Moving Your Site To A New Domain Name

Changing the domain name of your site seems pretty easy at first.

You just submit a helpdesk ticket to tech support, they wave their magic wand over the server and your domain name is changed.

Right?

Unfortunately for one of my SKP clients, it’s more complex than this.

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Rent Or Own Your Website? Part 2

I just got off the phone with Kristine, one of my design partners. We were talking about a new client who has her Web Mama eCart, which is the same software as the Shop Kit Plus. This client is moving from their current host to my hosting because of issues with the database on other company’s server.

While I had Kristine on the phone, I asked her to take a peek at the Rent Or Own Your Website post I wrote on July 23. I wanted to know if she thought I was out of line with what I wrote.

And I figured she’d be the perfect person to let me know, seeing how she is a competitor and design partner, too.

Kristine pointed out that the license is indeed owned by the software developer. The reseller cannot sell ownership of the cart, only the right to use the cart under specific circumstances. Which brings me to something she pointed out something that I hadn’t even thought about when writing the original post.
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Rent Or Own Your Website?

One of my Watersweb Shops competitors claims on her website that while her cart is the same as many other similar carts, hers is better because you can actually own it.

From her site directly:

However, the AAO Easy Site Builder plan offers the ability for the customer to actually OWN your shopping cart/site builder! There are NO differences in our site builder when compared to the other sites listed.

All other plans on the list are for a monthly “rental” of the cart and hosting, but you will not be able to take the cart with you if you should ever leave their hosting. If you ever left your host you would essentially be leaving your web site!

Now, before I make any comments, I want to state for the record that I’m not trying to suggest that there is any reason to not use her service. As I (and the website) mentioned, the cart is essentially the same.

That said, I’d like to point out that you really cannot truly own your shopping cart and sitebuilder or your web hosting account. Well, you could, but the expense and learning curve would be outrageous for a small home business. I’ll talk about that more in a bit.

I am intimately familiar with the shopping cart/sitebuilder that this site discusses, and know for a fact that the only owner of the software is the developer who created it. She then licenses the right to resell the cart. The resellers then license the right to use the cart. So, at this point, you can’t really own the cart, no matter what anyone says.

Let’s talk a bit about the hosting account. She is right in that with her version of the cart, you can take it from one hosting account to another without starting over. (Of course, if you decided you wanted to switch carts, you’d still have to start over.)

With the other competitors and our ecommerce solution, you must host the cart on our servers. (FTR, I do allow you to purchase an un-hosted license, but it does not come with free support.) We do this so we can immediately rule out server issues when problems arise, cutting out situations where the host says the problem is with the cart and the cart owners says the problem is with the host… And you’re stuck in the middle.

Sounds like “renting” isn’t so bad now. Or maybe you’re not convinced. You really want to completely own your website.

We talked about some of the basics of owning your copyright and your domain name in an earlier blog post. Those are very important tips to remember. But should we take it further? Should we make sure we completely own the website? Let’s talk about what this would require.

First, to truly own your website 100%, you’ll need your own server. This means you’re have to purchase and/or install:

• Computer and networking hardware
• Server software (Apache web server)
• Email software (Argosoft Email Server)
• FTP software (BulletProof FTP)
• Database software (MySQL)
• Script software (PHP, CGI, etc.)
• DNS software (SimpleDNS)

And that will just get your server up and running. According to one do it yourself web server site, you can use your own DSL or cable connection to connect to the Internet, if your ISP allows it.

Of course, if all of this sounds like Greek to you, you’ll also need to hire someone to update your server, maintain it and troubleshoot problems. That’s where you start running into some money…

On the other hand, if you’ve been digging around the innards of computers since 1986, this might be right up your alley.

Let’s take this a step further though. If you’re wanting to truly own your site, you will need to hire someone to create a cart for you. And you’ll need to make sure that your contract with the programmer gives you full ownership rights over the final product. Otherwise, if you just outsource the project, the creator of the code is the owner and he may just license you the right to use the code. So, you’ll have paid thousands of dollars - -and be right back where you started.

