Over the last year in particular I have really become aware of the important connection between a website owner and their website. The arrival of Content Management Systems have provided website owners with the opportunity to update their websites directly and in my opinion (and most important) allowing the website owner to be an active participant in the process.

And I might add not every website owner understands or view the website from this point of view. At least not initially but make no mistake about your website – it is a part of the team and it is going to play an active role in your company’s success.

In the old days (first generation – or Web 1.0) websites were seen as electronic brochures to a large extent. You were really taking the marketing and sales brochure of your organization and placing it online. Based on past experience and also the process of which websites were primarily managed back then – creating and launching a website was a “one time” event with the website going live and then “great – I don’t have deal with that for another few years”. Further your connection to any updates to that website were thru your webmaster (usually your remote webmaster). Generally to pay a webmaster to update your website was costly – so this reinforced the one time setup process of a website…

Roll forward to Web 2.0 and websites have now become a much more active part of the operations of a company (including the marketing, sales, and operations). The basis of a glorified brochure sitting online is really become a thing of the past and content management systems are becoming the norm. Here is just a few roles websites now play:

1. First impression of your company for a prospective customer (Marketing)
2. Introduction information about your company and key stay (Marketing)
3. Descriptions of Services and Products that your company sells (Marketing)
4. Key Contact Information, Directions to your office – e-mails & phone numbers. (Marketing)
5. Inquiry forms that intice a prospect to send a sales inquiry. (Marketing)

The above items not only play important roles for prospects but also provide existing customers with reference information that may be used to extend or introduce a new relationship. Today websites participate in many operational tasks including:

6. Online Content, blogs, e-NEWS, photos and multimedia (Operational)
7. Online Shops and e-Commerce (Operational)
8. Subscriptions and registration processes (Operational)
9. Customer forms and documents (Operational)
10. And 3rd Party add-on products such as Real Estate IDX.

These items should really highlight the level of activity that a website is capable of and also reinforce the need for your website to be viewed as a key part of your team. And like any other team member the website and its results should be actively included in periodical staff meetings. For every organization to be able to agressively use their website this team member must have other active staff members involved in its use and operations.

This connect of the client to the website is one of the biggest area BeareWare is now working actively with our clients. To view your website as distant object (managed only by your web hosting or management company is generally not a good plan.) No matter how good your web company may be that – they will never understand your business like you do and more to the point they will never drive it. (YOU and YOUR COMPANY WILL ALWAYS DRIVE YOUR WEBSITE)  A good website hosting and management company should be focused on client educational and operational development. The key to a successful website actively requires the website owner to play the game as well!

So take the time to consider your website’s role within your organization. Starting with the education of staff members that learn how to update and manage content. Expand your knowledge of website statistics (so you can track and measure your success) – and make these results a part of your corporate reviews and analsys. Call your website “Wilbur” if you have to – but be sure to create a culture where your website is an absolute part of your team!

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

If you were asked today how did your website perform this year could you give an informed, statistical answer? Websites are now a key component of most business and like any other part of your business – understanding how this area performed – and what changes or improvements might be needed should be at least an annual part of business planning.

Granted websites come with lots of statistics and you could actually easily spend hours analyzing these stats. Quite often some of these stats are non meaning or not relevant to a business. But what are the important statistics and what should you focus on? Once you have developed a technique interpreting your website you should be able to review and interpret your website results within 15 minutes.

Web Conversions

Ultimately we want to know how much business was generated or created by the website (known as a web conversion). This is black and white statistic and usually very easy to establish… We had 500 sales on our website this year or we had 250 new inquiries this year or we had 150 subscribers to our listings. These are the end results of your website – but they are best interpreted and achieved through some key web statistics:

Start with the Basics – How many people visited your website?

I hear it all the time – its stuns me that very good business people and business make these statements – “Our website had millions of hits last year” – giving the impression that “millions of people” visited their website further implying the website produced millions of dollars…

Folks the most important statistic and the primary statistic is a unique visitor (A person that visits your website). A hit is not in anyway related to a person or unique visitor – as described above it is an ignorant (or inflated) confusing statement about a websites performance…

For the record here is the definition of a hit:

A “hit” is a retrieval of any item, like a page or a graphic, from a Website. For example, when a visitor looks at one web page with six graphics this will produce seven hits, one for the page itself and six for the graphics. And a graphic can be photos, logos, graphical buttons, even a tiny arrow or other icon.

So a visitor coming to your website can (and usually does) generates hundreds of hits. But they are still only one visitor – capable of one business transaction (usually)…

OK – We Measure our website by Unique Visitors – What is next?

Visits – How many times did a person visit your website?

The next area to focus on is what that visitor did when they visited your website. First – how many times did they visit the website? This stat is known as “Visits” – a website may have 1000 visitors that visit 3000 times. (which means on average each visitor came to the website 3 times…

Pages Views – How many pages were viewed (read)

The next stat we look at is how many pages were viewed (In essence what pages are being read by our visitors).  This is a critical stat for any website that sells advertising as this usually indicates how many ads were viewed.

Visits Duration – How long was a visitor on our website?

This is a great stat for understanding web visitor’s behavior and it really makes you focus on how quickly you can have your visitors “converted” into a desired outcome. This statistic is an absolute eye-opener about the general behavior of visitors to your site. If your website’s current information (its “content”) is not up-to-date, or it is difficult for a visitor to find that information on your site quickly, chances are the visitor will quickly leave your website.

Frequently Viewed Pages:

This statistic tells you what specific pages are being viewed by visitors to your website. It also tells you the amount of times a particular page is visited, so you can establish what your key pages are on your  site, as well as what pages you have that people are not visiting (and appropriately analyze why). Obviously, you want your conversion pages (ones that lead to conversion-specific actions) to be way up there on visitation.

