9 SEO Tips You’ve Probably Forgot About

This is a guest article by David Walsh*.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) has, as most of you probably know by now, become one of the most important elements when setting up a website. Still we notice that many website owners, for some reason, tend to neglect implementing it in their creative process. Jacob published an all important SEO rules for designers but there is always lots to learn. I thought that it was about time to write another nine tips on the topic.

1. Proper use of <h1> and <h2> tags

Headers and sub-headers are not only useful for making up a good layout. Search engines do also love it when we use headers. But that is when we use them wisely. This means that you should use them in a way that makes sense - do not spam your site with various headers as it is a sure way of keeping both the search engines and the visitors away. Most important sections of a page should be H1 and H2 and then smaller sections should be H3. H4-H6 are rarely used tags.

2. Remove useless code

The purpose of optimizing your site is to make it as available as possible for all involved - you, the visitors and the search engines. This is just as important when we are talking about the code of the website. Take advantage of an XHTML validator to make sure that all of your code is readable.

If you own a blog and tend to write drafts in MS Office, copying and pasting back into WordPress is a code nightmare. Check the “HTML” tab when in the writing new post page of WordPress; Office adds a lot of garbage code. Remove it. A good alternative is to copy & paste your article into a text editor and then copy and paste the article into your next blog post.

3. Internal linking

Internal linking is a great way of keeping your site user-friendly. Search engines also like to see well placed internal links if they are relevant and serve a purpose. Use good anchor text to your pages and link within strong pages. Also, more than a couple links to the same page have no meaning. Some sites put “hawaiian vacations” three times in a text and link back to the home page. It is not only annoying to the visitor but also worthless.

And most importantly, don’t create orphan pages; pages that are not internally linked anywhere.

4. Footer links are to be kept at a minimum

One type of link that gets close to no attention by the search engines are the footer links. Sure, they are good from an internal navigation purpose but that is about it. You should thus try to keep the bottom based links at a minimum.

5. Do not use images as links

As the search engines try to crawl everything on your website, your task is to make it as easy as possible for them. This is the reason why you should not use images (excluding banners) as links. Proper text is much easier for the spiders to read. Another quite common mistake that designers tend to make is embedding much of the important content in Flash, which search spiders obviously will not be able to read. While Google has begun to read websites based in Flash, it is not a good idea to have a site that cannot be searched.

6. Keep the URLs friendly

Not only your domain name and onsite content should be optimised for keywords. Make sure that you implement the same strategy for ALL of your URL strings as it is a great way of increasing your ranking on search engines.

7. Use the noarchive and noindex tags

Some people seem to think that all of their content has to crawled and indexed by the search engines. Pages such as the “About” page and the “Privacy Policy” page are all good to have but there is really no reason for them to be indexed. Make sure that you use the noarchive and noindex tags. And do not go overboard, putting a noindex in the index file of your website means that NOTHING will be found by the search engines. Sounds to dumb to say that? There are a few designer sites encountered that are not indexed by Google because they left an universal no follow tag.

8. Social bookmarking

Social bookmarking is beneficial for search engines as well as for the visitors. Since the bookmarks are saved to the web, instead of to your browser, they are easily shared with friends - good for all parties involved. Be careful though, many plugins for social bookmarking have 100 links that pop up and they can break the external link count of a page. Too many external links devalues all the links on a page, so make those social bookmarking icons “nofollows.”

9. Do not overuse Ajax

For some reason many developers and designers seem to feel as if they have to impress their visitors and implement Ajax features all over the place. Big mistake. Ajax will not get indexed by search engines and your visitors will not be able to send the page to their friends, as the URL does not reload.

Recommended SEO Resources

• 10 SEO Rules For Designers
• SEO For Blogs
• SEO Best Practices - 13 Top Tips
• My 26 Best Link Building Tricks
• Website Grader
• 7 SEO Blogs & Useful Articles

*About the author: David Walsh is a writer over at Web Hosting Search. WHS is a guide to web hosting and tutorials. If you need to get a hosting plan, anything from cheap web hosting to server hosting (the big guns), WHS is the place for you.

Online Project Management Review: Liquid Planner

In this guest article Kris Rowlands gives a non-paid review based on her first hand personal experiences of using the free (now requires membership) online project management software, Liquid Planner. Kris Rowlands is the author and creator of Fresh Focus…On Productivity. She discusses GTD, organisation and productivity tips for your daily life.

