Be Honest

When you embark on a website or Internet Marketing project, be honest about where you’re at with your business and what you hope to accomplish. Your web designer is not clairvoyant (at least most of us aren’t!) and truly wants to serve you in the highest way possible. You can get your desired results quicker and more effectively by being honest about what you need, the budget you’re working with, and what you expect from both the project and your working relationship.

Communicate Early And Often

Communication is a two-way street. You need to let the team know your priorities and timelines as well as your preferred means (phone, email, etc.) and frequency (daily, weekly, etc.) of communication. The person you hire should also set expectations on how often you will hear from them with updates and the best ways to communicate with him/her. Keeping the lines open is one of the single most important things you can do to ensure success.

Get Clear

Are you clear on the business goals and reasons behind your website and online marketing strategy? If you’re not clear you need to get clear before you start building a site. One way to do that is to hire your web designer or a business coach for some coaching and consulting on your Internet strategy. Technology should enable your business and your website and online activities need to integrate with the bigger picture for your business. The web is no field of dreams and “If you build it, they will come” it not a marketing strategy. That being said you don’t need to have lofty Web 2.0 goals. If the purpose of your site is to have a credible online presence in the way of an online brochure that supports your other marketing, that is reason enough to get started.
Understand The Agreed To Working Arrangement

If you are working with an experienced and professional team, you should be required to review and sign off on a scope of work and client agreement prior to beginning work. The purpose of this is not to add administrative details to your life, but rather to make clear the terms and conditions of the relationship so that you are clear on what the project is costing you, what you get for your investment, and what the joint accountabilities are. Without such guidelines you have no assurance or clarity on what to expect which is not a recipe for a good experience or end result success.

Do Your Part

All web projects have joint accountabilities between you and the team you hire. It is imperative that you commit to meeting agreed upon milestone and following through with those commitments. If you do not, the project cannot move forward and the likelihood for needed rework (at additional cost) and your general unhappiness increases. Provide things like content, original image files, and input in a timely manner. Partner with your web designer and make it a true team effort.

Be Respectful

When it comes to technology sometimes people forget that there are still people involved. Remember that when you work with a web designer that you are dealing with people, not things. Be respectful of each other’s time and expertise. It truly is a two-way street here as well. If you find you are not being treated well or respected in some way it is time to speak up so you can resolve any issues right away. Being respectful also means allowing for sufficient time for requests you make.

Give Feedback

In addition to regular communication, consider giving extra feedback along the way. Is your web designer meeting your expectations? Exceeding them? Falling short in some way? Let her know that as soon as possible. Anyone who really means what they say when it comes to serving your needs will welcome your feedback and the opportunity to address anything that is not up to par.

Enjoy the Process

Have some fun along the way and give yourself permission for the project to flow easily. A website is just another creative act within your business so embrace it and enjoy it. It doesn’t have to be hard, scary, or complicated. If you work with the right web designer or team that is a fit for you the process can truly be a pleasure.

To learn more about how Paula G Web Design can help you reach your goals, download the website planning guide and contact me for a complimentary consultation.

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While the web is full of more and more choices for quick and dirty websites, you do indeed get what you pay for. A particular offer or free template may seem like a great idea yet if you really want to use the web effectively it is worth your investment to work with an expert who can help you navigate the waters. Remember that an effective website can bring you business but a bad website (and yes, even some visually appealing websites are bad) can drive away potential customers. Here are proven tips to help you find the right expert.

Ask Your Colleagues

Are there people in your network that have effective websites that get them results? If so, ask them for referrals. Nothing takes the initial guesswork out of the task of hiring a web designer faster than starting off with 2-4 recommendations from trusted colleagues.

Attend Presentations

Professional association meetings abound with great speakers. Attend a few presentations given by experts to learn more about the web planning process. Not only do you walk away more educated but you can make contact with someone one-on-one if the speaker(s) resonate with you.

Get Clear on Your Goals

What do you want your website to do for your business? What goals have you set for this part of your overall marketing strategy? It is important to be clear on the business drivers behind your website before plunging too deeply into website development. It is not a “one-size fits all” world and clarity is key to being realistic about your goals, budget, and desired results. If you are not 100% clear it might benefit you to do a little website consulting up front to save you time, effort, and money in the long run.

Get Clear on Your Needs

It pays to do a little planning of your own upfront. What type of services do you need? Do you need a graphic designer to design you a logo? Do you need a website designer to create a look and feel for your website? Do you need a web programmer who can code it all and make it work? Do you need an Internet marketing consultant who can help you strategize what tactics to employ in your business?

