911 – “My website is down!”

No one is happy when the day begins with a customer calling to say they get an error message when visiting your website.  A visitor may see a message indicating that the website is not found, the domain is available for purchase, a database cannot be accessed or that the website is offline. Here are the most common reasons websites don’t display and how to avoid it.

• The hosting or domain fees have not been paid
  If you catch either of these issues quickly, you may be able to remedy them by simply paying the bill.  Many web hosts and domain registrars set you account to renew automatically.  If that is the case, your credit card information may not up to date.
• The host server is down
  The easy solution is to contact your hosting company or by checking with your IT group for internally hosted sites.  A professionally hosted site should have redundant servers and be able to get your site live quickly.  If you continue to experience downtime and if the downtime is over an hour, look for another hosting solution.  Sometimes shared hosting environment are prone to downtime so consider upgrading your hosting plan to a VPS or dedicated account.  Sometimes a new hosting company is appropriate.  Look at our hosting recommendations  if you need to consider that option.

• Your visitor is inside a restricted network
  It is not unusual for visitors who are inside a firewall to loose access to your site because the security settings or workstation settings have changes.  Sometimes public wifi networks have similar issues.  So ask your visitor if that may be the case.I attempted to access the internet in talking to a potential client from their office and could not access many public websites because of this.  (Needless to say, I didn’t gain that client.  It is hard to tell a client that their IT is poorly configured.)

• Something in the basic website code failed
  This may be because of an incorrect edit to these files.  Occasionally files become corrupted because of many unknown reasons.  These reasons include corruption on the host servers and read/write errors from accessing files.  These types of issues are unpredictable.  If your host does not provide a good backup, plan look for another host.  Regardless of your host, you should have a backup process that stores backups apart from the host server.  Akeeba provides a good backup option within Joomla.  Check with your developer to see what options are available for your site.
• Someone “hacked” or maliciously interrupted your website
  Just as viruses can find their way onto your local computer, websites can be compromised too.  Public and internally websites should be protected in a variety of ways.  If you have a Joomla site, check our recommendation.  Many of the principles also apply to websites overall.

How you recover from a hack or virus depends in part on your host’s security measures.  Some hosts quarantine websites they detect as compromised.  Your first steps are to check the date of your locally stored backup and then seek assistance if you are unsure what to do.

Worried Your Joomla Site Might Get Hacked?

Joomla is not invulnerable even though it is a robust content management system. Any website, not matter how it is constructed or secured, is vulnerable to hacking attacks. Because Joomla has standards about the way it works, in some ways it gives a road map to hackers looking for a way in.

Landau Design has created a comprehensive Squidoo lens that provides information on how to secure your Joomla website to prevent hacking. If for some reason your Joomla site got hacked, we also provide information on how to repair a Joomla hacking problem.

Please read 15 Ways to Secure Your Joomla Website and take the steps to prevent hacking attempts!

An Easy Way to Create Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

We are launching a full scale e-commerce site this weekend. One of the small details of these sites is to have the “compliance policies” in place that cover terms of use, privacy, etc. These policies are important because if something bad happens on your site e.g. a hacker adds unethical content to your site, your company could have damages without them.

However there are more important reasons to create a Privacy Policy and Terms of Use with some care. Users expect to see the policies and some actually look at them. It would be a big disservice to have them look sloppy. In addition, when most organizations create policies, it helps them understand how they do customer service now, whether they want to make changes and coordinate their online image with the rest of their activities.

So how do you get started?

There are usually 2 policies (Terms of Use and Privacy Policy) required, although some organizations have them combined into one organized statement.

Terms of Use would include:

• What is the purpose of the site>
• What can people do with the content and technology used on the site? (Typically users have a license for private personal use only.)
• What responsibility do you have for typos, broken links, and external links? (The typical answer is very little.)

Privacy Policy would include:

• Does your site set cookies?
• Does your site collect personal information?
• How is it used?
• Is information retained for later use?
• Is the information kept private?
• Is it kept internally? In printed form too?
• Is it made available to “partners”?
• Do you allow children to visit your site?
• Are safeguards and warnings in place for children?

Writing content for these pages

If you are having a hard time answering these questions, it often helps to look at examples first. Check out Why Have a Privacy Policy and Terms of Use? for ideas on where to get templates for these pages.

As you get ready to write your policies, ask for input from the marketing, legal and PR staff. Before you finalize these policies, you should review them with your legal staff or lawyer.

Compliance policies are important. If you never have a problem with online privacy or content issues, it will be well worth the time you spend getting them right from the start.

Finding a Great Referral for A Web Developer

Choosing a web developer can be very challenging if you don’t understand how things work at a basic level. Just like cars, everyone admires a good website, but it is hard to know which salesman to believe.

So many people look to a friend or business associate for a referral  to a web developer. This makes sense as long as you ask the right questions of that person. Most people don’t understand their website needs from a technical aspect. This makes it difficult to know whether your friend or associates website is a good measuring stick for yours.

In my opinion, the best source of information on web development comes from someone in a similar line of business. For the most part, you will want similar functionality on the site and perhaps have a similar marketing approach.

