Earlier this week, a lively discussion broke out in the Genesis group on Facebook.
The debate? Whether or not web designers should place a link to their sites in the footer of client websites.
This may seem like a silly thing for people to get worked up about. If you’re a designer, you probably have a firm opinion on this topic already – what’s left to debate? Personally, I found it interesting to see what people do and the reasons behind those decisions. I was also surprised to see how many differing opinions there were within the group.
Footer links are a moot point for my own business since I generally develop white labeled themes for designers. In other words, their clients don’t always know the development is being outsourced, so if any link goes in the footer, it’s the designer’s and not my own. Sometimes I’m asked to place a link to the designer’s site; sometimes I’m not.
Pros of Placing a Footer Link on Client Sites
Visibility. Word of mouth is a great referral source for any designer. If someone likes your work on a client site, it’s easy for them to click through the footer link to take a look at what you have to offer.
SEO (yours). Who doesn’t love backlinks? That can only help you in the long run, right?
It’s the least they can do. You just did a ton of work to create something beautiful and functional. Surely a tiny footer link isn’t too much to ask!
Cons of Placing a Footer Link on Client Sites
Reputation management. What happens if you complete a great design and someone else (the client or a new designer) dismantles it later? Do you really want your name associated with a site that looks like crap?
SEO (theirs). Having sitewide links of any kind could have disastrous effects on SEO. Not always, but it’s still a potential risk.
The client paid you for the work. Once the final invoice is paid, it’s safe to say all parties are satisfied. But does that mean the client is required to tell the world who designed his/her site?
In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I often placed a nofollow link in site footers when I did direct client work. If clients didn’t want one, I took it out – no problems. A few of them even specifically asked me to put in a link or logo (or, in one case, a whole page describing my services).
So what do you think?
Are designer footer links good or bad? Take the poll below (now closed) and let us know what you think in the comments!
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Vaughan Simons says
This is an interesting question to debate. From the start, I’ve added a simple, small credit in the footer of sites I built for clients - usually as the last link in a line of text containing a copyright notice for the client’s site, a terms and conditions link, then finally a credit linking back to my site. All of it displayed in a smaller font from the rest of the body copy and quite unobtrusive. I didn’t ask the client about this and, I’ll confess, until this debate arose I’d never really thought of including it in a contract (though I do have a clause about using the client’s site for publicity and in my portfolio, etc). This wasn’t done out of rudeness - it was just something that never occurred to me. However, I’ve also never had a single complaint from clients about the link being there.
I don’t think, however, that there’s a simple yes or no answer to this. I think a lot of it depends on the size/scale of the client, not to mention the size/scale of the designer/developer. I’ve only been working freelance for a year, just six months full-time, and I’ll make no bones about the fact that, yes, I need that extra bit of promotion at the moment - having my credit on sites I’ve built has brought me three or four new clients so far that I might not otherwise have had. Equally, though, if I was suddenly approached by [insert mega-corporation paying thousands for a new site] who most likely wouldn’t want my credit appearing, I’d be fine with that. And if I happen to go from the relatively small beginning stage I’m at right now to having hundreds of clients competing for my services, I might also think that, hey, the credit link in the footer isn’t really necessary.
Andrea Whitmer says
I think you make a very good point re: exposure in the beginning. When your portfolio is limited, it would be difficult for others to find you without footer credit to let them know who built or designed the site. It’s definitely different if you’re working with a large client as well (though I would guess most people aren’t in the beginning). I don’t necessarily think there is a right or wrong answer to this question, but I love hearing what other people do and why they do it. 🙂
Carla says
If I love a website, I always scroll down for the designer’s link and feel a bit miffed when I don’t find it.
But on the flip side, I don’t want my name associated with changes that don’t meet my standards or designs sense. For my mom’s website, I know I’m safe. With someone else’s, though, I may consider a contract stipulation that they remove me from the credits if certain changes are made or they hire a new designer.
I’m not sure how feasible or enforceable that is, though. Any thought?
Andrea Whitmer says
I’m the same way - I hate trying to hunt down who did something, especially if I’m interested in hiring them, working with them, etc. Sometimes I’ve reached out to site owners without a response, so that doesn’t exactly make it easier.
