Using Your Website to Convert Visitors to Business

The June 2009 issue of Fast Company Magazine had another terrific article by Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.  Say goodbye to the interview process, the Heaths’ article Hold the Interview notes “interviews are less productive of job performance than work samples, job-knowledge tests, and peer ratings of past job performance.”

Rather than hoping you’ll have a chance to speak with your next client or customer, start a meaningful conversion process by showing them proof of your performance. This can happen right on your website.

Work Samples. These can take many forms online. Photographs of an event you organized or of your products make them tangible to your business prospects. For writers or technical companies, PDF files of published works and white papers are useful to show samples.  My client Geri Zatcoff, a Westport nutritionist, recently spoke as an expert on News 12 and she had audio recordings of a radio show she hosted. They are now on her website as samples of her poised and knowledgable work.

Job-Knowledge Tests.  How do you show tests on line? Your credentials are the best examples of acquiring job-knowledge. Does your website list your degrees, certification, and continuing education courses? Another approach is to review past business and create a list of client problems and the solutions you’ve implemented—several paragraphs online will give web visitors a good idea of your skill set.

Peer Ratings of Past Job Performance.  If you’ve been collecting testimonials or have Thank You letters from happy customers, posting them on your website reveals to others satisfaction with your performance. Have you found LinkedIn.com? LinkedIn not only links you with your client’s and associates but also provides an area to collect “recommendations” from people you’ve done work for and people you’ve worked with.

The Fast Company article concludes that job applicants who interview do just as well as those who don’t, the personal interview is probably not dead. However, demonstrating your shining qualities online can assist the decision process to work or purchase from your business.

copyright 2009, Design to Spec LLC

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Run for the hills… Keep your address book safe!

by Vanessa Wood, Design to Spec LLC – Website Design

Sunday started off peaceful enough. I sat down with a cup of coffee to check my personal email. There was an email with the name of someone I know, inviting me to look at photos on tagged.com (by the way, you’ll notice I’m not going to link to their site anywhere in this article… I don’t want to boost them in Google even by a fraction!).  I had more email to answer, so I put off the photo thing for a few minutes.

By the time I was ready to look at it again there was another email from another friend asking that I join tagged.com.  Since I had recently been at an event with these two friends and photos were taken, the email sounded legit enough. But with any email, no matter how innocuous, your should follow the rules for safety on the Internet. These will help you from getting tagged!

RULE #1: NEVER CLICK ON A LINK IN AN EMAIL. I typed the website address in to the browser and looked at it to be sure a site even existed.  The tagged.com email is pretty clever… it gives you an option to click “yes” or “no thanks.”  NEVER click to accept or reject an offer!

RULE #2: DON’T DISCLOSE ID INFORMATION THOUGH EMAIL OR ON UNFAMILIAR WEBSITES.
While it looks like Facebook and other networking websites. It’s not like them. To register they want personal information. You know, the kind of stuff that sends up red flags and blows whistles. They wanted dates of birth and parts of social security numbers.

I tried to finish signing up without giving further info. I couldn’t and couldn’t see any photos, so I stopped right there. WHOA!

RULE #3: IN DOUBT? CHECK IT OUT.
If you think the email sent to you by a bank may be fake, do a search online for the bank’s website and look to see if any email fraud warnings are posted. If it makes you feel better, call their customer service number on their website and report the fake email. Recently I was expecting a delivery from DHL and got an email that could have been phishing or could have been real (it was written pretty convincingly). When I checked the DHL site there was already a warning posted.

RULE #4: VET THEM THRU INDEPENDENT SOURCES. When I Googled tagged.com the description in the search results looked positive, describing the  site’s founding by a team of Harvard graduates.  When you take the 2 seconds to click through and read Wikipedia, the first paragraph makes it clear that consumer advocates are alarmed about this site and that the Better Business Bureau has given them an “F”. It’s amazing what you can find if you take a couple minutes to look for it.

So what does this site do? The evil is in the request to access your address book.  Wikipedia describes what happens next: “Once a user receives an email inviting them to “see photos”, the email address is recorded and they are deluged with spam from other companies.”

The end of my story? Well, I contacted my friend who allegedly “friended” me on tagged.com. I got a very nice apology because they didn’t “friend” me, didn’t put up any photos, and of course, didn’t send an invitation to everyone in their address book.  Shame on tagged. Do you think the site founders learned this at Harvard?

