Tag: internet

How to Have a Faster Website

Post author By Peter Lyle DeHaan
Post date February 10, 2023

Speed and Responsiveness Matter for Your Online Presence

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Having a website is the first step in creating your online presence. Then you need to keep it up to date and add content to stay relevant. But there’s a third element, one which many businesses overlook. It’s the speed of your website. Do your pages take too long to load? Is your site sluggish?

Know that in today’s I-want-it-now world, impatient people won’t wait for a slow site to display its content. They’ll bounce. When they do, they’ll go to your competitor. Each tenth of a second of delay increases the likelihood of someone leaving your site in frustration.

Yet this is a problem you can solve. Here are some items to consider.

Hosting

The biggest factor influencing a website speed is the hosting. Shared hosting is the cheapest option and the slowest. This is because hundreds, likely thousands, of websites all run through one server. If anyone of them has problems or encounters traffic spikes, every site on that server will suffer.

The key is to move away from shared hosting. Making this change is the quickest way to increase the speed of your website. Though there are many options once you move past shared hosting, all of them will provide a faster, more responsive website. And all of them will cost more.

Though you’ll pay more for faster website hosting, this is not a place to skimp.

Graphics

The images on your website also impact its operation. A site with no pictures will be faster than one with images, but today’s users expect visuals on a website. A straight-text site will be off putting. It will also look quite dated.

The first consideration is image format. Though PNG files have a higher quality, JPG files are perfect for online, and they’re also much smaller. Though exceptions exist, converting PNG files to JPG results in a much smaller file size. And smaller loads faster.

For pages with several graphics, using JPG files over PNG will result in quicker load times.

Another consideration is the dimensions of the graphic. Though websites will resize large graphics to fit smaller spaces, the better solution is to upload the right sized image to begin with. Don’t weigh your sight down with large images that you’ll never display as full-size graphics.

Feature Bloat

A third consideration is bogging down your website with features you don’t use or don’t need. For WordPress, which accounts for over 40 percent of all websites, these extra options are called plugins and widgets. Other platforms use names such as apps, extensions, or add-ons.

Only install the features you need and delete everything you don’t use. Also consider the utility of each feature. Does it truly add value to your site, or does it just look cool?

The fewer things running in the background of your website, the faster it will load and the less problems you will encounter. It’s an ideal example of the saying that “less is more.”

Summary

Don’t accept a slow website, as it will cause you to lose business and frustrate users. Instead take steps to make your website faster. This will cost some money and take time, but it’s an investment worth making.

Learn more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s book, How to Start a Telephone Answering Service.

Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of TAS Trader, covering the telephone answering service industry. Check out his books How to Start a Telephone Answering Service and Sticky Customer Service.

Tags internet, website

Healthcare Call Centers

When Something Goes Viral

Post author By Peter Lyle DeHaan
Post date December 28, 2022

You Can’t Control What Happens Online, but How You React Is Key

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Content posted on the internet can take on a life of its own, with the masses sharing it, adding comments, and promoting it to more and more people. This is usually an emotional response and seldom an informed decision.

The result is that something posted about you or your call center can go viral. There’s nothing you can do about it. Yet you can control how you react to it. It’s the only thing in your control.

Though we tend to think of something going viral as a negative occurrence, it can be positive. Don’t lose sight of this.

For positive viral content enjoy it, add fuel to it, and ride it for as long as you can. The only challenge is knowing when the message has run its course. Then it’s time for you to move on as well.

What’s more common, unfortunately, is negative viral content. It’s something we fear but ignoring its potential to appear won’t stop it. Instead, be prepared to react to it wisely to minimize its negative impact.

Here are some tips to dealing with negative viral content online:

Don’t Go on the Offensive

A common response when attacked is to fight back. This seldom helps and often fuels the fire. Whoever first posted the information or was one of the first to promote it, doesn’t care about the truth. They care about attention and feed off it.

The worst thing you could do is have a public conflict with this person. Their followers will defend them, and your followers will defend you. This escalates the situation and prolongs it.

Share Your Perspective Privately with Your Customers

Quickly communicate the truth or—your side of the story—with your customers. Keep your employees informed as well. A mailed letter may have the biggest impact and the least potential for misuse, though it also takes time to produce and deliver.

An email to your customer list is a faster approach. Just be aware that anyone who receives it can easily forward it or post its contents. Even when a supporter’s actions are well-intended, it could make the problem worse.

An email is especially risky if the message is hastily thrown together, has a critical tone, or is defensive.

