Block 81 Blog
Search a bit for "what your website needs" and you’ll get various listicles and checklists. Be findable. Have social media. Add testimonials. Make it easy to pay you. None of it is inherently wrong , but it treats a website like a bunch of things to check-off and that not how any of this really works. When someone lands on your site, they’re not running down a checklist. They’re getting a gut…
"Web design services." Ask ten different people what those three words mean and you’ll likely get a generic answer from all of them. But gently push for details and you’ll likely get different answers. One studio maps out your content structure, gives you a CMS (content management system) you can manage yourself, tests across browsers, and supports the site after launch. Another covers the visual…
"Will my website help me get sales?" It’s a question that isn’t directly asked when I talk to clients, but it’s there. It’s often worded differently or it’s underneath other questions. In whatever form, it’s a fair and legitimate question. You’ve spent time and money on a website (likely more than once), and you’re still not sure it’s actually doing anything for your business. So yeah, fair…
Series note: This is the second in an ongoing series tackling the real questions business owners ask about their websites. Start with part one. --- Your CTA (call-to-action) button is sitting right there. You know the one: "Get Started." Or maybe it’s "Book a Call." Perhaps "Request a Quote." It’s right there and obvious. Yet nobody is clicking it. Your site looks good. The copy is compelling. So…
This post is part of an ongoing series tackling the real questions business owners ask about their websites. Each post stands on its own, but if you want the full picture, start here. --- So you invested in getting your site designed and built months ago. It looks great. It looks professional. You’ve gotten compliments and you’re feeling good about it. Awesome. But now what? This is the point that…
Several years back, after building a lot of Craft CMS sites from scratch, I got tired of repeating the same setup steps every single time. So I created a starter project that's been saving me a good chunk of time on each new build since. In this video, I walk through that starter and explain some of the decisions behind it: What I Cover Folder structure and organization - How I keep things…
If you’ve worked with Craft CMS for any length of time, you know that Matrix is probably the killer field type. And it’s likely that you’ve needed to update or remove a particular block, but first you want to know which entries are actually using it. Perhaps you’re deprecating an old content block, troubleshooting an issue, or just doing a content audit. Whatever the reason may be, Craft doesn’t…
If you're a small business owner searching for a web developer, you've probably noticed something: the market is overwhelming. Massive agencies with impressive portfolios and household name brands. Freelance marketplaces with thousands of profiles. Small studios like mine. How do you choose? Here's what most articles won't tell you: the "best" web developer for small business isn't about finding…
Every business owner I talk to understands that websites cost money. What many don't understand is that cheap websites cost even more—just later, when you're least prepared for it. I've been building websites for over two decades , and I've seen this pattern play out countless times. A business decides to save money upfront by going with the cheapest option, only to end up spending more fixing…
My journal entry for December 31, 2025 starts with this lone sentence: "Last day of 2025: such an odd year it’s been. That pretty much sums it up on so many fronts. There, end of blog post. Okay, not really. 😉 How My Intentions Went My two main intentions for 2025 were the following: Go Slow: take the time to do the things that matter the right way. Keep It Simple: keep it as simple as…
It took about thirty seconds to realize this wasn't a routine support ticket. The "weird link" my client found was malicious JavaScript, and it wasn’t immediately visible in templates. It was hidden in the database—a security breach designed to load external scripts that could compromise visitor security. The Backstory My first instinct was to check the templates on the live server—nothing. Then I…
I wish I could remember how I planned my work days and weeks during the first few years of my business. I want to say it was a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants "system" but it was most likely an analog to-do list. I honestly don’t remember. These days I feel like things are far busier though in reality they probably aren’t. I do work on more than just standard projects with a start and end date (i.e.…
There are a lot of CMS platforms on the market—so many, in fact, that even the sites attempting to list them all are incomplete. I don't claim to know the vast majority of them, but I've been using a CMS for client sites since roughly 2004 or 2005. From MODx and WordPress in those early days to discovering ExpressionEngine in 2007, to brief experiments with other content management systems along…
Website speed and performance aren’t just nice to have. A slow, underperforming website can mean lost visitors, reduced trust, and ultimately, fewer sales. The good news is that you don’t need to be a web developer to run a quick DIY performance check. With the right tools you can get a good sense of how your site fares and where it could be improved. Why Website Performance Matters For better or…
Starting November 1, 2025, Block 81 will be following Craft CMS's security support timeline for the Craft work we do . This is a straightforward update to how I approach ongoing support and new work requests, and I wanted to explain what it means and why it matters. Why Support Versions Matter Craft CMS, like most modern software platforms, maintains different support levels for its versions.…
Updated 8/6/26 I was recently working on improving a client’s site performance. A pretty well-trafficked site with multiple embedded YouTube videos. There was a pretty significant bottleneck: YouTube embeds load Google Fonts and JavaScript before users even want to watch a video. 😱 The Problem: YouTube's Hidden Performance Cost YouTube embeds seem innocent enough. You paste the iframe…