Design to Spec, LLC copyright © 2009

YouTube Videos to Website – Here’s Why!

by Vanessa Wood, Design to Spec LLC – Website Design

The remodeled  Design to Spec Website  launched in April and the Get Tips! blog got a make over so the appearance is in keeping with the new site.  So cool!    Among the enhancements at Design to Spec are two YouTube videos to provide visual with audio to explain our business web services and how to make a payment on the Design to Spec website.  YouTube, like all things Google, is a simple yet extremely powerful site. Here are the top 3 reasons to put a You Tube video on your website.

1) Double the Power of Your Website. When you set up a You Tube channel you can create a link back to your website. Now people can find your website and find you on YouTube too. Of course, another link to your site will always help to bolster your site’s position in the search engine results.

2) Go Viral. Who knew they loved Susan Boyle’s voice before she went on “Britains Got Talent” and 10’s of millions viewed her on You Tube?! Going viral on the Internet isn’t a sickness, but the passing along of a link to a great site or emailing all your friends to watch an online video. With your permission, your video can be made available to the public. It can become a new piece of content on your website. It can be shared in emails, Facebook, blogs, etc., spreading out across the web.

3) Show Your Stuff. Using video to convey what your business does is very powerful.  What if a roofing company filmed a job and then put created a super speedy video? It could convey the completion of a job from start to finish, how many workers applied to a project, fast service. My client Exit 43, the band, uses video from Veoh.com effectively to show their performance to promote bookings and sell their CD. Hearing their music is great, but seeing them perform really kicks it up a notch!

4) “People Don’t Read”. You may have heard this statement from your friends in marketing or education. It’s not that peopel don’t know how to read, but that people who have come of age in the years of TV, Radio, Films, and other media tend to connect easily with audio and visuals. We will watch a video before we will read a lengthy page of text. What better way to get your message across than to deliver it in a medium that will make an impact.

Have you wondered how to get your video on your website? Design to Spec can help put your video from YouTube (Vimeo, Viddler, Vioh) on your website. Check out our special video offer. For all aspects of putting video on your site contact Design to Spec — we can help!

There are two sides of the coin when looking at the shelf-life of a business website. There are some website owners who do frequent public speaking events, or change out products seasonally, or have repeat visitors and need a home page that has fresh information or images. The other side of the coin is the website owner who wants their site to appear relevant with very little updating.

Tips for extending your website’s shelf-life:

1. “Today is…” A current date on your home page keeps the page looking up to date. This can be as simple as a program which supplies the date or incorporating a blog extract onto the page, displaying a recent entry.

2. Update the Copyright. Freshening the copyright is a subtle, yearly update that keeps the website relevant. For example, if the site was launched and first copyrighted in 2006, an update of the year to include the current year (ie. 2006-2009) quickly brings the website to date.

3. Avoid Projecting. If you anticipate the release of a product or a new service, avoid putting in a future date if you suspect you may not update this text in a timely manner. I recently updated a client’s website that announced the a new product would go on sale in “Spring 2007″, however the product had not been added to the site and the update didn’t happen until 2009. Ouch!

4. Trick the Eye. Animated images that add movement or transition through several changes say “fresh” to the web visitior. If you see something different, you believe it’s new and different.

by Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

All content copyright ©2005-2009, Vanessa Wood

Recently I made an online purchase and was lead through numerous options for additional purchases. Although I wasn’t buying anthing web-related, I was offered the option to have this company submit my website to various search engines (see below). Cool, a freebie!

 It’s just a tad misleading. It advertises that your website will get “spidered” by the search engines and submission will “boost your website’s ranking.”

 ABOUT SPIDERS. Spiders are also known as “bots” or “robots”. They are programs that the search engines run and go from site to site, gathering the data that will be displayed when someone searches. They use the links between websites to make their way around the world wide web. These are hard-working little critters!  They don’t just visit a site once, but visit all the millions of websites over and over again.  It’s likely that even if you never submit your site to a search engine that the spiders will find still find your website.

RANKING. Submission, spiders, and ranking couldn’t possibly be further apart in how they effect the appearance of a site in the search engine results. Just as submitting a site doesn’t guarantee the visit of a spider, neither does submission or spiders determine how your website will be ranked by a search engine.  Whether a site appears at the top of the first page of search results or the end of the last page depends more on the code and text in your website.

