what your web developer never tells you

What Your

Website Developer Never Tells You

Phone: (717) 291-4689 www.ezsolution.com

Phone: (717) 291-4689 www.ezsolution.com

Website Problems and Gripes

The 6 biggest problems that businesses have with their website companies:

• They don’t return my phone calls

• They don’t make changes to my site in a timely manner

• They are no longer in business

• They never finished my site

• They could not make my site function correctly

• My site looks bad

Most of these problems stem from a lack of knowledge and experience on the part of many self-proclaimed web designers. The fact is there are NO standards, licenses, tests or diplomas required to become a web designer. In addition many web designers are not business owners. They are part-time, one-person shops, that often cannot provide the consistent customer service that many businesses require.

What Your Website Developer Never Tells You

Website Problems and Gripes 1

The Cost of an Unprofessional Website 2

Education - Knowledge and Experience 2

How To Match The Right Website Provider With Your Business 3

6 Ways Companies Effectively Use Their Website 5

5 Keys to a Profitable Website 6

Website Design Mistakes & How to Avoid Them 7

8 Creative Ways to Add Real Content to Your Site. 9

How to Increase Website Sales 11

Who Owns Your Web Address and How to Select It? 13

In this report...

21 Questions That You Should Ask Before Hiring a Web Developer 16

Here’s what you’ll learn… In the next 16 pages you will learn…

• How to avoid problems with your web developer

• What your website says about your company

• How to choose a web developer with the right balance of

education and experience

• Innovative ways to use your website as a tool to grow

your business

• The essential elements all good websites have in common

• How to ensure your website isn't driving customers away

• How to use your customers to help you sell your products

• What your web pages MUST contain if you want visitors to

become customers

• How to avoid problems when selecting and buying your

domain name

• The questions you need to ask BEFORE you hire a web devel-

oper

Suggestion: Check out The 21 Questions you should ask before hiring a website company (see page 16) to help you evaluate the experience, skills, responsiveness and customer service skills of potential website providers.

The Cost of an Unprofessional Website

Your website may be the first impression that a prospect has about your business. What type of impression would you like to make? Does your website give your internet visitor the WOW Factor? “WOW, I should call, email or do business with this company."

If your website …

Looks like a Junior High School student project

Lacks a Marketing Message

Lacks Content

Has Typos

Doesn’t Function

...Then chances are you are not projecting the WOW Factor to your potential customers and it's costing you money in lost sales, lost opportunities, lack of trust and more! There's no way to calculate that cost, but asking yourself what your average customer is worth to your business is a good start! Just how many average customers are you turning away every day that you let your unprofessional website speak for your company?

Education - Knowledge and Experience

Most website designers/developers don’t have formal training. Many are self taught. Now, some people benefit from teaching themselves valuable skills. They learn to problem solve and gain valuable experience that they would never learn in a classroom. Sometimes, though, self-taught individuals will lack important knowledge to complete your project. Unfortunately, it’s hard to know before you hire them if they have the knowledge and ability to correctly develop your website without wasting a lot of time and money.

Types of training available

A web designer needs strong graphic design skills in order to design professional websites. So where do web designers acquire these skills?

Graphic Art Schools – There are many schools that provide training in graphic design.

Training can range from a 6 week continuing education course to a 2 year program emphasizing many areas of graphic design.

EZSolution Corp. Phone: (717) 291-4689 www.ezsolution.com Phone: (717) 291-4689 www.ezsolution.com

Suggestion: Ask the web designer/developer about their training. It is important to find a person who sees the value in training and education as well as experience.

Many of graphic art schools also offer website programming classes in many programming languages including asp, asp.net, php, java and javascript.

Online Schools – these schools offer several different types of classes.

Tutorials: These are classes that are not led by an instructor. The student reads materials or watches videos. Students take a quizzes or tests after each section. Some online schools will provide a certificate showing that the student has passed the course.

Webinars: These are classes where you have audio and visual training over the internet. Students have the opportunity to ask questions either over the phone or by typing a message to the instructor.

Instructor lead classes: These are self paced classes that allow the student to interact with the instructor. The student has projects that get submitted to the instructor for a grade.