Referring Search Engines (Prospects):

Search engines are a great opportunity for getting new visitors to your website. There are many things that can be done to ensure that you have a prominent listing on a search engine – but knowing which search engines are producing the most referrals can help with your search engine strategy. Search engines have robots that search the Internet continuously and establish key phrases and words that describe and are found on your site. This is how the search engine establishes an index on your website. The stronger your key words and phrases (in essence your content) – the higher your rankings on search engines.

Referring Website (Referrals):

Referring websites are what I consider “word of mouth” online.  This is the stat that shows you which specific website the visitor found out about you on (and actually took the link on that site to get to you). Online advertising is the primary method that sends visitors to other websites, but key links are also a good way to get additional traffic. This is a great statistic to use to monitor how well your outside advertising or link exchanges are working, for instance, and may help in your future marketing decisions. 

Key Phrases & Key Words:

Being listed on a search engine is not enough to ensure that people will find you through key phrases and word searches. Your website will also need “meta tags” which are tags that the web robots will look for that index content on your site. Having key words in your title line of each page can significantly help you Search Engine positioning.

Knowing what these key words and phrases are will help you continue to develop your content (key words and key phrases) on your website.
Become Expert in Understanding your Website – It’s Your Business!

As can be seen by statistics explanations I have listed here, developing your statistical understanding of your website will take some dedicated time and effort. If you have a good web company that works with you on hosting, support and management – they should be your key contact in terms of reviewing these statistics periodically. But the rewards in this area can be tremendous – today and in the future.
Statistics reinforce your investment in your website, identify results, and give you a clear path to adjustments for future results. They also are extremely valuable when developing a new website – by knowing what the results are from your existing site, you will be much more in tune with the changes and improvements you will need in a new site.

Take the time to understand your website statistics. It will be time well-invested! 

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here 

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

In the domain world (the world that is constantly changing) – there are some tools that can help you keep ahead of the game. In particular there is a website called “Snapnames.com” that provides several domain services but none greater than being able to place a backorder on an existing (and taken) domain name…

So What’s The Catch – How Much Does This Cost?

Well I would be the first to skeptical about a domain name service so I appreciate your question.  But as is with every other aspect of the web that we have come to work with  we gain our overall knowledge by using these products – not by theory or academics. We have used Snapnames.com for over 2 years – and to date we have acquired 4 domain names. I have to say it is a buzz when we receive an e-mail stating a domain name has been acquired…

How Exactly Do you Acquire a Domain Name?

OK – we are interested in acquiring a domain name that is important to us or our clients. It is usually a domain name that is rather the primary domain required by a client or it is a very good secondary domain name. The domain name is being held by an owner out their in the “Interland” (Internet Land). I have several options on how to approach acquiring the domain name – one being to contact owner and ask if the owners is interested in selling the domain name.

The general problem I have with contacting owners is their inability to quantify the value of their domain name (quite often a name they are not using or have not intention of using). As soon as you inform them you are interested the price they name is usually not justifiable – (nor quantifiable). It is usually a “pie in the sky” request for a large amount of money that generally should never actually be transacted.

So You Would Never Buy A Domain Name Directly?

Well yes I would and I have – but in general you are really rolling the die out their. You need to really know what you are doing – you must understand the real value of the domain name (to you and to the seller – which quite often are not the same).  Recently I acquired a fabulous domain name for a client – the absolute premier domain name for their business name (and a name that is used all over the country and every state) and we purchased the domain for $385.00 which was a tremendous deal.

The seller was a very decent business group and also a web design & hosting company and they were simply holding the domain without any real ability or plans to use the domain. All the same our client was very fortunate to acquire the name. At the same time when you can register a domain for a year with a discount domain company for as little as $8.00 it is easy to see how someone could site on a domain name perpetually with very little invested.

But Let Me Tell You a Great Snapnames Story…

Over the last 10 years (really from 1997-2007) I was actively involved in promoting Australia with an annual event called the Australian Festival. I am now since retired from this very challenging role (and a recovering Festival Director) but over the course of many years running the festival and promoting the event primarily thru the web we acquired a very good portfolio of Australian related domain names.

Last year we decided to start listing Australian Festivals that were now operating all over the world. When we started running the Australian Festival in Nashville in 1997 – I don’t honestly think there was an Australian Festival operating outside of Australia. Now it has been established as a solid business and cultural vehicle to promote global trade and friendship. I searched for the domain name – http://www.australianfestivals.com/ – and found that it was “For Sale by Owner”. It had no website and was “treading water” online picking up the occasional table scraps from Google Ads but basically just treading water.

I contacted the owner and requested a cost on what they were selling the domain name for. I waited a few days then received a cheery e-mail requesting $10,000.00 for the domain name. There was some “sales dribble” attached to the e-mail – which I don’t recall the exact wording but the seller had recognized I was involved in the Australian Festival and I assume he must have thought his ship had sailed in…. (It hadn’t!)…

Register Domain With Snap Names (and lets see what happens)…

Usually I will do a “Who Is” to establish the owner of the domain name (and more importantly the expiration date). This expiration date quite often helps you establish the possibilities of the site becoming available. You never know on a domain name – the owner has moved on – the web dude no longer is in business – lots of funny things can happen when the domain is up for renewal…

So realizing http://www.australianfestivals.com/ was not worth $10,000.00 and if it was we certainly weren’t in a position to buy it so I decided I would add it to snap names as a backorder. The domain registration was just renewed for a year – buy either way I could at least be ready if the domain name becomes available. The preset initial bid price was setup at $59.00. This means that is people from other services start bidding on the domain in the event it becomes available then this would be your starting bid. BUT if you are the only bidder – and the domain name becomes available – then it is YOURS BABY!

And Wouldn’t You Know It – Around a Year Later…

Sure enough just working away – another interesting day at BeareWare (every day is interesting) and I received a notification from Snapnames that the domain name – www.australianfestivals.com has been acquired.  For a grand total cost of $59.00. I must say that this was an e-mail that made me smile. Not sure what happened to my “mate” who wanted $10,000.00 for the domain name – but most likely he had some “bigger” investments to take care.

