Its easy to get a PR 8-9 site and here are 5 ways.  I can help you with this but it will cost and we may need a lawyer if I get caught for some of them.

1. Mail all the social media experts who claim to be experts in blogging and social media and tell them that you are stone cold broke and need some backlinks.  If they refuse kidnap their cats (they all have cats) and hold it to ransom.  The links will flow in believe me.  They love cats much more than their link juice
2. If this doesn’t work then find out who can edit the google.com search page for the US and bribe them to get the ftp details and replace the search button with the link to your site – classy and will get you lots of hits (tip change your address and name before you do this)
3. Break into CNN’s data centre – hack their website and put your link sublty on the home page
4. Get 82 thousand t-shirts made with your URL on it and stand outside Croker next Sunday and hand them out.  Nobody throws T-Shirts away.  Typical printed t-shirt costs approx 5 euro (you will get a bulk deal and you will also have the cat ransom money to kick start the purchase) so that is about 410K for loads of clicks. Then have two options.  Kilkenny 5-In-A-Row T-shirts for 20 Euro or “We Kicked Your Ass Cats” T-Shirts for the Tipp fans at 14 Euro as they will need money for pints celebrating.
5. Do the same for the football but make “Tháinaig Ár Lá” for the Down fans and “I Told Ya We’d Win Boy!” for the Cork fans.

Never let it be said I didn’t help.  To hell with quality content you need the fast buck!

Related posts:

1. Why Do You NOT Have a Website?
2. 7 Ways to Get Thousands of Hits to Your Website
3. Web Design for Fictional Characters

Two pints of Heineken cost approximately 10 Euro.

I know this as I have conducted  extensive market research on this important topic.  Don’t mention a Jack Daniels and Coke as I’ve done nationwide and beyond research on that one and that costs a little more.

So what never ceases to amaze me is that there are literally thousands of Irish businesses who have not taken the ten minutes to go off and register their business domain name.  It can’t be a cost issue, it can’t be a time issue either as it literally takes 10 minutes or less.

Not having a credit card shouldn’t stop you as most Irish domain companies now take Laser (I use Blacknight and I know they do).  A .com is currently 5.99 (ex VAT) with Blacknight and probably the same with other Irish hosting providers.  (I do not have any link with Blacknight other than being a loyal customer and advocate.)

Getting your domain name is your first step to getting your business online and also stops someone from taking your domain name from you (at least for the .com name).  For instance the www.latelateshow.com domain name is not available anymore.  I bet RTE would like it.  If they want it they will have to pay and probably pay handsomely for it.  Currently some enterprising person has registered it and it is now parked waiting some interest.

Why would RTE be interested?  What if someone was putting spam or porn on this link.  It would reflect badly on RTE even though they had nothing to do with the URL.  The same applies to you and your business.  Take the time to do this.

Multiple Domain Names

James Larkin put this well recently about protecting your brand and I agree wholeheartedly with this  that you should seriously consider registering your other TLDs (three letter domain) names as well.  It is a minimal cost to protect a business name that you will have for the next 10-20-30 years.  Again the cost is low in comparison to the impaxt of losing the domain name.

What Next Though?

To move to the next step and get a web presence you need either to get hosting or most web design companies now have their own hosting packages and can give you a competitive rate on hosting.  If you ever move from them you can transfer to your new hosting package.  If you don’t want to spend the money then it is possible to and I have shown how you can build your own website and if this article doesn’t deter you then look at one of the free templates ate places like www.freecsstemplates.org/ which can be a starting point for you if you want to cut your own teeth.

But In The End

Think of the price of not registering your domain.  Get with the program.  Don’t drink ten pints tonight drink 8 and you will have the spare change to register your domain.

Authors Note

I just realised I havent practised what I preach so I have now registered several new domain names for my web design business.

Related posts:

1. Make Sure of Your Web Plan for This Year
2. Register .ie Domains
3. Website Questions

Where a Lot of Websites End Up

Far outstripping any other call, or contact that I get is the request to develop a simple site or a 5-10 page brochure site.  This is by far the most popular site that I get calls about and design on a regular basis. The request generally comes from people who want to advertise their business on the web and want a URL to add to their advertising, business cards and collateral.  Generally the expectation is that I can design it for the price of a cup of coffee but I have spewed my vitriol on this elsewhere so read that some other time.

