I was just setting up a new web app on our staging server and came across something I haven’t run into before…figured I’d post it here in case someone else finds it useful.  If you’re having trouble with static files not showing up and you’re running Nginx and Rails 3, read on for all the details on this quick and easy fix.

The Problem:

We’re running Nginx and have several static files that are in a “themes” directory.  I kept getting pages that had no images and no styling and figured there must be something going on with the way those files are being called.

The Solution:

It turns out this has to do with a setting in Nginx, but it’s super simple to fix in Rails 3.

Look in /environments/production.rb and you’ll see something like this:

[bash]
# Specifies the header that your server uses for sending files
config.action_dispatch.x_sendfile_header = “X-Sendfile”

# For nginx:
# config.action_dispatch.x_sendfile_header = ‘X-Accel-Redirect’
[/bash]

Change it so it looks like this instead:

[bash]
# Specifies the header that your server uses for sending files
#config.action_dispatch.x_sendfile_header = “X-Sendfile”

# For nginx:
config.action_dispatch.x_sendfile_header = ‘X-Accel-Redirect’
[/bash]

You may need to restart Nginx and/or Phusion Passenger.

Afterwards, you should be good to go, with those static files being served just like you expected.

One of the most common patterns in Rails apps is having a feature that allows your users to have their own subdomain.  We were recently working on a Rails 3 application that includes this type of functionality and figured we’d post a few of our tips for making this type of setup work.

Defining the Problem

For our application, we wanted to have subdomains for each user, but we also have static pages for the main site.  Those static pages include things like the “about us”, “contact” and “help” pages.  It’s reasonable to expect that a user’s website could look something like “mysite.rootdomain.com/about” and the main site could also have a page like “rootdomain.com/about“.  We wanted to make sure that Rails can distinguish incoming requests for one “about” page or the other.

Setting up Routes for Subdomains in Rails 3

Rails 3 makes it pretty easy to configure your routes to handle this type of setup, but to do this, we had to use “advanced constraints” in our routes.  Basically, you can create a class in your /lib directory that responds to the matches? method.  In that method, you can specify what conditions constitute a “match”.  Then, in your routes file,  you can use that class to define routes that only apply when those conditions are true.

For example, we needed to check two possible cases – (1) the request came from a subdomain or (2) the request came from the root domain.

We created a file called /lib/domains.rb, which includes the following:

[ruby]
# /lib/domains.rb

class Subdomain
def self.matches?(request)
request.subdomain.present? && request.subdomain != “www” && request.subdomain != “”
end
end

class RootDomain
@subdomains = ["www"]
def self.matches?(request)
@subdomains.include?(request.subdomain) || request.subdomain.blank?
end
end
[/ruby]

Here, we are saying that a “subdomain” is matched when there’s a subdomain present in the request AND when that subdomain is not “www” or “”.  And the “root domain” is matched when the subdomain is either “www” or “”.

With that taken care of, we can move to the routes.rb file and setup our routes for each of these cases, as follows:

[ruby]

# config/routes.rb
# a bunch of other routes…

# requiring the /lib/domains.rb file we created
require ‘domains’

constraints(Subdomain) do
match ‘/’ => ‘websites#show’
end

constraints(RootDomain) do
match ‘/contact_us’, :to => ‘static_pages#contact’
match ‘/about’, :to => ‘static_pages#about’
match ‘/help’, :to => ‘static_pages#help’
match ‘/news’, :to => ‘static_pages#news’
match ‘/admin’, :to => ‘admin#index’
end
[/ruby]

Here, you can see a block using the Subdomain class that’s telling Rails that if the incoming request matches what we defined as a “subdomain”, then route to the websites#show action.  From that point, we can leave it to the websites controller to determine which user’s website we need to show (based on the subdomain, which is unique) and then off to the view to display the correct user website.  Not bad so far.  But what about requests for the root domain?

Requests for the Root Domain and Avoiding Conflicts with Subdomain Requests

We want to account for requests that match what we defined as a “domain”, and we want to do this separately so that a subdomain and the root domain can have matching path – for example, in both cases, you could be requesting an /about page.

So above, in our routes.rb file, we’re also telling Rails that if an incoming request matches is a “domain”, the use the routes in the associated block to route those requests.

Conclusion

So those are the basics of what we did.  We now have user websites that can be accessed using their unique subdomains.  We can also still get to all our pages on the main site and don’t have to worry about conflicts between pages with matching names.

