Don’t Let Your Programmer Hold You Hostage
February 24th, 2010 // 3:42 pm @ Jay
An inevitable part of hiring someone to build your Web site is that they will need to set up various services or accounts on your behalf.
Some examples could include:
- Registering a domain name (www.yourcompanyname.com) for your Web site through a domain registrar like GoDaddy or Network Solutions
- Setting up Web site hosting
- Setting up Google services like Google Analytics, Google Adwords or Google Webmaster Tools
What’s the problem you ask?
Your programmer could get hit by a bus, go out of business or flat out refuse to give you access to something that he set up. I’ve seen it all (except the one about getting hit by a bus). It could happen.
Most of Google’s services (Google Analytics, Google Adwords or Google Webmaster Tools account) are non-transferrable. A programmer can give you access to these accounts but ultimately he can cut off your access at anytime or delete your account if he chooses.
If you’ve ever tried to access a GoDaddy account set up by someone else without the login information, you know that it takes an act of Congress to access the domains. I’ve seen situations where the client couldn’t get into an account to renew one of their main domains and had it expire. Then they had to pay a fortune to get the domain back. It’s a nightmare.
Here’s how to avoid disaster:
- If you need to register domains, go to GoDaddy (or other domain registrar of your choice – Network Solutions is another) and create your own account. It’s free and you don’t have to worry about the domains expiring. If you’re intimidated by the domain registration process, check out this how-to video I created
- Tell your programmer that you want all services set up with your contact information
- Don’t let the programmer set up Google services using his own Google account. My suggestion is to set up a Gmail account and roll all the Google services under that
- Make sure you have full control of all accounts and services (including your Web site hosting account) before the project is finished
None of the things mentioned above are a big deal as long as they’re thought of upfront. If you’re not prepared, you could run into major problems down the road.
Have you experienced any of the situations above? What happened?
Photo by sindesign
Category : My Blog &Web Site Design & Development
Ways to Kick Your Competitors’ “You-Know-Whats” Online, According to ConversationMarketing.com
August 28th, 2009 // 8:09 am @ Jay
Today I read an excellent post from Ian Lurie over at ConversationMarketing.com called 18 ways to kick your competitor’s ass, online.
He writes about things you should be doing on your Web site. Here are some of the highlights:
- Don’t ask for more information than you need on your contact forms
- Use spell check
- Write every day (on your blog)
- Take control of your site
- Measure stuff
My personal favorites are “take control of your site” and “measure stuff.” I can’t tell you how many times clients have told me that their previous programmer totally controlled their site. The programmer fought them every step of the way and refused to make changes. If it’s your Web site, you need to have full control. Don’t get hijacked by your programmer.
Traffic measurement is huge. Your Web site isn’t doing you much good if you’re not paying attention to what visitors are doing there. Also, how can you know what’s working and what’s not? With a Web analytics package like Google Analytics, you can track the following:
- Number of visitors to your site
- Entry and exit pages
- Top pages visited
- Average lenth of visit
- Where visitors came from
If you’re already doing any of the 18 things on Ian’s list, then you’re way ahead of the curve.
Check out the full post at ConversationMarketing.com
Category : My Blog &Web Site Design & Development
Learn How to Register a Web Site Address With GoDaddy.com [Video]
August 18th, 2009 // 3:15 pm @ Jay
Registering a Web site address (domain) is the first step in launching your new Web site or blog. There are a lot of things to think about like branding, availability and memorability.
When you register an address through a site like GoDaddy.com, it can be an overwhelming experience because they attempt to upsell you every chance they get. It is a pretty easy process to navigate once you get used to it.
This how-to video walks you through all the steps of registering your own Web site address at GoDaddy.com.
If you’re receiving this content through your email or RSS reader, you can view the video here.
Category : How-to &My Blog &Web Site Design & Development
Installing a WordPress site at Network Solutions
July 21st, 2009 // 2:26 pm @ Jay
I just helped a friend set up a WordPress Web site at Network Solutions. I’ve set up a ton of WordPress sites with Site5 (the hosting company I use) and GoDaddy but never Network Solutions. I wasn’t sure if it would be a smooth installation or if I’d run into issues.
I ran into an issue.
After uploading all the files, we got a database error but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I went to Google and found a blog post with a tip on solving the problem.
The post said to enter the site’s IP address in the “DB_NAME” field (in the wp-config file) but I think he meant “DB_HOST” field. That’s what I did anyway and it fixed the database error that we were getting. The site is now working like it should.
Thanks to Andrew at Fungible Convictions for the tip. It made my life a whole lot easier.
Category : How-to &My Blog &Tips & Tricks &Web Site Design & Development
Website Magazine: 5 PPC Landing Page Design Trends
June 26th, 2009 // 3:36 pm @ Jay
Customized landing pages can play a very important role in whether or not a visitor to your Web site becomes a paying customer or bails out immediately. The goal is to match up your site’s content with what the visitor is looking for.
Website Magazine recently analyzed 10 different Web site landing pages (after clicking on sponsored links) that came up after searching for “ringtone.” After reviewing the 10 pages, they came up with 5 trends that all 10 pages shared:
Trend #1 – Limited paths for users
Think of your landing page as a funnel. You’re trying to push the visitor toward something (i.e. making a purchase). If you give them lots of choices, they could go down some other path or bail because they were overwhelmed with choices.
Trend #2 – Prominent Images
Displaying a prominent image on your page is commonly referred to as a “hero shot.” Depending on what you’re selling, you might decide to show your product or a lifestyle image of someone using your product. Testing is a good way to determine what works best.
Trend #3 – Strong Call To Action
Think about what you’d like visitors to do after coming to your landing page? Some possibilities could include making a purchase, signing up for an email newsletter or downloading an industry white paper. As mentioned above, it’s important to offer as few paths as possible. A clear call to action will help push visitors down the appropriate conversion path. Again, testing is a great way to find out what call to action works best.
Trend #4 and #5 – Data Collection, Content Teasing or Registration
Each landing page was either trying to entice visitors into checking out more content (teasing) or registering with the site to provide contact information.
We’ve decided to combine trends four and give into one, but it’s the most important of the group. The sites we reviewed leverage three very different conversion tactics. While some required registration to proceed, others either focused on a basic data collection (name and email) or what I refer to as content teasing.
Check out the full article (with screen shots of the 10 landing pages) at Website Magazine.
Category : My Blog &Search Engine Marketing &Web Site Design & Development