Experience

There is no substitute for experience. You can have formal training on a topic but have no experience. What happens if you have a complex shopping cart or database project and your website firm has never completed this type of project before? You might get lucky. Short term the project might work out. However, what are the long-term implications if you encounter problems with your shopping cart in the future?

How much business will you lose? Are you paying for their learning curve?

How to Match the Right Website Service Provider

with your Business

Compare Your Business Size to Theirs

One way to see if a website designer is right for your business is to match up the size of their business with the size of your business.

One Person Show – This is one person working full time or part-time (at night or on weekends) as a website designer. They are probably working out of their home. This means they have no business infrastructure. When they are busy with other clients, they can’t work on your website. They may or may not have any formal training. They can probably design brochure type sites with no interaction.

The web designer is often a friend or relative of someone in the company needing a website. The work is often provided at very cheap rates ($25-$45/hour is not uncommon). One disadvantage is that they tend to be very unreliable and unable to provide consistent service to their customers.


Suggestion: Ask to see other similar projects that your web developer has completed. Always ask for client references. This is probably the best indicator of their abilities and experience.

Website Company – This is a company with employees. Each employee may be a generalist or have a specific specialty. These companies are usually accomplished at small to mid-sized sites, E-Commerce and custom database websites. Their clients are typically small to mid-sized businesses. They also typically offer some level of website marketing and hosting packages. They can handle most projects in-house but may subcontract higher level specialized website features. They’re also usually affordable with rates from $85 to $125/hour. The website projects that these firms typically work on cost from $3,000 to $50,000. Some firms are large enough to work on projects up to $100,000.

Large Website Company – These are large full-service web development companies. They may have multiple locations. The staff has many members with the same specialties working in teams to complete large complex projects. They work on websites that have no tolerance for down-time. They provide hosting on redundant and mirrored servers. They offer 24/7 support plans. These firms work on projects from $100,000 to Millions.

What Programming Language will they Develop In?

This one of those questions that you probably don’t care much about. After all, you just want your site to look good and function well.

Most companies only worry about what programming language their site uses after problems begin to crop up. The relationship has deteriorated with their current web developer and now they'd like to look elsewhere.

It is easier to move your site from one firm to another if the first firm has programmed your site in a common programming language like:

• Html

• Php

• Asp

• Asp.net

And used common databases like:

• MySQL

• MSSQL

• Access


Suggestion: With client references, ask about their company size and the complexity of their website project. This will give you a good idea if these references represent a situation similar to your business.

Suggestion: Ask what programming language

Who will do your Work?

The nature of website development makes it very easy to outsource work to individuals or companies in other towns, states or even other countries. This can be good, since you don't have to rely on local talent to service your company. But it can be bad when your website company outsources work to unreliable individuals or companies. Outsourcing to other countries can also create language barriers that delay projects and create additional problems.

6 Ways to Use Your Website Effectively

1. Image/Brand Builder

Many companies want to use a website to build their image or brand. Most of their competitors have a website and they need to keep up as well as have the upper-hand in the market.

2. Provide Information

Along with creating an image, many of our customers use their site to convey information to existing and prospective customers.

In many cases their website replaces sale literature that they would have previously sent in the mail.

3. Generate Leads

One of the most profitable uses for our customers' websites is to generate leads. This is effective if you are promoting your business locally, regionally or nationally. Lead generation is a key component in most business sales plans.

4. Sell Products

If you have a product you can sell any where, there is no more cost-effective way to reach your customers. (No Catalog Printing…. No Mailing Costs)

5. Customer Communication

One of the best ways to increase your bottom line is to keep in touch with your existing customers. After all, selling to existing customers is easier and less expensive than finding new customers. Using email to keep in touch with existing customers is extremely cost effective and simple to do.

6. Employee Communication

Many businesses have employees who need to access pertinent information such as schedules, employee manuals, insurance documents etc. This documentation can be organized and stored online effectively to increase staff efficiency and productivity.


Suggestion: Ask your website designer who will be doing your work. Will you get direct contact with the developer or will you never know their name.

5 Keys to a Profitable Website

1. Design

The graphic design of your site is critical! Sharp graphics and good design principles will keep your Internet customer interested. Good copy motivates your customer to action. Your website should be designed for your target audience. The site design should also reflect your overall image. The design of the site should be clean and professional and most importantly visually fit into your overall marketing plan.

