Ozdachs

About Ozdachs

San Francisco Internet Marketer and web designer gets you on the Internet in a cost-effective, responsible way.

Letting Users Update their Website

People who don’t know technical terms or pay attention to trends in web design are asking if I can use WordPress for their site. Maybe they don’t even remember the name “WordPress” or want that specific software tool for creating web pages, but they ask if I can design a site that lets them make changes to their site whenever they want.

Sure, I can. I am happy to adapt to any tool a client wants to use. In fact, I am helping one client who came to me having started her website using GoDaddy’s Website Tonight,(and I think GoDaddy is the lowest of the low).

But, using WordPress or another system generally means that complete customization control is much more time consuming: you need to settle for 90% customization or pay 900%. Plus, the process of creating and updating the pages is slower (and therefore more expensive) because we have to find and figure out the widgets and often design work arounds to get the effects we want.

Overall, I question the value of most of these tools for most of the websites I do.

Even the web development tools that are specifically designed for non-technical business owner stump most non-techy people. They are just not simple enough… yet.
- Today I just spent 2+ hours helping a friend figure out how to create three new blog entries on her WordPress site. They were each about one paragraph long, but one included a picture, one included an embedded YouTube video, and one included her own video clip.
- The site I mentioned that was created in GoDaddy’s Website Tonight tool was, in fact, also created by GoDaddy professional designers using a stock template. My client didn’t do it herself — she didn’t have the time to figure out how to use the GoDaddy widgets. My first task for her was to remove one link on the navigation bar widget. Not difficult, but the procedure was not obvious to her and she didn’t want to spend the time on web work that was not her job’s main focus.
Over half clients I set up to use Adobe’s Contribute or other tools to make changes to their website on their own have given up. They now email me with their new photos or text.
Putting the content on the web page isn’t the issue for any of my clients. Creating interesting, unique information is their challenge. I spend a fair amount of time brainstorming with clients about what should go on their site. Then when we identify good material my clients are just so busy dealing with the operational side of their business, most don’t have time to write up their achievements to share online — they ask me to write their content. They certainly don’t have time to figure out how to publish their news themselves.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want clients to have to come back to me for their web changes. I believe clients should have all the usernames and passwords for their sites. They should be empowered to make their own changes or to take their needs to another web designer.

But, WordPress? Or, another, more arcane content management system? Only after you’ve convinced me that you’re really have updates that you’re comfortable making yourself!

By Ozdachs|2012-09-08T15:33:43-07:00September 8th, 2012|Web Design, Wordpress|0 Comments

Click to see Ozdachs on Yelp

The social media business review website Yelp reported that its revenue grew by 67% last quarter as it aggressively pushes its advertising and co-branding strategies.

Many of my clients are getting emails and phone calls from Yelp suggesting that they jump on board the Yelp advertising bandwagon. The come-ons suggest both straight-forward advertising campaigns and they suggest that the businesses offer special Yelp deals for customers that check-in at the business using a mobile device.

“Should I advertise with Yelp?” is a frequent question I get asked.

It depends. On one hand:

Yelp is read by a lot of people searching for restaurants and services.
One of my professional services clients gets at least a phone call a week from a prospective client who says that they found them on Yelp.

On the other hand:

Yelp is expensive. Its monthly packages run from $300 to $1000 or more.
Advertising on Yelp drives people to your page on Yelp and not directly to your website. Your Yelp page will include negative reviews of your business, and they may be prominently displayed, depending upon Yelp’s mysterious algorithms. Being a Yelp advertiser gives you no additional ability to focus clients on your positive reviews or to respond to or remove untrue negative comments. So you could wind up paying for ads that drive potential customers to the worst comments of your worst clients. (Every business will, sooner or later, get a scathing review. This is true whether you deserve it or not.)

Here’s what I tell my clients wondering about advertising on Yelp

Since Yelp ads drive people to your business’ Yelp page, it makes sense to advertise only if you already have a good number of positive reviews. There is no point in sending people to your Yelp page if there are no glowing reports of what you do.