So now you own your web server and you’ve purchase your very own cart. If you really want to own everything, you’re going to need to create your own payment gateway. Authorize.net and Paypal take their cut of your money, so let’s go all the way and create your own. And while we’re at it, let’s start your own bank.

OK, so yes, I’m taking this way out into left field.

But let’s look at it. What’s the purpose of having a website? It will make running your business more effective, cost efficient and just plain easier. And what is the best way to do this? Outsource tasks to people who specialize in what you need.

So yes, outsourcing your web hosting makes sense. You don’t own the server — but it doesn’t own you either. When problems arise, you submit a helpdesk ticket and someone else worries about it.

“Renting” a shopping cart makes sense for the same reason. If you have trouble, you know exactly who to turn to for help — and you may not even have to pay extra for it, if it’s on their servers.

What’s the morale of this story?

1. It’s OK to “rent” your hosting and shopping cart. It’s even a smart business decision to outsource your critical services to experts.
2. Make sure you choose the right host and the right cart for the long term, even if it means spending more. Then you won’t have to worry about changing hosts or shopping carts.

Wise Words Wednesday: How Unlimited/Oversold Hosting Affects Your Business

If you’ve spent any time at all looking for a web host, you’ve probably been bombarded by ads for unlimited bandwidth, Terrabytes of disk space and all that for less than $3 a month.

As a web host who sells reasonable, yet affordable, hosting accounts and hosted ecommerce solutions, I’ve been keeping a close eye on this trend towards promising customers the moon for $2.99 per month.

I like to keep up with publications and communities that discuss the web hosting industry and today, I found an article at Host Review that makes a few points I thought you’d be interested in.

First, the article points out that overselling is a reaction to competition, not customer demand. What does this mean for you? Simple. That company who is offering enough bandwidth to power a space shuttle isn’t as concered about you as it is about what the “Jones” Company is doing next door.

According to the Host Review article:

In fact, when practicing overselling a host has to hope and pray that
(even just a fraction of) users don’t try to use all of the disk space
and bandwidth allotted to them: if this was to occur, the host would be
too underfunded to provide all of the resources, and in serious
financial trouble. Even worse, however, overselling requires no
commitment from the host in terms of finances, intellectual property,
or human assets; this means that any host can engage in overselling, so
most do.

Does this sound like a company you want to put in charge of your uptime? In charge of your ability to do business on the Internet, when that is your main source of income for your company?

Second, your ability to spot a good hosting deal may have been affected by overselling.

Ten years ago, people spend $50 or more for a domain name and hundreds of dollars for hosting on a shared host. Today, people expect a 100 times more disk space and bandwidth for a fraction of the cost. It is true that bandwidth and other server resources are less expensive to offer these days. However, these hosting price wars are taking things too far.

Overselling has also distorted customer knowledge of the hosting market
and needs-based analysis of hosting plans. Instead of learning to use
rational evaluation techniques of each hosting plan under
consideration, customers have been “trained” through constant exposure
to ads emphasizing high disk space and bandwidth (and little else) to
choose the host that offers the most disk space and bandwidth for the
least amount of money. In this scenario, hosts not overselling really
don’t have any choice but to also oversell - customers only think
they’re getting a good value when purchasing services from an
overseller.

Let’s think about this. You’ve heard the old adage that you get what you pay for. What you’re getting from these companies who are overselling is a product you can’t fully use and a company that hopes you never do — and actually won’t let you. To me, this is starting out in a dishonest partnership from the beginning. If you can’t trust your host to tell you what you’re actually paying for, how can you trust them with the health of your business?

This is why I don’t oversell. I’d rather sell someone a $10 plan with 10 GB of bandwidth and 1000 MB of disk space that they can actually use. Some of my clients use every last bit of their resources, and then they have the option to purchase more. Or they can scale back to stay within their plan.

