Thursday, November 20th, 2008
The real owner of any domain name is the Administrative Contact in the whois record
A lot of times, a developer will register your domain name for you as a service and charge you the fee every year to renew it. That’s great if they are honorable people and there are no problems.
The real owner of any domain name is the “Administrative Contact” in the “whois” record. They are the person or business that has the legal ownership. You can go to court and prove ownership with this.
If your developer is listed as that admin contact, then they are the legal owner. Again, this is nice that they are helping you out, but be aware that you are vulnerable to having your domain name held hostage, or worse, stolen from you.
This is the “whois” that I use. It’s from an old registrar that I no longer use because they quit responding to all communication from me. They were horrible. But, I still use their whois look up because they are no flashing ads or captchas to slow me down. I’ll share their secret look up page with you.
Check who owns your domain name here.
If you are not listed for your domain name, take steps to change that or have it changed. Make sure that your email address is also listed. If someone hijacks your email account, they can have your password sent to them, log in and change the admin contact to themselves and steal your domain name.
Send me email if you want any help with checking on this. Use the “Ask Me Anything ” form and I’ll help you out.
Posted in development, domain name, small business website, web host | No Comments »
Thursday, November 20th, 2008
Don't be seduced by the flashing neon signs screaming *unlimited* at you.
This is one of those questions that will get a complicated technical formula from the web development engineers, but it’s really not that hard.
If you have to ask, then you don’t need very much.
If you are just starting out, you probably won’t have much traffic. Sorry, but it’s true. You can calculate the page files sizes and multiply by the page views you get a day or a month, but you won’t be able to do that without knowing how many people hit your site. If you have no history, then you can’t calculate, but it won’t be very much at all for a while.
Start out with the cheapest, least amount of space and bandwidth. Don’t be seduced by the flashing neon signs screaming “unlimited” at you. Don’t upgrade until you have to.
You will be surprised by just how little bandwidth you really need. If the average page is 100k, which is not unreasonable, then 100,000 pages a month is one gig. That’s over 3,000 page views a day. Do you have that many? If you have 10,000 views a day, then you’ll want 3 or 4 gig. I think “unlimited” bandwidth would probably cover that.
I really, really mean that you shouldn’t get more than you really need and you probably don’t need as much as you think you do. Really. Don’t do it.
Much more important is the reliability of the company. Do they answer emails quickly? Put in a support ticket and see how long it takes them to answer. Ask the sales people technical questions about redundancy and latency. See how long it takes to answer and does the answer make sense to you. Just tell them that you were told to ask about “redundancy and latency” and please explain what that means. If you are happy with the answer, then great. If you have no idea what this technical jargon they give you means or it takes them 3 days to answer you, then move along and find another web host company.
Posted in small business website, web host | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Find out what unlimited bandwidth really means by reading the fine print.
I don’t know how you can be sure about your web host without going out and trying them all, which I’m not going to do.
I’ve been through a few web hosts. Some have been good. Some have been bad. Price is usually not the issue that makes one “bad”. The problems that you’ll have with web hosts have to do with service, both technical and customer support.
I own a very popular web site, survivor.com. I would get huge spikes in my traffic on Thursday nights, when the show was on. One host saw the spike and extrapolated that out over a month and decided that I would be in violation of my bandwidth for the month, since every day was Thursday night, so they shut me down.
No warning. No email. I came home from work one day and checked my days stats. I had no traffic. Poof. Just like magic, it all went away.
I emailed them and got a notice that I was in violation. I begged and promised and they turned me back on again. I bought a second account and linked things back and forth to balance out the load. What a load it was.
So, look for reasonable terms of service. Find out what “unlimited bandwidth” really means by reading the fine print. Ask around and see if they have good customer service. Do they answer emails quickly? Getting along with them is key. You hope it’s like a good friendship and that you’re not dating a psycho who’s going to steal your car.
Oh, and my personal recommendation? That would be the web host that I use now, Powweb. There’s a button over there on the right that you can click and sign up with. If you use my button, I get a commission. I could have a lot of other affiliate links over there, but I only have the one. They are the only one I’d recommend. They advertise “unlimited bandwidth” and it’s not, but it’s probably more bandwidth than you’ll ever need. I like them.
Posted in small business website | No Comments »
Monday, November 17th, 2008
Usually the transfer of a domain name is pretty straight forward, as long as you jump through the hoops they set up for you.
I just got a new domain name. I actually bought it and had to transfer it to my own registrar.