For full details, see the Rails 3 Guide covering Rails Routing from the Outside In or the Railscast on Subdomains that covered this.

It’s an unfortunate fact that most business websites are grossly unprofitable…not nearly reaching their full potential as the excellent marketing and sales tools the could be. Here are a few tips for increasing the profitability of your business website.

1. Have Good Content

To have an effective website these days, you absolutely need to have good content. But don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be Pulitzer prize winning writing. Just focus on providing your website visitors, prospects or customers with informative articles that help them solve a problem, ideally one tied to the same problems your business helps solve. But keep it informative, not a sales pitch.

2. Build an EMail List for Automated Follow-Up

Nearly every business website I see gets this wrong to one degree or another. It’s important to realize that these days, your prospects are probably taking longer to make a decision on whether or not to do business with you. Therefore, it’s important to have a way to continue to follow up with your website visitors to stay “top of mind” and to continue to educate them about the benefits of your offer(s). Email is one solution.

But people are also increasingly skeptical about giving out their email address, so you need to offer some sort of enticing “freebie” to convince them to do so. Make sure they know you won’t SPAM them (and be sure you don’t!). And be sure to put the signup form on every page of your site. And not just a link to a signup page, but an actual form, right there on the page, that they can use to sign up. You can see how we implement this on our site. In fact, why not signup so you can see the whole process? (Shameless plug)

3. Consider Using Video

With the growing popularity of sites like YouTube, just about every business can benefit from creating short, informative videos to help educate their website visitors. Not only can you easily add these videos to your site, but you can also gain exposure to your business since YouTube is one of the sites with the highest amount of traffic on the entire Internet.

4. Use Good Web Copy

The web copy on most business websites is entirely too “me, us, our” focused with not enough emphasis on what;s in it for the customer. Take a look at your copy and see if you’re really talking about how the customer benefits from buying your product/service. For good examples, listen to how they pitch things on infomercials…not for the specifics of the offer, but how they present them. You’ll almost always hear lots of wording about “how fast you’ll see results”, “how easy it is to use” and so on.

5. Test and Track Everything

Even if you have a ton of traffic coming to your site, if those visitors aren’t turning into sales, your site still isn’t getting the job done. Another thing that most business owners are unwilling or unable to do is test elements of their website to improve its performance. That could include things like the number of sales, subscriptions, phone calls or whatever action you want people to take when they visit your site. Installing tools like Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer can be good, free and easy ways to get this valuable info.

Bonus Tip – Consider Investing in Search Engine Optimization (Especially Local Search / Local SEO)

One thing that’s common about many businesses is that often times, their customers are local. These types of businesses are in a great position to take advantage of local search or local search engine optimization.

For example, website visitors searching for specific local terms like “Maryland massage therapist” are obviously looking for something specific and are much more likely to be buyers rather than tire kickers. Besides, that type of business wouldn’t see many benefits from ranking for the more generic term “massage therapist“. The good thing about doing this is that most of your competition won’t have a clue and those that do probably aren’t focused on the Internet as a primary marketing method.

Every so often, I come across an established business that still doesn’t have a website.  For one reason or another, some business owners don’t think they need a website for “their kind of business”. And while that might be true for a handful of businesses I can think of, the vast majority of companies could greatly benefit from having a website, especially if that website is setup in such a way that makes it easy for the business owner (or staff) to use without spending months learning HTML and so on. Here are just a few ways that a website can be a key component to your business success.

1. Market Your Products and Services – The first and most obvious is way is that a website helps you market your products and services. More and more people are searching online first when looking for companies to do business with, even for local businesses where you might expect phone books or other traditional sources to be used more often. If you can make a case for being in the phone book, you should definitely be online as well.

2. Educate Your Market – Unless you sell a low-cost service or commodity product, you’ll probably need to educate your customer a bit before they decide to make a purchase. No matter what the product or service, a website is a great way to educate your market about how to purchase whatever it is that you offer and help them understand why your company is the best choice for that purchase. You can also demonstrate the value your product or service offers, which is especially helpful for higher-priced items that might otherwise cause sticker shock unless that price is adequately justified.

3. Establish Expertise – For most businesses (and especially those that charge higher fees), people generally want to know that they’re dealing with an expert in their field. A website can be a great way to demonstrate your expertise through publishing articles, before and after photos, videos or other types of content.