While all these questions may seem overwhelming they don’t have to be. You don’t need to know all the ins and outs to hire the right person. Just know that it is very rare to find one person who can do all these roles effectively. More typical is the need to work with multiple people to get the job done. If you want someone else to worry about the details and coordination, choose an expert who has access to a team of experts so the process is seamless to you. Then you get the best of all worlds.

Ask Questions

Before you hire someone, ask to meet with them briefly via phone. Most experts will agree to a short conversation to learn more about your needs and how she might help. During this time together don’t be shy about asking questions. Remember you are both evaluating each other for the right fit of communication and expertise. Some questions to consider asking include:

• How long have you been creating websites?
• Do you have access to other expertise (artists, SEO experts, etc.) within your company/team?
• Can you share with me some recent examples of work you did for other businesses?
• What is unique about you and what you offer? What sets you apart from others who do similar work?
• Do you have a structured process and website planning guide that you follow?

Talk Budget Now and Later

Rarely can someone give you a detailed and accurate estimate on the spot. When someone asks me, “What does a website cost?” I tell them that it is like saying to a realtor that you want to buy a house and asking, “What does it cost?” Well, that depends, is the house big or small, beachfront or suburban cul-de-sac, pristine quality or fixer-upper, etc.

However, you absolutely want to talk about your budget with your web expert. It doesn’t matter if someone can provide hundreds of bells and whistles if there is not conscious strategy behind those features and you cannot afford them. In the initial meeting ask for ranges of what it costs to do projects similar to yours. Then, provide as much information as possible so an accurate and detailed estimate and scope of work can be created for your project.

In today’s market, expect to pay between $60-$150 per hour depending on skill and location. A basic high-quality website of 6-8 pages can easily run $1000-$1500. If you want added features (blogs, newsletters, shopping carts), more pages, or advanced content (videos, audio, etc.) expect the costs to be higher.

Ask them how they will bill you so you can plan your payments accordingly. Also ask them how they handle any additional work requests so you are clear under what conditions the cost of the project might increase.

Discuss Ongoing Maintenance

Talk with your designer about how you plan on maintaining the site in the future. A website that never gets updated is like an out of date outfit. It isn’t retro; it just speaks volumes about your lack of commitment to your business. There are numerous options available to you when it comes to updating and maintaining a site. You can retain the services of someone else for ongoing updates. Or, if you wish to do it yourself a site can be built on a content management system (CMS) or configured to work with software such as Adobe Contribute. Talk openly and freely with your designer early on about your intentions and ask any questions you may have. It will help inform the planning, platform choices, and ultimate cost of building the site.

Assess the Person Fit

Remember you will be dealing directly with this person so make sure it is a fit. This person should express a keen interest in you and your business’ success and be able to communicate openly and effectively with you. Questions to ask yourself include:

• Do I like talking with this person?
• Do they ask a lot of questions about me and my business?
• Are they willing to answer questions?
• Do they strive to explain things to me in language I can understand (minimize technical jargon)?
• Are they responsive (responding to email, setting up time to talk, and showing up for the appointment)?

As with many things, trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right about the person, it may not be the right fit for you. Yes, your web designer needs to be a technical guru, but if he/she cannot also communicate with you and understand your business the chances of you being satisfied with the end results are slim.

Timing

An effective website takes time to plan and build. Do not expect instant service. A good designer often has a full schedule of existing clients and it is not uncommon for you to have to wait at least several weeks before the project can start. You know how the best restaurants are often those you need to wait in line for a table? The same holds true for web designers.

Before the project starts, you should have a clear project plan with dates and deliverables so you are clear on milestones, payment, and expectations. These expectations include joint accountabilities for all involved - information you must provide to the team and information the team delivers to you. It is not uncommon for website projects to take 6-12 weeks or more depending on availability and complexity.

Know Your Rights

There are a number of small details that most business owners do not even know to check when hiring a web designer. Here are some crucial details you want to ensure are handled within your working agreement:

• If the designer registers your domain name for you, ensure that you are listed as and own the domain name.
• Upon completion of the project and final payment you own the copyright to all images created for the site and the site itself (except stock photos for which you would have the right to use them, the original artist retains copyright of the work). This includes any artwork created for your company (logos, etc.)
• Ask the designer for original vector based art files for anything they created for you so you can use them in the future with ease.
• Get a list of all site and account logins and passwords for your own records even if you don’t plan on maintaining the site yourself.
• Your website is crucial to your business. It pays to take the time to interview potential website designers and ensure they are the right fit for your business. It takes more than just the ability to create a website page to develop an effective website for your business. With proper planning and research you can ensure you pick the right person and team for your goals, timeline, and budget.