In order to transfer domain names these days, you have to log into your account, get a couple of codes, a transaction code and a security code, from your domain name registrar and make the request to transfer. The codes are emailed to you so they can confirm that you have access to the email account listed in your registration.
Then you have to go to the other registrar, and get an EPP code from them. That one is emailed to you as the current owner of the domain name.
That works if you are the owner that you are transferring from. If you are getting the domain from another person, then they have to get that EPP code and send it to you. You have to put the EPP code into your account and that will complete the transfer request.
Then, the fun part is waiting for the other registrar to get around to sending you the actual domain name.
If you are trying to get a domain name out of Network Solutions, you have to make a phone call and talk to their high pressure salesman, support person. After they try to sell you on staying, they will finally allow the transfer. If there is any way possible to not have anything to do with Network Solutions, stay as far away from them as possible.
Usually the transfer of a domain name is pretty straight forward, as long as you jump through the hops they set up for you. The hassle is actually for your own good. (I sound like my mother.) It it supposed to make it harder for bad guys to steal domain names away from you.
The latest scam that I heard of is if they get your email account log in, which is sometimes not that hard to do (Sarah Palin), then they can have your registrar send your password as a forgotten password. With your email account and your registrar password, they initiate the transfer, send the codes, approve the transfer, and wait for your domain name. Then you get an email asking you for $2000 to get your domain name back.
Keep your email account secure. Use obscure passwords, like my email password is w958hd$did you really think I would give you my password?
Posted in small business website | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Bam. There it is.
Now, back to the Wordpress page. See where it says “Username”? Type in your three keywords, in order of importance. Now put in a password. No, not the name of your cat. Use numbers and letters and make sure you can remember it. There. That’s good. Put it in again, to make sure you didn’t make a typo, not that you would ever do that.
Put in your email address so they can send you a confirmation email to activate your account. They want to make sure you are a real person. Check the legal flotsam, tell them you want your blog and click “Next”. Bam. There it is.
Posted in free, small business website | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
They will send you an email with a magic URL in it. Wait for that email to show up and click the link to tell them you are really at that email address. Is it there yet? How about now? OK, go get something to drink then.
Are you back? Did you get the email yet? If you don’t get it within 30 minutes, tell them to send it again. There should be a link right there to do that. Check your spam filter. Wait some more. It’ll show up.
After you clicked on that link, your account should be activated. Go to your “dashboard” and I’ll give you a tour around the place.
Posted in free, small business website | No Comments »
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
DO NOT USE NETWORK SOLUTIONS FOR ANYTHING, EVER!
Registering a domain name is pretty cheap and easy. There are a couple pitfalls that could kill you if you’re not careful, but if you watch out for them, it’ll all be fine.
First, you should understand how the whole DNS thing works. You don’t need to, but it helps to know what you’re doing.
Manage Your Own Domain Name
You might have a technical guy handling all of this computery stuff for you, and that’s cool, but you need to make sure that you have the domain name registered in your name, on your account. You need to have control over the domain name registration as much as you need to have the key to the front door of your house. You need to have the userID and password to the account that manages the domain name.
I’ve heard of people having their developer manage it for them, then running into a conflict with the developer some how and the domain name gets held for ransom. You don’t need to do much with the domain name registration, but when you need to make that one critical change to move to a new web host or a new developer, then you need the keys to that kingdom.
If you set up the registration account, then make sure that your email is the one on file with them. When you share the password with the developer, so he can manage it for you, he’s able to change the password. The only way to protect yourself from that is if you can hit that “Forget your password” link and have the new password emailed to you. Make sure you own everything. Don’t let anyone else help you out with this one. Do it yourself.
Make Sure You Can Transfer It
The other area where you can be vulnerable is with the ability to transfer your domain name to another registrar. The reason that Network Solutions is so evil is that they make you actually call them and listen to a sales pitch before they will release your domain name for transfer. It should be a simple process of logging in, asking for the transfer, responding to some emails and being on your way. It should take 5 minutes to transfer.
My nightmare experience was with JumpDomain. They were great in the old days. They were the cheapest that I could find and the admin interface was powerful adn easy to use. I registered probably 100 domain names with them over the years that I was with them. I recommended them to friends also. (Sorry!)
The trick to transfers is that the registrar has to approve it. They have to send you a code for each domain name. This rule was put in place to prevent unauthorized transfers by bad guys. I appreciate that, but the system better work.
