Try the One Week Spruce Up Plan

There is nothing worse than knowing that your website is getting stale and not knowing how to give it new life. It is time to freshen up your content already! You don't always need to throw out the baby with the bathwater, but you can take a few minutes each day to get the job done.

Baby steps.... It's all about baby steps because tackling the whole site can be overwhelming. So take things one at a time.  Every day- gather your team for 15 minutes, decide what is new or old, assign each task to someone and hold him or her accountable for getting the info to you by the end of the day.  

I'll tell you what, the excitement is sure building for this team of 4Web to attend the conference in December. We are all looking forward to meeting all sorts of experts and to sharing our insights on how we are using Joomla to enhance our clients' reputations!

Joomla is just fabulous and this conference will be an excellent opportunity to connect with others who are using such a flexible and powerful CMS. Jen, Bill and I will be in Denver on Wednesday to lead the Joomla Basics Boot Camp. Hopefully there will be others there as well so we can help get this show kicked off.

If you haven't already checked out the site http://www.cmsexpo.net.

As they say, reputation is everything. And while there's an opportunity to make a great impression with a beautiful website, there are plenty of things you can do that will turn off your visitors.

Sites should be quick to load, easy to use, get your visitor in to the information they require and get them out. It's that simple. Sites like this let visitors know that the organization respects their time. The organization wants to help the visitor get great customer service — even if they've spoken to no one directly.

But long intro movies, badly designed forms, poor layout, and confusing navigation will leave your visitors lost and confused.

Know your team and you will come to know what it means to produce a quality product in an efficient manner. Capitalize on strengths, minimize the focus on weaknesses and put your egos aside. Make room for others and you will find that creative juices will flow and that education will abound.

Capitalize on Strengths:

Let those who are good at what they do just do their job. They will do it faster and better than you can if that is not your strength. For example: I have no graphic design skills whatsoever. Sure, I know what I do and don't like when I see it, but as far as developing concepts- not so much. I am ok with that and quite frankly so is my team.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant only to be completely overwhlemed by the menu? There were so many choices that you just couldn't make up your mind? Well, think about that the next time you create a web page.

As Barrie made quite clear in his talk to Jen's class this past Saturday- Give your visitor what they are looking for!

• Who is your target audience?
• What are they looking to find?
• Are you making it easy for them to obtain?

There are so many sites that are cluttered, making it impossible for the visitor to decide what to do next. Perhaps it is the chaos of too much movement on any given page. Perhaps it is just too much content and not a clear message. Perhaps it is the simple case of poor navigation.

The Phrase Long-Term Solution seems like it should be a bit backwards for the world of technology. With technology changing so quickly, how can anyone really look to the future?

Well, I would say that if your web developer is not asking you the right questions and helping you look down the road, then you are getting  short-sighted  service. Of course what is implemented today will be changing down the road, but the overall purpose of that technology should still be the same. 

 Here are a few questions your developer should be asking of you:

Do I really need to answer that one? Well, I will answer my own rhetorical question despite the fact that I am sure you already know... because the only place people are driving these days are to the web!

Before anyone is getting in their car to drive, they are considering the need and purpose of that trip. Clearly, the price of gas has everyone thinking twice about driving anywhere. It affects where they go and when, whether or not they REALLY need to go there in the first place, and which car they will take.

These are tough times for many, but it doesn't mean people can stop living. We still have houses to heat, kids to feed and businesses to run. These are the times that force us to consider our current business models and marketing strategies. If you consider it a time to really look towards the future, then your web presence might be the best place to invest.

For someone who is new to the world of Joomla!, this girl is impressed! Not only does this software take us well into the 21st Century, but the overall community/ collaboration model clearly embraces the devoted and forward thinking individuals who want to improve it every step of the way.

Joomla! Chicago was a perfect example of the level of interest around developing quality extensions, plug ins, business models and whatever else you want to add to the mix. I truly enjoyed the event. It was well executed, lots of fun and has my mind racing about the endless opportunities.