You may consider posting something on your website but do so only after careful deliberation. It could hurt as much as it helps.

Let Your Supporters Defend You

Avoid the temptation to defend yourself online. Let your supporters do that for you. A carefully worded reaction from a third party could be the first step to vindicate you, lessen the negative impact, and give reasonable people a chance to consider your perspective.

Conclusion

You can’t stop negative information about you or your call center from spreading unabated over the internet. but you can mitigate its impact. Preparation is the first step. Plan how to respond should the time arise. And if it does, don’t panic and work your plan.

Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s Healthcare Call Center Essentials, available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book.

Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of AnswerStat and Medical Call Center News covering the healthcare call center industry. Read his latest book, Sticky Customer Service.

Tags communications, internet

Writing and Publishing

Login Fatigue

Post author By Peter Lyle DeHaan
Post date May 13, 2022

Do you suffer from “login fatigue?” I know I do. Login fatigue is that overwhelmed feeling produced by having too many computer login names, passwords, and codes to keep track of. (A Google search for “login fatigue” resulted in 75,400,000 entries, more than a hundred times higher then when I last checked. I am sure that number will keep growing.)

It’s not that I’m lazy or trying to make a statement about logging in. The sad reality is that I had way too many logins to keep track of. As a result, I’ve had to resort to maintaining a list of my various cyberspace logins.

For the most part, I needed every one of them to conduct business. There are a variety of financial websites, secure access for numerous services, a plethora of logins for my diverse Internet presence (email, Websites, blogs, search engines, and so forth), and even a few—a precious few—for personal enjoyment.

Because of this frustration, I used to regularly close websites that require I login just to peek at their treasure trove of information. I’m not talking about those pay-for, subscription sites—which I steadfastly avoid. I’m referring to those free sites that demand that I setup an account and login with each visit. Nope, it’s not going to happen.

Its been suggested that we need some sort of universal login, one login that will work for multiple sites. That sounded great to me. I needed it.

So when I’ve heard about Last Pass and 1Password, I got excited. I looked into them. Both securely manage passwords and generate unique passwords for each website you use. Try them. You’ll like it.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Tags internet

Writing and Publishing

So, You Found My Website, Which One?

Post author By Peter Lyle DeHaan
Post date February 28, 2020

Many people were amazed and impressed that my web address matches my name: PeterDeHaan.com. It is my main author website. I’ve had it for almost twenty years. When I registered it in 2000, it was not hard to procure a domain name matching one’s given name. (At the time, DeHaan.com was also available, and I vacillated on which one to register.)

However, I also have several other websites:

ConnectionsMagazine.com for call centers, AnswerStat.com and Medical Call Center News are for healthcare/medical call center, and TAS Trader for the telephone answering service industry.

Most of my other sites relate to the call center industry. Three are locator sites: FindACallCenter.com, FindAnAnsweringService.com, and FindAHealthcareCallCenter.com

I also have Peter DeHaan Publishing (my business website).

Then there is ABibleADay.com, a site to encourage regular Bible reading, with basic information for those not familiar with the Bible. Plus there are six more.

Altogether, they represent thousands of pages of information and collectively generate millions of page views a year.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Tags AnswerStat, Connections Magazine, internet, Peter DeHaan Publishing, spirituality

Business

What if the Internet Were Unplugged

Post author By Peter Lyle DeHaan
Post date February 19, 2020
No Comments on What if the Internet Were Unplugged

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Several years ago, there was a time when I lost my Internet connection. Although I had a lot of work to do, I couldn’t think of anything I could accomplish without Internet access. It was about a quarter to twelve, so I took an early lunch.

An hour later it still wasn’t working, so I made the dreaded call to my provider. I greatly disliked doing so because they had an attitude that the problem was my fault. It’s the technological world’s version of “guilty until proven innocence.”

After enduring numerous automated prompts and punching in an inordinate number of digits, they performed an automatic test of my line. They pronounced it good and—coincidently or not—my Internet connection started working shortly thereafter.

That prompted a renewed reminder of just how much I depend on the Internet to work. It was a time to give serious thought to how I would conduct business if I were to lose Internet access for a prolonged period of time.

Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s Sticky Series books, including Sticky Customer Service, Sticky Sales and Marketing, and Sticky Leadership and Management featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an entrepreneur and businessman who has managed, owned, and started multiple businesses over his career. Common themes at every turn have included customer service, sales and marketing, and leadership and management.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Tags internet

Business

Email Insanity

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Several years ago, I ordered an inversion table online. Part of the ordering process was to give them my email address.

