Social networking (facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc) have become an important part of having a web presence.  They provide additional outlets to allow people to see your site as well as broadcast messages in mass to people who are interested.  If you have a website it is probably worth setting up a a few of the social networks to link to it.  However, if you don’t commit some time to the sites, it will be a waste of effort and may backfire because people will lose interest.

Get involved in your online social community!  Happy Networking!

A common question, with a not so clear cut answer, is what happens if my domain name expired?  The short answer is, hope it has been 30 days or less.

When a domain is set to expire and the owner doesn’t renew it, it will go into a 30 day holding period during which the owner has the chance to renew it with no penalty.  After 30 days it goes into a redemption period during which the owner can renew it for an addition fee (usually somewhere between $100-200 depend on registrar).  Following those 60 days it then goes into cancellation mode and will eventually be back up for sale to the public somewhere between day 75-90 (again depending on registrar).

If you have reached the 60+ day mark and still want your domain, you have several options.  You can use a drop list registrar, you can place a back order, or you can take your chances and hope nobody else wants it.

A drop list registrar is one who uses extra resources to try and grab valuable domains (or domains people have requested) at the moment they are dropped from the ICANN database for the public to buy.

A back order is a cheaper option (usually around $20) but doesn’t guarantee you are the only one wanting the domain.  It simply gives you the first shot at getting it (along with anyone else who paid the fee).

Waiting and hoping that nobody else wants it and hasn’t put in a drop list request or back order is obviously risky if you have a good domain that you really want to keep, but most likely if that is the case you would have renewed it in the first place.

Web site visitors who use Google Toolbar now have access to a global comment and annotation system called Google Sidewiki.  This toolbar addition allows users to comment on any webpage on any server and have it visible to any visitor.

I am not sure how I feel about this technology.  I think it could be helpful but mostly I think it is another avenue for spammers and posting of non-useful information.  I would like to see it succeed and be a place to write reviews for businesses or helpful visitor information for towns.

As it is right now, I am not sure that it is getting into the hands of the right users.  I don’t know very many “web savvy” people that are fans of the “google toolbar” or any toolbar for that matter and needing to have that installed is something that can work against google sidewiki.

I installed and test drove google sidewiki this afternoon and I have to say I am pretty indifferent.  I may have to delete it just because I really hate the extra toolbar on my browser but other than that I don’t really mind it.  If you are interested in giving it a try download it here and leave me a wiki.  If you find it enjoyable and useful be sure to let google know so that they can continue to support and develop it.

Animated gif’s have a pretty bad wrap in the web design world.  Mostly because when computers started being used by the masses everyone thought that it was very cool to be able to have images move.  Thus everyone who made a webpage wanted at least 15 of these images on their website.  I know most of you remember the days of geocities and angelfire and other poor websites.  Here is a great example, please notice how distracting it is that everything moves.

Although animated gifs have a bad wrap, and now you know why, they can be useful in many circumstances.  For example, they can be used to show more information in a small space; this technique is often seen in advertising.  Ads are a certain size and only so much can fit on it.  However if done tactfully you can use the real estate to show quite a bit of information in an animated gif.  The problem here of course is that if all the ads on the page with yours are also animated then you have yourself a gaudy page.
Another situation where they are useful is if you use them to display several images that fall under the same category.  For example I used one recently on a site to display the craftsmanship of a home building company.  It rotates through images at a slow rate and is hopefully not too distracting as it is the only movement on the page.

The moral here is that not all animated gifs are bad.  But I caution you greatly on wanting them on your website, use them sparingly and in good judgment or don’t use them at all.

Annoyingly Cute

Acceptable if it is the only movement on the page

Can you own multiple domain names for one site? YES! In fact, a lot of people should own multiple domain names. Not only are we talking the .org, .net and .biz versions but multiple spellings as well. For example, one of my clients is One Putnam Centre. Notice that centre is spelled the British/Canadian way. This is fine, however, when you do an radio ad and say visit us at OnePutnamCentre.com most americans will spell center with an “er” instead of an “re” at the end. So a second domain should be purchased with the spelling OnePutnamCenter.com and redirected to the main page of the website.

Owning extra domains is a fairly small yearly charge compared to the amount of traffic it might get you. A cost a think is well worth the price.

Purchase your domains now through godaddy.

Many people approach me and ask if it is a good idea to buy their name or their family name, for example, thejohnsons.com or davejohnson.com.  My reaction is mixed on this subject.  Most of the time I ask if they have any plans for the domain, like a blog or a website.  If they say no then I say there is no reason to buy it.  If they think they might have plans for it in a couple of years then, yes, by all means get it while you can.

