One of the perks of hiring a web designer to develop a custom website has always been clean code; although it is sometimes hard to quantify that benefit in light of the ongoing savings associated with content management systems.  I’ve always taken the high road when it comes to clean code for the simple reason that it is easier for someone else to step in and modify down the road, and it can also prevent browser compatibility issues in the future.  And, o.k., I’m a neat freak!  Still, it is often hard to communicate the value of clean code to a client when the words “page rank” aren’t involved.

Clean code took a blow in 2006 when Vanessa Fox (Google) stated in an interview with Rand Fishkin (SEOmoz):

“Google doesn’t really care all that much about the code to text ratio, we’re going to pick up the text, extract it from the page, and we’re really going to ignore the code.”

 And again in March 2007 when Adam Lansik, SEO Strategist at Google, stated in an interview:

 “…But, here is the core problem why we cannot use this in our scoring algorithms currently: There are a ton of very high quality sites, pages and sites from universities, from research institutions, from very well respected ecommerce stores, of which I won’t name any, that have really crufty sites, and sites that won’t validate. On some of these you can view the source and cry. And, because this is quality content, we really can’t use that as an effective signal in search quality. So, you can quote me a saying, I would be thrilled, it would make my day if people would decruft their sites, but it’s not going to directly affect their Google ranking.”

But recent comments made by Matt Cutts’ (head of Google’s Webspam team) regarding the possible impact of  page speed on website ranking in 2010 may have finally given weight to the fact that clean code can impact search engine rankings.

 Webpro News said regarding their interview with Cutts on November 13, 2009:

“From the sound of it, speed is going to be a huge factor in SEO moving in to 2010. He says that a number of people within Google consider speed to be very important to the web, and they are considering if that should play a role in the rankings of websites in search results.

According to Cutts, speed hasn’t played a role in rankings in the past, but that may very well change. Watch the video for more details about Caffeine and Google’s resources for helping webmasters improve site speed.”

Why is this important? Clean code = fast web pages.

I’ll use a CMS if I have too!

Because of my love for graphic art and my passion for clean code, I have always had a hard time accepting content management systems, although I do recognize that they are a valid solution in certain circumstances.  In cases where a website has to be updated frequently (real estate agents, photographers, churches, large organizations, etc.) site owners can lose their shirt in maintenance fees unless they learn some html or use such a thing.  But still, they are confining and stifling and ugly and…

Recently, when I took on a real estate company as a new client it only made sense to use WordPress.  I spent a great deal of time customizing the site so it would not look like a template – and I have to say I was surprisingly pleased with the code generated on the home page.  Not perfect mind you, but not nearly as crappy as some of the code I’ve seen generated by other content management systems. WordPress has come a long way and installing a SEO plugin to allow the customization of title and description tags helped as well.

For a moment I almost waffled.  Maybe content management systems aren’t evil…

 But thanks to Matt Cutts “encouragement”, I have come to my senses again and am warmly embracing my roots.  I got my groove back!  CMS is a solution, but it will not be the ultimate solution any time soon. Here’s why…

Awesome tools, but now what do I do?

In his interview with Webpro News Matt Cutts mentions a couple of tools to help analyze your website’s page speed, one of which is the Firefox plugin “Firebug”.   I Recently ran the Firebug page speed analyzer on my website and blog because I wanted to improve load time.  I have to tell you, it was SO cool!  My website was no big deal to optimize since it is hand-coded and I only use one CSS sheet and no javascript,.  The blog, however, was another beast!  Some of the suggestions, which I think will be common to the majority of sites running CMS, are not that easy to implement.  My blog runs on WordPress, which Matt Cutts says takes care of 80-90% of SEO mechanics, and still had to deal with half a dozen style sheets and over 14 javascripts.  I can’t imagine the work involved on a site running a less optimized software.

One of the standard suggestions is to minify javascripts and CSS, which basically means removing all of the extraneous line breaks and white space generated by CMS & many html editors.  You can actually click on links in Firebug to get the minified versions to copy and paste into the style sheets (sweet!), but only the main template style sheet is easily found.  Other minified versions refer to inline CSS and javascript located within various plugin files – the source of which is not specifically given. 

Another common suggestion is to “leverage browser caching” which involves modifying the hidden .htaccess file on your sever, and enabling gzip compression which is way over the head of your every day blog owner. 

While Firebug provides some simple suggestions that are not difficult to implement, such as optimizing graphics and including image sizes, many of the “meatier” suggestions, in my opinion, take the skill of a web designer.

Also, on my blog, many of the bloated style sheets and javascripts noted by Firebug were referenced externally from plugin websites so I could not modify them anyway.  Even though WordPress has come a long way in cleaning up their code, they have little control over the code generated by plugins.  One of the great features of a custom design is that you have total control over the code and scripting. One of the great features of hiring a web designer is they know what they are doing!

Web design is easy… uh huh!

Several years ago one of my clients moved to a hosted CMS and used a web creation tool to build a flash website.  After the new site was created, she called me with genuine concern in her voice.  “I’m really afraid that once people find out how easy it is to create their own site you will lose all of your business”.  I told her not to be concerned, that the benefits of a custom design ensured that it would always be in demand.  Six months later she called wondering why her website did not pull up in Google even for her company name.