To learn more about how Paula G Web Design can help you reach your goals, download the free website planning guide (see the right sidebar) and contact me for a complimentary consultation .

Photo Credit: dannystock

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“People are thirsty for knowledge and want their voices to be heard, ” says Karen Jackie, a blogging expert and principal at ContentRobot.com, and starting a blog “Is an easy way for small businesses to tell their stories and [let customers] join the conversation.”

Blogging can also be great for your SEO IF you make a sound strategic decision in terms of platform and how you will implement your blog.

If you’re ready to get on the blogging trend in 2009, contact me to learn more about how I can get you up and running in the most effective manner.

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Regardless of where you register your domain name you want to do so through an ICANN accredited registrar. I talk about that at length in a previous post on public vs. private domain name registration.

Where the unknown factor comes into play when you let your hosting company register your domain for you as part of the whole signup process is that they could choose to register it in their name, not yours. Again, a reputable host won’t do this which is why I use GoDaddy.   I have never experienced a problem registering domains, hosting, or switching between hosts and registrars using them.  What someone might do, however is to register the domain name in your name, but keep themselves listed as the administrative contact. Then if you choose to transfer your domain elsewhere they have to approve the transfer. Needless to say some organizations are quicker and more ready to comply than others.

I personally register my domain names myself and use my name for all the contact information.   I recommend you do the same. After all, your domain name is part of your business and personal branding.  No one other than YOU should ever own that.

If you already own a domain name with a hosting company and wish to change hosts, know that it is your free choice to do so.  In most cases you will have no problems doing so other than some timing and a bit of administrative hassle (and a minimal amount of website downtime as the DNS nameservers get updated — think of them as the mechanism that knows how to point people to your site).

If you need help navigating all these details or changing hosts and registrars, just contact me to see how I can help. I don’t offer hosting or registrar services myself but can recommend reputable companies that do and take the stress and hassle out of setting it all up for you.

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I first became aware of the power of this debate a while back when I did an upgrade to the Queercents blog that I manage and it was one of those Wordpress versions that broke the Full RSS Feed feature.  That has since been resolved, but it opened my eyes to the fervor and the issues.

The difference between Full and Partial RSS feed is pretty clear from the name.  When someone subscribes to your blog in an RSS reader they will either be able to read your entire post (Full feed) right in their RSS reader or they will only be able to read an excerpt (partial feed) and have to click over to your blog to read the rest of the article.

Usually you want people to click on over to your blog or website to read something. Yet with blogs the etiquette is a little different.  People who read blogs in RSS readers can’t stand having to click over to “read more”.  Myself included.  I can’t tell you the number of blogs I have abandoned reading because they were partial feed.  Just too many “clicks” involved. A good reminder of making it easy for your users or they will go elsewhere.

I loved this cartoon on the subject:

That being said, others believe a partial feed is the way to go because it makes it harder for spam blogs and content scrapers to swipe your content in its entirety.  The caveat here is that it is truly impossible to stop all content duplication and theft.  You can take steps to prevent it and prove you are the copyright holder by doing things like copyrighting your work with the US Copyright Office and utilizing services like Copyscape to ferret out  thieves.

Melanie at Blogging Basics shared this excellent article on the argument called “Full RSS Feed Versus Partial” at Performancing. The author shares my opinion on the debate:

 In my own travels across the web, I only subscribe to the RSS feed of a blog if it provides the full feed. I don’t have time to click through to the actual article. I’ll only do that if I want to publish a comment or two. I’ve learned a long time ago that people scraping your content is just another part of blogging. As far as I’m concerned, you can never win the war on content scraping, you can only win individual battles. But what is the point if the battles are never ending? So, my advice is to offer a full content RSS feed to your readers. Anything less is just not worth it.

I can’t agree more — blogs are about encouraging readership and making it easy for people to connect with you.  Don’t sabotage that effort by making them work hard to read your posts.

Need help creating your blog or optimizing its use? Contact me to learn how I can help.

Cartoon Credit: Noise to Signal at post “Cartoon: Partial Text RSS Feeds”

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I was reading this long and involved article on URL Canonicalization sent to me by friend and colleague Karyn Greenstreet today.  It is an article that is a bit heavy on the techy and can give you a headache.  Yet, within the esoteric and advanced concepts of SEO that it discusses is a very critical and important point for everyone to understand.  If you’re not careful with the way you architect your site and link to content within your site you might be drastically affecting your SEO rankings to the negative and not even know it.

