In today’s times, technology seems to change every day. A website that was considered technologically advanced ten-, five-, or even two-years ago may appear hopelessly out of date now. Here’s a quiz to help determine whether your small business should re-design your website.

1. Does updating the content on your website require the involvement of your technical staff or a third-party web vendor? Y N
A good Content Management System [CMS] provides a simple interface that allows any trained staff member to update web content on a regular basis. A CMS allows content creators to submit content for a website without advanced knowledge of web programming or the need to manipulate complex files.

2. Do you manually collect customer information and then re-enter into a separate database? Y N
Up-to-date websites can allow you to collect and store clients’ and prospects’ information securely online, rather than using time and resources to enter the data into a separate database.

3. Is the logo on your site consistent with the rest of your marketing collateral and branded materials? Y N
Consistency is essential to projecting an image of professionalism and competency. Your website should always reflect your current branding.

4. Does your site house “dynamic” content; i.e. – does the information on it change on a regular basis? Y N
Your website is your virtual storefront. As such, it should be designed to give clients/prospects a reason to visit frequently.

5. Are you spending a lot of money for a proprietary Content Management System (CMS) that you don’t know how to use? Y N
These systems might be a thing of the past, and there’s no reason why you should be beholden to a long-held technology vendor or an antiquated interface. Your small business may save a lot of money in the long run by implementing a new Content Management System (CMS) based on an open-source platform. Unlike proprietary software platforms, open-source software platforms are free, relatively easy to customize for a specific company’s needs, and supported by an extensive community of software developers.

6. Was your whole website built in Flash? Y N
This approach to website design is largely outdated. Flash sites are slow to load, less likely to be picked up by search engines, and won’t load at all on most smart phones and even on the iPad.

7. Does the majority of the text on your site appear as images instead of HTML? Y N
Image-based text is very time- and technology-intensive to update, meaning anytime you want to update your site you must devote time and financial resources to it. Even worse, images (as opposed to HTML) are a barrier to the all-important Search Engine Optimization.

8. Do clients/prospects often call to ask questions that could be answered by reading your website? Y N
Depending upon your answer, this could be a sign that your site is difficult to navigate and that your customers are unable to find the information that they need.

9. Is it important for your users to be able to access information on their smart phones or iPad, which is not possible with your current site? Y N
More and more consumers rely on their phones to access the web. If your site is based in Flash or for other technological reasons, can’t resolve on customers’ phones or other gadgets, your website may be frustrating your customers. However, some business models don’t require smart phone accessibility.

10. Does your site look like it was built in 1996? Y N
Try to be honest with yourself. Better yet, ask a teenager. If you answered “yes” to three or more of these questions, it may be time to consider re-designing your website to better meet the needs of your customers – and take advantage of developments in the marketplace.

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Amanda Neville is a founder of Thinkso, a New York City design, strategy and marketing agency specializing in full-service brand identity, collateral, website development, content strategy, and marketing plans. Watch Amanda’s partners Elizabeth Amorose and Brett Traylor give first-hand branding advice to OPEN Cardmember, FInish Line Physical Therapy, in our special web series, Project RE:Brand. Article reposted from  American Express Open Forum.

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If you aren’t happy with your answers to the questions above, give our Web Hounds a call at 360-642-4431 or zap a note to webmaster@beachdog.com.  Karl and Ethan would love to talk with you about an upgrade solution within your budget.

“Fantastic job on the e-letter!!!! As usual…. Do you know how much we appreciate you and your crew? You just don’t know!”

–World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame

Thanks, Kay & Sharon.  YOU have no idea how motivated we are by praise! D

Here at beachdog.com we did a complete overhaul of the Long Beach Visitors Bureau website, funbeach.com. We migrated over 150  static table-based html pages into Wordpress. We were able to leverage Wordpress to present custom data information and make the site more interactive. Overall, we were thrilled with how it turned out.

Due to the high traffic of the site one of our goals from the start was to maintain performance while we took advantage of what Wordpress has to offer (No more requests to tweak content — Yes!). To do this we used a technique called caching. Caching is needed because any dynamic data-driven (Wordpress included) has more complexity and therefore a greater server footprint than a simple static site.

