Luck Trumps Oversite

I have you ever wondered why similar posts appear on different blogs at almost the same time. In this case it is because of Brendon Sinclair'seditorial in Sitepoint's Tribune newsletter. In the editorial he describes how a client lost her domain name registration. Which got me thinking of one of our client's brush with domain name expiration.

Fortunately, she got lucky.

It started when the client decided to protect her brand name by registering the .ca version of their domain name. (A really good idea.) We don't do domain name registration - so she decided to do it herself.

And, that is were she got lucky.

The company she chose to register the domain name talked her into transferring the registration of the main site to them. However, due to an error in the "whois" database, they were unable to complete the transfer. The email name in the database was incorrect so the client asked us to fix it. Which is when we found the domain name registration was about to expire.

If the client hadn't decided to register the new domain name or if the company hadn't talked her into moving from their present registration service, the site would have gone down.

While we do offer website maintenance, checking registration dates was not something we normally did for clients. And, we still don't list it as one of our services. However, we now routinely check expiry dates for new clients.

This is something every website owner should do. All you need to do is enter your domain name into "Whois" service such as www.whois.sc/. Check that the contact information is up to date and check the expiry date.

You might not be as lucky as our client.

Is Your Site A Good Closer?

Your online form is your sales closer. And, as any good sales person will tell you, closing the deal is what it is all about. Closing is so important, some businesses have a person who comes in just to close the deal. Your online form is that person. Whether the form is to sell your product or to request information - you need a good closer.

Look at your online form as if it were the first time you had ever seen it. Check the following:

• Is the requested information is in a logical order?


• Is the same information being requested twice?
  (This is a problem for businesses using third party services - such a PayPal.)


• Are you asking for unnecessary information?
  (If you have the postal code -- you don't need to ask for the city or province.)


• Do you automatically format the input or do you force the customer to use your format?
  (People enter phone numbers in many different ways.)


• Do you validate the fields before the customer submits the form?
  (Yes, fields CAN be validated before the form is submitted.)

Once you have those problems fixed - look at the page layout. Like the disheveled sales person a cluttered form will drive customers away. If necessary beak the form up into a number of pages.

Making your online form a 'good closer' is all about making things easier for you customers. It may take some time - but the results are worth it.

Are You Being Served?

You may remember the phrase 'Are You Being Served?' as the title of an old British comedy series that pops up on the public TV channels. It was a parody of everything that was wrong with British stores in the 50's and 60's. However, the phrase itself is still relevant.

The concept of service still gets a lot of lip service. Food stores advertise 'customer service' while making us bag our own groceries. Banks tout 'customer service' but limit the number of tellers forcing us to do our own banking online, or at an ATM. It may be convenient, but it is not 'customer service'.

'Customer service' means just that -- serving the customer. It does not mean forcing the customer to do things the way you want. Every customer is an individual. Customers need to be able to decide how and when they will interact with your company. The customer, not the manager, decides what 'customer service' means to them.

How does that apply online?

It means designing a site where information can be easily found; where every page has at least one method on contacting you; and where the customer, not the designer, decides if they want to view a video or flash.

It means testing your site with real people to see how they use the site; having a site that is accessible to customers with screen readers; and being W3C compliant.

Customer service, means what your customers say it means. Open a dialog with your customers. Ask the question - "Are you being served?"