INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
The structure and flow of a Web site is crucial to a good end-user
experience. Information architects balance what the client wants to say
with what the browsing visitor is hoping to find. The work marries graphic design, content creation and traffic analysis.

SEARCH ENGINE RECOGNITION
Good search engine rankings start with solid construction techniques.
(including tag, title and typographic coordination with keywords) and are improved though link popularity. After the basics are accomplished, a wide range of trickery/sorcery is available if you wish to boost rankings. Always remember search engines reward success; strive to focus on quality instead of the distraction of gaming the system.

CONTENT CREATION
People don’t read Web pages, they scan them – and that
puts a premium on typographic hallmarks such as bold-face type and
bullet points. My biggest single advantage over other Web types is I not only know how and when the typographics are needed, I can go beyond Greek Text and write really killer copy and headlines as well.

PHOTO EDITING
Maybe the most underrated Web skill set out there. I spent a lot of time in the news business as a photographer and photo editor, I've spent a long time graphically designing photo layouts -- both in news and advertising or marketing -- and I can tell you why stock-art, canned people are death when it comes to establishing virtual credibility.

WRITING FOR TONE
Effective Web writing carries a sense of tone, a human voice. My Web writing techniques spring from years of writing broadcast, from the sparse-yet-brilliant fiction of Chandler, Vonnegut and Hemingway, from years of trying to edit corporate brochure blatherspeak. A good writer must know when his client needs to sounds serious, and he should relish the opportunity whenever he gets to have some fun.

PLAYING WELL WITH OTHERS
My skill set routinely puts me in between competing interests. It's far easier just tobe a programmer -- user-first focus can involve potential disagreements with programmers, marketers, designers,writers and editors -- not to mention lawyers, clients and the bosses -- so tact, diplomacy and psychology are handy skills. Graphic design issues may be a matter of opinion of and taste, but there are quantifiable, testable facts that must influence that design.

DOWNLOAD OPTIMIZATION
Beware the myth of increasing bandwidth; it's a proven fact that every time a freeway is expanded, the end result is just more cars. Even more importantly, never forget that millions of people -- poor people, rural people, AOL training-wheel people -- are still on dial-up connections and millions will remain that way for years to come. It's just good practice to optimize.

CROSS BROWSER COMPATIBILITY
Clients need to know that covering 90 percent of all browsers is an easy
task, and that trying to cover every possible browser is an expensive
task. There's been tremendous improvement in this field over the last decade, but depending upon the tool used and level of precision requested, browsers are still not perfect. Bottom line: The simpler the page design, the lower the debugging costs.

TOOLS
Work mostly in Photoshop, BBEdit and Dreamweaver. Well-versed in QuarkXpress and the Acrobat, Macromedia and Microsoft software suites. Some experience with Visio, but generally use Grafffle. Some
experience with Flash, Cold Fusion and Visual Interdev. Can do magic with Web traffic analysis tools such as WebTrends. Love the Bryce interface and have hacked around in it, but no great expert at 3D rendering. Strong HTML and CSS, but greatest strength lies in the most underrated of computer languages -- English.