You’ve just graduated from university, or college and you want to get a job as a web developer / web designer, but it turns out it’s much harder than you realised. So how do you get that first job as a web developer?
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How I debug CSS in IE6
I make my living as a Front-end Web Developer, which means I spend quite a bit of time making websites look as good in Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) as they do in other browsers. It isn’t rocket science and I’ve honed my technique to make bug fixing as quick and easy as possible.
How much does it cost to be a freelance web developer?
A computer, broadband and knowledge. Those three items alone are all you need to set up as a freelance web developer. You already have all three so, essentially, it costs nothing to start up your own web business: or does it?
What a UK junior web developer should expect to earn
Prior to gaining my first job as a junior web developer, I often wondered how much I could expect to earn.
Whilst at university, during 2001-2005, I heard a lot about the average salary for a university graduate being around £18,000 a year (regardless of profession) – whether this was an accurate figure or not, it felt realistic and achievable to me.
Getting to number 1 in Google: An SEO case study
To try and increase sales and awareness at the JJB Sports website, I set about optimising the site for search engines and customers. The major success story was getting the site to the number 1 spot in Google (UK) for the keyword “nike trainers“. Here’s how I did it:
How not to write a web design CV/resume
Writing a CV (resume) for a web design job isn’t too dissimilar to writing a CV for any other job. So don’t try to be too clever.
As my last function as Web Coordinator for JJB Sports, I was asked (along with a colleague) to find a new web designer. Some of the CVs I received were truly awful so I’ve summarised some of the biggest mistakes people made in the hope less people will make the same errors.
What web professionals can learn from Sarah Beeny
Following on from last week’s rapturously received What web agencies can learn from Gordon Ramsay post, I’m continuing the series with a take on the advice of Sarah Beeny.
For those, who do not know, Sarah Beeny is a highly successful property guru/writer/TV presenter who presents (among other TV shows) Property Ladder. This show is essentially shows Beeny following the progress of novices in the property development industry and shows the mistakes they make.
What web agencies can learn from Gordon Ramsay
For those, who do not know, Gordon Ramsay is a highly successful British chef/restaurateur/TV presenter who presents (among other TV shows) Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. This show is essentially about Ramsay improving the prospects of flagging UK restaurants.
Although, different every week, Ramsay’s underlying message is the same. If your restaurant has certain characteristics and good food you will (be more likely to) succeed in the industry.
How to explain RSS to your friends, family & clients
RSS is something I use everyday for my own personal use that speeds up my use of the internet tenfold. Sadly, most people outside the industry still haven’t cottoned on to it yet. So I’m going to try help you to explain it to them.
My XHTML/CSS creation process
Front-end development i.e. creating the XHTML/CSS for websites is my speciality. Yes, I also do PHP, MySQL and JavaScript but my heart lies with XHTML/CSS so much so that I’ve gotten to be quite good at it. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to document how I typically go about creating the XHTML/CSS for a website.
In web design, I care most about the state of the (X)HTML, I like my sites to validate for a couple of reasons.
- It makes creating/fixing CSS bugs easier
- I just do
Achieving accessible web design: Part 2 – Accessify your hyperlinks
Last week, I talked about the importance of accessible web design and how to easily make the images on your website more accessible. This week, I’ll be talking about making your hyperlinks more accessible.
What is accessible web design and how can it be achieved?
The internet as a medium has the potential to be very accessible. Telephones can alienate the deaf/hard-of-hearing, and television can alienate the blind/visually impaired but email and the web are great tools for people of all abilities.
Proof that little design changes can make a big difference to conversion
A month ago I wrote that little design changes can make a big difference to conversion and now here’s the conclusive proof.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and how can it be achieved
The concept of good SEO is for your website to appear well in the natural rankings of Google/Yahoo/MSN/etc as opposed to the paid for listings (which cost money and don’t perform as well).
Usability Testing – the Examples
Yesterday, I briefly talked about the theory behind the testing I carried out for my degree project on CMS. Today I’ll mention the specific problems I found and how I counteracted them.
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