I first became aware of the power of this debate a while back when I did an upgrade to the Queercents blog that I manage and it was one of those Wordpress versions that broke the Full RSS Feed feature.  That has since been resolved, but it opened my eyes to the fervor and the issues.

The difference between Full and Partial RSS feed is pretty clear from the name.  When someone subscribes to your blog in an RSS reader they will either be able to read your entire post (Full feed) right in their RSS reader or they will only be able to read an excerpt (partial feed) and have to click over to your blog to read the rest of the article.

Usually you want people to click on over to your blog or website to read something. Yet with blogs the etiquette is a little different.  People who read blogs in RSS readers can’t stand having to click over to “read more”.  Myself included.  I can’t tell you the number of blogs I have abandoned reading because they were partial feed.  Just too many “clicks” involved. A good reminder of making it easy for your users or they will go elsewhere.

I loved this cartoon on the subject:

That being said, others believe a partial feed is the way to go because it makes it harder for spam blogs and content scrapers to swipe your content in its entirety.  The caveat here is that it is truly impossible to stop all content duplication and theft.  You can take steps to prevent it and prove you are the copyright holder by doing things like copyrighting your work with the US Copyright Office and utilizing services like Copyscape to ferret out  thieves.

Melanie at Blogging Basics shared this excellent article on the argument called “Full RSS Feed Versus Partial” at Performancing. The author shares my opinion on the debate:

 In my own travels across the web, I only subscribe to the RSS feed of a blog if it provides the full feed. I don’t have time to click through to the actual article. I’ll only do that if I want to publish a comment or two. I’ve learned a long time ago that people scraping your content is just another part of blogging. As far as I’m concerned, you can never win the war on content scraping, you can only win individual battles. But what is the point if the battles are never ending? So, my advice is to offer a full content RSS feed to your readers. Anything less is just not worth it.

I can’t agree more — blogs are about encouraging readership and making it easy for people to connect with you.  Don’t sabotage that effort by making them work hard to read your posts.

Need help creating your blog or optimizing its use? Contact me to learn how I can help.

Cartoon Credit: Noise to Signal at post “Cartoon: Partial Text RSS Feeds”

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I was reading this long and involved article on URL Canonicalization sent to me by friend and colleague Karyn Greenstreet today.  It is an article that is a bit heavy on the techy and can give you a headache.  Yet, within the esoteric and advanced concepts of SEO that it discusses is a very critical and important point for everyone to understand.  If you’re not careful with the way you architect your site and link to content within your site you might be drastically affecting your SEO rankings to the negative and not even know it.

Let me explain the most simple example to you.  The address “www.yourdomain.com” and “yourdomain.com” are two different addresses according to the search engines even if they both point to the same exact website.  When you mix and mingle the two in your linking strategies, you dilute your SEO juice.

You might wonder, gee, where might this happen?  Well, I learned the shocking way (when it was pointed out to me) that when you install Wordpress for your blog, the default address is often without the “www”. So, without even realizing it you could find yourself sabotaging your own SEO efforts.

Take a peek at how my settings are for my Wordpress blog.  Notice how I specify the address with the complete “www”?

The devil is in the details as you can see from this setting most people never look at. Quite frankly I didn’t think too much of it way back when either!

There are other ways you could inadvertently dilute your efforts.  For example, the file “index.htm” and “index.html” are two entirely different things.  Every URL is case sensitive. So “www.yourdomain.com/page.html” and “www.yourdomain.com/Page.html” are two different things. It is important to pick a naming convention and stick to it.  It is equally important to be consistent in the way you link to things from within your site and when you link back to your site from external sites (ex: professional directories, byline in online articles, etc.).

I don’t point these details out to stress you out. As I move step-by-step down the SEO road myself I find the devil is in the details and there is ALWAYS something additional you can tweak.

If you’re serious about the web and search engine results, it definitely pays to work with someone who can guide you along the way.  Feel free to contact me at any time and I’m happy to help or work with one of my partners to get you the exact help you need.

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The CAN-SPAM Act was passed into Federal Law in 2003 for the following purpose:

To regulate interstate commerce by imposing limitations and penalties on the transmission of unsolicited commercial electronic mail via the Internet.

Meaning, there was now a way to define and penalize those who engage in spam activities.

So, what does that mean for you using e-mail as a valid marketing tool?  After all, you’re not harvesting e-mail addresses,  sending bogus claims, or sending unsolicited junk.  (I hope!) How can  you make sure you are in compliance?