 Still, it makes you wonder.  CMS are becoming more popular than ever, and right now with this tough economy “free” sounds good to everyone.  But if results count, a custom design, coupled with web design skills, still has more to offer.  As a matter of fact they may be even more valuable in 2010.  What do you think? 

Space gives the impression of quality

When looking for “cheap”, we mostly run to Wal-Mart, Target or The Dollar Store; where isles are so narrow and the shelves so packed full of goods we can barely maneuver our carts.  But when we are looking for quality, we head to the mall where the stores are more spacious and elegant.  Our senses “feel” quality from the second we walk through the doors.  And, since we have made the decision to invest more money, there is a certain level of expectation.  What makes the difference?  Clutter!

Take a look at the two publications below.  Note how the use of white space lends to the feeling of “quality products” in the ad on the right.

Planned white space can activate a design

Used wisely, white space can make a design come to life.  Centering all of the elements on a page causes the white space to “disappear” because it is too predictable.  The problem is the design becomes predictable too!  By creating a “passive” design you ensure that it will most likely not catch anyone’s eye.

Take a look at the two graphics below.  In the graphic to your right not only does moving some of the elements off-center make the graphic more dynamic, the white space becomes more dynamic too.

White space is just as important as black space

Have you ever looked at a poster that displays an obvious image with another image hidden within it?  At first the hidden image may be hard to see, but once you have seen it you wonder how you missed it to begin with.  In the same way, white is sometimes hard to see.  Even so, white is a color, just like black, and it adds value to a design.  Do you see more white in the picture on your left or right?  Which white is more dynamic?  In either case, now that you are looking can you see the white?

White space can prevent a “bad acid trip”

A fear of white space often leads people to add too much color to a design.  Empty spaces are turned into blocks of color, graphics are colored, and sometimes color is used excessively to make important pieces of text stand out.  When visitors arrive on your home page or see your media for the first time, their eyes have a split second to decide where to land first.  Too much color, bolding and capitalization causes the eye to become overwhelmed and move on.   For a website owner this means a quick click away from your site.  For others it may mean people passing right by your poster without any desire to read it.

The examples below show how color can actually diminish the importance of your message.  In the example on the left everything looks either important or unimportant, depending on your perspective.  In the example on the right, the important parts of the message stand out quickly.  Note how the white space has added value to the design – nothing has been wasted.

White space provides direction and keeps us connected

White space should be used like a traffic cop, directing eyes in the direction you want them to go.  It is the glue that connects images with text and can be used to move the eyes up and down or left and right.

In the example on the left it is hard to know which way the eyes should move or what text goes with what image.  In the example on the right, the image and description problem is solved and the evenly placed white space tells the eyes to move from left to right.

Space is soothing to the eye

Since the eyes can only take so much strain, cramming too much text into too small of a space can cause eye fatigue.  Website owners especially need to take this into consideration because the hard-to-read text is combined with the glare from a monitor.  White to the rescue!!  Take the same amount of text, add sufficient white space, and the problem has been solved.

Hopefully now that you’ve learned to SEE and appreciate the power of white space you understand that white is not a thief, it is a super-hero!

…needs to move “from words to meaning.”  In other words, Google needs to understand queries better, and return results that best match the real meaning of a query. “We have to get from the sort of casual use of asking, querying…to “what did you mean?””

In its quest to “read your mind”, Google has begun to factor in past search history, as well as i.p address (geographic location), when serving up its results.  

While some people view this as an invasion of privacy, Google believes it is necessary in order to provide you with the best results.  Not to mention, most of us have agreed to this “tracking” method by simply signing up for a Google Account (gmail, etc.)

According Google Account Terms of Service:

 “Creating a Google Account will enable Web History. Web History is a feature that will provide you with a more personalized experience on Google that includes more relevant search results and recommendations.”

Although you can choose to not enable web history from the account set up page, enabling web history is set as the default, so MANY people do not disable it.

Google also scans the emails you send from gmail (using a formula, not human eyes)  in order to customize the ads displayed on your gmail page.

Google states:

“By offering Gmail users relevant ads and information related to the content of their messages, we aim to offer users a better webmail experience.”

The various forms of tracking – user search history, i.p. address, scanning of text within emails, is known as “behavioral search“.

What does this mean for gmail users? 

You either have to get used to a certain level of privacy invasion or use a different email client.  Some people actually prefer to have their ads modified.  It creeps me out!  I only use gmail as a throw-away account.

What does this mean when I do a search using Google?

Similar to the ads being customized (above) many times search results will be customized as well when you are signed into your Google account.  Note the following examples when searching for “per diem nursing”

Notice that when I am logged into my Google account, the #2 listing is for a local company where I live in Colorado Springs. 

In this example, I have not logged into my Google Account and you will notice that the local listing has disappeared.

What does this mean if I am a website owner?

It means that ranking reports are no longer accurate, as the results you see are probably not the same as the results someone else is seeing.  You should turn to your webhosting logs and Google Analytics for a better picture of how well your website is performing.

