Webmaster Tips & Tricks - The Webmaster’s Blog

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I have to say I LOVE ANNIVERSARIES!

Yesterday one of my projects, Morrowind.ro celebrated 1 year of existence. It was a small “celebration”. We had a nice topic in the forums where my members were able to express their feelings. And the good thing is that most of them were at least as happy as I was to have been in the community for so long.

Morrowind is maybe the best game for me. What does make it so special?

Read the rest of this entry »

We have mover the article on our new blog.

We have moved our article to the new blog.

We have moved the article on our new blog.

Some months ago I started a thread on the forums: Your greatest mistake as an admin?

And even if our members there detailed this issue a lot, I think we can also occupy a post in our blog too. We make many mistakes over the time (from bad promotion, problems with the layouts or redirects to other ones). Some are big, some are smaller. I will personally try to tell you here which of my mistakes I think it’s the biggest and will invite you to comment and tell us in here what’s your biggest mistake as a site admin.

What’s my BIGGEST mistake as a forum/site admin? Read the rest of this entry »

We have moved the article on our new blog.

We have moved the article on our new blog.

I started working more seriously on my blog so expect entries, if not daily, at least every 2-3 days. Today I am at peace. I don’t want to rant about anything (well, I do, but I save myself for other blog posts ). I just recalled my blog is also my design journal, so today I’ll bore you to death with a “designer” entry.

Tomorrow night I am meeting with a former coleague on the previous radio station I worked on. He is a distributor for the famous Sennheiser audio products and he tried to make his own design for years. I have to admire him for this since he learnt web design (or at least some HTML) by himself (like I did years ago). He is not “strong” into design, so his former site is very simple and not that visual attractive, but it’s not bad either. He did some SEO for the site to and basically he has done an awesome job as a person who’s not a designer.

It has come the time for a facelift. I promised last week that we’ll meet again in few days and I’ll present him a mock up design. For me this means a “wrapper” made in Photoshop with the design elements in place. All the text and other “bells and whistles” will come afterwards. I don’t put mock up texts on the design since I’d just lose time. I know how to make the site in the end and luckily the clients are smart enough to “feel” the site too.

I wanted to have the kid and father image (home entertainment and business conferences at the same time) to convey the idea of the availability of any kinds of audio systems needed. The firm sells audio equipment to be used at home and also systems for conferences and business activities. We have a “dirty” blue (more like a grey) since it’s a tech related site and I have spiced up the theme with some bright green. More additions will be made after I start coding the layout.

I don’t know for sure what script we’ll use for the online shop: oscommerce or zencart? Will see after the design gets eventually approved.

Keep your fingers crossed. We’ll see tomorrow night what tweaks we need to make on this design.

I was replying to some threads in some webmaster forums I am active in .. a lot if you want to know

The topic that sparked my attention and benefited from my wise ideas was “what makes you dislike a site” .. If were are talking about first impressions, then let’s hear it. What do I dislike? Default or stock themes. I don’t care if it’s a normal site, a directory, a forum or an auction site. If I see a default skin or template you downloaded for free or even paid (but is still used by many others) you have a HUGE fall in my ratings.

I know you think I am just a mean snobbish woman, but my opinion might be shared by many other visitors. It’s not the 90’s anymore. People are more aware of how a site should look and what is a default skin. They post in other forums too, have visited other blogs, many know about TemplateMonster. So .. if you’re thinking about placing a stock theme and then just see your revenue roll .. THINK AGAIN.

In my opinion .. there is NO excuse for having a default skin or a stock layout. Even if you have a 2 days site or a 10 thousand members forum you just need to think about a good branding and do something …

But some of the big guys have stock themes and no one complains!

Yeah, they do. Some very good (content wise) forums and sites sport a default theme slightly modified or a stock one. DP, TAZ or NP are 3 forums I like a lot because o their nice content. But I still have less appreciation than in Sitepoint’s case for instance. Maybe the latter annoy you with their popups (when you are in guest view), and didn’t go that far from the default skin either. Still they made it look better by adding some codes and deleting some theme parts. It’s refreshing to see this and it always makes my stay very enjoyable.