Being a designer can be a hectic line of work. Clients with deadlines, last minute projects, and huge projects that make you wonder how you will ever get it all done! But you know what? You don’t have to do it alone. I’d like to introduce you to an online project management system that will knock your socks off!

LiquidPlanner is online project management software designed to manage uncertainty in project schedules so all your projects will succeed—just what every business owner wants. Every feature has been designed with that goal, and the way you work, in mind.

Very similar to Microsoft Project, time lines can be viewed as a Gantt chart which is an excellent way to see, at a glance, the status on all your projects at once. With this view, you can clearly see where you will run into delivery issues and what areas you can move forward in order to meet your deadlines.

Task Management is definitely something that any designer needs. LiquidPlanner handles this with ease and finesse, with an attractive interface to boot! I know that myself, if what I’m working in isn’t attractive, I’m less likely to use it and become proficient with it. But with LiquidPlanner, it is indeed useful and good looking!

Intuitive workspace allows easy and efficient organization and prioritization of tasks to help you get things done and delivered on time.

• Two Distinct Task List Views. View, schedule, and update your work by project folder or prioritized tasklist. Switch between the two views with a single click.
• Drag-and-Drop Prioritization. Change the order of your scheduled tasks in a snap by dragging and dropping items as priorities shift. This is a great tools that allows you to use this service much as you’d use an application on your own computer.
• Global Priority Management. Set global priorities for your team or the entire organization.
• Easy Task Entry. Add up to 20 new tasks, complete with owners and work estimates, in seconds.
• Multi-level Organization. Create folders, subfolders, and sub-subfolders so you can view, filter, and zoom in on tasks at any level of detail, no matter how complex the project.
• Task to Project Conversion. Quickly add subtasks and new levels of organization to items in your project plan.

LiquidPlanner is also fluent at Project Collaboration, too! If you sub-contract your work out to other designers, LiquidPlanner will handle this with ease. All you do as send them an invitation via email, and allow them to view that project. They can then keep you updated on their progress without you having to constantly check in on them, which allows you to concentrate on your own tasks-at-hand!

Personalized Dashboards make priorities clear.

With LiquidPlanner, you finally get to see things your way. View what’s on your plate, what’s happening in the project space, and see critical alerts – all at a single glance.

• Action Items. See only the tasks assigned to you, in priority order, and jump directly to any of them in the project plan.
• Easy Updates. Mark progress and re-estimate tasks right from your dashboard, so you can get back to work in a snap.
• Workspace Activity Feed. View the latest updates, comments, alerts, and uploads to your items and to the entire project space.
• New Item Assignments. Comments or discussions on tasks assigned to you are surfaced front and center.
• Project Alerts. Readily see red flags, required updates, and other alerts. If any of them are yours, LiquidPlanner makes sure you know.
• Email Notifications. Get changes to your items emailed to you in real time (or daily or weekly).

LiquidPlanner can handle teams of any size. From the single designer to a Fortune 500 design firm, LiquidPlanner can handle it all. They handle both large clients and small, and give all of them the same excellent customer support. Check out the graphic to see the logos of some of their customers!

“The dynamics of our team are constantly in flux with contractors and remote employees contributing to various projects. Collaboration isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. LiquidPlanner has fundamentally transformed the way our team members assign tasks, build their schedules and communicate with one another in a truly seamless manner.”

- Mark Snow, IPexpert Training, Inc.

“Before LiquidPlanner, our teams found it difficult to manage project resources, balance the workload within our organization, and provide accurate work estimates. By allowing our teams to collaborate, share key information, and efficiently manage projects, LiquidPlanner keeps everyone knowledgeable and engaged.”

- Eric Bowers, Butterball Farms, Inc.

“We have to constantly be ahead of the curve in terms of planning in the competitive real estate market. We didn’t have the time, interest or need to master any kind of elaborate project management tool yet we definitely needed something more than Excel. With LiquidPlanner we were up to speed and on top of dates and deadlines in no time.”

- Ben Nordlander, Coldwell Banker Bain

I bet that you are thinking that you can’t afford this. What I’d like to do is make you a bet on that! You know why? You most certainly can!

For small designer firms less than four members, you get all of this functionality for free! Yes, you heard me correctly, for FREE! For larger ones, you can either choose the monthly or yearly payment option. LiquidPlanner aims to please, so if you don’t see a plan that fits what you need, contact them and I’m sure that they will work with you to reach your end goals.