2. Speed

In traditional marketing and advertising speed is not an issue. But in Web Marketing, speed is as important as design. If your site is slow to appear, potential customers will switch to view someone else’s site instead of waiting for yours. Make sure that all of your pages load fast.

3. Navigation

This is a key point that is often overlooked by even large companies. Your site needs to be user friendly and your visitor needs to easily see what categories are available at all times. If your site appears to be a game of hide-and-go-seek, the joke is on you. Your site design should include a menu navigation bar on every page so the visitor can easily access designated pages of the site from his or her current page location.

The site should be designed to avoid excessive scrolling on individual pages. In E-commerce site development, navigation often makes the difference between turning a profit or losing money.

4. Content

Articulate your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and turn your website into a sales machine. Your website content should be motivating and accurately reflect your business. The first step is to decide what you want visitors to know about your business. Then develop a site map. With each page of the site you should answer the question… Why should I buy from YOU instead of your competitors, even if it costs me more? ...If you don’t know, then chances are your target market doesn’t either!

5. Marketing

Your Internet business, in some respects, is like opening a new location. If your customers or potential customers don’t know you exist, they will not find you. And if they can't find you, they can't buy from you. There are many ways to drive customers to your site. Some of these include: traditional advertising, search engine marketing, link building, creating your own email lists, and sending emails.


Website Design Mistakes &

How to avoid them

A recent survey asked web users to define the most annoying things they deal with on consumer websites. We've listed the top 5 complaints by web users below. We recommend that you take a look at your site to see if you are guilty of any of these website "sins". Your reward could be more sales, more newsletter signups and more quality leads for your business.

1. Readability Issues

Many website users were annoyed by websites that made content difficult to read. This includes sites that used fancy, unreadable fonts, sites that placed their content in very small print and sites whose background color made the text on the site difficult to read.

What You Can Do:

• Build your site using standard text fonts including Verdana, Helvetica or Arial. This ensures that all readers will be able to read your text regardless of the computer system they use. If you must include fancy fonts, do so in the form of a graphic or image so they are readable on all computer platforms.

• Use a standard 9-12 point font size. This makes your text easy to read, even when a user's monitor is set to a higher resolution.

• Use a simple white or light-colored background for all your web pages. The text of your pages should always be a dark color, preferably black.

2. Non-Standard Links

Another common complaint users had concerned sites that made it difficult to decide what to click on. This included sites that use fancy formatting for links where a user needed to "mouseover" the link to determine that it was clickable and links that opened other browser windows causing users to be confused as to where they were on the site.

What You Can Do:

• Use standard underlined text links, highlighted in a different color than the rest of the text on the site. The best color to use for links is the standard blue that is most recognized by internet users.

• Don't underline other content on the site that is NOT a link. This may confuse some of your users.

• Use a different color to differentiate between visited and unvisited links so users can clearly see where they've been before.

• Don't open links in a new window. This only serves to confuse the user. Exceptions to this rule include links to PDF files and thumbnail images that lead to larger pictures.


• Reduce confusion by using descriptive text to describe the destination of your links. Try "Car Parts" instead of "Click Here".

3. Annoying Flash Content

More web users than not complained about sites that used bloated Flash screens and animated introductions, finding them annoying and unnecessary.

What You Can Do:

• Use Flash content sparingly and only when it truly enhances the user's experience and doesn't serve as an unwelcome distraction. For example, a product tutorial done in Flash may be more interactive and serve your visitors better than a static html page of simple screen shots.

• Avoid puffed up splash screens and introductions on your website. Use Flash content after your user is already interested in what you have to offer.

4. Cumbersome Web Forms

One of the more urgent complaints listed in the survey concerned the unnecessary length of website forms. It's understandable that as a website owner, you'd like to get as much information as possible from your users. Do that with as few form fields as possible. Long forms or forms that demand information to be input in a specific way are often annoying and frustrating to web users.

What You Can Do:

• Cut out unneeded form fields on your web signup forms, contact forms or checkout page. For example, do you really need a salutation?

• Don't make form fields mandatory unless the information is really necessary. Restrict mandatory fields to essential information like names, email addresses or phone numbers. You can always gather additional information from your users later if you have their contact information.

• Allow flexible input on forms so users can enter phone numbers or credit card information in the format they like best. Your form processor should be able to eliminate extra spaces, dashes or parentheses from form fields after the form has been submitted.

