There’re stacks of “reasons” on both sides of this.
Like a great, great, great many things in web business - despite all the squawking, insistence that it needs to be done a certain way and requisite totally unnecessary expenditure of stress and resource - it boils down to what’s in vogue and personal choice.
Wiz brings up a great point - if things change (they decide to DIY), your reputation is reflected upon.
On the other side of the coin, Ralph highlights the positives.
Do you need the exposure? What are your opportunity costs for doing it/not doing it?
Do you care about web fashion this week, or what the self declared gurus have decided is “best practice” this month?
I myself do not do this, I found it brought me potential clients of highly questionable quality. That said, mustering design business is not a goal of mine.
I think that marking a signature always helps the designer. Think of a site like a mall you buy stuffs etc from different companies but the carry bag always bears a logo of the mall. It goes a long way to speak for the people who build it. Supposedly a prospective client like a design of a site if it is credited it makes easier for the prospective client to find a designer to his/her liking. Moreover It does helps in seo prospective for the designer.
As for the client it also speaks that he or she has invested good money to built a site, get it professionally designed, so that they are going to stay. It builds confidence in the eye of an onlooker. But the end choice should always lie with your client if they want it or not. It should not be forced but a mutual consent
Yeah, I’ve been on the fence about putting a credit on the sites we build. I like the idea from a marketing perspective and sure enough often when we do print (Annual Reports, Books, Manuals, etc…) we are credited but I’ve almost felt cheeky about it until I had a client darn near demand that we put our credit in the footer. Actually, I’ve had two clients of large jobs do that. One asked us to put it in the footer and the other had us put it in a specific page for credits.
Regardless of whether it is appropriate or not, I have found it to be valuable. On several occasions prospective clients have come looking for us after finding out that we had built websites that they liked.
What about when a lot of the work you do/seek is in a niche market?
I do websites for local sports/dance clubs/schools, and more than once a client has found me through a link in the footer of the site of a similar club. Since I seek this kind of work, and often administrators look at other clubs’ sites, it does get my name out there as someone who specialises in that kind of thing. Otherwise they’re just going to look for designers in the area and perhaps not find me (some of these clients have been from other suburbs, so would have probably found someone closer to home, but not as suitable for them).
No one is denying it’s a decent way to get your name out there. But again, this is a benefit for you, not your client. Remember, it’s your client’s site, not yours.
There appears to be no logical reason to have any expectation of having a free ad on your client’s site. I’m not saying it isn’t a common occurrence, but why should so many web developers apparently expect this from their clients, when it appears to have no benefit for the client?
This is so true. It could be this simple too: You build your client’s website, get paid and your done. If your client insists on putting your name on his site’s footer because you are just way so good with what you did for him, then think of it as a bonus but never insist your name on their website’s footer yourself. I don’t think that could be ethical at all.
If the sole motivating factor for making sites for people was solely their best interests, I wouldn’t charge them money for making the site. We all negotiate for what we can do with our clients, and this can include all kinds of things ranging from the right to use the design as a sample of our work to subbing other contractors if it makes sense to do so.
I don’t see how it is unethical if a credit is part of our design contract and something that is generically acceptable.
Absolutely! Don’t get me wrong because I am quite flexible about putting a credit on the footer and if a client doesn’t want it there I’m happy to comply but come on… Crediting work has been around since people began making things. Otherwise how would we even know who made anything?
Before there were “internets” we had print materials and print materials have plenty of credit for the various providers who were involved in the creation of a particular item from illustrator to designer to the company who printed the piece. Don’t believe me? Open up a book, manual or an annual report. Crack open a piece of software (I mean start it up) and look at the credits that either roll when you start it up or if you hit “help” -> “about” in Windows or the application menu under “About ‘application_name’”. Often you’ll find all the names of the people who created the software and it can run into many, many names.
Credit for the people involved in producing has been around for Milena… Check out some old pottery… If it’s good and fairly old it will have marks indicating where it was made and possibly even under who’s watchful eye. Same thing for silverware and sometimes even for silver plate.
The point is that the idea of crediting has been around for a long time and it isn’t an ethical question unless under some misguided idea, you make it one.
Anyone who does that will probably find their list of clients drying up pretty quickly.
BUT … there is absolutely nothing wrong with a footer link (or other page link) if the client agrees. It costs nothing to ask. I don’t change my prices depending on the answer, but I always ask the question.
Spot on. IMO, you’ve selected the best way to deal with this - you don’t assume you’ve a ‘right’ to a credit, you ask the client for their permission, and don’t penalise the client should they decline the offer.
I think the ultimate gist of this comes from the client’s direction. If they’re paying for a website, I think it’s probably unwise to require your acknowledgment at the bottom of the page.
That said, if you have a good relationship with the client, it’s probably not out of the question to ask them how they feel about it. If they’re supportive of it, great. If not, no harm no foul. It’s up to a paying client if they want your credit.
In my experience, most clients are more than happy to allow a credit. When you’re a small shop like mine, you appreciate any advertisement you can get. Word of mouth is great, but I’ve seen plenty of business come in from a credit in the footer.
Always be classy, always tasteful…but most of all, always respectful.
It depend upon the designer mind or user mind. What you like. It may be you like all such as created by, designed by or compiled by. In this situation, it is difficult to decide that which one is suitable for your content.
There’s nothing wrong with adding the details of the company that created a site. It’s like asking BMW to get rid of their logo when you buy their car.
I haven’t said anything in this thread yet, but have read with interest. My own view is that it is up to the client at the end of the day, they should have the final say - putting it in a contract or something is a bit excessive - but there is no harm in asking and you might as well put it there if the client is happy with it.
Of course, sometimes if another company then changes the code but not the footer, there is the potential for your name to be associated with a bad website / design, one that you don’t want to be associated with any more, so in that case it is a case of calling the client and asking them to remove the links since the site code/design/content changed.
