Q&A: How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?
Question:
How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?
Answer:
Short answer, you don't. Most people when they think of searching will type in something very broad and very generic like "karate" or "training" or even a little more precise like "self defense" and see millions of results. Trying to tackle that amount of competition for the top spot is really a losing battle, unless you have very deep pockets. A better approach, and one that has a better chance of being successful for you is to focus your attention on specific search phrases.
For example, many of my martial arts clients are in the Western New York area. They aren't looking for someone in London England to hit their site, but for someone in the WNY area. So, a smart searcher will type in something like "Buffalo martial arts" (which results in 3 of my clients, and 5 of my sites on the 1st page) or "wny martial arts" (4 sites, 1 client on page 1), or "wny karate" (3 sites 1st page). Typing in something like "modern arnis seminar training" has 2 of my clients on the 1st page. Another example is "natural resource consulting" which has 1 of my clients on the 1st page of results.
It's important to think in terms of search phrases when you optimize your site, and focus on those. A combination of proper key words, solid descriptions, and appropriate text will greatly enhance your chances for high placement. Also, be certain all of your images are captioned using ALT tags. Those are an often overlooked place for extra optimization.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Friday, April 3, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Q&A: How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?
Q&A: How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?
Question:
How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?
Answer:
My experience has shown that when people care about something, they will often put in the time to make it a success. Convention presenters have known this for years, and are often run by volunteer staffs in the hundreds, all working towards a common goal of a successful and entertaining event. Many of the same reasons apply when looking for staff for online communities. Treat your people right, stand behind them, give them guidance so that they know what is expected of them, and train them in how to do their job well. Don't treat them like slaves, or free help. Let them know when they are doing well, and show the your gratitude. A little appreciation shown can go a long way towards keeping god people happy. All of that however is useless, unless you have a purpose for which they will put in the time and effort. Make your enterprise one that people can feel a part of, that they can feel ownership of, and a part of, and you will find good people willing to help you build your dreams, together.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Question:
How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?
Answer:
My experience has shown that when people care about something, they will often put in the time to make it a success. Convention presenters have known this for years, and are often run by volunteer staffs in the hundreds, all working towards a common goal of a successful and entertaining event. Many of the same reasons apply when looking for staff for online communities. Treat your people right, stand behind them, give them guidance so that they know what is expected of them, and train them in how to do their job well. Don't treat them like slaves, or free help. Let them know when they are doing well, and show the your gratitude. A little appreciation shown can go a long way towards keeping god people happy. All of that however is useless, unless you have a purpose for which they will put in the time and effort. Make your enterprise one that people can feel a part of, that they can feel ownership of, and a part of, and you will find good people willing to help you build your dreams, together.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Q&A: How fancy and how big should your opening page be?
Q&A: How fancy and how big should your opening page be?
Question:
How fancy and how big should your opening page be?
Answer:
There are several different views on this. Some will recommend long and wordy, others hort an terse, others flashy, others simple. My suggestion is to tailor the page toward your goals for the site.
I recomend using a couple of graphics, 2-3 paragraphs of good descriptive text, loaded with strong keywords for the search engines to latch onto. This gives you a good starting point. You can add more paragraphs, but be mindful of how many graphics you place. Each one adds to the overall size of your main page, and slows down it's loading, especially for dialup users. A slow page detracts from the user experience.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Question:
How fancy and how big should your opening page be?
Answer:
There are several different views on this. Some will recommend long and wordy, others hort an terse, others flashy, others simple. My suggestion is to tailor the page toward your goals for the site.
I recomend using a couple of graphics, 2-3 paragraphs of good descriptive text, loaded with strong keywords for the search engines to latch onto. This gives you a good starting point. You can add more paragraphs, but be mindful of how many graphics you place. Each one adds to the overall size of your main page, and slows down it's loading, especially for dialup users. A slow page detracts from the user experience.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Q&A: How many different colors should you use on a webpage?
Q&A: How many different colors should you use on a webpage?
Question:
How many different colors should you use on a webpage?
Answer:
Finding proper color balance for a website is crucial to having a pleasing look. To many clashing colors makes your site look amateurish and often childish. I usually recommend using a minimum of different colors, looking instead for an easy on the eyes background, with a clearly contrasting color for fonts. Black text on a white or off white background for example. I then use other colors to compliment the design. Red on Blue gives a weird 3D like effect and is very hard on most peoples eyes. Shades of blue, green and brown, as well as darker reds seem to work the best. For cues on what colors compliment, I refer to traditional graphics tools like color charts.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Question:
How many different colors should you use on a webpage?
Answer:
Finding proper color balance for a website is crucial to having a pleasing look. To many clashing colors makes your site look amateurish and often childish. I usually recommend using a minimum of different colors, looking instead for an easy on the eyes background, with a clearly contrasting color for fonts. Black text on a white or off white background for example. I then use other colors to compliment the design. Red on Blue gives a weird 3D like effect and is very hard on most peoples eyes. Shades of blue, green and brown, as well as darker reds seem to work the best. For cues on what colors compliment, I refer to traditional graphics tools like color charts.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Monday, March 9, 2009
3 Basic Features Every Web Site Should Have By Bob Hubbard
3 Basic Features Every Web Site Should Have
By Bob Hubbard
Look around the Internet, look at 100 different websites, and you’ll find 100 different mixes of features. No two sites are exactly alike. Nor should they be, for each site has a unique purpose. But there are some features that every site should have. In this article, I will introduce you to XX of them.
#1 Every site should have a copyright statement.
While US Law states that a work is copyrighted at creation, there are a significant number of people online today who are sadly ignorant of the law, and who believe if it isn’t marked, it’s free to use as they wish. By including a well formatted copyright statement, you will stop some people, and have better chances should you ever need to go the legal route.
At the minimum, use something like this : “Copyright © YEAR – NAME - All Rights Reserved.” Where YEAR is the current year, and NAME is your name, or the name of your organization.
#2 Make sure there is a complete address, and phone number.
Too often I’ll run into a site that assumes that the visitor knows where they are. They list a street address, but no city, or no state. They say things like “We’re located in the Widget Mall”, yet Google shows 15 different “Widget Malls” around the world. They list a phone number, but no area code, forcing you to guess, or do more research and hope for the best. Use a complete address and phone number to maximize contact.
#3 Check all your pages for a working TITLE Tag.
Ever been to “Unknown”? It’s a common website. Estimates are that anywhere from a third to half the web page out there re using the default title tag. Make sure yours identifies your site, and gives a little bit of a description on what’s on that page. Don’t just say “About Bob”. Bob who? Where am I? Why should I care about Bob? “About Bob Hubbard, Owner of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.” Is a much better title tag.
There are a lot more features that a web site should have, but to me these are 3 of the most important ones. Of course, proper proof reading of all of your site’s content and testing of email addresses and links, while not specifically features, are also crucial.