If they can do this .. why shouldn’t you?
Because you’d give your project no chance. Many huge sites that still have an issue with the looks started YEARS AGO. When people were less picky and knew less. Start a project on a default skin now and refuse to modify it and you’ve already signed it’s death certificate. Good content might make people come and stay, but with a good skin or layout you’d attract even more people.

Branding is what we look for

It doesn’t matter your layout is not the best. There are few designers in the world who can create outstanding layouts. The rest of us just make something .. DIFFERENT. As long as you have some nice colours and nothing “kills” the eyes, you’re OK. Having a unique style helps people recognize your “brand”.

Last year I restyled the Wtricks logo .. and went with the magician and the stars. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I was approached by someone in another forum who said something like: “Ah, you have that forum with the magician hat … how cool”. Doesn’t matter my logo is or not the best .. IT IS RECOGNIZED.

This is what we want with all this theming stuff: we want to create a look that is unique. It would help us all have IDENTITY and others would recognize that identity.

HOW can I made a unique layout?

Well, we understand not all people are Picasso when it comes to layouting .. But I assume you can read some code and use the color picker in Photoshop .. If so, we’re on the way to make your site look better. If you do use a stock skin or a template, try to work a bit some of the colours. You need to open a .css file and replace the color codes. NOT that hard. have patience and see the results as you go. ALWAYS have a backup of the initial file. If you mess, you can always revert.

Let’s move on to the images .. open them in the image editor and change some colours. If you have a gradient image, put your new colours on it.

With just these 2 tricks you are getting a bit farther on the way to make your site look different.

Once you pick up the speed you can work on a new header for instance and put the code in the layout. If you know how to use Dreamweaver at least a bit, I think you have no worries.

YES, you can do it.

I am a woman. I am 28 right now. Started designing at 23. I am not a specialist. I didn’t even read a design book. I didn’t have time to read too many tutorials either. I just tried and failed and then tried again. And sometimes .. i didn’t fail anymore.

I started my first site 5 years ago. I didn’t even have a PC at home and would work on it from the computer I had at work. And still I was able to make my site look less stock and more personal. I learnt a lot of tricks as I worked more on the site. And now .. after 5 years I have a hefty portfolio under my belt, my own design firm and clients who eat me alive. And I should be a kindergarten teacher ..

So yeah, YOU CAN DO IT.

If I was able to do this with no schooling, not even my own PC for months, with limited internet connection (had a good one only starting 3 years ago) and my regular job on top of this, I think ANY person in this world can do it. Have I mentioned I am a Romanian? So I also faced the language barrier on top of all things mentioned.

If you still won’t do it .. HIRE someone

Don’t be cheap. Don’t pay 70 USD for a stock layout. You can just throw the money off the window and have the same result. Hire a professional .. It costs a bit, but it’s really worth it in the end. You’ll have a unique look that will attract people. This will mean more traffic, more exposure and in time some good revenue sources to recover the expenses.

Chose carefully and then enjoy your original layout.

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT.

Weird enough .. this is my motto .. I used it for the first time as a slogan on my portfolio, 5 years ago. I still use it and believe in it. Uniqueness brought me many good things. Try the feeling .. it’s good

We have moved the article on the new blog.

I am spending some quality time into working on the promotion of my 17 sites and also some projects I created for my clients. I also have 2 serious SEO jobs right now so I try to build some good links to all these sites. I won’t go into much detail about how I TOTALLY HATE THIS, but we’ll chat a bit about the fact good directories are actually scarce. VERY if we’re discussing Romanian directories.

Many have nofollow on the links, or other weird redirects that won’t make your link have any value, except that of the time you lost forever in that useless junk they call a directory. So many ask for a reciprocal link (mandatory) as if I wanted to put 150 links on my sites so that I can get listed. If I do put a reciprocal I CHOSE what site I link to. Usually it’s something better than a 1000 links general directory with a PR2. That would index my page in a PR0 page so that I can know I wasted my space forever.