WHY MAKE THE OFFER? Submitting a site to Google is always free and doesn’t take any developed computer skills– just type in the domain address and what the site is about.  There are other search engines that accept free submissions.

It appears that this offer is a loss leader, an entrance to more expensive “Search Engine Optimizing” services (SEO).

by Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

All content copyright ©2005-2009, Vanessa Wood

I often feel like an old curmudgeon when I complain about hosting accounts. There are so many of them and so many of them are wrought with problems that can cost the client time and money. I have my own hosting preference, not just as a reseller who makes a profit, but because they work. They save me time and therefore save my clients time and money.

So how can hosting cost you more than your your yearly fee?

1. Free Hosting. Remember when Mom and Dad warned you don’t get something for nothing? Remember how often this proves to be true? Beware of “free” hosting as it often starts with a very small amount of storage space and will cost big-time to add more. Some free hosting accounts require you to refer friends for “paid” hosting to continue to qualify for no-cost hosting. Bandwidth is seldom discussed but can cost you money: low-budget hosting probably allows for less bandwidth (the amount of traffic that they allow to occur between your website and the rest of the internet). I have a client whose story was picked up by CNN who also broadcasted their website address. In one day they had over 250,000 visits to their site and quickly exceeded the allowed bandwidth on their hosting account… with no additional charges while lesser hosts charge for exceeding allotted bandwidth. Ouch!

2. Down Time. You want a website so people can find you online, right? Cut-rate hosting accounts often are plagued with downtime… time when the server isn’t working and your website can not be seen online. I have one client whose sub-standard hosting was going down for days at a time. Either you or your web master will be spending time and money calling the hosting to get to the root of the problem.

3. Security. My favorite breach of web security was a client hosting with a very small, low cost, company somewhere in the Mid-West. The client wanted their site statistics and when I called the hosting company they didn’t ask for any ID and put the site statistics online where they are accessible by anyone including the client’s competitors. How much business will your competitors grab when they can view the inner workings of your web traffic?

4. Cheap Hosting Without Support. Here’s another fun hitch when using a low budget hosting account… no phone support. These companies charge an additional fee if you want to contact them by phone, otherwise the only way to contact their support staff or anyone at the hosting company is by email.

5. Account Skinny on Features. Often a client will purchase a low-end hosting account before engaging a web designer. They can end up with an account that is not robust enough to handle an interactive website… even something as simple as a contact form. Or they purchase Windows hosting when they want to work with programing that runs on a Unix server, or vice versa. Most hosting accounts offer an array of features, however it pays to engage your web consultant before choosing a hosting account to be sure you are getting what you need.

You can save time and money on your website. Consult with a professional design and development company before you enter into a hosting agreement.

by Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

All content copyright ©2005-2009, Vanessa Wood

When I get two calls on a web subject, I don’t wait for a third call to call it a trend. Recently I was asked about Search Engine Optimizing (SEO) by two very concerned clients.

Judging by the amount of concern, fear, and sometimes panic over SEO, companies who make SEO a specialty are doing a terrific marketing job to create uneasiness over the unknown. Have you heard Kentucky Fried Chicken’s marketing of “11 herbs and spices?” I remember reading somewhere that analysis showed that only salt and pepper were added to the coating. SEO is much the same… marketing complexity for “salt and pepper” basics.

So, let’s shine some light on SEO, demystify, and give you (the website owner) confidence in SEO.

The best place to start is with what led my first client to pick up the phone. The client had begun to do business with a professional marketer. The day the marketer showed up at the client’s place of business they commented: “I couldn’t find your website when I searched, you may need someone to look at your meta tags and do some search engine optimizing. It’s really important to have good SEO to get into Google.”

Here’s how to figure out if your website is optimized or MIA online.

1. Ask, “How did you look for the website?” This is a key question. You will learn which search engine they used, what search words were used, and possibly they didn’t search at all. It’s important to learn if they are using one of the top search engines or something obscure, or if they are using a short search term or your business name and location which should bring up your site in the search engines.

2. Test for yourself. Start with Google since it’s the “big-cheese” of search engines. Search using just your business name, then search with your business name & location/town name, and search by your profession or service & location/town name. This search should place your website on the first page of Google results. If not, your website may need some work. If you’re in the results you are not in desperate need of SEO.