I have worked with several designers who stipulate in their contracts that a design has to be used “as is” or removed completely. (Not counting changes to sidebars, etc. but more drastic alterations.) I’m not sure whether that would hold up in court or anything, but I do think it makes sense to talk about that before the contract is signed, especially since clients rarely read the contract anyway. They should understand exactly what they’re getting and what strings/rules are attached, as well as why those rules are in place.
AnitaC says
For me personally, it really depends on the job. Some clients actually extend the use to me, while I choose not to do it on others. As I mentioned on one of my Tweets to this same question, if I’m managing it, Yes. If I am not but they are, I remove it. Why? Because if they Fugly it up my name isn’t on it. LOL. But in all seriousness though - it really depends on the client and the type of business it is.
And also the question should be “what did you do to warrant placing your link there?” If you merely installed the theme for someone and added demo content for them to get started - does that give you the right to put - “Created by”, “Developed by”, “Site by”, or “Customized by”? Or, if you are installing a demo and only adding in a logo for someone or changing a few colors - does that warrant the same linkage at the bottom of a clients site?
If I do a full blown customized site and my client doesn’t have a problem with me having it there whether I provide maintenance or not - I will put it there. I also have it in my larger project contracts that they agree to allow me to have it there for the first 3 months. But for all of the small simple things some of the ladies come to me for, including the quickie “Get Me Started” type deals - I don’t put it there because I really didn’t do anything. I cannot place my link when the client provided me with custom artwork from a graphics designer. It doesn’t appear transparent to me that the graphics designer isn’t included in that linkage.
I saw several cases where one developer installed the theme and added a few embellishments. Then their client hired another developer to take it a step further and that designer removed the first designers link and replaced it with theirs. The first developer was pissed. So… your question is great. Thanks for posting this.
Andrea Whitmer says
Great points re: the verbiage vs. what work was actually performed. I’ve also wondered where a client should draw the line - what if they hire separate graphic designers, web designers, developers, etc.? Does everyone get a link?
My opinion has changed a lot since I stopped working directly with clients, and I’m still not 100% sure what I think. Since so much what I do is behind the scenes and I very rarely get credit for the dev work I do, I don’t know that I would go back to using a footer link if I did client work again in the future. At the same time, I don’t really judge people if they choose to include a link - after all, that’s how I’ve found most of the designers I work with, as well as the people I collaborate with in a mastermind group. If it’s all shrouded in mystery, I feel like the community suffers.
AnitaC says
On a few projects, I’ve placed both links (Site by: C8D | Graphics by:___) which was agreeable by all parties. It’s in the footer and not intrusive, you know what I mean. But sometimes, like you said you can have more than two businesses working on it. I just don’t like it when someone takes credit for everything when they didn’t do everything. They may have only provided 25% of a job and the person who did 75% doesn’t get any recognition. Again… transparency should mean a lot in this business.
Christian Nelson says
If you’re designing an ad or a brochure for a client do you put your name on it? If you’re writing copy for a client, do you add your name to the end of the copy you wrote?
Putting this kind of link on a web site is unprofessional, low class, amateurish, and a couple other descriptors I don’t want to mention here.
Andrea Whitmer says
Awww, come on! Tell us how you really feel! 😀
Susan says
Christian:
For those starting out in the business, how are they to know that it’s unprofessional, low class, amateurish, and a couple other descriptors? For example, all the StudioPress themes have the site credits in the bottom of the theme, so someone who is just starting out in this business could think this is the “norm”; if StudioPress is doing it, I’m sure nobody is thinking *they* are unprofessional, low class, and amateurish.
As a smallish community, I like to learn from those more experienced than myself. I think you’d have more converts to your way of thinking, if you explained why it’s unprofessional, low class and amateurish, rather than just insulting others in your community.
Christian Nelson says
Andrea wrote a nice post on a topic that just happens to be near and dear to my heart, and invited us to let her know what we think about it. So that’s what I did. I offered my opinion. And when I wrote my opinion I knew it would be unpopular, but I’m surprised to see that someone wants to argue the point.
I’m surprised, because what I wrote was an opinion. I didn’t say everyone should agree with me, and I didn’t have any interest in trying to “convert” anyone, as the person said.
I didn’t just chime in on an ongoing discussion. I was asked to give my opinion, and that’s what I did. I stated my opinion.
Arguing facts, things that can be measured, is one thing. But is it a good idea to argue opinions on a friendly blog like this one? I’m not sure. It’s the same as arguing politics or religion. No one wins. For those who want to argue, there are lots of other forums that specialize in flame wars and arguments.
