for over eight years so I thought I’d share some of the benefits and challenges and a few of our tips to do it…