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Techno Goober seeks ugly websites

Contest accepting nominations until Nov. 30
November 14, 2017

Technology services company Techno Goober is looking for an ugly duckling of a website that it can turn into a swan.

The company is asking for submissions for its first ever Ugly Website contest. One entry will win a free website redesign by Techno Goober, a $5,000 value that includes free hosting, images and content, plus the website will be mobile-friendly.

Michele Glanden, office manager of Techno Goober, said nominations are open until Thursday, Nov. 30. Techno Goober will then whittle the submissions to three and the public will vote throughout December. Glanden said the winner will be announced Jan. 1. Runners-up will get discounts on website-related services.

“We want to try to do it every year,” she said. “It’s kind of a new year, new you.”

Glanden said websites can be nominated by anyone, including the owner of the website. She said nominees are notified that their site has been entered.

So how does one end up with an ugly website?

“They had their website designed in the ‘90s,” said content writer Katelyn Gebbia. “Their website was probably beautiful when it was first designed in 2005.”

Glanden said another issue is typically the website was not designed with mobile devices in mind, leading to the website being clunkiness that turns users off.

“A lot of people come to us and say they tried to do it themselves,” she said, with most not realizing how difficult building a website can be, especially in using color and using high-resolution images.

“If it’s not easy to use, it’s automatically ugly anyway. If it has bad photos or bad design then that’s definitely ugly, or if it’s slow,” Gebbia said.

Techno Goober, on Nassau Commons Boulevard in Lewes, primarily deals with websites, tech services and computer repair. Gebbia said the company’s clientele is 90 percent local; the company works on 30 to 40 websites at a given time.

“We try to be as full-service for our clients as we can be,” Glanden said.

Glanden said it typically takes two to three months to build a website, with the idea for the winning website to be ready for unveiling in the spring.

For more information or to nominate a website, visit uglywebsitecontest.technogoober.com.

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