Virtual trash - check if you belong to it

We live in very specific times. Every day we receive a lot of different information, through social media, portals, television or radio. We have unlimited opportunities for development and easy access to knowledge. But is anyone in control of all this?  Unfortunately, not. Because I have the impression that chaos and confusion have arisen. And the result is the opposite of what was intended. Websites or e-stores are nowadays the absolute basis for building a brand, for keeping a company online. But are you sure that your website is not just another virtual dustbin?

You are a web designer, very precise, technical. You have started an amazing revolution in relation to crumminess and you have called it a virtual dustbin. What exactly does that mean?

Because of the massive move into online business in Poland and abroad, a huge number of self-declared experts have emerged, who - without any knowledge - design and bring out websites. There is an array of irregularities which I fight against, because it is hard to explain to a company that it has a website which is empty inside and is not really a website. There are myths that we deal with all the time. They basically lead to the situation that people and companies with a lot of experience are "forced" to prove their knowledge because of the commotion and incorrect information spread by myth-makers. There is a vastitude of people who are tricked and oblivious. Thinking that things done cheaply will be alright and they will be just fine. Nothing could be further from the truth. They lose time and money they should be earning. A lot of people fail thinking they don't have a good product, or they give up because of lack of results. Others spend money on adverts that do not lead to the place of sale, because the website is a dead duck. I fight against this, I oppose it. I raise awareness.

So what myths do you need to dispel in building and designing websites?

The first is ignorance of what a website consists of. A website system (CMS) such as Wordpress is a content management system with a control panel, i.e. administration. It is built using PHP and needs a MySQL database to store data. However, it is a management system alone - without a theme. WordPress needs a theme to create the layout of your pages and to manage them graphically. A theme consists of a set of files like php, stylesheets, images, graphics, etc. that make up the whole part of the site and allow the page to be displayed visually in the browser. Therefore, a well-made website consists of: designing a theme and implementing it on a CMS ready to use, taking care of SEO from the very beginning, building the architecture and creating UX of the website, and not uploading a template through an auto-installer, which has a lot of unneeded codes in it, and making adjustments, changing pictures or content directly on the CMS. The website is then full of errors from the very beginning and it will drag on for ages.

Another myth is confusing SEO with positioning. Search Engine Optimisation is the foundation of a website, which is built from the very beginning of its creation. It is shaping the architecture of the website, examining keywords, developing content in terms of trust for search engines, building its appropriate structure in relation to the code, as well as minifying its source code, whose task is to adapt to the algorithms of search engines, not only Google's but also any other. It is the speed of server response, taking care of quality, size and caption of graphics and multimedia, elimination of technical errors, correct configuration of plug-ins, proper formation of breadcrumbs and properly signed permalinks. Headings from H1 to H6 that will bring value, especially after constant changes in search engine algorithms. So when your website is built and a company says they are now doing SEO for you, they are lying. SEO is built from its conception. And when with a blow-up website that is hollow inside you go to a company for SEO, you need to know that they have to forge the whole installation to start from its beginnings and correctness. That is, positioning consists of SEO (technical correctness), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), which is a total marketing and PR activity, but it will not work without preparing the site for organic traffic, because everything you do will not bring the site up. When you add PR and marketing activities to a technically appropriate site structure, then you can move on to PPC, or paid advertising and you are assured that you are not pouring money down the drain, you’re in the correct direction to generate and automate sales leads. Without these basics and right order, neither the SEO will come up with anything nor the marketing automation will work properly and effectively. So there is constant spending money with no results.

And another myth is that we will fix everything with plugins. A large number of them harm sites. In fact, when it comes to plugins, nothing surprises me anymore. Installing, often without even configuring them e.g. many to one command means having several plugins doing the same task and forcing them to fight each other "underneath".   There's also the free Yoast plugin, which does more harm than good to your site, just because it's well advertised. Most people think that by installing it and not necessarily configuring it, they take care of the SEO issue. Unfortunately, it doesn't work this way. Trying to speed up your site with the LiteSpeed Cache plugin without the complete knowledge that this plugin works properly with the LiteSpeed Web server and is proprietary software and converting it makes no sense at all.

Another incorrect attempt to reach customers outside Poland and incorrectly writing in many languages on one page - domain. Duplication of the same subpages in several languages. Recipe for being a spam ready. The correct way to operate multilingual websites is to separate them on proper subdomains. There are dozens of these examples.

Your strong points are positive opinions and recommendations of satisfied customers who are eager to recommend you. I think that it is not only a matter of creating a professional website, but most of all the fact that you share your knowledge and experience. Why?

I help because I can and because I enjoy doing it. I started with nothing and even blindfolded. That is why I know that help is needed. I enjoy observing inventiveness. I am fascinated by other people's ideas and concepts and it makes me happy when they discover them in themselves. Then we can use their full potential to consciously run their company. To avoid differences in expectations, it's worth getting involved in the project with us, which is why many clients already use our inspiration sessions as standard. We are very keen to support, with our whole team, various initiatives or people we don't even talk about. Recently, one story stole my heart. In two days we set up a website for Łukasz from the blog Ku Niebu (Towards Heaven), who set off for Jerusalem by bike and, what is most beautiful, arrived there.

What is an inspiration session?