While most website owners are concerned about ranking well in Google, most do not have a full understanding of how Google operates and what it takes to have a well-ranking site.

Some of you may be completely new to the whole industry of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which means optimizing your website so that it ranks higher on search engines.  Others may have read many articles on the subject and know the difference between “white hat SEO” (acceptable optimization practices) and “black hat SEO” (un-acceptable optimization practices).  And some of you may have already worked with SEO companies in the past and are wondering why the “tricks” don’t work anymore.

In the end, your level of experience does not really matter.  Google has gone through major changes in the last year so we all need to be re-educated and, at the very least, adjust our plans and expectations.

Google a,b, c’s

Very simply put, Google owns and operates a free search engine and attempts to provide its customers with a list of the most relevant websites based on the keywords typed into its search box.  The operative words here are “free” and “relevant”.  Since you do not pay to be included in Google’s organic index (natural, unpaid listings), you also have no say over whether or not your website is listed.  Google alone (through its search formula) determines which sites they believe are most relevant and contain the most useful information.

Google does offer a PAID sponsored link program for website owners that would like to ensure a first page listing.  This program is called Adwords.

What do Google & Hitler have in common?

Nothing.  It is amazing how many website owners view Google as an evil dictator, bent on destroying their business by not putting their site on the first page of its results.  In reality, website owners are not Google’s main concern or target audience, searchers are.  As a company, Google has earned a reputation for being the best search engine on the planet.  Relevant results are all it has to offer.  If results aren’t relevant, searchers go away, and so does its business.  To improve ranking, website owners must first understand that Google does not owe them a listing.  Rather, a listing must be earned.

Obtaining Google zen

Although Google is moving with the times and is starting to put an equal amount of attention on shopping, media and social networking, its first love is information and education.

A website that contains good information, especially information that is in demand, is considered relevant to Google and stands the best chance of earning a higher rank.  Since there are so many websites on the Internet though, other factors have to be taken into consideration to whittle down and order top results.

Google DOES like websites that:

1. Contain unique, educational or sought-after content
2. Are book marked or suggested to friends
3. Have been linked to (naturally) by other authoritative websites
4. Include media (videos), FAQ’s, Tutorials, Articles and active blogs
5. Are created in a structure that allows their search “spiders” to move from one page to another through the site’s links
6. Meet their quality guidelines

Google DOES NOT like websites that:

1. Contain un-useful, duplicate, or stolen content
2. Have tons of incoming links with the same anchor text, i.e., alabama attorney (This is a red flag that the links were paid for or exchanged, and therefore of little value)
3. Show signs of deception, such as hidden links or pages stuffed with keywords
4. Are created for search engines and not people

1 + 2 = first page on Google?

Not necessarily.  However, if you don’t follow the guidelines or design your site using the correct structure then you basically have little to no chance at all and your long-term outlook is gloomy.

Even if you do everything right, a high listing cannot be guaranteed because there are ranking factors you have no control over, such as:

• Level of competition
  If you are selling really cute nursing t-shirts to moms you have a much better chance of ranking well then someone selling Adidas tennis shoes simply because the market is smaller and the competition not as great.  Also, it is easier to rank higher when you own a regional business because you are not competing with the world, only your area of the country.
• Your website is new
  Google gives more weight to “mature” websites.  There may be a delay (6 months or more) before a new website sees any appreciable ranking.
• The Inn is full
  Large, well-known, educational websites are already filling the top ten slots.  Face it; you are not going to bump Nike, CNN or Amazon.
• Behavioral search
  Over the past year, behavioral search (a user’s search history and the geographic location from which they are searching) has greatly affected the way Google serves up its search results.  By signing up for a Google account (and with the popularity of gmail millions of people have) you give Google the right to use your search history and i.p. address to customize search results to better fit your profile.  That means, when signed into your Google account you may be seeing completely different search results than your aunt in Florida, and possibly even your next-door-neighbor.

So ranking is not important??

No, ranking is important – in that more exposure means more possible sales, but it should be kept in perspective.  It cannot be accurately measured by typing your key phrase into Google and some elements of ranking are completely out of your control.  Constant monitoring of ranking only serves to create paranoia.  It’s like worrying over the weather.  You can worry, but it won’t change anything.  Also, ranking is not everything.  Of more importance is that your website is bringing in good, targeted traffic – traffic that converts to sales.

Balance + patience = success

Like a healthy diet, balance is everything for a website owner.  Obsessing over your website’s rank for one set of keywords is unhealthy and it will stunt your growth!!  Instead, a more accurate, “bigger” picture should be developed by spending time going through the logs/statistics provided by your web host.  Information should also be gathered through analytical software such as Google Analytics (free) which provides much more in-depth, specific information about visits to your website and how people arrive.

Also, instead of putting all of your eggs into one basket and obsessing over one major key phrase, spread out and target multiple popular key phrases.  It is much more effective to bring in traffic from many sources then to spend all of your energy targeting one, highly competitive phrase.

One question I am asked a lot is why searches performed on singular and plural forms of keyphrases pull up different results in Google. People cannot understand why their website ranks higher for one form then the other.

