Peter Butler – Page 19

Peter Butler

When Did You Last Do a Website BackUp?

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Have you ever lost a Word document? Lost an email maybe? It happens, right! And it’s an absolute pain in the butt!

Not only do you lose a heap of time looking for it but there’s the stress and drama that goes with it.

Imagine if you lost your website!

And it happened to a colleague not so long ago. The story gets worse!

There was a server crash and he lost about 30 websites – yup, that’s thirty, as in 3 and 0. He swore… a lot!

What made it worse was there was no up to date backups. And get this, most were client sites.

Here’s the reality, a server is just a hard disc drive essentially, and they fail, it happens. Surely you’ve had a PC issue at some point… “touch wood”, same deal, they break.

I back up my own sites, and all my clients sites of course, on a regular basis.

But how do we back them up?

I have a strategic plan. I have to account for the fact that I might get hit by a Mac Truck, God forbid. If I’m as thin as sliced cheese and my clients can’t get to their back up  that’s not going to help them get their website “live” again.

There are 2 parts to a website backup, this is in real simple layman’s terms.

There is all the database stuff which is all the techy in the cogs and behind the scenes coding and stuff and then there is the graphical elements and images. That’s the oversimplified version but that covers it.

So obviously we have 2 parts to our back up process, well, actually we have 3.

What we do is use a tool for all our websites, mine and my clients, that automatically does the database back up aspect. It even emails the back up out to them.

!Note for Smarter Website clients! You will now get a weekly email that contains a file with this database file. The attached file will look something like – “yourdomain_wrdp1_30102009_xxx.sql.gz”

I was having these all sent to me on a weekly basis but then I had a close shave with a Mac Truck. No, not really. I just figured that no-one knows all the stuff we do behind the scenes to keep your sites up and running and it was about time to blow our trumpet.

What do you do with this email! File it, just in case. (and pray I don’t get hit by a truck)

So what are the other 2 parts to the website back up?

The next is all the files and folders, where all the graphical and other stuff is. We back them up to a separate disc on the server, sort of like a mirror image of the first server drive. That way if there is an issue it flicks over to the other drive so your site is “live” at all times. No down time plus a safe back up.

The last part is to back them up externally, as in “off-site”. Server centres are very secure, they have fire protection and all manner of safety stuff in place but you just never know, especially in today’s world.

So what is your back up plan? Don’t do the “it’ll never happen to me” thing. Look, most shared servers and hosting do have auto back ups done but it is worth asking the question.

Here’s the “Sell” if there is one in this post! (This part either fits for you or it doesn’t)

We now do “reseller plans” so you can actually make money out of web hosting! It’s all on our very fast and sexy “dedicated server”. A “reseller plan” means you can make money from selling web hosting without having to do anything – money for nothing and forever.

I’m not going to go into the techy stuff but if you have multiple websites or reckon you have the opportunity to direct people to or sell good hosting then we need to talk. Contact me through that link or give me a call on 0413 733 272.

What Is Up With .au Domain Pricing?

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domain-names-diceHad a client who was getting ripped off for his domain name registration. To the  tune of  over $100. Ouch!

He had a quite a few domains registered and we’d rebuilt some of his websites and well, I was getting confused because they were registered with different companies.

I suggested he get them all in one spot so it was easier to manage. As a part of that conversation I found out that one domain was up renewal at $140 for 2 years!

I can’t say which company it was but I’ll give you a hint – they’re in Melbourne and they’re an IT company – you work it out.

What? – 140 bucks, that is absolutely ridiculous! I pay $38 for 2 years, and there is probably cheaper.

Even if there is cheaper around I still use the one registrar – http://www.cheapdomains.com.au – I don’t want domains registered all over the place, too damn hard to keep a track of otherwise. Plus the support I get from these guys is great, people actually answer the phone and really help if there’s an issue.

Anyway, I registered another domain last week and it only cost me $16.00 for the 2 years. On the website it still says $38 but I was only charged $16?

I actually have no idea what that is about. I did hear something a while back about the ICANN Registrar (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers) protocol changing and gossip about the idea of free domains.o

Does anyone know something I don’t, make a comment if you do or if you don’t.

Beware the “Server Upgrade” Spam Email

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No-spam-symbolI’ve just upgraded our web hosting service to a “Dedicated Server” for all my websites, both my mine any clients.

It was ironic that just after this upgrade this email came in from a client but first…

Why did we upgrade?

Security is one reason plus storage, speed and bandwidth is another. Clients can even “on sell” web hosting and make money on the side with our new Web Hosting Manager option. If they have multiple sites they can manage them all from one spot, it’s a beautiful thing. We are the only ones on this very fast server, just us. It’s a sweet deal, if you want to know more click here but that is not the point of this post.

