I wish I had spoken to them before I decided to hire them because I could inform them to strengthen their relationship with me and point them in the right direction from the start. Some potential customers come to me after having a bad experience with a web designer. I've really heard all the horror stories you hear about money being washed down the drain, websites not being serviced, domain names being held hostage when the relationship turns south, etc.

Although it is perfectly understandable and much easier to simply leave the technical matters to the designer, domain names are valuable brand assets. It is very easy to register your own domain and to afford the least effort, but you do not want anyone else to have control over your domain name. Make sure you register the domain with a perpetual email account that you will always check, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If you need to renew your domain name, buy it as soon as possible; you want to be sure that it will receive an extension notification and will be notified when your credit card expires.

In one case, it cost a former customer more than $5,000 to buy back his domain name from a poacher, and he was warned not to - so - gently. Don't behave in such a way that so many people return after their domain registration expires because they haven't received the email or haven't been paying attention.

Ask yourself how you will make changes to your website before it starts and ask yourself, "How will I make a change to the website after it starts? This means that you want a CMS (WordPress, Wix, etc.). This will power your web pages so you can make simple changes from site to site And ideally, you will receive training on how to do this.

The answer is that you need to contact the web gal or guy who will update the site for you. It is perfectly fine to make website updates for a few busy customers, but not for everyone.

In short, let a professional website person work for you, or  you can simply hand over the keys to your website to a cheaper service provider if you want, but not recommended. Maintenance fees are not cheap, so make sure your web designer has the training and resources to do what they can to satisfy your needs.

This is not impossible, but keep in mind once the invoice is paid and the website is completed, it will no longer be in your hands.

The best way to do this is to build your site on a platform used by a large community, so it's easy for a web professional or virtual assistant to come on board and help you. This means that the tools you use are industry standard and you don't have to unravel from the web designer who sets up the site without making the necessary changes during business development. Make sure that you want to have full ownership and access to the site files when the project is complete. I know that not everyone runs web design companies like me, but just remember to hold the keys to your website and domain name no matter what.

Your needs for your website will differ, and the needs of each website will differ in terms of content, design, user experience and other aspects of the website.

As a web professional, it is my responsibility to understand more than one of the available options and decide which platform is best suited to my customers needs and whether or not I may recommend the right one. Sometimes that's Shopify, Expression Engine or Squarespace, but A professional designer who has your interests in mind can save you time and money by connecting you to the best platform for your needs, not the one they just happen to be selling. If your designer understands only Wix and only Concrete5 (and I work mainly with WordPress) and you have the idea, make sure you do your due diligence by making sure it is the "right" platform before you blindly trust it.

While it is very easy to find a web designer who can design a website for a few hundred dollars, you should know that it takes a lot of time and skill to create a strategic website that meets your business goals. Just because you don't pay in dollars doesn't mean you don't pay differently, and an effective website is never just a matter of time. Even if you are on an extremely tight budget and are just starting out, it is important to understand that you cannot expect a low budget website to get you up and running quickly and do wonders for your business. Understand when to expect and understand your judgment when choosing a free or cheap website solution. You know that there is no such thing as a "low budget" website, even though there are low budget websites that "get you up and running quickly," but understand the difference between a good website and a great website.

A website that attracts customers and closes sales is something you do, not something you have. If you expect your website to have a nice digital business card so people can find your phone number, that's fine, but if it does next to nothing, then it doesn't. Competition for attention is just too fierce these days, and a website that attracts customers and sells is not only something to do, but something to do.
If you want to use it for marketing, it will take a hell of a lot more effort, and if you don't use the strategies and tools that allow you to scale, then you need a redesign. If you have to, behave like a low-budget website, but if not, you will need makeovers.

Designers are not magicians and they cannot solve your business problems without your input, so cheap website plans are a false economy.

Taking the time to answer your company's big questions before you consider hiring a web designer will help you achieve the best results. Take time for reflection, planning and careful consideration and you can create a beautiful website that will satisfy you. Your customers will create the most positive impression of you and your company, not the other way around.

Most professional web designers will guide you through the process of answering all the questions you need to grow your business online. What business problems do you want to solve with your website and who are your ideal customers?

How can I reach you from the page I started and what business problem do you want to solve on my website?

How do you position yourself in the market today and what is your unique value proposition, whether online, in print, in social media or in other media?

How can I reach you from the page I started and who I want to be there for? And how can you reach me on your website?

What is the most important action a visitor should take when visiting your website and what are your mission, vision and values for your brand?