4. Provide “Social Proof” - Social proof is simply the idea that all of us are more likely to believe what someone else says about you and your company versus what you say about your company. A website is a fantastic way to provide this “social proof” through the form of testimonials. If you have an established business, you probably already have plenty of testimonials you could use on your website (or could easily get testimonials). This would go a long way to separating your business from the competition and helping to establish your credibility. Speaking of which…

5. Establish Credibility – A website helps your credibility in a number of ways. First, re-read those sections on establishing expertise and social proof. But those are just a couple of ways. The other thing to keep in mind is that these days, people expect a “real business” to have a website, with its own website address (not a site hosted on some freebie service). People seeing your newspaper ad or other advertising may want to visit your website to see examples of your work, learn about your process or request more info. Not having a website might make you seem like a “less serious” business than the competition.

6. Provide Customer Support - Your website can also serve as a customer support aid. By publishing information like frequently asked questions or having web forms that allow customers to contact you in a non-interruptive way, you can take back control over some of your time while still addressing your customers’ requests for assistance, questions and so on.

7. Stay “Top of Mind” – It’s more expensive to get new customers than it is to keep existing customers. So it’s a good idea to stay “top of mind” with your satisfied customers and even your prospects. A few ways of doing this include using email marketing, blogging or having a customer message board. All of these are great ways to keep your customers coming back to you and your site over and over again and keeping your business on their minds. You never know when they might come across a friend that could benefit from your services or when they’ll need to purchase from you again.

Pretty odd title coming from a company that, among other things, creates websites as one of its services.  But one of the things I hear time and time again from business owners typically sounds like this: “I just need a simple, 5 page website”.

The number of pages is a bit unimportant…it could be 10, 20, whatever.  What’s more important is why thinking like this is just a way to set up your business’s online marketing efforts for failure and how to avoid wasting money on a website that doesn’t really help your business.

A lot of business owners I come in contact with say that they just need a “simple” website – something with a homepage, about us, services page, and perhaps a few others.  I don’t know if “simple” sometimes means “I don’t want to spend a lot of money” or if it’s more a case of not wanting something too extravagant or complicated.  The good news is that you can have a more effective website created without having to spend a fortune.  But let’s talk about why a “Simple 5 page website” is probably going to be a not-so-great investment for your business.

Not Updated Often and No Reason for People or Search Engines to Return
First of all, one of these simple sites is probably going to be a static website, meaning that there’s no new content added to the site over time.  It’s just the same pages, same list of services and so on.  The problem is that this doesn’t give people a good reason to come back to your website.  The same is true for the search engines, which tend to visit frequently updated websites much more often (for obvious reasons).  Many people ask why they’re not getting much traffic to their website.  The better question is “Are you giving people a good reason to come there in the first place?”

Less Opportunity to Rank for a Variety of Keywords
Having just a handful of pages also limits your site’s ability to rank well for a variety of keywords that people might be using to search for the types of products and services you offer.

Less Credibility for Your Business
A static website without any updates is also less credible these days.  Would you rather purchase from a company with a website that looks like it was built 8 years ago (with copyright info from 8 years ago) or a website that just posted a new article this week on some topic that helps you better understand how their product or service can help you?

Less Chance to “Tell Your Company’s Story”
Only having a few pages on your site doesn’t really give you a chance to fully tell your company’s story.  And by company story, I really mean how your products or services impact the lives of your customers.  What if you ended up on a chiropractor’s website and it just had a handful of pages and a contact form.  Then you find another one that has all the basics, plus several case studies about how the doctor was able to solve her patients’ back pain, work injury or other problems.  Who would be more likely to earn your business?  Again, if you have any sort of customers (and by definition every business does), then your website is an excellent way to share your success stories and case studies with your website visitors, to toot your own horn a little bit and convince prospects why they should do business with you.

Lousy Benefits for the Costs Involved
The most insidious part of all of this is that some web companies will sell you a “simple 5 page website” with zero regard for how well it’s going to help your business.  And the cost?  Nearly the same as what you could pay for a more effective system.

Instead of investing in a “simple 5 page website”, we recommend that if you’re a business owner interested in setting up a new website or investing in a website re-design, you should get in touch with a professional web marketing company (such as us…shameless plug) that offers web design AND web marketing services.  Working with such a company, you’ll discover several options for making a more effective, more profitable website.  It will also help shift your thinking in terms of how to best use your website so that it becomes a powerful sales and marketing tool for your company that converts casual website visitors into lifelong customers.