The answer is, to Google cat does not necessarily mean “one cat” and cats “more than one”. In many cases, Google sees a clear distinction in the intention of searchers when using the different forms.  In this case the singular form of “cat” might pull up search results for the animal, a tractor or a type of pump, whereas “cats” will pull up results for the animal.

Sometimes search results are mixed due to the ambivalent nature of a search term, i.e, “mold removal”.  Is a searcher looking for environmental information or a mold removal service?

To illustrate further, let’s take a look at the top 10 search results in Google for “medical vacation” and “medical vacations”.

Using the singular form “medical vacation” you will find that the top results mostly include websites that coordinate medical vacations. So, if that’s your business, great! However, a search on the plural form “medical vacations” provides a more mixed bag of goods, and mainly focuses on the concept of medical vacations, the rise in popularity, whether having surgery abroad is a good idea, rental homes, etc.

Another example…

Searching for “credit card machine” will mostly pull up companies offering specific equipment and merchant accounts, whereas the results for “credit card machines” lean more towards sites that offer price shopping, like wholesale equipment, warehouses, low price guarantees, etc.

You can see the logic behind this. Someone searching for a specific credit card machine or merchant account is more likely to search on the singular form i.e., “credit card machine for my business” and someone shopping for the best prices is more likely to use the plural form, i.e., “best deals on credit card machines”.

Can your site rank for both singular and plural forms of your keywords?

Many times it is important that your website rank highly for both the singular and plural forms of your keywords.  To be successful, you have to understand that Google takes human search behavior into consideration when deciding which results best match a searcher’s intentions.  You cannot simply repeat both forms of the keywords on your home page and expect to rank for both, because Google may be targeting a completely different audience for each.  Google will draw its conclusion as to which category they think your site fits best based on the content of your page.  Therefore, different pages with different focuses have to be created.

How do you know which form to use?

First do a search on the singular form of your keywords and look at the “big picture”. What types of sites are pulling up? Do you see a pattern? Are they offering the same type of product or service, or are they providing educational information? Do the sites seem to target customers searching for specific products and services or customers shopping for deals or looking for information? Now do the same with the plural form.

After performing the searches, determine which form is most relevant to your business or service. That is the keyphrase you should focus on first. The reason? Increasing traffic to your site does not mean a thing if the visits do not convert to sales. Make sure you are focusing on the most relevant category.

In other words, if an individual is doing research and looking for background information on the rise in popularity of “medical vacations”, then chances are he is not interested in a medical vacation himself, though there is always the possibility that he will read something that will convince him that he should take a medical vacation in the future. But if Google has determined that an individual uses the singular form “medical vacation” more often when looking for a website coordinating those types of services and that is the business you are in, then chances are the singular form will bring more targeted traffic to your site (yes, more sales). Though you do not necessarily want to blow off the “down the road” opportunity, you should focus on the most relevant category first.

Also, keep in mind that Google REALLY likes educational and informational sites and they are almost impossible to compete with. If searching on a plural form of your keyphrase pulls up a majority of websites that are informational in nature, then you have your work cut out for you and that may make the decision for you!

Slow & steady wins the race

It has been a very frustrating couple of months for me as a web designer. The recession is obviously causing many website owners to re-evaluate their poorly performing websites and is also causing them to become more aware of their site’s lack of visibility in Google. For me this has meant an increase in clients requesting website reviews and organic search engine optimization services.

While I am very excited about the opportunities, the influx of new business means that I am also, by necessity, explaining the time and dedication involved in creating a website that ranks high and wide in Google more often. I have been surprised by how resistant many of these perspective clients are to the idea that high search engine rankings require a lot of work. I actually think I have scared a couple of prospects off and they are out now looking for a designer/seo who can put them on the front page of Google quicker! Sigh. Unfortunately there is an abundance of blackhat SEO’s out there that will guarantee to do just that and feed them the lie they want to hear.

When putting together a website review I include recommendations for on-site search engine optimization, locate and point out usability and accessibility problems, critique the site’s content and appearance, research the effectiveness of the keywords they are using and also gauge their competition. The outcome of a website review is a clear, concise list of the problems found on the website and recommended solutions to those problems. When implemented, the solutions are geared to increase the sites performance (conversions) and search engine rankings. To put together a report like this, I spend days pouring through the site itself, reviewing web logs and other analytical statistics. Since I am driven by a desire to see my clients do well, I put a lot of thought and effort into the recommendations. You would think that if a website owner paid someone to thoroughly dissect their site and tell them “what is wrong”, that the resulting recommendations would be good news and welcome information. This is not always the case.

What I am finding is that many clients do not want to hear the truth about Google – that it takes a lot of work to rank well. Their prior blackhat SEO’s have harnessed the power of the Vulcan mind-meld and brainwashed them into believing that high ranking is “actually pretty easy”, all you have to do is stick this exact sentence here and repeat these words 200 times at the bottom of your page.

Here’s a great example if this cheap and easy advice taken from a forum I participate in:

“Optimization is simple. Make a check list of things you want to control and follow those. No worries at all. Metatags, Title, Bold, H1 tag, alt and the list goes on and on.”