Use these tips, and you’ll see a better return on your web site investment.
===
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2009 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
By Bob Hubbard
Look around the Internet, look at 100 different websites, and you’ll find 100 different mixes of features. No two sites are exactly alike. Nor should they be, for each site has a unique purpose. But there are some features that every site should have. In this article, I will introduce you to XX of them.
#1 Every site should have a copyright statement.
While US Law states that a work is copyrighted at creation, there are a significant number of people online today who are sadly ignorant of the law, and who believe if it isn’t marked, it’s free to use as they wish. By including a well formatted copyright statement, you will stop some people, and have better chances should you ever need to go the legal route.
At the minimum, use something like this : “Copyright © YEAR – NAME - All Rights Reserved.” Where YEAR is the current year, and NAME is your name, or the name of your organization.
#2 Make sure there is a complete address, and phone number.
Too often I’ll run into a site that assumes that the visitor knows where they are. They list a street address, but no city, or no state. They say things like “We’re located in the Widget Mall”, yet Google shows 15 different “Widget Malls” around the world. They list a phone number, but no area code, forcing you to guess, or do more research and hope for the best. Use a complete address and phone number to maximize contact.
#3 Check all your pages for a working TITLE Tag.
Ever been to “Unknown”? It’s a common website. Estimates are that anywhere from a third to half the web page out there re using the default title tag. Make sure yours identifies your site, and gives a little bit of a description on what’s on that page. Don’t just say “About Bob”. Bob who? Where am I? Why should I care about Bob? “About Bob Hubbard, Owner of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.” Is a much better title tag.
There are a lot more features that a web site should have, but to me these are 3 of the most important ones. Of course, proper proof reading of all of your site’s content and testing of email addresses and links, while not specifically features, are also crucial.
Use these tips, and you’ll see a better return on your web site investment.
===
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2009 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Q&A: How many different fonts should you use on a webpage?
Q&A: How many different fonts should you use on a webpage?
Question:
How many different fonts should you use on a webpage?
Answer:
Using too many different fonts can make your website look amateurish and random. For best effect, I would suggest sticking with no more than two or three at most. You can use one easily read font for the body which is where most time will be spent reading, and a more stylish one for headers, headlines and menus.
Follow up question #1 "How Big should I make my fonts"?
Common practices would use a 10-13 point font, usually a 12 point for the body, with a couple points larger for headers, headlines and menus, and a couple points smaller for footer and foot notes.
Follow up question #2 "What fonts would you recommend?"
There are 2 main types of fonts, Sans Serif and Serif. Sans Serif fonts like Arial and Helvetica are recommended due to their being easier to read on computer screens. My personal favorite is Verdana. Avoid Serif fonts like Times Roman or Courier, which work much better in print form.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Question:
How many different fonts should you use on a webpage?
Answer:
Using too many different fonts can make your website look amateurish and random. For best effect, I would suggest sticking with no more than two or three at most. You can use one easily read font for the body which is where most time will be spent reading, and a more stylish one for headers, headlines and menus.
Follow up question #1 "How Big should I make my fonts"?
Common practices would use a 10-13 point font, usually a 12 point for the body, with a couple points larger for headers, headlines and menus, and a couple points smaller for footer and foot notes.
Follow up question #2 "What fonts would you recommend?"
There are 2 main types of fonts, Sans Serif and Serif. Sans Serif fonts like Arial and Helvetica are recommended due to their being easier to read on computer screens. My personal favorite is Verdana. Avoid Serif fonts like Times Roman or Courier, which work much better in print form.
===
Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.
Monday, March 2, 2009
What is Virtual Hosting? By Bob Hubbard
What is Virtual Hosting?
By Bob Hubbard
Look everywhere on the Internet and you will see thousands of web hosts offering incredible hosting deals, for peanuts. How can anyone make money selling 20 gigabytes of space for $5 a month? Doesn’t it cost more than that for all the equipment and staff and whatnot? It sure does. Web hosts can offer this through a system called Virtual Hosting.
Virtual Hosting, also called “Shared Hosting” is where multiple web sites (www.anyname.com) are served off the same physical server. This saves each customer from purchasing their own expensive server, performing the setup, hiring support staff and providing the appropriate environment. The great majority of web sites are set up this way.
Virtual Hosting allows someone to run a website without having to buy equipment, maintain that same equipment, pay for expensive maintenance agreements, keep trained technicians on staff, install and maintain expensive high speed data connections, and provide expensive on site security for all of this expensive equipment.
It allows a web hosting company to divide the costs among many different clients who share part of the same physical server, at a great savings to their clients.
The pluses of virtual hosting are the lower costs and easy setup. You often don’t need to know more than how to use a free web page design tool to use it.
The minuses include poor support, too many shared hosting companies going under due to under charging, as well as all the problems one could expect if they were to live in an over crowded apartment complex due to a condition called “over selling.”
“OverSelling” is where your host sells more space than the server can physically provide. If your host is selling an “unlimited” space plan, or even hundreds of gigabytes of space, you can be certain they are “Over Selling”.
Budget hosts will cram hundreds of accounts onto a single server. Each account uses X% of the servers memory, processor and physical hard drive space. If a single account uses too much, you start to see server slow downs, connection problems, and errors.
Reliable hosts carefully monitor these issues, and will sometimes move accounts between servers to balance the loads and keep things working smoothly for all their customers. Sometimes that’s not enough, and hosts will recommend upgrading to a “Virtual Server”, or a real server, depending on the situation.
A “Virtual Server” is exactly what is sounds like. It’s a server, which is entirely in a larger servers memory. It functions like it’s physical counterpart, in that it has a limited amount of memory, and drive space, but it differs from conventional Virtual Hosting in that rather than share space, processor and memory, it’s all yours. Virtual hosting can be a short-term answer when you have out grown a shared environment, but can’t afford a full dedicated server of your own.
In most cases however, the great majority of websites will work fine in a Shared environment, as long as you choose a reliable hosting company that won’t overload their servers, and who doesn’t offer the unattainable.
===
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2009 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
By Bob Hubbard
Look everywhere on the Internet and you will see thousands of web hosts offering incredible hosting deals, for peanuts. How can anyone make money selling 20 gigabytes of space for $5 a month? Doesn’t it cost more than that for all the equipment and staff and whatnot? It sure does. Web hosts can offer this through a system called Virtual Hosting.
Virtual Hosting, also called “Shared Hosting” is where multiple web sites (www.anyname.com) are served off the same physical server. This saves each customer from purchasing their own expensive server, performing the setup, hiring support staff and providing the appropriate environment. The great majority of web sites are set up this way.
Virtual Hosting allows someone to run a website without having to buy equipment, maintain that same equipment, pay for expensive maintenance agreements, keep trained technicians on staff, install and maintain expensive high speed data connections, and provide expensive on site security for all of this expensive equipment.
