Web Your Business Press Releases

Google announced Friday - IE6 no longer supported!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:37:57 -0700

Google announced on Friday 29th of January, that as of March 1st, 2010 - users of it's sites, including GoogleDocs - might no longer be able to support key functionality in version of browsers no longer supported by their authors. This includes Internet Explorer version 6.0 and prior versions.

The two websites specifically mentioned were GoogleDocs and Google Sites. Outlined in the article are minimum browser versions to be supported - which in the case of Internet Explorer, is 7.0.

Judging by some of the comments on the article - this is a welcomed event by developers around the world - so... if you're still running version 6.0 of Internet Explorer - you have YET ANOTHER reason to update - please upgrade NOW!!

Original Article: http://bit.ly/bgogjU

Do you Windows Update? You better...

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:27:41 -0700

Lots of you may have heard about the Google/China - but did you read past the headlines and realize that the whole thing stemmed from Google corporation being hacked by a zero-day exploit in Internet Explorer - not just IE6 as has been demonstrated, but also IE7 and IE8 were POTENTIALLY vulnerable - although a proof of concept was only ever demonstrated on IE6... well you know now!

Anyway - back the Windows Update... the "patch" for Internet Explorer is now released, and we STRONGLY recommend visiting Windows Update in your IE - downloading the "Cumulative Security Update" for your version of Internet Explorer - and then restarting your machine.

Then, if you haven't already - installing Firefox - and make that your default web browser... do it today, do it now ... trust us - you do NOT want to be running an unprotected Microsoft Internet Explorer a minute longer than is necessary - if at all!

Chinese Domain Registration Scammers - They are back again...

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:41:53 -0700

For several years we've been seeing Chinese Domain Registrars sending out bogus email to US companies - the basic theme of the email is along these lines:

1. We're here in China and a we have a customer who wants to register your name
2. we're really nice people and found that this might infringe on your business, so we're giving you notice
3. you have a limited time to respond - respond NOW.

That's it - there is no sales pitch; no link to buy those domains (which in many cases you CAN NOT register without a company in China or Taiwan etc).

Continue reading "Chinese Domain Registration Scammers - They are back again..."

Are you using the correct search phrases on your website to be "found"?

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:58:56 -0700

Building a website is no "field of dreams" - build it and they automatically going to come!

Marketing a website is so much easier if you build the site from the ground up with keywords and search phrases in mind - but we realize that is not always possible - if you used a content management system (CMS), or blog style engine to base your site on, then you have your page titles, descriptions and the page content itself to work with... sometimes you can name your images something search engine friendly, and other times the CMS picks a strange and wonderful name for you... but you always have control over the page CONTENT - and you need to consider your OPTIMUM keywords and phrases when writing that content.

However, using the correct keyword phrases that your customers use to find your products and services is not always as easy as you think. If your business sells a specific product such as a toilet plunger, we're sure that you are using keyword phrases that include 'toilet plunger' - but you need to consider many more related searches....

Continue reading "Are you using the correct search phrases on your website to be "found"?"

Direct your heading in 2010

nospam@example.com (Dianne Stayton) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:47:38 -0700

Ok here we go! A new year – a new beginning.

Congratulations to all of you that have survived what some are saying was one of the hardest years to be in business. The team of WYB want to thank you for your business in 2009. We know you have a choice when it comes to web development companies and we thank you for choosing us!

So what is your business plans for 2010?

Continue reading "Direct your heading in 2010"

When less is definitely more!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:13:00 -0700

I just want to take the time to remind any of you who are using Google Adwords, about one of the most useful features in Google Adwords - if you are using adwords to drive business to your site, you need to stay on top of your NEGATIVE KEYWORDS - these the are the words that Google uses to determine if a search is to be excluded for your ad - and even if you setup your ad campaigns and used negative keywords, reviewing them on a regular basis can save you a lot of money!

A good example would be - lets say you're selling software - that software has a trial available, which you provide, but only 1% of people who trial the software buy from you - I would recommend excluding 'trial' from your keywords. I would also exclude, 'free', 'crack', 'full', 'warez', 'keygen', and a whole host of other words.

Continue reading "When less is definitely more!"

So many "experts" - so much snake oil....

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:40:28 -0700

Since early 2009, we've been noticing the number of "social media experts" and "social media consultants" climbing steadily - in a recent Mashable article, they found over 15,740 "social media experts", using a number of different search terms, they found oh-so-many self-proclaimed gurus that it really is time to learn how to differentiate between the true consultant, and the snake oil salesman - or the social dabbler.

The same is true in a tough economy for web designers - the number of web designers climbs steadily; it reaches the point where everyone you know has a friend, or a friend of a friend who builds websites. Once again, the problem is weeding out those that have nothing but flashy imagery and a good sales patter, and identifying those that offer real value for money, and a valid and realizable return on investment.

Quite honestly, almost anyone can build you "a web site" - it's relatively easy to install a blog, or other content management system (CMS) at the click of a mouse button inside the control panel of their favorite resold webhost. Finding a pretty theme and applying it and setting up a couple of categories, then teaching you how to edit you own "website" does not make you a successful website - it gives you a pat on the back for your own ego, a shining edifice on no-visitors street, in zero-return-on-investment-ville, in the state of blow-smoke-up-your-own-arse!

What you need is not a pretty ego-trip, but a well thought out web system, and you need this tied to a social media strategy, that is both sensible, measurable and integrated with your website. You need to work with a team that work in your best interests, and knows how and when to let their expertize shine - the key here is return on investment - you want it, need it and deserve it.