The CAN-SPAM implications are one of my favorite reasons for recommending everyone sending e-mail newsletters use a professional system.  They are set up to comply with CAN-SPAM and all the opt-in requirements.  It makes it easy for you to ensure you are in compliance and prove so in the event there is a dispute.

One of my preferred e-mail broadcasting and autoresponder systems is Aweber.  They have a great little FAQ entitled “What is the CAN-SPAM Act?”.

In it  they excerpt this important piece from the regulation:

According to CAN-SPAM, all email messages must:

• Offer a method for the recipient to opt-out (unsubscribe).
• Contain the sender’s valid physical postal address.

With a professional newsletter system these two requirements are automatically handled for you.  After all, if you are sending something out of your e-mail client (i.e. Outlook) the recipients do not have these options, so technically you are in violation of the act simply by e-mailing people in bulk who have not explicitly given you permission (even if they have chances are you only have a piece of paper or verbal record) who don’t have an easy way to unsubscribe.

You can get the full details on CAN-SPAM at the Federal Trade Commission site.

For simplicity sake, just know that this law applies to you and all your e-mail marketing as well. You are required to ensure you are in compliance and the easiest way to do it is to find a provider you like (I can recommend several) and spend the small fee to ensure piece of mind for you and your business.

Photo Credit: Flickr

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Note: I am only talking about Wordpress blogs here. The self-installed kind, not those hosted at Wordpress.com. Blogger and TypePad automatically back up their systems (and your blog) for you. That is both the good and bad news (consider: they have control of all your content and backed up data, not you).

There are actually 2 parts to backing up your Wordpress blog completely:

1. The Wordpress databases (your posts, user configurations, comments,  etc.)
2. Wordpress files (themes, plugins, your uploaded photos, etc.)

 Backing up the Wordpress Databases

There are several different ways you can back up your Wordpress databases. You can read all the nitty gritty in the Wordpress Codex.  Unless you are a geek it’ll make your head hurt.  However, there is a great little article complete with Pro’s and Con’s at “2 Quick Ways to Backup Your Wordpress Blog” which I found worth reading.

Personally, my favorite easy backup solution is the plugin approach using the Wordpress Database Backup Plugin.  Once you get the plugin installed and configured (quick and easy, especially for your website guru), you can schedule it to run automatically. There is nothing better than backups that run regularly and automatically.  If you have to THINK about it, you won’t DO it.  Sort of like an automatic savings plan, right?

In the event that you need to restore your blog from this backup, it is not quite as easy as pie as backing it up.  However, a good web person with Wordpress and phpAdmin experience for mySQL can help you. If that sounded like alphabet soup to you…trust me…someone with capabilities like myself can do it for you with reliable results if you have good backups.

 Backup Up Your Wordpress Files

Backing up these files is akin to backing up your regular website.  Using a piece of software called an FTP client (basically a big ole file manager for a remote site) you can download your files to your computer and back them up.

I personally use the FTP software from Ipswitch which is probably overkill for most uses who aren’t using it day in and day out.  For reliable and free FTP solutions consider FileZilla.

Once you download them to your computer, make sure you put them in rotation for getting backed up with the rest of your machine’s data (You DO have regular backups for your business and personal data, right?!? If not, do so NOW or you will really freak out if and when your computer dies one day.).

It is not “hard” to do regular backups.  It is sort of like brushing your teeth every night.  It’s not a great deal of fun to do and if you have those electric toothbrushes like I do it seems like a downright pain at times. Yet, you will be VERY glad you did so.

Need help putting together a backup plan for your blog? Contact me and I’ll help you navigate through the process.

Photo by Waffler.

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I was recently reading the MarketingVox article “How-To: 15 Tips for Effective Web Design” and it reinforced my belief that if you get the basics right, you are more than 90% there in terms of being effective.  Here are a few of my favorite tips from that article:

1. Use a consistent color scheme.

The colors of your site have a significant impact on readability. Avoid clashing colours that make visitors squint or — worse — give them headaches. One classic example: using bright red or yellow text on a black background, which is appallingly unattractive and difficult to read.

2. Use consistent typefaces and sizes.

Maintain a consistent font style and text size. Pick one typeface for most of your content and avoid deviating unless you are making distinctions (such as between body and header). Small text sizes can be difficult to read at higher resolutions.

Consistency is key.  It ties directly into your branding and user experience.  If in doubt, go with the maxim that “less is more”.  The most striking websites and brands are ones that are easy to use and are elegant in their simplicity.

This consistency can be easily maintained if your site is constructed properly using proper web standards. What you see is not what you get…so that idea of using any old editor to “do your own site” will in the long run create more headaches than it solves.