But OK…since this topic relates to one of my pet peeves, and since I was called out, by name, by a well-known member of our community, I’ll indulge that person’s need for a bit of argumentative discussion, I’ll try to explain my position, I’ll suggest a few better ways to promote a web design business, and also try to answer the charge that I had insulted other members of our community.
And I’ll hope that Andrea will allow me the necessary space to do this.
Even though the commenter didn’t answer my (rhetorical) questions at the start of my comment/opinion, I’ll answer her question, which was: “For those starting out in business, how are they to know that it’s unprofessional, low class, amateurish, and a couple other descriptors”?
Here’s my answer: On the first day that someone starts out in a business, it goes without saying that it’s unfair to expect them to know everything about their chosen field. But when people want to refer to themselves as professional web designers or developers, they owe it to themselves and to their clients to not only learn how to do their jobs (design and produce web sites), but also owe it to themselves and their clients to learn how to be professionals in their field. And “professional” has a lot more meaning than just “I get paid for doing this.”
Part of being a professional is learning the “business”…understanding the field the practitioner is working in. The person should learn the ethics and the standards of the chosen profession. For example, professional designers and developers know better than to steal photographs and graphics from other web sites. They don’t steal text from other web sites. They don’t steal code from other developers. They do the best work they can do. They don’t leave customers hanging. They price their work fairly. They help their colleagues when possible. Of course not every designer and developer follows these rules, but it would be better for everyone if they would. Same goes for the question related to a designer / developer “signing” a web site.
Most professional designers who understand the design business do not “sign” their web sites, and do not use a client’s site to advertise their own web design businesses.
And until the inexperienced (or any other level) designer / developer learns this and applies the principles of their profession, it’s fair to judge some things this designer / developer does as at least a little bit amateurish and unprofessional.
A big part of the problem is that many of today’s web designers / developers have no background in design or in business. They learn WordPress, maybe some HTML, a little CSS and some PHP, and then set up a business calling themselves designers, developers, and professionals. That puts them at a bit of a disadvantage at a real disadvantage when it comes to understanding their profession.
I was lucky. I started as a typographer, and had been working as a graphic designer, an editor, and a copywriter for decades before 1996 came along and I started creating web sites for my clients, most of whom barely knew what a web site was. I was fortunate that my long experience gave me the advantage of already understanding the design business before I could make too many amateurish and unprofessional errors on the web sites I was creating.
For my first web site I started out with a blank “sheet of paper” on my computer screen, in a text editor, writing simple HTML. There was no such thing as WordPress or any other kind of templates to get me started. I drew the design on paper before I started. I wrote the code. It was simple code…although it seemed anything but simple at the time 🙂 …but I wrote it myself. I wrote all the text. I took photos in my client’s office (with a film camera), scanned the photos, and created JPEGs to be used on the guy’s web site. With very little information available on JPEG compression in those days, I didn’t do a very good job of optimizing my images, to say the least, but I did make an honest effort, and the graphics ended up being OK after I re-created most of them, and eventually re-created them yet again. 🙂
Even though, if he had been around back in those days, Barack Obama might have said, “You didn’t build that,” the fact is that I *did* build that.
When I got that first site up online I was happy with it. I was proud of it. But did I put my name on it? No. It didn’t even enter my mind to put my name at the bottom of the home page. Why would I? I would never put my name on a brochure or an ad I had designed. And I wouldn’t put my name on any copy I had written. So why would I “sign” my web site?
As a design professional, if it had even entered my mind to put my name on the site, I would have known there were better ways to promote my business, and I would have known it would be wrong to distract my client’s potential customers by having my name on his web site. I was aware of my profession’s standards, and I’ve continued to study the standards of my profession, even all these years later. It’s part of my job as a professional.
I realize that not everyone thinks the same as I do, and so I suppose some people could make a case for “signing” their web sites the same way an oil painter signs his paintings. Maybe they could think it’s OK to “sign” the web site when they’ve created it at no charge or at a low rate for a deserving not-for-profit organization. I still think it’s a bad idea, but they might make a case for that. Maybe.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Before a designer / developer “signs” his or her web site, I would ask that designer / developer some questions:
1. Did you come up with the design totally from ground zero, or did you use a template or a WordPress theme created by someone else to get you started with the look and feel of the site?