3. Know your site structure. If you have a site that opens with a FLASH presentation or your entire site is constructed in FLASH, you may not have an optimized site. Recently I put up a new website for a client who had a one page website that was a JPG image. Google and the other search engines read text, so FLASH and images do not provide the text Google uses in their database!

4. What is the search result? When you search for your website, it’s important to read what is included in the result. Let’s look at the result for Design to Spec below. The first line is the link to your website and should include your business name. The next lines should be a description of your business, this gives the web user clarity that they have found what they are looking for. If your search result doesn’t state what you want others to know about you and your business, your website needs some SEO work.

Design to Spec LLC, Designer Vanessa Wood – Web Design and …
Design to Spec LLC the web design and graphic design studio of designer Vanessa Wood – My clients are working to be phenomenal.
www.designtospec.com/ – 16k – Cached – Similar pages –

5. Be cautious of submission promises. There are companies that promise to submit websites to multiple search engines. There are “tools” online that offer for a fee to automatically submit a website to multiple search engines. Even some hosting companies offer site submissions. The straight story on site submission is that most search engines allow for FREE site submission. Most search engines use a “robot” or a “spider” which are programs that cruise the internet gathering websites for their database, so submission happens by their “robots” visiting your site! Some sites, like Google, discourage so-called “automatic” or multiple submissions and thus reject sites submitted using these tools.

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

All content copyright ©2005-2009, Vanessa Wood

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

I now have to shamelessly admit I’m really interested in American Idol.  I got hooked on Project Runway right away as the creativity and insight into individual approaches to the creating was quite obvious. AI always seemed like a glorified talent show.

I’ve watched the first episodes this season.  I know there are parts that are staged and people are encouraged to act outrageously to get noticed, but through the fog some little stories appear that explain business and more importantly the business of self-promotion. So, the first few tips of 2009 will be tips for American Idol that can be applied to promoting your business on the web.

When contestants walk into the audition room the judges are already flipping through paperwork and seem to be familiar with each person.  Even before we hear the contestant’s voice, we see interviews, background film, and teasers. The show gets us to start feeling an affinity to the contestant right from the beginning. Here are pointers from American Idol you can incorporate into your own compelling story on your website’s “About” page.

Don’t Hide Your Weakness: Everyone loves a good “underdog” story. If you’ve conquered a defeat, share your climb to the top!

Don’t be Shy, Share: Contestants unabashedly share who they are. It can be easy to forget how special a business is because you live with it everyday! You may have to ask your repeat customers of what they like about your business or solicit testimonials, but this is the root of why clients and customers will want to do business with you. Yes, give concrete examples: instead of saying “We deliver great service” tell the story of how you went out of your way to solve one specific service dilemma.

Go for the Heart: If you’ve overcome illness or tragedy to become stronger and more accomplished it’s OK to share that. Does your pain give you a better understanding of your clients or customers? Does it show you’re a business with heart? One local business has shared a young family member’s fight with cancer and rallied the public to donate to the research.

Give a Glimpse at How Hard You’re Working: Everyone loves the dream of over night success, but no one likes someone who achieves it without working damned hard to get there! Idol hopefuls come from garage bands, bar gigs, church choirs, music conservatories. Share where you cut your teeth in your business.

by Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Darien, CT

In May 2008 I wrote “We’ve Got a Web Hostage Crisis!” to explain how businesses can get locked out of their own websites. Recently I was reminded of these lockdowns by two other situations that reared their head in the past and continue to haunt web clients even today.

Scenario Three: News Flash! It’s the Flash - To many web clients Flash is perceived as “high end” design. Yes, a website can look more “design-y” and it’s fun to have a site that has movement in it. What many website owner’s don’t know and aren’t told by their designer is that Flash is not HTML. A standard HTML page may incorporate a Flash file. A Flash file starts out as an .FLA file that the designer works with and can make changes and updates to. The Flash file is converted to a .SWF file when it is put on the web. No changes or updates can be made to an .SWF file.

Clients who want their Flash presentation updated must have access to the native .FLA file! If you move from one designer to another your website can not be updated or changed without the .FLA file.

Scenario Four: DIY Disaster! – I see websites all the time that clients create themselves as their first generation site. Some use proprietary design and editing systems on their hosting accounts or buy software that promises “do-it-yourself” web design.

