How to Hire a Web Designer
I recently watched a presentation by Mike Chavez of Chavez Painting, "titled How to Hire a Professional Contractor". Mike has built a successful painting business from the ground up, and really knows his stuff. A big part of his success lies in the fact that he cares...
8 Common Mistakes Small Businesses Make with their Websites
We work a lot with small business owners, and there are a number of mistakes we see people make that can be easily avoided. Any one of these mistakes can have a large impact on the success of a website. Here are 8 common mistakes, and what you can do about them. 1....
The Power of Emotions – or, The Dreaded Wall of Text
The term hero image is used by web designers to describe large images that take up most of the page. You may have noticed a trend towards using hero images more and more in the last few years. The reason for this trend is simple. Large images increase sales. In fact...
Client Website – Zenith Acupuncture
Kathryn Nemirovsky of Zenith Acupuncture came to us because her website needed a fresh look. Her old site was dark and somewhat uninviting, with a background of blue so dark it was almost navy. She also wanted something that would feature her blog, as well as some of...
Client Website – Larsen Law
Michael D. Larsen is an attorney with offices in Santa Rosa and San Francisco. He had an old site that no longer represented him in the way he wanted, and needed a website that was clean and professional. He also had a blog that was completely separate from his...
Client Website – Dr. Moses Goldberg
Dr. Moses Goldberg is an old friend of ours, and his website is one of the first we built as Smart Monkey Design. We learned a great deal in the process of building this one, and while we've both refined our process and expanded our abilities since then, it still...
Client Website – Bernd Chiropractic
Dr's Matt & Michael Bernd of Bernd Chiropractic had no online presence whatsoever, and understanding that almost nobody uses the Yellow Pages anymore, needed a website. Here's what they had to say about it: "Smart Monkey Design built our new healthcare website....
Client Website – North Bay Carmart
North Bay Carmart has been one of the best destinations to buy or sell a privately owned vehicle in Sonoma County since 1984. Unfortunately their old website hadn't been updated in so long that it felt like it was from 1984 as well. Ok, maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but...
Client Website – In Spirit & On Purpose
If you want to talk with someone with their hands in a lot of different pots, you should meet Saunda Kitchen. She's a Business owner, franchisee, public speaker, blogger, foodie, and a mom. Saunda wanted a blog site where she could write about multiple different...
Client Website – Virtual Jeannie Bookkeeping
Jeanne Davis, owner of Virtual Jeannie Bookkeeping had an older website that no longer served her needs. Much of her website was outdated, and no longer felt it reflected her business. In her own words: "My company needed a website that was mobile compatible. We had a...