Want a Website?

These days, everybody wants to build a website. Not just a good website; a custom website with all the bells and whistles. Thank goodness, you can do it yourself with no coding experience at all. Have the best site on the net, maximized for SEO, all with a couple of keystrokes and well placed text.

Well, if you're any kind of a web person, you can see how these claims are just a bit over the top, no matter how good the authoring tool is.

Lets consider the off the shelf kits. For the most part, these kits make their money with extended hosting packages and email sales. It's been my experience that, not only are these kits inadequate when it comes to authoring, but they leave much to be desired when considering SEO for your website due to a total lack of access to the back end of the sites they produce.

Other, web based authoring tools are clumsy, and again don't allow for back end access in order to tweak for SEO. It's not an ideal situation. In any case, putting a website up takes thought, determination and some idea of architecture in mind prior to the building process.

A good site is aptly planned out on paper before ever hitting the production stage. Recent experience has proven to me that people really have no idea what's involved with making a site work properly; nor do they care. They just want what they want when they want it and  that's it.

If you're after a personalized website without doing any code, the best advice that I can say to you is to purchase a copy of Adobe Dreamweaver and dive in. A manual comes with the software, and for the sake of a reality check, it might be good for you to see what actually goes into web development. For those of you humming and hawing about all of the "free" options available online, go ahead, try them out. Let's see how far that takes you before you hit dirt.

There's a reason why real web development costs money. It's because any decent developer has put the time in to actually know what he/she is doing.

If you're a small business and you need a web presence, I would suggest either Telus or Web.com. either will produce a professionally landscaped website for you for under $125 per month. Balking at the price tag? Maybe you should reconsider your marketing strategy to include web property before you ask Jimmy down the road to do it for you. Remember, you get what you pay for.

How Come You Didn't Tell Me My Domain Expired?

You have no idea how many times in the run of a day I get asked that question. People seem to think that, along with the purchase price for leasing the domain, comes a built in babysitter that will watch your domain and let you know that it is about to hit the market again.

There is, in fact,a service you can purchase with most Registrars that will do just that; let you know when the name will expire well ahead of time. But no babysitter service is going to be able to keep track of your new email address, the "guy" that built your website or any of the other information that is necessary to keep track of your dot coms.

This is why it is so important that you don't ignore those ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) emails when they come to your email address. You should pay strict attention to these messages because they are sent out to help you keep your information with your registrar up to date. This is important because, should you need to have access to your account (maybe to move a domain name to a different registrar) you will be able to do so without wasting time trying to figure out access codes and "whois" information about your account.

Should the worst case scenario happen and you do let your domain name expire, there is still hope that you can recover it within a certain time frame. Beyond the first 30 days of expiration, your domain name will sit in what could be considered domain name "purgatory". While there it simply sits parked, waiting for you to recover it. And of course, as with any type of recovery, there is a cost associated with it.

If you're lucky enough to get in under the thirty day wire you will have to pay for the domain name registry again (usually cheaper for a multiple year renewal) and you will have to pay the parking fee, which can be anywhere from $30 to $60. After the 30 days, your domain name will re-enter the pool at your registrar for regular sale or as a premium name,depending on the name itself.

What are the repercussions of letting your domain name go? Well, first and foremost, if you have a website or email addy attached to your domain name you can kiss them goodbye. Re-establishing your domain name can cost you real money beyond the reinstatement fee. If you don't have the expertise to deal with the back end of your site, then you're going to have to get your developer involved in real time repairs. And just think of the damage losing a branded website and email accounts - you could be cut off from your customer base.

Remember, when you are handing out responsibilities in your workplace and you make someone in charge of your registrar accounts, be sure to keep yourself up to date with passwords and challenge questions to gain access to your profile. Time and time again I hear "oh that person with the passwords is no longer with us" or "my web designer has all that information". Moral of the story is to keep abreast of your registrar account and hosting information; it'll save you a ton of frustration, money and time better spent working on your business.

Educating Clients about SEO

As professionals in the field of digital and web marketing, we are familiar with the lingo that surrounds the world of search engine optimization and digital marketing processes. So it’s easy for us to get wrapped up in what we can do for our clients without actually explaining to them what it is we actually do.

Some would argue that, as long as the client sees results by way of positive metrics, the client doesn’t have to know what we’re doing. In fact, some talk like what we do is subject to scrutiny only by those who are a part of the old boys club that run the campaigns and digital marketing initiatives.

I believe that giving clients knowledge and empowering them to discover things on their own is a very positive thing. Giving clients the information and the knowledge to approach their projects as full partners is empowering. Teaching a customer something new is fabulous.

To the people in my business that approach it as if it were a secret language, I say shame on you. If you are so hard up for clients that you can’t explain what you’re doing in plain English, then you shouldn’t be in the business of helping people.

Mind you, that’s not to say that you have to be a teacher. I have worked with many people who have put their  “hands to God” and said take it away without so much as a boo or hiss about what it is I’m actually doing, besides getting results.

But educating your client can help you too. Too many times I’ve had chats with people who assumed that, because they were paying me, they would be on the top of the Google listings within days of starting their project. To that I say “Whoa Nelly!” and I explain that, although my efforts are absolutely essential to the life of the client’s website, I am not a magic maker.

So what Is the ideal space, the higher ground for SEO specialists to take? I say that our job is to relate, persevere and educate. Client’ s can snub their  noses at our efforts to let them in on the big SEO secret. Maybe, with our help they’ll realize there really isn’t one after all.

What's In A Domain Name?

