More than 100 projects, and I sleep well. So do my clients.
Imagine you have a website that simply works. You don't have to worry that it'll suddenly disappear from the internet and you'll lose valuable leads. I have more than 100 projects like that behind me and I sleep well. So do my clients. How do I do it?
01As a rule, I don't use WordPress and similar inventions.
First of all, as a rule I don't use popular open source systems like WordPress, Joomla and other inventions of that kind. Why? Because they need constant maintenance. WordPress often needs updates every month, and sometimes even every few days.
Add a dozen plugins to that and you get a mountain of work nobody wants to do. The worst part is that as a client you often have no idea. You usually find out about the missing updates when, six months later, one of your staff suddenly notices that no enquiries have come in for ages.
- Updates
- WordPress + plugins: every month, sometimes every few days
- Clean code: no system to patch
- Plugins
- WordPress + plugins: a dozen or more, each with its own holes
- Clean code: zero
- Website login
- WordPress + plugins: there is one, so there's something to attack
- Clean code: no admin panel to break into
- Who keeps an eye on it
- WordPress + plugins: usually nobody
- Clean code: me, on a subscription
02A form that doesn't work is a client who thinks you ignored them.
Enquiries are a separate and very important topic. My absolute personal hobby horse is reliably protecting contact forms. Forms on websites are one of the most problematic things in this industry. I'd dare say half of businesses don't even realise their forms don't work properly every time.
Especially with plugins that aren't updated, the script often simply gets blocked by the hosting company because it starts sending spam, and the client doesn't know. Other times the message just never arrives. The worst part is that your potential clients think they sent you a message, and you don't reply because you never got it. They immediately assume you just don't care. It really is a plague.
When I look for a local business, I deliberately skip the forms. I assume every other one doesn't work anyway.
It's got to the point where I myself, when I'm looking for a local business in my town, deliberately skip the forms on websites. I assume every other one probably doesn't work anyway, so I email directly, because I don't want to risk not getting a reply. That's exactly why I watch this so closely for my clients and always protect those forms as much as I can.
What's more, on every website I also add a lot of code that tracks the visitor. Thanks to that we know exactly where they came from, which pages they looked at and from which exact place they wrote to you.
- 01A client sends a messageA form on the website, nothing fancy.
- 02Spam protectionBots drop out before anything goes further.
- 03The message in your inboxEvery time, not “usually”.
- 04You know where they came fromThe source of the visit, the pages they viewed and where they wrote from.
03A dirt-cheap website is the most expensive website you'll ever buy.
I come across technical dramas like this all the time. That's exactly why from the start I went for software that runs on a subscription model. Of course it comes with some extra cost, but believe me, that cost is symbolic compared to losing even one potential client a month.
Businesses ordering their first website usually don't understand this at all. There's a popular myth online that websites are free or dirt cheap. People think you can buy a 20-dollar template, put it on some odd, cheap hosting nobody looks after, and job done.
A 20-dollar template on cheap hosting? I can't help. I don't do shoddy work.
If that's the kind of project you have in mind, I'll tell you honestly right away that I won't be able to help. I don't offer that kind of service, because I simply don't do shoddy work.
04Clean code instead of a CMS. And instead of your evening.
Most of the websites I've built so far were on Webflow or simply in clean HTML code. These days I mostly build the second kind. I realise that reading this, you're probably thinking you'll want to manage your website yourself.
I have to surprise you a little here, because literally 9 out of 10 clients have exactly the same plan in their head, but real life later shows something completely different. You should be running your business. Writing articles, adding portfolio items, cropping photos or copying client reviews shouldn't be on your plate. It's not your job.
If you delegate it to a specialist, believe me, it'll be done better, much faster and so, in the end, cheaper than if you sat over it yourself.
That's why I very rarely build in a CMS, because every CMS is extra weight for a website. If we build the project in clean HTML and I handle adding new projects or reviews, the website is not only ultra fast, it's also clean code that can't be hacked, and the work goes really brilliantly.
Of course, you then can't do it yourself, but instead of wasting time you simply hand the task to someone who does it professionally.
05And if a CMS is really needed? Sanity and Astro.
If a client absolutely needs a CMS to manage content, I go for Sanity. Yes, in theory it's an open source solution, but combined with AstroJS it creates an incredibly secure setup.
Because it works as a headless architecture, there's no direct login on the website itself. So it can't be broken into like a typical WordPress. It really is a bulletproof solution.
06Complete peace of mind, because I'm always close by.
My approach gives you complete peace of mind, because I work with every client on an ongoing subscription. Depending on the scale of your needs it can be monthly or yearly. It gives you a cast-iron guarantee that I'm always somewhere close by with my finger on the pulse.
- A PROBLEM ON THE WEBSITEThe same daywithin 24 hours at most
- SMALL TWEAKSIn the subscriptionoften completely free
- BIGGER ADDITIONSOn clear termsa quote or spread over weeks
If any problem comes up, I fix it the same day or within 24 hours at most. I often do simple things and small tweaks completely free as part of our agreement. If you send nothing for half a year and then suddenly drop me a list of a few small changes, we'll easily cover them in the existing subscription.
Bigger additions we plan for a convenient time, and then we either quote the extra work or spread it over the following weeks. Everything is always agreed on clear terms. If you want to understand this in detail, read myarticle about subscriptions, where I explain the benefits of this model in detail.
I've worked this way for many years and it still works brilliantly today. The best proof is my clients, who have stayed with me for 17 years. They stay because it simply works and takes the whole technical burden off them.
If you want to talk about your project and you're looking for someone who delivers stress-free quality, let me know. Look at my work, see if you find what you need there, and let's arrange a call.