Now I know that all the pictures look so nice and shiny that you may feel intimidated by them and you don’t think you’ll ever figure out how to use use it. But I promise that you will! LiquidPlanner offers FREE (yes, there is that “free” word again) virtual online training. This course is well-planned and succinct, and the trainers always stays online and devote time for questions that didn’t get answered during the session.

But as a disclaimer, let me say this: I do not work for LiquidPlanner. I came here to tell you about it because I am a satisfied customer. I am a single business owner and don’t have to pay a dime to use LiquidPlanner. And they don’t hold back features like other project management sites, either. You get all the features whether you are a paying client or not.

In the past I have had the opportunity to speak with them via email regarding questions I have had and they are always pleasant and get you the answers that you need. I have also taken the virtual training. I recommend LiquidPlanner not only based on the plethora of features available, but all the price and training that you can get to go along with it. You really cannot find anything like this for this price. Trust me, I’ve looked. It’s just not out there in the quality and value that you will get from LiquidPlanner. Try them out – you won’t be disappointed!

Who needs skills? We have software!

In this guest article Kirk Nelson (a regular contributor to the magazines ‘Advanced Photoshop’ & ‘Photoshop Creative’) gives a real good low down on what it is like to be working in the design industry, and then some… Call it a rant if you will, but I know that you will enjoy this article.

Where’s The Magic Button?

“Where’s the magic button?!” read the subject line of the latest thread in the character animation forum. Within was the rantings of another poor soul who had believed the lie. He had purchased the right tool, now why couldn’t he do the work he’d seen others do?

This poster, Mac, we’ll call him, had just purchased a professional level 3D animation package with high hopes of creating his own fantasy film full of dragons, castles, and mystical battles between demons and sorcerers. The demo reel for the software showed several of these things along with many other amazing scenes all slickly rendered and animated. His disappointment was palpable when he looked in the software’s Create menu only to find a list of geometric shapes. No dragons, no castles, no wizards, not even a lowly suit or armor. But cubes and spheres and cones instead. In a confused rage, Mac had turned to the message board where he’d seen so many inspiring applications of this very program to seek enlightenment. “Where’s the magic button? Where do you get the dragon and fireball? All I see are a bunch of curves, polygons, and shaders. You don’t mean that I have to DRAW a dragon with these lines do you!? I can’t do that!”

In typical internet fashion, the forum responded by mocking Mac. They offered to sell him “Fantasy Dragon Scene” plug-ins or to say he needed the latest software patch that opened the new “Create Awesome Animation” feature. Others responded with their idea of irony by posting the definition of the word “Fantasy.” Nobody would tell poor Mac the truth he really needed to hear; that software is not a replacement for artistic skill.

No Skills or Talent Required

Every professional in a creative field has seen this phenomenon. From the guy who tries to design logos in Powerpoint to the person who watched a Photoshop tutorial online and now wants to apply for the graphics position. Or the talented photographer who bites her tongue when somebody praises her work by saying “Wow, your camera sure takes great pictures!” So many people think they can be a creative professional if they simply purchase and learn the right tools. No skills or talent required. One wonders if these folks consider why such establishments as art schools even exist. Surely there can’t be more to it than just learning how to run through a few menus, the software does it all for you right?

It’s interesting to consider that nobody thinks they can become a carpenter by reading the user’s manual for their circular saw. Or that purchasing a pneumatic wrench qualifies them to be an auto mechanic. So why would somebody assume that purchasing Illustrator would transform them into a designer?

Who Benefits? Who Doesn’t?

Perhaps a better approach to the question would be, “Who benefits from this false assumption?” The most obvious answer is the software companies themselves. They would clearly enjoy the credit being attributed solely to their product and not to the artist. What better way to expand their consumer base and sell more products than by propagating the belief that their tools don’t cater to professionals, but create them. “You don’t need to be a top graphics artist to purchase Photoshop, but you sure can’t be one without it, so if you want to get there, we’ll provide the path.” It’s a seductive promise to be sure. One that appeals to our basic desires of immediate gratification. There’s no need to spend years in a design program at an expensive art school when you can simply purchase a piece of software instead. Why subject yourself to merciless critiques in a cold, damp, traditional art studio when you can easily watch a few tutorials from the anonymous comfort of your desk?

Where to click? vs Why to click?

