Archive for March, 2011

6. Does it save money when a business owner builds and maintains their own web site?

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

In this age of austerity cuts many small and medium business owners are looking to save money.  This means every cost line must come under scrutiny to see if it provide value for money and if it can be done cheaper.

One of these cost items will be the expenses that relate to the web site (web hosting, design / build of web site and ongoing maintenance).  Lets take a moment to think about each of these areas.

Web Hosting

Not unless you are a large business who has made the necessary investment to host your web site on your own infrastructure, most businesses will be purchasing their service from a web hosting company.

This is a sensible choice for most businesses as this can be viewed as a commodity service with many reliable providers.  Competition is strong meaning that pricing is very competitive.

The alternative is to invest heavily in technology infrastructure, employ technical resources and then be prepared to continually update to keep up to speed with market trends.

Recommendation

Outsource the service by buying from a reliable web hosting business.   However, make sure that you shop around for the best deal.  This is not necessarily price, look what features are included and the cost of moving to the next package up.  You may find providers offering great headline prices but with limited web storage, e-mails, bandwidth, no databases, etc.  Then the cost to move to the next package up is a significant increase in price.  Always remember there is nothing that really is FREE!

 

Web Design / Build

A number of business owners are very computer savvy.  They are comfortable using new software packages, online social media, etc.  Therefore, it would be a logical choice to take on the design and build of their business web site.

This can prove to be very effective.  However, there are some considerations that often get overlooked:

How much time is it going to take to design, build and publish your web site?

I don’t know about you but, if I had a leaking tap, I could read a dummies guide to plumbing, get my tool box out and then go on to fix the leak.  This is great but what is the cost?  I don’t necessarily mean the £ cost, I mean the cost in my time.

It is fair to say that it will take me considerably longer than a qualified plumber.  This means the valuable, scarce commodity of time will be diverted away from important things like my family or building my business.  As time is far more important I would phone a professional and pay the plumber happily for the job.

Have I done a good job?

While you may be able to put together a good web site and publish it to the web, is it a good job?

  • Has it been designed to meet your business objectives?
  • Has it been developed in a way that it can grow with your business?
  • Has it been optimised for key search phrases?

There are many other considerations.  However, the point is while the web site may be OK to start with, it may prove expensive and problematic to take it to the next level as you grow.  If it has not been designed to meet your objectives i.e. sales leads, then it won’t be effective at all!

Recommendation

Using the plumbing anology.  You make fix the leak but you may have made more serious damage to the pipes for the future!

Use a good web designer who can work with you, understand your requirements, provide advice and then execute the project quickly and efficiently on your behalf.

Web Site Maintenance

If you have a web site that needs regular updates to ensure it remains useful, you will need to be performing regular maintenance and updates.

Again there is no reason why you can not take on the work to update web pages, add articles, add new pages, etc.  However, again the question to ask is “what is the best use of your time?”.

Recommendation

Speak to your web designer and ask them to provide a quote for providing an ongoing update service.

I would like to close by saying that the idea for this article came from real experiences with some of the Colchester businesses I work with who recognise that their time is better spent on building their own business while letting Digital Ark concentrate on their web site.

Please visit our web site www.digitalark.co.uk for details of our web hosting, web design and web site maintenance plans or alternatively e-mail at simon@digitalark.co.uk.

Simon

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Posted in Website Design | Comments Closed

5. Do you own your web site?

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

In my last blog post (4. Do you own your domain name?) I talked about the risks of not having your domain name registered in your name.  This post is a logical extension.

The title probably should more accurately be “do you own the source and output files that create and form your web site”?

After agreeing the design brief and objectives, a web designer will normally collate content (text and pictures) and then design the website using a software package such as Dreamweaver, Frontpage, WebPlus, etc.

In some cases the web designer may even create content (especially graphics, photos, videoa, etc) for the web site.

Each software package will save the design files in it’s own format (this is known as the source file).  When the web site is published to the internet, the software package will output the web site files using a common format that can be interpreted by a web browser such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, etc.

It is important to understand this as the files that are uploaded to the internet are not the same files that you need to make changes to your web site.  What you need is the source codes.  So this raises the first question on ownership.  “Who owns the source files, you or your web designer”?