It allows a web hosting company to divide the costs among many different clients who share part of the same physical server, at a great savings to their clients.
The pluses of virtual hosting are the lower costs and easy setup. You often don’t need to know more than how to use a free web page design tool to use it.
The minuses include poor support, too many shared hosting companies going under due to under charging, as well as all the problems one could expect if they were to live in an over crowded apartment complex due to a condition called “over selling.”
“OverSelling” is where your host sells more space than the server can physically provide. If your host is selling an “unlimited” space plan, or even hundreds of gigabytes of space, you can be certain they are “Over Selling”.
Budget hosts will cram hundreds of accounts onto a single server. Each account uses X% of the servers memory, processor and physical hard drive space. If a single account uses too much, you start to see server slow downs, connection problems, and errors.
Reliable hosts carefully monitor these issues, and will sometimes move accounts between servers to balance the loads and keep things working smoothly for all their customers. Sometimes that’s not enough, and hosts will recommend upgrading to a “Virtual Server”, or a real server, depending on the situation.
A “Virtual Server” is exactly what is sounds like. It’s a server, which is entirely in a larger servers memory. It functions like it’s physical counterpart, in that it has a limited amount of memory, and drive space, but it differs from conventional Virtual Hosting in that rather than share space, processor and memory, it’s all yours. Virtual hosting can be a short-term answer when you have out grown a shared environment, but can’t afford a full dedicated server of your own.
In most cases however, the great majority of websites will work fine in a Shared environment, as long as you choose a reliable hosting company that won’t overload their servers, and who doesn’t offer the unattainable.
===
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2009 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tip Of The Week : Your Website Doesn't Close The Sale, You Do!
Your Website Doesn't Close The Sale, You Do!
People send hundreds of thousands of dollars on fancy, feature rich, deep content websites, then wonder why they are poor. The truth is, while a website can do a lot of things, it can't close the sale.
People still prefer to deal with other people, and a website is no substitute for the human touch. Prompt follow up and follow through by live people still is what makes a business a success.
Use your website as one of the tools in your sales kit, but make sure you add the human touch. Prompt reply, good service, and great communications are what's needed to succeed today.
- Bob
People send hundreds of thousands of dollars on fancy, feature rich, deep content websites, then wonder why they are poor. The truth is, while a website can do a lot of things, it can't close the sale.
People still prefer to deal with other people, and a website is no substitute for the human touch. Prompt follow up and follow through by live people still is what makes a business a success.
Use your website as one of the tools in your sales kit, but make sure you add the human touch. Prompt reply, good service, and great communications are what's needed to succeed today.
- Bob
Monday, December 22, 2008
Why is it called "The Internet"?
Why is it called "The Internet"?
By Bob Hubbard
Ever wonder why this huge international maze of computers, servers, and sites is called "The Internet"?
Internet means inter-connected networks. Developed during the 1960's and 1970's, what we refer to today as "The Internet" grew from small localized networks running on colleges, universities and military bases, to larger networks connecting smaller ones, to a huge world wide network of networks.
Most people today only think of the Internet as email and websites, but in fact it is a combination of many different services.
Email consists of several different systems, including POP (Post Office Protocol) which is responsible for getting your email from your electrnic mail box, and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which is used to send email to the world.
Web sites run on Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. When you type in a web address in your browser, that http:// you enter in tells the server on the other end to use the HTTP system to transfer the page to you. Modern browsers use it by default, but older browsers would fail to find a site if you forgot it.
FTP, or "File Transfer Protocol" is a means for transferring files between your system and a remote one.
IRC, or "Internet Relay Chat", also called "Chat Rooms" are the precursor to today's instant messaging and text message systems. Still in operation today, they aren't well known to most people. IRC requires special software to access.
A forgotten part of our net history is Gopher. Gopher is a combination web and ftp system for organized document retrieval. Text only, there are less than 200 Gopher servers currently online, with most neglected, however some universities still use them.
Then there is the Network News Transfer Protocol or NNTP which is an Internet application protocol used primarily for reading and posting Usenet articles, as well as transferring news among news servers. USENET is a huge world wide distributed electronic discussion system. What this means is, it is like having a global forum, spread over many systems. There are currently well over 100,000 different topics ranging from the boring to the profane. Accessing USENET requires special software called a NewsReader, as well as an account with a news provider.
As you can see, the Internet is a pretty complex thing, made simple and accessible by modern software, allowing us to communicate around the world at whim.
Additional Resources at Wikipedia
USENET http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
NNTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_News_Transfer_Protocol
FTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC
POP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Office_Protocol
SMTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smtp
Email http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail
IRC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC
HTTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http
Gopher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol)
=========
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2008 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved.
This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
By Bob Hubbard
Ever wonder why this huge international maze of computers, servers, and sites is called "The Internet"?
Internet means inter-connected networks. Developed during the 1960's and 1970's, what we refer to today as "The Internet" grew from small localized networks running on colleges, universities and military bases, to larger networks connecting smaller ones, to a huge world wide network of networks.
Most people today only think of the Internet as email and websites, but in fact it is a combination of many different services.
Email consists of several different systems, including POP (Post Office Protocol) which is responsible for getting your email from your electrnic mail box, and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which is used to send email to the world.
Web sites run on Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. When you type in a web address in your browser, that http:// you enter in tells the server on the other end to use the HTTP system to transfer the page to you. Modern browsers use it by default, but older browsers would fail to find a site if you forgot it.
FTP, or "File Transfer Protocol" is a means for transferring files between your system and a remote one.
IRC, or "Internet Relay Chat", also called "Chat Rooms" are the precursor to today's instant messaging and text message systems. Still in operation today, they aren't well known to most people. IRC requires special software to access.
A forgotten part of our net history is Gopher. Gopher is a combination web and ftp system for organized document retrieval. Text only, there are less than 200 Gopher servers currently online, with most neglected, however some universities still use them.
Then there is the Network News Transfer Protocol or NNTP which is an Internet application protocol used primarily for reading and posting Usenet articles, as well as transferring news among news servers. USENET is a huge world wide distributed electronic discussion system. What this means is, it is like having a global forum, spread over many systems. There are currently well over 100,000 different topics ranging from the boring to the profane. Accessing USENET requires special software called a NewsReader, as well as an account with a news provider.
As you can see, the Internet is a pretty complex thing, made simple and accessible by modern software, allowing us to communicate around the world at whim.
Additional Resources at Wikipedia
USENET http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
NNTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_News_Transfer_Protocol
FTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC
POP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Office_Protocol
SMTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smtp
Email http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail
IRC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC
HTTP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http
Gopher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol)
=========
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2008 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved.
