{"id":121,"date":"2007-01-29T11:09:24","date_gmt":"2007-01-29T19:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/2007\/01\/29\/website-ownersdo-you-know-if-you-do\/"},"modified":"2007-01-29T12:15:20","modified_gmt":"2007-01-29T20:15:20","slug":"website-ownersdo-you-know-if-you-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/2007\/01\/website-ownersdo-you-know-if-you-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Website Owners…Do You Know If You Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0by Bj. de Castro, Artist and SEO Webmaster<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Bj. just saw a thief on t.v. – beware site owners!<\/p>\n

O.k.\u00c2\u00a0 I walk out of my office and into the kitchen where my wonderful newly retired husband has just made me lunch.\u00c2\u00a0 We sit down together on the sofa and click on the ol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plasma for some entertainment.\u00c2\u00a0 We find a brand new court show.\u00c2\u00a0 Um..we can never get enough of those.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just like watching reality boxing without any physical contact, LOL.<\/p>\n

However and to my horror\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I discover the defendant is this wonderful lady that owns a flower shop and trusts the wrong person – VERY wrong person, to do her site for her\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6a toby something.\u00c2\u00a0 It all broke my heart.<\/p>\n

NEVER, EVER should your webmaster own your domain name!<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 It is legally yours and yours only.\u00c2\u00a0 Make sure it is licensed in your name and NOT the person doing your site!\u00c2\u00a0 If you suspect they are not being honest\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6do a search for WHOIS<\/a> and look up the domain name registration information for your site.\u00c2\u00a0 YOUR name should be listed with all of your contact information.
\na-Owner should be you.
\nb-Admin can be you or your webmaster
\nc-Tech can be you or your webmaster<\/p>\n

ALWAYS make sure your website is set under your own account<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0and that you have the login and password information.\u00c2\u00a0 You can either setup another user account for your website person or give them your login information.\u00c2\u00a0 But always make sure you have control over \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpermissions\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00c2\u00a0 This allows you to fire, hire or do whatever you want with control of your site.\u00c2\u00a0 And it is YOUR site.\u00c2\u00a0 I set all my clients up at Dreamhost<\/a> and give them all the account info.\u00c2\u00a0 Then\u00c2\u00a0the accounts are set with access privledges and permissions to my own account, so I can view the working files.<\/p>\n

Your designer may, or may not, own the rights to the design<\/strong> – depending on the agreement you have and the copyright permissions given.\u00c2\u00a0 Always make sure you discuss this and have it stated on the bottom of the page.\u00c2\u00a0 One page or every page is often debated, but all of my clients have it on every single page.\u00c2\u00a0 Why?\u00c2\u00a0 After the pages of a site are spidered through all of the search engines, one click by the visitor will take them to that page only.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 When it comes to images and content…we want the message loud and clear right away.\u00c2\u00a0 Hiding the copyright on some obsure page called ‘legals’\u00c2\u00a0that no one is going to click on is fruitless.<\/p>\n

Trust is a beautiful thing and I am honored to have the trust of my clients.\u00c2\u00a0 However\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I have all of their accounts set up like this.\u00c2\u00a0 If any of them wake up one day and decide they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the color of my eyes all of the sudden\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6they can instantly lock me out of their site forever!<\/p>\n

There are some server programs that Templates are more appropriate for…like, blogs, CMS, etc.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0CMS programs can be expensive to setup, install and customize.\u00c2\u00a0 Most designers will use\u00c2\u00a0a template\u00c2\u00a0as a starting point and tweak them for the client’s own look and feel.\u00c2\u00a0 However, when it comes to straight .html, you should know what you are paying for.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 If you are being charged for a custom design, then you should not be getting a template that your web designer has purchased.\u00c2\u00a0 On the other hand, perhaps\u00c2\u00a0saving money is more important to you than having a one-of-a-kind, original website.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Template use could save you money.\u00c2\u00a0 Economics is a reality\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6just know what you are paying for.<\/p>\n

Blog Sites – the new shortcut.\u00c2\u00a0 Now before all you other webmasters start pounding me on this one\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I DO see the\u00c2\u00a0need and advantages to these sites.\u00c2\u00a0 To all website owners – make sure you have a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcblog website\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 because you asked for it.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please Explain Bj.:\u00c2\u00a0 The new trend in web design is hacking to death the popular WordPress (the one here) blog program to make\u00c2\u00a0it look like a regular \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcoriginal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 website. Now for the un-ethical web-worker, they can put together a complete site in no time at all and\u00c2\u00a0then\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6turn around and charge the new client for a\u00c2\u00a0hand-coded website.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

