It’s 2011. Isn’t it time everyone learned to do this themselves?

Most web designers will sign their clients up for services. They do it for a number of reasons.

Some do it to be helpful.

“Well Client X is busy or is scared of this or confused by this, so I’ll help them out and do it for them.”

Some do it because they think you can’t.

“Well Client X is clearly an effing idiot, so I’ll do it myself.”

Some do it to save time.

“Look, it’s faster if I do it rather than walk Client X through it over the phone.”

Whether this is done for you out of a sense of helping you or because someone thinks you’re an idiot, it’s really time to stop having people do this for you.

I used to sign people up for stuff. A lot of web designers still do. Many are doing what I do now, and stepping back. For a number of reasons.

Ownership
As I explained in the post It’s Still YOUR website! Or Is It?, when someone signs you up for a service, if they don’t put it in your name, then you do not own it. This frequently happens. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had clients come to me and say they no longer have access to their domain registrar, or web host, or analytics account, or whatever, because “my web designer signed me up for it and he quit and I can’t get in touch with him anymore”.

As you can imagine, this is bad. Very bad.

Empowerment
Ok, let’s say I sign you up, and actually give you all the login information. Great, right? Well, kinda. You’re still in the dark about a basic component of site ownership. You have given all your power to the web designer rather than taken the initiative to do something (that is usually very simple) like go buy your own domain. You’re not stupid. You’re not helpless. You CAN sign yourself up for any web service you need. Most of it does not require massive technical knowledge. And if something confuses you, that’s what Google and other search engines are for. Or, just call your web designer.

Bet you never thought you’d see someone talk about empowering their clients, huh?

You’re Not Stupid
I hear it all the time: “but I’m stupid about technology”. I don’t know what it is about computers and the Internet that makes rational, intelligent people so intimidated. You don’t go to your doctor and say “I’m sorry doc, I’m stupid about my body” do you? Do you feel like a moron when you take your car in for an oil change? How about when you call the plumber to fix your sink?

Understandably, some people feel stupid because there are a lot of people in my industry that talk down to non-technical people. Look, the person who fixes your computer is a glorified mechanic. They can get over themselves. (And I speak as a former glorified mechanic.) They are no more geniuses than the person fixing your car (which, is usually run by a computer, I might add). Your mechanic doesn’t treat you like you’re an idiot either.

And while some doctors and lawyers treat their clients like addled-brained children, many of them know about this magic box where people can read up about them and have learned that if they don’t treat their patients with respect, they’ll lose them.

Eventually, the web design and technical support and all related industries will clue in there. Many have.

It’s 2011. The Internet has been around for a while now. And the general public has been a heavily involved part of it a for over a decade. It really is OK to manage your web services yourself.

I tell my clients I’ll walk them through it over the phone. It is easier and faster for me to do it myself. But I’d still rather help you help yourself. In the long run, you’ll thank me for it.

I while ago I got an email from a client. She was smart enough to forward it to me first rather than just act on the email. Based on years of experience online and working as a web professional, I automatically assumed it was a scam. A quick bit of research confirmed it.

Here is what the email she received looked like:

Dear Manager:
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China. On September,10th,2010, We received HUATAI Company’s application that they are registering the name “XXXXXXXXXXXXX” as their Internet Trademark and
“xxxxxxxxxxxxx.cn”,”xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com.cn” ,”xxxxxxxxxxxxx.asia”domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your
company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check.According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Kind regards
Angela Zhang

Basically, this is just a spam attempt at getting you to buy domains through this company. If you don’t do business in China, then it’s not an issue for you. And personally, I don’t do any business with any organization that uses spam as a means to sell something. To me, that tells me they are either
a. not trustworthy
b. don’t know what they are doing
c. both.

Worst case, they may be hoping you’ll send them information so they can log into your account and take your domain. In other words: a phishing attempt.

One thing you can do to help in case someone does accidentally hand that information out: lock your domain. Your registrar should have this as an option. Basically, it means that if someone tries to transfer your domain away from your registrar, you will get an email with a code and that domain can only be moved if someone enters that code into your account on your domain registrar’s website.

Other common domain scams involve emails that look like they are from your domain registrar, but are not actually from them. The emails may even have logos from a popular domain registrar. If you aren’t sure if it is from your registrar or not, go to your domain registrar’s site, log in, and check for any account messages and check your domain’s expiration date. NOTE: Do not click the link in the email in an attempt to see if that is really from your registrar or not.