I can create a working 5-10 page website in approximately 3-5 days for most customers.  If they want specific logos then it may take a little longer.  If they can supply materials such as product messaging and images that reflect their business this eases the process greatly.  The typical site comprises the usual standard page layout 5-6 menu items across the top, contact form and some product information.  Unfortunately these sites are really really NOT the way to go.  People tell me to develop the usual type of site that they see out there.  What they will end up with is a website design that looks well but will fail them as a business tool.

The Recycle Bin for Websites

I do try and set expectations with customers that this effort alone will not help them grow their business.  The site will look well (at least I think so) will have relevant and up to date information but the only real traffic to the site will more than likely be direct traffic (people who see the URL and perhaps type it in out of curiosity or need).  Their site statistics for traffic after a couple of months will prove this point.  They typically show single digit traffic (I call this family and friends traffic) and an occasional bump due to some mention in advertisements somewhere.

So the website in the above format is probably as useful to them as a brochure that comes through your letter box. We know what people do with these.  In Ireland we put them in our recycle bins!  The website is not being effective for them. So what should they do?

Website Tips to Keep You Out of The Skip

I am a poet and I do not know it!

The site design is then setup to reflect the business and SEO approach agreed. A good content management system can help to ease the process of regular updates also.  It is is so important to think about what the end customer wants when you are developing your content and not just doing a site that is like the previously mentioned brochure.

An Example (Fictional)

They should look at who comes through their door on a daily basis.  As a start I can think of at least 3 customer types.  the mother with young  child looking for a bike for their kid to toddle up and down the street outside with all the accessories (helmet, bell, elbow pads).  The teenager looking for a mountain bike to bomb around with their friends, again their parents are probably paying for the bike so the site should be a targetting both of them.  Finally (well for this list) there would be the road racer looking for a high end racing bike for either racing or fitness.

The astute customer would set up the site to address each of these customers and ensure that they can access what they need and have content and pricing to reflect this.  I would actually throw out (or put far way in a footer link) the About page and any other non selling pages (bar contact) and replace them with top level menus that are reflective of the customers above and build their content on this premise.  Then with their SEO plan they can direct people to the right content and have the beginnings of an Internet strategy.

Finally there is nothing wrong with doing a simple 5 page website for a budget.  But for a low budget of time and effort you really do get a low budget result in the end.

Related posts:

1. Why Do You NOT Have a Website?
2. How Much Will My Website Cost?
3. Rocking Horse Droppings – An Ecommerce Commentary

If Robin Hood was around today he wouldn’t have a website as he would not want anyone to know what he was doing.  He and his merry men used to hide in the forest and steal from the rich and give to the poor so publicity was low on his priority list.  He was a great guy, outdoors job, made people happy (at least the poor!). ate a high protein diet of venison and was dating Maid Marian who was pretty cute in the movies and TV programs that I saw.

The Sherrif of Nottingham (cue boos and hisses – its automatic) would definitely have a website and be Internet savvy.  He would also love social media and a newsletter would be top of his list.  Here are some things he would use the Internet for.

• Tax time – we would post prominently when he was coming to get taxes from the poor citizens.  He would make sure they all had PCs and Internet connections of course and that they were subscribed to his RSS feeds.
• Jousting Time – Nothing better than a good joust.  He would give detailed information on when the next event was coming up for spectators and for participants.  A well laid out contact / application form would also be available for both tickets and for applications for knights.
• History of Nottingham – As most rulers are vain he would have course have a well written history of Nottingham and his claim to be Sherrif.  Some well taken and flattering photos of him on his horse would of course make sense.
• Maps – For people visiting him he would have a well placed map to his castle.  He would probably put in the best route  be to avoid Sherwood forest for obvious reasons.
• Online Shop – He would probably sell a few “I Luv The Sherrif T-Shirts” and mugs to try and get some extra cash when taxes weren’t cutting it.
• Newsletter - Just in case you weren’t on his website he would collect your email address and send a regular mail shot to you with all of the above information or links to it with of course the Tax date prominent so that you could never say you forgot.
• Social Media - he would love Twitter and Facebook and would probably promote himslef shamelessly and put Robin Hood down as well.  He would need to hire a social media knight to help him with his flow of information so that people would not unfollow him.
• Blog - Last but not least he would blog regularly about Nottingham and what a wonderful place it was and what a great sheriff he was so that people would want to live there (read more taxes) and visit as well (read spend money – eventually more taxes).