This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tip Of The Week : Leave it to the Experts
Leave it to the Experts
I often hear from prospects and clients that they are considering doing it themselves, or handing it over to a student or junior family member. 'IT" is a lot of things. Design of their site, upkeep, marketing, etc.
The problem with this is, while it might be short-term cheaper, it can cost you more over the long haul.
For example, if the septic system in your back yard caves in, you could call your buddies, shore it up with plywood and cover it in dirt. Eventually however, you'll end up knee deep in, well, you know. For something serious like this you call the professionals.
Why would you trust the marketing of your business with someone who is just learning? Unless you have the experience and training, you should leave your website design and marketing to the experts. They can guide you around the pitfalls and traps, and free up your time to do what you are good at, which is the business.
Take off a few hats, and leave it to the experts.
- Bob
I often hear from prospects and clients that they are considering doing it themselves, or handing it over to a student or junior family member. 'IT" is a lot of things. Design of their site, upkeep, marketing, etc.
The problem with this is, while it might be short-term cheaper, it can cost you more over the long haul.
For example, if the septic system in your back yard caves in, you could call your buddies, shore it up with plywood and cover it in dirt. Eventually however, you'll end up knee deep in, well, you know. For something serious like this you call the professionals.
Why would you trust the marketing of your business with someone who is just learning? Unless you have the experience and training, you should leave your website design and marketing to the experts. They can guide you around the pitfalls and traps, and free up your time to do what you are good at, which is the business.
Take off a few hats, and leave it to the experts.
- Bob
Monday, December 15, 2008
Staying On Top of your Website for a Successful Site.
Staying On Top of your Website for a Successful Site.
By Bob Hubbard
Business websites can be both complex and simple. Managing one, is both easy and hard, depending on what you are doing with it.
A simple, flyer site requires little regular upkeep. Pop in every couple of months, make sure everything is up to date, and forget about it until next time. But treating your website like it's merely a big phone book ad, ignores the great potential and benefits it can provide your business. The ability to change it on the fly, to update it at will, offers you a great deal more potential and greater rewards than a "update once a year" solution like the phone book.
When I talk to my clients about keeping their websites updated, I often suggest they keep a running "to do" list on their computer, and add things to it as they think of them. This is sent to me monthly for me to schedule and perform. Other times, I recommend they simply email me their changes, and I'll queue them up for once a week or once a month to maximize my efficiency and minimize their costs.
You need to take time to look at your competitions web sites. After all, you check out their locations, their offerings, their phone book ads and other advertising. Be sure to look at what they are doing on the Internet as well. Take careful note of when they were last updated, what features they have, and how easy or hard it is to navigate through their site.
Schedule time each month, or week, to look at your own site. If you list contact information, is it current? Hours of Operation? Are they accurate? Do you list specials or events or other time-sensitive information? Be sure to update that as well. How many times do you come across a site that is listing things from years ago as happening in the future? Does that give you confidence that they are on the ball in other areas of their business?
To do this, you need a reliable web master to help keep you running at peak performance. All the plans, organization or ideas are useless if they never get to your website. Webmasters aren't created equally.There are good and there are bad ones.
If you can never get in touch with them, if updates are always days or weeks late, never done, or regularly done wrong, you need to find a new webmaster.
A good webmaster will keep you posted on your sites update status, inform you of when updates are performed, notify you of any delays, as well as offer suggestions to improve the site and it's performance.
To ensure you are getting the best, you have to check your site. If you send in your updates on Monday, and the following Monday you have heard nothing and nothing has been done to the site, you may want to pick up the phone and call them. Reviewing the timelyess and qualty of your webmaster is vital. Provide them feedback so that they can help you better. Be clear in indicating when you need work done, if anything is a rush job, if certain things should be emphasized or changed. Clarity of communications is vital in having a successful working relationship with your web expert.
Regularly checking other sites an your own, working with your web master, and being clear on what you expect and when you expect it done is vital to success online today.
=========
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2008 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved.
This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
By Bob Hubbard
Business websites can be both complex and simple. Managing one, is both easy and hard, depending on what you are doing with it.
A simple, flyer site requires little regular upkeep. Pop in every couple of months, make sure everything is up to date, and forget about it until next time. But treating your website like it's merely a big phone book ad, ignores the great potential and benefits it can provide your business. The ability to change it on the fly, to update it at will, offers you a great deal more potential and greater rewards than a "update once a year" solution like the phone book.
When I talk to my clients about keeping their websites updated, I often suggest they keep a running "to do" list on their computer, and add things to it as they think of them. This is sent to me monthly for me to schedule and perform. Other times, I recommend they simply email me their changes, and I'll queue them up for once a week or once a month to maximize my efficiency and minimize their costs.
You need to take time to look at your competitions web sites. After all, you check out their locations, their offerings, their phone book ads and other advertising. Be sure to look at what they are doing on the Internet as well. Take careful note of when they were last updated, what features they have, and how easy or hard it is to navigate through their site.
Schedule time each month, or week, to look at your own site. If you list contact information, is it current? Hours of Operation? Are they accurate? Do you list specials or events or other time-sensitive information? Be sure to update that as well. How many times do you come across a site that is listing things from years ago as happening in the future? Does that give you confidence that they are on the ball in other areas of their business?
To do this, you need a reliable web master to help keep you running at peak performance. All the plans, organization or ideas are useless if they never get to your website. Webmasters aren't created equally.There are good and there are bad ones.
If you can never get in touch with them, if updates are always days or weeks late, never done, or regularly done wrong, you need to find a new webmaster.
A good webmaster will keep you posted on your sites update status, inform you of when updates are performed, notify you of any delays, as well as offer suggestions to improve the site and it's performance.
To ensure you are getting the best, you have to check your site. If you send in your updates on Monday, and the following Monday you have heard nothing and nothing has been done to the site, you may want to pick up the phone and call them. Reviewing the timelyess and qualty of your webmaster is vital. Provide them feedback so that they can help you better. Be clear in indicating when you need work done, if anything is a rush job, if certain things should be emphasized or changed. Clarity of communications is vital in having a successful working relationship with your web expert.
Regularly checking other sites an your own, working with your web master, and being clear on what you expect and when you expect it done is vital to success online today.
=========
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2008 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved.
This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Q&A: Free MP3 editor?
Question:
Does anyone know of a (preferably) free or inexpensive program for editing MP3's?
Answer:
For simple recording and editing needs, you can try Audacity. It's free, easy to use and can export to good quality MP3's with an additional free add-in. Visit http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ for the program and see here for more discussion on this topic.
Does anyone know of a (preferably) free or inexpensive program for editing MP3's?
Answer:
For simple recording and editing needs, you can try Audacity. It's free, easy to use and can export to good quality MP3's with an additional free add-in. Visit http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ for the program and see here for more discussion on this topic.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Q&A: How do I advertise my school or organization on MartialTalk and it's related sites?