Also, not all scammers use email. You may also get phone calls or letters via postal mail about your domain as well.

Learn more about about domain scams:

What is a domain name scam? from Domain Name Scams
10 tips to prevent domain scam/fraud from WebHosting Talk
What’s Dot and What’s Not: Domain Name Registration Scams from the FTC

A lot of website owners, and even some web designers, ignore a very important demographic: the mobile user. How user-friendly is your site to those viewing from mobile devices?

For those who don’t have a phone or other handheld that allows them to surf the web, this is an important consideration that is easily overlooked. For those of us who turn to our phones for just about everything, it is a fact we’re reminded of by every other website we visit.

Think no one is going to visit your site from their phone? Think again. Lots of visitors do, and in growing numbers. There are a lot of websites out there that are astonishingly behind the times.

Depending on your site, needs, and audience, having a mobile-ready website may be easy or may involve a lot of extra work. You may be able to just use your existing website just fine. Or you may need to make a mobile version of your site that easily accessed by phones and handhelds.

Not sure what to look at to determine if you have a mobile ready website? Here are a few things for website owners and web designers to keep in mind when creating or updating your site.

Flash
Is your website in Flash or are you planning Flash? Not to belabor the “Flash is evil” issue, but it is an important point to bear in mind. Most phones don’t show Flash. Your audience using iPhones certainly won’t see it and the iPhone still dominates the mobile marketplace. Only parts of your site use Flash? This might be ok. Just make sure it isn’t involved in anything critical like your website’s navigation.

Navigation
Speaking of navigation, some of that won’t work so hot either. Some tricks to handle lots of pages in the navigation, and fancy navigation effects, may or may not show on some mobile devices. Consider adding links at the bottom and top of pages that allow visitors to jump up and down a page, and easily move back and forth from navigation to main content.

Text Size
Does your text adjust depending on the size the page is viewed at? Or is it stuck at the same size no matter what device is being used to see the site?

Page Length
Long pages with lots of scrolling tend to annoy visitors, and even more so with the mobile surfer. Consider “back to top” links strategically placed down the page. Or see if you can break a page up into several pages.

Page Size
How long does the page take to download? Mobile devices take a while to download websites and the bigger your pages, the longer your (impatient) visitor waits. I’m sure by now you are all familiar with the Back button? Phones have them too. Lots of images and various other factors can increase your page size and your visitors can give up and hit Back.

These are just some of the things you’ll want to look into. Your best bet is to just start viewing your site on as many phones as you can. When you see friends and family with theirs, ask if you can take a look at your site for a moment. Make note of the make and model phone you are using and any problems you see with the site. Another option is mobile device emulators. Also, the site MobiReady allows you to enter your website and see how well it would perform for various phones.

An experienced web designer may also be able to look at your site and let you know what will and won’t work for mobile devices. Just be prepared to either make a mobile version of your site or overhaul it entirely. Not everyone will need only a few simple corrections to get their site ready for their mobile visitors.

Further Reading:

Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0, Basic Guidelines, W3C Recommendation 29 July 2008

If you have seen Facebook posts, Tweets, or anything else where you see your friend posted: “I just checked in at Big Daddy’s Java Bar!” or something similar, then you know what I’m talking about. They use FourSquare, GoWalla, and other sites or even the functionality built into Facebook and Twitter.

I see these posts on a regular basis. And other than letting your stalkers know where you are, I’m trying to see the practical purpose for them.

Basically, I wonder if you have ever

• decided to join a friend at the location they shared
• chose to call and ask them to pick up something from the location they are at
• used this to throw a flash-mob zombie surprise party for a friend
• found some other use that has not occurred to me at all

So share the poll far and wide and let’s find out: Has Anyone Ever Made Use of Someone Else’s Check-In?

All web designers run across this at some point: a client has created something to sell and they want to make sure it won’t get stolen when they put it online.

Visual art, audio, video, poems, how-to’s, blogs, and other such materials are what we call IP or intellectual property. There is a lot of exaggeration and paranoia surrounding these items and the potential for theft/piracy.

Yes, there are means to prevent theft but none of it is 100% foolproof.

Here are a few facts about managing IP online

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