Kent WebSite Design

I was asked recently to sort out a problem with a website. A local curtain shop company had hired some guy to do the I.T. set up of the company and also to design and implement a website.
The main problem is that the guy had set up the domain name in his name only and not the Company business name. He hadn’t got around to doing anything on the website and the company was getting frustrated. I call the guy “The Pimpernel” as he could never be found or contacted. The domain was registered in 2003!!

I proceeded happily enough putting some keyword optimised pages together and adding some relevant content to the niche market. You know, all the usual stuff. During this time I was also trying to contact this guy so we could transfer the dns registration over.

Nominet deals with the transfers of ownership of domain names in the UK. Its a process of both parties entering details onto the relevant forms and faxing or posting the forms, duely signed, to Nominet. It took well over 2 months just to complete this simple task as “The Pimpernel” was so hard to contact. Maybe he felt his nose was put out by my intervention into the website design, but surely he held some amount of professional etiquette about himself? Obviously not.

Another problem, that was apparent, was that he held the account information to log into the domain name registrar tag holder - Iomart.
Iomart have a really bad reputation with loads of dissatisfied customers. Just Google the name and read if you care to.

This was beginning to be some recurring bad dream. Again, more forms from Iomart to transfer the account name and password from him to the company.  This took from November to January just to complete this. Most the time the site was sitting ready to go live, though I could test it through the server sub directory. Iomart were dragging their feet, making rediculous excuses, losing faxes etc.
Eventually though, I managed to get access to the account and change the dns nameserver to the hosting server and the site went live. Huh.

The site Anthony Cowie - Conservatory Blinds Kent is nothing big,  just css/html and a few javascripts.

Personally, I would love to see the company take him to court for the time he wasted with his unprofessional attitude. But I doubt this will happen.

I guess the lesson here is make sure your domain name is hosted in your name if anybody is going to undertake designing and hosting your web site.

Anecdotes are not always humurous.

I recently was engaged in talks with a couple of small local businesses about creating a website and associated marketing.
Initially, it was at enquiry stage, so I sent off a letter about the marketing opportunities and benefits, with an adequate pricing structure.  Rather than hassle these new prospects I decided to wait some time before getting feedback. The business was notorious for its careful expenditure so I had been told. So I knew I wouldnt get an immediate reply.

A few weeks later , I noticed in the local paper that one of the companies had a centre page review with one of the local reporters. It detailed the “new services” of the existing business, photographs and interview.

Now, I am starting to think Missed Opportunity here! I cannot really blame the company in one respect. They are a small outfit and like most small business, concentrating on just surviving.
However, it did not even cross my mind to state on my introductory letter that any important new services or announcements could be of benefit to a new website. Well, in that respect, I re worded my intro letter just to state that from now on. A lesson for me, but what about the company?

The next business review of another company in the paper did not have pictures, just a paragraph on the company,  but it did have the URL to its website!
I am imagining that those reading the article probably went on to visit the website if they were interested in the topic. I am also imagining exactly what my prospect has lost. What did they lose from this free marketing? Yep, I said Free Marketing!

• Free Traffic
• Free Links (Most articles are re-published online in the newspaper website)
• Most of the news websites have lots of content and thus good Page Rank
• Marketing opportunity to sell the new service online.
• I could have created a one off landing page and booked new customers!
• Niche Market, beauty products; probably a few Bookmarks too
• Newspaper has around 10,000 circulation locally

Well thats a long list to lose out on eh?

• Its important to follow up leads within a suitable timescale. Yes, harranging people on a daily basis will lose prospects, but make some definate time scale to follow up leads.
• Always state the benefits of getting the website online quickly and always enquire about new products and services in the first instance.
• Set up unique landing pages before a press release. Better still, work in a press release into the cost of your charges and let the world know. It`s not only big companies who have something to say, especially for local services.

Ironically, the other prospect I had replied to, responded to my letter. They want to set up a website and market for the 2006 christmas sales. But it`s December 2006 already.  And thats another story!

In a previous post I argued the point that a non functional DMOZ directory was harming its credability. You can view that post to read my comments.

However, DMOZ Submission is now well, alive and kicking. Editing is working for the editors, apparently. Its not clear as yet the technical difficulties DMOZ were suffering. Vague information and no press releases only further harmed its position. Seeing that it was bought for around £1M USD a few years back, one would think that technical issues wouldnt be too hard to solve considering its importance.

Its a start at least. In light of the importance of the ODP data to the search industry, DMOZ has an important role to play. I like the idea of human editing, provided its policies are transparent and the thing actually works.

Personally, I cant see server technical issues causing such a long lay off of editing or submissions. Maybe somebody pulled the plug on financing or somehow the ODP was hacked, compromising the integrity of the ODP Data. Either or, its something that will not be shouted from the roof tops by the administration or owners.

Personally, I am just happy that DMOZ is working again and that the data being used by big players in the Search Industry, is relevant and a fair playing field for the rest. Though Google were ominously quiet about the whole saga.