See! All you have to do is fill out a couple of meta tags, bold your text, and you now have the ability to control your rankings. Who would have thought it was so easy!

** Note:  There is an extremely funny list of SEO myths over at the High Rankings Forum. It is best read when drinking wine, eating chocolate and possibly wearing your depends!

For some, once this type of “easy” mentality kicks in, it seems impossible to convince them otherwise. Recommendations for improving their site (if it involves extensive work and the setting of long-term goals and expectations) is not only NOT welcome, it is resented.

Unfortunately, I am finding that resistance to hard work and refusal to believe that good rankings take time goes hand-in-hand with another “syndrome” I fondly call the Google entitlement mentality.

Out of curiosity, and feeling compelled to blog my experience; I did a search on Google to see if anyone else had experienced this phenomenon. I found an excellent “rant” written by Jennifer Laycock, Editor of Search Engine Guide.  The content of the article itself didn’t surprise me as much as the date… 2006. Not only is Google entitlement mentality alive and kicking today, it seems to be getting worse!

I recently conducted a site review for a perspective client whose website was failing miserably in Google. There were so many things wrong with the website that it was almost overwhelming, but the biggest problem was evident immediately upon visiting the homepage. There was a spam-filled block of nearly invisible text at the bottom of the page. The site had also participated in a link-exchange program and owned a duplicate website; all big Google no-no’s. One day the site had good rankings, the next day it was gone and it never came back. P-e-n-a-l-t-y!

I completed the review and provided the client with a report (over 50 pages of data pointing out specific problem areas and providing solutions for each), including of course the removal of the blackhat areas. What do you think his response was? Anger at the SEO company that should have known better then to use these techniques in the first place? Anger at himself for not doing more research into the background of the SEO company before hiring them? A fresh determination to clean up his website so visits would begin converting to sales and hopefully his ranking would be restored?

No. He was ANGRY at Google. Why had they not been warned? The nerve! And, he was not very happy with me because I did not provide him with the “exact words for the home page” or the two keywords he should use. The website owner had already hired one SEO to perform “magical tricks” that would get his site to the top of Google, how’d that go for him? Now, he is looking for another.

I’m not sure where this entitlement attitude comes from. People who have not invested any money in a listing, put any thought or work into their site, and have actually gone against Google policy and tried to manipulate their way to the top should not expect anything. Most of these people believe Google is out to get them, when actually Google simply doesn’t want anything to do with them at all. Why would they?

To bring this mentality into better perspective, let’s use another scenario. What if a local visitor’s guide was trying to get off the ground and offered a business a free listing for a while to help them get launched. The magazine did very well in the first year and brought a substantial amount of traffic to the business. If after a year a representative from the guide explained to the business owner that they would have to begin paying for an ad, would the business owner get angry? Would the owner feel that the guide owed them a free ad (indefinitely) and be ungrateful for all the past business they had reaped for nothing? I think not.

Google entitlement mentality almost always leads to an ineffective website. When a client feels his site is entitled to top rankings not based on merit, but simply “because”, he does not value and is not motivated to implement solid recommendations. Why should he have to take time out of his busy schedule or hire someone to write content that makes sense and contains useful information? For that matter, why should he have to make sure his keywords are on his website, or that he is targeting the right keywords at all? He’s not particularly worried that his site does not look professional, or is confusing, or not converting visits to sales? He just wants his site on the first page of Google… and now!  The fact that 70% of his current visitors are leaving in between 0 – 30 seconds after landing on the site does not even factor into the equation. What to do?

For me, attitude after review is becoming the litmus test for which jobs I accept and which I do not. If the attitude reflects that of a “hare”, focused on short cuts and a resistance to hard work, and an underlying attitude of entitlement, I’m not going anywhere near it. Clients with this type of attitude are actually working against you (and themselves) and will ultimately end up with a websites that bomb. They will never be happy, and who wants an unhappy client!

On the other hand, I am very excited when I meet a “turtle”! A client that is not only interested in an honest assessment of their website, but embraces the recommendations and looks forward to improvement has so much potential. Turtles can see the big picture and understand that high rankings are not everything. Not even close. Converting visits to sales, that is the ultimate goal. They understand that “slow and steady” wins the search engine race and ultimately leads to higher, targeted traffic and sales. With a turtle on your team (not unlike a tiger in your tank) you can build a great website. That leads to a happy client, and everyone wants a happy client!

Just over a year ago, the webhosting company that had been servicing a number of my clients for many years sold out to a new company, Jumpline.com. Jumpline has proved to be one of the worst companies I have ever had to deal with in my career as a web designer. Several times clients were moved to new servers without notice, resulting in stores, forums and blogs being broken. Control panels were suddenly changed to Plesk, leaving customers stunned and scratching their heads. Many of the email accounts were not transferred properly, losing forwards, whitelists, etc., and some email boxes were not even turned on! Problems escalated and some became unsolvable because technical support was either non-caring or non-available. Mostly, Level 1 support did not have the expertise to help and for some reason was overly resistant to moving tickets to Level 2 until many long days had passed. The bottom line… it was time to move to a new host.