Let us not forget that the tools themselves are quite spectacular too. To the uninitiated, creating stunning artwork is as simple as a series of mouse clicks, who can’t do that? There are thousands of video tutorials showing just how a piece of software can be “driven” to arrive at an artistic design. People can then reenact this predetermined series of dance steps, achieve the same expected results, and claim they produced the piece. But the art is really no more theirs than it is the machine’s that played back the tutorial. Many Photoshop tutorials can be entirely recorded through the Actions panel and played back at the press of a button. This doesn’t mean Photoshop itself is now producing the design, does it? In this sense, design has been reduced to a simple list of “where to clicks” with no thought being given as to the “why” of each click or menu command. It’s like the proverbial retired engineer of the soup can factory who was called in to troubleshoot the plant when it ceased working. The man evaluated the machinery and spray painted a single ‘x’ on a piece of equipment with instructions to replace that piece. He then promptly charged an exorbitant fee for his services. When the plant manager complained of such a large sum just for spray painting an ‘x’ and the engineer replied that it’s not how to paint the ‘x’ that mattered, but where. Similarly, with design software it’s not where to click that matters, but why.

The problem is further perpetuated by the plethora of academic programs that are too light on solid fundamental design and too heavy on the mechanics of using the tools. Many holders of design certificates are quite fluent in the use of Photoshop filters, but can’t adequately describe the basics of color theory. It becomes obvious just how acutely detrimental this trend is when one considers that color theory has long preceded even Photoshop itself and will likely last for generations after the current software companies have faded away.

Fanboyism

One of the most curious causes of the “No talent required” movement can be traced to a group that has nothing to gain from it, and everything to lose; the accomplished creative professionals themselves. Or rather, their rabid “fanboyism” of the tools. These are the talented individuals who are thrilled to display their work as an accomplishment of the tool they chose to use. While it’s true that the software does enable them to accomplish their visions, these artists are blind to the fact that the tools are just that, tools. They defend their choice of platform or software more than their own family name. They take the credit they have so richly earned and freely give it to an assortment of ones and zeros. And their work is then used to further press the deception onto the masses. These artists, who should be the ardent resistors of the movement, have unwittingly become its champion supporters instead.

So? … Where is the Magic Button?

It’s clear that the very idea of being replaced by a piece of software raises shackles within the creative community. It demeans their talents and discounts their hard work. So what should be done about it? Essentially, nothing. The movement is on a course of self destruction. Creativity cannot be automated. It can be copied, recorded, analyzed, reproduced and inspected, but it cannot be mechanically generated. Trust in this fundamental truth. Creative professionals should be aware of the movement, see that they don’t become unwitting supporters, bust up the false assumptions when possible, but more than anything, just continue doing what they do best. Continue creating. Continue designing. Continue producing works that prove the point. Talent is not replaceable. The best weapon in this battle is quality design work that makes others cry out in frustration, “Where’s the magic button!?”

So, what are your opinions? Where do you stand? Have you found the magic button?

A First Hand Guide On How To Start Freelancing

In this guest article, Jacen Nicely goes through the first hand personal experiences of becoming a freelance designer detailing the emotions and the three phases of the process (research, planning and implementation) of going from frustrated to a full time freelancer. This article is applicable to all freelancers, not just designers.

When Jacob first threw out the offer on Twitter (Follow Jacob On Twitter) to write a post for his website before he left on his trip around Australia I responded with““I would offer but I don’t have any examples of written work, just the last 6 months of planning & implication of starting my business.”

I mean I’m a nobody you’ve never heard of right? This is why I really didn’t expect much from that but I was shocked with how Jacob responded back which was “If you think you can get an article out of your experiences and benefit others, why not?”

I may be a nobody but I am a nobody that has been struggling with a way to escape the desk job life for almost six months now which I am sure there are many others who could relate with me in that scenario.

Over the past few months I have researched, planned and implemented my way into a new life of freelancing and what I wanted to do was show you what it was like for me to go from frustrated to the first client in six months. The article details the three main phases of the process: research, planning and implementation of becoming a freelancer.

Making The Choice To Freelance

You could feel free to name your typical frustrated cubicle jockey situation where thoughts of meaningfulness fly around in your head on rotating shifts. Thoughts like “What am I doing” and “Is this what I am going to do for the rest of my life?” were a Monday through Friday routine. I knew the answer to the second question for sure and it was a very emphatic negative.

