If I were to die…

• I use a password management application and have instructed my wife how to use it. This application holds all passwords related to my business, protected by a master password only she and I know.
• My wife has a 50% stake in Katz Web Services, Inc. and will legally be able to act as a representative of the company.
• I am a HostGator web hosting reseller. After speaking with a HostGator customer representative, they told me what would happen is that clients could call them direclty and sign up for an account with them. HostGator would then transfer their databases and all website files to their account for free. Even though in theory they could continue using my hosting forever (there’s password reset, auto-billing, etc), they would be able to get access to their information regardless of what happens.
• I use standard coding practices. Any web developer should be able to pick up where I left off without too much of a learning curve. There’s always a learning period when taking over a website, but all files will be accessible and open source.

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” – Mark Twain

Next steps

I know that stating that “your information will be available to you” is a good start, but it’s not perfect. If requested, I will prepare a document for my clients with all their information. Otherwise, I am an optimist, and plan on being around for longer than their current website

Related posts:

1. Denver web hosting — we’re making the switch to reselling
2. Un-Ban Yourself from WHMCS Administration

Will a website redesign hurt my rank?

When I am working with a client that already has a website, one of the first questions I am asked is “How will redesigning my website affect my rank?“ Here’s what to expect when launching your new website:

Your website will take a hit in the SERPs for 20-30 days

After updating a website, you can expect ~25 days of your ranking going down. I call it the "white knuckle month," but I've noticed the website always ranks better once the period is over.

Without fail, I’ve found that when I launch a new website, move a website to a new domain, redesign or make significant structural changes to a site, the website will drop in rank for 3-4 weeks. Aaron Wall noticed the same thing:

1 month later Yahoo traffic is about the same as what it was before the site moved…
Aaron Wall, SEOBook.com

It’s a terrifying time, but don’t stand still: when launching a redesign, I make sure to submit a new sitemap, check broken links, and very important: build new links to the updated pages or the new domain. This will help convince Google to dig deeper faster, and it will also help restore confidence in the changed website.

Website Redesign SEO Articles:

There are already many posts about how to make sure you have a solid transition (301 redirects are your best friend), so here are a few helpful articles.

• Best practices when moving your site – Official Google recommendations
• SEO Checklist for website redesigns - and oldie but a goodie
• How to Move a Website - SEOBook speaks, people listen

Are you using WordPress?

If you’re using WordPress and changing your website’s structure, I strongly recommend the Redirection plugin. It’s the best plugin for 301 redirects in WordPress. There are plugins that are supposed to work for changing permalink structure (like the Permalinks Migration Plugin) but they don’t work at all. Until WordPress adds a management system for this, use Redirection.

What are your experiences?

How long is your “white knuckle period”? Any helpful tips?

Related posts:

1. SEO Randomizer: Save the Value of Your SEO'd Links
2. 3 Simple Steps to keyword order SEO – Are your words SEO friendly?
3. WordPress Content Spinner Plugin – SEO WordSpinner

After talking with my mom (@adiehl on Twitter) about Twitter, the “microblogging” website that asks you to explain “What are you doing?” in 140 characters, it prompted me to write yet another How to Twitter posts, but a less technical and more practical how to get started guide.

Twitter is not blogging. It’s not RSS. It’s not chat.

Twitter is direct: If you want to be part of someone’s life, you follow them. Once you follow a person, you get to see what they update on Twitter. You can respond directly to them. You may read what they are doing, sharing, or discussing. Unless the profile is locked, no one has to accept your request to follow. That means that you are able to become part of anyone’s social network. You have a way to directly communicate with lots of amazing people.

Getting started can be intimidating, but here’s how I got started with Twitter.

1. Follow the Followers

Starting off following the right people

Think of someone in your industry, some big shot. Think of a company you admire in your industry. Then, go to Twitter.com, click on Search, and look for them. Chances are, you will either find what you were looking for or people related to it. Once you click Follow, you will now get that person’s updates.

Once you find one good person to follow, you have your foot in the door. If you like a person’s updates and you want to build your network, here’s what you do: either go to the Twubble service, which automates the process I’m about to describe, or follow whoever is following the person you like. All of them or many of them. Then, check out some of the interesting-seeming users profiles, and follow those people. Follow hundreds of people and then sit.  Watch your Twitter feed, see who is saying interesting things. Let the tweets wash over you.

