Custom Web Design

The Internet Waits For “NO ONE”

I recently became ill and it took me out of the office for almost 3 weeks. During this time, my work piled up as it does in any job, but coming back to the office got me thinking about how the internet has changed the schedules of those of us working in the internet.

Before I got addicted to the internet, I worked a relatively normal schedule. That included your basic 8-6 job, some nights and an occasional weekend. Now I find myself working 24/7.  My day time is filled with talking to clients, drumming up business, managing small fires here and there etc…. I know that this sounds like the trials and tribulations of any small business, but what I find interesting is that  when I had my first business, even with all the work, there were some built in “down time”.  These downtimes were built around cultural norms. For Example, the Christmas holiday season, summer holidays, national holidays and even at night between 9pm and 9am.

The internet knows no cultural boundaries. If I am celebrating a holiday, someone somewhere else is working. If I am working late, someone is just starting to work somewhere else.  In the internet economy, your business is open all day and every day of the year. More importantly, it is open whether you are working or not working. Now this all seems quite wonderful for those who want to create their own business and their own hours, but the reality is that the marketplace is no longer just your city / town/ state or country, but the whole world. In addition, the workforce available to meet those needs are not just people located in your town, but people all over the world.

What does this all mean? Well, what it means is that to succeed on the internet, you have to specialize and focus. Someone once said that the internet “created a distribution channel to allow niche marketers to create viable businesses.” What I now believe is that the only way for small business to succeed on the internet is to focus on a niche market.

Competition on the internet is very competitive and yet I believe that it will continue to grow at 20%-40% per year for the next 10 years. For those looking to get involved in the internet, now more than ever is the time to establish your presence on the internet.  Whereas the cost to succeed on the internet was relatively inexpensive 5 years ago, it is now 10 times more expensive to achieve the same results and will be 10 times more expensive to those who wait another 5 years.

So my advice is act now, make mistakes, try new things and know that any efforts you put in now will benefit you 5 to 10 years in the future. Good Luck.

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The Importance of Blog Metatags

Recently I have working with a client in regard to their blog. They had been posting on a regular basis, but found that the effort was not worth the return. When I heard this, I asked them what are you expecting from your blog. Their answer was “To better my rankings in the search engines”.

Now many of you have heard me say this before, but SEO for SEO sake is NOT a useful use of your time. Yes, many of the reasons clients use our services is due to our SEO abilities, however it is the integration of our SEO knowledge in your website which differentiates your website from the billions of other websites on the internet. Now, If you are a large company and can afford to invest now to see the returns on your investment in 6 months to 1 year, then that is a different story.

However, small companies in general don’t have the resources to invest monies now without seeing some type of return on your investment now. This is why I have always said that when investing time and money into your website, always have multiple reasons for making the effort. One of those reasons should be the SEO affects you receive down the road, but not the only reason.

Blogs are a perfect example. Most people look at their blog as a way to add cheap content to a custom website which is static. This is not a reason to spend a hours upon hours of your valuable time. Your blog should be your primary online way to communicate to your current, future and past clients in a cost effective manner. If you look as your blog as a communication tool to reach a wide variety of people, then you are going beyond the SEO aspects received by making the effort.

Many of my clients have newsletters they send their clients. I have said on many occasions, make your blog your newsletter. This way you are not duplicating your efforts and in addition your are receiving the SEO benefits as an added bonus. Also many people send out mass emails to clients with new information. Instead, send out your emails with a strong subject line, a 2 or 3 sentence summarizing the information, and then a link to your blog with the full article or information. These are ways to utilize the efforts you are already making and instead of adding additional work, you are using that same effort in a different way to provide more benefits over the long term at the same cost in time and money.

By now you are asking, how does this relate to the title of this blog post. Well, the answer is simple. Most people who are new to blogging see all these other options when they are posting like trackbacks, summary, custom fields, tags, categories etc…. These are the tools which will help maximize the content of your blog in the search engines and therefore maximize your efforts. By taking the time now when you are just getting started to learn about the SEO tools associated with blog posting, you will see a tremendous increase in the results of your efforts. Now, to get started on learning about blogs and how to use the various tools associated with them and how they will benefit your efforts, click on the link below to see what each piece of the blog puzzle means and how by knowing what they do, you will be more efficient and more successful with your efforts all at the same time.

Since we use wordpress blogs in our development, I have linked to the Wordpress Glossary to get you started in your knowledge quest to become the best and most efficient blogger online in your industry.

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Web Design Fundamentals

I have been reading recently about all the web design horrors people have experienced over the past few years. The Better Business Bureau noted that in 2006, there were 1971 complaints against web design firms. This is up from 603 complaints in 2003. The primary reason is that most small to medium sized businesses realize that having a website is the “business card of the 21rst century” and all companies need them.

What I have noticed from these various articles is that many of these horrors can be limited if a company follows the following steps.

1. REGISTER YOUR DOMAIN - If you allow your developer to register your domain name, they are the legal owner of the domain. You need to OWN your domain name. This is a very easy process. There are many registration companies in the market, but I usually use either Go Daddy or Network Solutions. It takes about 5 minutes to set up a free account and once you own the URL, your webmaster can tell you where to point the domain. This is called the DNS settings. Just remember that you are the owner of the domain, so if you bought the domain for only a year, you are responsible for renewing the domain.
2. OWN THE CODE - Most affordable companies utilize a system (templates) which connects all their websites together. As a result, if you want to move your website, you can’t and the design is owned by the company. In these cases, it is not possible to own the code. If you are working with an independent web designer/developer, make sure that you own the design and the code. Also, make sure you have access to the website so you can download a copy of your website to your computer any time you make changes. This way, if you ever have a falling out with your designer/developer, they can’t hold you hostage.
3. USE PAYMENT MILESTONES - Since the custom design process happens in 3 stage, it makes sense to make 3 payments. Various companies use a variety of methods, however the in general, the concept is to make a down payment, and then make payments over the course of the development so that if you come across a scam artist, your monetary loss is limited.
4. CHECK REFERENCES - Most clients when they begin the process think websites are all the same. The reality is that not all websites are created equal and depending on your goals, the type of website you built will depend on your goals. Just remember that in general there are 3 specialists in building a website and finding someone who can do all specialties is very rare. These specialists are as follows:
   1. DESIGNER - This is the person who provides the graphic look and feel of the website
   2. DEVELOPER - This is the person who builds out the basic code on the website which is used to display the graphics. In general, a developer builds out static websites and doesn’t use a database to create dynamic pages. For example, a basic custom website which doesn’t offer interactive tools, but only basic information via text and pictures would be an example of a website provided by a developer.
   3. PROGRAMMER - A programmer uses databases to develop dynamically based pages. For Example, ecommerce websites use platforms developed by programmers.

   Make sure the company explains their system. In today’s market, the only major reason to build a fully customized website as a small business owner is for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) reasons and the only reason to undertake the build-out of a custom website is to generate leads or sales via the internet. Also, it is important to note that NO website by itself will generate leads or sales from the internet. To be successful however, it is very important to integrate all proven SEO tacits into the initial build-out of your website if you want to take true advantage of the internet.

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