Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

A lot of web design firms like to quote prices based on how many pages they build, some even going as far as to quote prices for “up to” a certain number of pages (often ten to 15), with an additional rate for more pages. A better question than how many pages you should have might be “what are you hoping to do with your site” or “what’s it actually worth?”

If you’ve got a solid idea about what you want and have no problem providing the relevant content, a site with 50 pages is little more work than a site with a dozen. If a designer wants to charge you $50 per page, bear in mind that it likely only takes them a few minutes to do it, and realize that you’re probably paying way too much.

If you had eleven fingers, your manicure would still cost the same.

The actual cost has very little to do with the number of pages you have. Once the skeleton is in place you should be able to have a virtually unlimited number, assuming the site was properly built with a content management system in place.

So the question comes back to how many pages you should have. Enough to get the point across but not so many that readers get lost. If your site is a contractor information page, you can get by very well with under a dozen. If you have a catalog of products for sale and number of other categories, it could run easily into the thousands without being any problem.

Don’t focus on what pages cost or an actual number that you should have, but think of all the things you need your site to be and make sure you’re working with a designer who understands these needs and will do whatever it takes to get you there.

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Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

If your company has a big server room, you may have opted to put your web site on one of those servers. It may have been a matter of convenience, a perceived cost savings, or pressure applied by your network management staff, but there are many reasons you should get them out of the building and over to a professional management company as soon as possible.

1 – Power Outages. Your servers have a power backup, but those only run a short time before they run low and shut the system down. There are many places, even in big cities, where the power will fail at some point almost every year. If the power is out for hours or days, your site is gone too, and it may not come back online until someone physically reboots the system. You could be offline for days due to power outage, and in business, that can be a critical difference.

2 – 24/7 Management. Whether it’s a power outage or something else, if your site is managed onsite, you need to have someone standing by in case of big or small hiccups. Having your site professionally hosted at another location means it will always be overseen, and that things like daily backups and security patches will be taken care of whether you’re paying attention or not. The peace of mind is invaluable, and exceptionally affordable.

3 – Cost. While we’re on the subject, the cost of moving your site to a professional, off-site host will often be less than keeping it in-house. For a fixed monthly cost you can stop worrying about needing to buy hardware and pay for bandwidth. Those two costs alone can eat you alive if you’re getting any traffic or using older machines. Server software alone often costs as much as the entire hosting package. When you get down to uncommon dollars and common sense, it usually saves companies money to move the servers off-site.

4 – Intranet security. If your web server is in the same place as your internal network, the possibility exists, however remote, that a savvy hacker will get through your site and into your wealth of “secure” internal documents. There is no business that can afford a breach of security on this order, however slim the possibility.

5 – Virus infections. Serious infections may come in through any number of directions. It can come in through your web site’s FTP, from your employees downloading attachments, web browsing from workstations or any number of other ways. If this happens, and it does all too often, your internal network and web site can be taken over and data can be destroyed or compromised.

6 – Speed. Bandwidth is expensive and keeping a fat pipe to send data to your customers can be difficult. If your site is hosted by a professional company you can make sure you never run out of bandwidth, the site never slows down, and that the inherent network speed is as high as possible by keeping it as close as possible to major backbone.

If you’re really committed to keeping your web server at your location, consider talking with your IT staff an your web designers. Look at the benefits and think about what’s really most important. It very rarely makes sense for any but the largest web companies to manage their own web servers, but asking the right questions will make the answers more evident based on your specific needs.

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Sunday, February 24th, 2008

For the first time in business history, entrepreneurs have been afforded the luxury of hanging a shingle without so much as the first red cent to their names. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for small businesses to get a foot hold in previously cash-dominated markets, but there is a difference between “free” and “affordable,” and your customers can tell.

Disadvantages to free web services may not be readily apparent or may not seem like a big deal, but they can make all the difference in closing a sale.

Free Hosting –
First of all, it never is. Free Host sites may put ads on your site, but will always restrict the server space you get to place your site as well as the monthly bandwidth you get to let readers access your site. If you go over the limit on either one, you’re going to end up paying inflated prices to get your site back on line.With free hosting, you may not even have the ability to upload a custom site, meaning you’ll be stuck with one of a limited number of design templates.Free Templates –
There are a number of really interesting free templates available on the web, but they are not a substitute for a unique, professionally designed site. Many have browser compatibility issues (so they’ll look good on one computer, but terrible on another), and none have any form of support included.Guys can’t understand how girls feel when they show up to the prom and another girl is wearing the same dress. We think the fact that we’re all dressed alike is a sure sign we did something right. Imagine your customer comes to your web site and recognizes the template from somewhere else. They’ll know you got it for free, and they may judge your professionalism by it.Free Domains –
Unless these are included as a promotional add-on to a paid account, which is fairly common, a free domain will always come back to haunt you. Beware that you may end up paying hundreds of dollars in the future to keep it, once you’ve built the reputation of your site and business at that URL.