This is not necessarily an issue, unless you fall out with your web designer or move your web site to another web designer.  Then you may find that your current web designer may not release the source files meaning that your new web designer will need to completely rebuild your web site.  This will usually result in you having to pay additional costs to cover the work.

Worse still the web designer may claim that the content, design, look and feel of the web site is their intellectual property and as such you can not recreate a similar web site.  Again they may demand a royalty payment to allow you to use the design and content.

As mentioned earlier, as well as source files there are also output files that are uploaded to your web hosting account on the internet.  While you may have access to these source files through a Control or Admin Panel meaning you could download the web site files and then upload to your new web host, the question of ownership still applies.  If the web designer claims intellectual ownership over parts or all of your web site, uploading the files to a new web host may mean you are in breach of copyright.

Hopefully this provides a high level overview why you may not own your web site, even if you have paid for it to be designed.

So what can you do to protect yourself:

  1. Make sure it is clear about who owns the content, source files and output files (including any items created for your web site by your web designer).
  2. Ask if you will have access to (or can have copies) of the output files.
  3. Confirm the fee you have paid means that you own the intellectual property and that you can reuse the design and output files without requiring further permission.
  4. Ask if you can have copies of the source files or if not the process of how these will be made available to you if you move to another web designer.

By following these steps hopefully you will avoid problems in the future.  If you have any questions please contact me as I will be happy to help.

Simon

 

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Posted in Uncategorized, Website Design | Comments Closed

4. Beware: do you own your domain name?

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

After a couple of recent ‘real life’ client experiences I thought it would be beneficial to cover this very important topic in the hope to help others not fall into the same trap.

So do you know if you actually own your own domain name?

Like many, you probably think my business is called <your business name>, the domain name for my website that I have paid a web hosting company and / or a designer for is <your business name>, I have invoices, etc so of course I own it.

Unfortunately it is not as simple as that.  Very much like when you buy a house in England, the owner is the actual name that appears on the Land Registery.  The same applies to the domain name for your web site (just think of it as a Title Deed).

If the central register contains your details then there should be no issues.  However, it is quite common when using a web designer that they will register the domain name in their own name.  This means that in the eyes of the central register, the web designer is the legal owner.

Likewise, there are a number of web hosting organisations offering free domain names while you use their hosting services.  Again in many occasions they will register the domain in their own name.

While this may not appear to be a big issue while everything is running smoothly and their is an amicable working relationship, what happens if there are issues, disputes, breakdown in relationships?  You could find that your web site is taking offline and you have no way of getting it back online.

You may say, well that is fine I will simply move the domain and web site to another provider.  Well you could but only if the web designer or host agrees to release and transfer your domain.  If they say no or demand a huge release fee, you may not be able to get access to your domain name.  As you can see, this would be a big, big issue.

You also run the risk that your domain name may not be renewed giving someone else the chance to register the domain.  For example, what if your web designer is on holiday, misses the renewal notice and fails to renew – you have lost your domain name through no fault of your own.

So what can you do to reduce the risk.

If you have not registered your domain

  1. Register your domain yourself.
  2. Ask the web designer / web host to register it in your name.
  3. Ask what is the cost and process for releasing / transferring your domain.

If your domain is not registered in your name

  1. Ask the web designer / web host to amend the details or check yourself using the Whois tool http://www.nominet.org.uk/other/whois/ (note you do not enter the www part of your domain)

If they refuse, it is advisable to resolve the issue in an amicable manner.  Find out why they won’t amend the registration and find a resolution.

If you think there may be trouble ahead, make arrangements to transfer to a reputable provider.  This will involve asking your current web designer / web host to transfer the domain.  They will probably charge a fee.  As long as it is not silly it is probably less hassle to pay the fee and move forward.

In extreme circumstances, they may not release the domain.  In this case try writing formal, non confrontational letter.  If this does not work, you can try writing to the central register.  If this fails, you may then want to consider seeking legal advice.

Alternatively, can you register a similar domain i.e. .com version versus .co.uk, slight change in domain name, etc?

If you have any questions or require assistance on this topic, please drop me a line simon@digitalark.co.uk.  I would like to add that at Digital Ark we will always register the domain in the details you provide.

Simon

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Posted in Web Hosting | 129 Comments »

3. Local mobile search in action

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

Perhaps you are still unsure on the practical uses of Local Mobile Search?

