Lori Eldridge On The Spot
On The Spot August 13th. 2007, 7:51amLori Eldridge Email Me 509-443-8693
Lori’s Professional Web Design
I went back to college several years ago to get a BA in English/Creative Writing, intending to become a writer and meanwhile worked parttime in the college computer labs for 4 years, taking several computer and Internet classes. After graduating I decided I preferred promoting the writing of others instead of my own so I started volunteering my HTML services on websites for a few years while working for temp companies. I learned to write HTML by hand and have never used a WYSIWYG program so I’m able to fix the code when it’s “broken”.
In 2000 I had enough clients to set up business as a professional web designer. Having an artist’s eye (being an artist in oils and an amateur photographer) helps with website design and layout. I’m still in the writing profession but now I write in code (HTML/CSS). Having a knowledge of SEO also enhances one’s skills as a web designer. My goal as a web designer is to design websites so they will rank well in generic searches without having to PayPerClick.
What I lacked by not getting a college degree in computer science I have made up through experience. A lot of my early clients had problems with crooked hosts , webmasters registering their domains in the webmaster’s name, or they were under attack by 302 redirects or other problems so I was quickly exposed to verious forms of fraud on the Internet. Google has pretty much eliminated the 302 redirect problem but other ways of ripping off the uninformed are still prevelant on the Internet.
I eventually set up a website evaluation service which I started about 3 years ago and have written many articles on 302 hijackings, how to stop content theft, getting good ranking in the search engines, graphics tutorials, etc. A lot of my clients come to my site seeking information on what is wrong with their website and end up asking for help.
One of my favorite pet peeves is so many companies promoting site builder programs or crooked “SEO” services that rip off the uninformed because they produce websites that are essentially crippled and then they need someone like myself familiar with SEO to fix their website.
I’m so busy now I turn down several jobs per week and refer a lot of jobs to others web designers I trust. I’ve had several offers to work for big firms but I prefer to help small website owners fix their websites instead.