Domain Expiration – A little more to it…

And just to make sure I am presenting this snapnames option to you clearly – when a domain expires – it does not become immediately available on the open market (or whatever market “SnapNames” works with.) When a domain expires it is in expiration mode for approximately 15-30 dates. There is actually no guarantee to this time frame and each Registrar can set their standards on this time frame. This period is considered a “renewal period” – which means that no one else can buy the domain during this phase. The owner can renew the domain – sometime with a penalty fee from the registrar.

If not renewed the domain name then goes into “Deletion Mode”- which is when the registrar has now flagged the domain name for deletion – which will ultimately release the name back to “open market’. The owner of the domain still has the potential during this phase to renew the domain – but will most likely be charged “hefty” fees by the registrar (approximately $100.00 and up). Once the deletion mode is complete – the domain name is back in the open market.

I don’t know at what point Snapnames has access to the domain name in this process but it appears that they have the ability to purchase this name well before the name becomes available for any purchase again. And remember snapnames may not be the only organization chasing the domain name. But I dare say the method of waiting until the name becomes available again on your favorite registrar search is probably not going to get you in the front running to acquire it…

SO – if you have a domain name that you are interested in acquiring – and don’t have a the budget to pay the big bucks for it initially (or have tried that route unsuccessfully) then consider adding a back order to snapnames. It may take a year or it may actually never become available but based on what we have seen with the “wild and unpredictable” management of domain names you might just be pleasantly surprised…

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

Analysis & Communication – A Key Ingredient in Designing A Great Website

Of all the areas of web design and development that I enjoy the most – our Web Design meetings really rank highly for the part they play in ensuring a great website result for the client.

The key to those meetings is analysis before hand (usually the sales process and preparation for the design meeting) and then great open communication with your client during the design meeting.

Surely Your Web Designer’s Skills Would be More Important?

Without a doubt you have to have a great web designer to produce great websites. No questions about that at all. But a great Web Designer is not only great by their graphic abilities – they are great in their ability to understand their client’s needs and requirements and to create a design that is results oriented.

There are many great web designers out there who can create the most eye catching web designs. But not all of those designs actually work for their clients. It the site looks good that will at least pass the first test of new visitor – the test of whether they like the website or not. But as soon as they start to look for the specific action items and areas of interest this may soon change from “Liking The Site” to “Leaving The Site”. As my dear mother in Australia used to say “Peter – Looks Aren’t Everything” – in my case and the case of a successful website she again would be right. (p.s. I do have a great personality!!!!)

Good Web Design Planning Starts with Analysis

We had two web design meetings planned for Monday (yesterday). In order to ensure myself and our Design Director Vicki Payne were ready for those meetings we spent around 1-2 hours preparing for each meeting. During the sales cycle we really focus on the business and marketing models of the clients, the desired results they want from the website, and their time line (and budget) in which they want their new website up and running. In the design meeting we really start to home in on the look!

Preparing for our Design Meeting

To prepare for design meeting my primary responsibility is to prepare an agenda for the meeting that ensures when we leave that meeting our Design Director has direction and clarity as to the design the client is seeking (the “look and feel” of the website). Note here that I do not state that our Design Director has the direction “SHE thinks will work for the client”. Our job is produce the look and feel that the client desires and to ensure that design is also the functional design the client needs to be successful. We are leads in this process but the process is on behalf of a client and the results are fully focused on our clients.

Wouldn’t The Designer Know Best when it comes to Web Designs?

At BeareWare we have one of the best web designers in the area. She has been produced over 100 great web designs over the last 3 years. I cannot speak highly enough of her. But I also know some other great graphic designers in this area that simply don’t produce good looking websites at all. They are generally the wrong look (or quite often have to much graphics) which leads to major functional issues. It is clearly not only the skill of the graphic designer that producers a great website. It is the analysis, direction, business and marketing models of the client that really help establish a great design.

I am sure many a client have ended up with what they thought was a great looking website that 6 months down the track was deemed as non functional. (or basically not working for them). If you have ever been involved in a web design project and you have been told “Don’t worry – our designer knows exactly what you need” – you probably need to REALLY WORRY! Without a strong analysis of your business how on earth can that designer really know what your business is about and what specific outcomes you are looking for with your website.

Analysis – Starts in The Sales Cycle

It is impossible for me to produce a proposal for a client without having the entire web project understood. The only way to understand a website development project is to have a full analysis of the business and marketing models of the client. There is no other way to do this but to ask questions and do research. Research on the client’s existing site and also similar sites in their industry. So when we have produced a proposal we have a complete timeline and pathway to designing our client’s new website. We understand the client’s business models and we understand the outcomes the client is looking for.

Design Meetings Focus On details

So when we commence our design meeting we are really focusing our design on the details with a primary focus on the look and feel of the website. We must leave this design meeting with clear direction. To help show the techniques we use in our design meetings here is our standard agenda we use to help us really focus in on the details (with some comments to explain each area)…

Website Design Meeting – Monday September 8, 2008

Client Attendees: Client Rep1, Client Rep2, Client Rep3.
BeareWare – Vicki Payne, Design & Development Director, Peter Beare

We always have myself (Sales and Project Lead) and our Design Director at a design meeting. We encourage our clients to include not only their marketing and IT folks but also any “power users” that are usually most grounded in client’s functional use of their website.

Introduction – Specific Aim of Meeting – Identifying Look & Feel of Website(s)

The meeting is specifically to establish direction for designing the look and feel of the website. Though many items may be discussed the bottom line success of this meeting is based on our design director being able to produce design samples one the meeting is complete.