Yesterday I saw another one of these and it was truly a disaster, what the automotive trade would call a total loss or scrap! The code was invalid. The home page had over 350 errors which caused it to look different in the top browsers. In two browsers the logo was missing. In another browser the navigation buttons were invisible (Hey, How do I get to the next page?). Like a damaged old car it’s too costly to repair.

When using a DIY (also called WYSIWYG) web design tool, web owners may find that they are server specific which means if they change hosting companies they will either lose the appearance of the their site because they will have to leave behind their design template, or the proprietary editing code used will not be understood or usable in any other system. Ay-carumba!

These scenarios for disasters happen too frequently. To prevent them happening to you follow these 2 tips:

1. Agree with your web designer before initiating a project that you will have access to the native Flash file or that it can be supplied to any future designer.

2. If using a DIY web design tool for a first generation site, proceed with the knowledge that your site may not survive in that form in to the next generation. If you have big plans for your business and your site, work with a professional web designer who can provide HTML web design.

by Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Darien, CT

“Free and Exposed” sounds like a tabloid headline or a great deal at a nude beach. Unfortunately its a trap website owners can fall prey to when they opt for web hosting that sounds too good to be true.

Free with Strings Attached.  Read the fine print carefully when opting for anything that claims to be “free” web hosting. My favorite “deal” (Did you notice deal is in quotes like free?) is a hosting company that offers free hosting but only after you’ve signed up do you find out that it’s only free if you host another website at full cost with them or refer new business to them. So, unless you’re ready to host a second website your website is now hosted at double the cost of other hosting providers and with a small fraction of the storage of other hosting providers.

Hello, Is Anyone There?  What’s hosting service without the service?  You can find out a lot about a hosting service by simply visiting their website and clicking on the contact link. There should be a telephone number and business address readily available.  Do they provide 24/7 service? Do they have a toll-free number? I highly recommend calling the customer service number before buying a plan just to experience the service you will receive when you are a customer.

Low Security.  I  have unique opportunities to see some pretty odd hosting hosting accounts that clients have purchased.  One allowed me to call in and request changes without any ID, password, or security provisions. Wouldn’t that be fun if a hacker did the same and altered your website?  Another poor configuration allowed one customer to view other people’s website files on a shared hosting account. Wouldn’t it be fun to have an inexperienced user sign in and make changes on your website files rather than working on their own files? NOT!

Letting It All Hang Out.  One client was thrilled to discover they had website statistics on their hosting account, but less than thrilled when they discovered their statistics weren’t password protected.  They were on the web for competitors and any one nosey enough to find.

So, when shopping for shared hosting don’t be lured by deep discounts, read the fine print, and call their sales department.

Before You Buy A Server

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a server in your office and avoid paying a yearly hosting fee? I have some clients who have opted to do just that, usually at the urging of a PC consultant.  While a server can be a useful piece of hardware for your network, think before you jump to get a server just to host your website.  Here are a five questions to help you evaluate your need and whether having your own server fits your needs and lifestyle.

1. Do I have any conditions in my office that may effect a server?  This can be the most troublesome for home-based businesses. Only you know if you have small children or other family members who may inadvertently turn off your server or a pet that may have hair, dander, or be in the early stages of house-breaking. Weigh carefully, for when the server goes down, your website will go down.

2. Who will reboot the server when the electricity shuts off?  A server isn’t as demanding as a newborn, but there will be times like with any computer hardware that it will shut down and need to be rebooted. If you travel for business, vacation or are simply busy with life, you will need a back up plan to have someone come in to your office to reboot. When the server is down, your website is down.  When you host with a hosting company they watch the server so you don’t have to.

3. Will the server be configured for privacy and security? I’ve seen PC consultants who set up a server exposing all of their client files, allowing them to be viewed by anyone who logs on. I’m always uncomfortable when I access an FTP account and can see other users’ files. That means that they can see my client’s files when they access the server! I don’t like knowing that someone else can get in and wipe out my client’s website!

4. Will the server provide the same service as a shared hosting account?  Shared hosting accounts provide an outrageous amount of service… that’s how they stay competitive.  What kind of goodies would you get with a shared hosting plan that may not be configured on your own server? Site statistics, PHP, web-mail, html editor… Most shared hosting plans offer technical support and 24/7 customer service.