Unfollow the idiots and the verbose

Once you follow hundreds of people, you will probably be saying to yourself “What have I done!?” because there will be new tweets every second. It will be overwhelming, but stay strong. Next, you want to wait a little while — a day will be enough — and then read through scan the tweets of the people you followed. What you’re looking for are people who annoy you. They may be idiots, too talkative, spammers, etc. The point is: if you don’t like them, unfollow them.

Whoever is left after you’ve separated out the chaff will be your base.  Pat yourself on the back: you can relax. People who are doing the same thing you just did will no doubt follow you, too.

2. Find your Application

For many, the web doesn’t cut it.

You can check in on the Twitter website every hour and then read through some tweets and respond to people, but it’s unlikely that you will.  Instead, you can download a Twitter application.

• If you’re on a Mac, by far the most popular app is Twitterific. 
• There are some cross-platform Adobe Air based Twitter applications, including the popular TweetDeck and Twhirl stand out.
• If you use the FireFox browser, try TwitterFox, an addon

3. Start Tweeting

Now, you just need to write updates on what you’re doing. Simple, right?

Some tips on tweets

• Every time you do something that you find interesting, funny, important, or relevant…every time you have a pause between what you’re doing and what you’re about to do — write a new Tweet about it.
• Respond to tweets that interest you. The writer will see your response, no matter who it is.
• Write consistently — tweeting once a week is not becoming part of the community. Tweet daily. Respond to people. If you respond to others that don’t follow you, they may follow you in the future.
• Build relationships. If, after using Twitter for a while, you still don’t recognize the people you follow, you are following too many. You will start to recognize users over time. You will learn their names, their temperaments. If you don’t, you’re missing the point.
• Practice using the 140 character limit to your advantage. Learn how to say what you want in a smaller space.

Follow me on Twitter

I always want more Twitter friends, so follow me @303zachary.  I look forward to getting to know you better via tweets!

No related posts.

Today, a business associate asked me “I know about blogging, and it seems like a waste of time. Why is blogging worth the time?” I was able to reply with some very convincing arguments — and in a way, I reminded myself about the value of blogging.

1. Blogging establishes you as an expert in your field
2. Search engine traffic dramatically increases
3. Blogging is basically free marketing for your business: the only cost is your time.
4. Blogging forces you to write about your life and your business

Oh, you’re amazing? I had no idea.

If you don’t have a blog, and all you have is a website, then you may or may not know what you’re talking about. Your website could have good content, great images, convincing arguments for action, and simple navigation. Your website may be amazing, but in the end, without a blog, who knows if you are amazing?

If you don’t share your experience, it’s as if you have none. Blogging about a broad array of topics gives you authority on a subject; it shows that you know what you’re talking about. You can even write about not knowing something and be an authority!

Search engine traffic, anyone?

It’s called SEO, and if you don’t have a blog, you’re not doing too much of it! The reason why blogs are great for search optimization because they are written a natural way on a broad variety of subjects. The more you write in a blog, the broader your website’s relevance. By writing helpful content — and writing often — your website becomes a much larger presence in searches, across a wide spectrum of keywords. Blogging = traffic, it’s that simple.

Hello, my name is Mr. Free Exposure. I’m a friend of Blogging.

Yeah, blogging is free. The F word. And, if you look above, it brings in traffic. Traffic means potential leads/users/clients/sales. So, if you’re following the logic, you get free business.

The person I was speaking with looked skeptical. Time isn’t free, right? Well, I know that I don’t work every second of the 8 9 hour day. I do some browsing here, some slacking there. It’s only natural! While you’re not working, you might as well be blogging about working. You get to take a break from work, AND you build your business at the same time.

Explain yourself.

It’s often helpful to write about your business. Writing allows you to elaborate on various aspects of your life and business. It’s contemplative. When you share with others, you learn about yourself and your own process. The more you write about who you are and what you do, the better you know yourself.

Some topics you can blog about that make you think:

• What do you do?
  • Are there ways to do it better?
  • Who else is exploring how to improve your industry?
  • What do you like about your job?
  • What is the most challenging aspect of your business?
  • Do you have any funny stories about your job?
• Who are you?
  • How do you spend your free time?
  • How do your hobbies reflect on your life?
  • Have you read any good books recently?
  • Any books about your industry?
  • What’s your favorite local restaurant?
  • What do you want to achieve this year?
  • Have you traveled recently?

Related posts:

1. Encouraging clients to write often…or using a blogging service?
2. Tumblr is a great website if you find blogging intimidating
3. Abusing Google Trends – Unethical blogging