I’ve been mulling this over for a while and after a meeting yesterday with a client I figured that I’d write about this topic. I’ve been building and operating websites since 1996. I’ve seen just about everything from shoddy code, bad implementations, oversold capabilities and more. I’ve also seen a lot of great work from my peers.

But, there is one thing out there that I really feel is unethical and that is when web designers subscribe their clients to services and don’t give the clients access to them. Another thing I loathe is when a web design firm does domain registration for a client and “takes care of it” for them - more on that in a minute.

I’m seeing more and more situations where someone will sign up for some kind of a Google account - like Analytics - and not give the client access. Note to those out there - make sure you do this yourself and give the web designer the code and/or access to the account. Even better, in cases where an employee who is managing your site may leave - have them sign up under a generic account and get the username/password.

The other one that really gets me is this domain thing. I have see clients held hostage because when they decide they want to leave a web design firm for another - the former will hold their domain hostage as leverage. Note to self - always buy your own domain names. If a web firm buys a domain on your behalf - there’s a very good chance that you don’t really own it. And, that can be bad if the relationship sours - especially if it’s yourcompanyname.com.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of those things that every website must pay attention to. However, it’s one of those tactics that requires time before the return manifests itself. You need a degree these days to completely understand the ins and outs of how to organically “manipulate” search engines like Google and others in order to impact your natural rankings. With other options at your disposal, it’s just no longer feasible to do so. So, what I recommend to my clients is that you put good SEO practices in place and move on, because it will pay off in the long run.

Here’s a great article at MarketingProfs.com that discusses the basics: Three SEO Issues New Web Sites Face (and Five Solutions). The thing I really like is that it’s geared to someone putting up a new site.

It’s an unfortunate fact: No matter how good your search engine optimization company or in-house talent is, brand new Web sites have a more difficult time achieving search engine success for competitive phrases than their older counterparts, particularly on Google.

However, the worst thing that a new site owner can possibly do is presume that they are “too late to the game” and decide not to pursue this marketing channel at all. A good search engine optimization company should be able to effectively work with a new Web site; setting the foundation for a remarkable success story while still achieving steadily increasing short-term benefit.

Check it out.

By now most businesses and people have websites. The thing that you should be most concerned with is how your site is working for you.

If you’ve wondered if you should redesign your site, the first thing you need to ask yourself is when was the last time you had an inquiry or an order from your site? If it’s been more than a week or two, you’ve got a problem.

The second thing you should consider is if you’ve had any emails or phone calls that went something like this – “I was looking for something on your site and couldn’t find it, so I decided to call.” That’s not a good sign either.

Third, you need to look into how much traffic you’re receiving. Hopefully your hosting service has a website log analyzer like WebTrends, AwStats, Webalizer, Analog or any other software that does the trick. Review it every two weeks to get an understanding of how people are using your site. The key metric that you need to look for is “unique visits”. Don’t waste your time counting “hits” – they’re extremely misleading and don’t give you an accurate picture.

Fourth, ask a colleague who doesn’t work for you or your company to perform some simple tasks on your site. For example, give them 30 seconds to find a data sheet on a particular product. Or ask them to find the email address to your customer support person or team. You may be surprised with the results and even more surprised with the ideas that you get for improving your site.

In summary, these issues will help you understand whether or not your website is contributing to your business. For more details on this, check out our previous article on “Why Should I Have a Website” or give us a call to discuss your situation.

I was reading a post at one of my favorite message boards this morning and ran across a great article on one of my web pet peeves - drop-down menus. Here’s a link to a study performed at Wichita Stats University on the issue: Cascading versus Indexed Menu Design. Here’s the post that I read: Mouseover Menus - or DHTML indigestion. In both cases, superior website design and navigation wins out over fancy coding techniques.

Are you complying with the new CAN-SPAM law. Here is a primer on the essence of what the law is about and how it applies to you: MarketingSherpa.com : Practical News & Case Studies on Internet Advertising, Marketing & PR.

The basics of the law (I am not a lawyer) is that you must be honest about who you are (senders address & server info), what the message is about (truthful subject line), properly labeled (list an unsubscribe link & physical address), and maintain a file of those who have opted out.

Here is an interesting white paper on how Macromedia overcame a miserable website: Macromedia.com: A Redesign Done Right.

Redesigns and makeovers are always a tough process. In situations where I have had data and extra-company feedback to work with, the end result has been stellar. It is so important for you to understand your user and their needs. Unfortunately, too many companies go the opposite direction and build their websites from the perspective of how they want their user to interact with them.