Client’s Mission Statement – Primary Business & Marketing Models
(Slogans – Logos – Demographic Identification and Customer Review)

Here we are really looking at the client’s business & marketing models – and revisiting this with them which has been first discussed in our sales cycle. We ask the client to expand on their marketing models, slogans, logos, and also really identify specifically the demographic they are chasing (prospects) as well the demographic they are serving (clients). This is absolutely critical. You cannot make assumptions on demographics nor can you “cater” to everyone and be very successful. You must focus on the primary market that your business will come from.

Design Discussion – Website Look – Site Functionality – Web Site Areas
** Color, Images (Photos), Logos, Font Style, Menus (Module & Functions), Graphic Techniques, 3rd Party Software **

Here we look at the actual website itself and establish what specific areas, modules and functions will be a part of the website. We look at the actual designs that we (or the client) has identified that they like – and we thoroughly review those websites. Here we are looking for feed back from the client on what they like (or don’t like). We encourage our clients to expand on all areas that we are reviewing and discussing. We also identify features of the site that are important to the client. (this could be graphic design, functions or even 3rd party software). At this point we are fully fledged design team (BeareWare and the Client) and communication is an absolute the key to our success!

Here are some points that are covered in this design discussion:

• Review Website Areas – WLM outline magazine (website) areas.
• Website Look – (Starting samples attached) – Sample Website 1, Sample Website 2, Sample Website 3, Sample Website 4
• Discuss each site – any other examples?
• Additional Components & Modules – Online Shop, Calendar, Photo Album, Events Calendar, e-NEWS, Advertising?
• Other design considerations?

Additional Questions – Next Step(s)

At this point we have really established all the necessary information and samples for our design director to be able to produce design samples for our client. We do not actually start building the website until the client has signed off on the design those this process. Vicki actually designs a graphic image (3-5 .jpg format samples) that are the exact replica and size of a normal website.  This saves time and money in deciding the final design. To design the site (and their change the design look would be inefficient and costly).

Once the client has selected the final design we are ready to move forward with the actual web development. To a very large extent the success of the website has already been established and don’t be mistaken, it has been establish with analysis, communication, and of course a great web designer!

Have you ever visited a website that, the minute it opened, you said “Wow!” or “I like this site!”?  I actually do this every time I visit a good looking website.

Have you ever visited a website that, the minute it opened, you said “Wow!” or “I like this site!”?  I actually do this every time I visit a good looking website. My reaction is immediate and it sets the tone for my visit. I actually say it out loud every time – “What a great site”.  And don’t be mistaken – this reaction is the first qualifier in terms of the website achieving its missions and purposes…

But you’re a Geek – do “Normal” people react this way?

Yes, they do! Thye may not react verbally like I do – or they might not tell their design colleagues about the site like I do – but they do get the “Warm and Fuzzies” – which is exactly the first reaction you are seeking. Most general statistics indicate that you have between 0-30 seconds for a visit to look at your site and to start drilling into a particular area of your site (or leave).

In that very short period of time an opinion is formed and that opinion is final. The actual decision of whether you like the look of the site is actually a 3 second process. If I don’t like the look of a site – I may see if their content is strong and I have easy access to information or service I am looking for. I don’t the give the site very much time to get me to where I want to go!

How can a website know what each user wants?

The purpose of your website should clearly identify your target demographics. The key word here is target. Designing a website that caters to “everyone” is not necessarily a good design concept. You want to specifically focus on the people your business wants to do business with – potential customers and existing clients. You want to be specific.

Websites emulate your business (or they should) – so ask yourself what is the target demographic that your business is pursuing. You generally will set up your website to pursue that same target type.

So Let’s Talk About the Design

Our first role as a design company is to establish the purpose of a client’s website and then focus on the two key areas identified above (Establishing Prospects & Selling and Serving Existing Clients). The home page is very much about selling (and linking quickly and easily to important sales info and client tools).

Our primary focus is about the new visitor coming to the site. We want our new visitor to like our look (a la, “Hey, I like this website”…). When a client or repeat visitor comes back to the site, the navigation of the site is really the most important thing. Once a client or visitor starts using a specific area of your site, they are really focused on performance and how the site serves them. The selling focus of the home page has less impact and tends to reinforce brand.

Now let’s find some designs that we like!

Once we have established the mission of the site and have a good understanding of the client’s business model, we start looking for industry (or similar) sites that our client likes or has identified as effective. This is challenging, as sometimes you will spend quite a bit of time finding that look. But it is a tremendous method in terms of design starting point and reference. If a web designer simply creates design samples without some diligent research up front they can easily end up with “I Don’t Like it” from the client – or worse, the client accepts the design and later down the track realizes the design does not reflect their company and is not satisfactory.

When we designed a website for my brother (Tim Beare of Beare Tennis) – our Design Director Vicki Payne designed samples for the final site look. At this stage we had not started developing the website. We must finalize the design “look” before we commence the website development. In web design, cost is based on time and materials (systems) – so building a website to show a client before they have approved a final design is costly and VERY VERY inefficient.

Designer Notes Help Clarify Design

In our design with Beare Tennis Services, here were the design notes we had established before we commenced developing the design:

Beare Tennis Services wants to create an online website that would assist in their marketing efforts and help attract new pupils for both private and group lessons. A main content aim of the website was to also clarify information that is quite often asked in a phone call inquiry in reference to lessons. The design samples should include some great action shots of proprietor Tim Beare teaching at the Knoxfield Tennis Club.

Adding to the design should be the cute Beare logo (which was first designed for Beare Tennis Services in 1988). Then key information should include lesson formats, prices, direction, and FAQ combining to provide both marketing and sales with good detailed information to help the decision-making of a prospect lesson. Random tennis tips will help provide some good learning information while showcasing Tim’s expertise.

