Portfolio Site Redesign

My portfolio has recently undergone a slight redesign. It wasn’t all that complicated given that there were only 3 pages. What was important in the process of the redesign was to understand why I was doing it, and to establish what goals I had. Why was I was doing it? Like most redesigns, the design was getting stale, it had probably been over 4 years since my portfolio’s site has been visisted, and trends have changed since then. As for my goals, they were as follows:

Retain Domain Name and Page Equity

My portfolio site ranks very highly for keywords, specifically, Patrick Burt and Graphic Designer. This can all be thrown away if I decide to rewrite things or get rid of my already valuable links. Using the same, pre-redesign, URLs has allowed me to leverage pre-existing PageRank towards my new content. I also made sure to use similar content, titles and metadata that had gotten me high on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

Dropping Flash and Using More Javascript

Adobe Flash does not degrade very well in the event that a user does not have Javascript or Flash. If I had to guess, I say that Flash’s inaccessibility is proportional to the surge in use of mobile devices as Web browsers.

Given the advances in the Javascript world with such libraries as jQuery and script.aculo.us and with HTML5 on the horizon, some might say Flash is falling behind. With Javascript, however, comes the responsibility to ensure that user or browsers without Javascript are still given a satisfying experience.

Social Media Presence

I don’t think anyone can disagree that Social Media is here to stay. I’d have to say it’s as transparent as listing your phone number on your Web site. You create a human connection. You are more than simply an anonymous user or company sitting behind a screen.

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