Setting Up A CGI Script On Your Web Site
September 1, 2010
Before you set up any scripts you will need some information about your server. You can get this by e-mailing your web hosting provider. It’s good to have these on hand before you try to set up a script. You may not need all of the information for each script, but some of the larger scripts demand more information to work. The information you may need is:
Path To Perl This is normally the first line at the top of a “.cgi” or “.pl” (Perl) script. A sample of a Path To Perl is /usr/bin/perl. Most scripts already have the proper Path To Perl included. If the script doesn’t work it may be this variable.
Relative Path Which is the relative path to your server, not the HTML path. A sample is: /home/yourlogin/public_html/
HTML Path To Your Server Which is the URL path to your server, for example: http://yourdomain.com
Sendmail Path Which is the relative path to your mail server. A sample is: /usr/sbin/sendmail
SMTP Server Address Which is the path to sendmail on your server. A sample is: smtp.yourdomamin.com (This is rarely used)
Once you have those variables you can set up just about any script available.
What ROI You Should Expect From Your Web Site
August 25, 2010
Is Your Web Site an Expense or an Investment?
Why don’t you think of your web site as of an investment rather than of an expense? Having a web site is very similar to having an investment property.
Let me show you why.
When you are buying an investment property, you have to invest a certain amount of money at the first place and then pay trivial ongoing fees (property management, rates, maintenance, etc.).
From time to time you would spend some money on improvements and renovations.
You are receiving firm rental income and are enjoying the natural increase in property value.
The very same arrangement applies to your web site. At first you are paying for web design and search engine optimisation and then carrying out some ongoing expenses (web promotion, maintenance, support, monitoring, fine-tuning, etc.).
And from time to time you spend some money on enhancements and new marketing initiatives.
Your site is getting sound web traffic and your business is benefiting from new and returned clients and ultimately from more sales.
So far both, your investment property and your web site look very much alike, don’t they?
Beware the Software Siren
August 18, 2010
I’ve heard several prominent web marketers mention in their classes and public forums how easy it is to create your own software. Why, all you have to do is run over to Elance.com or RentACoder.com and have some poor shmoe from Outer Slobvia whip out what you want. And all for the price of a few trips to Starbucks.
Uh, not quite.
Is that a spec in your eye?
First of all, there is the matter of specifications. A spec is a description of what your software should do. The more specific your desires, the more detailed your specification needs to be. Even the most malnourished coder in Slobovia is going to balk if you say, "Try a gray background?oops, no, don’t like that. Let’s try light blue? Oh, that’s not right, either. Let’s try mauve." If you just want to specify "the important stuff", you have to be prepared to accept all the "unimportant stuff" however it is handed to you.
Warning: The Truth About Having a Web Site!
August 12, 2010
If you don’t have a web site yet, are thinking of slapping one up or have one that simply isn’t producing, this Warning is for you!
All too often folks contact me about getting a Web Site when they really have not done their due diligence in determining even if their “idea” is one worth investing in. And although they hate spam and don’t believe most of it, they do tend to fall into believing much of the fast, easy and cheap noise online in existence only to line the pockets of shysters and unscrupulous developers.
Here are some questions you need to ask and investigate getting the answers to so you can realistically determine if your idea is one worth pursuing and investing in. If any “solution” tells you these questions are not of concern, raise that red flag and run as fast as you can in the opposite direction! Certainly don’t give them a dime of your hard earned money!
=> What will your online expenses be for your Web server, ISP connection, E-Commerce application, Web Site development and maintenance?
=> Why will people buy this product/service from you over any of the number of Web Sites currently online?
Autoresponders Make You Look Like A Pro
August 4, 2010
People like to get immediate responses to requests. Autoresponders are great for letting people know you are on the job and that their requests are being taken care of. These are much better than thank you pages.
Below is one example of how you can use an autoresponder to save time and make your customers feel a little more at ease until you can handle their request. Along with being an example it is also a guide to actually setting up the autoresponder in your mail account.
Customer Service - Time Saving TipUse an autoresponder to answer your customer’s questions. You can anticipate or add answers as you go for your customers. If you have a support page you can include a number of e-mails for each question. Each e-mail can have an autoresponder answer sent to the customer. This can cut down dramatically on the number of e-mails you need to answer, and your customer gets an instant answer to their question, instead of waiting for you to reply.
In Business? 10 Reasons Why You Need a Website — Now!