And Now For The Design Samples…

Now that we have established the purpose of the website, the outcomes that the client is looking for with their website, and the website designs that client (or BeareWare) has identified as good designs and industry related we are ready to design samples for a final design selection…

Vicki has designed 7 sample designs for Tim to review and pick a final design from. Here is the index that we used with Tim for review each design. Click on the designs to see the actual full design. Vicki’s samples are to scale with our standard website size so the client can see exactly what their site will look….

http://www.beareware.net/beare%20tennis/

In this particular case Tim decided to select design number three. In some cases a client may at this point pick features from several of the designs, in which case Vicki will then produce one more final design for final approval. It is impossible not to brag about our Vicki, our Design and Development Director, as she is so extremely talented and it really shows in this process. When you are creating sample designs you must understand the limitations and parameters of the actual Web Content Management System. You want to design a great looking site but it must function well.  Vicki is simply outstanding at this process. And the results are always very happy clients….

Once the design has been selected then our client’s Web Content Management System is installed, the graphic templates are designed and then the website is developed. The client is completely aware of the site look and from this point we really focus on the client’s web content. (Next week’s blog)

The end result of this process – A Great Looking Website!

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

Been thinking about Web Adverting? My company BeareWare has become very active in the online advertising market over the last 12 months.

Online Advertising – It Works….

It has been both exciting and eye opening. Like most things good solid product and marketing plans must be the backbone of a successful advertising campaign. But there is no doubt that online advertising is a medium that cannot be ignored…

So How Does Online Advertising Work?

Very good question – there is quite a few types of online advertising now available. Search engine advertising (GOOGLE, YAHOO, MSN). You would have undoubtedly seen Ads By Google (Google Adwords) on many websites you have visited. Over the last 12 months Google Ads have been found on major websites such as CNN.com and Weather.com which really shows that google advertising can place you on many good websites.vThis form of advertising is called Pay Per Click (PPC).

Generally google looks for websites that have a similar area of interest (that matches the advertising demographic). When a person sees a Google ad and then clicks on the ad the advertiser pays for that “Click Thru”. Generally the Click Thru goes to the advertiser’s website. Google ads have generally been text based but you are now starting to see image based ads which are actually charged to the advertiser as an impression (OR should be – versus a click thru as they provide a much higher level of branding). With Google Advertising your ad will appear on any website that matches the demographic (that google advertising system selects). This is both good and bad as you may end up on sites that are not a good match that may send very unqualified visitors to your site.

There is also specific website advertising (or affiliate advertising) where you can select a specific site (or multiple sites) that have a very specialized demographic. The form of advertising is called CPM (which stands for pay per 1000 impressions). Just to make sure you understand what an impression is – it is an advertisement being displayed on a web page you are visiting.  This form of advertising is specifically focused on the demographic of the website that is displaying the ads. This advertising in my opinion is the most likely model to work long term in the online advertising arena.  Quite often you have specific areas of the site that you can choose to be on – (Home Page or Secondary Pages). The key is that you are marketing to a specific demographic and you are looking for a specific advertising outcome…

You Should Have a Specific Advertising Outcome?

The beauty of online advertising is you get to link the ad to any specific page you want to (e.g. a larger more detailed advertisement) and you get to track your responses (click thru results) as well as a pre defined number of impressions visitor seeing the advertising running.

With a well designed graphic ad the advertiser also gets brand building by web visitors seeing your business name (or brand name). Just like any traditional form of advertising you want to set a budget (which would be set on impressions) and then any good advertising program will give you results of click thrus. The good thing about online advertising is you can make adjustments if you are not getting a desired result.

OK sounds good – when do you pay for online advertising?

That is another good question. Generally you are billed for advertising post the advertisements running. With google ads you secure your advertising with a credit card and with specialized sites they will generally have billing cycles (monthly).  Of course the organization selling the advertising will have their own standards (and credit guidelines). The key is that you establish and fully understand the start and finish of the process (which again is page impressions or click thrus) – not actually calendar time.

Should we switch our print (or radio advertising) for Online Ads?

The best thing about online advertising is that is generally in-expensive. For as little as $30 you can increase your advertising reach by advertising online. The most successful programs will generally be a combination of your traditional advertising combined with solid online advertising. Picking the right site to advertising is also a key. Companies that offer multiple forms of media such as Print and Web are becoming powerful combinations to advertise with.

No doubt online advertising is here to say. Consider making it a part of your next advertising campaign.

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

“Googleing” Down Under…

While the American summer has been fast coming to and end I have been Down Under in Australia celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary.

I am still pinching myself at the thought of two people sharing 50 years together raising 4 children and now 5 grand children. What an amazing feat (and a great reason to return home to Australia for a celebration and short visit).

So while here I have been home in Melbourne (in between some great Fish and Chips, Meat Pies, Aussie Beer and Australian Football) – I have been spending time serving our clients thru the internet and also my brother’s tennis coaching website which has been eye opening in terms of search engine behavior.

So What is Different?

Interestingly the first thing that surprised me was the routing of domain requests to perceived (or controlled) choices in Australia. First scenario was actually being routed from www.cnn.com to www.edition.cnn.com – which is a World Wide version of CNN. To get the to US based site (cnn.com) – you select the US News which actually ends up being www.edition.cnn.com/US. Wow – this was something I had NO IDEA was happening outside the USA. The reality is that www.cnn.com in the US really should be www.cnn.com.us (United States) – but as we have stated in previous blogs the US seems to have been the default country of the web at least for now…

The Web Is Not As It Seems!

I was really surprised by this as it really opened my eyes to companies that are focused on a global market. BeareWare currently has 2 clients that sell product world wide (thru their retail online shops) and then we have several business that sell and promote services in Australia. The basic premise that I discovered by my CNN results was that global companies design sites that really have geographic bounds and demographics. Of course CNN is a major media – but the fact I cannot go directly to www.cnn.com really got my attention…

Then To My Surprise I couldn’t Get To www.google.com

My next surprise which really relates directly to several BeareWare clients was that when I type www.google.com – I was routed to www.google.com.au – (Google Australia). What is Google Australia – generally the Google Search Engine that operates in Australia – or better stated that search engine that serves web users that live in Australia (and are detected to being in Australia thru their IP address).  What is interesting with Google Australia is you have a default choice of “Search Web” or “Pages From Australia”.  At this stage (and this statement is subject to change) I believe “Search Web” will give a global (Google.com) result while “Pages from Australia” will list websites that are “hosted” in Australia.