I would like to share a recent, personal experience that may help……

My family and I have just been on a family holiday to Bognor Regis (based on the south coast of England for our international readers).  Now you can’t go to the seaside without having fish and chips at least once.  So while my wife got our son to sleep, I was tasked with going and getting the fish and chips for supper.

Now I could have just strolled into Bognor Regis town center and walk around until I found a fish and chip shop and then hoped it served good, clean food.

Because I know the power of Local Mobile Search, I got out my iPhone, opened the Google Places application, typed in “fish and chips” and hit search.  Hey presto I had 6 nearby locations.  I looked at the nearest one and it had 4.5 stars as a Google review, I then looked at the next one (called Lindens), it had 5 stars.  So I used the Google map to guide me.

I ordered cod and chips twice, the staff were friendly and the fish and chips were superb (as stated in the reviews).

After finishing my fish and chip supper, I used my iPhone to post another 5 star review for Lindens – success leads to more success (or business in this case)!

It did make me think how many fish and chip shops lost out on the chance to get my business as they are not set up for Local Mobile Search and did not appear when I entered my search into my iPhone.

So what can we earn from this real world experience.

  1. Being set up for Local Mobile Search is critical, without it you will not even be in the race.
  2. Having (good) reviews gives you a better chance than other listed businesses.

If you would like more information  that can help your business take a look at our free resources http://www.digitalark.co.uk/localmobile.html

All in all I was very happy as it helped add to the enjoyment of a great family holiday.

 

 

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Posted in Local Mobile Search | 7 Comments »

2. 5 Reasons Local Mobile Search is important

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

Did you know that the web is going local?

Did you know this is great news for local business?

I would like to share 5 reasons why you should be excited about the opportunity this presents.

Reason 1 – your customers are local

It is estimated that around 80% of people make purchasers within a 5 mile radius of home or where they work.  This means that there are already customers within your area using their computer or mobile phone to find you!

Reason 2 – old style advertising does not work

In the 1990’s and early ‘naughties’, reaching local customers meant phoning Yellow Pages, sitting down with the sales rep, agreeing size of advert and how many categories you wanted to be listed in and then paying quite a lot of money (I know I used to spend a couple of thousand pounds with a business I used to own).

That has all changed.  People use the web and mobile phone to find what they are after.  How many times has someone said ’just Google it”?  How many of you even look at the Yellow Pages when it arrives on your doorstep?

Old styles of advertising no longer works like it did in the past!

Reason 3 – Google knows search is local

Search has gone local.  Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook and many others have realised this and are investing to make sure that the end user is presented with the information they are looking for.  This includes recognising when a user is searching for something local.

Just type “plumbers in <your town>” and see what results Google returns.  As well as all the paid for adverts and organic results, the middle section will include results for local search and a map will appear to the right indicating the locations of each of the businesses.

This is great for small business as it gives you a real opportunity to get ahead of big business with their large advertising budgets.

Reason 4 – paid online advertising is expensive

Paid online advertising is becoming very expensive.

The cost of ‘pay per click’ advertising to appear on the first page of Google, Bing, etc can be very expensive for certain key search words i.e. mortgage.  Many small businesses can not afford to run a meaningful campaign to have their ads consistently appear on the front page.

Reason 5 – people search on the move

The advances in mobile smart phones such as the iphone, mean that many people are searching as they go about their daily routines.  This means that businesses who have set themselves up for mobile search are in pole position to make a connection with potential customers when they are ready to buy.

One of the things I love about my iphone is that you can open the Google Maps app, type in pizza and straight away it shows all the pizza takeaways close by.  Then by clicking on one of the locations shown on the map it gives you the details (and any special offers for smart local enabled businesses).  The number is also shown, you tap on it and you are placing your order.

This is very powerful and allows a better chance of converting someone into a customer.

In summary

  • Your customers are searching for local businesses like you.
  • Customers want to be able to find local businesses online and while they are on the move.
  • Local search allows local businesses to compete with big business.
  • It does not have to be expensive. 
  • Small businesses that do not set themselves up for local mobile search are missing out on business. 

If you would like more information, please take a look at my free video clip and resource pack available on my web site at Local Mobile Search.

Kind regards

Simon

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Posted in Local Mobile Search | 1 Comment »