Have you heard the phrase "security by obscurity"? It’s the idea that hiding something makes it safer. Perhaps you’ve applied this thinking to your website: "We’re just a small business." "We don’t store credit card data." "We haven’t changed anything in years, so we’re probably okay." Keeping a low profile isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a little like locking your front door but leaving all…
A lot of business websites have hidden issues that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Whether it’s small technical problems, unclear messaging, or poor user experience, each can quietly turn away visitors who might otherwise become customers. The challenge is that these problems often go unnoticed because they happen under the hood. A website audit is like a health checkup for your…
A recent discussion in the Mastodon tech community highlighted something important: confusion about when websites actually need those annoying cookie consent banners. The reality is that most small business websites don’t need them—at all! That said, just about every site you visit has a cookie notice that interrupt the user experience and potentially hurt conversion rates. It’s as if the entire…
Need to protect specific pages in your Craft CMS 5 site from casual visitors? While Craft's built-in user system is perfect for complex permissions, sometimes you just need a simple password gate to keep looky-loos out. Here's how to build a lightweight, plugin-free solution using Craft 5's native session management. The Challenge Content managers often need to restrict access to certain…
Picture this: a potential client finds your website through Google, AI or whatever. They’re ready to learn more about your services. The click your link and wait... and wait... and wait... and then they close the window or hit the back button after a few seconds. You’ve just lost a qualified lead—not because of your pricing, not because of your services, but because your website took too long to…
There’s a shift happening in SEO. While "traditional" search engines continue to dominate, AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and others are changing how users discover, consume, and search for information. This has generated countless debates about the future of SEO. Some are declaring SEO dead while others are saying it’s more important than ever. The reality is likely somewhere in between.…
Here's something that might surprise you: making your website accessible isn't just about being a good corporate citizen. It's actually one of the smartest business moves you can make. Yet most business owners haven't thought about accessibility at all, or they assume it's complicated, expensive, and meant for someone else to worry about or they assume it doesn't apply to their business. Let me…
For nearly as long as search engines have been around, people have been declaring "SEO is dead." AI has brought that narrative back with new urgency. While I don't believe this to be 100% true, there are legitimate concerns: AI-generated answers are reducing click-through rates, and AI content generation is flooding search results with generic material. The fact is, AI isn't killing SEO—at least…
Today marks Block 81’s 22nd anniversary. It’s wild to me that that much time has passed, but here we are! I didn’t write a post for the twenty year milestone for whatever reason, but twenty-two years feels like the right time to pause and celebrate. Sometimes the “off” anniversaries feel even more meaningful. When I started this business in 2003 ( originally named 420 Design ), the web, as you can…
Almost four years ago exactly, I wrote about how I use Things 3 to organize my life (and work). It’s one of my most popular articles to this date. For those unfamiliar, Things 3 is a task management app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad that follows the Getting Things Done methodology. It's known for its clean design and flexible organizational structure using areas, projects, and tags. As you can tell…
Question for you: How many prospective clients or customers landed on your website this week, spent 10 seconds looking around, and then clicked away because they couldn’t quickly figure out what you do or how to get in touch? It’s a bit of a trick question. The harsh reality is that you’ll probably never know the exact number. But after years of designing and auditing websites, I can tell you…
Remember that time you visited a site you really wanted to read and it just didn’t load fast enough, if at all? Let me guess—you ended up hitting the back button in your browser within a couple of seconds because the page took so long to load. Yep, annoying. Especially when the content sounded really interesting. If you remember feeling that annoyed or frustrated, imagine your website doing the…
Web hosting has come a long way since I started in this industry more than 20 years ago. It's gone from being relatively simple to being a bit more complex and yet a lot better. There are definitely a lot more options now—from shared hosting to VPS options to cloud hosting—and it can get overwhelming, especially when technical jargon is thrown around as if everyone is supposed to know what it all…
If there’s one thing any designer or developer is told—repeatedly—when they go freelance or start their own studio, it’s to find a niche. But is that a hard rule one has to follow? "You have to find a niche to be seen as an expert." "You have to find a niche to be successful long-term." These aren't really lies. Finding a niche can absolutely make you super successful, make you a ton of money, and…
A couple of years ago I went all-in with Apple Notes. Yes, the meme applies: I’m not going to get into why I’ve been using Apple Notes for… well, a lot. That’s not the point of this short blog post. But if you also use Apple Notes on a daily or close-to-daily basis, then this may interest you. I can’t remember when or how I stumbled upon NotesCmdr (not an affiliate link), but I’m so glad I did.…
December 27, 2024. That’s the day I received an email from my bookkeeping company that they’d be shutting down their services for good, effective immediately. Yeah. As a one-person business, it’s usually a bit of a balancing act trying to find a professional services company, whether it be a lawyer, accountant, or similar. So back in 2016 or 2017 when I found Bench, an online bookkeeping service,…
Imagine this: it’s 5:30pm on a Friday, and you’re wrapping up what’s been a great week. Sales are strong, leads are coming in, and you’re thinking about your weekend plans. Then your phone buzzes—it’s your marketing lead. Your company’s website isn’t working. Images are missing, the layout is wrong, and the contact forms aren’t working. Or worse, all that shows is that dreaded and cryptic internal…