Evidently this appears to be a standard in other countries…

I quickly checked Google Canada and Google United Kingdom and they both offered “Search Web” and “Page from Canada (or UK)” pending which site you are on. The thing that puzzles me is the criteria for “Local Country Page”. As stated above to date I believe the pages list sites hosted within that country – but frankly I don’t get why that would be a relevant criteria for a search (hosting meaning where the physical website is located).

We host my brother Tim’s website – www.bearetennis.com with our host in Chicago yet his target demographic and location is in several suburbs in Melbourne. Of course his site is currently not found “Pages from Australia” which is obviously a concern as one might expect a local Aussie looking for a local tennis pro – would very well pick “Pages from Australia”.  Incidentally Tim’s website has a number one page ranking on “Web Search” on his keyword searches.

So how Does Yahoo and MSN Operate in Australia?

In Australia when you type www.yahoo.com – and you will be routed to yahoo.com.au  (actually known as yahoo7). It appears that yahoo7 is actually affiliated with a national television station (Channel 7). It appears that this would provide Yahoo with a news provider (and source) as the search engine focus on delivering news as part of its business model. There is a multiple search  (Web or Local like Google) but you only get the local pages option after you have made your Web search. A very pleasing fact for my brother Tim’s website is a number two listing position (1st page ranking) in both the Web or the Australian Search only.

And to round out the top three search engines – MSN is the only major search engine that does not route to an Australian domain name. (www.msn.com.au). So of course you get a world wide result on www.msn.com. If you chose to search on www.msn.com.au you also get a world wide result unless you search Australian pages only. Once again my brothers website gets a number two listing position (1st page ranking) – but when you search Australia Pages only (after your initial search) – his site no longer lists. This again leads me to believe Australian pages are actually based on hosting location.

SO Note Well – Selling Online outside of the US requires additional focus

When Targeting a World Wide audience “local pages” of a county should be considered in the website Search Engine Optimization (and SERP) plan. I am currently touching base with some computer guru’s here in Australia to verify that the local pages searches are absolutely based on hosting. Again I really hope that is not the case as websites could be hosted anywhere in the world, in particular with very inexpensive hosts in the United States. It really seems that host should not be relevant search parameter.

I must say I am glad I had this experience while visiting Australia – it really was an eye opener – and really helps build BeareWare’s knowledge in marketing products and services worldwide. Time for some more great Aussie Tucker!

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

Be sure to focus on your Landing Pages…

When you think about your website you may have the “misconception” that everyone who visits your website will generally enter thru the home page.

When you consider search links from specific pages (based on topic searches) and marketing landing pages it is possible that people may be coming to your website from a variety of what is known as “Landing Pages”.

But surely you really want them to come to your home page?

When we design a client’s website – we always focus on our key action items being easily accessed and prominent on the home page. I have no doubt the home page is usually most trafficked entry point BUT – lets say you are running a special or you have a specific area of you business (or many areas that may require some more custom information).  If you can get a visitor to land directly on this page and they like what the see – you can still get a result you want from your client. One of the biggest reasons for these landing pages is the behavior of web visitors. Generally people will come to your site and leave very quickly – so you want to get visitors to their area of interest – VERY QUICKLY!

So what type of landing pages are there?

I had mentioned the search engine (a user searches for a keyword or key phrase and the search engine matches a specific page on your website that has the key search information.) To elaborate on this – you may have a page on your website titled “Gladeville  Web Design” – and then you may also have the words appearing in the page several times – repeating Gladeville Web Design.

Search Engines Create Landing Page Links!

A person goes to google and types the keywords “Gladeville Web Design” – and a link to your webpage appears as a result. The link takes you straight to the specific Web Design page. This is a landing page (as the person landed on your website thru this link). Remember not all landing pages are planned – or controlled from your end. So having an incomplete website or poor content that you don’t consider will accessed by visitors will not serve you well when search engines select landing pages based on search criteria.

Landing Pages can be Advertising Campaigns (Internal & External)

Advertising campaigns within the website that will have your banner ads linking you directly to a specials page where you can elaborate on your advertisement and get a desired result (a call or inquiry e-mail).  This could be both internal advertising – or advertising on another website. This is an area where advertisers make a big mistake in creating a custom ad for their special or product – but link the click-thru to their home page (instead of an elaboration of the advertisement). Quite often the visitor cannot actually find any further information about the ad – and frustrated they leave the website. Advertising landing pages are a very IMPORTANT PART OF ADVERTISING…

Landing Pages that are custom Domain Name Routing

Another great use to get folks to key landing pages is domain routing. This is the process where you are actually using a domain name (that is routing to a specific page on your website). Let say we want to run an advertising campaign – that promotes selling Real Estate in the Gladeville area. We acquire the domain name www.gladevillerealestate.com – which will allow for the direct use of the domain name – both thru search engines or a marketing campaign. Of course you may have many areas within your site (for Real Estate) – but we run a specific advertisements promoting Gladeville Real Estate – and our domain name takes you straight there.

Recently when meeting with a group of clients I stated that the client should consider that there are multiple ways people will get to their website – and they will not always enter thru the home page. I could tell this was very eye opening to the clients. It really makes you think of how you can make every page on your website work hard for your. There is no doubt Landing Pages are a great way for web visitors to go to a specific web page (that may satisfy their specific intent). 

Keep your mind open when thinking about your website and the way the visitors land on your website. Think creative and flexible and your website will serve you well!  

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here 

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

Submitting Website To Search Engines

With Search Engine Optimization being such a hot topic today it is good to actually understand some basic steps in getting your website submitted to key search engines.

This by no means guarantees your website will immediately obtain any significant page ranking (position within the search engine) but it is definitely the first steps in the process.