I had been surfing around the web and discovered entire websites dedicated freelancing and the art of how to start and I was instantly hooked. I had been working with Photoshop for around 7 years and enjoyed doing random projects for friends and family, all of which paid in meals, which was fine with me because I always got the steak. So I knew that I enjoyed doing the work but I didn’t really like not getting paid. This freelancing gig seemed like a good deal, you find work and people actually pay you for the work you do.

Doing The Research

So I began my search for how people were starting out and I found a lot of resources available out there, this site being one of them and found that it wasn’t that hard to start up. There were a lot of great ideas out there of what one needed to be aware of before taking the plunge.

Mostly articles about getting started as a freelancer, pricing ones self and independent insurance coverage cost, which if you are a family man like I am that is pretty important for the sanity of your entire household. There were many of great resources for anything that you could possibly dream up on sites like Freelance Switch, Freelance Folder and Vandelay Design.

These along with Just Creative Design were my top four inspirations for getting started, which if words were to actually have a weight measure then these sites would have TONS of information for any eager wannabe freelancer out there.

To this day one of my favorite posts is Jacob’s “Why logo design does not cost $5.00” because it helped give me a sense of value to the work I did and erased the fear of quoting a cost to someone even if it seemed a little “expensive” in their eyes. I also found other sites like FreshBooks or Zoho Invoicing to assist with looking extremely professional when it comes to sending an estimate or letting someone know you mean business by sending a bill for services rendered.

Planning

I was stoked to say the least, here were all of these mostly free resources to utilize so that I could basically operate out of my home in my pajamas should I desire, but I needed a plan.

I couldn’t just be excited everyday and not do anything. There came a time to face quite possibly two of the most dangerous words in the entire English language, Personal Responsibility.

To be comfortable with that I wanted to make sure there would be enough funds in the bank to cover any unforeseen trouble in case one month didn’t go as well as another. I believed 6 months of my gross income saved up would be enough and I set a date one year from then to have that money saved.

I also wanted to make sure of exactly what services I was going to offer and I knew that I was most comfortable with print type projects but I knew that there was some major money to be made with website and blog designs.

I actually ended up teaming up with a friend of mine that I have known for almost 15 years that has a lot of excellent experience in developing web sites. So now I knew how much money I needed to save and what services I was going to offer now all I needed to do was to start getting my name out there. Which leads me to the next section.

Implementation:

I decided to get some business cards and a small brochure, make a list of local business’s that didn’t have a web site or who desperately needed a makeover and drop by for a visit. Editors note: You may like to read A Guide On How Freelancers Can Compete Against Large Design Studios.

I also decided that whenever I would meet someone and they would ask what I did I would make sure and tell them that I was a graphic designer who designed anything from wedding invitations to websites. This really did two things, it boosted my confidence and it opened up a lot of opportunities for some business card projects and yes even a wedding invitation.

It’s amazing what a little eye contact and decent suit will get you. Those projects gave me a lot of encouragement… it helped me to think that this could actually be done. I started letting other people know what I was doing. I sent out a letter to every friend and family member whose address I had and I got a couple of projects out of that as well until recently we got our first order for a full-on e-commerce website and logo.

It’s hard, tedious and I am pulling some late nights but I honestly love it. Editors note: You may want to read the article Freelancers: Inspire yourself, Vary your Working Environment to help you become more productive.

Conclusion:

• It is completely worth putting your man/woman pants on and owning up to what you want to do in life.
• Personal responsibility isn’t so scary once you commit to the pursuit of your dream.
• The more action that I took towards making a freelancers life, the better I felt about the decision I made.

Can you relate to Jacen’s experience? What resources have helped you the most in your freelancing career?

Your Worst Client’s Email Has Been Hacked!

In this guest article, Mark Obcena gives us a humorous account of what it would be like to be your own worst client. Mark does this by writing in the perspective of the client who is writing an email to another member of staff. You will enjoy this very original article and you may also enjoy some other funny graphic design jokes and parodies.

From: oscar_yourworstclient@fakeemail.com
To: franklin_seymour@fakeemail.com
Subject: Logo

Hey Frank! I gave Alice [The Secretary] the go signal to post those ads for the graphic designer to do the logo. She says that we’ll probably have to do interviews next week. I still don’t know why you insisted on replacing the old designer we had. I still think my Tommy made a good job with our logo. Don’t know where he learned using that paint program, but you have to admit, that logo is really good.

