Iconset by NeurovitBuilding a web site is easy, developing content is hard. So hard, in fact, that it's the number one reason for delayed or abandoned web projects.

I rely on the following metaphor to demonstrate the importance of content to my clients:

Building a web site is like building a house. I can lay down the foundation, throw up some walls and run the wiring. But it's not until you move in your own furniture that it's going to feel like a home. Your web site content - text, copy, graphics, images - is your furniture. It's what makes your site unique and sets you apart from your competitors.

Communication is key to any successful collaboration, creative or not.

Yet, as designers, many times we forget that our professional lexicon can sound as foreign to our clients as German.

Header, footer, banner, nav, col, resolution, vector, rasterize, DPI, domain name, registrar, hosting... Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

I created the "Anatomy of a Web Site" diagram below to help facilitate conversations with clients about their web sites.  I figured it would be easier to communicate if we spoke the same language.

You don't need me to tell you the real estate industry has been hit hard the past few years.  Even so, Phil Summers and the Summers Realty team have persevered, continuing their 20+ year tradition of excellence.  Serving both the Tallahassee commercial and residential real estate markets, Summers Realty has always been my go-to when it comes to anything and everything real estate.

So when Phil Summer asked me to help him pull together a new site, I jumped at the opportunity.  Since things happen fast in the real estate industry, Summers Realty needed a website they could manage and update themselves.  I suggested the use of a content management system, whereby Phil or any of his agents could add or edit listings on the spot.  After building the initial shell of the site, I trained the Summers Realty staff on how to add content... and off they went!

Business need meets business solution!