5. Will my website files be reconfigured by the PC Consultant? One client’s nightmare– their PC guy wiped out all of the website’s keywords and meta tags when he reconfigured website files to work on a server and dropped the client right off the radar of every search engine! Their business also dropped off because people could no longer find their website in when they searched.

Asking for Links: The Art of Building a Strong Website

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

Most people expect web visitors to just find their website. Remember the Kevin Costner movie ”Field of Dreams”? — If you build it they will come… That’s not necessarily true on the Internet. Your website will be found by visitors using search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN.  One of the strategies to boost ranking in the search engine results is to have other websites link to yours.

Google loves links. The premise behind the Google search isn’t really about finding websites (we’re used to thinking that because that’s we use it to do!). It’s about creating a stronger Internet through “inter-connectivity.” You know the spiritual outlook that in life “It’s all connected”? Well, on the World Wide Web it really is… or should be!

One of the better books by the Chicken Soup For the Soul guy, Jack Canfield, is The Aladdin Factor. The book teaches the reader how to ask and supports why it’s so important to ask for what you want.  So, it’s not surprising that the best ways to get other websites to link to your website is to ask! There are numerous paid directories on the Internet, but you probably have access to even more contact right now who would happily put a link to your website on their website. All you have to do is ask.

Use an email that asks for a link.  You may want to simply announce that you  now have a website and ask that they link to it.  In some cases you may want to “exchange” links by offering to link to their website from yours.

So who to ask?

Ms. Bell.  If you already have a commercial telephone line you may be eligible to have the p hone company link to your website from their on-line directory.  Call your phone rep and ask.  As more people use on-line directories, this becomes a step your can’t afford to miss.

Professional Organizations. Are you a member of any professional group: AMA, SAG, AFTRA, ASCAP, NSA, CAMFT… ? Many professional organizations have on-line directories that will provide a link to your website.  If you are a member, you are probably already include in their on-line directory, so it is a matter of calling or emailing to ask that your website link be added.

Publishers.  If you regularly write and are published in your area of expertise, be sure to ask that your website address be included in the author credits or in the byline.  Do you advertise in a publication or in their on-line directory? Ask that your website address be included. For example Psychology Today  has an on-line directory of paid advertisers.

Suppliers and Partners.Have you ever visited a manufacturers website and seen a link to the location that sell their product?  If you’re a retail business you must visit your suppliers’ websites to see if there is an opportunity for you to be listed as a location to buy their product.  Have you published or self-published a book?  Don’t forget the publisher and even resellers (like Amazon.com) can link to your website.

Friends, Family & Associates. Don’t forget to ask fro links from those people who are closest to you. Does your spouse have a website? Did you create a project with an associate and they have a website that could like to yours?

[Published April 2006 in the Design to Spec Newsletter.
Updated 2008 for this format.]

Weighing “Must Have” Technology:
The Top 3 That May Not Survive the Weigh In

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

Technology is a constantly expanding field. How many of us have bought a new piece of computer hardware only to learn that a newer and improved product is to be released just months later! Website technology expands at about the same rate.

1. FLASH. Yes, I design with Flash and love Flash. Websites can be more dynamic. Images move and transform. The animation is gorgeous. However. And this is a big HOWEVER. If a user doesn’t have Flash installed on their computer they can’t see any of the design bells and whistles. In fact, if all the written copy (ie. text) on the website is incorporated into a Flash file, then the search engines can’t pick it up and users without Flash can’t read it. Yes, there are still older computers in use that don’t have Flash installed, but even the latest technology, the iPhone, doesn’t have Flash and neither will its next generation G3 iPhone due for release in the near future!

2. Content Management Systems (CMS). This is the latest buzz word amongst small businesses. Whether it’s web designers who price gouge for updates or businesses owners who want to control every aspect of their business, managing ones own content has become the vogue. Some of the pitfalls: CMS can not easily be added to existing websites, adding costly redesign time to employ, businesses who didn’t have the time or the skill set to learn website HTML find that they still don’t have the time to learn a CMS and follow through on updates. Skirting the cost of CMS, your designer can help identify which information needs to be updated frequently and develop a plan to do that.  Website owners find too that websites can often be updated through simple HTML editors on a hosting account.  