Don’t Search Engines Automatically Find Your Website?

That an assumption a lot of people make. It is not always true and it also may take some valuable time for a search engine to find your website. Based on this we think the best thing to do is to submit your website(s) to the key search engines as soon as your website is launched. Do not assume a Search Engine will list your site. There are many reasons why a search engine may not find your site or list it – so the website owner (and their webmaster) should take responsibility in this area.

How Can you Tell if A Search Engine Lists Your Website?

If you go to Google.com or Yahoo.com or MSN.com (which have a combined 95% of the search engine markets) and type the name of your domain you will be able to establish immediately if the search engines lists your website. To be specific you would type – www.yourdomainname.com. If the search engine doesn’t list the site it will return a message such as:

Your search – www.domainname.com – did not match any documents.

Suggestions:

• Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
• Try different keywords.
• Try more general keywords.

So this message means our site is not listed – So No One Can Find it?

Correct – no one can find it through a search engine lookup. For example someone goes to Google and will type your company or organization name. If Google does not have your website domain name in its list – then it will not have any information about your website. The core denominator is the domain name – all information about your website is connected to your domain name. So bottom line is if you are not listed in a search engine – then you are really REALLY hurting your chances for clients and new prospects finding you.

Wouldn’t This Be Our Web Designer (or Webmasters) job to make sure we are listed?

You would definitely assume this to be case but the reality is that quite often a web designer or webmaster simply don’t take the time to do this – or will assume that the search engines will find the site themselves. It is highly recommended when you are having a new website designed to verify with the development team that your domain will be submitted to key search engines – (again those engines being Google, Yahoo, MSN & Windows Live).

To make sure though – you can submit these yourself although you may need some help from your webmaster in terms of validating the website (which is required by each search engine). You will have to register an account with each Search Engine to be able to submit and manage your domain names.

Regardless of your level of expertise you should be able to submit your domain name to search engines directly yourself. Here are the step by step instructions on submitting to the top 3 key search engines:

GOOGLE:

Start off by establishing an account. Go to www.google.com and select “Create An Account.” This will provide you with a permanent Google sign in (username and password). Once signed in your will land on your account main page. The area you will be working in is Webmaster Tools – but you will notice the following options:

AdSense 
Analytics 
Base 
iGoogle – Settings  Add content  
Maps – My Maps  
Notebook 
Webmaster Tools

For today’s blog we will focus on Webmaster Tools – but I am sure you can see the value (and power) of google with the other options available to you. When you select Webmaster Tools you will end up on the page called Dashboard. This is where you will submit your domain name. ALWAYS submit your domain name as www.yourdomainname.com – in particular with secure server certificate there is a difference between www.yourdomain.com – and yourdomain.com. Once submitted you will be required to actually verify the website. This is Google actually checking to verify that the site you have registered with their search engine is in fact a valid site.

Google gives you 2 ways to do this – easiest being simply placing a text file that Google creates for you into the root of your website directory. Once you have placed the validation file in your root – you can verify your site. Google will check to make sure it is there and you are now verified. From this point on Google will visit your site from time to time and actually start adding the keywords to your listing index. One submitted and validated Search Engine Rankings can now be obtained.

YAHOO:

Start off by establishing an account. (Warning you have to use a yahoo e-mail when doing this – No idea why!). The actual web page to use is Site Explorer – http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ – when you add your domain you will be prompted to sign into your account (or establish an account).

Currently with Yahoo you get to validate your account – which is the same basic method as Google – you upload a file that Yahoo has created and then validate the domain name. The only other option that Yahoo is offering right now is an opportunity to add feeds to your website – which is aimed at helping you increase traffic to your site – (by increasing the quality of and content of your site). This is quite a nice feature.

MSN & WINDOWS LIVE:

Start off by establishing an account as you did with Google and Yahoo. Here is the actual page you need to link to – the area is known as “Webmaster Center” – http://webmaster.live.com/. This area will actually serve both the MSN Search Engine and Windows Live (both owned by Microsoft).  As per Google and Yahoo you will add domain names to your account and a validation process is required. An XML file is created by Webmaster Live and you publish the file to your website root and then validate the site.

Webmaster Live has some nice additional tools that I am sure they are developing and launching as soon as they can to help in terms of grabbing “any” market share they can against Google. In each account you have a summary, profile, crawl issues, back links, outbound links, keywords and sitemap. These are quite handy tools that may be helpful in analyzing your website and your search results.

As mentioned above these 3 search engines currently have around 90-95% of the search engine market so I would not recommend submitting to any additional search engines unless they have some demographic match that you are aware of and are very specialized search engines. I believe most other search engines will pick up your site from Google so this will not limit you on those other sites. But submitting your domain name is time consuming and so keep that in mind.  If you are really pushed for time then Google currently has around 80-85% of the search engines market so if you have only time for one submission make sure it is Google.

Having a great website is the first step to being successful online. But having it well positioned in search engines will really increase your ability to attract new traffic thru search engines.

Be sure to spend the time to make sure your website is listed in the top 3 search engines. It will be well worth your while.

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here 

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.

While sitting at Melbourne International Airport waiting for my flight back to the States I assumed a Wi-Fi hotspot would be have an open unsecured network available to so I could get online and get some work done while waiting for my departure.

And as happened throughout my visit to Australia – from a Wi-Fi access point of view I was once again disappointed.

Home & Business Services appear comparative

So before I scare you off to much the overall broadband and cable options for residents and small business in Australia seemed relative similar to that in the US. Most of my time visiting my family in Australia I had Wi-Fi access in each residents I was staying at (secured wireless networks) – and I have to say that was very enjoyable to use. But outside your residence or work environment the internet openness down under disappears quickly.