Years ago (God how time passes) I created an article on Wtricks (the forums) in which I’d detail what I consider to be a good directory and the things I would have in mind when creating one How to create a good directory.

If I was to make a very short list in here:

1. I look at the theme (sorry, I am a snobbish designer after all)
2. I like a clear navigation system.
3. I want to submit my link for FREE, no account, no reciprocal
4. I like a simple submission, I just don’t have enough time for all kinds of tricks
5. Let me fill in as little details as possible. Let’s focus on my site and not on my personal life, ok?
6. Index my site fast. Don’t make me wait for 3 months. You’re not DMOZ
7. SEO friendly. If I see a nofollow on the links or a redirect I won’t even bother submit.
8. Have some sites listed there. I dislike empty directories.

That would be it. And now .. let me get back into finding those 20 directories that are really OK. I have to promote some international projects too .. oh, the horror. Other lists of directories, checking them, leaving in the list only those accepting links for free, with no account, no reciprocal and transferring PR.

I should hire someone to do this crap …

I read a thread on NamePros and it just gave me an idea for another rant in my blog. I could start a free hosting project too .. I have 2 reseller accounts as we speak and I could grow more as the need for more space and bandwidth would increase. Still .. I don’t even think about this … why?

1. I don’t believe in such a service myself .. anymore

Back in 2004 I would be very happy to find dhost.info .. a very good (back then) free hosting service. Good space / bandwidth ratio (maybe too good), NO ads on our pages … excellent support in the forums. It was a dream come true. A php / mysql hosting plan was pretty expensive back then and it seemed like a good solution.

As my sites grew I realized I need something more. And this is why I got paid hosting and I never looked back. I have my own domains (17 I think now) all developed with sites I am proud of.

I don’t see any reasons to get myself a free hosting service anymore. I can get a domain name very cheap and with 10 USD I can host more than 1 sites on my reseller account. I have more than 10 now on that server and it’s working flawlessly .. and yes, when you pay you do have excellent support or you just move

In 2004 I couldn’t afford a site on a paid host, now I have 17. It’s very cheap and the benefits of your own domain are irrefutable.

2. I don’t think I can give them what they want

Something that really makes me wonder: even if many people who cannot afford or are just too cheap to buy hosting have HUGE expectations from the free hosting provider. They want big space and bandwidth ..sometimes even bigger than what I pay for on my reseller account. They want all they can for free.

If I was to create such a service I’d give them hosting plans that are decent: 100 MB space and 2-3 GB bandwidth. They don’t need more on their sites and putting huge space and traffic accounts would only encourage them to abuse the system with huge downloads that would break down the server and make my bill grow sky-high.

When people look for free hosting, many look for these high numbers, even if some are conscious about the fact THEY WON’T USE ALL of it. But it’s nice to get the best for your money .. or in this case .. for free.

3. Monetization

In this case there’s another issue. There would be some ways to make money from this service and here is what I think about using them:

• force ads on their sites. NO NO NO. I dislike this and I don’t think I’d do it to my customers
• put Adsense on the support forums. This might actually work nicely if they wouldn’t start clicking on the ads to “help” me. I saw this happen to others and Google do respond fast by killing the account.
• put Text Link Ads or another type of ads on the forums. Might also work; I need to get a good PR for the forums and it would be OK
• ask for donations  .. I seriously doubt there would be too many people donating
• offer paid upgrades. I cannot understand this: if it’s free, it stays free … that’s my way of seeing this at least ..

As you can see there are some ways to make money to pay the hosting bills. But the revenue needs to come faster and be serious enough so that I won’t have to discontinue the service. With a VERY GOOD business plan and some heavy promotion I think I could make it.

Still, the reasons listed above make me to think twice about this. I do offer paid hosting at some awfully small prices. I could call them for free. Still a “free hosting” service … is not in my plans just yet.

Maybe having 17 sites does make me a bit more careful with starting new ones