July 30, 2010
1) Word of Mouth The single most powerful form of new business creation is word of mouth. Your past customers, friends, acquaintances and staff aren’t likely to carry your brochure or even your business card everywhere they go. The can however carry your domain name, in their heads! Every time they have a conversation that leads to your kind of business they just quote your simple domain name. You’ve chosen a simple domain name of course, easily remembered, easily spelt and requiring no explanation. For that reason avoid hyphenated names.
2) Cost Effective Have you ever produced a colour printed brochure or other printed promotional material? expensive isn’t it? When you have a web site created you may consider that expensive too. Hang on, make the comparison. A web site is a full colour brochure for your business. Unlike a printed brochure it never gets lost or put in the bin and you never have to go to your printer and pay for more. If things change or you are able to offer new products or services alterations to your web site can be made instantly and relatively cheaply too. You wed site is available in pristine condition, 24 hours a day to anyone in the world. You can even replace your printed brochure with a CD of your web site.
Website Value - Whats Your Business Website Worth?
July 23, 2010
If you were asked to put a value on your website what would it be? Perhaps you paid a small fortune and commissioned a top design agency to build it. It would still be worth at least what you paid for it, right?
It’s a sad fact that a great number of websites are worthless. They give no value to their owners and are little more than a drain on resources. Would it surprise you if your website was classed as one of these?
The World Wide Web is made up of millions of webpages so it’s not surprising that many are rarely seen by human eyes other than their owners’ and creators’. These unfulfilled webpages are like trees in a forest. They can make as much noise as they want, but if no one is around to hear it then who is to know they ever made a sound? Too many of those that are seen by people are poor at encouraging progress through the sales cycle i.e. they don’t persuade the reader enough to progress to the next stage whether that’s submitting a sales query or making a purchase.
How To Keep Your Website Sticky
July 18, 2010
Developing a website with content that entices visitors to return over and over again is something that takes time and effort to put together. This checklist can give you a great start on creating a popular website that entices readers to hang around on your site.
Readers love fresh, relevant, useful content. People surf the net to find solutions to everyday problems. If you can provide this kind of information, your readers will love your site and will tell their friends.
We recommend you consider each point in the checklist and how it related specifically to your website. Most small, home businesses are owned by busy people with other responsibilities. Few people will have the time and resources to research and develop all these points at the same time. We recommend you work on one or two at a time, and develop fantastic content, rather attempting to tackle all these aspects at once.
Remember, it takes time to put together a fantastic site with incredible content.
1. How To Articles: they include detailed step by step instructions. Examples: how to publish your e-zine, how to promote your business, how to attract visitors to your web site.
Are You Being Scammed By Your Web Design Company?
July 12, 2010
This is a growing concern amongst many business owners. Does your web design company own you? This may be possible if you’ve allowed them to host your web site for you and also register your domain name for your company.
Web design companies have a lot of control over their clients. I refer to this as “False Power”. The sad reality is that most of their clients don’t even know they are stuck in this potentially painful predicament. This power is usually exercised when a client of a web design company finds a better deal on hosting for their web site and they simply want to switch their hosting provider, or when the “client” wants to upgrade their web site for a better rate than their current web development provider is offering.
Here’s what usually happens to so called “traitor clients”:
- Current web design company sends their client a hefty bill for switching
- The web design company cancels their client’s account
- They may point the domain name to another place
- They sometimes take down the entire website until further notice
Running An Effective Website
July 4, 2010
Running an effective website is a continuous process. I have compiled five (5) ways of doing it on a regular basis.
1. Maintain and Optimize Your Site.
Maintenance is making sure your site is technically ready for visitors. To do this, a web site owner needs to regularly run site diagnostics to unearth common problems, such as browser compatibility, load time performance, dead links, link popularity, spelling check, HTML, design and directory registration readiness. You have to make sure your site is optimized in all areas mentioned.
2. Attract your visitors.
Nobody can resist a free offer. You have to reward your visitors with loads of free stuff. Giving something for free creates the demand for them. You also need to update your web site regularly, add fresh content, update time-sensitive information, and offer good deals/discounts/promos/special offers to give your visitors a valid reason to return to your site.
3. Track your visitors.
An effective web site contains a functional counter that can tell how many visitors are coming, where are they coming from, and which website(s) referred it. With this information on hand, you can identify which marketing campaigns, banner ads and page content to display on your web site.