Question:
How do I advertise my school or organization on MartialTalk and it's related sites?
Answer:
Advertising on MartialTalk is handled through SilverStar WebDesigns Inc.
A list of advertising options, ad specifications, and more is available at http://www.silverstarsites.net/scn/
How do I advertise my school or organization on MartialTalk and it's related sites?
Answer:
Advertising on MartialTalk is handled through SilverStar WebDesigns Inc.
A list of advertising options, ad specifications, and more is available at http://www.silverstarsites.net/scn/
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Dangers of the Staff Only Forum
Forum Building 101 - The Dangers of the Staff Only Forum
- Bob Hubbard
When setting up your forums, it is often recommended that you also setup a section that only your staff can access. The reasons for this are many. A staff-only area allows your staff to discuss important policy issues, problem users, and the board itself in private, without worry that the average member will stumble across something they shouldn’t.
The challenges with having a private staff area lie in your staff gradually “moving in” and reducing or outright stopping their public forum participation. Administrators must pay careful attention that they also do not fall into the “manage from the back” trap.
To protect against this danger, active administrators must pay careful attention to who is active in their staff forums. Spot check them to be certain they haven’t moved in full time. As most of us hire our staffs based on their prior performance in the areas they now moderate, we want to keep them active there, where their contributions can build content and draw in new members. Posts made in private may help guide things, but rarely translate into new content or new members.
Administrators in particular need to pay attention to their own posting patterns. A successful admin will guide and steer their board while avoiding the dictator role. This requires professional interaction with your board staff. It is up to you to set the tone and the pace. If they see you “hiding” in the back, they will often emulate you and also hide back. This runs the major risk of the board having previously active sections wither and die as the heavy posters had all been hired and resorted to lurking in the back. Lead by example. Additionally, when you as an admin aren’t publicly visible, you run the risk of being seen as the despot in the tower, only appearing to punish rule breakers. You run the risk of being seen as out of touch or worse by your members.
Encourage your staff to continue their past activity in their sections, and be certain to visit them regularly by posting yourself. Each post that staff makes in public both reminds the members that you are there, but also serves to further the conversation, build content and entice lurkers to register and post.
This also helps keep your staff as active members, and can serve to prevent the feeling that they are a special “elitist” group which happens from time to time on forums.
Remember:
- Encourage staff to remain active in public
- Check staff activity regularly
- Lead by example and be an active public poster.
I hope this has been of some help and welcome questions.
Thank you.
Bob
===
Copyright ©2005 Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved
Bob Hubbard operates several forums online. A former Commodore 64 BBS sysop from the ‘80’s, he now operates MartialTalk.com, a leading martial arts forum, KenpoTalk.com, an community for the kenpo karate community, and The Dead Parrot Tavern , a community for sci-fi, anime and more. He is also technical admin at FMATalk.com, a forum for the Fillipino martial arts community. Copies of this article are free to distribute, provided all text is retained intact. It and other articles can be found at rustaz.net.
Monday, November 3, 2008
People You Don't Like Are Online Too...
People You Don't Like Are Online Too...
By Bob Hubbard
Over the last 7+ years I have been operating several online communities. Prior to that I ran or assisted on old style dial up bulletin boards (BBS's). So, I've seen quite a lot of interesting things in the maze of human online interactions. A common problem is when person A doesn't like person B. This can be for any of thousand reasons. From basic philosophical differences, political or religious, past personal history, to they just rub you the wrong way. Sometimes it's a huge reason, and other times, it's a reason that seems to make no sense or be so minor an issue as to be beneath notice. It doesn't matter, there's a problem, and they will let you know it.
The way they let you know varies, but in many cases will rotate through all of these stages.
* Don't complain about anything. Always stay silent, or complain in topic wondering where the moderators are. Don't they care? Don't they read everything on this 20,000 member 2,000 post a day site? Why aren't they here, right now taking care of the problem?
* Complain about every thing the other person says to management. Everything the "disliked" person says online must somehow be directed at you, so you must inform the management of this "vile troll" at every chance. His comment "Nice weather" must directly refer in secret code to the 2 feet of snow you had to shovel and hurt your back, so he is calling you weak even though he is a thousand miles away in balmy 70' weather. It's a shot and you're telling. So you private message, email and/or report that post, then since 5 whole minutes have passed and no one has done anything (since everyone knows site admins live by their systems and never leave) you fire back a heated message.
* Give up complaining since "they never do anything anyway" and begin posting your own preemptive attacks, always taking a moment to add in a complaint or shot at the slow acting and secretly supportive of the other guy site staff. When they staff tire of this and call you on it, your indignation is of course completely justified. After all, if they had just listened to you at first, there would have been no need for you to throw manners away, and how dare they tell you to behave? After all, "he's" to blame because he's there.
* Go to other sites and complain about the site and it's staff. After all, it sucked and they sucked too because they let "him" get away with everything, and all you were trying to do was call him on it. How dare they try to tell you that you weren't being a good member!
* When told to use built in tools like "ignore lists" or "buddy lists" or "filters" puff up and let them know clearly that you don't buy into that sissy stuff. Of course, just using your own built in ability to ignore things doesn't work either, because if you did, you would never see all those people talking about you.
* You quit. You go to other sites and complain how much the old site sucks and how they let their favored people attack you without fear of reprisal, and how you were singled out for just "standing up for yourself". You visit on occasions so that you can keep tabs on the conspiracy, and are sure to mention how you were "run off" or "quit because they sucked" at every chance.
Sound familiar? Know anyone who fits one or more of these? Do they fit you? Then, read on.
Most people are intelligent folks. They wouldn't go to a movie and sit quietly as some rude jerk yacks on their cell phone. They would go find an usher and get the idiot shut up. They wouldn't accept rude server at a checkout counter, they would call over a manager and lodge a complaint. Someone's smoking in the no-smoking area? Call a manager who will handle it. They don't however make the call, then get up and slap the other person around a bit until help arrives. During our lives we encounter thousands of situations that require we either ignore it as not worth our while, or call for assistance and let them deal with things. Online, somehow people think the rules are different, should be immediate, and shouldn't apply to us when we are "taking care of things ourselves".
To avoid many headaches online, most communities have installed filters, sometimes called "ignore lists". Use them. Put those who annoy you on them. If you choose not to because sometimes they do post something you like, then learn to filter out the rest and have the maturity to not fire back a heated response. Otherwise, the "pompous know-it-all", the "hot head", the salesman, the "everything outside of me is inferior" and the" I was to the mountain and have been anointed" all should be placed on your own ignore list, filtering out their comments and cleansing your experience. If you see them quoted by others, stop reading once you see their name and just move on to the next post. Most of these guys thrive on the attention and the audience, and if you don't feed them, they starve and leave.
