Field Notes

Plain talk about the software your business runs on.

Twenty years of lessons on building, rescuing, and betting your business on software. No jargon, no filler.

Cover image for “Your contact form is quietly losing you leads”
Growth

Your contact form is quietly losing you leads

The contact form is where interest turns into inquiries, or doesn't. Small friction here costs you customers you never even knew were interested.

4 min read
Cover image for “The one-page brief that saves us both weeks”
Strategy

The one-page brief that saves us both weeks

You don't need a formal spec document to start a project well. You need one page that answers the right questions, and it's worth more than a fat requirements binder.

6 min read
Cover image for “You should own your code, your domain, and your accounts”
Strategy

You should own your code, your domain, and your accounts

If your website vanished tomorrow, could you rebuild it without asking anyone's permission? For too many small businesses the honest answer is no, and that's a problem worth fixing.

6 min read
Cover image for “Every plugin is code you didn't write and can't see”
Performance

Every plugin is code you didn't write and can't see

Plugins feel free and instant, but each one is a stranger's code running on your site. Fewer, chosen carefully, beats a dozen bolted on to save an afternoon.

5 min read
Cover image for “Core Web Vitals, explained without the jargon”
Performance

Core Web Vitals, explained without the jargon

Google grades your site on three things your visitors already feel: how fast it shows up, how quickly it responds, and whether it jumps around. Here's what they mean in plain English.

5 min read
Cover image for “When a booking system pays for itself”
Custom tools

When a booking system pays for itself

Phone tag and a paper diary work fine until they don't. Here's how to tell when letting customers book themselves is worth building, and when it isn't.

6 min read
Cover image for “The report you rebuild by hand every Monday”
Custom tools

The report you rebuild by hand every Monday

Somewhere in your week is a report you assemble the same way every time, copying, pasting, formatting. It's the perfect thing to hand to a computer.

5 min read
Cover image for “Reviews are the marketing budget you're ignoring”
Growth

Reviews are the marketing budget you're ignoring

You can spend a fortune telling people you're good, or you can make it effortless for happy customers to tell them for you. The second one works better.

5 min read
Cover image for “Your homepage has exactly one job”
Growth

Your homepage has exactly one job

Most homepages try to say everything to everyone and end up saying nothing to anyone. The good ones answer one question, fast, and point you where to go next.

4 min read

Have a system that keeps you up at night?

Tell me what's breaking. I'll tell you what I'd do about it.

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