2. How about the code? The HTML. The CSS. The PHP. Did you write all that yourself? Or did you buy that in the form of a WordPress theme or WordPress framework, and then build the site on an already proven code foundation someone else had worked up?
3. If you altered the code to “redesign” the theme you started with, did you do all the additional and revised coding yourself, or did you hire an outside developer to write the code you didn’t know how to write yourself?
4. Did you, or one of your in-house employees write all the text for the web site yourself, or did the client or some anonymous copywriter produce the text?
Followup questions I might ask that designer or developer include:
How can you, in all good conscience, put your name on something, how can you “sign” this work (like a nice watercolor painting) when you only did part of the work yourself? Even if you can somehow justify doing this, why don’t you also name the other people who did parts of the work for you?
Do you think there’s something special about a web site that excludes it from the ethics and standards that apply to brochures, ads, copy (text), and other promotional materials, where it’s considered bad form to “sign” this kind of work?
Since you consider yourself a professional, shouldn’t you be able to come up with a better way to promote your business rather than putting your name at the bottom of someone else’s web site? If you do good work, your customers will let other people know. If you are a professional in this business…and this business really is all about promotion and marketing…shouldn’t you be good enough at marketing and promotion to figure out other and better ways to promote your business?
Can’t you use your own web site to promote your business? You say no one comes to your web site? OK, so figure out how to get people to come to your web site so they can find out about your services. You can run a blog. You can buy ads. You can make sales calls. You can participate in forums. You can make presentations for groups in your community to explain the “wonders of the Internet.” These are just a few examples of how professionals promote their businesses, without signing their names on the web sites of their customers.
That’s enough questions for that beginning designer/developer.
The person who called me out mentioned that theme developers, such as StudioPress, add these links at the bottom of their themes, and seemed to offer that as proof that it’s an OK thing to do. But really…just because they do that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea or that it’s “OK.” It’s not OK.
If outfits like StudioPress insist upon doing that, they should, at the very least, make it a lot easier for their customers to remove those obnoxious links. Those links are not easy to get rid of, and many people want to get rid of those links, as is proven by the constant flow of questions on various forms asking for help removing those links. Without much effort, these theme developers could make those credit links easier to remove, but they don’t. They would rather force their customers to advertise for them. Not exactly high class, I would say.
And by the way, isn’t it just a little bit ludicrous to want to remove links leading to the theme developer, but then insist upon putting links leading to your own web site on your client’s web site?
One last point: The person who questioned my opinion also implied that my comments insulted members of our community. Not true. In saying that, she made a common mistake: She confused remarks pertaining to a business practice with an attack on a person. Long-time editors, and I’m one of those, run into this all the time. If we reject a piece and say that it’s poorly written, doesn’t fit our needs, it’s derivative – beginning writers often become angry, taking the remarks personally – even though the hapless editor is referring to the submitted work, not the writer. Professional writers know better, and they realize the comments relate to their work, not to them personally, and don’t feel insulted.
What I have said is that when a designer or developer inserts an ad for his business on a customer’s web site, that’s amateurish behavior. That’s what I’m talking about.
Designers and developers, whether they are advanced, intermediate, or beginners have the right to do whatever they want in regard to “signing” their web sites. But when someone asks me what I think of the idea, I’m going to say that I don’t like it, and that (in almost every case) I think it’s amateurish, unprofessional, cheesy, tacky, and bush league.
Summer says
Christian, your initial wording in your first comment, by using the word “you”, then by following that up by calling the practice unprofessional and amateurish — after Andrea had already stated in the post that it was something that she has and will sometimes do — could easily be read as a direct attack on Andrea and her participation in that practice, instead of a general dislike of the practice as a whole.
That said, the web started out being built by creating links back and forth to other sites… in the early days there was no other way to find more websites without following a link that was on a site you already knew about. Even after Yahoo got started, it still wasn’t easy to be found.
Now, sharing links amongst niches is preferable, and I think good, but if you have a client who appreciates the work you do, and they give you permission to add a link back to your site and/or use it in a portfolio showcase, or better yet ask you to do it so they can show their appreciation, where does that fall on your “because I don’t like it” scale?
Small businesses refer service providers to other small businesses all the time. Word of mouth is the highest form of praise, and more often than not garners the best new clients. Having a link back to a developer’s site is the web’s version of word of mouth.
