by Charles Oropallo | Jan 16, 2019 | Email, Internet, Monadnock Shopper News, Security, Shopper News, The CW Corner
With 20+ years in the web business, scams and schemes to steal from people still amaze me.
Several web clients have made me aware of a scam to frighten them into making a bitcoin payment.
They’re from addresses like “Anonymous Hacker” or even your own email. Subjects are “You have been hacked” or similar. They gloat they’ve infected you through some (usually unsavory) site you visited. They explain how they did it in terms most folks don’t understand – making you think they are really an expert – and frighten you into believing they’re monitoring your computer.
They threaten to send very personal items and even videos of you to everyone you know unless you comply with the demand within some short time period. They warn if you report them, they’ll distribute the “dirt” on you immediately.
We try to force these messages to spam on our servers. Sometimes they get through. We reassure several people each week they are a scam because they usually are.
However, devices DO get hacked. If you truly believe you’ve been hacked, you should see your IT person or someone who specializes in “cleaning” computers ASAP. We can recommend folks who can help.
by Charles Oropallo | Jan 9, 2019 | Do-It-Yourself, Email, Internet, Monadnock Shopper News, Shopper News, The CW Corner
We’ve gone off the deep end attempting to communicate entirely via email. Are we saying what we mean so say?
The “Subject:” should reflect the current content – especially in replies where the original idea has changed.
To ensure questions are responded to, keep the message simple and stick to expecting one answer about one question. People generally do not answer multiple questions.
Use a courteous greeting and closing. Email does NOT have voice inflection. Words appear demanding when you USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or numerous exclamation points – or terse when you treat email like text messages.
Including the previous message helps recipients understand your response. Generalities cause confusion and unnecessary back and forths.
It’s polite to include a “signature” with your name, your affiliation, your phone number and perhaps your address to enable easy followup.
Attachments are not meant to blast information to many. A giant file to a huge group is wasteful and rude. Large emails over phones is frustrating.
Messages requiring immediate attention are best dealt with via phone calls. Don’t assume people check email constantly.
Check the recipients list. Replying to ALL sends to ALL recipients. It might be shared with unexpected recipients.
Be careful what your message contains!
by Charles Oropallo | Jan 2, 2019 | Do-It-Yourself, Domains, Internet, Monadnock Shopper News, Security, SEO, Shopper News, The CW Corner, Website Development, Website Updates, WordPress
Customers want specific info about products and services. If there have been no changes since your website launched, they’ll look somewhere else.
New info triggers search engines to re-scan your website and index it according to what it sees as current and popular, relative to other websites in your industry. Distinctive and useful content helps the search engines recognize what your site is about. Posting new content on a regular basis gives the search engines a reason to scan your site more often.
Updating depends on your industry and who your competition is. The important thing is to review your site on a regular basis. We recommend a website review at least once a month.
Ensure your contact information up to date – nothing is worse than nonworking phone numbers or wrong hours. Your navigation hyperlinks all need to work as well. Good testimonials are an absolute plus. Noteworthy news posted can also help broadcasting your latest and greatest developments.
If you’re website doesn’t allow you to easily change the text in it, you should consider updating to one that will.
Keeping your website material up to date will help keep your current clients as well as add new ones.
by Charles Oropallo | Dec 26, 2018 | Do-It-Yourself, Internet, Monadnock Shopper News, SEO, Shopper News, The CW Corner, Website Development, Website Updates, WordPress
It’s great to have “a friend in the web business,” isn’t it? That’s usually what people think when friends offer to help with one’s website. Web development is very complex. Every situation doesn’t end badly but I can tell you from experience many do.
A major problem is the “one person show” issue. For about 6 years CharlesWorks was only Charles – limited by what one could do in finite weekly hours. Being constantly asked what happens during vacations or sickness. The first hire happened to gain time to focus more. Another person to focus on business and office management. That allowed us to handle far more clients.
Now with 9 people it was unimaginable then we’d ever handle thousands of websites. Or that the first hire would still be here as my General Manager and develop her graphic, web and marketing abilities to an expert level over that time.
We have many folks we’ve helped after having negative experiences with their friends helping them. Think of how badly it can end when you put your business presence in a single person’s hands whose main life’s focus may not even be web work. Especially if your business is your bread and butter!
by Charles Oropallo | Dec 19, 2018 | Internet, Introduction, Monadnock Shopper News, Shopper News, The CW Corner, Website Development, Website Updates, WordPress
Hosting is where your website physically resides on servers attached 24/7 to the internet. Here’s some info for finding a good web hosting company:
Local – Best sticking with local folks. Computers have glitches. Knowing someone who can explain issues is important.
Customer Service – Nothing’s worse than being ignored. Many companies don’t interact with their clients. Find one you can actually reach. Conversation shows if they can explain things in understandable terms.
Longevity – Ensure they’ve been at this a while. Lousy companies don’t generally survive the test of time. The longer they’ve been around the better they usually are at providing service.
Reliability – Backups are a must. Good hosters back up websites nightly. If your company is a reseller of services – a “middle man” – they’ve no control over servers. Avoid such an arrangement.
Security – Your host should perform regular server updates. WordPress sites require security updates as well. You should be able to perform those.
Contracts – Avoid contracts. Deal with hosters that allow you to quit when you want to. That way they’re always striving to provide good service – not just when it’s time to “renew” with them.
Contact us with questions. We’re glad to help.
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