Once they had my email address, they did the logical thing and began sending me email messages. One or two of them were offers for complementary health devices and exercise equipment, but most were for inversion tables.

In case you are wondering what an inversion table is, it is essentially a device that allows you to hang upside down. That might cause you to wonder why anyone would want two. It sure makes me wonder.

Maybe I’m missing something. Perhaps my enjoyment would be doubled if I had two. Could it be that other purchasers of inversion tables turn around a buy a second one a couple of weeks later? I think not.

Apparently, their marketing department wasn’t thinking either. Why else would they insist on trying to sell me something I had already bought from them?

Likely they reasoned that it costs next to nothing to send an email to me—no matter how nonsensical. After all, I might decide that I need two: one for the basement and a second one for the living room. Yeah, right!

Their logic is shortsighted, however, because it will cost them something—my business. You see, in exasperation for their thoughtless barrage of messages, I opted out.

Now, because of an ill-conceived email strategy, they have forever lost the opportunity to sell me something else.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Tags internet, marketing

Business

Is Your Website Working?

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

There was a local coffee shop that I frequent, which given that I don’t drink coffee seems a bit strange. Even so, it was a great place for meetings and I generally found myself there at least once a week.

I noticed a free newspaper there. Actually, calling it a newspaper was generous; “news sheet” might be more accurate. It was a single 11 x 17 piece of paper, printed on both sides and folded twice.

On each side was a center column of random news trivia, with a column of local ads on each side. Presumably, they had not sold all the space, as many ads were repeated on both sides, along with a couple of “your ad here” fillers.

Ever curious, I checked their Website and was treated to a “Website coming soon message.” Assuming the site was down, I called them only to learn that they were still working on it. The owner was not embarrassed by this fact but was rather nonchalant. Three weeks later, the site was still “coming soon.”

You would think that if your site was still under development you would not prominently advertise it. That does not send a positive message to potential advertisers. It would be like publishing a phone number knowing it was not working. What right-minded business owner would do such a thing?

Upon further investigation, I found that the content of the “news sheet” is syndicated and distributed to local, exclusive franchises who sell ads and distribute it.

How do I know this? Because the franchiser’s website was working.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Tags internet

Business

Your Company’s Online Presence

Post author By Peter Lyle DeHaan
Post date February 7, 2018

Focus on Your Website Which You Own and Control

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Most medium-sized and large companies have a website. And successful organizations have one too. Yet some smaller or older companies struggle in this area. Some don’t have a website, while others have one, but it’s outdated or substandard.

Here are some tips to help you move forward in setting up a practical online presence you can be proud of.

The Role of Social Media

Some organizations make the mistake of foregoing a website. They try to use social media for their online presence. This is a bad idea. First, they don’t own their social media page and can be kicked off it at any time, for any reason.

Contrast this to a website, which a company owns and controls.

This doesn’t mean to ignore social media, but the goal of social media pages should be to direct people to your website. Think of social media as the spokes of the wheel and your website as the hub.

Website Basics

Although it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to design a professional-looking website, there are less costly options. After all, we don’t all drive a luxury car; sometimes entry-level transportation will do just fine.

In truth, you can make an inexpensive website yourself for under $100. The goal is for it to not look cheap. Most hosting companies offer do-it-yourself website templates you can customize to provide a basic, yet professional-looking, site for your online presence.

If you want to avoid using predesigned templates, WordPress.org is a popular alternative.

Regardless, there are a few beginner mistakes you will want to avoid:

Stay away from line art graphics or any artwork that looks homemade.
If you need to resize a graphic, be sure to keep it proportional. Otherwise, it will distort and look odd.
Proofread the text, verify spelling, use correct grammar, and employ commonly accepted punctuation.
Have others double-check your content. Then have someone else triple-check it.
Don’t go crazy with different fonts. Use one or two at the most.
Have a consistent style and color palette throughout.
Avoid uppercase text; people will feel like you’re screaming at them. (The one possible exception might be when listing your company name at the top of the page.)
Use italics sparingly. It’s hard to read in large blocks.
Don’t insert some nifty gadget on your site. Resist the urge. Just because these features are available doesn’t mean you should use them.
Also be wary of animation, videos that play automatically, and sound that’s turned on by default. If you irritate a visitor they’ll bounce from your site and never return.

Also, don’t piggyback off someone else’s domain name; get your own. You can inexpensively obtain a domain name from your hosting company.

While you’re at it, set up an email account using that domain name. Post that email address on your website. If necessary, you can have this new address forward to an existing email account.