Here are questions to ask when getting a web developer referral:

1. How well did the client define their project ahead of time?
Often people will have an idea of what they want in a website but will not have the true scope or details identified. Taking time to answer some basic questions and you will have an easier time managing the project. Specific details to ask about include:

• Did they have your information architecture (IA) set? IA is the design for the information flow. Did the developer help them refine it?
• How complex is the content on their website? Is some of the content inter-related? Was the website built in a static fashion or in a relational fashion? Did they need special programming, such as Joomla, to accomplish what they want?
• Did they have a project plan with milestones? Was it reasonable technically or simply “what they wanted”.
• How often will they make changes? Are they simple text changes or design changes? Did they allow for this in your design and vendor agreement? Who makes the changes, client or do they pay the developer?

If the responses are not all positive, the client and developer may share the blame.

Developer issues that can cause delays:

• Lack of key technical knowledge
• Poor project management skill
• Shabby ethics

Client issues that can cause delays:

• “Two many cooks (stakeholders) in the kitchen” may create a confusing project scope and priorities. This could also delay critical decisions.
• Poor conception of development costs: If you have a comparable website that you are going by, it’s important to know how much it cost to build so you have an idea of the costs involved. If you want super technical by don’t have the budget for it, this can cause disappointments and delays as the client tries to get the developer to create what they don’t have the budget to pay for.
• Taking too long to develop content. This is the number one reason we see delays on sites we build. Putting content together is the hardest part of a project, so ask your friend to honestly answer how prompt were they about delivering content to the developer?

2. Did they need to adjust their expectations during the contracting process?
If a project has any complexity at all, the developer will need to explore how to implement the client’s design best to meet their needs. This may involve some changes to the client’s vision because of budget, technology limitations, or the desired timeline of the project. This may mean implementing the project in stages or developing custom functionality provided the budget allows for it.

It is common to work with clients who don’t have all their content done. In the course of creating their content and IA, they discover that their original design is poor. In looking at the IA, they often discover better ways of doing business or a better marketing approach, and this changes the scope of the project.

3. How clear was the agreement with the developer?
Some problems in development are easy to avoid by having clear contracting language. If you want results that meet your expectations, you need to ask enough questions to clarify how the site will work. You can express the results you want in an agreement without knowing how a developer will implement this technically. When this is done, it is easy to hold a developer accountable.

4. Was it difficult to communicate with the developer?
Many developers are good at coding but have a hard time understanding the client’s needs. It is important for developers to have a sense of the user’s experience as well as the business purpose of the website. If a client finds a developer does not show an understanding of this part of the project, it will make the project more stressful.

5. If changes were needed along the way, did the developer explain things well?
Did the developer provide options for challenges? If a project has any complexity at all, it is not uncommon for both the developer and the client to learn in the course of the project. As a result, changes in the scope or implementation may be needed. If a developer is not flexible or diligent enough to be a partner, this part of the project will be a challenge.

Why You Need a Company Social Media Policy

If you have more than one person in your company who engages in social media, you need to have a social media policy. Social media has quickly become the easiest way to grown your online presence. Through all popular outlets, you can quickly and effectively develop your online reputation and extend the brand of your business.

But the lines between person and business social media are quite blurry. For example:

• If an employee uses Facebook to converse with friends and family, should they be using it to share information about your company?
• If Twitter is how they tell their buddies where they are and what they are doing, should the same account be used to spread marketing messages?
• And what if they are looking for another job, but their personal accounts are intertwined with your business accounts. How does that look for your marketing image?

A social media policy is critical for any business since your online reputation will be significantly impacted by what is said about your company. Unless you provide guidelines for employees, you cannot really be certain what sort of reputation is being developed.

Saying “Don’t do it!” is not a policy

Social media has become a mainstream way of connecting with customers. To tell your employees that social media is not allowed is not realistic in today’s business world. Chances are employees are already engaging in social media for private use, and your social media policy should at least discuss what can be done during work hours. Also, if employees are already using social media, a policy can help to define what private social media outlets may be used to extend the brand of the company.

What should a social media policy govern?

A company social media policy should answer the following questions:

• Who owns the social media accounts that are used by your company?
• If employees have personal accounts, can they use them to market your company?
• What is the policy for talking about the company on personal social media accounts?
• What confidentiality is required around your company information?
• What copyright issues should be considered?
• What social media arenas does the company participate in?
• What individuals in the company are responsible for social media, and for those who aren’t responsible, what is their input (if any)?
• Who is in charge of reviewing social media output?
• Who is responsible for responding to customer complaints that appear in social media arenas?

Here are some excellent articles we found that can help you craft a social media policy:

• How to Write a Social Media Policy
• 10 Must-Haves For Your Social Media Policy
• Secrets to Writing a Social Media Policy That Actually Means Something

Sample Social Media Policies

If you’re are in the process of creating a social media policy, Social Media Governance keeps a database of corporate social media policies. They have example from many companies, including FedEx, Cisco and Harvard Law School.