If these questions take more than a minute to answer, the more effort you put into thinking things through and being clear about your business plan and goals, and the better you get a return on your investment in web design, the more likely you are to get them. If the designer you want to hire doesn't ask you these questions, you won't buy a solution that's tailored to your unique goals. They'll do the technical setup and not much else.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you can hand over your money to a web designer and sit back and wait for a nice, effective result. The best websites are created when you get involved in the process, not the other way around.

Apparently, if you asked a handful of so-called internet guru's what Web 2.0 means, you'll no doubt get many different types of answers. Well, some might say Web 2.0 is some sort of ideals and enhanced practices that might help Web users have a better experience. Then some will say it is a new technology which helps users find information better and improves networking. A handful of news media people claims the term possibly means nothing. Claiming it is just some marketing hype used by social networking and backlinking sites.

If we do a little bit of research, it seems the term Web 2.0 stemmed around 2004 by a publishing firm and some production company. From looking around on the internet, it would seem these two companies planned a conference to address the current state of the web and its future. Just prior to 2004 there was some sort of dot-com crash in 2000 I have found and these companies wanted to say the Web would still become a great way to make lots of money.

From my understanding around this time, a brand new phrase of Web 2.0 came to life describing the new Web that birthed after the 2000 dot-com crash. So it would seem a good handful of internet business's tanked and filed for bankruptcy and only a few survived. After this time newly renovated websites started showing up daily on the world wide web and many companies changed their business approach and marketing techniques.

Still to this day, there is apparently no clear mention of what Web 2.0 really means. If we really want to say there is such a thing, was there a Web 1.0 or a Web 1.0.1 and will there be a Web 3.0 and so on? Really makes you wonder if this is all just some major marketing hype or just a philosophy.

In any case, my thoughts are ever since the dot-com crash I have noticed the World Wide World and web pages are a lot better. I also like the fact how Social Media and Social Networking has found its way into today's websites. People are actually interacting with websites more today than in the past. There may be something to this Web 2.0, maybe in the future, there will be more clarification to what it truly is or has become.

Today I would like to talk about blog ping services. There seems to be a good hand full of blog ping services on the web, but a lot of them are pretty confusing and some I wonder if they really even work at all.

When you write a new blog post it is a good practice to submit your blog to one of these ping services to attract readers and blog subscribers. If you write good material people will subscribe to your blog feed and check out what's new.
Thousands of companies blog all the time and there are personal bloggers that write about certain topics. So, the web is filled with blogs.

Blogs are good for just about anything really, such as letting your customers know about a new product or service or maybe a change in the direction of a company. It is a good practice to create content all the time if you have a business.
Search engines love new original content, adding new content can also be very beneficial in increasing the ranking position of your website as well.

So back to blog pinging services, it would be a good idea to find a few blog ping services to submit your content. Here are a few I normally use when submitting new content.

1. Ping-o-Matic! http://pingomatic.com
Ping-O-Matic is a service to update different search engines that your blog has updated.

2. Feed Shark http://feedshark.brainbliss.com
Feed Shark is a free online tool that easily promotes your blog or website.

Always make sure to write good content to keep readers coming back.

I hope this information will be useful to you.

Contact me if you have any questions

Wayne Willems
501-249-3103

Things you might avoid when creating your very first website

1. Don't ever use free hosting, it is not reliable at all and most free hosting websites like to place big ads right in front of your website. These ads will immediately send your visitors away.

2. Never use flash elements on your website. I know they look neat, but most updated web browsers either don't show flash or they show it incorrectly and flash can distract your website visitors from paying attention to your message.

3. Avoid using "blackhat" tactics such as keyword spamming or hiding text with in your web pages. This will get your website banned from the internet quickly.

4. Try to never use crazy looking colors or a bunch of different colors when designing your website. This to is very distracting to web visitors and most will not take your website serious at all.

5. When constructing your website design try to always make it look simple and easy to navigate around. Creating a wild website that is hard to navigate around will confuse your visitors and they will leave.

These are just a few tips about what to avoid when designing a website for your business or personal venture. It is always best to research the internet to find key information to help you create a working model website for visitors to enjoy. Most people are always using the web to search for content, media or the next cool thing.

What ever you do, keep this term in mind when making your website "KISS" keep it simple stupid. I know it sound mean and this is not directed at anyone, it is just a concept that has been used by musicians, scientists, teachers, web designers and thousands of other successful people in the world. But, of course there is a famous rock n roll band called KISS and they are great.. Simple songs too!

I do hope this is somewhat helpful to you. There is much more to cover and I will be posting information in the future.

Contact me anytime.. Wayne Willems 501-249-3103