How to Stay Close to the Top of Google for Designers and Artists

Posted on November 24, 2009 by itees

Recently, I had a new client call me about a book project. Whenever someone calls me, I always ask, how did you find me? It’s always important to hear about their search, whether word-of-mouth, print or online. In this case, she told me that she searched online for “book designer”, “layout designer”, and “book cover designer” in New Jersey. She said she searched quite a while and didn’t find any NJ book designers until she saw my website. It bothered me right away that it had taken her so long to find me, and I immediately realized my “book” design page needed updating.

I changed the title tag as well as the keywords in hopes that it will now turn up on Yahoo and Google faster. Each page of a website or blog has a page name, searchable keywords, a description, a title tag and may have other tags as well. Blogs also have many tags, and searchable words and links, which is what makes them so search engine friendly. Blogs also get updated almost daily which is what keeps their content fresh.

The problem we face as designers, rather than bloggers, is that our sites are mostly images because we’re displaying our work. The best thing we can do to make these gallery pages search engine friendly, is to name the pages something very specific, such as: green-book-publishing-designs(dot)html. We also need to update the pages of our website often, so the published date is current, and make sure the tags are specific and in order of importance. You can also put in some captions or put tags on the images. You might also create a few pages that are text content rich, and these pages may help send traffic also.

Another tip is, never leave a word space when naming a page. I see this all the time. For ex: green book publishing designs(dot) html. You must use either green-books or green_books (dash or underscore). The web does not understand an empty space, and will fill it with a (20%) and then your page title will look like this, green20%books.

Always remember that the internet is like a gigantic filing system, and the most current and the closest match to your search is what comes up, so update your sites and blogs often, and be as specific as possible.

What Can Graphic Designers Do To Stop Outsourcing?

Posted on November 20, 2009 by itees

What can “United States Graphic Designers” do, to get back the jobs that are going outside the country?

A few days ago I posted a discussion on one of the groups on LinkedIn and the comments are flying back at me. I’ve heard from designers around the country and some abroad have responded as well, all telling their thoughts on this matter.

The original discussion was about an article I read and blogged about which said there were over a quarter of a million graphic designers in the United States alone.

There are two main topics right now, in this discussion:

1- Are there people out there who are just calling themselves graphic designers and when did the profession get so watered down?

I’ve heard comments such as, “I saw an ad posted looking for a locksmith (2 yrs exp. required) and a graphic designer (1 yr exp. required).” or there have been comments saying that a secretary was working as the company’s graphic designer as well as typing and filing.

When did being a graphic designer lose it’s respect and how can we gain that respect back? Of course, there will always be clients who value good design, if they didn’t, we’d all be out of business. Still, it’s hard to compete with online job sites that post opportunities and we’re competing around the world for these jobs. If someone bids $8-12 an hr, how can I compete with that? If you notice on these websites, a client can be looking around the globe and select that they want a “low price over quality.” (Why would someone choose low quality in the first place? This shouldn’t be an option.)

How about on these sites doing something for the designers? How about posting an area so clients know how many years you’ve been in business, or if you’ve won awards? How can a client tell the difference between someone who’s just graduated, is doing it as their side job or someone who’s been working for 25+ years and it’s their business?

2- Outsourcing from the United States.

There were so many comments about this and understandably. Someone posted that to keep costs down in book publishing, they’re hiring the work to be done in India or the Philippines and paying as low as $2-5 a page. And that’s got to be one of the reasons our economy is down. I don’t know how we’re going to compete on this playing field, because it sure isn’t a fair one. The cost of living in the U.S. commands our hourly wage being higher than $12 an hr. Aside from the costs being ridiculously low, there’s also the time involved. What used to allow for months to be created, now is done in a flash. People post assignments all the time saying for example: “I need an e-commerce website to sell my 150 products and it must launch in 48 hrs.” These people are obviously nuts.

I remember years ago when I was an art director/designer in book publishing, even then we had no time to design the covers for the current season. We’d be given a list of maybe 100-150 titles and roughly 6-7 weeks to produce covers for them all. Not only were there mysteries and novels to be read before we could even assign them to designers or illustrators, but we had cookbooks, gardening and sports books all needing photo shoots. It took a lot of over-time you can be sure.

Today, we also have the crazy situation of templates or themes. Everywhere we look we have web design, blog, brochure, and postcard themes. Anyone can jump onto a browser, call up one of these sites and just start “designing.” UGH! is all I can say about that!

Doesn’t anyone care about having something original anymore? Doesn’t anyone care about branding? Is it only the fortune 500 companies that understand this?

In this terrible economy, I may be outbid from designers outside the country, or people who’re bidding low and think they’re designers, but I’m sticking to my business plan and will make sure my clients know they’re getting my experience and a quality product!

Yes, Graphic Designers Can Create Both Print Marketing & Websites

Posted on November 19, 2009 by itees

Why don’t clients realize that someone they are currently working with, might be able to do more than they think? Yes, just because you hired us to design and build your website, doesn’t mean we do not know how to design a brochure or a book!

I just emailed a client of mine, whose website I designed and maintain. They are a book publisher. I know that recently their graphic designer/art director left, and so I thought I’d ask who was designing for them now? The client emails back and says they’ve found some designers in CA and IL who are working on designs and she hopes it works out, but they’ll be looking for a general graphic designer for that and brochures also, and did I know of anyone? HELLO?

Are they telling me that after working for them for the past few years, they have no idea what I do? Unbelieveable. This shows that we really need to educate our clients, on all areas of our capabilities.

The next thing to question is, why didn’t the graphic designer/art director that left recommend me? Had he never looked at my portfolio either?

There are valuable lessons to be learned here. First, no matter how long you’ve been in business, or how long you’ve been working for a client, make sure they are aware of all the ways you can design for them. Be sure to write and inquire once in a while how they’re doing, and if they need any help with anything.

I send out a newsletter every other month, and it shows some of the projects I’ve been working on. You can be sure, I’m adding this client to my email list, right now, if they’re not already on it, and I’ll be writing a newsletter immediately explaining this very issue.