August 2010
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Yes, Your Web Department is too good to be true |
Aug 10, 2010 6:09 PM
Paul Chato |
I am getting this all time. Being on the front line and talking with hundreds and hundreds of people the same thing always happens. There is the questioning skeptisism that YWD really will do what it promises. Then there is the issue of templates. Every other system on this planet uses templates so people automatically lump us in with this group of vagrants and shoddy products. I tell them that YWD does not use templates. It's free-form. It uses attributes. Yes you can lock it in to maintain the design and then unlock it to do something else great later.
Yes, YWD is too good to be true because it's true. You could say we offer a custom experience at template prices. |
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July 2010
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Your website is like a supermarket |
Jul 26, 2010 8:47 AM
Paul Chato |
Do you think that supermarkets are just a big entrance with sliding doors and stuff assembled in a haphazard way? Of course not. In fact they know everything about your shopping tendencies. They are money sucking machines and they know how to extract money from you on the way in and on the way out.
Even if your website is not an ecom site have you researched your audience? Are you absolutely certain you know what they need to see on your home page? Are you certain that you have organized your website to maximize their experience going in and coming out?
Next time you analyze your website, think about it as if it were a supermarket. |
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Okay, I really hate this Register.com |
Jul 6, 2010 5:40 PM
Paul Chato |
I don't know who else does this, but Register.com has this really horrible policy of creating a holding page for your domain filled with links that relate to your business. I'm sure they are getting Google AdSense dollars out of doing this but it really pisses me off. As a Register.com client you have the option of turning this feature off but they don't make it that obvious, so while your website is being built, or in limbo, they display this piece of crap on your behalf. Frankly, I would just dump the pinheads and use a different registrar that does not deal in this nasty, unethical practice.
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June 2010
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Stand-alone CMSs create Zombie websites |
Jun 23, 2010 9:02 AM
Paul Chato |
Zombie movies are very popular these days, as are stand-alone websites built with CMS software. What do I mean by Zombie websites? Zombies websites are undead websites that live on, not updated. For a website to live it needs to be updated regularly. And by update I mean both the content and its underlying systems. So why is a website made with a CMS, which inherently let's users update content, bad?
They are bad because the moment a website goes live the underlying technology begins aging. Three years later, the Internet has moved onto incredible uncharted territories and you're still working with a system that cannot accommodate the rapid pace of change. CMS vendors point to the fact that they update there tools (maybe once every few years) but does the client bother updating their stand-alone CMS? Rarely.
That's why services like ours, delivered as a Software as a Service, are the future. We update our systems regularly. We are quick to adopt changes in Internet trends and technologies. We keep pace with the Internet so you don't have to.
If you're considering a stand-alone website, watch out for the Zombies. |
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May 2010
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Your website is more than a giant satellite dish, it's also a filter |
May 25, 2010 7:56 AM
Paul Chato |
Everyone who wants a website wants a giant satellite dish that will collect millions and millions of people and direct them to your business and more importantly buy your services or stuff and make you rich. All this without even trying.
The fact is it won't happen that easily or quickly. Creating a website that will build your business is a lot of work. One thing you might not have thought of is kind of counter-intuitive: don't try to be all things to all people. Be focused on who your audience is and what kind of client you want buying from you or using your service. In this way your site can become a filter.
If you don't want to waste time dealing with people who only want free, then post a price. If you are serious and buttoned down and prefer to work with similar-thinking folk then create a website that convey's that image. A website can be a great filter. It's something very few people talk about when it comes to building a site. It's worth investigating. It will make doing business with the people who do find you much more pleasurable. |
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When building a website as favour is not a favour |
May 8, 2010 2:16 PM
Paul Chato |
For all the right reasons many individuals, companies and not-for-profits have had someone build a website for them as a 'favour'. Unfortunately, this favour has come back to haunt them.
- The website was just done badly, plain and simply, an amateur effort
- The domain is in the name of the person who did it as a favour and now the owners of the organization can't retrieve it
- The individual is no longer on the board, or with the organization or there is ill will between the parties
- The site was built in a way no one can update it themselves
- The 'friend' is now resentful because you are asking for changes all the time and not willing to pay for them
- Etc.
So a bit of apparent good will turns to crap because of some, or all of the above. However, the only one to blame in all of this is the person who said yes. Yes, of course they didn't understand the technology and said yes to someone who seemingly was an expert. And perhaps they were happy to get something for nothing. That was not the fault of the person offering a favour, it was the fault of the person accepting it.
The lesson is that there are many inexpensive website options and professionals who know what they are doing and can work cost effectively. At least with a business relationship you have contracts and recourse.
Remember, a website built as a favour is not a favour to anyone. |
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April 2010
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Web customers still don't know what kind of web service they are 'buying' |
Apr 30, 2010 7:55 PM
Paul Chato |
Or, why pay $49/month for YWD when you can get a website for free or for $100 per year? The people who understand the value of YWD get it. The way they figure it the difference between free and only $600 per year for their website, the single most important marketing tool ever devised by humankind is not a deal-breaker. After all many of us paid thousands of dollars on brochures every year only to have most of them collect dust in some corner of the office.
Here's what you get with YWD. Ask your web provider if their oranges match our apples:
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited users
- A real website management system
- Total flexibility to add content and design without programming
- YWD is not template driven - clients can do whatever they want whenever they want
- A sophisticated Software as a Service (SasS) platform, not a single instance of a content management system.
- Updates and enhancements happen continuously
- Amazing built-in tools
- YWD's features are driven by you the client, not by a consortium of programmers who are still living in their mother's basement flats
- YWD is all we do.
- We provide great service
I think that's it for now. |
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Your Web Department puts steel into every site we make |
Apr 20, 2010 7:19 PM
Paul Chato |
Yes, Your Web Department puts molten steel in every website that leaves our shop. Check out the YouTube video below. Everyone claims great service and ease-of-use, but no one else puts steel in their websites.
So, what was the genesis of this silly video? It has always bothered me listening to programmers blithely throwing out three-letter-acronyms and technical concepts that the customer had no hope in hell of understanding. Sometimes it was because the programmer just didn't know better, but other times, it was proof of their superior brains. The other bit of inspiration came from reading websites making outrageous claims for success. I figured, why not claim that we put steel in our websites? It's no less believable that what others are claiming, but it is funnier.
More videos to come. |
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Your Web Department makes "Happy Websites" |
Apr 15, 2010 3:47 PM
Paul Chato |
Recently we went through an exercise with some YWD clients. What was the common denominator between everyone? We came to the following conclusions. YWD clients are:
- Delegators
- Simplifiers
- Owners
They also wanted to have someone take the 'mess' that was their website and have someone make it all work; easily, cleanly and cheaply.
One participant said that we make 'happy websites'. An intriguing thought. Not happy as in, clown happy, but as in, we take the pain away and make them happy about their website. I thought that really summarized what we try to do. We're honest, and we deliver and we provide great support.
We'll be diving deeper into this later. If there's anything interesting I'll post it. |
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