5. Inadequate Photo Enlargement

One of the fiercest complaints cited by web users, was about sites that prompt the user to click a photo to see a larger image and then fail to fulfill that promise. In some cases, the image was only slightly larger than the original. In others the image was exactly the same size. Clicking images like these waste a user's time and may even get them wondering what they might have done wrong.


What You Can Do:

• Never display the same photo as a photo enlargement. The extra click is a waste of time for your user. Instead, if you don't have a larger picture, simply present the photo as it is without an enlargement option.

• When you do have a larger photo to show the user, offer one that fills up most of the screen on the most common screen size (currently 1024 x 768 for most business to consumer sites). This will allow you to show enough detail about the product to make opening the extra window worth the user's time.

8 Creative Ways to Add Real Content to Your Site

If you want better search engine rankings, you need to add more content to your site. Useful, constantly updated content attracts links to your site, gives you more opportunities to be found when a user does a search and keeps visitors on your site longer. Yet, with all the talk about adding content, content, content, nobody ever tells you what great content is. We're going to change that today! Here are 8 creative ways to add useful content to your website for better search engine rankings.

1. Add an information-rich FAQ section

Sit down with your staff and come up with a list of frequently asked questions. What questions do users ask when they call? What do they most often want to know about your products or services before they buy? Write thoughtful answers to each of these questions that naturally incorporate the keywords you'd like to be found under and post the FAQ on your website.

2. Compile interesting and original statistics

Are there some interesting statistics surrounding your product line or service? If you're an exterminator for example, can you compile some interesting statistics about insect populations in various regions of the country?


So how does your website stack up against the common website mistakes? Is your website annoying your users and causing you to lose sales? Or are you making it as easy as possible for users to find what they need? Check your website for these common errors that may be taking a bite out of your bottom line.

People love to read facts and anecdotes that are interesting and informative. They may even pass on particularly interesting information to family and friends.

3. Interview an Authority on Your Subject

Interview a recognized authority in your field of expertise and provide your visitors with exclusive content they can't get elsewhere. For example, if your site focuses on home decorating, find an expert that can offer some quick tips to help your visitors create a more inviting environment, using your products or services.

4. Offer Product Reviews and Useful Comparisons

Do you offer several levels of service or more than one kind of a certain product? Create a section on your site where you compare your products and services to one another in order to help your visitors make a more informed choice. For example, if you sell several software applications with varying features, show a side by side comparison to show visitors how they may benefit from upgrading to a more expensive version.

5. Write Useful Tips for Using Your Products

Do you sell products that could be used for more than one purpose? Write some useful tips for your visitors on the different ways your product may be helpful to them.

For example, if you sell outdoor tables, show them how they can be used in a variety of ways to decorate their backyard or perform useful chores around the house.

6. Write Seasonal Content about Your Products or Services

The holidays are the perfect time to showcase unique features of your product or service. For example, if you're a photographer, write an article about capturing special moments during the Christmas season. Give tips on what to wear, the best poses or the best ways to get candid shots during family gatherings. This idea could spawn articles for every major holiday of the year and create a great source of ongoing, updated content.

7. Get Users to Send You Pictures and Stories about Your Products

Get your visitors involved by asking them to send you pictures or stories about your products or services. You might even run a contest for the zaniest or most creative pictures or stories. In no time at all you'll have lots of interesting content that also provides testimonials to potential buyers!

8. Write Case Studies Showcasing Solutions to User Problems

This tip works particularly well if you offer a service, but could work for products as well. Showcase one or more of your customers and do a brief interview.


Your goal is to tell a story about the situation the customer was in before they found you and then write a specific description about how your product or service solved their problem or made their life better.

For example, if you help your customers get out of debt, showcase one of your customers, tell visitors about the debt issues they had in the past and write about the specific steps your customer went through to reduce or eliminate their debt using your service. The idea is to be as specific as possible and to keep hype to an absolute minimum.

How to Increase Website Sales

Statistics show that out of 100 shoppers, only 1 or 2 will actually buy something from your website. In other words, 98% of the visitors to your website will leave your website without making a purchase. While this is bad news for most website owners, it doesn’t have to be.

