If you or someone else in your business is responsible as the owner of a website, it is very important that you have all the required user names, passwords, and access points (URLs) in case your current web developers get hit by a truck or you have a falling out with them.

Here’s a list of such information which might be helpful for you; having all the information filled in will be a valuable “free” insurance policy:

1. Access to registration of your domain name, so you can renew the domain name and control what web hosting company hosts your website.
   1. Name of domain host: ____________________
   2. Account user name: ____________________
   3. Account password: ____________________
2. Access to your web hosting account control panel so you can control your emails and key website features
   1. Name of web hosting company: ____________________
   2. URL (complete web address) of control panel log-in: ____________________
   3. User name: ____________________
   4. Password: ____________________
3. FTP (file transfer protocol) access to your website’s electronic files (pages and folders), required for uploading and changing pages, images and other components
   1. User name: ____________________
   2. Password: ____________________
4. Access to your blog or content management system if your site has one
   1. URL of administrative control log-in: ________________
   2. User name: ____________________
   3. Password: ____________________
5. Access to any other scripts (programs) that run on your website, such as a search function or online contact form controls
   1. Log-in URL for each script: ____________________
   2. Username for each script: ____________________
   3. Password for each script: ____________________
6. Access to any databases your site uses (common with content management systems)
   1. Code names of databases: ____________________
   2. Address of local host for databases: _________________
   3. Code names of database users: ____________________
   4. Password(s) for each database user: _________________
7. Access to your Google Adwords account if your site has one
   1. User name (email): ____________________
   2. Password: ____________________
   3. Monthly budget and credit card being charged for the Adwords campaign, if any: ____________________
8. List of keywords your website is optimized for, if any
   1. Keywords list: ____________________
   2. Indicate which of these are used in Google adwords, and which are not ­­___
   3. List of pages for which these keywords are optimized ____________________
9. Report of your current keyword rankings on the major search engines – Google, Yahoo and Bing __________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Any other search engine marketing programs or services being performed for your website if not listed above: __________________________________________________________________________________________________

Charlotte web design is an area where you have lots of choices. As a growing city in the center of the two Carolinas, Charlotte has developed and attracted website design firms in abundance. So how do you choose a Charlotte web design firm that’s right for you? Here are a few tips:

1. Find a web design firm that understands your business. It is very important for your website to authentically represent you and your company, and not just be a cookie cutter approach that almost any business in your industry could use. This means the web design firm should have extensive experience in the business world, understand business dynamics, and ideally also provide business consulting services.

2. Select a web designer that produces attractive websites custom tailored to each company and its target audiences. For example a website for an OB/GYN clinic should look different form a website for a chemical manufacturer. Studies have shown that even more than the content, the DESIGN of the website is the most important factor in determining whether potential customers linger on the site to read more, or click away in seconds. Sadly a portion of web designers are technical people who are not design trained, and the sites they design tend to look generic or plain. Choose a web designer that is truly a skilled Designer and not just a tech.

3. Your website should be designed from the ground up to be fully search engine optimized (SEO). We at Lawrimore have found in many cases that just creating web pages that are properly optimized for search engines can vault those pages to the first page of Google and even the top much quicker than non-optimized pages. You and your web designer should select 10 or more search terms, or “keywords,” that represent what your target markets are searching for online. That way the odds of them finding your site and contacting you are much greater.

4. Your website content should be written to be persuasive, focusing not just on information and pictures but also on what is called conversion. Conversion involves applied psychology and logical persuasion techniques which lead potential customers or clients to gain increasing confidence in your company’s abilities, then contact you by an online form, email or phone. The bottom line is, your new Charlotte web design should result in new customers and increased income for your business. Conversion is a vital part of that process.

To learn more about Lawrimore Inc.’s web design services, please visit our  Website Design & Internet page, including several links to a varied range of websites we’ve created for clients.

A new study coordinated by MarketingSherpa shows that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has the highest level of effectiveness, along with a moderate degree of difficulty, of all marketing channels. A marketing channel is basically a form of marketing, or media.

Print advertising rates lowest in both effectiveness and difficulty. Trade shows are highest in difficulty and second only to SEO in effectiveness. Content marketing is also a highly effective form of marketing, ranking right up there with trade shows. Email marketing is actually the best value in terms of high effectiveness but low difficulty.

The survey also includes social media, mobile marketing, direct mail, webinars, and Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. To see all survey rankings in the form of a the above chart full size, click here: Marketing Channels Chart. For assistance with improving your marketing and sales, use our online contact form.

John Jantsch wrote a thought-provoking blog post this week about 13 steps to what he calls a perfect marketing strategy. The point is, following these 13 thought-provoking steps will help you develop a marketing strategy that is really right for you and your business, not some cookie-cutter formula.

Here’s a link to the full article.

Learn more about marketing strategy on our main website, including an ebook we wrote on the topic, here: Marketing Strategy

We highly recommend the free ebook, “Learning LinkedIn From the Experts,” available at this link:

Download your free copy of @HubSpot’s ebook: Learning LinkedIn from the Experts – http://bit.ly/yoNlYj

It tells all you need to know about maximizing your profile and your network to use LinkedIn to grow your business. Grab your free copy and follow the easy steps.

This free tool constantly monitors your home page for any changes and sends you an alert if one happens. If you’ve ever been hacked, you know how valuable it is to find out right away. If you have not been, expect it to happen and be prepared.

Hackers can cause your website to be delisted by Google and also to send thousands of spam messages around the world from your website. Protect your website! Visit http://www.changedetection.com to learn more. (This is not an ad – just sharing a valuable tool we have found beneficial.)

Charlotte SEO (search engine optimization) involves “optimizing” a website for high rankings in the search engines. This includes a combination of the content and underlying code on a web page, plus links to the page or website “off page” from other websites.

As SEO in Charlotte has become increasingly competitive for search terms (“keywords”) like “Charlotte plumber” or “Charlotte Realtor,” getting and keeping high rankings for one’s business has become increasingly challenging, especially if you market in the Charlotte area.

Today Google and other search engines decide when you enter a search term like “plumber” if you really want a “Charlotte area plumber” or “any plumber in the world.” Google has built a list of companies it considers Charlotte area plumbers, and it lists them at the top of the search results page whether you type in “Charlotte” or not. For competitive keywords like “Charlotte plumber,” only optimized websites are going to rank high. For less competitive keywords like “medical supplies,” non-optimized websites can also rank high if Google has them on their list.

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Promote your business with a free listing on thumbtack.com – a new website that helps local customers and clients find business providers. See our listing here as an example: Creative Strategies and Services to Grow Your Business