Photo (above): My client Jonathan Clarren has a sculpture on the Kress Building in Tacoma.
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Across the water from Point Definace in Tacoma, WA is Vashon Island. A beautiful, bridgeless island reachable only by ferry. I moved there with my family in 2022 when living in Seattle became unsustainable and unenjoyable for my wife and I. I’ve been able to continue remotely with my clients in Seattle and nationally, but I’m looking for nearby clients to meet in person once again.
The closest city to my home office is Tacoma, WA. It has become my favorite place to do weekly errands and get a more relaxed city experience. It reminds me of the Seattle I moved to in 1995 in that life moves slower, the people are dominantly middle class, there is more space, and the old West Coast buildings and homes still dominate the landscape. Everywhere you go you will find problems, and Tacoma has its problems, but I simply feel a sense of relief during my weekly visits.
WordPress Web Designer in Tacoma
If you are running a small business in Tacoma, and already have a WordPress website and just need someone to help you with web maintenance, I’ve been coding custom WordPress themes for 10 years, so most maintenance, development and design is within my capabilities.
For those of you who are needing A web designer in Tacoma for their business, I recommend WordPress but am also capable of working in Squarespace, Wix, and other Content Management Systems. WordPress alone, has several approaches and systems from Divi to Elementor. These systems are heavily marketed to businesses, but something businesses don’t know is these page builders are most often unnecessary extra layers of complexity that most business websites don’t need. The WordPress Gutenberg editor and WordPress Core can handle your site on its own.
My hope is to continue writing about simplifying your online presence and expanding on many of my points in this article.
Tacoma Businesses in Therapy and Building
The businesses that work with me the most are therapists and builders. The two have nothing in common except they are both not in the tech sector. I am not a computer scientist, technologist, or a futurist. I became a web designer to work with people and solve their design and marketing problems. This is probably why I work with so many therapists and builders.
I prefer to approach my work from a humanist perspective using psychology the way a therapist would use psychology to help their clients. I work with code the way a builder works with wood, but in a virtual space. Another web designer in Tacoma may not have these two industry specialties. If you are in these two sectors, contact me. I can help you get more clients.
Therapist, Coach, and Consultant Websites
Angeline Johnston, LMHC
Elana Sabajon, MA, LMHC
Carey Demartini, MA, LMHC, ATR-BC
Reinsel Consulting
Eleanor Bell
Me You We
CBT Westport (Logo Only)
Builder and Engineering Websites
Cherry Design + Build
Seattle Basements
Lane Engineering, PLLC
Johnny B. Painting, LLC
Bach Woodcraft, LLC
Logo Designer in Tacoma
The websites I build for clients are often accompanied by a package of services starting with a logo. Yes, logos are now being downloaded from stock websites or created with AI; but I ask, how does one justify these processes? Just because it can be done, does not mean it’s ethical. AI is built on taking imagery off the internet without permission and using it for its own modeling. Essentially stealing. And stock logos are made by someone who is not earning a living wage from these stock sales, and the creator often doesn’t live in your country.
I value in person interaction and supporting the area we live in. Lastly, you are not working with an experienced designer who can consult you on the effectiveness of the logo when you are using stock or AI. I’m still a logo designer despite the prevalence of AI and stock. When looking for a web designer in Tacoma, consider Schildbach Design, other web designers may not have the extra design skills to create a logo.
Search Engine Optimization in Tacoma
As a web designer for small businesses, Search Engine Optimization and other marketing approaches has to be a part of my services. The biggest clue I’d like to share as your potential web designer in Tacoma is Google Search Console holds a key to get more people to your site. Here is something you could apply to your Search Engine Optimization strategy:
- If you don’t already have Google Search Console linked to your Website, do so as soon as possible. If you already have Google Search Console up and running with at least 3 months of data in it, you have the central answer to what people are searching for that is close to finding your site.
- The QUERIES tab under the PERFORMANCE tab in the left column will reveal all the search queries that your site shows up for but doesn’t necessarily get clicked on.
- Click the Export button in the upper right hand corner, choose the spreadsheet file of your choice, and analyze your data. Pay close attention to the keyword phrases that should be linking you to your ideal customer, but you are too far down the search engines.
- Clicks are obvious. Impressions is less obvious in that you may be in the data, but you are more likely than not being seen because your position is far down the search results.
- Now write an article specifically about that keyword phrase while at the same time addressing question in mind for your potential client. At the time of writing this article, my website only has 658 impressions and no clicks over the course of 12 months. The goal is to check back in a month and see if any clicks were made. I’ve had a lot of success with this single approach to bringing potential clients to my client’s sites.
I have many more tools and strategies to share regarding SEO. Owning the pro version of RankMath has been my essential tool for getting successful results. I intend to share more in articles to come. I don’t pretend to be an expert at SEO, but for small businesses, and especially single owner businesses, you really only need to know a handful of steps. SEO is not magic, it is following a list of about 10 rules that I stand by and get the results a small business needs to move the needle toward getting more inquires, and in turn more clients.
In Conclusion
Whether you are in Tacoma, WA or found me through other means, when looking for a web designer in Tacoma, contact me for a 20 minute free consultation to see if I can help you with your online presence.