Get Control Of Your Web Site

Towards the end of last year, I asked my newsletter readers, to tell me the biggest problem they have with their Web site. I was a bit surprised - shocked, even - to see the response, in particular the most common problem that people had with their Web site.

It is: "I can't update my site myself."

By far the biggest problem that arose was that it was difficult - sometimes impossible! - for you, the Web site owner, to update the site yourself.

Here are some examples of what people said:

"My website is not enabled for me to work on it and in it, so I have to pay someone else to do all my changes for me no matter how small."

"Keeping it up to date, not out of date as soon as it has been revised."

"Updating it!! Or understanding the technology enough to do so simply. Updating just isn't happening as regularly as it should & there are a bunch of really vital functions we just don't use at the minute."

"The biggest problem for me is back end capability and ability to update, review, edit and change it myself."

"Not having the website set up so I can change or add information as I please."

"I have started to do some outsourcing with some admin work in my business, but I'm just not comfortable really with giving my passwords to an outsourcer, given the security issues."

"The turnaround time from idea to action is too long."

"I want a way to update it easily. At the moment all I am doing is blogging. I would also like to include video clips and refer to articles."

This surprised me because I thought this problem had been solved years ago!

You see, when I first started my Web design company in 1997, we gave all our clients the ability to update their site themselves. At the time that was rare and a big point of difference. More recently, though, the sort of software we provided - called a "content management system" - has become cheaper, more powerful and more accessible. So I was shocked to find that so many Web designers weren't providing it for their clients.

You MUST be able to update your Web site yourself.

This is no longer optional.

Don't think you can get by with keeping your Web site static, and just making changes on Twitter, Facebook and your blog. It doesn't work that way. In fact, these tools mean it's even more important now that you have control over your Web site.

For example, you want to be able to:

• Announce a time-limited offer on your blog, and link to it on your Web site;
• Ask your Facebook friends to pass on a new article you've added to your Web site;
• Post a Twitter "tweet" about a free event you're running as a promotion.

Your Web site is the place people keep coming back to, so you must have control over it.

A few years ago, I said it was OK to pay a Web developer to make each and every change, under some sort of retainer arrangement (so it didn't end up costing you too much). But the world has got so much faster since then, and I don't think that option is feasible any more. It's not the cost, it's the turnaround time. You need to be able to update your site instantly, whenever you feel like it.

So make 2010 the year you get back control of your Web site!

There are many amazing Internet tools available now - cloud computing, iPhone apps, using Twitter effectively, using Facebook as a business tool, and more. But a surprising amount of stuff depends on you having a Web site - and a Web site you can update yourself. You don't need all the flashy bells and whistles, but you do need basic control of your Web site.