Getting Online At Mickie Dee’s

While staying at my parents holiday house in Rosebud (around 50 miles from Melbourne) – their house had slower access (ADSL). Having plenty of work to do and requiring high speed access to do it – I was informed by a family member that all McDonald’s Restaurants in Australia have Wi-Fi.. I was extremely happy with this discovery – a Mickie Dee’s was only a 10 minute walk from where I was staying and the McDonalds stores in Australia are second to none so I was happy to plan my afternoon around some good food and drink. (McCafe being a really big part of the stores success in Australia)…

So I arrive at McDonalds and order my “value” meal – and then find a comfortable place to sit, eat and surf. Before ordering I confirmed that the restaurant did in fact have Wi-Fi which was confirmed with a smile. I was feeling good – everything going to plan. So I thought…

I fired my laptop up and then immediately found the Telstra Unsecured Network (Telsra being the AT&T equivalent in the Australia). Immediately I landed on the Telstra Website which immediately made me realize I was going to need some form of additional access to get online.

OK – I have to pay to get online

So after quite a bit of searching and verifying that I was not a Teltra customer (which still had fees associated with the access) I found the option to simply purchase time to get online. For $29.00 dollars I could buy 2 hours. I have to admit this did not float my boat. But I wanted to at least get a bit of work done so I selected the 2 hours option. I entered my credit card info in – and then – I waited – AND – waited – AND waited.

The https call (secure call) to process my payment simply froze on my screen. It did not particularly please me to have my credit card numbers sitting on the screen as they were – (as people were walking by with the McHamburgers and McFries) but I knew that a refresh of the page may actually repeat the transaction. So I sat and waited. After approximately 10 minutes I decided to close the processing page and try again. So I go back to the payment screen and try again – and sure enough the same problem happened. After 10 minutes I knew I wasn’t getting online.

I had a hunch that the folks actually working at McDonalds would claim that this was a Telstra problem – (not a McDonald’s problem) – so I was prepared when I went to the counter to inquire as to what I could. Of course I was told immediately that this was a “Telstra” issue but I quickly identified to the girl that the sign out front stated “McDonalds” not “Telstra”. This logic eventually landed me with the manager. The real problem I had was the double processing of my credit card. Not getting online was a pain – but potentially being charged twice for not getting online was an outrage.

We only work here

Ultimately I did end up with the store manager and explained my situation and requested a note from her (on letter head) stating date and time and store number so I had some form of proof that I clearly did have a problem using the service. After much convincing the manager gave me a “napkin” receipt and was very happy to have me out of her hair. The separation between McDonald’s and the Wi-Fi system continued as a theme throughout the conversation. It was apparent a support number for this store could have really made a difference to both the customer and employee in this case. Maybe this will come in the future. As of this date I have not seen the charge come thru on my credit card so at this stage my napkin remains close at hand as my trusty receipt.

Please Starbucks Say it Ain’t So!

So after that experience I went back and worked as best I could on ADSL. Not great but at least I could e-mail people. The next day I was off the MCG (The Melbourne Cricket Ground) to see my beloved Kangaroos play an Australian Football game.) I got dropped off early to pick up some special tickets and had around an hour to kill so I decided to walk into the city. A lovely 10 minute walk along the Yarra River had me in down town Melbourne. I finally found (a very empty) Starbucks. Upon ordering my coffee I inquired about Wi-Fi. The initial answer was yes we have Wi-Fi – but upon further questioning I established that access was thru “Telstra”. Imagine Starbucks charging you get online!

Then as stated in the opening of this blog – my final Wi-Fi destination was Melbourne International Airport. Surely this would be an open unsecured network that I could use. And again the answer was NO. This really surprised me as the amount of passengers that travel thru Melbourne for business must be in the millions over the course of the year. So again I thought I would check the cost – $20.00 for 2 hours online.  Without sounding like a big bragging American (Bigger is better) – I have to say that this was really eye opening for me. Having access online (without paying constantly for it) is critical to my business operations.

It Costs You More To Stay Connected Down Under

So the reality is to stay connected in Australia you will be paying fees while in any form of transit. And when I say cost I mean cost. Let’s take the average business trip that lasts 1 week. Folks like myself would require around 3 hours access per day – and probably an hour or so in the evening. Without actually staying at hotels this time round in my trip to Australia I will assume the access in hotels is also the same (Thru Telstra). So lets take 5 days time $60.00 a day ($29.00 from Telstra for 2 hours) – and budda bang – budda bing – you have spent $300.00 in your week of business. If you are international visitor then you may be looking up to $420.00 per week – and that is with limited access.

Of course you can always use your mobile device (instead of Laptop) – and maybe there are some traveling plans that Telstra offers – but you cannot do that many things on a mobile device. It is primarily for communication – you cannot update websites (which many business people work from or thru today) or work on sales and presentation documents. Frankly this really makes a business trip much more expensive (and possibly less productive).

The Internet Should be Open To The Little Guy…

From the day the internet was invented (Thanks again to Mr. Al Gore) – small business has been able to make themselves more competitive on the internet than with any other medium. And it has come at a very small cost. When you charge access fees (as is the case in Australia and is not the case currently in the US) you really reduce the opportunities Australia has to be competitive in this arena (POINT BLANK).

I also must say that when you consider the small cost of providing Wi-Fi in a store (or location) – wouldn’t the first Australian chain – such as a coffee house or restaurant or hotel be absolutely packed to the rim if they offered free Wi-Fi. What a small cost to pay for a full house of business. It is good to understand this as lots of companies in the states will sell products and services to Australia in our merging global markets and in the States you just assumed the internet is the same playing field.

But being a proud Aussie (and one that does plan to develop a business presence in Australia in the future) keep in mind if form follows fashion with countries emulating business trends and behaviors from the US then maybe sometime in the future Australia may be a bit more internet friendly to the business traveler and the playing field will be once again even.

With Australia being such a great country to do business with so I sure hope so…

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
Interview with a Webmaster – Full Blog – Click Here

Send us your comments and questions – Click Here

Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the last 10 years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still a webmaster and this is “Interview with a Webmaster“.