Free Blogging –
The big drawbacks to free blogging are that you don’t get to use your own web address, you may end up showing ads on your blog (for other companies, maybe even your direct competitor) and you’ll never get to make it look like it’s truly your own.Getting a custom blog interface professionally installed and integrated in to your site is affordable, and some companies even offer it as its own separate package.This isn’t to say that everything free is automatically bad, because that’s just not the case. There are many great programs and services available for free, and many things you pay for ain’t all that great.

The caution is to get sound advice from someone with experience before jumping in, and always be wary of anything that’s free. The money has to come from somewhere, and if you can’t see where it is, that may be all the red flag you need to run the other direction.

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Sunday, February 24th, 2008

In the ever changing world of business marketing only one thing has remained the same, and that is change. Yellow Page ads are less effective than ever and newspaper classifieds are all but dead. The web has changed the way we do business, but it’s changing still and businesses that change with it are reaping the biggest benefits.If you had a business blog five years ago, no matter how minimally relevant or poorly constructed, you stood out from the crowd. If you had a pretty good one that was pretty well designed just two years ago, you would still have an edge over your competitors.

Today it is estimated that more than 5% of small businesses have a company blog. Simply having one will help you in many ways, but to really have an impact and stand apart from the crowd, you need to do it right, and that’s why more and more companies are switching over to professional writers for their blogs.

Benefits of Professional Writers:

- A professional writer will write with greater clarity and focus, with fewer typos and errors.

- Professional writers complete articles more quickly, thus costing less than having someone inside the company write on an hourly wage.

- Writers with web-focused experience understand headlines, visual layouts and keyword optimization.

- Hiring a professional to take over the task will free you up to focus on what you do best: running your business.

At first, the idea of paying someone to do something you could handle on your own for free may seem crazy. The principle is the same as painting your house; you know how to do it yourself, but professionals can do it quicker, better and in some cases even cheaper than you could. Once you put a price on your time, it’s much too expensive to do it yourself, especially since the finished look won’t even be as good.

Cautions for Hiring a Pro-Blogger:

- News experience. Make sure they have experience writing news articles, not just blogs. Many blogs are rambling opinion stories written by inexperienced people who just know how to type. The news article experience shows professionalism and training.

- Blog experience. Ask to see samples of other work already published. If there isn’t any, or they can only show a few blogs or articles, you may be the first serious client they have. There are thousands of would-be professional bloggers looking for work, but few with any real experience.

- Web experience. Ask about experience with search engine optimization (SEO) and web content. If they don’t know what you’re talking about, they can’t help you. Your writer needs to be good and professional, but just as important is the understanding of how the mechanics of the web work.

- Hourly vs. contract. Avoid hiring a writer who wants to charge by the hour. Some writers can create a brilliant, well-researched story in an hour, while others might take a day. In this scenario the $10/hour writer will cost you $80 per article, while the $50/hour writer only costs $50 per article. You know how much content you need, only pay for a finished product.

If your business considers hiring a professional writer to fulfill your blog content, don’t be afraid to ask hard questions. The reputation of your company is on the line and so is your money.

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Sunday, February 24th, 2008

Search engines can be a tricky group to cater to, but figuring out the likes and dislikes of Google and the gang can transform your web site from a virtual placeholder on the web to a top ranked destination recommended by everybody from Yahoo to AOL, even if that does end up being the same people.

So how do you get to the top of searches for your relevant keywords? It’s easy and I’ll show you exactly how, but by “easy” I mean very difficult, and by “I’ll show you exactly how” I mean I’ll give you the best information currently available.

SEO Friendly URLs

In other words, search engine friendly file names for your pages. If you have a page for your dental office with an article called “Advantages of Porcelain Crowns,” there are a few ways the address can look.

Bad: http://www.yourdentalcompany/cm/details.search/results?985743945bdj1.php

Good:

http://www.yourdentalcompany/advantages-of-porcelain-crowns.php

Better:

http://www.yourdentalcompany/10-05-2008-advantages-of-porcelain-crowns.php

The more accurate and relevant the file name for the page is, the better search engines will like it and the higher you will rank for that search term. Google does its best to figure out what your page is about, and putting it in the URL helps it figure that out.

Site Map

If you don’t already have a site map, now is the time to get one. A site map is pretty much what it sounds like; it’s a road map to every page of your site. A good example can be found on the Tek Jansen site. It lists all your relevant pages with accurate links.

