If you aren’t a web designer, know nothing about HTML, or just haven’t been using WordPress very long… then it may not be a good idea for you to use a custom WordPress theme. Unless you follow some simple rules:

1. Hire an expert. Ok… I am not trying to promote myself here. But seriously, if you are going to use custom themes, plugins, bells & whistles… but don’t know how to maneuver WordPress CMS… then don’t touch it. Ask an expert to do it. Many experts will let you hire them on retainer so they can this “stuff” for you when you need it.

I get calls all the time… “Help! I broke my site!” 

A lot of you don’t have time to learn to fix it. So hire someone who can do it in a flash. 

2. Learn to use WordPress CMS. CMS means content management system. And really, its easy. You can never be prepared for every emergency that might happen – but if you know the basics, you can save a lot of money on retaining that expert. This means knowing some simple HTML, too. And knowing how to maneuver an FTP program like Dreamweaver or just SmartFTP. 

3. Check your site after every edit. EVERY. EDIT. If you make some changes to the image on your post… save it, then check it before doing any other edits. If you make some edits to a sidebar widget, check it every time you update. If you mess with the plugins, check it after each plugin update.

Some things to watch out for:

• Some plugins don’t work together and can break your site. 
• Some custom themes require a lot of FTP file editing.
• If you change from one theme to another – check all of your pages, some of the code might change. 
• Some themes have special “featured” articles on the homepage that use TimThumb and you will need to learn to use custom fields.

I hear stories all the time of web companies who tell their clients to forward their domain name to another web address. While there is always a purpose in using multiple domain names (.com and .org for example) for the same website, web developers should know that IT IS BAD FOR SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS. 

I am not a web developer… and I know that it is bad for rankings! So it surprises me every time I hear of web companies who do this. 

Yesterday I heard of a web designer who charges his clients $5/month to forward domain names… Did I miss something here?!?! Or is that as unethical as I think it is? 

NOTICE TO WEBSITE OWNERS: If you don’t know anything about how the web works, make sure to get more than one opinion when going with a web designer. 

Here are 10 questions to ask your Website Designer

Sometimes Web Designers are Like Car Mechanics

The problem is that most people are not MEANT to be experts in web design and social media. But because there are so many people who call themselves “experts” in web design, the people who need there services are often taken advantage of and given bad advice. 

But to get off my soap box and get back to the real topic…

Read this blog article and get more info about why domain forwarding is bad. 

Instead of getting frustrated with technorati this morning, I just laughed:

I have heard stories of years ago when professionals had a hard time finding a web designer. It is hard to believe because today it is almost like getting hit with Quickstar: they are EVERYWHERE.

The problem?

All web designers have strengths. And all web designers have weaknesses. But there is so much information out there that there is no way for the “rest” of the world to tell what strengths should be stronger.

So, we are going to start a guide. A guide to avoiding web designabees and finding a good, quality designer who knows what they are talking about.

To start us off today. Look for a web designer who:

1. Doesn’t pretend to know everything. (I promise they don’t)
2. Can name several SEO tools off the top of their head (Here’s a Wordtracker article about SEO)