Don't Lose Your Domain Name to a Shady Web Design Firm
June 29th, 2009
Part of researching the right Website Design Company for your project is knowing what questions to ask. This article is addressing one simple but very important question to ask; who will own my domain name? Registering a domain name is one of the very first steps in the web design process and it is one of the most common services that is taken for granted. Any reputable web design firm will help you through all aspects of the website design process and explain to you the importance of each step. Here's one point that many website design companies neglect to mention - whoever registers your domain name owns your domain name.
What does this mean for business owners? This means website owners beware! Register your own domain names!
I have been in the website design business for many years and have seen some pretty shady practices from several Web designers that include holding domain names hostage. I encourage all of my clients and all small business owners to register their domain names in their own names. It is of the utmost importance that the website owner has control over his or her domain name. By controlling your own domain name you can control who hosts your website and ultimately who has the right to maintain your website. Any legitimate website design firm would want their clients to be able to have control over their business information.
Many unsuspecting business owners simply assume that they have control over their website and are free to change hosting or web designers as they please. They certainly should be able to, however, I was inspired to write this short article or warning to business owners after receiving a surprising amount of phone calls recently from people who were being held hostage by their web designers. They were all similar situations where a web designer helped a client set up a site from scratch and everything seemed fine until the website owner wished to transfer hosting or change web designers only to find out that they could not. Finding out that your domain name is being held hostage for more money or out of spite can be devastating.
Here is a summary of one of the domain name horror stories that I recently encountered that illustrates the importance of owning your own domain name very clearly. A real-estate agent, we'll call her Maggie, was working with a web designer for several years. This web designer then got her real estate license and became a competing real estate agent. Once the "web designer" became a real estate agent she no longer wanted to update and maintain Maggies' website. Maggie also noticed that her website started falling from Google search results. Maggie came to my website design company to see if we could help her make some updates and regain her Google Search engine positioning.
Maggie was unhappy with her current web designer and wanted to move her hosting to a new hosting company when we initiated the work. Maggie, like many business owners, thought she could do whatever she wanted with her website. Unfortunately, there are people out there who scam, extort, and retaliate. Maggie was the victim of the latter. We were unable to make any headway with the former designer and had to advise the client to contact a lawyer. Unfortunately, this is often the only alternative and can be a tedious and costly process. Many people holding a domain name hostage will release it immediately when confronted with a letter from a lawyer, but there are always those willing to ride out the process to the bitter end.
My recommendation is to avoid any domain name complications that could derail your website from the beginning and register your domain name through a reputable registrar like GoDaddy. I personally recommend using GoDaddy as a registrar due to their exemplary customer service and streamlined processing. It only takes 5 minutes to set up. Having to fight for a domain name you spent years establishing a business with will certainly cost you much more.
Want to Disable Skype or Mail Auto Start?
April. 16th, 2009
Mac's are fantastic, but sometimes the auto start feature can be annoying especially with Skype. No worries though - this is a super easy fix, just follow the steps below. You will see that you can set up your mail program to auto start or not auto start as well.
Disable Skype auto start in Mac:
• Go to System Preference - > Accounts
• Select your account at the left column
• Click on “Login Items” tab
• Highlight Skype and Click on the “-” button
• Done, you have just disabled Skype from auto start
Having Trouble Transferring Your Fetch Shortcuts?
April. 14th, 2009
When you are upgrading to a new Macintosh, you want to be able to transfer all of your Fetch Shortcuts from your old machine to your new one. To accomplish this, you need to follow a different set of instructions depending on which version of Fetch you were using on the old Macintosh. If you're not sure which version of Fetch you were using, open Fetch on the old Macintosh, choose Fetch > About Fetch, and the version number will be displayed in the About window.
These instructions assume both computers are using Mac OS X.
If you were using Fetch 5.1 or later on the old Macintosh:
On the old Macintosh:
1. Open Fetch.
2. Choose Shortcuts > Show Shortcuts.
3. Choose File > Save a Copy As to export the shortcuts.
4. Pick a name to give the exported shortcuts file, such as "Old Shortcuts", and pick a location to save them.
5. Quit Fetch.
6. Copy the "Old Shortcuts" file to the new Macintosh.
On the new Macintosh:
1. Open Fetch.
2. Cancel the New Connection dialog if it appears.
3. Choose Shortcuts > Show Shortcuts.
4. In the Finder, double-click the "Old Shortcuts" file from your old computer.
5. You should now have two shortcut list windows open, one named "Fetch Shortcuts" and one named "Old Shortcuts."
6. Choose Edit > Select All in the window containing your old shortcuts.
7. Drag the selected shortcuts to the "Fetch Shortcuts" window.
8. Close the window containing your old shortcuts.
If you were using Fetch 5.0.5 or earlier on the old Macintosh:
1. Locate the "Fetch Shortcuts" file on your old Macintosh. One way to do this is to choose Go > Home in the Finder of the old Macintosh, double-click on the Library folder, and then double-click on the Preferences folder. The Fetch Shortcuts file is in that folder.