So I’ll just keep you posted.

Oscar

From: oscar_yourworstclient@fakeemail.com
To: franklin_seymour@fakeemail.com
Subject: Designer Interviews and New Logo

My goodness Frank! You should have been here! Those designers were nuts! Nuts I tell you! I wanted to fire Alice after the last one went out! I don’t know where she got those bozos but they’re crazy!

The first one was this guy from some design firm. I think his name was Barry or Larry or something. Nice guy, wore a suit. So I started asking him questions and looked at their firm’s portfolio. I was impressed actually. Then I gave him the things he needs and a copy of the old logo. And then he asks me whether or not I would like to start the project right away. So I told him yeah we need the logo right away. He said okay and gave me an estimated schedule. Do you know what he tells me? It will take around two to three weeks for the logo to be done! Christ on a crutch! Two weeks??!! I’m not asking him to paint the Mona Lisa! A logo for two weeks??!! My Tommy made the old logo in like, what? Three minutes?

And so I just asked him to leave his card or something to Alice. Then came the next one, some kid named Tristan. A fresh graduate I think, said he was a “freelancer.” He showed me his book with the samples and all. They were good pieces and I told him so, but then I noticed that I didn’t recognise any of the names of the products or the brands and there was this note that said “design concepts” on the samples. So I asked him whether those were for foreign companies. He tells me that they were actually “conceptual designs” - and by that he means that they were just phony companies he did for the book. So I tell him that we can’t hire him because he doesn’t have experience. I mean, he expects us to hire him when he hasn’t even had a real client! And then he goes, “But I thought you said the designs were good?” And I said, “Yeah, but they’re faked, so they don’t qualify.” And I told him that if he really wants to work as a designer, then he shouldn’t go creating designs for non-existent companies. Doesn’t he know he could go to jail for that?! By the way, what are “achers” and why do I need to shove them in my mouth?

The last one was a brunette who works for some other design firm, Pauline. Beautiful girl, though not the smiling type. So I did the same routine, browsed through the book, gave her the details and the old logo. And you know what she did when she saw the old logo? She actually grimaced! A real bitch. But anyway, I overlooked that one because she said that it would take only a week for the logo to be finished. So I said okay, send the designs so I could pick the one I liked. She then tells me that we have to work out a contract first before they can begin working! Mental, right? I mean, what if we didn’t like their work? That would be like buying a car and only getting a test drive when you’ve paid it in full! I told her that and then she begins talking and talking about how it isn’t right to go soliciting work from designers before getting into an agreement. Says that it’s “spec work” or something. I told her, “No that’s assurance. We need to be sure we’ll like your work. For all we know, you could be giving us bad designs.” The bitch stands up, shakes my hand and then leaves! Christ! Where did Alice get these people??!!

Don’t worry. I know you, you’re the worrying type so I took care of everything. Turns out that Bill, the guy from accounting, knows how to do Photoshop so I asked him to make a logo for us. It’s good Frank, it’s really good. I attached the logo so you could see it.

< Super Amateurish Logo Here >

It’s great right? And they tell us you’re the genius..

Oscar

Editors Note: Hope you enjoyed that little parody of the world’s worst client! Please note that all characters were fictional and this article was purely for entertainment purposes only. What do you think? Do you want more of Marks humour?

Designing an Accessible Site Without Losing Your Mind

In this guest article Chad Swaney* walks us through some techniques and guidelines on how to make your website more accessible. It is a good change to see something more technical here on Just Creative Design so enjoy. Read more »

Freelancers: Inspire yourself, Vary your Working Environment

In this guest article Liam McKay* talks us through some strategies on how to increase your creativity & productivity by varying your workplace.

Working as a freelancer may sound like an ideal solution to office life. You get to work at home, working for yourself, choosing your own hours and clients. But is it really that much of an escape from the office lifestyle, are you really getting away from it all. Too often people end up spending more hours on their computer, cooped up in a make-shift office, rarely seeing daylight and working in the same space they live in.

It can all get too much and you end up getting bored of seeing the same thing’s on a daily basis, and in a lot of cases freelancers end up returning to full-time work after realising that the working-from-home-environment isn’t that much of a getaway.

Working from home shouldn’t mean you are confined to working from your bedroom, who says you can’t work from somewhere else. The only person stopping you is yourself. There are a few things you can do to escape your daily workplace boredom.

