by Donna Gunter, The Boomer Biz Queen (TM)

Every time you take your car in for an oil change, most shops give you a 15- or 30-point checkup when they change your oil to alert you to any other potential problems you might experience in the future. In the same way that your mechanic conducts a regular inspection of your automobile, you need to conduct an annual checkup of your website.

Here are 7 critical areas that need to be checked yearly on your site:

1. Copyright notice. In years past it would take me until March or April to update my copyright notices primarily because I had to go in and update every single page of my site. More recently, however, I’ve used an includes file, which is one file that can be inserted in many pages to hold my copyright and contact info. Consequently, when I need to update the copyright info, I open this one file in my HTML editor, update that file, save and upload it. Once it’s revised, the new information miraculously appears on all the pages in which it’s included, updating them all at once.

2. Opt-in forms. The beginning of each year is a great time to ensure that all of the opt-in forms are working on your site. Do you need to add additional fields to the opt-in form to collect mailing addresses, for example, or to ask how visitors found your site? Is the information contained on your confirmation page (the page to which a visitor is sent upon her initial request to opt into your list) still current and relevant? How about the thank you page (the page to which your visitor is sent when she has confirmed her desire to join your list)?

3. Autoresponder followup. Next, review the content of the autoresponders that you’ve set to follow up the opt-in. Are they still current? Do they mention offers or upsells that are still available? Do you need to update any copyright or contact information contained within them? Are they making it through spam filters? Use this tool to ensure that every email gets into your contact’s inbox: SpamCheck from SiteSell.

4. Signature files. Does your email signature file contain a call to action that’s still working for you, or does it need to be updated? Have you changed any portion of your contact information? After you review your signature files in your email client, do the same check of your email signature file in your shopping cart program or autoresponder program.

5. Client attraction device. Take a look at the free giveaway you provide to your visitors in return for them opting into your list. Whether it’s a document or an audio or video file, update the copyright and content information in it and review any biographical/profile information that you list about yourself or your business. Is the content you provide in this giveaway still valid and current? Do you want to keep the current call to action, or does it need to be updated to better fit with your current business model?

6. Missing images and dead link check. When your website fails to properly display images, your business appears unprofessional. Tour your website to ensure that all images are displaying as they should. If you link to or make reference to many resources on your site, run a dead link check annually to weed out or update those that no longer work. You may be able to do this with your HTML editor. If not, try the free weekly link checking service offered by iNetDog.

7. Order forms. Be sure that your order form works all the way through. Most online business owners, when checking order forms, stop at the point where they need to enter credit card information. If your merchant account agreement prohibits you from using your credit card to order from your company, ask if they have a test card number you can use, or have a reciprocal agreement with a colleague to check each other’s forms. Check your followup autoresponders that are set to go out after someone makes a purchase, as well, to ensure that they are still up-to-date.

Websites that are obviously out-of-date or aren’t working properly are a huge deterrent to doing business with you. Check these 7 key areas yearly on your site to convey to your visitors that your site is regularly updated and maintained.

Internet Marketing Strategist and Boomer Biz Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses that they love by demystifying and simplifying the tools and strategies needed to market and grow their businesses online. To claim your FR*EE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com.

5 Critical Questions To Ask BEFORE You Hire a Web Designer

Whether you’re building a website or a blogsite, the investment in a designer can be fairly significant. It’s at this point that many service business owners decide to cut costs and have their 16-year old nephew design their site. This works out well until something breaks (with technology, it’s never a question of IF it will break, only WHEN) and your nephew is out of touch because he just started his first year of college and can’t be bothered. What are you going to do?

To run an online business, your website is your key to success. People arrive on your doorstep (site) like they might in a retail establishment, and decide within 5 seconds if they’re going to stay and look around or if they’re going to leave. It pays to invest some money in your site, as your site is the first stop on the like, know and trust journey that prospects experience with you. You need to be perceived as legitimate, as a “real” business, and as the solution to the problems that ail your prospective clients. If you’re not able to design your own site, an experienced website designer can help finesse this relationship with your visitors.

How can you determine if your designer will create a site that you like and is useful? I’ve heard many horror stories over the years about the experiences that services business owners have had regarding the creation and maintenance of their websites. Here are 5 critical questions that you should have answered before hiring a web designer:

1. Site Ownership. First and foremost, you should ask if you own the final version of your site and the graphic source files. I’ve discovered that many web designers do NOT work on a work-for-hire basis. Instead, they maintain the copyright to the design of your site, so if you don’t want to use that same company for site updates and maintenance, for example, they will not release any source files to another designer. Consequently, you will have to pay to have your site redesigned all over again. At the very least you should obtain a license to use the files in perpetuity and be able to make revisions to them in the future. This same rule applies to any special fonts or special applications developed for the site.