Moreover, most of my clients offer professional services which do not lead to social media tie ins. So, I recommend that my clients buy the traditional Yelp ads and steer clear of the Yelp deals and other specials that are designed to grab attention in smart phone apps. I struggle to think of what a CPA firm can offer to snag impulse buyers looking at their phones as they walk by the firm’s office. Similarly, I cannot suggest a special that a criminal defense attorney can offer someone who checks in at their office on a iPhone.

Yes, Yelp is a good, aggressive business. If your customers love you and have already Yelped their happiness, drawing attention to your happy clients will attract new ones.

Should you advertise with Yelp? Look at your current Yelp page. What’s there will tell you if a Yelp advertising campaign makes sense.

By Ozdachs|2012-08-14T12:19:15-07:00August 14th, 2012|Yelp|0 Comments

Groupon Gives a Full Refund When they Sponsor a Bad Deal

When I look at a Groupon deal I assume that the deal-making company has been vetted by Groupon. I expect that Groupon has made sure that the company is real and is sufficiently big to handle the traffic that the deal will bring them.

As a consumer I took comfort in believing that Groupon knew its deal makers were quality companies. After all, Groupon was standing in front of a company, and their reputation was at stake.

I have bought 10’s of Groupons and have had no problems. I felt that any Groupon I bought would lead me to a quality company whose products and service I could safely sample at a reduced cost.

I have learned better. Buyer beware!

Bin32 is a Napa wine seller who offered a Groupon for $198 of wine for only $54. Great!

Except that in February when I went online, selected my wines, and went to check-out, the Groupon did not cover the full amount of the charge. In addition to shipping, which was an acceptable extra, in my opinion, there $4.54 was not covered. I gave the site my credit card to get the order placed, and decided to complain to Groupon separately. Groupon emailed me back after a day or so that Bin 32 reported that they charged the extra amount for ” … for all taxes and processing fees.” Of course, $4.54 is not a tax amount or anything that maths out. It was just Bin 32 trying to get more money. After I complained again, Groupon gave me a $10 credit for my inconvenience. I was more than made whole, so I was happy.

Except the wine never arrived. After about a month I checked the Bin 32 site and saw that my order status was “Processing”. I sent Bin 32 email inquiries (I could not find a phone number on their web site) in March and then again in April. Nothing.

When I checked a couple days ago — we’re now in May — my order on the Bin 32 site was listed as “Complete” and there was a note that the order had shipped by UPS. Except, of course, I hadn’t received any wine.

I contacted Groupon yesterday, and today I received a full credit for what I paid Groupon. I am still out about $13 that was charged to my AMX, but after the earlier $10 Groupon credit, I am only really in the hole for $3 and change.

$3 is a pretty cheap cost for a consumer education. Here’s what I’ve learned:

First the positive. Groupon has been responsive and wonderful.
But, Groupon doesn’t do a flawless job of researching its dealers. Bin 32 has 78 ratings on Yelp. All of them are 1-star. Some of the Yelpers complain that in addition to not delivering the goods, BIN32 kept charging their debit and credit cards for orders not placed.

Yelp’s deals include links to the business’ ratings page on their site. That’s handy. In the future, I am going to be more careful when buying a Groupon and do some research before clicking “Buy”.

By Ozdachs|2012-05-17T09:28:27-07:00May 16th, 2012|Groupon|2 Comments

How Using Templates for Websites Can Save You Real Money

Okay, okay! I know that most business people hire web designers based on how the designer’s other sites look, on friends’ recommendations, on price, on schedule, and on phase of the moon. Nowhere on the list of standard qualifications is a designer’s adherence to standards and their ability to make a site easy to maintain.

I sense that starting a crusade for standards and maintainability in web designer selection would be losing battle. First, it’s hard to care about what you cannot see. And, more importantly, clients of web designers generally don’t have a way to know if a site is well done or not.

File listing in Dreamweaver shows templates as .dwt

dwt Template Files in a Dreamweaver Site

Still let me give you one question to ask your designer. Ask them if they will use templates to create your site.

Why do you care if the designer uses templates? Because templates will save you a lot of money later on when you change your site.