My customers don’t have to worry about their websites suddenly disappearing one day with no warning.

Host Review goes on to say that overselling is not a sustainable practice and that hosts will soon start raising their prices and adding extra services to increase prices.

My advice: Avoid the oversellers all together. Look for hosts that have built their accounts based on the needs of their customers, not on the desire to compete with other oversellers.

Additionally, learn how to evaluate what you need in a hosting account and what you an afford. If you only need 15 GB of bandwidth each month, it’s smart to buy 20 GB to be safe. It’s not smart to buy an “unlimited” bandwidth package, particularly since you have no idea how much of it that your host will actually let you use before they find a reason to get rid of you.

Also, find ways to store files offline, instead of on the server. You can buy a flash drive to keep files, or an external hard drive. This is better than storing your files on a server that may disappear one day when the host decides it can’t afford to stay in business. Once you’ve cleaned up your hosting account, check to see how much space you’re actually using.

Finally, determine how much you can actually afford. In my opinion, it’s better to spend $20 per month for resources you can use, than $2.99 a month for resources that may or may not be there and customer service who probably doesn’t care.

What are your thoughts?

Wise Words Wednesday: What To Do When You Forgot The Market Research

I just found a post, almost a plea, by Kim Darrell of Stitch-N-Stuff blog fame.

Her dilemma illustrates how important it is to do market research before you start selling your products.

I have discovered that what I should have done was do a lot of market research before I started this venture. Had I done this, I could have had all the essential information I needed to possibly generate sales faster.

And she is absolutely right.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve spoken with dozens of successful home business owners, as part of my expert home business owners interview series on Product Sellers Talk Radio. One of the key factors they contribute to their success is thoroughly researching their markets before starting business.

One of the recent interviews in my Summer Chat Series had some excellent advice. The owners of Gigi Hill Bags suggested an excellent method of doing market research — and it can even be duplicated online.

But what happens if you’re already in business and regretting the lack of research?

I’ll say that it’s never to late to start researching. There are many reasons why your products aren’t selling like you thought they would:

• No one wants the product
• No one else knows about the product
• The product costs too much
• The product doesn’t cost enough
• You promoted the product to the wrong people
• You promoted to the right people, but not in a way that engaged them.
• I could go on…

Find out why your product isn’t selling the way you want it to. Then do something about it.
And if you’d like to know more about Gabrielle and Monica’s strategy for market research, clear your calendar for Product Sellers Seminar from September 17-19, 2008. You can find more information about the online seminar at ProductSellersSeminar.com.

Slow Summer? Now Is The Time To Work On Your Website!

Just in time for summer, I’ve got a deal that will help equip your website for the holiday rush.

Last year, I offered a very successful WAHM Reconstruction package to help revamp one of my client’s websites.

This year, I’m opening it up to everyone — and offering a few different packages.

If you know your website isn’t doing the best it can and you’re ready to get the help it needs, head over to the WAHM Reconstruction Zone and choose the package that best fits your needs.

Not sure if you need a reconstruction? Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I have lots of visitors to my site, but few sales?
• Am I having trouble figuring out why no one is visiting my site?
• Are sales trickling in, but I need to grow my business?
• Have people told me that it’s hard to find things on my website?

If you answered yes to any one of these, then you need to consider our reconstruction packages.

Not sure which package is right for you? Contact me and I’ll help you find the best fit.

Wise Words Wednesday: Consider Your Business Name Carefully To Avoid Trademark Issues

If you’re considering starting an online business, read this newspaper report about a trademark infringement case before you buy a domain name or register your business.

In this report, work at home mom Diane Kovach states that she had been in business as Pampered Bunz, selling cloth diapers, for more than a year when Proctor & Gamble contacted her.