With crumminess you can't catch up with anyone in digital and online action. We have been observing the dynamism with which the IT world is developing for a long time, but few are absolutely aware of it. They do not analyse on their own how customers are guided by the UX design of an e-shop and in how many steps they make a safe e-shop purchase of products or services. As an entrepreneur, you are also a customer. The digitisation of entrepreneurship is reaching a revolutionary state. We are entering the 5G internet, digitalisation is the basis of every company that wants to count in the market. Poland's innovation has set the stage for global industry leadership and prominence in the evolution of modern companies.  It is here now and things are happening at a high level and the days of crawling and incompetent e-commerce are gone. Now Elon Reeve Musk co-founder of PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink and Boring Company with a single move is able to support digital activities in Ukraine. Let's stop fooling ourselves that all we need is WordPress with a template and swapping images and content in it to conquer the market with our company. Conquering social media with templates from Canva and with this crumminess we will outsource SEO to some other company deluding ourselves that position in top 10 will bring us sales. A website is a basic tool to use. It forces the action "Stand out or die". And it is up to us whether we take advantage of the technology and the opportunities it gives us. The session will allow you to familiarise yourself with all the important aspects of a website. It gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge, awareness and discuss it under the guidance of professionals such as programmers, designers and digital strategists. It explains the ways of use of designing technologies, which in the session are changing the optics and introducing new ideas. They give you the opportunity, based on the latest trends and market solutions, to apply your individual design and initial solutions and assumptions at the very first meeting. And, importantly, you don't waste your time or your money. You are presented with the possibilities you see in mobile and desktop versions. The joint session is designed to prepare us to show the effectiveness of the form of communication for your website.

Joanna, you have been in the IT industry for many years, don't you get the impression that most people associate this industry with men?

Certainly, but what a limiting way to think. Women have a lot to say there, they are good administrators, programmers or UX designers. Our advantage is that we can often connect the real world with its virtual counterpart much better. Scientific research shows that our (female) brain has more connections between the two hemispheres. What does this mean in practice? The left hemisphere is primarily responsible for verbal and logical skills, while the right hemisphere is responsible for spatial imagination and allows us to think abstractly. Research has shown that the division of functions between the hemispheres in women is less pronounced than in men, where it is more specialised. So men can obviously be much better specialists in the sciences, it is up to women to combine the two worlds. And that has always been my vision of a woman in IT. Not to prove that I am a man, but to use my feminine strength in the industry.

I know that at byFehu you are not alone. You have a team of professionals. How do you select your employees?

Not an easy question. I don't like the term employee. We are a team that complements and strengthens each other in project activities. Thanks to this, we are ready to undertake even those non-standard and demanding tasks. When selecting to join the team, I am guided by my individuality, which makes me intrigued by the uniqueness of each person. This allows me to work effectively. In a team, I want there to be extremes. I like to know different perspectives. This simplifies my decision-making enormously. Knowledge, years of experience and looking for solutions. Own opinion, different opinions, always giving freshness and uniqueness to the projects we create together. It is the individual characters that can make the final project more valuable. And humbleness. This is what I value most.

“It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” – Steve Jobs

Where did the idea for the brand name come from and what does Fehu actually stand for?

Let me start by saying that our brand archetype is rebel, and my Vedic hymn is: the brand is you. It's a personality and the name reflects mine.

I love everything untamed and Slavic. I have a predilection for simplicity, nature, Mindfulness style and I shoot with a bow. I am a tangle of magic and technology. That is, a balance between logic and creation. Fehu is the first rune in the Futhark runic alphabet. Following in the footsteps of Glagolitic, the oldest Slavic script, where the Viking voyages wove runic symbols into Slavic beliefs. It is a symbol of energy, emanating from deep layers of our psyche, will to create, experience, vitality, fire and strength. Its shape is a ripe field of grain heralding the multiplication of wealth through the work of our own hands and mind. It defines our attitude to what we have, we care for what is present, we invest for the future. It symbolises patience and persistent pursuit of a goal. In the past, wealth meant cattle, which was synonymous with abundance. Sharing food and one's own wealth, which should be used for the benefit of other people. And that is what By Fehu is.

Complete the sentence. I am an expert in.....

by Fehu. As the owner and first communicator between the client and the team, I have a huge responsibility. Coordination, message, actions are my department. My technical-marketing-creative-behavioural knowledge makes me act strategically. But I will still remain factual and simplistic. I am a CEO in IT.

JOANNA GIZGIER I am CEO of the brand by Fehu. Business maturity means not underestimating values like reliability and care. Websites that live - the by Fehu team

She has been working in the IT industry for over 11 years. She designs and builds websites and e-shops, creates layouts in WordPress. She diligently takes care of SEO activities. She also deals with issues related to the visual identity of the brand. She is an author of trainings: "Your place in the web" or "Corporate mistakes in online actions". She works with passion trying to fulfill the commitments made to her clients and feels responsible for their success. She bases her actions on quick wins and insights techniques. As she emphasises: instead of failures I gather experiences. Instead of falling into patterns, I break the rules and find a broader perspective.

Her brand slogan is #tykamrzetelnie #łamschematy

What you need to know about her and by Fehu!

She is friends with:
Photoshop, Adobe XD, CorelDRAW, Figma, Sketch do HTML5, Blender, Gimp, Canva, We understand each other with: WordPress, Page Builders, Linux, PSD Adobe XD, HTML, HTML 5, CSS 3, MySQL, RWD, SEO

These friendships result in:
Professionally created websites, e-commerce sites, streaming platforms, blogs, portals. WordPress loves her immensely and she can do wonders with it. Create dedicated ones from scratch or fix foolishly created ones.

She loves UI and UX:
UI_Designer - or technical web interface design through the prism of: what do people need when communicating with a product?  UX_Designer - designing websites through the emotional aspect that people experience after interacting with the product.
Website: https://byfehu.art/

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