I did a lot of background research and settled on a new company. The point of this article is not to promote a webhosting company (I am not a reseller) but since I’ve already told you who the WORST webhost is I’ll just add… HOSTGATOR ROCKS!

In recent weeks I have moved 7 clients to new hosting, including 3 osCommerce stores, 2 Word-Press blogs and 2 Forums. One of the biggest challenges was moving from Plesk and PHP4 to cPanel and PHP5. I encountered many issues along the way, but between tech support going over the top to help me (did I mention Hostgator rocks!) and scouring forums for advice, all of the issues were resolved and life is good again.

Some of the solutions were easily found and some I had to do some serious digging for, so I decided to list some of the problems & solutions here to help others out and hopefully prevent a few gray hairs. I will also be adding some of these solutions (and more) to specific categories in my web design forum as soon as I can, but for now I’ll just focus on getting things up and running.

Reinstalling osCommerce and forums onto a new webhost running PHP5

Moving osCommerce and Forum files to a new webhost is no big deal, but moving a database from PHP4 to PHP5 and getting everything to run properly did prove challenging. On each site it seemed a different problem cropped up, but what was very helpful for me was learning the order in which things should be done.

My new host offered a one-click installation of the most current version of osCommerce, so my first thought was to run the install and let it create the database, upload our store files, and then import our SQL file using the backup restore within osCommerce. Saving you a little time here – that does not work! Here’s what you should do:

1. First you will need to make a backup copy of your database from your old host. Do not make a backup from within osCommerce using the backup tool, instead export the entire database to your hard drive via phpMyAdmin.

2. Next, upload the files from your old host to the new host via your preferred ftp program.

3. After the files have been uploaded, create a database on the new server. The following are the steps for cPanel:

- Click “MySQL databases”

- Under “Create New Database” give your database a name. Write down the name of your new database. Note: The name you select for the database is usually appended to your user name, i.e., username_databasename.

- Once the database has been created click “go back”. You will now need to create a user for the database.

- Scroll down the page to the MySQL Users section. Add the user name and password for the new user and click “create user”. Once the user has been created, click go back again.

- Now that the user is created, you need to assign permissions for the user to edit the database. Scroll down to the section “Add user to database” and choose the user & database name you just created.

- Next you will be taken to the permissions page. Click “all privileges” for the user and “make changes”.

4. The next step really depends on your new host and the level of support they provide. I found with Hostgator that it was best to upload the SQL file that you backed up from your old host to your server (into your public_html directory) and then ask tech support to import the database for you. They are more then happy to do so and seem to automatically problem-solve any issues that may occur.

If you have to import the database yourself, be careful to remove the section of the SQL that creates the database from the file before importing.

CREATE DATABASE `username_databasename` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci; USE `username_databasename`;

Since the database has already been created, you will receive an error unless that section is removed.

5. Once your database has been installed properly update your osCommerce configuration files located in the catalog/includes and admin/includes folders. You will need to update your https: path, your database name, database username and database password.

Hope this helps someone to get off on the right foot. I will be posting answers to more specific problems regarding broken SSL and missing forum pages to the Front Range Web Designers Forum in the near future.

The MicroLoan Program was developed to increase the availability of very small loans to prospective small business borrowers. Under this program, the SBA makes funds available to nonprofit intermediaries, who in turn make loans to eligible borrowers in amounts that range from under $100 to a maximum of $25,000. The average loan size is $10,000. Completed applications can usually be processed by the intermediary in less than one week.

The intermediary for our area is the Colorado Enterprise Fund

The mission of Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF), according to their website, is to provide credit to small businesses that do not have access to loans from commercial sources. Through loans and services, we help entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses, stabilize and increase their incomes, create additional employment and contribute to the economic revitalization of their communities.

CEF lends to businesses anywhere in the State of Colorado and Loan funds may not be used for owner’s salaries, personal expenses, delinquent taxes and certain other purposes.

That’s fine with me since I only desire to update equipment and software.

Loans range from $1k to $250k, rates range from 9% to 14% per year, terms are 7 years, and come with three fees which have NOT been waived by the Recovery Act:

- Loan application fee of $25 per owner or cosigner
- Commitment fee between 1.5% to 5%
- $100 per year technical assistance fee and other fees for document recording, etc.

The Colorado Enterprise Fund states that while good credit is important, CEF recognizes that applicants may have had credit issues in the past. We attempt to be more flexible than a traditional lender when reviewing your credit report.

Good news! Since we have no other delinquencies and the drop in our credit score is clearly related to the short sale of our home in Florida, I can provide a letter of hardship which would hopefully suffice.

I download a loan application and get to work. I am at page 4, under “credit information: when I hit the following question:

Are you currently slow pay in your mortgage and/or vehicle account?

Followed by:

If you presently are delinquent in your mortgage and/or vehicle account you DO NOT QUALIFY for a loan under our program’s guidelines. If you have proof that these accounts are current, please provide supporting information.