Search Engine Optimization

Now that you have a functioning website—which avoids all the above beginner errors—you want people to find it. Aside from telling everyone you meet and listing it on every piece of literature and stationery you have, you need search engines to notice and appreciate your website.

This is called search engine optimization (SEO).

Since the search engine companies closely guard their methodologies, SEO is more of an art form than an exact science. Even so, here are some common SEO basics:

Each page needs a title. This will help both visitors and search engines.
Each page needs a description; don’t use the same description on every page or repeat descriptions.
Add correct keywords. Although most search engines ignore them, some search engines may still look at them. Again, keywords should not be the same for each page.

Although some people still pursue reciprocal linking (that is, “I’ll link to your site if you link to mine”), this no longer helps and could hurt your visibility with search engines. Don’t do it.

Many of the companies that guarantee you top search engine placement do not deliver or can’t sustain it. There are experts who can do this, but they are in a minority and their skill is often hard to verify.

If you hire someone to improve your website’s SEO, you have every right to expect results and to hold them accountable for optimizing your online presence.

Content Marketing

If you want people to find your site and contact you, the next step to consider is content marketing. This is when you post helpful, non-salesy information on your website as a no-strings-attached public service.

This content should be relevant to your company and helpful to your prospects. In doing so you become a subject-matter expert in the eyes of your audience.

Search engines serve up this content to people who seek it. The result is traffic to your site. After they read what they came there to find, an attractive and helpful website will keep them there.

Hopefully, some of them will want to learn more about your company or your products and services.

Ongoing Work

A website isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it effort. A website benefits from ongoing tweaking to make it more valuable to your target audience. Also, expectations change over time, as do best practices.

Expect to continue to work on your website on an ongoing basis to fine-tune and improve it.

Outsourcing

You can outsource any or all these steps, but it comes at a cost. As an alternative, you can do it yourself. Regardless of which path you take, don’t expect immediate results. It takes time to perfect a website and drive traffic to it.

The best time to make your website was ten years ago. The second-best time is today.

Marketing Management Success Tip

If you don’t have a website, you need one. And if you have a website, work to make it better. In either case, the results will increase visibility and leads.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Tags internet, search engine optimization, website

Business

Responding to Email

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

My website FindaCallCenter.com features a directory of call centers. All the information listed has been submitted by the businesses themselves. To ensure the information is current and accurate, I periodically email each call center, asking them to review and confirm their information.

The lack of response—and the slowness of response—to my recent verification effort was appalling. Only 25 percent responded to my first email message, while 11 percent of the addresses generated a failure notice.

The majority of those responding did so the first day, but many trickled in over the next week.

For the second email message to the remaining non-responders, 13 percent replied, but only one third did so within one day, with the rest taking up to five days. For the third and final email, only 5 percent responded.

Altogether, only 37 percent responded at all; 13 percent had non-working email addresses; 50 percent apparently received but did not bother to reply to any of the three messages. Furthermore, of the minority who responded, only about half did so on the same business day.

We live in a world that expects a response and wants it immediately. The above dismal results—which are likely applicable to all industries—suggests that merely responding to email on the same business day would make your organization stand out.

How sad. Few consumers will be patient that long. Stand out even more, and strive to respond within an hour—and the sooner the better.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Tags internet, marketing

Business

Euphemisms for Broken

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

I subscribe to an online computer file backup service. It is easy to use and does its work automatically with little assistance from me. This is how all backups should function—automatically and without human involvement.

However, there was a time that it warned me that it hadn’t backed up any files for more than 24 hours. I did what I could to do a manual backup, but without success.

After an hour of futile effort, I decided that the problem was on the provider’s ends. Unfortunately, by that time their tech support call center had closed for the day. So, I used the email support option—and waited.

The next day, things were no different, so I called. Once I finally was able to talk to someone, he quickly informed me that the server handling my backups was “unavailable because of extended maintenance.” The maintenance was expected to be complete by mid-afternoon.

Why couldn’t they just be honest and tell me it’s “down and being worked on?”

I also wonder why they didn’t put that useful information on the call center recording that kept repeating every 20 seconds. Why did they instead say that tech support was “busy due to a high number of new subscribers?”

Additionally, the application’s interface allows them to send me messages, so why didn’t they simply use it to notify me it was down? After all, they did use it to communicate the “busy due to a high number of new subscribers” message and suggest I use email.

The backup was again backing up my files—just as they promised. As for the “extended maintenance,” it took about 44 hours.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Tags internet