Because staff are often overworked, and unpaid, and have real lives that don't revolve around groups, lists and forums, it may take a while for them to receive every complaint. Sometimes, they need time to confer among themselves to decide if something truly is a rules violation, or a legal violation, and what course of action is needed to solve the problem. Patience you must have, and resist the urge to grab torch and pitchfork.
Sitting there in silence when there is a problem never solves is, but neither does complaining every 5 minutes. The person who calls 911 (or whatever your emergency number is in your area) can be cited for abuse. Reporting 20 posts in 5 minutes, or every post good and bad from an individual, or threatening to "do something if you won't" usually qualifies as abuse on most sites. Harassing the staff is never a good idea.
Going elsewhere also rarely works. In some cases, it is a good idea. You and the community just don't share the same ideals or just can't get in sync. But going elsewhere and complaining all the time really makes as little sense as having a bad time at Walmart and going to Target and tracking down every customer and employee and telling them about it.
Most sites try to run within a set list of rules, and be as fair as possible. Biases will always be there as it's human nature. However if you work within the system, use the tools available, and give people time to help you, you will greatly enhance your own enjoyment of the site, as well as the enjoyment of your fellow members, most of whom aren't there to watch school yard arguments (though there are sites dedicated to such things) but to learn, relax and network with other like minded people.
Use the tools provided, give the staff time to handle things, learn to ignore the small stuff, and help the staff by not being a problem causer yourself, and the site will prosper and your enjoyment of it will benefit.
===
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts sites MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He is president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists as well as a professional photographer. More of Bob's articles can be found at rustaz.net.
Copyright ©2007 Bob Hubbard - Copies of this article are free to distribute, provided all text is retained intact.
By Bob Hubbard
Over the last 7+ years I have been operating several online communities. Prior to that I ran or assisted on old style dial up bulletin boards (BBS's). So, I've seen quite a lot of interesting things in the maze of human online interactions. A common problem is when person A doesn't like person B. This can be for any of thousand reasons. From basic philosophical differences, political or religious, past personal history, to they just rub you the wrong way. Sometimes it's a huge reason, and other times, it's a reason that seems to make no sense or be so minor an issue as to be beneath notice. It doesn't matter, there's a problem, and they will let you know it.
The way they let you know varies, but in many cases will rotate through all of these stages.
* Don't complain about anything. Always stay silent, or complain in topic wondering where the moderators are. Don't they care? Don't they read everything on this 20,000 member 2,000 post a day site? Why aren't they here, right now taking care of the problem?
* Complain about every thing the other person says to management. Everything the "disliked" person says online must somehow be directed at you, so you must inform the management of this "vile troll" at every chance. His comment "Nice weather" must directly refer in secret code to the 2 feet of snow you had to shovel and hurt your back, so he is calling you weak even though he is a thousand miles away in balmy 70' weather. It's a shot and you're telling. So you private message, email and/or report that post, then since 5 whole minutes have passed and no one has done anything (since everyone knows site admins live by their systems and never leave) you fire back a heated message.
* Give up complaining since "they never do anything anyway" and begin posting your own preemptive attacks, always taking a moment to add in a complaint or shot at the slow acting and secretly supportive of the other guy site staff. When they staff tire of this and call you on it, your indignation is of course completely justified. After all, if they had just listened to you at first, there would have been no need for you to throw manners away, and how dare they tell you to behave? After all, "he's" to blame because he's there.
* Go to other sites and complain about the site and it's staff. After all, it sucked and they sucked too because they let "him" get away with everything, and all you were trying to do was call him on it. How dare they try to tell you that you weren't being a good member!
* When told to use built in tools like "ignore lists" or "buddy lists" or "filters" puff up and let them know clearly that you don't buy into that sissy stuff. Of course, just using your own built in ability to ignore things doesn't work either, because if you did, you would never see all those people talking about you.
* You quit. You go to other sites and complain how much the old site sucks and how they let their favored people attack you without fear of reprisal, and how you were singled out for just "standing up for yourself". You visit on occasions so that you can keep tabs on the conspiracy, and are sure to mention how you were "run off" or "quit because they sucked" at every chance.
Sound familiar? Know anyone who fits one or more of these? Do they fit you? Then, read on.
Most people are intelligent folks. They wouldn't go to a movie and sit quietly as some rude jerk yacks on their cell phone. They would go find an usher and get the idiot shut up. They wouldn't accept rude server at a checkout counter, they would call over a manager and lodge a complaint. Someone's smoking in the no-smoking area? Call a manager who will handle it. They don't however make the call, then get up and slap the other person around a bit until help arrives. During our lives we encounter thousands of situations that require we either ignore it as not worth our while, or call for assistance and let them deal with things. Online, somehow people think the rules are different, should be immediate, and shouldn't apply to us when we are "taking care of things ourselves".
To avoid many headaches online, most communities have installed filters, sometimes called "ignore lists". Use them. Put those who annoy you on them. If you choose not to because sometimes they do post something you like, then learn to filter out the rest and have the maturity to not fire back a heated response. Otherwise, the "pompous know-it-all", the "hot head", the salesman, the "everything outside of me is inferior" and the" I was to the mountain and have been anointed" all should be placed on your own ignore list, filtering out their comments and cleansing your experience. If you see them quoted by others, stop reading once you see their name and just move on to the next post. Most of these guys thrive on the attention and the audience, and if you don't feed them, they starve and leave.
Because staff are often overworked, and unpaid, and have real lives that don't revolve around groups, lists and forums, it may take a while for them to receive every complaint. Sometimes, they need time to confer among themselves to decide if something truly is a rules violation, or a legal violation, and what course of action is needed to solve the problem. Patience you must have, and resist the urge to grab torch and pitchfork.
Sitting there in silence when there is a problem never solves is, but neither does complaining every 5 minutes. The person who calls 911 (or whatever your emergency number is in your area) can be cited for abuse. Reporting 20 posts in 5 minutes, or every post good and bad from an individual, or threatening to "do something if you won't" usually qualifies as abuse on most sites. Harassing the staff is never a good idea.
Going elsewhere also rarely works. In some cases, it is a good idea. You and the community just don't share the same ideals or just can't get in sync. But going elsewhere and complaining all the time really makes as little sense as having a bad time at Walmart and going to Target and tracking down every customer and employee and telling them about it.
Most sites try to run within a set list of rules, and be as fair as possible. Biases will always be there as it's human nature. However if you work within the system, use the tools available, and give people time to help you, you will greatly enhance your own enjoyment of the site, as well as the enjoyment of your fellow members, most of whom aren't there to watch school yard arguments (though there are sites dedicated to such things) but to learn, relax and network with other like minded people.
Use the tools provided, give the staff time to handle things, learn to ignore the small stuff, and help the staff by not being a problem causer yourself, and the site will prosper and your enjoyment of it will benefit.