TIP! Read through the whole application BEFORE you begin filling it out

Next, I look into the 7(m) Micro Loan Program (although it feels like a stretch)

The Micro Loan program is for short-term loans up to $25,000. The average Colorado loan is approximately $11,000. Fees and eligibility requirement are similar to those found in the 7(a) program while terms are typically less than three years.

- 39% of these loans go to start-up businesses while the remaining are made to existing businesses with a demonstrated track record.
- 29% of loans made to service industry while the bulk are made to manufacturing, retail and other types of businesses.

I visit the intermediary lender for our area: Colorado Office of Economic Development

I find that these types of loans typically support real estate purchase and rural development (not me), but there is a link on their site for “business loans” which leads me to their recommended SBA Express Loan lender, Innovative Bank. Innovative bank offers another type of loan I had not heard of before called a SOHO Loan.

A SOHO Loan is a lending product developed by Innovative Bank to promote the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Community Express program to provide financial assistance, capital access, technical and management assistance to the underserved segment of the small business community. SOHO stands for Small Office/Home Office and is geared to small to medium size businesses in all geographic areas of the United States. That sounds more like it!

A SOHO loan offers the potential qualified small business owner financing that ranges from $5,000 up to $50,000 (Community Express minimum loan amount is $25,000). All loans carry an 84-month term, no pre-payment penalty, minimal paperwork, Innovative Bank paid technical assistance, as needed, and quick turnaround time. Variable interest rates are tied to the new Prime Rate published in the Wall Street Journal plus the Innovative Bank spread of 4.75% or 3.75%, depending on the amount of the loan, i.e.,

Loan amount: $10,000
Approximate monthly payment: $156
Variable rate: P + 4.75%
Terms: 84 Months
Packaging fee: $575
SBA Fee: (WAIVED BY RECOVERY ACT) $180

But here’s the catch. To apply, you must go through your local TAP (Technology Advisory Program) representative and guess who that is? The Colorado Enterprise Fund, the program that does not allow you to apply if you have mortgage issues!

Why do you have to work through a TAP representative? According to Innovative’s website “Because the government wants to assist you with start-up business services such as applying for business licenses, permits, etc. and/or where to apply for business services such as loans or checking services. Your TAP will assist you with technical needs, such as accounting, marketing, e-commerce, business planning, computer assistance, etc. and arrange for you to attend workshops. The TAP will also assess your need for other banking products (checking, merchant account, etc.). This service is free of charge.

Groan…

So, here’s where I’m at. It was hard to get psyched about taking out a business loan in the first place, so it’s hard to say I am disappointed. We are cutting back and trying to reduce debt like most everyone in the Country, so borrowing felt completely counterintuitive at first thought.

I have to admit though, all of the publicity behind the “Small Business Incentives”(incentive: an expectation that induces action or motivates effort) did inspire hope in me that maybe this was the time to move forward and invest in my company. That our government was taking into consideration the hard economics times and was stretching out their hand to help. In reality, if you are attempting to finance the purchase of real estate or launch a new business in a low income or rural area…maybe. If you are looking for assistance in troubling economic times…probably not.

What is SAD to me, is I know that we are not alone. When the value of your home drops $250,000 obviously the best strategy is to stay put until the value climbs again, and God alone knows when that will happen. But what if you can’t stay put? What if you have to relocate for a job, like us? The city where our home is located in Florida had the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation in February, with one out of every 65 housing units receiving a foreclosure notice. Two-thirds of the homes sold in the county so far this year have been foreclosed properties. Nope, we are not alone. With so many people backed into a corner, with so many credit scores plummeting, I’m not sure how small business will thrive, but in my case it will NOT be through a government assisted loan. I won’t pursue it any further. The incentive to grow is there, but the old saying ‘where there is a will there is a way”certainly doesn’t apply to SBA loans or the Recovery Act.

What makes me HAPPY is that my decision to not pursue an SBA loan means that I will not be taking on any more debt. I will continue to cut back, scrape and save and when the time is right I will upgrade my equipment using cash.

What makes me CONFUSED is how this incentive is supposed to spark the economy if the majority of small business owners come to the same conclusion. If anything, the new SBA incentives have motivated me to save, not borrow.

To briefly recap Part 1 &Part 2 of this series about the new SBA Recovery Act incentives”. Our credit score took a large hit when my husband lost his job in June, 2006, and we had to make a sudden move to Colorado, putting our home in Florida up for sale just as the real estate market crashed. The value of our home has plummeted from $490,000 to approximately $245,000 at present. After attempting to sell or rent our home for nearly 2 years without success, and without the resources necessary to continue carrying a home in Florida AND in Colorado, we made the difficult decision to apply for a short sale of our Florida home. If you are not familiar with the short sale process, you basically have to stop paying for your home before a short sale will even be considered. We have been approved for a short sale, but in the meantime our credit score has dropped from the high 700 to the mid 500’s.

As every penny we have earned in nearly 3 years has been poured into maintaining two homes, I obviously have not had the funds necessary to upgrade or grow my business. Upgrades are becoming crucial at this point, but a conventional loan is pretty much out of the picture. That is why I hoping that incentives offered through the SBA as part of the Recovery Act can help provide me with the funds necessary to upgrade.