Let me explain the most simple example to you.  The address “www.yourdomain.com” and “yourdomain.com” are two different addresses according to the search engines even if they both point to the same exact website.  When you mix and mingle the two in your linking strategies, you dilute your SEO juice.

You might wonder, gee, where might this happen?  Well, I learned the shocking way (when it was pointed out to me) that when you install Wordpress for your blog, the default address is often without the “www”. So, without even realizing it you could find yourself sabotaging your own SEO efforts.

Take a peek at how my settings are for my Wordpress blog.  Notice how I specify the address with the complete “www”?

The devil is in the details as you can see from this setting most people never look at. Quite frankly I didn’t think too much of it way back when either!

There are other ways you could inadvertently dilute your efforts.  For example, the file “index.htm” and “index.html” are two entirely different things.  Every URL is case sensitive. So “www.yourdomain.com/page.html” and “www.yourdomain.com/Page.html” are two different things. It is important to pick a naming convention and stick to it.  It is equally important to be consistent in the way you link to things from within your site and when you link back to your site from external sites (ex: professional directories, byline in online articles, etc.).

I don’t point these details out to stress you out. As I move step-by-step down the SEO road myself I find the devil is in the details and there is ALWAYS something additional you can tweak.

If you’re serious about the web and search engine results, it definitely pays to work with someone who can guide you along the way.  Feel free to contact me at any time and I’m happy to help or work with one of my partners to get you the exact help you need.

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The CAN-SPAM Act was passed into Federal Law in 2003 for the following purpose:

To regulate interstate commerce by imposing limitations and penalties on the transmission of unsolicited commercial electronic mail via the Internet.

Meaning, there was now a way to define and penalize those who engage in spam activities.

So, what does that mean for you using e-mail as a valid marketing tool?  After all, you’re not harvesting e-mail addresses,  sending bogus claims, or sending unsolicited junk.  (I hope!) How can  you make sure you are in compliance?

The CAN-SPAM implications are one of my favorite reasons for recommending everyone sending e-mail newsletters use a professional system.  They are set up to comply with CAN-SPAM and all the opt-in requirements.  It makes it easy for you to ensure you are in compliance and prove so in the event there is a dispute.

One of my preferred e-mail broadcasting and autoresponder systems is Aweber.  They have a great little FAQ entitled “What is the CAN-SPAM Act?”.

In it  they excerpt this important piece from the regulation:

According to CAN-SPAM, all email messages must:

• Offer a method for the recipient to opt-out (unsubscribe).
• Contain the sender’s valid physical postal address.

With a professional newsletter system these two requirements are automatically handled for you.  After all, if you are sending something out of your e-mail client (i.e. Outlook) the recipients do not have these options, so technically you are in violation of the act simply by e-mailing people in bulk who have not explicitly given you permission (even if they have chances are you only have a piece of paper or verbal record) who don’t have an easy way to unsubscribe.

You can get the full details on CAN-SPAM at the Federal Trade Commission site.

For simplicity sake, just know that this law applies to you and all your e-mail marketing as well. You are required to ensure you are in compliance and the easiest way to do it is to find a provider you like (I can recommend several) and spend the small fee to ensure piece of mind for you and your business.

Photo Credit: Flickr

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Note: I am only talking about Wordpress blogs here. The self-installed kind, not those hosted at Wordpress.com. Blogger and TypePad automatically back up their systems (and your blog) for you. That is both the good and bad news (consider: they have control of all your content and backed up data, not you).

There are actually 2 parts to backing up your Wordpress blog completely:

1. The Wordpress databases (your posts, user configurations, comments,  etc.)
2. Wordpress files (themes, plugins, your uploaded photos, etc.)

 Backing up the Wordpress Databases

There are several different ways you can back up your Wordpress databases. You can read all the nitty gritty in the Wordpress Codex.  Unless you are a geek it’ll make your head hurt.  However, there is a great little article complete with Pro’s and Con’s at “2 Quick Ways to Backup Your Wordpress Blog” which I found worth reading.

Personally, my favorite easy backup solution is the plugin approach using the Wordpress Database Backup Plugin.  Once you get the plugin installed and configured (quick and easy, especially for your website guru), you can schedule it to run automatically. There is nothing better than backups that run regularly and automatically.  If you have to THINK about it, you won’t DO it.  Sort of like an automatic savings plan, right?