Why so many "experts"?

Continue reading "So many "experts" - so much snake oil...."

Holiday hours for Web Your Business

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:31:28 -0700

Happy Holidays from the Staff of Web Your Business!

Holiday hours are:

Wednesday December 23rd, 2009 9AM to 1PM
Thursday December 24th, 2009 CLOSED
Friday December 25th, 2009 CLOSED
Monday December 28th, 2009 CLOSED
Tuesday December 29th, 2009 9AM to 5PM
Wednesday December 30th, 2009 9AM to 5PM
Thursday December 31st, 2009 9AM to 1PM
Friday January 1st, 2010 CLOSED
Monday January 4th, 2010 9AM to 5PM

Please note: technical support is available 24/7 using our online channels.

Thanksgiving Office Hours

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:10:08 -0700

Just a quick note to let all our fans know that our office will be closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving - of course, support will still be available via email/helpdesk but phone messages will go unanswered until the following MONDAY the 30th of November.

We wish you all a very happy thanksgiving and hope to talk to you after the holiday. If you have any web site design, programming, social media, web updates and/or database systems requirements, remember, we have a free hosting package for new customers - existing customers who refer us gets 2-months hosting credit for each customer that does business with us!!

Junk emails with attachment links - and website security - another round....

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:45:34 -0700

These things are relentless, and constantly evolving. This morning in my inbox, I received two emails purporting to come from "postcard.org" - with a link to an executable on the domains "postcard.ax.lt" - a subdomain of Latvian domain. This domain was hosted via a FREE DNS service (afraid.org) - and I am sure that the executable was not something I wanted - but thankfully, we saw a VERY quick response from the team running the DNS service - this threat now will not result in someone getting the malware download, as they stepped in and killed the link.

Continue reading "Junk emails with attachment links - and website security - another round...."

Life moves on - our hosting platform evolves and the tutorial video series gets refreshed!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:06:53 -0600

After HostingCon 2009, the annual web hosting conference (held at National Harbor, MD) - we came back to our offices and there was a LOT to contemplate.

The buzz at HostingCon 2009 wasn't ANYTHING specifically about hosting, but it was about how to engage and reach out to your customers via social media. That was a stretch for us - we're a small web hosting company and we have customers in many countries. The challenge was how to "engage" customers with different languages and cultures.

Continue reading "Life moves on - our hosting platform evolves and the tutorial video series gets refreshed!"

Facebook for business - don't do it WRONG!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:33:33 -0600

In a recent facebook discussion, a question came up - can I have 2 accounts, 1 for business & 1 for personal... some said yes... quite honestly, we took exception to this advice IMMEDIATELY... here is why...

We had re-read the Facebook help pages on this very topic very recently - and this is what we found... it reads as a resounding "NO - don't DO IT" as far as we could tell..

From: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=721

Continue reading "Facebook for business - don't do it WRONG!"

Less Haste, more speed - Google screwup part 2

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:13:19 -0600

Those of you who read these pages (all two of you) may remember that I posted an article (or some would say rant) three weeks ago - the subject was that submitting your site into a Google Adwords campaign before it was 100% ready could result in a real mess and pickle to clean up... well today we have resolution.

Yes, it took three weeks - I wasn't entirely "on it" though - because Bixpo did get in the way - but here is how it all went down.

A new site was submitted to Google adwords prior to be being cleaned up - the meta content was not complete, and some of the pages had meta-content from the previous incarnation of the site (the code was copied from one internal site to another - because they basically do the same thing - sell software).

Anyway - Google then goes and starts indexing the site... your ads are checked for THREE things...

1. keyword relevance
2. landing page quality score
3. landing page loading time

Well, we were not trying to misdirect traffic and our servers are nowhere near capacity (we run our servers "lean"), so 1 and 3 were no problem - my problem was option 2 here - "landing page quality score".
Continue reading "Less Haste, more speed - Google screwup part 2"

Less haste, more speed - Being too eager with Google can cost you money!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:20:53 -0600

Do you use adwords on Google?

Do you launch new sites, or new pages for your Google adwords landing pages?

You should - each campaign should have a landing page which makes it easier to track in your own stats the number of people who visit your site. Sure, google offers conversion stats - but I like to have my own checks and balances... I prefer to do this for my own sanity and peace of mind.

Well - launching a new landing page and pushing Google towards it before it is FULLY FINISHED can cost you a LOT OF MONEY!

Continue reading "Less haste, more speed - Being too eager with Google can cost you money!"

Throw it up and forget it?

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:18:43 -0600

We have had a minor rush of new customers coming to us because their websites have been hacked. These hacks have come from a variety of sources and have often been referred to us by existing WYB customers (thank you - your free hosting for referring hosting customers will be credited to your control panel!)

The majority of these hacks have been truly fortunate - in so much as these customers have not lost everything!

How could you lose everything on your website?

Well the days of static website are gone - this was the start Web 2.0 "revolution" - where websites moved away from being push content only - the blog was king - and still reigns as the number 1 means of becoming interactive with your customer base. The revolution brought RSS feeds, comments, interactivity and more. These tools required web "systems" - basically software that ran on the web server and delivered the dynamic content and provided the feedback mechanisms that customers were demanding.

With these web systems came security holes and exploits - these exploits were many and various and continue to this day... some allowed hackers, crackers and script-kiddies to co-opt poor code for minor website defacement - pages would be replaced with versions that displayed "Hacked by" messages, or political statement (or both)... others are used for far more sinister purposes.

Continue reading "Throw it up and forget it?"