2. Copy the file to the new Macintosh.
3. Open Fetch on the new Macintosh.
4. Cancel the New Connection dialog if it appears.
5. Choose Shortcuts > Show Shortcuts.
6. In the Finder, double-click the "Fetch Shortcuts" file from your old computer.
7. You should now have two shortcut list windows open, both named "Fetch Shortcuts".
8. Choose Edit > Select All in the window containing your old shortcuts.
9. Drag the selected shortcuts to the other "Fetch Shortcuts" window.
10. Close the window containing your old shortcuts.
Since Fetch 5.1 and later store passwords for shortcuts in your keychain, moving the shortcuts file from one Macintosh with Fetch 5.1 or later to another will move all the information about your shortcuts except the passwords.
Is Google Personalized Search Results Giving You A Case Of The Ups And Downs?
Jan 22nd, 2010
Google has been customizing personalized searches or website SERP's for quite a while. Recently, one of their updates has dramatically affected personalized search results - you may have noticed it with your own website. Previously you would have noticed a variation in search engine results while logged into your Google account. With Google's latest round of updates you get personalized search engine results all the time whether you're logged in or out of your Google account. This recent batch of changes has caused a lot of up and down SERP fluctuation for business websites. I hear a lot of chatter about websites going from page 1 to page 5 overnight.
This can happen to anyone. If you check your websites enough then you have probably experienced this phenomenon. Many people attribute it to lazy link building programs. Though, no one can know for certain how Google ranks websites, I have noticed similar temporary website fluctuations when Google releases a new algorithm update or when they do their quarterly page rank update. Google's most recent set of updates has to do with localized search results which is the culprit in many of the recent website ups and downs.
As one of the owners of a successful website design company, I've been getting a lot of feedback from site owners who are freaking out about seeing dramatic changes in their websites search results. Yes it's true that actual search engine positioning and personalized SERPs can be significantly different. So, what's going on? First of all, there's no need to panic about this. There are several components at work here, but two important ones.
The first component is location.
Google is continually trying to improve how they deliver the best and most relevant search results to those searching for companies, products, or services. In order to do this Google takes into account your location to bring you the most relevant search results. Google uses your IP address to deliver results based on the city in which you live or happen to be using the internet. This clearly affects user defined searches, but it also greatly impacts businesses with website SEO plans and search engine marketing campaigns.
This new change can actually greatly improve local search campaigns for business websites, however it will skew how your business shows up in national search engine results. For instance, your website may be showing up on the first page of Google when you search for your key terms, but people outside of your area may be seeing your site somewhere on the fifth page. The second component is Web History This affects both searches done when signed into a Google account and searches done while signed out though results will still vary a bit. Google customizes your search results based on previous search activity using a search information stored in a browser cookie.
This information is referred to as "web history". Having your web history enabled can really give you a false sense of your websites ranking, because it pushes your most visited websites to the top. So, if you happen to search your own website to check rankings a lot - you may very well see yourself in the top position when actually you could be 50 pages deep in Googles actual search positioning. How do I turn off localized search or what can I do to see my websites actual search engine position? If you don't want to see localized search results so that you can get a better idea of your websites actual SERP here's what you should do.
A) If you are signed into a Google Account you can disable "Web History" by choosing to "remove Web History" from you Google Account.
B) If you are doing searches signed out of a Google Account then you can delete the "cookie" stored on your browser by clearing your browsers cookies and refreshing your screen. You can also disable history based customization by going to the top right corner of a search result page and clicking on "Web History". Then on the resulting page click on "Disable Customizations".
Please note that if you are not logged into a Google account simply disabling web history will still provide distorted search results because Google will still be providing you with localized search results based on your IP address. However, your SERP's should now be fairly accurate while logged into a Google account. To see unbiased results you can check your website using a proxy server or a third party SERP checker website.
Print your own T-shirts - NO Minimum Orders!
Nov. 30th, 2009
Stop wasting time searching thousands of images and make your own custom t-shirt right here - right now!
With something like a twelve bazillion t-shirt websites on the internet it's easy to find t-shirts, but it's not always easy to find a custom tee that's right for you.
