Are you being serious? 
Reading the opinions expressed so far, I guess it’s more of a personal decision really for everyone. Even if it were the case, that the client suggested that I should include a credit link on their site, I don’t think I would go for it. I would prefer to include a testimonial and perhaps add the project to my portfolio instead. It’s unethical to me in terms of it not being the right thing to do for me, morally I guess. There’s a time and place for everything and the credit link would seem inappropriate to me.
I agree with you though that it should not be forced on the customer but doing a bit of research on the web I’ve noticed that alot of web developers actually stipulate in their contract that it is mandatory that they have their credit link on the website and in some cases indefinitely!
Well…I meant in terms of your work, your professionalism - that will speak for you. If you’re good, people will find you and know of your work one way or the other. Good old fashioned word of mouth always works wonders 
in some sense yes. If your work does not have a tag line, and the client doesnt reply to e-mail much, how will anybody find you?
I nest an x-header so that I can pull that up during an interview and prove that yes, it was my work - but it in no way affects the design of the site.
You market your business like any other business does - SEO, SEM, word of mouth, direct marketing, traditional advertising (magazines, yellow pages etc), promotional events, the list goes on. There are a million ways to advertise your business - unless I’ve completely misunderstood you, are you seriously suggesting that if a web developer doesn’t get a link on his client’s web site, no one will find him?
There’s little SEO benefit, and it’s highly unlikely that future clients will be looking for web designers/developers on a random clients website.
The real question should be, is there any real benefit to having your link in a clients footer? From where I’m sitting, there is none apart from having people who are not interested in your services wasting your bandwidth.
There was a popular free contract template floating around many years ago that many people adopted for their own business. That had a line in it that basically said something like ‘Developer shall place an accreditation link to his site from Client’s site’.
Seems, perhaps, that contract template has a lot to answer for
Actually, you’d be surprised. It’s easy to say given that we are all on the production side of things instead of the client’s side … but you also need to consider that not every client is the same. I have actually been contacted a few times by prospective clients that found my site via a link from a website I designed. The key here is that they are not “random” clients, they are clients in the same industry. Many companies will do a search for their competition or similar websites out there to compare to. When they find a site that achieves exactly what they would like to do, they are going to try to find someone that is capable. I’m not one to generalize, but some businesses do not know where to start. If there is a link to who created the one they like, perhaps that will spark a new project. I was hired by 2 different high schools to re-design their website based off a footer link to my website before.
Obviously this is something you discuss with the client, but most of my clients ASK how they can help to spread the word about my business. If you do good work for them, it’s not a chore or manipulative at all. Whether this means adding a link on their website or simply taking a stack of my business cards to hand out, most are willing to help promote my business with little “benefit” to themselves.
Maybe I’ve been lucky, but if you discuss it with your client, I don’t see any negative impact to adding a link in the footer. Some may view it’s tacky … but is that a view from a design standpoint given we are all in the industry? Look at it from the casual internet browser … do they really care? I doubt it.
[FONT=“Georgia”]I used to, but it started seeming amateurish so all my newer sites don’t have it.
Left me with a peculiar problem though, which is that when you google my name, you’ll find hits of my oldest work. Some of which I don’t necessarily want on my portfolio anymore.
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I think that regardless of your perspective on taking on-page site credits, it does seem amateurish to many due to the simple fact that it’s frequently done on lower end sites and rarely done on high-end sites.
So just for that reason, I wouldn’t put an on-page credit and I’ve never allowed a designer to add one to any of our sites.
There is the new humans.txt movement which is like robots.txt, but designed to be read by humans to credit those involved in creating the site.
Slightly different purpose, as it’s really only web industry people that will ever know to look for one, but still it can be used as proof of authorship.
Aha, yes it does! :injured: Strange how so many people are happy to follow the flock without thinking if they should first! It’s quite arrogant to make such a condition in a contract IMO
Interesting angle…I guess there can be instances where the incorporation of a credit link would be acceptable and appropriate, if say for example, your client happened to “be in marketing” and offered perhaps some free advertising space or something to help you out - in an instance like this I guess it’s not so bad! (:
Another interesting point that got me thinking! I can only go by my own experiences, by and large most of the people I have produced websites for are not computer or web savvy …so no, they wouldn’t really care about the credit link or perhaps wouldn’t even notice! No doubt, the same goes for their target audience too! I think though for us, who are in the know, we have a responsibility to not take advantage of that naivety or lack of know-how. Even if you do explain or request to have your credit link on their website, do they really fully understand what you’re requesting? Some clients might even feel obliged to say yes, it’s a tricky situation and one I’d rather not put a client (or me) through! :confused2
Ahhh yes, a tricky situation to be in. How do you deal with this - Is it possible to actually disassociate? Perhaps you can request or remove your credit link?