Put a link to this on every page of your site to ensure search engines and people are always within two-clicks of any page you want them to find.

Then take it a step further and create a http://www.google.com/webmasters/>located in the Webmaster Tools section. This isn’t quite as easy, but it makes Google happy, and that’s always a good thing. Hopefully your web designer can automate the process, but if not, there are tools that will help you make one out of nothing. You will need to create an account with Google in order to upload and notify them of the sitemap (same link as above), but it’s a fairly straightforward process.

Implementing These Improvements

You may need to rebuild existing pages on your site, but this is something your in-house or contract designer can help you with, if you’re not managing it yourself. If this is beyond the scope of your designer, you may want to hire a different one. That would be like asking your printer to switch from black and white to color. You may need a new printer, but the value of getting your customers to actually find you is worth it.

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Thursday, February 21st, 2008

It’s human nature and smart business to look for the lowest bidder, but be careful about the questions you ask your bidders, the people you’re going to put in control of your most valuable business tool. Too often, the lowest bidder will rack up extra charges for a number of reasons, even if they are trustworthy. Here are a few questions and thoughts to bear in mind when looking for a network provider.

Hourly vs. Contract
A lot of low cost providers like to quote prices based on hourly service. The inherent problem with this approach is that it gets rid of the incentive to work quickly and entirely eliminates their benefit of doing the job right the first time.

Especially if your IT staff can troubleshoot remotely, which all of the good ones do with services like GoToAssist, you can’t really know how many hours they work compared to how many they bill, and low cost providers have to get the income up one way or another.

Companies willing to charge contract prices do so knowing they can get the job done more quickly and efficiently, so the need to charge by the hour may be reserved for training or meetings, when time will be fixed.

What’s Included, What Isn’t?
Many times a network manager will offer an affordable maintenance contract, but not mention which critical elements cost extra. Some companies will not include things like scheduled data backups, technical support, on-site service or even a local staff. Talk with them and ask what is included, but also be very sure to ask what is not included.

Got Certification?
There is no licensing requirement for network managers, so technically, your nephew can do the job if he knows enough to be dangerous. If you have a small network, you will require MCSE or MCSA certifications (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, respectively.)

If you have a bigger network, or hold your IT staff to higher standards, you should look for more comprehensive certifications like Cisco. The Microsoft certifications are perfectly valid, but children as young as 9 years old have earned them, so take them with a grain of salt. The same can not be said of Cisco certifications, which require intense training and testing.

Check References
Since you’re going to be putting the entire company in the hands of these people, you need to know what their reputation is. It’s not enough that they seem like nice enough people; you need to look at other clients they have to make sure you’re not going to be their first customer, or their next victim. Have they managed a network as big as yours? Have they been thrown off of jobs before? Your business is too important to leave to chance, even if you do save $10 per hour.

Best Advice
Before hiring a network provider, make a list of every question you can think of and make sure you get the answers you need to make the best decision. If something is important, get it in writing. If you have any doubts, do more research. Look at their other clients, check out their certifications, and don’t be afraid to hurt anyone’s feelings. This could be the beginning of a long and successful relationship, or the most dangerous mistake you’ll ever make.

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Thursday, February 21st, 2008

There are basically two ways you can build any web site. You can build it as static pages, meaning manually constructed pages that rarely change, or through a content management system (CMS), meaning a backend database system that can easily be modified or enhanced at any time by an authorized user. There is also a hybrid between the two, so let’s compare the differences and benefits.

Static pages are mostly used for small sites with limited information that rarely changes. If you build a web site about sun decks, odds are you’ll only need a dozen pages that only need to be changed every few years or so. The advantage is that static pages are often cheaper to build and they are often more secure than dynamic, CMS created pages, depending on which CMS is used.

The disadvantage of static pages is that it doesn’t work well for larger sites, and it’s much more difficult to add and change pages. If you build sun decks but want to have monthly specials, you’re going to have to call your designer back in to make the changes. If you notice a phone number missing or want to remove an employee from the bio page who is no longer with the company, it’s a hassle and will require you to call the designer back to do it for you.

Once you have to call the designer, you’re paying for the site again, and the potential savings you enjoyed up front may quickly evaporate.

Static pages also do not allow for reader comments, blogging, or any other dynamic content that may increase customer interaction and loyalty.

There are a number of advantages to using a CMS:

• You can add or edit as many pages as you want at any time without calling in the help of the designers.
• You can allow for comments, ratings, discussion forums or blogs.
• Your site can be very big, while small changes to all of the pages will remain very easy.

The cost concern can be resolved by thinking of the cost on a longer term. It may be more expensive for the first month, but cheaper over the first year when you don’t have to call in work orders to make fixes big and little. Many reputable companies don’t even charge extra for CMS construction over static, so it may not even be a real issue.

