Chris Godby in Surrey is inspired by great web design, helping clients and excellent search engine optimization

Web design is something that has always been in Chris Godby’s blood. This web designer from Surrey, England in the United Kingdom got his start in web design while he was studying at Portsmouth University where he and a few friends had the idea to start a web design company. The company may have since been dissolved but this experience gave Chris the skills he needed to go out on his own as a freelance designer. While at Portsmouth University, Chris studied Computer Animation and wrote his dissertation on Search Engine Optimization so he is very knowledgeable on the topic and suggests to his clients to analyze the competition and coaches his clients on off-site optimization techniques since he does the on-site optimization himself. Chris Godby had some things to say when it comes to his experience of starting a company with a few friends from school, how he helps his clients with SEO, his experiences at school and how he likes to do business…

Luc @ SWD: Chris, i see that you started a web design company with a few friends and i wanted to ask what did this teach you about the web design business? Do you currently work for this company?

Chris says: I started the web design company as part of my degree (to use in my dissertation) mainly as an experiment.  In the end it was an extremely useful way of learning the ropes of the web design business, and business in general.  I now work as a sole trader, but running an Ltd company is quite different.  We’ve since dissolved the company but it mainly taught me; the portfolio is everything, you have to be very motivated and make sure you’re surrounded by equally motivated people otherwise it will fall flat on its face! And of course to not quit even when business is slow (as it always will be in the beginning).

Luc @ SWD: Did studying Computer Animation at Portsmouth University help you with your web design skills?  Why did you choose to go into computer animation and not a more web related course of study?

Chris says: Coming straight out of school and having to make the decision that’ll affect the rest of your life is always tough. I originally wanted to go into marketing, but I saw the head of 3D Animation doing a presentation and it sounded like it was for me, so I signed up there and then!  The course had a little web design in it, and it covered flash animation which is always handy.  My passion for web design really sparked during the course so I pursued it myself, pretty much taught myself over the summer.  That’s the great thing about web design, thanks to such an outstanding community, there are tons of free resources around to teach you the skills required.

Luc @ SWD: Considering that you did your dissertation on Search Engine Optimization what tips do you give clients about good SEO practices and how do you stay knowledgeable about new SEO trends?

Chris says: Plenty! I find half the battle is teaching them how important it is and that it isn’t a onetime thing – it’s ongoing.  My main tips are off-site as I tend to optimize any sites I create.  I always say; keep an eye on your competition, analyze what they are doing and do better.  Build relevant, preferably one-way links. I’ve found building a blog with great content people will want to read is loved but search engines and users alike and is a natural way of building traffic.

To stay knowledgeable about SEO I’m a member of a number of SEO/Web forums and resources such as SEOMoz, SEOChat, and grokdotcom to name a few.  The sheer number of SEO related resources can be pretty intimidating so I’m sure everyone has their favorites!

Luc @ SWD: How did you first start designing websites? What are the benefits of hand-coding web pages in your own opinion?

Chris says: Haha well I guess it was back in school with an early version of Dreamweaver and a teacher telling us all about tables and how great they were..

I think hand-coding gives you a lot more control over the medium.  It’s also much easier to find errors if you’ve entered every piece of code by hand.  I tend to mix it up with Dreamweaver and notepad plus to get the best of both worlds!

Luc @ SWD: How do you usually approach a web design project? Do you prefer to meet the client face-to-face or does that sort of thing matter to you?

Chris says: I love meeting face to face, much preferred over phone or email, but sometimes this just isn’t possible or productive.  I work with clients all over the world so sometimes we just have to make do with Skype or email, and sometimes Basecamp.