I wonder if Darth Vader would have a website?  What fictional character do you think would be great to have a website?

Related posts:

1. Web Design Cork – On Page SEO
2. Two Great Goals – Burp!
3. Questions About Website Design

SEO Expert After Long Day

If you are one of the 3 to 4 people who read this blog you will see that I often say that I am not an SEO expert. There are plenty of these in Cork and Ireland who do it as a full time job and apply full time energy on a daily basis to work with their customers to help them get optimum page ranking.

However I do have a lot of knowledge on the subject and can optimise your website to ensure that when Google crawls your site you have a much better chance of getting better ranking. I still however have to say I am not an SEO.  I do say I know a lot about SEO (any web designer worth their salt should understand it)

But having done a search today for SEO experts and seen that the sites of those  out there who claim to be experts selling their services in SEO  I have changed my mind. I am now rebranding myself as a website and SEO expert. Roll drums, get out the sash, book room for launch party.

SEO – Is it an Overused Term

Well actually that’s not the plan. I will confess I have developed many many sites that will never rank in their niche and have no hope of doing so as they did not put want to put the effort into SEO or pay someone to help / do the work for them or listen to my advice and spend the extra time to make their site search engine ready.

So put away the drums, sash and cancel the party (there was an entry fee anyway so it was more like an event). From now on I am going to offer all my customers what I am going to call in my proposals “Give Yourself a Chance of Being Found in Search Engines” section. This natty phrase which I think rolls off the tongue much more easily than SEO – (try it GYCBFSE) will outline in detail what they can do or pay me to do to give them at least some chance of being found after their site is developed. Below I will actually give you a taste of some of the steps and tasks involved.

GYCBFSE Uncovered

There are hundreds of thousands of 5-10 pages sites out there that live on page 4+ on Google that with some thought and effort could be bumped up to at least to page 2 and perhaps page 1 for specific search terms in their niche if they put the time and effort into their site. Here are some of the tasks that I (and you if you have the expertise) can do to help in your GYCBFSE plan.

• Determine the 10 keywords are that you want (or more correctly should try) to rank for. Google Keywords will help you with this.
• Structure your site so that it has a sensible easy layout to allow Google look at it and understand your sites message
• Write useful content for 3-4 of these keywords and either put it in a static HTML page in the above structure or use a content management system that makes this content creation easier.
• Read the content again and take out any marketing rubbish, weazel words, or filler phrases. Your content should be refreshing, easy to read at early secondary school level at least and not put the reader to sleep (wake up reader!!)
• Repeat these steps over a 3-4 month period at least 2-3 times per week. It does not always have to be new content and you can always update existing content. Look at your Google Analytics and see which of these pages works well for you and fine tune and edit these pages.
• Likewise for pages that aren’t getting any traffic revisit, edit, fine tune.

Now all of the above are what I would call the tip of the GYCBFSE iceberg but it just astonishes me how few people don’t bother or care about it. Now you can do it and spend 3-7 hours per week at it or pay me your only GYCBFSE expert in Cork to do it for you with your help (yes I need your help it does involve some conversations and agreements from you!)

Now unlike some SEO experts I will not give you a rock solid guarantee that you rank on page 1 but as I am now a self proclaimed a GYCBFSE expert (the only one in Cork at the moment) I can ensure for a relatively modest fee that you can then work with an SEO expert to ensure that you will be many many steps ahead of your competition and get this coveted page 1. I think I will give the sash a bit of a wear for a few days in the meantime while I field the calls.