While\u00c2\u00a0the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcethical\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 webdesigner,\u00c2\u00a0will know all of the advantages, which can be HUGE with the new Windows Vista coming out \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and they will have explained all of it to their client.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 They will have also touted the ability for the owner to do their own content updates.\u00c2\u00a0 A blog is, afterall, a short-hand version of the larger and more complicated CMS website, which stands for Content Management System.\u00c2\u00a0 These larger sites have great gobs of content that…you got it…need to be managed, or organized.\u00c2\u00a0 I am not recommending a blog website (the website IS the blog), but I am recommending that every site have one…a RSS enabled blog.<\/p>\n

Know the difference between a Webmaster, Web designer, SEO Specialist and Website Marketing Specialist (There are many other acronyms, as well, with different specific talents.)\u00c2\u00a0 Just because someone designs sites doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean they know optimization or marketing.<\/strong> Let me share an analogy that I recently gave one of my clients:\u00c2\u00a0 You can own the most beautiful painting in the world – but if you shove it in a closet and never take it out\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6neither you, or anyone else, will ever be able to appreciate it.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

A \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWebmaster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is a person that holds all of these skills.\u00c2\u00a0 A single webmaster is usually suffice for individual or small business websites.\u00c2\u00a0 However and sadly, there are few web-workers out there that know the difference.\u00c2\u00a0 Make sure your web person does<\/strong> – or hire an additional specialist.\u00c2\u00a0 If, however, you are a relatively large company\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6you should have separate individuals working in their own specific fields of specialty for this is a super-duper fast-paced, ever-changing business.\u00c2\u00a0 Many of these jobs are extremely time-consuming (which means expensive) even with the latest and greatest technologies.<\/p>\n

O.k. Bj\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.I hung in there with you.\u00c2\u00a0 Now why would someone be so sneaky in the first place?\u00c2\u00a0 Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6what do you think?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a lot of things like lazyness, lack of self-confidence in the job they can do, poor business management skills\u00c2\u00a0– but more to the point, they are using control for greed.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0See\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6if the domain name is placed in their name, then they can hold it hostage for hire.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve heard all the excuses.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Truth is, there are many ways to ‘get paid for your work’ with basic client budgetary management.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 A good web company will have one or several levels of payment and performance policies.\u00c2\u00a0 For example, money in advance, work up to, files go live after payment, etc., etc. – with all work stopping, until conditions are met.\u00c2\u00a0 No company operates with zero loss.\u00c2\u00a0 It is part of doing business.\u00c2\u00a0 Good business practices involve controling loss…not your client’s business.\u00c2\u00a0 Web companies that do a good job\u00c2\u00a0and keep within these budgets…get paid by their clients without the need of tricks.<\/p>\n

It is the same with the server account – only that gets more scary!\u00c2\u00a0 What they will often do now, is buy large lots of server space (all under their own account on the server) and then re-sell them to the unsuspecting clients.\u00c2\u00a0 *Note here:\u00c2\u00a0 I know many, many companies that do this legit and there is nothing wrong with that if it is represented as part of\u00c2\u00a0the business\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6web hosting<\/strong>, etc.<\/p>\n

What happens in the end, is the client becomes unhappy one day with the service and discovers that he\/she owns nothing!\u00c2\u00a0 Or, they own only the domain name.\u00c2\u00a0 Or, they own it all, but it is being held in ransom on the web-worker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own server.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes.\u00c2\u00a0 It is all very scary stuff!\u00c2\u00a0 More importantly, it can be a very costly lesson to learn, when you discover that you must start all over again reinvesting money already spent!<\/p>\n

In fact, this is where a large portion of my first clients came from\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6these last very sad scenarios.\u00c2\u00a0 Happily, I was able to get all of their websites back for them.<\/p>\n

There are some times in life that you simply must place trust in the hands of another person, i.e., doctors, lawyers, etc.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This does not mean you are immune to satisfying a few intellectual requirements.\u00c2\u00a0 School yourself in what you are buying.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 It makes the same sense as preparing yourself to buy a car with Kelly Bluebook prices and a mechanic in tow.<\/p>\n

Best of luck and please be careful.
\nBj. de Castro – Artist & Webmaster<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0by Bj. de Castro, Artist and SEO Webmaster \u00c2\u00a0Bj. just saw a thief on t.v. – beware site owners! O.k.\u00c2\u00a0 I walk out of my office and into the kitchen where my wonderful newly retired husband has just made me lunch.\u00c2\u00a0 We sit down together on the sofa and click on the ol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plasma for … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-bj"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bjdecastro.com\/art-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}