As a new hire Business Consultant at a well known web development company in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I see it all.

Domain names that are short and sweet, and domain names that stretch way past the logical point of naming conventions into the absurd.

Since the gold rush days of the available dot.com extensions has arguably been over for quite some time, people have taken to calling their domains basically whatever they like. I am the first person to challenge any move to limit choice, but there needs to be some logic injected when making the right one for your company's "web estate".

Generally, short names rule. They're easy to work with, easy to remember and even better if worked into some kind of intelligent or kitchy acronym. It's always a delight to see a domain name that has been intelligently conjured by its' owner; and the owners are generally quite delighted to tell me the story behind their domain name if I show interest. Showing interest is my job.

Getting caught up in the dot com name game is easy enough. Rescuing a website from a rogue domain name isn't. For example, let's say your domain name is "abc.com". The branding methods the site designers use will tell you what "abc" is all about with images and text and all of the nice things that go into branding and marketing a website. The fact that the domain name is only three letters long is a long term bonus and will inevitably work to the benefit of the site when considering search engine optimization.

Now let's consider the domain with "abcdefghijklmnopqrstwxyz.com". Don't think they're out there? Watch carefully and you will see. People are picking dot com for the wrong reason due to a basic misunderstanding of what domain names actually do. Just because your site is a dot com doesn't make it any easier to find; in fact, it may be harder simply due to the irregularity of the name provided. If your site is about soup, call it soup, not "vegetableandcarrotsoupstore".

There has been a plethora of new name extensions released in the last twelve months, and there's sure to be more to come in the very near future. The dream of having a dot com might be over, but the dream of having a dot info, dot dance, dot wiki, dot futbol, dot ink are not.

Extensions come into popularity and take hold in a flash, which is why it's so important to keep abreast of what's happening at your registrar's house. Go there. Become familiar with registrar sights and pay some real attention to your new domain name and what it actually means to your business.

Sometimes when I ask for their domain names, people hesitate - even they have a hard time with the long naming convention. Generally, your registrar is there to help. Ask them what they think of your name before you marry it because as we all know, divorce sure can get messy.

SOME REGISTRARS FOR YOU TO BOOKMARK:

networksolutions.com
register.com
godaddy.com
sibername.com

My Last Post

Halifax, NS, 17/07/16 - It's been nearly six months since my last post, thus breaking Google's cardinal rule, keep the copy fresh!

Myself and Scream Media have gone through somewhat of a metamorphosis over the last six months with a change in location from Toronto to Halifax and a new consulting position in Halifax's downtown core. I am from Halifax so returning here wasn't that taxing, but getting use to the speed that everyone operates on is.

My consulting career with my new client has gotten off to a good start, but I still feel that, deep down in my soul, that I am suppose to be doing something different, more creative. That seems to be the pitch though, everyone is looking for the perfect spot to be in, but few can find them due to a poor economy or lack of training opportunities.

I'm not sure how long my tenure will last with my current client, but I have already learned so much in such a very short period of time I feel like my brain is going to pop open and be nude for all to see. That my friend would be scary.

If you've been visiting my blog looking for something new, I apologize. There really is no excuse except that life kind of took over the driver's seat for a while and made me unavailable. But I'm back on the road again and will continue to persevere.

The people in Halifax are great. The city is great. And I'm closer to my family now than I have ever been, which is something that I value a lot. I hope that the man upstairs sees me and my efforts and looks favorably down on me and you. Here's to the next six months and a whole hell of a lot of posts, content and interaction with you.

Sincerely,

Darren.

When Does Your Small Business Need To Think About Apps?

Feb 04/16, Toronto, ON - In 2014, Canadian smartphone penetration was 55 per cent. In 2015, that number increased to 68 per cent. In fact, it is estimated that approximately 3 million Canadians purchased their first smartphone in the last half of 2014.

With that in mind it’s important to know that mobile investment doesn't come cheap. When your small business is deciding whether to invest in purchasing, customizing, or developing a mobile app, your current business approach, your call-to-actions, your competitors, and your team's mobility are all part of the criteria.

Customers who are on the go seem more likely to engage with brands if they are localized. For example, if you operate an IT consultancy that serves a local community, you are more likely to get more leads from the people in that region if you have a mobile strategy.

Good customer support is crucial to keep getting new referrals, and mobile apps are an excellent channel for delivering support instantly. It is also a great way to scale your customer support by introducing new channels of communication and delivery directly from the app.

If you want to learn how customers are using your products and services and what they like and don’t like about them, a mobile app can be a simple method for collecting this sort of data. Also, you can learn more about your customers with a well-designed app. Everything from their geographic location, job roles, age, spending limits, and on to infinity. This data could be useful when you're tailoring communications and potential offers to them.

The cost of producing a mobile app can vary widely, but generally, you get what you pay for. For example, there's a significant difference between engaging a freelancer, offshore development team, or an agency. Similarly, having an app that requires a back-end server built or APIs integrated versus one that is completely standalone can differ drastically. Some apps are produced for as little as ten-thousand dollars. Others, over the life of the app can go as high as $750-thousand and beyond. The price almost entirely depends on the goal or outcome desired for that app and the support services that are necessary for the app to run properly and deliver the data it was built to gather or vend.

In any case, the moral of the story is to be prepared. Once again, app development is costly and not necessarily something that your small business must have immediately. But somewhere in the plan your company will have to address the cost need ratio for your small business and get out there into the “wild west” of digital marketing and make “one giant step” for your business by planning to invest in an app for your business that will deliver the performance driven data that your company will need to remain competitive.