:tup: Quirky! I like it!
I’m sure you have friends or have known people that add the link to the footer? Personally I have never done it. All of my clients and employers have added their links to the bottom of client websites. I would never call them immoral or unethical because of it, maybe for other practices but never that. That’s very harsh to say that IMO. If you force the client to have the link in the footer the that is wrong, I’ll agree with that.
I’m sure we’d all agree with that but we are all adults. We are not children, if you can’t stand up for yourself then that is not my problem. The world is not fair, not all the wishful thinking of every mother in the world can change that. You don’t need to protect people. You shouldn’t have to bother. People can and have to stand up for themselves. Getting tired of all this “protection” talk. Adults can look after themselves. It’s just a link in the footer! It’s not a big deal. Client’s are not weak or stupid, don’t treat them like that. Treat every one with equal respect. Respect them to stand up for themselves. You take people’s power away from them when you protect them.
It’s your opinion that it looks “amateurish”. That’s all. It’s not the general fact or perspective of all people. Or is it? only polling can answer that…
But as already said, all of the “high end” websites are developed in house and rightly so. You haven’t acknowledge that at all, thoughts?
From reading all the thoughts shared in this thread it’s evident to me that there are no strict rules to adhere to or best practices to note, it’s down to the individual preference at the end of the day. Whilst I respect your viewpoint on the issue I cannot share it. For me, well it would seem that I’m an extremist in cases like these. I still view the incorporation of a credit link in the footer as a step that I wouldn’t be willing to take. :x
I wasn’t suggesting that clients were weak and stupid. I was stating that for some it may be awkward to say no, that doesn’t mean they are weak. The naivety comment was based on their lack of exposure to the world of the web and perhaps skills in this field. That doesn’t mean I was suggesting they were stupid, just uniformed. I treat people as I find them and I always respect my clients, that’s my bread and butter at the end of the day and if they’re not happy, I’m not happy. Yes it is merely a link in the footer to some but to me it’s not.
Of course, some people who drive around a Roll Royce or similar classy car probably love to have the logo showing for all to see. Perhaps if you have your site designed by a well-respected firm it’s also a status symbol to have their logo or link on your site?
I’m not debating whether every client is the same. I’m merely stating that when you look for a web designer you look for a web designer. If your method of promotion is your clients websites then you limit yourself to your clients marketing.
Clients don’t want a website, they want a service and as a result they want someone they can trust. This is why, like with many other businesses, word-of-mouth is the best promotional tool you can have in your arsenal.
Do you keep a relationship with your existing clients? If I had hired someone to do substantial work for me, and they were busy working with my competitors I’d be less-inclined to trust them with my online business plans; maybe it’s just because I’m primarily a developer and a pessimist…
That’s quite true Ralph and it’s down to the client if they wanna do that of course. I can’t see the “Rolls Royce” company asking to put their credit link in their clients footer though, can you? 
Well, I think it’s more than just my opinion. Consider this:
It’s simply not true that all high end sites were done in house so they don’t need a site credit. I don’t think that’s true - huge amounts of massive sites are created by advertising/marketing partners. Like retail sites for the Gap, WalMart, United Airlines, etc. are all created by advertising/marketing companies that cater to them - but the DON’T credit them. A design house in LA that I used to work for did sites for movies and HBO, etc. and we didn’t take site credits.
I would guess that the majority of the most popular sites are NOT done in house, excluding massive e-commerce or portal sites which usually have their own design/gui team.
I guess the bottom line ,for me, is that when I look at a very large and established site I expect NOT to see a site credit. Therefore, when I DO see a site credit I associate that with a smaller, less established site.
And I think that’s a fair observation.
If you took your Rolls Royce into a garage to get a new starter motor, and they stamped their logo (or “Fixed by Ed’s Motors”) on your car would you be mad?
And yet truck repair shops do this sort of thing all the time - unless you tell them different they’ll put mudflaps on trailers with their logo on it.
And look at the footer again…
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Now Sitepoint can pay a fee to remove that - last I checked it was $200. eHarmony uses vbulletin and has paid the fee to remove it.
If you go to a Tshirt shop many of them will put their logo on the sleeve unless you pay a fee for it’s removal.
I don’t think of this as amateurish anymore than I consider the Nike swoosh or Rebook logo on an inconspicuous part of an athlete’s uniform. And even in your analogy, the parts the mechanic used will have logos on them somewhere, and most shops put a reminder for future service on your windshield, though it’s only about twice the size of a postage stamp.
I don’t do independent work anymore, but when I did I placed in such marks unless paid not to. I didn’t make them garish or ugly, but they where there.