Templates specify common text and structures. Things like the banner on the top of your page, the footer on the bottom with the copyright information, the navigation menu, and the width, color, and fonts of the columns on the page.

When designer starts a website with a template, they design, write, and arrange the common elements one time. The template also specifies what part of the layout and information will change on each individual page.

The designer creates pages from the template by updating the changeable area with what makes that page unique. They change the common area of all pages by editing the template.

I recently started to do Search Engine Optimization work on a great looking site with 15 pages. To attract Google I needed to add tags to the navigation bars that all pages shared. I also wanted to update the footer, and add information to the page banner that appears throughout the site. If the site had used templates, I would have only had to edit these areas one time. It would have taken 15 minutes to edit the template, and then I would have updated the common area on all pages with one SAVE.

But, this site — and most of the web sites I have been asked to work on — didn’t use templates. The designer created the site’s first page with all the look and navigation. Then the designer repeatedly COPIED that first page to new files where the designer edited the information for all the other pages. To change the common areas on this non-template site, I had to edit 15 different pages. The changes took a lot more time (and client money) than they would have if there had been been a template.

As a business owner, maybe you don’t care or even want to how your original designer create your site. You don’t care, that is, until you want to update the site! Insist that your site is designed using templates so that your able to change your site without a lot of developer time and your money.

By Ozdachs|2012-04-09T11:43:14-07:00April 9th, 2012|Web Design|1 Comment

What “Non-Professional” Photographs Can Do For Your Site

You don’t need professional formal photographs on your website. You know the type of picture I’m talking about: the perfectly focused, perfectly lit staged shots that show off the military crease in the pants a model is wearing or depict a manicured office waiting for clients.

That type of professional picture has its place, and a couple of my clients use professional-photographer-created images very effectively. But, clients on a budget that doesn’t include a photo session don’t need to worry that their site is going to suffer.

Photographs on your web pages should be engaging and tell a story. That doesn’t mean that they have to be picture perfect. Use the tricks of professional marketers and emphasize pretty women, cute kids, and adorable puppies if you want to amp up the effectiveness of your informal photos.

One of Sequel's People

For example, I love this picture taken of one our dog Sequel’s fans at this year at the Cow Palace show. The focus isn’t sharp and there’s too much going on the background. But, I’d use it in a heartbeat to help tell the story of the crowd-pleasing day at a dog show. (See more pics in Sequel’s People gallery online.)

San Francisco pro photographer, John Ater, has a two-sided business card. One side displays a studio shot he spent all day perfecting for a major retailer’s billboard campaign. The other side is an iPhone picture of people on a bus. The home page of his website displays an informal shot of kids on the street. His point is that many types of photographs can be compelling and technical perfection is rarely required.

Mark Rogers is a professional photographer who specializes in non-posed shots. His forte is pets, but he shoots for businesses and even weddings. It’s just that when Mark hires on as the wedding photographer, he’s clear that his love is for informal action shots and there are only so many staged “mother-in-law of the bride” wedding party photos he can handle. He does great work capturing the personality of his subjects and feel of an event.

And, a feel for your business is exactly what you want to show on your web pages.

The best professional photographers — the ones whose work I like best — tell a visual story. Their equipment, experience, and artistic skill give them an advantage, but the magic is in capturing of the moment, the composition of the scene.

So, take out your point-and-shoot camera or phone, and see what you can do for your website. Perhaps pictures you already have can work for your business! (My favorite client photographer is estate planning attorney Julia Wald. Every month she uses her vacation or around town shots for her newsletter. Check out how she tied the idea of leaving a legacy through estate planning to her trip to Egypt and the legacy of the pyramids — lots of her clients write in with praise!)

Sure, if you’re busy or don’t have a feel for appropriate shots, you can engage a professional photographer or even your webmaster to take some pictures for you. But, you need to explain to them the story you want to tell. Talk about out what views, places, or events will tell your business’ story. Experiment. Have fun. And, let me know what happens!

By Ozdachs|2012-04-24T07:23:38-07:00March 25th, 2012|Tips and Resources|0 Comments

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