A second key issue in site ownership is ownership of your domain name. If your site design includes purchasing the domain name for your site, be sure that your domain’s purchase is credited to you and registered to you as the administrative and technical contact. Many times the web design company registers your domain name and lists themselves as the contact, or actually purchases the domain and is considered the owner. At that point it becomes almost impossible to get your username and password for the account should you need to make any changes to your domain registration or to even prove ownership. Purchase your domain BEFORE beginning any work on a website.

2. Ongoing maintenance and hosting. Secondly, determine if you will be locked into a maintenance contract or hosting contract with the designer. Are they using any special software or application that will tie you to a particular type of hosting service? This may not be problematic for you initially, but ensure that you’ve got the flexibility to change your mind in case the design company is sold, for example, and dramatically increases their prices. Once the site is up, can you buy a program, like Adobe Contribute, for example, and do simple site updates yourself or must you use their company for any updates?

3. Experience with similar companies. Thirdly, take a look at their portfolio and be sure you like their previous work and that they have experience in web design for companies like yours. Call 1-2 of their clients (from the portfolios) and ask the client how easy the design company was to work with and how satisfied they are with the final product.

4. Marketing experience. Many web designers are simply that — great web designers. They can make your site sit up and bark and run around in circles, if you like. However, the newest, coolest, showiest and flashiest technology is oftentimes NOT what you need to bring you the most traffic, get your site found in search engines, and convert prospects to customers. Don’t fall for the glitz and glam that you see in a designer’s portfolio. The best sites are simpler sites with a clean design and distinct marketing elements, like a clear call to action as seen in an email list signup box. If you can find a designer who excels at both design and marketing, you have found a gem whom you need to hold onto.

5. Return on investment (ROI). Asking a designer about the ROI for their clients is somewhat sneaky. In essence, what you’re doing is determining their longevity (will they still be in business tomorrow), as well as their followup strategy in terms of staying in touch with clients to see how their businesses are doing. A web designer who stays in touch is one who’s concerned about your success and is one that is much more likely to create a website that will produce profitable results for you.

The creation of your online presence can be a very expensive failure that takes much longer than anticipated. Don’t let yourself be the next victim! Before hiring a website designer, make sure s/he answers these questions to your satisfaction, and you’ll be on the path to a profitable relationship with a talented professional who can help your online business grow.

Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FR*EE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com

Where does your website rank on the major search engines? Are you on page 1 or page 10? Search Engine Optimization continues to be a mystery for many small businesses. How do you move your site up on the search engine’s lists? The Wall Street Journal has a nice article that should help to clarify some of the mystery and help you get on the right path!

Here’s a great article about writing your website content. Bottom line: keep it simple!

How to write Web content for a busy audience – Microsoft Office Online

I’ve spent more hours that I care to count attending networking functions, and I continue to be amazed at all the people I meet who don’t have a website. Many entrepreneurs love what they do but hate marketing and selling themselves. A well-written website is one of the most effective tools at your disposal that will sell for you 24/7, provided you have written compelling copy for the site.

Here are ten ways to make your website your unpaid sales force:

1. Networking
A website permits you to pass out your business card to thousands of potential clients and lets them know how to reach you and what you sell. If, in your sales copy, you tell your story of why you’re in your business, write a bio that accurately reflects your voice and style for your site, and upload your photo, your potential customers will begin to get to know you, without having to meet them one-on-one. Nothing is more amazing to me that to walk into a networking event and have total strangers come up and begin a conversation with me as though we were long-lost friends. They think we are. Why? Because they’ve visited my website or read my email newsletter or blog to the extent they have begun to get to know me, like me, and respect me.

2. Make Business Information Available
Help your customers find out more about you. What are your hours? What methods of payment do you accept? Where are you located? Being the “Internet snob” that I am, I go online first to check out a business before deciding to do business with them. Sometimes it’s to check the menu, if it’s a restaurant. Sometimes it’s to see if they offer a discount coupon. Other times I just need to find their hours of operation or driving directions. If I can’t find their website, I’m apt to find their competitor’s site that contains precisely the info that I’m seeking.