Related posts:

1. SEO Consultants in Ireland
2. Web Design Cork – On Page SEO
3. SEO – Buyer Beware

Up to last Christmas we used to go the to the Pantomime every year without fail.  Often our son was actually acting in it which was an added bonus but additionally it is a good old fashioned comedy with great singing for all the family.  It prompted me for some questions you should ask your website designer before you hire him.  Yes perfect to the middle of the summer!

1. Are You Only Here for Christmas?

The pantomime only lasts till mid January and then is gone leaving popcorn and torn programmes on the ground. Check how long your designer has been around and their track record.  At least understand their bona fides in this market and their technological knowledge.  You don’t want to be there in late January when their show closes and they become a waiter again and you are left with an incomplete site.

2. Behind You Behind You!!!

All the Kids scream this regularly at the pantomime.  I confess that I do too and often am the last person screaming it and get funny stares from parents and kids.

Check what work the company has done before (get it behind you… ).  A simple glance at a few sites in their portfolio will help you out.  Ask them to explain their methodology.  Scream behind you at them just to test their reactions for fun!

3.  Those Twirly Things With Lights

In recent years there has been more and more twirly things and flashing light things that the theatres sell to the kids.  These cost money are  overpriced and break approximately 5 minutes into the drive home – its a design feature.

For parents it  can inflate the price of the trip to the theatre.

Make sure that you have in writing what you are getting for your site (ditto any self respecting designer will document what they are going to deliver to you.)  Nobody wants to have to pay more for those shiny extras that are broken by the time you get to the car.

4. What Time Will Aunty Mary Pick Us Up and When is The Show Over

We often bring an unsuspecting niece or nephew tothe show and their parents of course want to know when they are to be picked up and when the show ends (I suspect it is so they can kick back have a nice bit of food and a glass of wine and..).

You should get an estimate of how long the design will take.  Word of warning if they say a week it is a lie as typically with interactions, edits, updates it can at a minimum take 4-5 weeks to get even the simplest site up and running to your satisfaction.

5.  Who’s Buying the Ice Creams?

My kids often have more money in their pockets and wallets than I do, due to me giving them pocket money and generous relations.  Often they produce 20 Euros proudly from their pockets crowing “I have money” when I am scratching through coins to buy them something.

Make sure you understand who is delivering the content and graphics for your site.  Content writing can take time and correspondingly money for a site owner.  I can create content for someone’s site and I often do but it adds time and increases the end cost to you.

6. Good Seats

Digging deep into the analogy bucket here I love to get seats ground floor about 10 aisles back.  You have a good view plus you are not looking at the flaws in the actors makeup and can really enjoy the show.  I have gotten seats in the upper tiers where it is OK but the sound isn’t as good and you can miss a lot of detail.

Your website will be way back in the back of the upper tier of search engines if you don’t get some level of SEO done.  I am not an SEO but I could show you analytics of sites that I have done that look pretty good (I would say that of course) but get little if any traffic.  If your niche is anyway competitive (and all are these days or you would be out of business) then at least speak with an SEO as to what he or she can do for you.  Next show you will be front and centre.

7. My Tummy Hurts

If you eat a tub of ice cream,a bag of Jelly babies, two cans of coke you will feel pretty bad.  I won’t ever do it again I’m telling you!

You need to get the good quality material on your website.  Keep good interesting content that is up to date, relevant and interesting.

People surf at high speed these days.  They can spot the Jelly baby crap.  Put steaks and and interesting menu on your page for people to stay eat, drink and come back again another time with friends (they will pass on the link hopefully).  Reward repeat diners.  OK Kieran cut the analogy.

On a Serious Note

I do really go to the pantomime every year.  I haven’t missed one in over 22 years.  So even though I may not be an expert in websites I know my pantomimes!  Oh Yes I Am!

Related posts:

1. Website Questions
2. Web Design Cork – On Page SEO
3. Do You Have to Have a Website if You Are a Website Designer?

I was feeling naughty today so thought up these 7 ways to ensure that you get hundreds  if not thousands of hits to your website.  Mind you it mightn’t convert but your Analytics will look good for a short period of time.