3. SEO (Search Engine Optimizing).SEO is a must but it doesn’t survive the weigh in as a separate technology need. For the average small business, optimizing should be done as part of the initial website design process. Why put up a website that can’t be found?!!! A partnership with your web designer to follow the website’s search engine ranking, will assure that your website stays relevant for Internet users’ evolving search patterns. SEO is not a separate “science”, but should be part of every site design and site maintenance.

by Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Darien, CT

A “Web Hostage Crisis” sounds pretty silly until it happens to you.  Here are a couple examples of how the drama plays out and two important tips to prevent your website from being held hostage.

Scenario One: Held for Ransom – You get the website of your dreams but it all becomes a management nightmare because you can’t get into your hosting account to set up email, check statistics, etc. This can happen when the web designer hosts the website on an account where he hosts all of their clients’ websites. He can’t give one client access to their hosting control panel because it would mean the client could then get into all the hosting control panels for all of his clients. So the client doesn’t have access to manage their account and often ends up paying the designer an hourly rate to check items or make changes they could otherwise do themselves.

Scenario Two: Web-Jacked! – Your website is looking a little tired and you’re ready for a redesign. You call the college student who designed the site two years ago and you find that she has disappeared. You decide to use another designer but no one can get into your hosting account because it was established in the name of the student who is now MIA. The cherry on the cake is when you find that the domain name, which happens to by your own name (ie. johnsmith.com) was registered by the long-gone designer and you can’t even get access to your own domain!

These scenarios for disasters happen too frequently. To prevent them happening to you follow these 2 tips:

1. Register your own domain name. Domain registration is easy and cheap through many online services. If your domain name is for your business it’s good to keep this asset under your own control.

2. Ask the designer before engaging their services: “Will I have access and all the passwords to get in to my own hosting account?” Double check that it this is in their proposal/contract.

by Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Darien, CT

The letter says, “Your domain name registration is due to expire.”

Your thoughts rush, “Hold on, that can’t happen– I want to keep my website up and running!”

Recently I received a letter in the mail. Its ominous title: Domain Name Expiration Notice. It came from a company called Domain Registry of America. I’ve never used them, never registered a domain with them, but they have been sending out these things for years. If you have registered your domain name with any of the top registration companies — GoDaddy.com, Register.com, or any of the numerous reputable online services — you will never receive this notice. They are Internet businesses and communicate with most frequently via email.

Mailed notices like the one from Domain Registry of America prey upon the un-savvy and the too busy. Unless it is read thoroughly it appears to be a renewal bill. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) got involved in 2003 and required this company to stop using misleading phrases in their notices like “register lock” and “loss of your online identity”. The 2007 notice doesn’t lie, because it is clear you can call them to transfer or renew your domain. If you choose to use them you are transferring your domain from the company it is currently registered!

Why not transfer your domain? The offer I received was roughly 3.5 times the amount I am paying for domain name registration. The letter urges “Act today!”… yet the domain does not come up for yearly renewal until June 14th. It’s not urgent to renew almost a half year in advance and the actual registration company will contact me in plenty of time before expiration.

The best advice: Ignore these types of mailed solicitations.

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

TIP#13 – Reduce SPAM by using a contact form on your website for email contact.

You’ve got a website… part of the design decision was to reduce spam by including a Contact Form rather your email address where every spammer and hacker on the Internet could see it. Despite the form, your SPAM has only grown! It’s time to see why.

Let’s do a self-check of your form.

Open your website online and go to the webpage that contains your email form. Click on VIEW at the top of the screen and select SOURCE (or depending upon your browser “Source Page”) from the drop down menu. Now you’re looking at the code of your website. It all looks like jibberish, eh? This is code behind your website.

Use CTRL + F to search this source information for your email address. This should be the address to which the form sends your email. Did you find it in the source code?

If you can find your email address, so can the unscrupulous spammers and email hackers! They use sophisticated programs that pull your email address our of the source code not just what is seen on the web page.

A good form either hides or scrambles your email address. Design to Spec can help with good form solutions.
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EXTRA!

Top 3 Uses for A Web Form
1. Contact Form – allows email contact from online users.
2. Registration or Intake Form – longer than a basic contact from, some businesses use this form to collect information from their clients. The form is delivered to the website owner by email or to a database.
3. Subscription Form – Constant Contact users are familiar with forms used for newsletter sign ups. This form delivers subscriber information to a database.
What kind of information would you like to collect on your website?

