My fellow Web Designers will LAUGH THEIR ASSSES OFF at this. NO ASS REMAINING after reading.

[Miles Archer]

SO...

...I am PROSPECTING today and found a local attorney whose Website is a frigging MESS, but LOOK at what I found in the raw code of his site (I redacted his name, everything else is as I found it):

<meta property="og:site_name" content="REDACTED"/><meta property="og:description" content="If you find yourself in need of experienced, aggressive legal representation our law offices can make all the difference in the world for your case. Quality Representation, Peace of Mind With REDACTED you can rest assured Inexpensive very to cialis original addictive inside I will cheap viagra"/>

I sent him a courtesy email. Let's see how he responds, if at all. By the way, he does have additional "re-direct code" in there that sends the viewer to a "buy cheap Viagra" Website.

[blogslut]

1. Is it on a WordPress platform?

Seems to me I remember something about some exploit that allowed commentors to add spam redirects to WP blog entries. But that was years ago.

[Miles Archer]

2. Yes

One more person who probably paid through the nose to a Las Vegas firm to "create a Website" when in reality they tweaked a WP installation in a couple of hours.

There are also typos and a "404 Page Not Found" error when you click the Web Developer's link. THEIR site iis still up, it's just that the link they inserted into his footer is a dead link.

He also has a DOMAIN NAME via his Website bust uses an AOL email address. The list goes on and on but I sent him four morsels as diplomatically as I could. My guess, especially give the way things go in this town, is that I won't get a response.

[blogslut]

3. I bet the "developer" inserted that redirect and meta crap

Or the developer is terribly inept at protecting content. That WP exploit was fixed ages ago and all they have to do is get an addon that forces approval before comments are posted.

Just tell the dude his site is dangerously insecure and why. WP is a great CMS and once you teach the customer how to post, they can write blog entries and make pages themselves.

[Skittles]

4. what's your success rate with courtesy emails

I am curious

[Miles Archer]

5. As soon as someone replies to one I'll let you know.

Zero success rate. But I figured I'd take a shot because this guy seemed like a lost cause from the get-go. Plus, it was a lot of fun telling him that he paid a guy who can't spell to throw together a WordPress site that got hacked and now re-directs people to buy discount boner pills.

[Skittles]

6. honestly I'm surprised they don't respond

I would imagine a professional would be mortified to find out their website is pimping boner pills

[Oneironaut]

7. My favorite thing ever was going to a public FTP site for a notable gaming company

and noticing it was full of porn spam. As to why this FTP was even public in the first place - it's a mystery. This was a company people gave their credit information to - totally compromised.

[Sweet Freedom]

8. That is funny.

Don't feel bad if you don't hear back. I have found that those who have awful websites and marketing collateral are the worst clients to have because they don't understand the importance of professional-looking pieces.