1. Print a T-shirt with your business name in nice large font on it.  The next time you see Charlie Bird giving an interview stand subtly behind him.  It mightn’t make the final cut but you never know!
2. If John 3:17 can do it so can you.  Next Championship match that goes on unfurl that 300 ft by 100 ft flag with your business website name on it.  The stewards will never cop on (well not for about 30 seconds)  Power tip is to have a bit of a scuffle and it might make the Sunday sports highlights.
3. Your local airport has a nice long tarmac.  Get some local hoodlums to spray paint your website name on it.  Claim ignorance (hide the receipt for the paint, better still burn it)
4. Streaking is back in fashion.  Lipstick + http:// + World Cup final tickets and off with you or better still one of those models they used for the Netherlands game.
5. A more subtle way is to get on the next Just a Minute quiz and answer your business website name to every single question.  Radio listeners will be pecking in the URL as Ray D’Arcy tries to cut to commercials.
6. Hire some good looking ladies, guys to wear those afore mentioned t-shirts but in a bit of a tighter fit to hitch a ride on one of those busy commuter roads.  I did not say rip the t-shirt repeat Not!
7. There is an election coming up soon in Ireland.  Put yourself up for election under your website name “Vote for www.mycompany.com” I am sure that you can think of some pithy election slogan.  You might even get elected.

I am available for consultation on this tricky topic at any time.  My price is 2 pints of Heineken and I will meet you in any bar you want in Cork.  I will be the guy with the tight t-shirt, spray paint on his hands and bruises from a recent scuffle with stewards.

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Get a PR 8-9 Site
2. Why Your Website May End up In The Recycle Bin
3. 5 Simple Website Design Tips

As I have mentioned in the past a website is basically useless if it cant be found.  For competitive keywords a good SEO can help you with this strategy.  But having a blog on your site can make a huge difference to your overall  keyword density on a site.

WordPress for instance is so easy to install that there is no real reason why you should not have a blog on your site.  The new release WP 3.0 is the easiest yet to configure and allows you to set header images and background colours with a the click of a mouse.

Now I am not advocating blasting on and on about certain keywords on your blog.  I would advise speaking in simple human terms about you, your business, your niche or whatever your site is about in normal authentic language on a regular basis.  If you don’t do this then you will be like the Goldfish in the page on the left.  Completely invisible.  Write something that shows you are a human and don’t resort to bloated marketing speak.

Finding the Time

I go through complete peaks and troughs about blogging.  Some weeks I blog regularly and others I just go for weeks on end without doing anything.  The solution to this is to write posts when you are motivated,  get them down and schedule the posts for a regular schedule over time.   WordPress again allows you to schedule posts which is a life saver.  I wrote this post 3000 years ago and it s now being posted today. This week for instance I have written a couple of posts but I am writing acouple more to save for he barrne lonely days when I am in the corner with a whiskey bottle trying to get inspiration.

But back to keywords and blogging

For instance lets look at this article.  It is praising the use of a blog on your site.  Perhaps it might rank for that topic at some stage but that is not my concern I am just giving you some advice on blogging as a method of publicising your business and getting some keyword kudos at the same time.

However when Google next crawls this site it sees that the language on this page is related to websites and keywords and related topics so it gives me some (probably very minor) weighting in this area.

The advantage of a technology like WordPress is that for an article like this you can with some simple uses of categories and titles you can create a nice structure of information that shows that you have created a repository of information and again tells Google that you at least have created content in this are.

Usage of Categories

For my sites blog I use a wide range of categories so for this article I am going to use the category Blogging.  So this article will be saved as ../blog/Blogging/Why a Blog is a No Brainer.php  If I write some more articles with this category I then have 2-3-10 articles on blogging.  Essenttially a category is creating a sub directory and structure. Over time as you blog more andx use categories sensibly you will build a nice structure to your site that Google will appreciate (OK Google has no feelings) when it comes to crawl it.

Only the Beginning

This of course is only the beginning but is a simple step in the right direction.  I regularly refer to the Yoast site which has some top notch tips on WordPress SEO and I have not even implemented a small percentage of his tips.