3. Better Serve Your Customers
Make doing business with you as easy and effortless as possible. With an online presence, you could make forms available to pre-qualify clients for loans if you’re a mortgage broker, enable your clients to upload their files for typesetting and printing if you’re a professional printer, or allow your customer to see if the coat he wants is in stock if you’re a clothing store. My sister is a “shoes horse” and desperately wanted a particular pair of shoes from a nationally-known department store in Houston. She checked their website to see if the shoes were in stock in her size at the store closest to her. She discovered they weren’t, but was able to find another branch that did have them in stock and was able to swing by and pick them up. When your clients are over-committed and trying to squeeze another hour out of the day, how much more will they appreciate your online presence if you can help them save one of their most valuable assets — their time?

4. Release Time-Sensitive Materials
You may have a service business that relies on appointments to make your money, like a hair salon or a chiropractor’s office. You walk in on Monday morning and discover that only about half of your appointments are taken for the week. Do you decide to take part of the week off? You could, if you needed a vacation. Or, you could email the customer list you’ve built through your website and let them know that you’re taking appointments at a special discounted rate this week only, or on certain days of this week, or that they’ll get a free widget if they book an appointment by a certain date or time. How quickly do you think your customers would take advantage of this time-sensitive offer?

5. Be Open All Night, 365 Days of the Year
Internet surfers don’t go online to buy–they go online to find free information. However, we live in an immediate gratification society. If you have a product for sale that fulfills a need to a particular problem, you can add a shopping cart with credit card purchasing ability to your online product catalog and enable someone to buy something from you at 2 AM, for example, when most of us are in bed. If your shopping cart permits immediate delivery of an electronic item, like an ebook or audio file, all the better, as your customer can have the information he has ordered within minutes after purchase. How many sales are you losing because your prospective customer has to fax or phone in an order or wait for your office to open to talk to you? Your e-commerce-enabled website can be your 24-hour automated salesperson.

6. Make Pictures and Sound Files Available
What if your widget is great, but people want to see it in action? Your website permits you to add sound, static images, and video to better explain who you are and what you sell, or to demonstrate use of your product or service. No brochure will do that. Additionally, audio and video testimonials from enthusiastic customers are now becoming more commonplace on websites. If you hate to sell, have a happy customer tell your website visitors how wonderful you are and how well you solved his problem. People believe enthusiastic testimonials from others who’ve successfully used your product or service.

7. Answer FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions)
Every business has questions that customers ask again and again. Do you have the staff, or want to dedicate staff time, to answering these questions? Instead, post the questions and answers to your website and remove another barrier to doing business with you. Or, if you have the staff to do so, install a “live help” program on your website so that your site visitors can click and log-in to ask their questions right away while the question is fresh on their mind.

8. Offer Special Membership Access for Current Customers
If you’re selling a service on your site, you may want your current paying clients to have access to certain information that is generally not available to the public. With your website, you can create a password-protected, clients-only section, or special membership section, for certain groups of clients. And, as website visitors are always curious and will try to get into private areas for additional information, you can use the “authorization required” page as another opportunity to tell them about the benefits of your product and service and how their lives will be better and richer for purchasing it. And, upon purchase, they will then become a member of this “special clients” club and have all the information and privileges associated with that membership. American Express is right — membership has its privileges!

9. Open to National or International Markets
For most of my adult life, I’ve lived in parts of the country that have never recovered from the mid-1980′s recession. Because I’ve had a virtual business with a website, I’ve never had to rely on the local economy to make a living. If you have a product or service that won’t sell locally, or you have a brick and mortar operation and are trying to break into new markets, a website can help you open up a dialogue with nationwide or even international markets as easily as with the company across the street. Can you stand to make more money in your business?

10. Test-Market New Services and Products
Got an idea for another line of products for your business, or an additional service you’d like to add? Create a special page on your website and see how your current customers like the new offering. Ask them about price, appearance, and usability. They will let you know what they think faster and easier than any other market you may reach. Take their feedback, make necessary changes, and then roll it out to a larger market.

If you don’t currently have a website for your business, get one! If your website only serves as a pretty brochure instead of bringing you qualified customers or sales, perhaps it’s time to hire an expert to bring it to the next level. What difference would it make for you to get 95% of your clients online?I bet that would make your marketing efforts much more streamlined, and who doesn’t want to make more profit in less time?

(c) 2007 Donna Gunter

Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at http://www.GetMoreClientsOnline.com. Read about running an online biz at our blog, http://www.getmoreclientsonlineblog.com.

Help people find your Web site: 8 tips