Website beginners beware!

Don’t make the 4 terrible beginners’ mistakes that can destroy your business just as it becomes successful!

I’ve heard the horror stories.

I’m serious!

I personally know business owners who’ve been burnt. One of them lost a million dollar business.

It was so unnecessary.

I could’ve prevented it.

It’s too late, I wasn’t there… But I can stop you from making the same mistake.

I do believe in positive thinking… but I don’t rely on that when it comes to my clients’ websites. I set up the security measures then I do the positive thinking lol.

So please take these 4 precautions to protect yourself.

1. Always control your own domain name

If you don’t understand what a domain name is, read about domains.

  • You should be the owner or ‘registrant’ of your domain.
  • Your current email address should be in the domain’s contact information.
  • You should be able to log in and change your domain setup or access the domain key (EPP code). The domain key enables you to move your domain to another domain company. You might need to do this if you switch hosting companies or web designers.

Why?

I hope your web designer’s trustworthy and ethical. Most are. But in business, sooner or later you’ll meet a nightmare client or provider.

Unethical web designers can withhold domain names. This is most common after you’ve decided to switch designers and rebuild your website with someone else, or if you withhold payment for some reason.

In the worst case you could lose your website, domain name, google ranking and site visitors/clients all at once. For some people this encompasses their entire business.

This is a risk you don’t need to take. Always control your domain name. Register it yourself or make sure that your web designer registers it correctly under your name and gives you login access.

How to find your domain’s owner and contact information – go to:

US (.com, .org, .net) – whois.icann.org
Australia (.au) – whois.auda.org.au
UK (.uk) – nominet.uk/whois/

For other countries, google ‘domain registry’ and your country name. You’re looking for a ‘whois’ search.

Enter your domain into the whois search box, and you’ll see your domain’s ownership details and contact information.

2. If you have a country-specific domain name, eg mybusiness.com.au or mybusiness.co.uk, make sure you register mybusiness.com (and vice versa)

Few people remember domain names. Instead, they Google websites. An aggressive competitor can register a .com name, trade as you, and steal your business. That’s how an acquaintance of mine lost their million dollar business, and I have a friend in this situation too.

It’s hard to believe that someone could be so unethical and aggressive as to steal a successful business but the evidence is before my eyes. Don’t let it happen to you!

3. Keep website backups

Regular website backups protect you from a technical or user error on your website, a catastrophic error at your hosting company or unethical web professionals.

You should always keep backups.

You already know this don’t you? But have you done it?

Hosting control panels like Cpanel allow you to download a backup copy of your website’s files and database to your home computer.

WordPress has several backup plugins you can install. I recommend UpdraftPlus.

Set your backups to run automatically, perhaps weekly or monthly. Backups can be emailed to you, automatically saved in Dropbox or sent to Amazon Web Services. There are lots of options.

Make sure you do this!

4. Buy quality hosting

Free or cheap hosting packages may cut your website if you get too much traffic. That means site visitors see an error message instead of your website.

The more successful you are, the more likely you are to hit this limit.

To avoid this, make sure you buy good hosting. Never rely on free hosting for your business website.

Make sure you can upgrade your hosting package if you hit a limit. Otherwise your website may be left dead in the water for the rest of the month.

Setting yourself up for success

Do you see how the wrong decision at the outset, when you know the least about websites, can be catastrophic later?

Hindsight’s a wonderful thing.

But you don’t get that till later, after you’ve made the mistakes.

That’s where I can help. I’m a professional web designer. I’ve helped many clients navigate the jungle that is the web!

I’ve experienced snakes in the grass, poisonous frogs and clouds of stinging insects. It can feel like a war and honestly, sometimes I’ve felt like giving up. But I enjoy setting my own hours too much. I like being able to surf when the waves are perfect and having a business that travels overseas with me.

And I’m strong enough and determined enough to swing my way up to the tree tops, away from the predators.

There’s one thing that makes all the battles worthwhile – and that’s passing my knowledge on to you. If I can safeguard you, protect you from the pitfalls, then all the stress and heartache I’ve experienced serves a greater purpose. It makes us both stronger.

I’ve helped scores of clients create and run successful websites. They haven’t had any of the problems I mentioned because I guided them through the jungle and kept them safe. I can’t promise to save you from every trap out there – but every time I discover a new kind of attack, I block it as soon as I can and take measures to stop it happening again.

Not only have I kept my clients safe – I’ve also taught them how to edit their web pages and given them full control of their websites. And I’ve made it easy – many of them have enjoyed building their websites.

Mary and Steve Parson, Maryvale Lavender Farm

An informative, professional experience, in a relaxed atmosphere… Fears of my inexperience with these matters were quickly relieved with Jackie’s coaching, patience and professionalism. Totally recommended.

Mary Parson
Maryvale Lavender Farm
lavender.webhive.com.au

 If you’d like me to teach you how to build your own website, or to build it for you, please email me at jackie @ webhive.com.au or phone me on 1300 932 448 (International +61 2 4017 0244).

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Thanks for reading :)

Jackie Stallard