The companies that automatically build a CMS system, even when a static site would work just fine, are the best. That’s the hybrid option. It looks and acts like a static page but still gives you all the options you might need.

Best advice is to ask as many questions as you can in advance before you sign the contract and get answers to all your important concerns.

There are several options for a Content managment system.  There are many good open source CMS systems that can be setup and running in a matter of minutes.  There is also the option of customizing your CMS either with a out of the box solution or with a custom desinged CMS system.

With the custom designed CMS you will have the flexibility to have the site look and act like you want it to.  You will then be able to manage your content images and functionality from the CMS control panel. 

There is no one size fits all for managing content and you should talk with a few competent design specialists that know the different Content Management Systems and what the pros and cons are to each. 

 

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Thursday, February 21st, 2008

There are many benefits to having your business blog, even though it may take a few months to start really seeing it. Many entrepreneurs are so eager to adopt the latest trends that by the time it starts to work, they’re already on to the next big thing.

The key to avoiding the business blog blues is to look out for the seven deadly decisions:

1 – Keep updating. Even if you aren’t feeling like it, trudge ahead. If your industry doesn’t change on a daily basis, feel free to write articles in advance and post them on a publications schedule dating out a month or more. It gives you breathing room. If you’re still losing interest, consider asking staff members to contribute or hiring an outside professional with professional blogging experience.

2 – Moderate comments. Comment fields are a great way to stay in touch with your customers and potential customers, but it can also be a way for your competitors to post negative remarks about you, no matter how untrue they may be. Moderating your comments allows you to see what people are saying before anyone else gets to read the negativity, and it stops the spammers and scammers from hijacking your faithfully created business newsletter.

3 – Keep it civil. Don’t bad mouth your competitors, your enemies and especially not your readers. Too often I still see blogs on which a question comes in that may be taken as critical and before you know it, the webmaster has gone to war with his or her own reader, for everyone to see. There is no winner in a war of negativity, so keep your chin up and your words balanced, there’s no knowing when they’ll come back on you.

4 – Check for mistakes. At least every few days you should check the site to make sure it’s still in working order. Every few weeks you should make sure your links are working and all relevant contact information is up to date.

5 – Stay relevant. If you run out of ideas or relevant products to discuss, don’t write an article about something you don’t do for a living, and definitely don’t write about the fact that you’ve run out of ideas. Look to see what other people are writing about inside and outside of your field, and if you’re still stuck, start asking around. If push comes to shove, you can always hire out, but you shouldn’t need to do that unless you’re also out of time.

6 – Keywords, keywords, keywords! Only you know exactly what it is that you do, so make sure you’re using your keywords. If you’re writing about roofing materials, don’t just call it “comp,” call it “composition,” “three-tab,” use the manufacturer names and anything else you think applies. This isn’t defrauding the search engines; it’s putting the words in your story that people are likely to use.

7 – Promotion. Since you already have a business, and one can assume a number of customers, you need to tap in to them to get your blog off the ground and keep it growing. Put a link to it on patient appointment cards and even your business cards. If you send out client Christmas cards, mention the blog in there and watch your readership spike. If you don’t send out holiday cards, this is the year to start.

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Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

1HotBiz is a blog about businesses, strategies and practices that are decidedly “hot”. This might mean that it’s the newest, latest, greatest thing, or that it’s an established practice that has been overlooked. It might even mean that it’s something commonly used, but not universally implemented. Our entire goal here at 1HotBiz is to report on tech industry findings and emerging technologies that may better your business, regardless of how that news may impact ourselves or our affiliates, directly or indirectly.

As of the writing of this entry, we have nine members on our staff, with another ten members who will contribute as their contracts and schedules permit. Our principal directors are as follows:

Doyle Martin – Network Director – Doyle has earned Microsoft certifications as an MCSE and MCSA professional, with security-specific clearance. His unusually high degree of experience and expertise has not only earned him high marks with the certification instructors, but put him in an exceptionally qualified position to maintain, manage and install networks, regardless of the size or complexity.

Scott Kintz – Web Architecture Director – Mr. Kintz has been custom designing web interfaces since the 1990s, and today he directly oversees a team of dedicated designers who build everything from simple HTML to Flash to the most intricate, involved, custom backend administrative scripts. Before establishing his own business in web design, Mr. Kintz worked in the importation of unique artisan goods from as far away as China. His international and business savvy has served him well in his web development endeavors, and he still travels internationally on a frequent basis.

Guests and Members – We welcome comments and guest posts about happenings in the Seattle area relating to business.  If you are a business owner or have an interest in starting, running or writing about business in Seattle we welcome you to become a guest writer or contributing author to our blog. 

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