For the SEO concerns, I’ve seen people use a smaller “credits” section on their About page, instead of having 5 different links in the footer (the theme link, the theme shop’s link, the StudioPress link, the WordPress link, the designer’s link, the graphics pro’s link…. yeah that gets to be a little much, I’ll agree with you there, but in Genesis child themes, those links are trivial to remove).
I’m starting to like the idea of a Credits section on About pages more than footer links… people tend to pay more attention to them than footer links.
And no, people with their own businesses are not good at marketing. That’s why so many small business go under so soon after starting up. I have 30 years experience as a Unix systems admin, and had been creating websites on my own for work, for fun and for entertainment since 1994.
I only started doing this as a business 2-3 years ago because I couldn’t get a job anymore in my field of experience, yet I still don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to marketing my business, myself and what I can do. But it’s not like I have a choice other than to keep slogging through it and hope any mistakes aren’t major ones 😉
Yes, I can put together a pretty good Genesis site, and customize it out the wazoo as well (I know enough PHP, MySQL and CSS to be really dangerous, Lol), and I know more than enough about servers to track down why someone’s site might be misbehaving and even talk to ISPs and let them know what’s broken. It’s probably one reason I have more maintenance clients than design projects, but if you gave me a pop quiz on how I’d market what I can do to someone I’d meet in a store or at a Meetup, I’d be lost.
To answer some of your questions, yes I’ve seen plenty of promotional materials that include information on the company that produced them. A large selection of educational materials, from grade school through post-grad, especially materials for adult and continuing ed classes have company info on them. I’ve seen direct marketing postcards and flyers with print company info on them, because that’s how direct marketing companies get more business, too. Print promotional materials are not the all-or-nothing pedestal you are putting them forth as your example to strive for here.
And as for posts on forums, while I’ve gotten a few nibbles from support threads I’ve replied to in the SP forums, I’ve never had anyone comment on a thread I’ve started on the SP Showcase forum even when I thought the finished site was something to be proud of, so I may stop doing Showcase posts there altogether as well.
And your suggestion to buy ads is a dangerous game… I know a half dozen local businesses who got Burned Big Time with AdWords, and they’re still recovering. It never dawned on me that there were people so petty as to click on a competitor’s ads just to burn through their ad budget for the month and have those ads not show up next to their own for 2-3 weeks. Talk about people who never outgrew being playground bullies…
Anyway… 🙂
Hopefully we can all agree sometimes, disagree sometimes, but keep it civil and learn a few things from each other 🙂
Andrea Whitmer says
Just wanted to clink glasses with you re: being clueless about marketing. If only all the years I spent learning to code had also been spent learning to run a business. 3 years of doing it full time and I still learn something new every day!
Tracee Murphy says
I recently graduated with my web design degree and currently researching all things design/development related that one does not learn in school so I can start my own web design business and start building a portfolio.
The title of this post intrigued me and I was anxious to read the comments that followed. On the few sites I have done (all WP sites with pre-built themes), so far I have only credited my name in the footer if I maintain the site b/c I don’t want to be associated with a site that’s been chopped up by site owner’s trying to update and maintain their websites.
I consider myself a designer and developer and for what it’s worth I don’t see anything wrong with anyone adding their name to promote the work they did on a site. I don’t think that any visitor to a site whether it be a non-designer/developer or professional will visit any site and think that the web designer/developer created absolutely every design aspect of that site. Isn’t that the point of stock images, free/paid graphics, open source licenses etc.? And isn’t that the point of developer tools?
Since when does a web designer/developer must also be a professional photographer, graphic designer, copy writer/editor, marketer, and every other profession that encompasses putting together a website? I think the majority of people understand that a web designer takes all these elements from various sources, including the client themselves, and knows that web designer is responsible for laying out these elements in a website that is appealing to view and easy to navigate.
Not every web designer/dev is a jack of all trades and expected to create all the graphics, take all the photos, write all the copy text, know all there is about marketing, and so on. For those who can do all that, terrific, that’s an added bonus, maybe the client saves money b/c it is not outsourced or maybe they’re charged extra for the additional service. Again, I don’t think adding one’s name at the bottom of the website assumes that person created every aspect of the website, it is assumed they put all those things together to create one, hopefully, very nice website.