For instance you might be looking for Custom T-shirts for an upcoming event or maybe you just have your own personal style. Perhaps you've even thought about getting T-shirts specifically designed for a team with your logo, text or picture? Look no further the FunkyTshack is one of the best resources for not only finding t-shirts but creating Custom T-shirts! Getting a Custom T-Shirt made has never been so fast and easy!
All you do is Click. . .Ad Art. . .and Order!
The Funky T-shack is all about flaunting your own passion and creativity. With a few simple clicks of the mouse you can customize your shirt. Choose your favorite T-Shirt, Sweat Shirt, Polo, Jersey, infant onesie, add your own text and/or graphics or choose vibrant artwork and slogans from our vast collection, and check out. Your Custom T-Shirt will be printed within 48 hours and promptly delivered to your door.
The Funky T-shack started as a group of designers creating custom t-shirts upon request for some of the largest online catalogs in the United States. The Funky T-shack is a compilation of some of the most popular best selling themed shirts from various catalogs, but it's more than just another t-shirt website — it's a custom T-shirt printing company that provides top-notch shirt customization services such as screen printing, digital printing, and custom tagging, using the latest and most advanced technologies, at the best prices in the industry. There are no limitations to design or volume of order.
Funky Tshack makes it possible to print apparel your way. Select the design, choose your favorite logos, texts, artworks, or create your own, and order it. In just three easy steps and a few clicks your custom T-shirt is ready. If you've tried shopping t shirts before by hunting around to get the perfect combination of designs, colors and prices which usually don't turn out perfect anyway, then you will love this experience.
At FunkyTshack.com, you just have to play you way through their easy to use "make it yourself feature" and let your imagination soar. Bring your ideas to life and print on your own custom t-shirt.
Board Games and Coffee Breaks!
Sept 29th, 2009
That's this local duo's key to beating the tough economy.
Normally we wouldn't pair board games with websites, but thankfully they both go with coffee breaks. The only common denominator, besides the coffee breaks, is that both those areas of our business absolutely thrived from the start of the downturn in the economy to date. While many of our primary clients were hit so hard by the economy that they were forced to make drastic cut backs or in some cases shut their doors permanently it was our eclectic set of skills that kept us powering through.
When my business partner, Paul Quinn and I started Pixel we intended on remaining focused on designing products for the gift industry as we had been doing prior to starting the company. Thanks to either our great ambition to broaden personal skill sets or our complete lack of a defined business plan we became experts in a variety of design niches.
Thankfully, we both love solving design problems and handling a wide variety of design related projects and this certainly worked to our advantage with Board Games. With our background in product design, packaging and a little board game design experience we were able to become the production design company for Gryphon Games. Gryphon Games produces board and card games by some of the most famous game designers in the world such as Reiner Knizia. When the economy tanked and the term "Staycation" became a part of everyday language game sales skyrocketed, and for us so did game production.
Our desire to solve design problems also got us into website design and with every unique web development situation we got a little more skilled. Now about 60% of our business is creating custom websites, E-commerce solutions and SEO/SEM services. With most companies putting advertising on hold and tightening their belts to weather the storm we actually saw an increase in start up companies requiring web development as-well-as established businesses looking to reach the top in Google Rankings. As much as we hate to see the economy slow, we do feel truly blessed to have weathered the storm so well.
And now it's time for a coffee break - it's where we do our best thinking!
How to make sony handycam videos work with Mac
August 28th 2009
Having problems getting your video off your camcorder and on to your Mac? Can't burn a DVD? Can't watch the video you just shot from your hand held on your Mac? You're not alone. Here's how to make your sony videos work on a mac.
Sony, like many other popular hand held video recorders are pretty intuitive and easy to use. One not so intuitive feature of the Sony Handy Cam is that the file format is not so compatible with Macs. So, getting your wonderful videos off of your camera and onto your Mac Hard drive is a bit of a problem. That also means that you can't use the "easy" Burn Directly to DVD feature on the camera, if it has one. You will need copy your files to a folder on the desktop and then use file conversion software like; Prism Video File Converter.
There are many movie file conversion programs out there. The Prism Video File Converter is one that we have found to be very easy and fast to use. Prism Video File Converter... Use this program to convert video files into the formats you need to watch on TV, load to a cell phone, put on a website, create a presentation, watch on your portable device and much more. In fact, the possibilities are endless using this powerful video file converter.
Formats supported: avi, mpeg, wmv, 3gp, divX, mpeg1, mpeg2, mpeg4, mp4, mov, asf, vob, H.264, Xvid and many more.
Features include:
* Load multiple formats and convert to a single output format.
* Add video files directly from DVDs.
* Set compression/encoder rates of output files.
* Set resolution and frame rate.
Download Prism Video Converter for Mac Intel
Download Prism Video Converter for Mac