Here is the – Beware the “Server Upgrade” Spam Email – and here’s what to look for so you don’t get caught out.

Tony writes…

Hi Pete,

Is this legitimate?

Tony

—–Original Message—–

From: system-administrator [mailto:system-administrator@clubred.com.au]

Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 9:34 PM

To: (email deleted for spam protection)

Subject: Attention: Server Upgrade

Attention!

On October 22, 2009 server upgrade will take place. Due to this the system may be offline for approximately half an hour.

The changes will concern security, reliability and performance of mail service and the system as a whole.

For compatibility of your browsers and mail clients with upgraded server software you should run SSl certificates update procedure.

This procedure is quite simple. All you have to do is just to click the link provided, to save the patch file and then to run it from your computer location. That’s all.

(I’ve disabled the link) – htt://updates.clubred.com.au.secure.us-admins.net/ssl/id=73957959-info(at)clubred.com.au-patch974.aspx

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter and sorry for possible inconveniences.

System Administrator

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4523 (20091019) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

The short story answer is NO! – it is not legitimate, it’s a spam scam!

Why do people spam in the first place?

Harvesting and confirming contact details is the most common form of spamming with the view that they will email a person until they buy or die. It’s a numbers game, the more they have the more they will sell.

In this case it seems to be a destructive type operation, trying to get you to save a file on your PC which would wreak havoc.

WHY?

Who knows, maybe it’s small penis syndrome and they’re trying to prove masculinity by being a pain in the butt. Who knows what drives these people. Perhaps force you to buy software to “save” your PC.

Here’s what to look out for!

Sub-domains is one thing. In the link everything before the “us-admins.net” is a sub-domain and is suspect. Why has my clients URL or domain become a sub-domain of someone else’s domain – danger bells, always beware!

spam-url

Another issue is the email address “info(at)clubred.com.au” being displayed in the link.

Why is that suss and why is it a problem?

It is suss because it should not be displayed that way for a start.

It’s a problem because it tells us that the email address has been displayed somewhere in internet land and it’s been “skimmed”. NEVER display your email address on a website page. I’ve manually inserted the (at) to protect this email from being picked up by spammers.

That’s why God invented contact pages and opt in forms. For an email address to be skimmed means a software program has found it displayed and “pulled” the details and will spam it, probably forever. Absolute pain in the butt. Don’t do it!

I hope that helps, stay safe.

SEO Results – “WordPress” site and a “Normal” site.

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clubred-logoHere is an exact “You See the Results For Yourself” SEO difference between a “WordPress” site and a “Normal” site.

A colleague and friend Tony was building his new membership card website using dreamweaver on a test domain of http://clubredonline.net/

He was spending so much time with all the tech issues in Dreamweaver that he had no time to actually get out there and develop the business, the old classic “working in the business and not on it” that us solo entrepreneurs can suffer from. Tony had 2 domain names, 1 for the core business of which he had a Frontpage website live for a couple of years that never really did anything plus the new test domain.

Tony’s concept has such great potential for the tourism industry and I could see his frustration so we did a deal where I agreed to get the “core” site done for him in WordPress so at least the site would start ranking well. Tony could then fine tune it and get the graphics sorted later.

I am about to redirect the test domain to the core site so you need to check the ranking difference now, or just trust me on this. The stat’s are below. The core site is nowhere being finished but I wanted to share this difference so you could see how it’s outranking the original version and the test site already. This is Tony’s core business site – http://www.clubred.com.au/ Don’t give me grief on the graphics or unfinished sections, this post is about SEO.

This is 2 sites that have the same content and a similar structure but vastly different SEO results.

In this comparison I’m using Google Page Rank, how many pages are “indexed” as well as the Alexa Ranking which is basically an “authority ranking” made up of various elements. None of these are definitive in themselves but they all play a part in how well your site “ranks” and where it will show up in the Search Engine results.

www.clubred.com.au clubredonline.net
Google Page Rank 3 0
Pages Indexed 120 68
Alexa Ranking 2,929,299 4,181,787

There is a whole lot more to getting clients to your site and then converting them to paying clients but at least Tony is in a better position to do what will give him the best return for his time. If you want a Website & Prosperity Check valued at a very real $385.00 done on Your Own Site then Click Here to make that happen.

Here’s a blurb from Tony to one of his mate’s on his new site.

Hey dodgy,

Thanks for that (feedback on website). I hired a friend I met at my Business Breakfast Monthly Group to do the Planet Inn website. His name is Peter Butler and it’s a WordPress site. I had previously built sites myself using Microsoft Frontpage and then Dreamweaver, though I found Frontpage to be lacking the professional look and Dreamweaver to be fairly complicated.

With the WordPress format, I worked closely with Pete to set it up to my specs. I am able to do all of the updates, articles, photos etc myself with his back up support for any technical matters.

