Said Hufflepuff, ‘I’ll teach the lot, and treat them just the same’ ~ The Sorting Hat.

PLEASE NOTE: I am offering web design on a limited basis. Contact me for a time estimate, cost is $35 an hour.

How Do I Do This?!?

A website is a great idea for more exposure on the internet. But it can be so confusing and who has the time to learn all this stuff? This is where I will help you! The following is list of questions and answers that apply to most of my sites.

What is a website?
A website is a collection of pages and things like text, pictures, video files, and scripts. These items can be seen on the internet(a worldwide collection of networked computers), using your home computer browser(such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) through a domain name (URL or web address), like www.walmart.com or www.the3dpalette.com. The items actually ‘live’ on a hosting service(a collection of computers somewhere) that is connected to the domain. There are 2 parts: the domain name, and the site files. You need BOTH to have a site live online the internet.

How do I get one, I don’t even know what I need!?

    You need:

  • A Domain Name from a Domain Registrar like Godaddy.com, HostGator.com, HostMonster.com or Register.com.
  • Hosting for your site files, also available from the above mentioned, can be the SAME or DIFFERENT company.
  • Some way of designing and technical help, such as a web developer like myself.
  • Go live with the site and enjoy!

Can you do all this for me?
Yes!

How can I tell if a Domain is available?
Easy, just go to GoDaddy domain checker and use the box to try out combinations. While it is getting harder to find good ‘.com’ domains, I don’t recommend going with .net, .info, or others for your main domain, it is still just too likely that you would lose visitors to the .com version. Private registration is available. Domain registration is publicly recorded, Private Registration is good for people that just don’t want that information out there, or people like police officers, politicians, or other individuals that need to remain anonymous. Also, once you have purchased, expect to occasionally get thieving spammers trying to get you to ‘renew’ your domain, sometimes for as often as $75 a year! GoDaddy currently charges only $12.99, and they(or whatever company you went with) are the only ones who can renew it for you.

I think I want my own domain and hosting, is this possible?
YES! You are free to purchase your own domain, or I can purchase it under my GoDaddy account and later I can transfer it to you(60 day wait). I am more than willing to place simple HTML or WordPress sites on your hosting also. For the complicated Joomla and shopping cart site, I ask that I host under my account at HostGator. You will have full log in access to your site, and once the site is paid for, you are free to transfer the entire thing to your own hosting. You may, as an alternative, purchase your own hosting with HostGator and I will build on your account. I must stick to this rule since this company has proven to me over the last 10 years that they are reliable, safe, and technologically advanced.

How much will this cost me?
Please see my Prices page.

The following is for clients that already have a site with me, replace pink with your domain url.

How do I access my stuff like html files or emails?
To access Site files and set up and check emails,use your CPanel. Use this link, and the User ID and Password that I sent to you. You can go to File Manager and use the HTML editor to change HTML files ONLY. NEVER attempt to change ANY core files if your site is anything other that HTML. Doing so will cause your site to crash in a way that I may not be able to recover and will not be responsible for. Recovering a Joomla/Wordpress site from scratch may incur a complete design fee, depending on what happened, even with a backup file. In all cases, I HIGHLY recommend quarterly or every other month backups.
http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel

How to generate/download a backup
If you would like to download the backup from cPanel, please do the following:
Log in
1.Click Backups
2.Click Generate/Download a Full Backup
3.Under “Backups Available for Download”, click the link with the file name of the backup.
4.It will then start to download.
5.Select a destination on your PC for where you would like to save it to.
6.Click Save.
You can use this if you want to move the site or you deleted something accidently. DO NOT ATTEMPT to use this file yourself, it requires root Server Company access, and they WILL charge a fee for restoration. I will need the file, I will have to request the restoration, and I will bill you the fee and my time charge . Full instructions here.

How do I access my email?
For access only to your previously set up emails, use this link(this is useful if you would like a helper to check email but not have full access):
http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail

How do I access WordPress or Joomla to change the site content?
I will send you your log in to these once the site is loaded and paid for.

How do I use WordPress?
Wordpress is one of the easiest to use, just log in, and your home page is under ‘Posts’ on the left hand menu. Your pages are under ‘Pages’. Any side bar widgets are under ‘Appearance-Widgets’. That is it!

How do I use Joomla?
Joomla is more powerful and complicated, the Pages are INDEPENDENT of the Menu(think of a box with another box of stuff inside of it. The short of it is:
Log in.
Across the top is your control menu.
Most Page content will be under ‘Content-Article Manager’, this is your center content.
Most Menu Items will be under ‘Menus-Main Menu’, these are the actual text menu items, like Home, or About Us.
Most side bar boxes will be under ‘Extensions-Module Manager’, these are things like a contact info box.
Many special things like a shopping cart, a slide show, or forms will be under ‘Components-Nameofspecialthing’.

Long PDF Text of How to for Joomla, click here.

My site needs to be higher in Google’s ranking. Now what?
All my sites are optimized for search engines. That includes text on most or all pages that relates to what your site is about, meta keywords/phrases and descriptions, alt and title tags on your photos and links, and link backs as provided to me. There is a lot more than can be done though, you should think of your URL as your business card. What do you do with a business card? You leave it everywhere, so get online and comment thoughfully on related blogs, news stories, social networks, and always remember to put your URL with your comment if allowed. Sign up with free listing services, here are some suggestions:
Google Maps
Bing Local
Yahoo! Local
MapQuest
yellowbook.com
yellowpages.com
superpages.com
whitepages.com
manta.com
showmelocal.com
citysearch.com
linkedin.com
facebook.com
local.com
yelp.com
twitter.com
merchantcircle.com
myspace.com

Don’t forget to ask all your friends and family to either share your site on social networks or to start a backlink project with you. A word about backlinks: Do not ever pay for them! Shady backlinks will get you blacklisted faster than anything. Backlinks, where you and another website each have the other’s URL posted, should be from related sites(such as a stable having other horse related business links) and businesses and friends and family. NEVER accept a link from someone that you don’t know at all or promises something silly like guaranteed #1 Google listing, that is impossible, as Google guards their secrets closer than the anyone.

Finally, consider using MailChimp to send out targeted mailings to customers. They offer 2000 emails for free and templates and it is super easy to use. Plus, it won’t impact your website server, so you can send what you want!

You know what, I just don’t have time to update, can you do it?
Yes! I charge $20 for a half hour, $35 for an hour of update time. Half hour minimum charge.

I have had my site for 6 months, but now I don’t like the color scheme?
No problem, we can discuss it. This is a complete site redesign, and as such, will incur a new design fee.

I really do want to move my site to a new web person.
No problem, just give your new web developer your cpanel log in and any log-ins for Joomla or WordPress. That should be all they need to download a backup and move your entire site to a new hoster. You are free to move your site from me at any time, but please understand that I will no longer have any control over it and cannot promise it will move successfully. Also, hosting fees are paid upfront to my hoster, so I cannot offer any refund of hosting or domain fees.

Will you donate a site to my organization?
I support a few horse related non-profits, such as Ferrell Hollow Retired Horse Sancutary, Runnin’ Wild Equine Rescue, REIN-Reaching Equines In Need, D&N Equine Rescue, and Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary. At this time, I am not offering new sites, however, I would be willing to post your need on Facebook and list your site on my links.