So, with documents in hand I headed to Wachovia first, as that is where I hold my personal and business accounts. I called ahead to make an appointment, explaining that I was looking for more information regarding an SBA loan.

TIP #1

The SBA’s website has a FAQ regarding the Recovery Act wherein they mention that you should “specifically ask about the Recovery Act and SBA loans” when approaching a lender. I didn’t realize at the time how important that advice was. My meeting at Wachovia was scheduled with a “financial specialist” who had no immediate knowledge of SBA loans and could not give me any specific information. So, let them know ahead of time!

My appointment at Wachovia did not provide me with any new information, but Wachovia’s local expert, their “Assistant Vice President Relationship Manager Small Business Banking”, did return my call before the day was through. The two options he offered me were:

1. An equity line secured by our home in Colorado; or

2. A traditional unsecured loan

It was pretty obvious that the information regarding our credit situation was not passed on to him, so I let him know about the short sale and also made it clear that I was not interested in an equity line. He said that he would be speaking with someone from the SBA tomorrow and would return my call the next day.

True to his word, the Wachovia representative called me back in the morning. He told me that SBA loans were only being offered to individuals purchasing property at this time. They were not providing loans for equipment upgrade.

TIP #2

The information regarding the granting of loans was presented in such a way that at first I believed he was talking about SBA policy. That confused me because I thought the SBA website had mentioned loans for equipment upgrades. After asking the representative specifically if this was SBA policy or Wachovia’s policy, the representative stated that it was the bank’s policy. If I had not asked that specific question I probably would not have continued my pursuit of an SBA loan. So make sure you ask! Or better yet, do what I will be doing next…

Although it may still be wise to check with your local bank first (I’m a novice at this) my next step will be to contact our Small Business District Office in Denver. Hopefully they can provide me with direction as to which lender’s I should approach given my business needs and save me some time.

Stay tuned!

How is the Recovery Act supposed to help small business owners like me?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, received applause from the Small Business Administration.

According to the acting SBA Administrator, Darryl K. Hairston, “The tax incentives and credit stimulus elements of the Recovery Act will truly help small business owners affected by the credit crunch, and will provide financing opportunities to help them create new jobs in their communities”.

The two key provisions in the Act that are geared towards helping small business owners are:

• Temporarily raising guarantees to up to 90 percent on SBA’s 7(a) loan program, through calendar year 2009, or until the funds are exhausted. This increase in guarantee levels will help provide banks with the greater confidence they need to extend credit during the current recession, will mean more capital available to small business owners around the country.
• Temporarily eliminate fees for borrowers on SBA 7(a) loans and for both borrowers and lenders on 504 Certified Development Company loans, through calendar year 2009, or until the funds are exhausted. This will mean more capital available to small businesses at a lower cost. The fee elimination is retroactive to February 17, the day the Recovery Act was signed. SBA is developing a mechanism for refunding fees paid on loans since then.

Is my business eligible for an SBA Loan?
According to the SBA, the kind of businesses typically able to get SBA-backed loans Typical 7(a) borrowers are entrepreneurs looking to start, expand or acquire a small business. In many cases, the applicant may have a strong business idea, management ability, and sound financial projections, but may have a shortfall in collateral to secure a loan or equity to put into the business.

Expand, yes I want to expand…

In order to qualify for a SBA 7(a) loan, borrowers must be unable to secure conventional commercial financing on reasonable terms and be a  “small business” as defined by SBA size standards. In 2008, of the $18 billion in SBA backed loans, 35% went to start-up businesses, nearly 32% ($5.7 billion) went to minority owned businesses, and nearly 23% went to women owned businesses.

That would most definitely be me…

SBA-backed loans are three to five times more likely to be made to minority and women owned businesses than conventional small business loans made by banks, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute.

Yippee that’s me!  Woman!

But will you still lend to me even if the crash of the housing market directly impacted by FICO credit score?
According to the SBA, 7(a) loans are meant to assist borrowers who are unable to obtain financing on the same terms through normal lending channels. Loan proceeds can be used for most sound business purposes including working capital, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, land and building (including purchase, renovation and new construction), leasehold improvements, and debt refinancing (under special conditions).

Again this is me. No way to get conventional financing on reasonable terms and I need to purchase equipment.

So let’s try it…
According to the SBA, the route to take when applying for a 7(a) loan is to apply directly with your lending institutions, including banks, credit unions, and Small Business Lending Companies.

The SBA states that they work with thousands of small and large lenders nationwide. Lenders evaluate loan applications under their lending standards and decide whether to:

a) Make the loan through conventional financing — without a SBA guarantee –because the borrower meets their conventional credit standards;

b) Make the loan with a SBA guarantee if the borrower does not meet conventional standards and is eligible for SBA programs; or

c) Decline to make the loan.

I’ve put together a package that consists of income tax statements for 2005-2008, income and expenses for the first quarter of 2009, a request for loan/business plan, and letter of explanation regarding the short sale of our home.

First stop my local bank where I have my business checking, personal checking and savings accounts… Wachovia.