In keeping with the simplicity theme, the idea of making the site easy to use is paramount. I don’t care how big you are, if the site is hard to use it is a major turn off. I am in love with the Olympics but am losing my mind trying to get the NBCOlympics.com site to work for me. The videos I am yearning to see won’t work, I can’t find what I want, and I leave generally confused and frustrated.  They are the only game in town, but when it comes to you and your business, you don’t have the monopoly card to play. So…

15. Use a straightforward navigation system.

Make sure every section of your site is accessible from a clear and simple navigation system near the top of the page. It should stand out from the content. Too many links in one place makes usability difficult for users. Have a third party experiment with your site on the front-end to provide feedback on the flow of navigation.

Remember - as a user, if I can’t find it - it doesn’t exist to me.  Be strategic in your navigation and make it easy to use and understand. Always have someone else test it to make sure it not only works but is also intuitive.

Some of the other tips get a bit techy, but overall the article is a good one. Hop on over to read the entire post.

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• Access and maintain backups of your blog data and files.
•  Host your blog within your existing domain for SEO power.
• Use a myriad of plugins to enhance your blog capabilities (though I do believe in choosing consciously and wisely).
• Customize to your heart’s content for consistent branding.

Recently I had the honor and privilege of migrating a client, colleague, and friend’s blog from Blogger to Wordpress.  It was a resounding success.

Karyn Greenstreet who is a small business expert I greatly admire had been blogging for a few years but wanted to get more control over her Passion for Business Blog for the reasons I spoke of above.   So, I got to work giving her blog a new home and helping the old content move in and set itself up in its new home. Here’s a screenshot of her blog in its new home:

 Her branding and strategies were already solidified. My job was more tactical than it often is when I work with clients. That being said, it was important to ensure all the old content of 400+ posts and comments made the trip to the new home intact.  I ran into a few snags in the process, but overall it went extremely smoothly.  My message to you is — if you’re thinking of migrating to Wordpress it is worth the time, investment, and effort.

Not sure if migrating is for you? Or, know you want to migrate but don’t know how to get started? Contact me and I’m happy to chat with you and co-create a plan that works best for you and your business.

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• More effective website
• Reduced costs in the long run
• More ROI on your website investment because you can build on this strong foundation over time

Recently I had the pleasure of presenting  “Web 101″ with my colleague Chanin Walsh of Brown Dog Design for the Bucks County Network Now group. We often collaborate on the branding and creation of websites and this was our first chance to co-present at an event like this.

Chanin created the standout handouts and covered the topic of branding your business. I talked about planning your website and implementing your online marketing strategies. We then both presented ways you can save money when you work with a web team like ours.

I want to share with you a 6+ minute audio snippet from that talk. It focuses on the importance of the site map.  If you’re not sure what a site map looks like — here’s a picture of what one looks like (click to enlarge the image).

 It is a generic map, but gives you a sense that it is a visual representation of what you want to say and do with your website.

Now — listen to the audio clip and learn more about the site map and how to plan your website.

 Want to get started on your own?  Check out the Free Website Planner on the right sidebar - sign up and get one of your own!

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First of all, when you purchase (aka register) a domain name you want to do so through an ICANN accredited registrar. ICANN is responsible for being the big traffic cop of all Internet names and associated addresses.

My personal domain registrar recommendation both in terms of cost and convenience is GoDaddy. There are many others that are accredited that can help you as well.

When you purchase a domain name for a given cost, you are then asked whether you want to register it in your own name/business name (public) or have that hidden by registering via a proxy for an additional fee (private).  It can cost anywhere from a few dollars/year on up for the private registration service.  You can see how GoDaddy explains its Private Domain Registration in “Make Your Domain Registration Private”.

When you do so, your personal information is masked within the WHOIS database. You can get the gritty details at Wikipedia. However, if you don’t want your head to spin, just think of the WHOIS database as the big centralized database that has all the information on all the domain names that exist on the Internet - the domain name, the associated IP addresses, the registrar information (name, address, phone, etc.).

Here is an example of the difference between public and private domain registration as seen in the WHOIS database.  (This screen shot is from the following website: http://www.domainsbyproxy.com/popup/whoisexample.aspx?app_hdr=0&ci=5165)

As you can see, in the private registration all the contact information is noted as Domains By Proxy, Inc. and their related address and contact information. Essentially they act as a proxy (no pun intended!) for your registration shielding all your personal information from view.  The WHOIS database is open to the public via the Internet. Anyone has access to it.  Go check it out for yourself. You might be amazed what you find.