There is no reason to buy and hold onto a domain if it is only going to have a page parked here logo on it for the duration of your lifetime. However, if you have plans for a family page in the next couple of years, buy it up.  Most people are surprised by the fact that there is almost always someone out there with the same name as themselves and it is pretty likely that they will want that domain name at some point.

Good reason to buy your family domain:
•    Family Blog to keep everyone up to date
•    Family photo gallery (grandparents love to see the kiddies)
•    Family project (building a house, finishing a basement, remodeling)
•    Pregnancy log

As always be careful what you put on the Internet because it is public for everyone to see and read.  Family information might need password protection or require a certain amount of anonymity to keep everyone safe (but that is a whole other post).

I recently had a conversation with client over uniformity of a site.  If you look at two pages (home and about) from your website side by side and they don’t have any elements in common then you are in trouble.  The basic layout and color scheme of your site should be carried out on all of your pages.  It should give the user the feel of navigating though information without leaving the site.

When you give up that uniformity the users mind starts to wonder if they are even on the same site they started at.  More advanced users check the URL to make sure but if your target audience is 35+ then they may not know to do that.  Keeping things uniform, even if it is a simple as having the same header on each page is important in making your user comfortable.  And keeping your user comfortable is key to selling them on your product or service.

Somewhere along the line people began assuming that selling things online was free.  I am sure that this assumption comes from thinking that they don’t have the overhead of a store or the need to keep a large amount of inventory on hand, etc.  I will be the first to agree that selling online is cheaper than having a brick and mortar store.  However, it is not free!  There are many things to take into consideration when budgeting for an eCommerce website.

1. Web Design – you need a quality design and someone experienced in eCommerce to succeed.
2. Merchant Fees – you will need to accept credit cards to sell online and all accounts charge fees based on a percent of each sell.  Also if you want to do it right you will need a premium account (something better than the low level paypal account) so that the cards can be processed on your site.
3. Shopping Cart Fees – There are lots of quality shopping carts out there that make selling online easier for the store owner.  There are monthly fees involved with these carts.  Expect to pay $30-70 a month for the service.
4. Maintenance – adding products to your store can be a simple process if you paid for it up front with a content management system.  Or if you were looking to save money you may have forgone that option.  If so you will need to pay someone who knows what they are doing to update the products in your store on an ongoing basis.

Selling online doesn’t have to be hard, but go into the process understanding that it isn’t free.  Find a designer/company that is willing to explain all the fees upfront and help you get started for what you can afford.

So you have decided that you want a website.  First, congratulations, I think everyone/business needs a website.  Now that you have decided that you need a site you also need to decide what goes on your web site.  I have a few suggestions for those of you running a business website:

1. Put an address on your site.  If you work from home and don’t want to publish that address for privacy (or to protect your children) then get a PO box or get a UPS store address.  Addresses on webpages provide security to users, especially if you are selling something.  People want to know that they can get in contact with you somehow if they need to
2. Homepage information is your most important information.  This page is very important to search engine rankings.  Make sure you tell about your business, what you do, area that you service, types of products that you sell, etc.  For those of you who like the “splash page” look (an image with no information) I caution you to rethink this.  Search engines don’t like it.
3. Take the extra time to go through all the information that you think people want to know about your business before you start.  The process of creating a website is made much easier if planning is done ahead of time.  Things can always be added or taken away but it is more cost effective to get the main areas covered the first time.
4. Get quotes and portfolios from several designers before you choose one.  When you have several quotes from companies compare what you are getting for the cost.
5. If you are selling a product online.  Don’t skimp on this section of the website.  The more comfortable and easy to use it is the more likely people are to buy from you.   Make sure it is a seamless transition from your site to the payment location.  If you go with a method where they pay on another site, it should look exactly like your site, there should be no discrepancies.  People get scared away if things change.  They suddenly feel like they don’t know who they are giving their money to and don’t know if they can trust them.  If everything flows and is easy to use, people will buy.
6. It takes time to get a good ranking on a search engine.  Be patient.  Just because you have built a website and put in all the right keywords doesn’t mean that you will have top ranking the day it launches or even the month it launches.  Give it 8 weeks or so before you start on further optimization.

Now that you have a few tips.  Start getting your information together and call a few designers to set up meetings.  Write down any questions you have before the meeting and most designers are happy to answer them and walk you through the process of getting your site done.

An important day in history has come.  One of the first “social networking” sites has closed down.  Geocities was a place to create and host a free website and was quite popular throughout the 90’s.  When I think of Geocities, I see bad page backgrounds, sites full of animated gifs, and poor navigation.  However, it brings back fond memories of getting my start in programming and building web pages.  I am sad to see such a large part of the history of the internet shut down.
http://mashable.com/2009/04/23/geocities-shutdown/