===
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts sites MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He is president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists as well as a professional photographer. More of Bob's articles can be found at rustaz.net.
Copyright ©2007 Bob Hubbard - Copies of this article are free to distribute, provided all text is retained intact.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Q&A: How do I get my new website listed on the search engines?
Question: How do I get my new website listed on the search engines?
Couple ways:
1- Pay someone (sometimes worth it, sometimes a waste of money. If they mention 'thousands of search engines' they are full of crap.)
2- Find the free "add links" for each list/directory/search engine you want to try for, then wait the 1-6 months to be listed.
3- Use the pay 'rapid review' links on most of em to cut your time down.
4- Build a network of link exchanges.
Focus on Google(60%), Yahoo (30%), AOL (5%) & MSN (5%).
Rest of the sites out there tend to pull from those 4 to build their listings.
Googles Adwords and Adsence are good. Just pay attention to the rules they have as they will cut you off if they think you're trying to cheat the system.
Metatag use is an art. Make sure whatever you use in your tags is in your page. You can focus different tags for each page and fine tune.
Don't expect immediate results.
Search engine optimization and listings are an ongoing work.
Couple ways:
1- Pay someone (sometimes worth it, sometimes a waste of money. If they mention 'thousands of search engines' they are full of crap.)
2- Find the free "add links" for each list/directory/search engine you want to try for, then wait the 1-6 months to be listed.
3- Use the pay 'rapid review' links on most of em to cut your time down.
4- Build a network of link exchanges.
Focus on Google(60%), Yahoo (30%), AOL (5%) & MSN (5%).
Rest of the sites out there tend to pull from those 4 to build their listings.
Googles Adwords and Adsence are good. Just pay attention to the rules they have as they will cut you off if they think you're trying to cheat the system.
Metatag use is an art. Make sure whatever you use in your tags is in your page. You can focus different tags for each page and fine tune.
Don't expect immediate results.
Search engine optimization and listings are an ongoing work.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tip Of The Week : Dealing with all those "Forward this" emails.
No, Bill Gates is not going to send you $100 for forwarding on this email.
No, that little 11 yr old girl is not going to get money from teh Red Cross if you report this 100 times.
No, Microsoft ic not tracking this email.
No, sending me this email is not going to install the super duper antivirus tissue paper on my system.
Every day, I get at least 1 of these or a thousand other email chain letters. I am constantly surprised at this, because often those forwarding them are intelligent and educated people.
Before you forward on the next virus warning, sob story, free offer, etc, check it out with the guys who track these things.
http://www.snopes.com/
See also here
No, that little 11 yr old girl is not going to get money from teh Red Cross if you report this 100 times.
No, Microsoft ic not tracking this email.
No, sending me this email is not going to install the super duper antivirus tissue paper on my system.
Every day, I get at least 1 of these or a thousand other email chain letters. I am constantly surprised at this, because often those forwarding them are intelligent and educated people.
Before you forward on the next virus warning, sob story, free offer, etc, check it out with the guys who track these things.
http://www.snopes.com/
See also here
Friday, October 24, 2008
Q&A: What should I look for in a web hosting company?
Q&A: What should I look for in a web hosting company?
Answer:
Looking for and finding a reliable hosting company for your website is a key component in your business success. When researching a company here are some tips:
1- Use Google.
Use Google to look for other sites hosted by the company, as well as reviews of their service. Include words like "sucks" and "fraud" to find complaints.
2 Visit webhostingtalk.com and check there as well.
WHT is the largest hosting discussion community around, and is regularly visited by thousands of hosts and their customers.
3- Check references.
If possible, find others who are using them and see how their service has been.
Some things to look for:
1- Connectivity to the rest of the Internet.
Are they running off a single cable, or do they have multiple connections to provide backup should 1 fail. Avoid hosts with a single connection, and run from anyone hosting out of their spare bedroom. That works for a hobby site but not for a serious business.
2- Uptime.
You'll see almost every host list 99.99999999etc uptime. But check those reviews and see what they were really providing. A few extra 9's doesn't really mean anything, but if a number of people are complaining about connection problems, that's a good sign to avoid that host.
3- Support
Everyone seems to offer email support, but that doesn't do you much good if your email is inaccessible. Look for a host who offers a help desk that allows you to track your issues. Email support is a default, but look for hosts who also offer support through instant messaging. As usual, phone support is golden, provided you reach a human who can help you, and not an answering service or voice mail. Try calling their support line a few times and see how long it takes to be answered, and if you get a live person.
4- Reliable Hardware
Cheap is cheap. Reliable hosts use quality components, and keep a supply of spares on hand to minimize downtime in the event of hardware failure. While modern server hardware is pretty solid, they do still run hot, and memory and drives and powersupplies do occationally fail.
These are a few of the many tips that will help you find a good host for your site.
Answer:
Looking for and finding a reliable hosting company for your website is a key component in your business success. When researching a company here are some tips:
1- Use Google.
Use Google to look for other sites hosted by the company, as well as reviews of their service. Include words like "sucks" and "fraud" to find complaints.
2 Visit webhostingtalk.com and check there as well.
WHT is the largest hosting discussion community around, and is regularly visited by thousands of hosts and their customers.
3- Check references.
If possible, find others who are using them and see how their service has been.
Some things to look for:
1- Connectivity to the rest of the Internet.
Are they running off a single cable, or do they have multiple connections to provide backup should 1 fail. Avoid hosts with a single connection, and run from anyone hosting out of their spare bedroom. That works for a hobby site but not for a serious business.
2- Uptime.
You'll see almost every host list 99.99999999etc uptime. But check those reviews and see what they were really providing. A few extra 9's doesn't really mean anything, but if a number of people are complaining about connection problems, that's a good sign to avoid that host.
3- Support
Everyone seems to offer email support, but that doesn't do you much good if your email is inaccessible. Look for a host who offers a help desk that allows you to track your issues. Email support is a default, but look for hosts who also offer support through instant messaging. As usual, phone support is golden, provided you reach a human who can help you, and not an answering service or voice mail. Try calling their support line a few times and see how long it takes to be answered, and if you get a live person.
4- Reliable Hardware
Cheap is cheap. Reliable hosts use quality components, and keep a supply of spares on hand to minimize downtime in the event of hardware failure. While modern server hardware is pretty solid, they do still run hot, and memory and drives and powersupplies do occationally fail.
These are a few of the many tips that will help you find a good host for your site.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Q&A: What should I look for in a web developer?
Q&A: What should I look for in a web developer?
Answer:
A good web developer must know what they are doing, be able to produce a solid site on time, be accessible, and honest. Some things to remember are:
- Check References.
Use Google to look up their reputation, and include certain other key words like 'fraud' and 'scam' to see if there are any complaints. Check webhostingtalk.com as well. It's the largest web host forum around.