Leave the Country

Editors note: Or state, if in Australia? We can drive for 1000km and still not get out of our backyard.

Yeah, that’s right… leave the country. It sounds drastic, but today it’s even easier than ever to work from another country. It doesn’t have to be permanent, it can just be for the duration of your project, be it a few days or a few weeks. Getting away from your home / office can have a great effect on your work.

This doesn’t have to be something you do very often, it can be something you do when you’re particularly bored of your workplace for an occasional treat and motivational boost.

Benefits

1. You’ll be able to focus more.

This is because there are less distractions that may come with working from home. But if you are on a holiday you can easily get away from any distractions and focus more time & energy on your work.

2. You’ll be more inspired, creative & productive.

Working in your office day in day out can just dry up any creativity you might have. Getting away to a new location can give your mind a new way of thinking and open your eyes to new ideas. Here are some ways to Boost Your Creativity.

3. You’ll be able to relax more.

Working from home sometimes means your relaxation area is also your working area. This means that you never really get a chance to escape the computer, or emails etc. Working on a holiday means that there’s always somewhere else to go or visit once you’ve finished your working hours.

How?

You will only need some basic equipment, a small amount of cash, and a passport and you are set. It’s quite a big step to take, but it’s something which could help release you from a creative block, and re-inspire you as a designer. There are a few things that you will need to do this;

Laptop

Probably this go’s without saying but the first thing you will need is a Laptop. Today the power and portability of a laptop means that working away from home no longer means you have to compromise on the ability of your computer.

USB Broadband Modem Stick

This is probably the most important part of the whole “leave the country” idea. It’s a technology which allows you to plug in a small USB stick to your laptop, and with a monthly fee of around £15 per month will give you access to the internet completely wireless in about 40+ countries. Including the UK, US, Australia, Sweden, India, Spain, Portugal, Greece, France etc & many more.

There are a variety of price plans, monthly usage limits and companies to choose from, but most are a reasonable price and have a large coverage area. It is important to know that connection speeds and availability will vary from country to country, but I’ve found that it is very easy to get coverage information from the makers of the sticks.

Cheap Flights

International travel is cheaper than ever. Budget airlines usually offer much cheaper rates for last minute flights, so you could choose a destination & book flights and a place to stay within a week, or even a couple of days if you’re not too picky. But if you think about it, it really isn’t too hard just to…

Get out of the House

This is something you can do on a daily basis, or just when you feel like it. It’s a good release and a great way to help you focus on your work. Using the same technology as above, all you need to do is find somewhere near by and take your laptop & USB Broadband (or WiFi), and that’s it… you’re set.

The advantage of this is you can really get your money’s worth out of your laptop & USB Broadband. If you’re going to work outside your house quite often then the small amount of money you have to pay for the equipment will seem quite insignificant in terms of the productivity and time you have gained.

Where can you go?

A quiet place near-by

Well, providing your USB broadband stick has a decent enough signal… you can go anywhere. A local park, a forest, public gardens, a field, the beach, anywhere. I bet there’s somewhere quite beautiful not far from where you live, just somewhere where you can go and not worry about distractions - how about the top of a mountain.

Obviously you don’t need to have the Internet to do these things, you could work off-line, but I think (given the technology is out there) that the ability to be on-line, communicate, send files etc. makes working away from your home/office a much more appealing option.

A friends house

If you know another freelancer, or someone in a similar position as you, it may be a good idea to work in the same place. The advantages of this is that it’s not going to feel totally alien to you, it’s still an office, but it’s a new office.

It’s going to feel like it did the first day you started working from your own room, you’ll be full of enthusiasm and eager to get stuck in to your new work place. It will be the same feeling you get from your first day at work.

Working with someone in a similar position as you also gives you the chance to get a second opinion, share ideas and concepts. It’s always good to have direct feedback from a different pair of eyes than your own.

Final Thoughts

There is technology out there that gives you, as a freelancer, a lot more freedom and options when it comes to where you work. I’m sure there are a lot of places near your house you could visit to work, literally hundreds of places.

There are numerous countries that you could visit to do your work in, and hopefully this has opened your eyes to the fact that there is a world out there, and working in a profession involved around working on a computer no longer means you need to stay confined to your office space, you can give yourself a more inspirational environment to work in, and the chances are, it can only improve your work.

*About the author: Liam McKay has a passion for all things design, but his focus at the moment is on designing websites & blogs. Visit his site WeFunction