During the last weekend of 2024 I was sideswiped by my bookkeeping company—they shut down without any notice of any kind. They left me and hundreds, if not thousands, of clients like me scrambling to find a new bookkeeper. In my search, I viewed about a dozen accounting company websites, if not more. Apart from reading what each had to offer to see if they’d be a good fit, one of the things that I…
I originally wanted to write this end of year review before January 1. Didn’t happen, no big deal. But I think that is also telling of how 2024 felt for me. I have done decent reviews of years past but this year I sat down and was a lot more intentional about it. Part of it included reading all of my private journal entries and reflecting on it. All in all, it confirmed what I was feeling when I…
Back in September, Will Browar, a fellow Craft CMS developer, posted a screenshot of his personal website’s Git commits on Mastodon. I noticed his commit messages were all prefixed by "fix", "feat", or "chore". As someone who got into Git sorta slow, still only touches the surface of Git, and whose inner nerd is always curious about what the cool kids are doing, I was intrigued. So I asked Will to…
I was working with an agency on a website build that included what the designer called a "drop image" section or component. Basically, the text sits on the left and an image to the right. No big deal but in this case, the image also drops below the height of the parent section and overlaps the content block/section below it. It took a little bit of trial and error but the result was exactly what…
Logos stand as iconic symbols representing companies, products, and services across the globe. They serve as the visual cornerstone of a brand's identity, encapsulating its essence and values into a single mark. Yet, while logos hold undeniable power in shaping brand perception, their impact is only fully realized when they’re integrated into a cohesive visual system. James Martin , a graphic…
I joined Twitter back in April of 2008. I don’t remember why I joined, but it became a fun little hangout and I enjoyed it. Seven to eight short years later things started to get polarized nationally, let alone on Twitter, and the Elon Musk happened. I was no longer enjoying being on Twitter, er, X. Sidebar: if you’re not familiar with the timeline of Musk’s takeover of Twitter, feel free to read…
Not too long ago I read this in an email: Please watch for those emails and respond quickly if something isn't right. I certainly appreciate communicative clients—it’s far better than getting crickets! But the message above assumes that people, regardless of industry, have email open all day just waiting to reply whenever a new email comes in. If I did that, it would take twice as long to get any…
It’s been at least 5 years, if not more, since I sent out my last issue of my email newsletter, Block 81 Insights. I had intended to bring it back in 2020 thinking that, like so many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, I would have a slow down in work. I was very, very fortunate and my workload increased which meant I had to put Insights in the backlog. My workload and business overall hasn’t…
Several months ago I was working on a Craft CMS website that used a content builder , which meant heavy use of the Matrix field type which allows for what I call “subfields” (i.e. field within a Matrix block). In any case, everything was working fine until I tried to delete a subfield. I don’t recall the exact error, but it was something similar to Failed to update columns dictionary object. Gotta…
Not that it matters, but I’m technically writing this on January 1, despite what the publish date reads. 🤷♀️ 2023 was… I’m not sure. When I look back, it feels like it was a whirlwind of somewhat organized chaos and I’m just now catching my breath and regaining my equilibrium. Don’t misunderstand me—there were some good things that happened too. But I’d be lying if 2023 didn’t take even a…
I saw this on Chris Coyier’s blog , who got it from someone else, who got the idea from someone else. I find these things are kinda fun, so here’s mine. 📨 Mail Client & Server: Fastmail 📝 Notes: Bear ✅ To-Do: Things 3 📷 Photo Shooting: iPhone 15 🎨 Photo Editing: Photos , Darkroom , Photoshop 📆 Calendar: Apple Calendar ( time blocking for the win! ) 📁…
Clients who are savvy marketers or have a marketer or marketing team at their disposal will often use a third-party platform for web forms. Using services like Typeform, Jotform, Hubspot, or Pardot is not uncommon. And for the most part these services not only make it easy to add a form to any page on your website, the embed code they provide will typically account for various device sizes and…
I am a productivity geek. So much so that I go down rabbit holes of productivity tips, tricks, apps, trends, etc. I should probably start a support group. Nonetheless, being a productivity addict geek, I’ve learned a lot over the years about what works for me and what doesn’t. That includes the whole Building a Second Brain (BASB) method by Tiago Forte. Before you stop reading, you should know…
If you’re a designer or developer looking for information on ensuring a web project launches on time, you’ll have no problem finding tips and general information with a simple Google search. But what if you’re a client ? More specifically, what if you’re a client who wants to make sure your web design project gets done in a timely manner? There’s less information on that. That’s what this article…
As much as we web designers and developers try to create websites that run as smoothly as possible, the fact is, sometimes bugs come up. To a certain extent, that’s just how technology is. As a result, one of the services we provide here at Block 81 is monthly website support and maintenance. The support part of that is to help clients—and indirectly, their customers—with issues that may come up…
Craft is arguably one of the best CMS platforms available today. And maybe if you’re reading this, you likely agree. From its user-friendly interface to the customizability of content authoring to the vast array of plugins available to extend Craft, it is an elegant workhorse that, in my experience, clients truly enjoy. That all said, for clients to really be successful with Craft, it needs a…