Diane had recently filed a trademark application and the corporation, who makes Pampers disposable diapers, told her to withdraw the application. She considered fighting it, but as a small business owner with a family to support, she decided she didn’t have the resources.

What does this mean for you?

If you are new, make sure you research trademarks associated with the name you are considering. You can do this at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.

Also, check your state trademark and business name registration websites to ensure that you aren’t going to violate anyone’s trademark and that someone else isn’t already using your business name in your industry.

If you already have a business name, I recommend you keep track of when you first started using it in business, as this is the yardstick for determining who rights to the name. (Keep in mind here, I am not a lawyer.) If someone is asking you to stop using the name, or you see someone else has started using your name, I recommend you contact an attorney.

How To Protect Your Customers Information

One of the “experts” at PC Magazine sure stirred up a mess last week by essential accusing small business owners of selling their customer’s information.

As you know, this is ludicrous. We work hard to protect our customers information, information that we have worked even harder to acquire.

While I was thinking about this situation though, I realized that there are new product sellers who really don’t understand everything they must do to protect their customers information. In most cases, they must rely on their web hosts, web designers or shopping cart software developers to provide the necessary information.

Protecting information that you collect as a small business is critical for two reasons:

1. Legal ramifications. If your lax security allows someone’s credit card number to be stolen, you will be held liable. The legal fees alone will kill your business.

2. Reputation ramifications. While as a small business, you want media attention, this is NOT the kind you want. Getting a reputation for mishandling customer data will hurt. And you don’t have the PR professional available to spin your story like a large corporation does.
So I thought I’d put together a small list of things you need to make sure you have to protect your customer data.

1. Encrypt stored data. If you’re going to store customer’s data on your server, you must do so in an encrypted database. This is especially true if you store credit card information. Check with your shopping cart provider to ensure that they are encrypting the database. (Chances are, if you have to enter special password to retrieve customer data,then it is encrypted.) For the record, customer data stored within Mals Ecommerce, the cart that ties in with the Shop Kit Plus, encrypts sensitive customer data. The SKP does not store customer data, such as credit card numbers.

2. Secure your connection with SSL. Any time a customer is asked to submit sensitive information, the connection should be secured with an SSL Certificate. You will know if your cart does this if you see the https:// before the link in the address bar on the pages where information. For the record, Mals features SSL secured pages.

3. Limit access. If you’re a sole proprietor, chances are you’ve never thought about who has access to your customers private data. I recommend you start thinking about it now. If someone spends the night at your house, can they login to your computer and, using your stored passwords, download a few credit card numbers? My system is setup so that I have to know at least two passwords just to get anywhere near sensitive customer data. And that’s only after getting logged into my computer and finding the right place to go. Also, if you bring in an employee or sub-contractor to work on your accounts, make sure she does not have access to sensitive customer data.

4. Protect your systems. Make sure your computer’s wireless connection is password protected. Make sure you routinely scan your office and laptop computers for viruses. Check with your host and ensure that you are on a hacker-safe, PCI compliant server. Also, make sure any applications that you are running on your hosting account are secure. You can check with your vendors to ensure this is the case. Also, do a Google search for reviews of your cart and host, to find out if there have been any security issues. If there have, make sure those issues have been repaired.

These are four basic steps you can take to make sure you are protecting your customer data. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Did Google Label Your Blog Harmful?

A few months ago, one of my clients reported that her blog had been labeled harmful by Google. You can see this when you look at her site in a Google listing:

Now, normally, when a hacker injects code into a website, it is, in my experience, in the form of a file. They find an insecure directory (usually with 777 CHMOD) and upload a bad file to the site.

So when my client reported this to me, I scanned her files with a fine tooth comb — and found nothing.

I then upgraded her blog software, in an attempt to overwrite whatever file was messed up. Afterwards, I checked the dates on all files to make sure there wasn’t some rogue file sitting around messing everything up. Nothing.

But I have figured out what the problem is now.