Then, one dark and stormy night, I had a problem with one of the domain names. I opened a help desk ticket on it, asking them to fix the error on their end. No answer. I opened another ticket. No answer. Waited and waited. Sent email. I looked up their WHOIS contact info and sent emails. No response. Over all, I waited a couple months for any kind of response. I did some research and decided to move them all to GoDaddy. I had about 40 names to move at that point.
I finally did some research and found that they were using Enom for their registration. I emailled, then called Enom and explained the situation. They finally emailed me the codes and I was able to transfer them to GoDaddy. Total time to transfer: 3 months.
I learned that prices change and you should always shop around instead of just renewing every year. I learned that the registrar can kill you if they want to, so pick wisely. Admin interfaces can improve, so get the easy to use interface. If you don’t like it, transfer to somewhere else.
GoDaddy seems to be the best and the cheapest, right now. That may change in the next month or two. Network Solutions is horrible. Never, ever, use them. Enom was helpful to me, but they have had some questionable stories told about them. Ask a friend. Ask on line. Ask in forums. Ask me.
Shop around and don’t get bit.
Posted in small business website | No Comments »
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
The Web Credibility Project: Guidelines - Stanford University
How can you boost your web site’s credibility?
We have compiled 10 guidelines for building the credibility of a web site. These guidelines are based on three years of research that included over 4,500 people.
1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site.
You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support (citations, references, source material) for information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. Even if people don’t follow these links, you’ve shown confidence in your material.
2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site.
Showing that your web site is for a legitimate organization will boost the site’s credibility. The easiest way to do this is by listing a physical address. Other features can also help, such as posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with the chamber of commerce.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide.
Do you have experts on your team? Are your contributors or service providers authorities? Be sure to give their credentials. Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear. Conversely, don’t link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.
The first part of this guideline is to show there are real people behind the site and in the organization. Next, find a way to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
A simple way to boost your site’s credibility is by making your contact information clear: phone number, physical address, and email address.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose).
We find that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. When designing your site, pay attention to layout, typography, images, consistency issues, and more. Of course, not all sites gain credibility by looking like IBM.com. The visual design should match the site’s purpose.
7. Make your site easy to use — and useful.
We’re squeezing two guidelines into one here. Our research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company’s ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology.
8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed recently).
People assign more credibility to sites that show they have been recently updated or reviewed.
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers).
If possible, avoid having ads on your site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Avoid pop-up ads, unless you don’t mind annoying users and losing credibility. As for writing style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere.
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.
Typographical errors and broken links hurt a site’s credibility more than most people imagine. It’s also important to keep your site up and running.
Read the entire article at The Web Credibility Project: Guidelines - Stanford University
Posted in marketing, small business website | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
We're Waiting...
They will grab any name you search for. I’ve had a client go look for names for a new site we were building. They had some ideas and wanted to check them out. 2 days later, they came back and said that the one they wanted was available, but was now taken.
I asked her where she looked for them and she told me she used Network Solutions to search. As I checked into it, I found that Network Solutions had registered the name and would gladly give us the registration IF we registered with them.
That means that we had to pay $36 a year to register instead of $8 at GoDaddy, who we wanted to use. It cost us $28 more just because she used Network Solutions to search for available domain names.
In the past, I used a great small service for registration. They were great until they quit responding to emails and their help desk. I’ll tell that horror story in another post, but they did have a nice, easy to use “whois”, the tool you can use to look up domain name registrations. There’s no captcha. No advertising. There’s just the form.
If you want to look up domain names, use this WHOIS form.
Posted in small business website | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Why The World Isn’t Listening - Small Business Branding Written by Ed Roach
How many of your clients believe they are an apple ripe for the picking? They believe in the old adage, “build it and they will come” - literally.
I'm Not Listening To You!
The actual post told of businesses who want that magic bullet to success. You know - the - what is the tricks and techniques to instant results? What is it, that would lead any of us to believe that this solution exists? In the many years I’ve been in business, nothing comes easily. It takes work and perseverance.
How in the world is anyone supposed to find you if you do nothing to tell anyone that you are there? Googling is not enough, don’t bet the farm on SEO (but don’t ignore it either). You have to get out there. Do your research. You can’t generate an income without some sales effort. There are some great books on promoting yourself on and offline. Read them and FOLLOW THEM. Having your base marketing in place is a great start, but you have to realize that you must consistently and repeatedly push your brand out into the world. Take every opportunity to develop your brand so that it returns a respectable income for you and your company.
Posted in small business website | No Comments »