The best part though is that WordPress is user-friendly and brilliant for search engine optimisation. By sucking in all of the knowledge I can from Peter, we have got our Planet Inn site up from page 140 to page 1 on most google searches.

I was so amazed with those results that I then got Pete to design my Club Red template on wordpress, even though I had spent a year building my site with Dreamweaver. To give a comparison, see www.clubredonline.net which was my dreamweaver site.

If you need any help at all he is a really good guy to talk to and the best part is that he comes from a marketing background so he understands the real purpose of a website, which is not just to look pretty, but to also generate leads!

His email is (peter at smarterwebsites.com.au). I know you have some clever guys who work for peanuts in Thailand, but I’m sure you would benefit from talking to Peter about how to really get your sites increasing your business presence.

He has also set up a really good database programme for me which includes a Client Relationship Management Programme. That enables you to keep track of all your contacts with your customers and generate newsletters etc. All I need now is 36 hours in every day so I can really teach myself how to maximise its full potential!

When you’re over in October, I could get him to meet you for a coffee and a chat.

Cheers for now,
Tony

Tony Inman
Managing Director, Club Red Australia

www.clubred.com.au
www.planetinn.com.au

New WordPress Update 2.8.5 Is Out

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wordpress-logoI’ve been keeping an eye out for the next version of WordPress. They’ve been doing beta testing on 2.9 but lo and behold they’ve done a mini update in the form of 2.8.5 – these guys are so committed to security.

According to the official WordPress blog this is not an urgent upgrade, but it has the goal of hardening your install, so upgrading is recommended. The headline changes in this release are:

  • A fix for the Trackback Denial-of-Service attack that is currently being seen.
  • Removal of areas within the code where php code in variables was evaluated.
  • Switched the file upload functionality to be whitelisted for all users including Admins.
  • Retiring of the two importers of Tag data from old plugins.

Stay tuned for 2.9.0 which should be coming out next month as well. This one should bring some cool new features for WP users.

For you Smarter Websites clients, just sit back and have another coffee, your site is queued for updating, all a part of what we do…

What Do Emails, Big Fish and Being An Entrepreneur Have In Common?

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As time goes on we tend to build up a list of people we “follow” via email.

Some of the people I subscribe to are mentors, some are clients and some are friends and colleagues. I follow a few to use as models for either myself or a client. Hey, don’t mimic everything we see but why reinvent the wheel if there’s a good model?

Every few months I rationalize this list, email processing takes up enough of my valuable time without letting it get out of hand. It actually takes a bit of time to click on the “unsubscribe” button and then follow through to the radio button to get off the list and I was in a hurry so I left it for later.

How important is it to rationalize this? Depends on how much time you want to save!

What drove this home is I just came back from a week frolicking up in balmy Exmouth. That’s where the fish come in. The weather was perfect one day and just great the next. Normally when I go away I quickly run through my emails on a daily if not every other day basis, so I keep a handle on it. It scares me to get too far behind.

This holiday I was determined to have a proper break though! (Although a part of the trip was work related and you’ll see a link below to check out just some of stuff I had to do as a part of my “work”).

Anyway, I was laptop free for a whole 3 days. I know, hard to imagine but I did it…

As a result when I opened up Outlook the little notification indicator down the right hand corner was flashing like I’ve never seen. Literally hundreds of emails flooded in… OMG! I was gonna be here forever.

So that was it! I was going to take the time to unsubscribe from every supposed guru’s email that I wasn’t prepared to read right there and then. That was a part of the problem, sometimes I don’t have time to actually read the content but I know the subject will be useful so I file it for later reference but there has to be a balance.

Enough was enough; the time for rationalization was now!

Back to the “work” related holiday. I had to check out my new client with his new million dollar floating hotel in the richest fishing country in the state. The Golden Trevally really made me “work”. Flick straight to the end of the video to see the ‘proud’ man.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlwZs-lturk

If you’re more of a “Save the Whale” sort of a person you’ll love this clip with the mum and calf, absolutely gorgeous.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj7tuAMNfiw

Us entrepreneurs need our time out, cause God knows these breaks are far and few between, gives us a chance to stand back and get everything back in perspective, remember what really is important in life. Catching up with my whole family was such a blast and long overdue, we’re going to make this a yearly pilgrimage now.

If you’re into a holiday with a difference, like glorious warmth and the sun, maybe snorkelling on the Ningaloo, love whales, dolphins and a whole gambit of natures creatures and like to drop a line in too where you’re guaranteed a catch every time and all with top accommodation then check out the Gulf Fishing Lodge – http://www.GulfFishingLodge.com.au/ –   It’ll be one of those “Remember the Gulf Fishing Lodge Week” holiday moments in your life…