- Do NOT pay by wire transfers like Western Union.
Western Union is a great way to send money to people you know. It's not a reliable way to send money for services however unless you have an existing relationship with the reciever. Avoid any host or designer who pushes for a western union payment.
- Check Previous Work
Looking at a web developers portfolio will help you to know if their design style suits your own. Some work with complex multi-leveled layouts, while others aim for simple and straight forward designs.
- Look under the hood.
When visiting websites that the developer claims they did, check the code. Does it have meta tags? Is it clean, or is it scrambled? Is there an author link back to the developer or does it list someone elses name? Many designers put hidden tags in to site code as a form of signature. It doesn't hurt the site and isn't visible to your regular surfers, but it does sometimes expose liars.
Answer:
A good web developer must know what they are doing, be able to produce a solid site on time, be accessible, and honest. Some things to remember are:
- Check References.
Use Google to look up their reputation, and include certain other key words like 'fraud' and 'scam' to see if there are any complaints. Check webhostingtalk.com as well. It's the largest web host forum around.
- Do NOT pay by wire transfers like Western Union.
Western Union is a great way to send money to people you know. It's not a reliable way to send money for services however unless you have an existing relationship with the reciever. Avoid any host or designer who pushes for a western union payment.
- Check Previous Work
Looking at a web developers portfolio will help you to know if their design style suits your own. Some work with complex multi-leveled layouts, while others aim for simple and straight forward designs.
- Look under the hood.
When visiting websites that the developer claims they did, check the code. Does it have meta tags? Is it clean, or is it scrambled? Is there an author link back to the developer or does it list someone elses name? Many designers put hidden tags in to site code as a form of signature. It doesn't hurt the site and isn't visible to your regular surfers, but it does sometimes expose liars.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
You built it, but will they come? Some tips on getting traffic to your website.
You built it, but will they come? Some tips on getting traffic to your website.
By Bob Hubbard
By Bob Hubbard
Your new website has gone live at last! After weeks--possibly months--of labor, it’s online and it looks great. Only one problem remains: How do you get people to visit it?
Well, you can wait the 1 to 6+ months for the backlogged search engines to catch up and list you. But you need traffic now. So what do you do? I’m often asked this very question by our clients. In this article I’ll give several suggestions to help you promote your website for maximum exposure. Some will fit better than others, depending on your target audience, but all of them are proven strategies for success.
1: Realize that the Search Engines are only part of the puzzle.
Getting listed takes time and tweaking. Most of them are backlogged by months, and it’s getting tougher to get listed in them. Of course you can spend a lot of cash to get yourself listed under ‘Automatic Self Cleaning Water Strainers’, but would you get the same results under just ‘Strainers’? A well thought-out plan for getting listed can take up to a year to fully realize results. You must do other things to get the word out in order to get both immediate and long-term results.2: Don’t depend on your designer to advertise for you.
Too often companies and individuals have websites built, do nothing to promote the site themselves, and then wonder why it wasn’t as successful as they hoped. You don’t expect Kinkos to pass out your flyers; why expect your designer to know how to market your business to your customers? Their job is to develop a site that meets both your and your clients’ needs. You must spread the word to your prospects yourself, through all means--online and traditional.3: Put your website’s address in front of everyone.
You wouldn’t leave your phone number off of your business cards--why leave off your website address? Make certain it is on all of your stationery, flyers, brochures, etc. Put it on the back bumper of your cars and vans. Put it on your signage and in your front window. Put it on your promo items and give them away like mad! People like freebies, and if they are useful, they will keep them around. The more visible you make it, the more times people will see it--and the more they see it, the more likely they will visit.4: Yellow Pages ads.
Spend the extra money to get your web address added to your yellow pages listing. That little extra effort can lead to new leads. Many people will check out listings as follows: Biggest color ads, biggest black-and-white ads, smaller ads, text only box ads, and line ads. Adding a website to your ad can greatly increase your inquiry rate.5: Issue a press release.
This step is often overlooked by start-ups. Taking the time to properly prepare a release can greatly benefit your business.6: Reciprocal links.
Find websites that complement yours and propose a link exchange. This has a dual benefit: You gain traffic from their visitors, and the more companies that link to you, the higher your ranking in some search engines. You must do your research here, but if properly implemented you can see great rewards from this strategy.7: Your regular advertising.
Make certain that any print or media advertising you do has your website mentioned somewhere in it. Too many times this simple step is overlooked. You cannot rely on Internet advertising alone to make your site a success. Even Amazon.com and E-Bay have to use traditional advertising. Have you seen the “Do You, uh, Yahoo!?” ads? There’s a reason!8: Visit web forums and the Usenet newsgroups.
You can successfully advertise your company through these discussion groups (formerly known as “bulletin boards”), but be careful, especially when advertising on Usenet. Many people frown on advertising there, so be sure to carefully research any group you wish to advertise on before making your post. A few extra days patience can save you from a major public relations nightmare.9: Publish an e-newsletter.
This has many benefits to you. It helps establish your credibility. It helps keep your clients and prospects up to date on your company and its offerings. It educates. It adds content to your website. The content helps you get better listings with the search engines and as it changes on a regular basis it helps bring return visitors. Return visitors will in many cases put your website address on their links pages which in turn helps drive traffic and boost search engine rankings. A well done, Opt-In (they subscribe) newsletter can also provide you with a detailed mailing list of people interested in what you have to offer. The costs of emailing are almost nil. Done properly, this can be a great boost.10: Your business card.
Make it a mini-flyer, include your website, and pass them out whenever you can. When you go to trade shows or conventions, take 500-1000 and hand them out to everyone. Go to every booth and trade cards with them. “But I have plenty of my old ones”, you say. Well, unless your cards are works of art, throw them out and get new ones with your web address on it and send 2 to every customer and prospect you have.11: Email. Let us not forget email. You and your employees probably send several emails each day, at the minimum. Make sure that your web address is featured in the ‘signature’ of each email. Too many times I receive email from clients and prospects that have missed this simple step. Many modern email programs allow for multiple signatures so you can have 1 for each occasion if you wish.
The message is: In order to see your site succeed, you need to promote it. There are millions and millions of websites online. While the numbers vary, it is estimated that only 40-60% of the web is listed on search engines. That means that the other 40-60% must be doing something else to get traffic. You wouldn’t open a store in your basement, tell no one, and then wonder why you went broke. Starting a website online is like that, except that you have the power to route a superhighway through your front door. You simply have to promote it using all of the means at your hands. Keep in mind that this is only an outline, and that many of these steps are more complicated than they may seem to be. Only by properly researching the correct approaches will you get the most success from them. Give these tips some thought. I’m sure you will find several that will work for you. Good luck! See you on the web.
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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.
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