Lucky for me I take decent photos, can do some photo manipulation, and I’m trying to learn how to create graphics. Which adds another point I didn’t plan to bring up, even a graphic artist doesn’t create everything they design from scratch. They can use free fonts for typography, they can download free/paid brushes, shape tools, and such. Should a graphic designer not give themselves credit for a logo design b/c they didn’t make the font themselves?
I am a watercolor artist as well, and I sign my paintings with my name without giving credit to all the manufacturers from the tools I use, i.e. brushes, paints, and paper. I even know very well-known artists who offer for free or sell their designs and instructions on how to paint a subject and allow other artists to sign their name on that painting and sell it as the original artist (not many do this, but some do).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for giving credit where credit is due! As an artist that is my nature. Sometimes it’s appropriate for a footer and sometimes there is nothing wrong with adding all the credits somewhere inconspicuous like in the source code comments, and sometimes both!
Andrea Whitmer says
Thanks for stopping by, Tracee! Let me just say that I have a lot of respect for any recent graduate who realizes school only gives you so much preparation for the real world - I think your clients will be well served since you’re obviously willing to keep learning (and to share your experiences as well!).
I think your stance makes sense, especially since all of us have worked with clients who promptly destroy their sites within a week of a project’s completion. I’ve actually gone back a few times and removed my own footer attribution when a site I built turned into a hot mess. I’ve also chosen to skip a footer credit in cases where I built something against my better judgment, like a site that had three sliders on the homepage at the client’s insistence (facepalm). I definitely don’t think there’s a “one size fits all” solution or answer, but it’s always interesting to see what other people think and why they do things a certain way.
JD says
I’ve been a designer for 16 years. I’m a Creative Director now. So, my opinion on this has changed over the years—but it is now fairly hard and true…for my employees and subcontractors, it’s a big no-no to place a link, or any descriptor, on the site promoting their/our own work.
Here’s the deal…the client has paid us to develop something for them. Whether it’s identity, print, or a website, we are creating it for them. In return, they are paying us for that product. Adding any kind of advertising for yourself to that product is, in my opinion, a cheap form of piggybacking and makes you, as a designer/agency, look amateurish. You don’t do it on their branding, you don’t do it on their print pieces, so why is their website fair game?
VML doesn’t add anything to Wendy’s website. You wouldn’t know that Bernstein-Rein handles MetLife’s radio spots. It’s not the job of your client to pay for your own promotion. And that’s exactly what the designer/developer is doing. They’re piggybacking on the real estate that the client has paid for to promote themselves. If the client and designer have worked out an agreement, fine. So be it. But I, personally, wouldn’t accept it. It cheapens both the client’s and designer’s brand (in my opinion). I think it looks low-rent. Much like when dealerships slap their decal on the back of a car.
I don’t want to come across as condescending but I have very strong opinions on this. You wouldn’t allow a builder or architect to leave a sign in your front yard after they’ve built you a house, would you?
The biggest argument I’ve heard in favor of this is the intellectual property argument. Basically, that what you’re creating, as an “artist”, is yours. Photographers are the most obvious example here. They cling onto their IP like grim death and will stand behind it till the day they die. A lot of designers are the same way. I worked with a client who fired their small agency. As a result, they were not able to retrieve everything that agency had created for them over the last 5 years. That agency cited IP laws. And, in their defense, the law is on their side.
As a designer, Creative Director, and moreso than anything else, a business person, I view it completely differently. The client is paying me to build something for them. Once they pay me for it, the transaction is complete. It becomes theirs. Every month I create backups for my clients so they can have what they’ve paid for on file.
But, I digress.
I hope much of this makes sense. I don’t want to get into any real arguments here because, while I see where many of these designers are coming from (just starting out, small shops, etc), I don’t feel it’s the client’s burden to handle the designer’s promotion—regardless of size.
Thanks for listening 🙂
Andrea Whitmer says
Appreciate your thoughts! I’m in agreement 100% - I haven’t used any footer links in a very long time because of similar thinking.
Peter says
As a Designer, do you put your logo/name on the bottom of a business card you designed for a client? Or a poster? A website is the same thing. Unless you are charging a client less in exchange for the opportunity of advertising on their site (or have some other agreement), your branding should not be present – especially when you drop it into a design unannounced! It’s what “Webmasters” do. Not professionals.
Andrea Whitmer says
I agree 100%. Every now and then a client actually wants me to include a footer link, which is a little weird, but generally I just don’t see a need. They already paid me so they don’t owe me anyting else.