Learn Internet Marketing Strategies For Your Business

I’ve been meeting with business networking groups lately, talking with local business owners and service professionals about their internet marketing strategies (or lack thereof).

A common frustration they tell me is they don’t have a handle on their website in part because they have a difficult time getting in touch with their webmaster, and have no idea how to update their sites on their own. Does this sound familiar to you?

In today’s lesson, let me share with you some vital steps you must take in order to avoid being held hostage by a webmaster.

Before I do that, though, let me tell you that the reason I feel so strongly about this is because I used to be one of those webmasters that held people hostage, although it certainly wasn’t on purpose. It was because while I was trying to build a web design company, I was teaching full time and took on a lot more responsibilities than I should have. So when customers needed my help, my schedule simply wasn’t available to serve their needs.

It got so bad that even my own parents fired me from doing their bed and breakfast website!

Actually, I was glad they did, because it helped me to see that doing “time for dollars” web master services was not where my business would grow. So I no longer do websites for other people.

I tell you this (somewhat embarrassing) story because it seems that most of today’s businesses get their first websites from people like I used to be – “on the side” webmasters who aren’t running their company like a business. And typically this is what happens:

• You need to save money so you hire a friend or a friend of a friend who’s doing it on the side.
• Since you aren’t paying them a lot of money, they buy a cheap domain and cheap hosting from some no name outfit on your behalf. A year or two later, these companies go belly up or are unreachable for transfers.
• They make some webpages for you, perhaps from a canned template, and upload the pages. They store backups on their own computer, which you have no access to.
• They tell you that all edits have to come through them, and cost $X/hour for revisions.
• The most interactive element on these sites is typically a contact form to an info@yourdomain.com address.
• When you do ask them and pay for changes, it often takes up to a week for them to get around to it, even though your revisions are as simple as a change of an event date, or an obvious misspelling.

Here are four ways you can avoid being held hostage by a webmaster.

First, make sure you have the keys to your website. You have to be in complete control of your website, even if you hire someone to do the design and upkeep.

This means you have to be the one that registers the domain name and establishes a hosting account.

Why?

Because that way you can fire your webmaster and hire somebody different without the pain and frustration of trying to pry your website files, usernames and passwords out of the fingers of the person you just fired. Transferring a website is not overly difficult, but there are typically downtimes and room for errors that you shouldn’t have to deal with.

I suggest that you register your domain name at my service, which is a private label of GoDaddy. But you should host your website somewhere else for cost/security/peace-of-mind reasons we don’t need to get into here.

I recommend Kiosk hosting for script-intensive websites, and Hostgator for basic blog and brochure type sites or mini-sites (be sure to snag their coupon code on the homepage). The simplest plan of either service is fine to start with, and scale up as your needs grow. If you need visual help in doing this step, check out my free First Website Tutorial site.

Second, you should get an understanding of the basics of website management. This means learning how to upload files, how to go in and make simple changes, and how to set up certain features of a website (like 404 error pages, email accounts, or simple file & folder name redirects).

You can learn how to do this in a couple hours from the videos Chris Morris and I made at DiscovercPanel.com for less money than 1 hour of your webmaster’s design and update time. You’ll be amazed at how simple these website management skills are, and how much you will likely be overcharged for them by a webmaster!

Third, you should make your first website a blog. Even if you don’t plan on doing any real ongoing updates, using the WordPress platform for your website makesit even easier to update the way your website looks without going to Geek School.

Personally, I prefer to use the blogging service Blogi360 to run my blog (think WordPress on steroids) because of it’s publishing power for extra traffic, tech support team already in place, and they fiddle with all the plugins and theme installs so I don’t have to. Whether you use basic WordPress or Blogi360, though, if you can use yourmouse and keyboard, you can update your website pretty easily. (See the free audio training at UnstoppableBlogging.com for strategies in this area).

Fourth, if you do hire a webmaster and/or designer, don’t hire someone solely based on cost. Check out their portfolio, communicate with their references, and be very specific about what your needs are and your timeline for completion. Remember, the phrase “You get what you pay for” is typically true when it comes to webmasters, although it’s also easy for you to be overcharged if you don’t have a clue about what you’re asking about.

Ultimately, you should spend your time doing what you do best – that’s where the real money is made in any business. But by knowing a few of the basics of website management, you can avoid being held hostage and feel confident that your website will be working for you and not against you.

Bob Jenkins

p.s. Got a website horror story you’d like to share? Tell us about it – unless of course you own the Wayside Inn :)