All content copyright ©2005-2008, Vanessa Wood

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

I’m often asked by clients to set up a blog for them. It’s often off-putting for someone when they have to consider writing for their blog and moderating comments. Nothing says “I’m not working my business” louder than to have a blog that hasn’t been updated in months! It’s likely that you won’t be able to keep up with daily blogging, so schedule to write weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. Yes, it takes commitment. Keeping on a schedule and writing in bite-sized pieces will help you stay up to date. Take advantage of blog settings that allow for easier monitoring. Then sit back and enjoy!

All content copyright ©2005-2008, Vanessa Wood

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

Call it anything, but Blog. About a year ago I spent a couple months surveying business associates and clients. It was an informal survey, but I found that no one was actually reading blogs (so, thank you for taking the time to read my tips Blog!). Even clients who wanted to start their own blog confessed they weren’t reading other blogs! They thought of blogs as just personal musings– like a teen diary. To bring non-bloggers from your website to your blog have an enticing link… not a BLOG link. Make the link TODAY’S MENU, CURRENT EVENTS, ON FOCUS, THE BIG NEWS. People who truly are interested in just blogs will find it through the search engines, the blogging service’s directory, and other online directories. People who would otherwise avoid a blog will click through the link.

All content copyright ©2005-2008, Vanessa Wood

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

Web users have become more savvy and are discerning about who they will do business with. If you find your website isn’t pulling in business it may because it doesn’t look like you’re in business!

Get Grounded. Whether you’re selling a product or selling your services, your customers want to know where you do business and that they can find you. You should give a business address on your website. If you have a home-based business and wish to maintain your privacy, rent a mail box. Having an address makes your business part of the community.

Get a Phone. When you have just an email address on your website looks like your business is not fully formed and that it won’t be there through time. Some people still prefer to call rather than email. Get a telephone number. If you don’t want to make your home telephone public on the Internet, have an additional line installed. You are in business and can’t afford to cut corners on having a business telephone.

Get a New Email Address. You bought your domain name for your website; you should be using it for email too. Using a hotmail, yahoo, bigfoot, etc., email account for business says “fly-by-night” to some people.

Get a Line. Slow email responses because of a slow Internet connection makes a business appear unorganized, incapable of handling more clients or orders. If replying to email is put off because the only way to view it is at the library, or because it takes forever to download; it’s time to get cable, DSL, or other high-speed connection.

Get a Box! Please be sure you’re sitting down – I’ve had past clients who know they need a website to be a viable business in today’s marketplace, but don’t use and don’t own a computer! I no longer work with clients who don’t have a computer access because unless they have email they will never reap the full benefit of having a website. A web visitor expects to be able to send an email as the simplest form of interaction with the owner of a website.

Bottom Line: Give web visitors a contact address and telephone, a permanent email address, and invest in the longevity of your business by having a computer and the fastest Internet provider you can afford.

All content copyright ©2005-2008, Vanessa Wood

Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT

When someone says blog … what do you think of? A creeping, green goo that devours a metropolis? Nope, that was the blob. When most of us think of blogs, we think of an online environment where faceless writers expose their inner thoughts over world events or deeply personal issues. That perspective has been a turn-off for the serious business owner.

Blogs aren’t just for kids. With the introduction of free blogging space, web-savvy teens have created many of the personal blogs that come first to mind. However, the ability of users to create and update a blog, even with very little computer skill, makes one ideal for business owners who want to keep their website fresh with current information. Services like wordpress.com have excellent

What’s in a blog? It’s a lot like creating a document in MS Word. There is a space to type your text. Icons at the top of the text box assist in formatting the text so it will look correct online. Each blogging service is a bit different, but they offer a way to import photos or other images and a way to display links to other websites. You can choose to display statistics of how many visitors come to your blog.

Choose address and title wisely. When you set up a free blog you’ll be asked to select a username. It’s time to name your blog! Sometimes the “username” you select will be the address of the blog, so select wisely. A good name for a blog address is a name or phrase you think people would search for online. Forexample: bestcookiesintown, or johndoelifecoach. If possible use the address of your website (without the .com, .biz or other extension).

When you give your blog a title, again look for something that will be searchable online and, unless you’re a national business, ground it by including a location. For example: Best Cookies in Fairfield County, CT, or John Doe Life Coach in Westport, CT.

All content copyright ©2005-2008, Vanessa Wood