Hello all,

OK, here's the score... as some of you know I currently work two and a half days a week, which is financially not a good place to be.

I've decided that I may as well make use of the skills that I am not currently using and as such have decided to try my hand at web design... it's something that I can do and there does appear to be a market for it.

I'm not giving up my day job, as obviously I do need the regular income, so will be doing this along side my job until it either takes off or... errr doesn't.

One of the problems I'm having is coming up with a trading name. I had originally thought of "VELLA WEB DESIGN" but then Mrs V suggested "VELTECH WEB DESIGN" and, while I actually like this name, someone suggested that it sounds too much like a rude word...

So, that's my main sticking point at the moment... a bloody name! Obviously, if anyone out there who does have experience of working for themselves, (I'm going down the sole-trader route) has any advice or suggestions about pretty much anything, I am always happy to listen to advice, so please feel free to put any pearls of wisdom here.

I have uploaded the latest version of my site to a temporary address... there are a couple of pages which need some work, but if anyone would like to have a look, the address is:

http://www.johnvella.netai.net (don't try this, it's not playing nice at the moment... a good reason why "free" websites are not to be trusted!

Try this instead: http://vellawebdesign.webs.com/

By the way, I don't think this counts as advertising, as I am asking for some advice from my fellow x-404ers, and it's not like I joined last week, just to pimp my services, so to speak!

Thanks in advance,

John.

Edit to add: One thing I do know about is that the main site logo says "Veltech web design" and the site tab says "Vella web design"... that's going to change before it goes live.
Oh, one more thing... </Columbo> - I will have a .com or .co.uk address, which is why I need helping deciding on the trading name, as this will be reflected in the site address...

JV web design?

Good luck with the new venture. I did have a company many moons ago but things have probably changed a bit since then.

Most obvious comment, don't have your phone number as a picture. If I access the site with a smart phone, if the number is text the phone registers and I can call by clicking on it, rather than having to find pen/paper or try and memorise it.

I run dual status (PAYE & self employed) so feel free to fire over anything you need to know & I'll do my best to answer it.

First things to do once you've got a name (vella design services? or similar) is setup a separate business bank account and let the tax man know you're now self employed as well.

On the website change the "contact me" to "contact us". Nobody knows how big you are on the web so don't let them know you're a one-man-band or you'll be dismissed as someone doing it for a bit of part time cash rather than a business.

It's also worth signing up for a sip line from someone like sipgate.co.uk so you can separate business and personal calls (for both tax reasons and so you don't get customers calling your home line)

Veltech sounds fine as a name - in face it seems to be in use as the name of a university!

Agree - make your website accessible by phone but also ensure that the website showcases your talents. Maybe have a "gallery" of different design ideas, which can then be converted into a portfolio once you have some experience.

Thanks for the replies folks... I'll answer the questions and reply to the comments regularly to try and keep it simple, (not answering twenty questions at once)

I'm still thinking about the name, so thanks everyone who makes a suggestion... I'll put them into a pot and see what pops out.

Jon - good point... the picture was originally put there as a place holder, while I worked out the overall look and feel of the site. This will be changed. Thanks!

EDIT TO ADD: Thinking about it, I should be able to set up a hyperlink to the number, so clicking the image would auto-call, would it?



Simon - I agree with the Contact Me/Us part... guessing that means I'd change all of the references from "I" to "we" in the site?

The number on the bottom of the page isn't my home number... I got it from sipgate! This is the sort of advice that is invaluable though, so thanks!

CW - brilliant idea - design ideas... I'll get onto that!

Please do keep your ideas rolling in folks

Yup, all references should be "us" & "we" (contact us, about us, we do this etc)

Break out the CSS into a separate CSS file, redownloading the whole kit-and-kaboodle with every page is a waste, browsers will cache the file and not have to re-download, making it much more efficient.

The CSS is also overly complex, I'd cut it down to the essentials. I'd also take the Serif WebPlus references out of the code, if you are going to be selling "your" skills.

I knocked up a very simple CMS system for my brother-in-law with a few lines of PHP and a redirector. That all loads over a single page, which includes the menu structure etc. and then includes the actual content page. The HTML looks cleaner and adding new pages and menus is a doddle, you add the menu entry to the menu file and add a new .html with the body of the new page on it. It isn't as complex as trying to implement it in Drupal, Typo3, Joomla etc. so it is great for getting a site up and running quickly.

I generally write my HTML code in Notepad++, that way you don't get all the unnecessary cruft that tools like WebPlus adds to the page. I also find it a lot less restrictive, I can lay the page out exactly how I need it.

OK, some changes have been made... the address I gave in the OP is playing silly beggars, so I've put it on another temporary site... here's the address and I'll also add it to the OP, just in case.

http://vellawebdesign.webs.com/

As before, any and all opinions are more than welcome.