What is Most Important

What is most important is that people find your articles interesting.  If it is full of boring rubbish then using a blog to try and rank will ultimately fail as you will run out of energy trying to write content just to fill the pages.

Toolkit

Here are some links to some other areas where you can learn about blogs, SEO on WordPress and SEO in general.

• All In One SEO Pack for WordPress
• Google’ SEO Starter Guide [PDF]
• Google Analytics – definitive tool for tracking your site statistics

Last But Not Least

If you are in a competitive niche then on page will not be enough.  Don’t rely on this alone.  Don’t go off and sulk because you wrote 300 articles perfectly worded 3 times a week on goldfish farming and nobody came to your site.  If Goldfish farming is a competitive keyword with large search volumes you will have an SEO strategy.

Additional Note:

15 seconds after posting this I ranked for Goldfish Farming Cork – I am off to retire now as I also rank for Bnana Picking Ireland

Related posts:

1. Google Places
2. Web Design Cork – On Page SEO
3. I am an SEO Expert if You Are

A lot of people out there think they can create a website without a website designer and I have news for you they are 100% right.  If you have the time and some technical expertise creating a website is definitely within your skill levels.  Here is a short tutorial on how to set up a website for your business and get going.  It is far from comprehensive but gives you an idea of the main building blocks.

And here is the conclusion at the beginning.  I know I could change the oil in my car and I could probably put in an outside tap but I don’t because I know I could never do it to the quality levels of a  plumber or mechanic and it would probably take me 10 times as long.

(Editors Note: I have never done either of these things as I cam a complete disaster with DIY)

Get a Hosting Package

First and foremost you need a hosting package.  A hosting package allows you store your WebPages and allows the end content be visible on the Internet.  There are many companies in Ireland and worldwide that can help you with this.  Blacknight are one of my favourites (no this isn’t a paid plug I just like their support, accounts people and their overall attitude).  This is a yearly fee and currently they a Minimus package that is 49 Euro for a year (not including VAT which brings the total to 60 Euro per year).  You have to pay this every year to allow your site be hosted so that is cost number one.  Shop around for different hosting deals though.  There are lots of other good Irish companies that can help you but the price will be in and around this mark.

Domain Name

Once you have a hosting package you then need to register your domain name.  This will be the home for your website if you just want a .com/.net/.org/.me then this is again just a matter of registering it (again with a hosting company as they handle the registration process). Expect to pay between 10 and 20 Euro to register a domain name.  For a .ie name you need to prove ownership of the name and this can take a couple of days to process with various identity requirements (company number, VAT number, proof of identity and so on).  Again you have to pay yearly to retain your domain name.  If you don’t it lapses and is available to someone else to use.

The Fun Begins – Design the Website

So you have domain name, hosting is setup and you have access to the website.  Usually a simple ftp tool like Filezilla will allow you ftp files to the server.  If you are not familiar with ftp then most good hosting services offer a web based tool for file transfer. However it is worth learning the basics of  ftp as the web based approach can be slow and they can usually limit the file size and number of files at a time that you can  transfer.

You then needs some other skills to make the website creation easy for you.

HTML Knowledge

Although there are tons of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors out there from DreamWeaver to Coffeecup it really really helps to understand the basics of HTML. W3CSchools does a good job here stepping you from the very basics through to more complex areas.  Spend a few hours looking at these tutorials.  I rarely use a WYSIWYG and Notepad++ is my tool of choice.  I can nearly write HTML as fast as I can type as I have been doing this since Santa was an elf. If you are doing a one off site then you may never have to worry about HTML but it is like learning the basics of a car engine.  One day the site may break and with a basic understanding your may be able to fix it yourself.

CSS Knowledge

CSS stands for cascading style sheets and these babies revolutionised website design when they came out and now are the backbone of any site layout.  CSS lets you control how your site images and text are presented in a browser.  Again the W3Schools site has a good intro to this and if you are going deeper into the area then a good level of knowledge does not go astray.  With CSS you can control the position, format and layout of your website with great ease.