Because Wordpress had a security hole in version 2.3, the hacker was able to inject the bad code directly into a post.

I’ve found the codes by doing a search directly on the blog for the term:

iframe

Then edited the post to remove the highlighted code.

Read this post to for more information on how to remove the downloader virus.

How to find out if your site is infected

UPDATE: Thought I’d add some more instructions on how to find out if your site is affected by this. If you have already found out that your site has been deemed harmful by Google, simply do a Google search on your domain name. your listing will look like the first screenshot above.

In your Google listing, click the title of your site’s entry. Google will then take you to a page warning you that visiting the site might be harmful to your computer. In the warning’s second paragraph, you’ll want to click the link to Google’s Safe Browsing diagnostic page. (This is the link to that page for Mundane Superhero.)

You’ll see a line that says something like:

Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain(s), including wp-stats-php.info.

What to do if you’ve been hacked

If you follow the instructions above and discover that your site has been hacked, you’ll need to follow the original instructions in this post to remove the code from your blog posts.

Next, read Google’s instructions for sites that have been found to have malware.

At the end of this post, you’ll see instructions for signing up for Google’s Webmaster Tools (Which I highly recommend!), verify your site, and requesting a review of your site.

Is Accepting Credit Card Payments Necessary for Online Business Owners

For online business owners today, offering the options customers want is a vital aspect of winning the sale. Multiple payment methods give consumers a choice, but credit card payments are far and away the most popular. Credit cards are convenient for consumers to use and sites that accept them show higher revenues from impulse purchases and other add-ons.

There are two ways that ecommerce sites can arrange to accept credit card payments. One is by establishing an online merchant account through the business owner’s own bank or through a company that specializes in online merchant accounts. Another is to use a third-party service to process the payments.

Online Merchant Accounts – An internet merchant account is essentially a separate bank account that allows you to accept credit card payments without having to actually see the card or card user in person.

Funds from credit card purchases, less the agreed-upon fees, are deposited into the merchant account, then moved to the owner’s business account on a regular basis (usually within 48 to 72 hours). The primary disadvantage is that approval for merchant accounts is more difficult to obtain for internet businesses than for standard retail businesses. Every company has its own qualification guidelines and fee schedules.

The main benefit of having a online merchant account is that the transactions appear on your customer’s credit card bills under your business name. This will help reduce the number of chargebacks you get from customers who don’t remember a purchase, and see it listed on their accounts under the payment gateway’s name.

Also, once you are processing $1,000 a month in sales or more, an online merchant account becomes more affordable than other solutions, as the per-transaction fees tend to be less expensive.

Paypal – Third-party services such as Paypal eliminate the need for a merchant account. They offer real-time processing of payments and transfer of funds to the business owner’s account for a fee, usually a small flat rate plus a percentage of the sale total per transaction.

Other features available might include a shopping cart that the business owner can install on the website, conversion from U.S. dollars to foreign currency, the ability to accept multiple forms of payment (such as electronic debits or echecks), customer service, and set-up assistance.

PayPal offers three account types, two of which can be used by merchants to accept credit card payments: the Premier Account and the Business Account. An individual can open a Premier Account, but a Business Account can only be opened by a registered business. A 2.9 percent fee is charged for receiving a payment, but as the dollar volume increases, the rate drops. Premier and Merchant Account holders can incorporate special html code into their website to create a “Buy Now” button. With one click, the customer is taken to a payment page to complete the transaction.

PayPal also provides a shopping cart to merchants. This software lets the consumer select multiple items for purchase, then proceed to the payment page to pay for all selections at once.

The cost for setting up a merchant account, processing gateway, and shopping cart can range from $500 to $1,500, even more if the etailer chooses to hire a web developer to consult on or install the system. However, this initial investment can be well worth it for the serious business owner.

For the start-up or small business owner, third-party services such as PayPal may provide a more accessible, affordable alternative to traditional banking options.

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