If you understand the main reasons almost 98% of the people that come to your website don’t make a purchase, you can put some systems in place to improve your website sales significantly.

So why do so many people leave your website without making a purchase? Here are the most common reasons:

1. The website does not make a compelling sales offer that entices the visitor to buy.

2. The visitor is price shopping and is not ready to make a purchase.

3. The visitor is ready to buy, but cannot figure out how to make a purchase from the website.

4. The visitor requires more information to make a purchasing decision.

5. The visitor does not trust the website and is afraid to give out their personal information.

The five reasons above are the most common reasons that visitors to your website do not make a purchase. The good news is that most of them can be corrected easily.

While we can’t do much about a visitor who is just price shopping, we can address the other four reasons and take action to improve our websites. Here are seven helpful tips to improve your website sales right away.


Obviously, there are many more ways to create great content for your site on an ongoing basis. Be creative and put yourself in your visitor's shoes. Brainstorm some ideas and use some of the suggestions above to get you started. When you begin putting up original, quality content that visitors really want to read your reward will be more visitors that stay at your site longer and buy more of what you have to sell!

Improving Your Website for Greater Sales

1. Make your website pages about the CUSTOMER and not about your company.

A potential customer is only interested in how your product or service will benefit THEM, not how many awards you’ve received for your stellar offerings. Reserve information about product awards, innovations and other company information for your

About Us page and link to that page from other pages in your site. If the visitor wants to know more about you, he can click to that page to find out more.

2. Provide additional product information.

If the customer is likely to have questions about a particular product, try to anticipate those questions in advance and answer them clearly. You can include extra information like this with each specific product, on a separate more information page or in a Frequently Asked Questions section of your website.

3. Tell the customers WHY they should buy from you.

Offer a compelling reason why visitors should buy your product right now. Do you have the lowest prices, the best service, or a special product warranty not offered elsewhere? Let the customer know.

You may also want to offer incentives to get potential customers to purchase right now. Coupon codes, free shipping offers and time sensitive offers can all make a difference in the urgency your customer feels to purchase right now.

4. Stress the benefits of your products and services whenever possible.

Instead of focusing on product features, tell the customer what the features of your product will do for them. For example, instead of saying that your calculators are 3.5 inches in length, tell them how your calculators are small and compact, and easily slip into a purse or shirt pocket.

5. Ask for the order!

So many websites make it difficult for the customer to figure out how to order the product. Make it easy for your customer to buy by telling them what you want them to do. Place Buy Now buttons or wording next to every single product you sell. If each product has its own separate product page with longer copy, be sure to include a Buy Now button or link in several places throughout the sales copy to get customers to buy when they are ready.


6. Let your visitors know they can trust you!

Let customers know you are a real company by providing full contact information on every single page of your website. Also, let customers know that they can call you if they have a problem during the checkout process. Provide your phone number in a visible spot on the page to encourage visitors that have trouble making a purchase to call you. In addition, add Verisign, BBB, or credit card logos to your website, so customers see you as a real company that can be trusted. Make warranty information and guarantee information readily available as well.

7. Make your shipping details clear before the customer places their order.

Nothing is more frustrating for a visitor than to have to get through the entire checkout process to find out how much it will cost to ship the product they want. This is especially true for larger items, such as refrigerators, TVs etc. You may want to include a shipping page which provides approximate shipping rates for the customer’s reference.

So what are you waiting for? Take a look at your website right now to see if your site contains all the information customers need to buy your products and services.

You may even enlist the help of friends and family to help you get a more objective view of your website pages. Correct any mistakes you find, provide the information your customers need, make it simple to order and watch your website sales increase!

Selecting the Right Web Address

Selecting your web address (domain name) is the first step in developing your website. You might even say it's the most important step. Your goal is to select a name that is easy to remember and reflects your business.

Should my web address be: MyBusinessName.com?

If you are able to purchase your business name, you should absolutely buy it. Most people who are searching for your business, will type in ‘yourbusinessname.com'. Owning this address allows you to continue the brand name recognition that you hopefully have already established. If you are starting a new business, you might want to consider what web addresses are available before you finalize your business name.


What do I do if MyBusinessName.com is already taken?

You have two options.