In the event that you need to restore your blog from this backup, it is not quite as easy as pie as backing it up.  However, a good web person with Wordpress and phpAdmin experience for mySQL can help you. If that sounded like alphabet soup to you…trust me…someone with capabilities like myself can do it for you with reliable results if you have good backups.

 Backup Up Your Wordpress Files

Backing up these files is akin to backing up your regular website.  Using a piece of software called an FTP client (basically a big ole file manager for a remote site) you can download your files to your computer and back them up.

I personally use the FTP software from Ipswitch which is probably overkill for most uses who aren’t using it day in and day out.  For reliable and free FTP solutions consider FileZilla.

Once you download them to your computer, make sure you put them in rotation for getting backed up with the rest of your machine’s data (You DO have regular backups for your business and personal data, right?!? If not, do so NOW or you will really freak out if and when your computer dies one day.).

It is not “hard” to do regular backups.  It is sort of like brushing your teeth every night.  It’s not a great deal of fun to do and if you have those electric toothbrushes like I do it seems like a downright pain at times. Yet, you will be VERY glad you did so.

Need help putting together a backup plan for your blog? Contact me and I’ll help you navigate through the process.

Photo by Waffler.

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I was recently reading the MarketingVox article “How-To: 15 Tips for Effective Web Design” and it reinforced my belief that if you get the basics right, you are more than 90% there in terms of being effective.  Here are a few of my favorite tips from that article:

1. Use a consistent color scheme.

The colors of your site have a significant impact on readability. Avoid clashing colours that make visitors squint or — worse — give them headaches. One classic example: using bright red or yellow text on a black background, which is appallingly unattractive and difficult to read.

2. Use consistent typefaces and sizes.

Maintain a consistent font style and text size. Pick one typeface for most of your content and avoid deviating unless you are making distinctions (such as between body and header). Small text sizes can be difficult to read at higher resolutions.

Consistency is key.  It ties directly into your branding and user experience.  If in doubt, go with the maxim that “less is more”.  The most striking websites and brands are ones that are easy to use and are elegant in their simplicity.

This consistency can be easily maintained if your site is constructed properly using proper web standards. What you see is not what you get…so that idea of using any old editor to “do your own site” will in the long run create more headaches than it solves.

In keeping with the simplicity theme, the idea of making the site easy to use is paramount. I don’t care how big you are, if the site is hard to use it is a major turn off. I am in love with the Olympics but am losing my mind trying to get the NBCOlympics.com site to work for me. The videos I am yearning to see won’t work, I can’t find what I want, and I leave generally confused and frustrated.  They are the only game in town, but when it comes to you and your business, you don’t have the monopoly card to play. So…

15. Use a straightforward navigation system.

Make sure every section of your site is accessible from a clear and simple navigation system near the top of the page. It should stand out from the content. Too many links in one place makes usability difficult for users. Have a third party experiment with your site on the front-end to provide feedback on the flow of navigation.

Remember - as a user, if I can’t find it - it doesn’t exist to me.  Be strategic in your navigation and make it easy to use and understand. Always have someone else test it to make sure it not only works but is also intuitive.

Some of the other tips get a bit techy, but overall the article is a good one. Hop on over to read the entire post.

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• Access and maintain backups of your blog data and files.
•  Host your blog within your existing domain for SEO power.
• Use a myriad of plugins to enhance your blog capabilities (though I do believe in choosing consciously and wisely).
• Customize to your heart’s content for consistent branding.

Recently I had the honor and privilege of migrating a client, colleague, and friend’s blog from Blogger to Wordpress.  It was a resounding success.

Karyn Greenstreet who is a small business expert I greatly admire had been blogging for a few years but wanted to get more control over her Passion for Business Blog for the reasons I spoke of above.   So, I got to work giving her blog a new home and helping the old content move in and set itself up in its new home. Here’s a screenshot of her blog in its new home:

 Her branding and strategies were already solidified. My job was more tactical than it often is when I work with clients. That being said, it was important to ensure all the old content of 400+ posts and comments made the trip to the new home intact.  I ran into a few snags in the process, but overall it went extremely smoothly.  My message to you is — if you’re thinking of migrating to Wordpress it is worth the time, investment, and effort.

Not sure if migrating is for you? Or, know you want to migrate but don’t know how to get started? Contact me and I’m happy to chat with you and co-create a plan that works best for you and your business.

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