Everyone has a “Web Guy.” It’s usually a relative or an acquaintance. You don’t know what every web guy should know, but you know you need him. AND you hired him (or her) because they were cheap or they sounded really smart.
Tell the truth, you don’t know what he is talking about but you pay him. He hooks you up with the basics and because you’re technologically challenged you’re ecstatic that he’s helping you. Whatever he does is just great. Until there’s a problem.
Your Web Guy Isn’t the Problem
There are many website problems out there, but the biggest is that you’ve decided to use an unqualified person to run the Internet and revenue-driving portion of your business.
If you expect success on the web, you aren’t going to get it cheaply if it’s going to be done right. But the rewards and hassle-free approach to digital business can propel your brand forward.
Another Way to Look At It
When you take your car to get new brakes, you wouldn’t do the brakes yourself or have your nephew who had watched someone else do brakes work on your car. Certainly there are many ways to cut costs, but your Internet presence should be handled by a qualified Web Guy.
It’s helpful if you use a web firm, maybe someone who has been building websites since the web was young…maybe even someone who sees the bigger picture beyond the zeroes and ones.
Awkward Silence
You call your Web Guy because something isn’t right with your website. It’s all jacked up. You’re panicked but you dial his number, take a deep breath and wait while the phone rings. You’re going to ask him to check it out if he’s got time today. But the phone keeps ringing. And ringing.
There’s no answer. Voice mail. Your Web Guy is on vacation.
National Computer Chain Store Service
You call up a national computer chain to see how much they’ll charge to look at your site….can they look at your site?The conversation goes a little like this:
“You have the passwords?” they ask.
“No,” you say.
“Well you’ll be needing those,” they say. “They’re kinda important. We can’t access your site without them. Who’s your web host?”
“I don’t know,” you say.
“We need that to get into your account. No, we can’t break into your site. You sure you don’t have an e-mail from him with this information?”
“No,” you say. “Nothing.”
“Well you’ll have to wait for him to get back from vacation. Good luck.”
Questions to Test the Qualifications of Your Web Guy
- Is my site on Google?
- Do you use webmaster tools?
- Can you edit raw HTML?
- How do you compress your images?
- Can you put my site on Google analytics?
- Can you add e-mail to my site without the threat of spam?
- What if someone leaves the company? How do I get those e-mails that they receive?
- I have old e-mail accounts, want to consolidate to one, can you help me do that?
- How can I increase my page rank?
- What can I do to increase the likelihood that my site will be found in local searches?
- Can you send me a list of sites you’ve built?
- How can I get in touch with you?
- Where do you host your sites?
- Why do you host them there?
Hire a Qualified Web Guy
Contact a qualified Web Guy to solve your website problems. When your business is at stake the last thing that you want is problem reaching the person who controls your advertising.