Option One, you can try to buy the address from the current owner. In many cases, the owner has no desire to sell the address. If they do want to sell, they might ask for thousands of dollars. We had a client who wanted to by a 3 letter abbreviation. The seller was asking $30,000 for the address. We had another client who paid $15,000 for a web address. So depending on the selling price and your budget this might be a solution.

Option Two, Let your creative juices start flowing. Our client Ambush Paintball needed to be creative. He wanted ambushpaintball.com but that name was taken and the owner was not selling. Our client came up with many other options including: ambush-paintball.com, ambushpb.com, ambushpaintballpa.com, ambushpaintballfield.com and ambushpaintballgames.com. All 5 of these names were viable options.

Here is how we came to our final decision.

Ambush-paintball.com - We were concerned that people would forget to type in the dash. In many cases, the web address would be promoted verbally over the phone or the radio. We felt that it would be too challenging to have to explain the dash.

Ambushpb.com - We liked that the address was short. However, we felt that we would have to explain that pb was short for paintball.

Ambushpaintballpa.com - We liked that we had the entire name in the address. However, we were concerned that the pa would be confusing and would limit the scope of business.

Ambushpaintballfield.com - We really liked this address. It said exactly what the business was all about. It was longer than we originally wanted. Our biggest concern was that people would misspell the word field.

Ambushpaintballgames.com - This is the address that we selected. We liked that it said exactly what the business is about. It promoted the fact that this is a game and therefore is fun. It also made it easy to grow the site from an informational site to an e-commerce site.

Should my web address be short?

Buy the shortest address possible without making the address hard to remember, read or pronounce. Web addresses can be up to 67 characters long. You should find one with 25 characters or less.


Should I use acronyms or initials?

Acronyms are great if that is how people commonly refer to your business or if it spells another common word or is easy to remember. We have a client AIC Auto. His web address is aicauto.com. This fits his business because the initials are the name of his business.

If it is complicated like xsczpt.com (I made this up), I would shy away from these addresses.

Should my address be a common word?

This is a difficult question. My answer 7 years ago was yes. Because, at that time you could buy addresses like curtains.com or marketing.com. Today, these addresses are already taken.

Should I buy a web address with dashes?

As you saw in our example with ambush paintball we ruled it out because the address would be verbally communicated. If the address is strictly going to be promoted on the search engines or in printed media, buying an address with dashes will work just fine.

Should I buy an address with an extension other than .com?

There are many other extension such as .net .org .biz .name .us and then all the country codes. Dot Com is still the most widely used.

However if you are a non-profit organization, I recommend that you purchase the .org as well as the .com. As more businesses and organizations buy web addresses we will see more and more of them using these new extensions.

Should I buy my web address as a plural?

In many cases it is a good idea to buy your web address as singular and as plural. It is difficult to get into the mind of your customer and how they will think of your web address. So to cover all your bases, I would recommend that you buy both.

Our customer Musser's Markets had this very dilemma. He covered all the bases by purchasing mussersmarkets.com, mussersmarket.com, mussermarkets.com and mussermarket.com.

How many web addresses should I buy?

This is a difficult question to answer. I would recommend that you purchase as many as make sense for your business. If you are trying to protect market share or protect a brand you might want to buy as many variations as possible.


Who owns the web address after I buy it?

The easy answer is:

You should own your web address.

This is absolutely a question that you should ask before letting someone else register a web address for you.

In some cases the company that you hired to register your web address will unknowingly or maybe knowingly put their company as the owner of the address instead of yours. This is not a problem to change if the web company is agreeable to change it. If they wont agree to change it or if you can no longer reach them, you are in for a battle.

21 Questions you should ask before hiring a website developer

1. How long have you been in business?

2. Who will be performing the work?

3. How many employees do you have?

4. What education and training do they have?

5. What projects have you completed that are similar to mine?

6. What will my project cost?

7. Who will own my web address?

8. How much input do I have in the Design of the site?

9. What programming language will you use?

10. When I have changes to my site, what is the process?

11. How long does it normally take to make changes to my site?

12. Can I update my site myself?

13. Where will my site be hosted?

14. How reliable is the hosting?

15. What tech support will be provided for email?

16. What website statistics will I receive?

17. How do you handle updates to my site?

18. What Type of Search Engine Marketing do you offer?

19. Can you provide references?

20. What guarantees do you offer?

21. Why should I choose you?


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what your web developer never tells you

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