Now, what are the Pro’s and Con’s of public versus private?  Well, in my opinion the main positives of public is that it is less expensive.  And, if you are using a PO Box or Business address, you may or may not care that the information is public.  If you do a lot of business on the web or have a physical address tied to your website that information is already public.  However, if you have a personal website or a home address associated with your business you might not want that information as readily available (even though it still may be out on the web in some way, shape, or form).

The major benefits of private registration is that it protects you from potential:

• Identity theft (although again, this is just one possible avenue, chances are your identity is already floating around the web in some way, hopefully not the super secret confidential stuff, however)
• Spammers that harvest the WHOIS database and domain registration information to essentially send you spam and junk mail
• Harrassers and stalkers
• Disclosure of home-based or moonlighting businesses you want kept private

Again, the cost is not very much per domain. If you have a lot of domains registered, however, it can start to add up.

I do not know any hard core numbers around the potential rists of the items I mention above. Surely we all know identity theft and spam is a big problem. How much of it is tied directly to public registration in the WHOIS database is anyone’s guess. If you know of any real figures, please post the links to them in the comments so we can all benefit.

So the ultimate answer to public versus private registration - that is up to you.  If added privacy and peace of mind are important to you it is definitely, no questions asked worth the added costs. Just remember your information may be public elsewhere already.

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Besides the fact that beginning with the end in mind is simply a sound strategy for most things (just scan the chapters on this topic in Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” book if you want to go in depth), it is crucial for both the graphic designer and the web programmer so they can ensure they build a strong foundation for your site.

For instance, if you think only about the next 3-6 months and Phase I of your project which consists of just a few pages but fail to mention to your web team that in 12 months you’ll be rolling out and launching a large number of products for sale, you may find yourself with a site that cannot easily accommodate your business’ strategic plans and growth. I’ve been invovlved in more than one project in my 12+ years of doing this, especially while working internal to organizations, that went wildly over budget and awry because no one ever took the big picture into account.

Short-sightedness can lead to :

• Spending much more time than you wanted to
• A site that does not do what you need and want it to
• A design that cannot accommodate your needs
• Spending a lot more money than you need to
• A site that ends up getting “bandaids” at every twist and turn
• An inconsistent and uncohesive site that looks more patchwork quilt than professional

How you can avoid these pitfalls and design a great foundation for your site:

• Include the entire web team in your planning sessions from the beginning (that means if you have a designer and a web programmer, and maybe others still, make sure key people are involved in the early on conversations so the designer doesn’t create art that won’t accommodate the functional requirements and vice versa).
• Take a little extra time up front to think through and plan your business strategy and timing
• Create a site map of what you need the site to do now, in 3 months, in 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years out. Sure you can make changes along the way but we’re looking at core fundamentals here
• Start big and then chunk it down into phases that make sense for your timing and resources

Designing with the end in mind doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out, formal process with piles of paper and formal reports. The most important take away is for you and the team creating your website to have a meeting of the minds and clear picture of what you most need from your site short and long term. In this way you can maximize your investment and walk away with a site that is an authentic reflection of who you are and what your business is all about.

Need help getting started with planning? Download the Free Website Planner by filling out the form on the right sidebar.

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So, my question to you is — do you know for sure your website works in these new browsers? Whenever I launch a new website I always test it in Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 7.  There are definitely differences and if you’re not careful your site can end up looking, well, not quite like you hoped.

I wasn’t expecting Firefox 3 to pose any major challenges, since it is one of the most standards compliant browsers out there. Yet, I found, much to my chagrin as I was doing some developing that it was not working in Firefox.  Usually it is Internet Explorer that gives us web folks fits.  I ultimately resolved the problem but it got me wondering what else out there might be breaking.

That is when I stumbled upon a major website for my industry no longer works in Firefox.  Now this is a worldwide site used by thousands and thousands.  Suddenly none of the links on the home page work.  It works fine in Internet Explorer 7 but I am left stranded like a plane crash survivor when I try to use the site in Firefox.

As far as Internet Explorer is concerned, a new one is in the works. However, many people STILL aren’t using Internet Explorer 7, they stay stuck in the age of the dinosaur with Internet Explorer 6 which quite frankly has an unpleasant way with websites built properly according to current standards.  So, I can say that Leah MacLean took the words right out my mouth when she said on her blog this week:

In my book there is no reason for anyone to be using Internet Explorer 6 anymore (it is 7 year old technology)!! In fact if you or anyone you know still uses IE6 then let them know it is time to upgrade.  Even if they don’t want to move away from the Internet Explorer brand to a better browser like Firefox or Opera, then at least to Internet Explorer 7 (IE7).

Absolutely! It is free and will make your online life much easier.

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