For example, let’s look a simplified view at what happens when you want to see the home page in a Wordpress site.

1. It all starts when a web page (e.g. beachdog.com) is requested using a browser.
2. The request gets managed by a series of PHP files. (code)
3. The PHP files are evaluated by the PHP Interpreter.
4. Eventually, a request to the database is made to get the unformatted content of the page.
5. Database responds with the requested information.
6. The database information is formatted according to the theme of your site.
7. The pretty formatted result is returned to the browser.

The bottom line is that takes a little bit of time and consumes server resources to do this. The critical part to take away is this happens everytime a page is requested. On high traffic sites this can be problematic.

Caching simply works by storing the result of a particular request (e.g. show me the homepage) and then using it for future requests (e.g when the next person requests the home page). So, the previously mentioned song and dance only happens once. Periodically, we clear our saved results to ensure we have the most recent content.

As far as implementing caching in Wordpress, we don’t have enough nice things to say about the W3 Total Cache plugin. It makes setting this up a relative  breeze.

–Ethan

Una Boyle and Chris Goodwin from the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau (LBPVB) stopped in the other day to plan the upcoming annual membership drive for the organization.

[caption id="attachment_2500" align="aligncenter" width="525" caption="Una Boyle (left) & Chris Goodwin meet at beachdog.com to plan LBPVB Membership Drive 2011"][/caption]

Una became Executive Director of the LBPVB just about the same time Keleigh started beachdog.com.  Neither can believe how far both organizations have come–or that they’ve been at the business of promoting the Peninsula together for 13 years!

Chris is now the Data Coordinator for LBPVB, and an excellent one at that.  She and our very own Karl, who created the LBPVB databases, work together throughout the year to fine tune and improve both process and product.

While membership runs for the calendar year, the Visitors Bureau will run their 2011 membership drive from the Monday following Rod Run  (September 13th) through the end of the month.  Why so early?

Because of the Beach Vacation Planner.  We’re proudly producing the Planner again this year.  In order to get it produced, produced, printed and perfectly in the hands of those who begin vacation planning at the first of the year, we need all the member information the first week of October.

The print run is now at 75,000 copies which largely go off-peninsula, a lure piece to help people choose our beach as a vacation destination.  All LBPVB members receive a business listing in the guide and are eligible to buy full-color display ad space.

Ads are incredibly low-priced.  In fact, our fellows who produce similar guides in other communities tell us we’re nuts to sell ads so inexpensively.  Our distribution model is more targeted than many and our cost per impression is less than .008¢!  We’re able to make display ads inexpensive because the LBPVB and the City of Long Beach subsidize the guide.  Talk about a benefit of membership!

So watch for your renewal invoice on September 14th if you’re already a member of the LBPVB and be sure to get it back on time so you’re not left out of the Planner.  If your business is not a member, NOW is the time to stop in and change that!  If you’re interested in display ad space, contact Keith (keith@beachdog.com or 360-642-4431).

Once all the member information is verified for the Beach Vacation Planner, we start updating member information on funbeach.com, which is the most valuable marketing avenue Peninsula business owners can buy.  And, listing on the site is FREE for members, with links and other add-on advertising opportunities remaining INSANELY inexpensive by industry standards.

Don’t miss out!  Join or renew with the LBPVB today!

You can reach LBPVB at 360-642-2400 or:

• Executive Director Una Boyle  una@funbeach.com
• Assistant to the Director  vicki@funbeach.com
• Member Services:  chris@funbeach.com
• Volunteer Services:  joanne@funbeach.com
• Visitor Services:  ask@funbeach.com

Have you been to the Lost Roo yet?  After much anticipation, the restaurant opened earlier this summer.  Reviews have been great! Just as the new restaurant was seating its first patrons, we launched their new website.

Of course, Kanga & Joey’s page are popular here at beachdog.com, but site statistics tell us the rest of you prefer looking at the menu.

Go for a beer and a game, or for a great meal with the family.  You’ll be glad you did!