Dave, I've removed the Webplus references, and will look at the CSS setup again.

CW - I've set up a gallery, but it might be cr@p... I'm going to test it when I get back from the shops, but I thought I'd give you something to look at!

Jon - I've put a link on the number and tested it on my mobile... it works!

There's an awful lot you can do with CSS these days to make your HTML text look classy - almost like a piece of print is. You're marketing yourself as "less is more" when it comes to the web content - no flashy graphics or unnecessary animations - which is all well and good, I'd totally agree with that ethos.

But that means your other elements such as the text really needs to be spot-on in terms of look and function. At the moment, if I'm brutally honest, it needs a lot more finesse to the typography to really shout about your attention to detail. A lot of people think because it's the web, it means good typography isn't as relevant - in fact it's more relevant than ever for effective online communication.

Also, I don't think anyone would fall for the old "Special Offer: 50% off ALL Website Designs! Contact us now, before it’s too late!" banner. Be honest about your prices from the outset, as lots of companies use this type of marketing bollocks. Most companies are wise to this nowadays. Besides, it flies in the face of your "straight to the point" positioning. Please, don't lower yourself to their level.

EDIT: Something else I just noticed, the text on the "Stationery" page is overlapped somehow...



Sorry if this sounds a bit too honest... but you did ask. I'm sure we all just want your website to be the best it can be.

If you're looking for a simple cms, I use cms made simple. It's a doddle to template.

Am sure you'll finalise/finish everything off but I'm going to nitpick over things that I suspect are only temporary.

1. Logo - I hate the aliasing
2. "Buttons" are okay (horizontal menu) but IMO I'd make it a straight bar where mouse-hover highlights choices.
3. Agreed about the 50% thing and get rid of GB logo.
4. Space - can be useful to declutter and make things smarter. Can also be wasted. I have 25% of background at the bottom of my screen. I would expand the page and use that to create more "white space".
5. Portfolio section looks good but too many things going on. My own preference would be to get rid of the play/skip icons on the bottom left, and then allow me to click on the small centre image to expand it (and then click again to reduce it). Means I can closely examine website samples. I've seen Joomla sites where they display different templates and it allows you to get a feel for the menus and buttons eg slight out, drop down, different colours for different levels etc
6. Webdesign section - I would prefer back/forward arrows at either end than play/skip

Perhaps we should all post up links to our own favourite designed websites? IMO your website will be the "main attraction" and you'll be judged on web design based on your own website.

No need to apologise... I agree with you, and it does need a bit of work on it. I've just checked the image on my site, and it seems fine here. What browser are you using?

Again, nitpicking is good... I'll answer these in order.
1. So do I - it's going to change!
2. Looking at menu options... watch this space.
3. So do I. Until this morning it said something along the lines of "No special offers, No coups, just permanently low prices". I'll change it back!
4. I had been thinking that the page needs to be "taller"... I'll look at that.
5. This was a "rush job gallery" created just to give me a starting point... it's going to change!
6. I had originally had all 6 sections on one page - way too cluttered! I created the slideshow to give Mrs. V. an idea of how it might look. I'm now giving some thought to putting a video on there instead of the slideshow... What do you think?

Snapshot above was from Safari 6.0.2 on Mac OS X 10.7.5 - though it also looks the same in Firefox, Chrome and Camino on the same Mac.
Don't think it's an image, looking at the source code there are 2 paragraphs of text, each in its own containing DIV. In theory, they shouldn't overlap, if the top paragraph's text drops down (as in the case of the word "company") then it should just push the bottom paragraph down lower, keeping the same amount of space. I'm no coder myself, but I'm sure there are far cleverer people on here that can tell you why that's happening!


I was also going to suggest removing the Made in Britain stamp and both standards logos too - but thought I'd come across as too picky and mean, so I'm rather relieved someone else pointed it out! If you're registering a .co.uk domain, most people would automatically assume (or at least hope) that it was Made in Britain! Similarly, if you're marketing yourself as a web designer/developer, it should be taken as granted that you're up to speed with the relevant web standards. If you do put them on, then HTML5 is the big thing now anyway so that should really be on there to make you more current...



I'd suggest trying out a jQuery slider for the gallery sections - there are some that are free to use and quite discrete, they don't all have silly transitions and unnecessary effects. I've used both "Simple jQuery Slideshow" and "Pikachoose" in previous projects. Both can be customised to suit your taste, cross platform and mobile/tablet-friendly.
http://jonraasch.com/blog/a-simple-jquery-slideshow
http://www.pikachoose.com

For inspiration, there's some websites with nice, minimal design and content on these sites...
http://www.minimalsites.com
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/gallerie ... -websites/
http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/ ... spiration/
(all found with just googling for "minimal websites")

Your business cards are too expensive