Forum Moderators: open
Specifically, what issues do you face in your business that we do not fulfill?
I'll offer a suggestion:
A HOWTO or tutorial section covering various webmastering task.
For instance, a HOWTO or tutorial on "Advanced Search using Google for
Webmasters" covering the types of searches one does to see what one's
site profile is like from a webmaster perspective; i.e. how to find
out who's linking to you, what "neighborhoods" your links fall into,
ect. Recently, someone shared how to search to find how many pages
were indexed with various file extentions (php .vs asp).
Many here are quite experienced and know this stuff like they know
how to tie their shoes. However, many newbies don't know what one
can do search wise, let alone how to. I'm not familiar with any
"official" Google Advanced Search guide along the lines of what a webmaster
would need to manage and profile websites.
Possible benefits of a section of HOWTOs and tutorials might be to both cut down on
repetitive questions and answers and serve as great magnet content
for webmasterworld. Advanced Search is what first comes to mind,
but I'm sure many other topics would also be good; I'm sure HOWTO do keyword
research and select keyword phrases would also be popular. Maybe a list of reference books reviewed by
webmasterworld senior users.
Thanks again for providing such a great site.
Take care and absolute best wishes,
Louis
Although there are many experts here there are few who can combine all talents to a professional degree. The content writer might be deficient in direct marketing. The programmer might be deficient in graphic design.
So as we are all to one degree or another inexpert, one thing that we often face is a plunge into uncharted waters. For me, for example, it has been (or is) subjects like PHP/MySQL, e-commerce and merchant accounts, Linux and webhosting/reselling.
What does everyone do? Go to their favourite forums and ask the advice of people they respect about tutorials, books and products. I think many here would rate WebmasterWorld as their favourite forum with the highest percentage of respected members.
Rightly, I think, you have a strong policy against "dropping" of products or companies in the forums. But a kind of "WebmasterWorld Which" of resources and products which were proposed and then rated by WebmasterWorld members may well be a useful start for someone looking for a start in an area of unfamiliarity.
I don't think these articles should aim for in depth discussion or cutting edge information as this kind of thing changes and is more suited for discussion on the boards. Instead I'm thinking the basics that don't change a great deal and the few questions which are asked over and over. They can also be used as starting points for board discussion to ensure everyone is up to speed with the basic information. It would provide information for newcomers as well as a resource for more experienced people to refer back to. There's almost so much information here that some of it is getting lost.
I realise this would take time and effort to compile, particulary at the begining, and would probably need new volunteers to help out. However I think in the long run it will help cut down some of the noise posting and will enhance the community.
Shelley
But I suspect there are a great many out there just like me, who have only a rudimentary understanding of what is available and how it all works. There is also the small operator who may find it difficult to know if a move to credit card transactions is warranted and the likely impact if they do.
Things like:
Shopping carts... the good, the bad and the ugly?
How many charges are involved... who gets a cut?
What credit card facilities are available for online transactions?
How much does it cost to set-up for credit card processing?
What credit card validation techniques are available?
Any problems with transfer of monies into different countries?
... and that's just for starters. In the hands of a experienced specialist this could be turned into a valuable information resource.
I realise there are differences between countries and if someone was to take this on, they would have to make sure is is not totally US centric.
Food for thought?
One of the issues I have with the web business is that there are a lot of garden variety web developers out there who pass themselves off as my competition. It's one thing to be a newbie and admit there's a lot to learn (we've all been there and it's a given you start someplace) and it's another to be a newbie and sell yourself as a pro. Many of the smaller businesses don't know how to tell the difference and end up getting screwed by some wise apple because they were a good salesperson but a bad web developer. It gives the business a bad name and undermines the trust that needs to be established between a client and a professional in this business.
So one of the ideas that's been floating around in my head is to somehow develop a section for business owners and others wanting/thinking about a web site that explains the web development process and the pieces that need to be dealt with (I.E. design versus development, web hosting, in-house mail server versus out-of-house mail server, etc...). I see this as a FAQ that highlights some of the common terms we all throw around and take for granted but which may be totally unknown to a business owner. For instance, what is the difference between the term web developer and web designer? What is SEO and how could it help my business?
I'm not exactly sure of the best approach but the gist of my point is it would be nice to offer something that targets business owners who want to educate themselves. Then I, as someone who sells web development services, would have a place to point them to feed their curiosity, answer their questions, backup my claims, and demonstrate there is a difference between Joe Smith who dabbles with web development and someone like me who does this for a living.
I realize this may not be the sort of web traffic you want to add to this web site though I think it could be a good thing. Most every web site that tries to accomplish this has been created by either someone who sells web services or is a member of the media. The former will be seen as biased and the latter doesn't know this business. A third party, unbiased, like WebmasterWorld, could be seen as a very reputable knowledge base. Heck, since CEOs love short newsletters with very targeted information, you could even make a healthy living off of the highlights posted here in WebmasterWorld for it. The newsletters I'm talking about run $900 -$1200 per year btw.
Anyhow, food for thought.
Best,
GB
Best of breed book lists for mastering certain things (or maybe I'm the only one that still uses a book to start learning most anything). Often times I'll have to go through ten different books on a topic before finding one that fit the bill.
Scenarios. Lets say posting scripts and related things is too much for people to post/give away. How bout a section where somebody comes in and says I want to build XYZ or develop this or that functionality but I don't even know where to start. How bout' a guide that might help one get started, something that says up to a particular load use this this and this and a perl script to connect A & B. Sometimes just figuring out what technologies/languages/apps to use can be half the battle..............02. Then again, much of that type of thing is probably already exists in threads throughout the forums.