Ready Steady Site

Now that you have some site knowledge then you can fire away with your web pages and create a site.  OK off you go…  If you are stuck for ideas for layout and structure then why not check out Blueprint or 960 /which are CSS frameworks that allow you get started with your layouts to frame your sites.  I have used both of these in the past and even created customer sites with them with some (read lots) CSS changes.

And Then

From then on its up to you how advanced you get,  you may dip into jquery, flash, some php and so on to put more power under the websites hood.  Create contact forms, dabble in database manipulation and so on.  I am still learning new tools and methods (I won’t call them tricks) as the technology is constantly changing.

You can dip into some of the stock images that are out there to add relevant images to your site (I did just that for this post).  With Photoshop you can then work with those images and enhance them to even more effect.

Why Are You Telling Us This

The Other Conclusion (the one at the end)

You are probably asking why am I giving you this information when this is something that you do and get paid for it?

Its simple really.  If you want to get to even the basic level of expertise then you need to invest the time.  I personally think to even get a basic entry level knowledge and expertise needs 2-300 hours of reading and the same again of working with the tools.  Some may disagree.  I read at least an hour a day reading on new web based technologies and refresh my old knowledge regularly. I try and learn new skills so that when a client asks me if I can do a certain thing with their website I know what is practical and doable.

The misconception is that people are paying for the hosting and domain and a bit of HTML – that’s not the case.  They ae paying for your knowledge and ideas.  They are paying for the time that you have spent fine tuning (and still doing it mind) your skill set to help them get an excellent end product.

Now I am not saying don’t go off and build your own website but approx 30% of my business is re-designing websites  that people did using the steps above.  I am not saying their intents weren’t good but 9  times out of 10 these sites were built by people with good IT skills, some of the knowledge above but they were lacking the expertise and ideas to make the site a viable site in the long term.

Why all the comedians. Well to be honest there are a lot of jokers out there who claim to be website designers who flat out aren’t. And these guys in the images were some of the greatest jokers ever but they never created a website so we are safe in our houses tonight.

Related posts:

1. Website Questions
2. Start Your Online Plan for the price of Two Pints?
3. The School of Website Design

Prices Up In The Air

Sports clubs are the most enthusiastic advocates of the internet. They love using the internet and use their club websites to show that is going on in their club and keeping critical information on things like their policies and procedures.  They have lots of youngsters who spend every waking hours using the internet and are probably being asked all the time why the club hasn’t a site.

Usually there is an enthusiastic committee who will maintain it and have tons of information that they want to put on the site and will keep it fresh and alive.  They love the Galleries available to show photos of teams, events and prize giving and typically  load them up with often thousands of photos.

However with few exceptions they have one problem.  They have no money and worse still no real revenue to support this spend.  It is a Catch-22 situation and I regularly get requests for quotes and even when I quote them very very competitive quotes (often 30% of the overall cost I would normally charge) they still balk at the cost of the site.

They often have a site that someone in the club developed and now it is not standing up to the needs.  Typically it is a brochure site that they cant edit and the person who did the original site has moved on.  They remember that this person charged them nothing but

Getting Your Club Online

I usually recommend a CMS like WordPress and give the committee an off the shelf template.  I can implement this pretty quick and I charge them a real low price as I am involved in sports myself and have developed a number of sites for clubs that I am involved in and other clubs.

However the price is still a show stopper so I am thinking that there is probably room for a staggered payment plan for this type of venture where they pay say 50 Euro per month for a year to cover the cost.  This is a total of 600 Euro for a fully featured CMS and a nice website to boot.  Believe me I do not charge this for full up sites with custom themes so don’t get on the phone to me.

If I did this for all my clients I would literally be broke as this cost does not cover my costs by any means but it is my way of giving back to sports and teams in Ireland.

Pro Bono Work

I also do some work for free for charities and have done sites for Kerry Rape Crisis Centre and the Opendoor Network for domain and hosting costs only in the past.  I am actually in the process of updating the Kerry site as it was put together very quickly using a CSS template and is now looking a bit tired

Related posts:

1. Networking Websites
2. Don’t Be A Joker – Homegrown Websites
3. Cost Benefit Analysis – AKA Common Sense