So does your website make the grade? One of my favorite resources to visit for general website search engine optimization advice is Website Grader. This free resource gives you a quick summary of all the things you are doing right and wrong when it comes to managing your website. To start off, all you need to do is visit the Website Grader website and plug in your website address.
Tag Archives | advice
Grade Your Website
Free Marketing eBook!
Over the past few months I have been working long and hard on bringing you a collection of my favorite marketing tips, tutorials and more. I have bundled all these goodies up (before Christmas too) and now have a new free eBook for you to download, read and then pass along to a friend.
Old School Social Network Marketing
Making the right connections in business is a big part of the marketing game. You don’t need to have a multi-million dollar advertising campaign. You don’t even have to get a $2 advertising campaign going. One of the best marketing techniques out there is to simple stick your foot in the door. Make friends with people in businesses that can help you succeed.
Stand Out from the Crowd
You have heard it a countless number of time, "Just because everybody else is doing it – does not mean you have to do it too". I think every once of us was told this by a mother, a brother, a sister, an aunt, uncle or grandparent while we were growing up. The same thing can be said when it comes to your marketing strategy. Just because Company A, Company B, and Company C is doing it – that does not mean you have to follow the same marketing trend. Stand out!
Do Not Be the Social Media Douchebag
If you have been working in any online capacity these days, you have more than likely run into a few social media douchebags. Now, not saying that everybody trying to earn a buck helping companies find their way in the social networking landscape are this way – but many are, and it is comically annoying.
Marketing Your Secret Features
You can do great things, but if nobody knows – did you really do them at all? After reading a recent interview with Richard Branson, on building a brand for your business, something he said really made me think.
Quick All in One Web Site Analysis
WooRank is an impressive new web site analysis tool worth singing the praises of. I have several of these types of online tools bookmarked, and I have written about most of them. The thing that separates WooRank’s analysis of a domain over any other tool is the plethora of information they provide to you.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Fat Princess
I have spent a lot of my free time the last few months playing Fat Princess, a PlayStation Network game for the PlayStation 3. Over time, you come to lean a few things you should do – and a few things you probably shouldn’t do, to keep the experience enjoyable.
Bizarre Mistyped Domain Issues – AT&T’s Fault?
Resolved! via Reese in the Comments…
I think you have engaged in a classic example of overthink. URLs are resolved right -to-left. In other words, xyz.com.com is requesting the subdomain xyz of “com” of the .com TLD. If you pop com.com into WHOIS you will likely discover it too is owned by cNet.
I hadn’t even thought about that. Many thanks to Reese for the solution!
The Original Post
I have spent the last few hours troubleshooting a really odd problem. To kind of get my thoughts in order on what I have done and could do, I thought I would spell everything out here. The problem is that whenever I enter any domain name and put the extension twice (like mitchkeeler.com.com) it redirects me to a search.com search page for it instead of giving me the normal error message.
To give you a little more information ahead of time, my DSL provider is AT&T (or Yahoo! AT&T to be more specific).
Here is where I would be redirected for that:
http://domainhelp.search.com/search?q=mitchkeeler&d=mitchkeeler.com.com
I always use Firefox, so first thing I checked was the other browsers I have installed right now. Both Google Chrome and Internet Explorer 7 gave me the same results.
So then I thought, well maybe I have some sort of odd malware or virus on my PC. So I tested another PC, running Windows XP and it gave the same problem. So I thought, maybe it could be a Windows problem or it had spread to that machine? So I turned on my laptop – which is running Kubuntu – and it gave me the same result.
Going out on a limb, I wanted to try something different – so I fired up my PlayStation Portable and tried to recreate the problem it it’s browser. It sent me to the same result.
So now, you would think – well, there is a problem with the router or the connection from AT&T, right? So I unplugged my PC from the router, hooked the DSL line up directly to my PC (taking the router out of the mix) and I still was given then stupid domainhelp.search.com page.
Now I decided to do a traceroute to the badly typed domain to see how it was redirecting. That traced back to cNet, which owns the search.com domain name.
That is where I am at now, and I am kinda out of options on where to look next. If you have any ideas, let me know! Would love to hear ‘em.
Update: Also posted about the problem here on broadbandreports.com!
Bonus! Bad Live Chat Support from Yahoo! AT&T DSL!
As a bonus – for those of you still checking in on this issue, here is my chat transcript with a Yahoo! AT&T DSL support member:
Mickey: How can I help you?
Mitch: Hello, I noticed that when I mistype a domain name such as adding an extra .com at the end, I am now being redirect to domainhelp.search.com
Mitch: Instead of getting and error page
Mickey: That is normal.
Mitch: When did this redirection start?
Mickey: Well, when did you try to put an extra domain?
Mitch: Well, just noticed it today, for example if I type in google.com.com by mistake I am taken here: http://domainhelp.search.com/search?q=google&d=google.com.com
Mickey: Just do not put any weird domain if you do not want to be directed.
Mitch: But, just to confirm – this is a “service” provided by AT&T, correct?
Mickey: All ISP do that.
Mitch: Alright, thanks you for your time.
3 Easy Tips to Help You Get Award Winning Support
It is easy to go a little bonkers when dealing with technical support. I’ve been in those shoes many times before, and I have worked as technical support in one way, shape or form for a little over half a decade now. So how can you guarantee yourself a quicker and more reliable tech support experience? Follow these three simple tips.
Gather Your Facts
The first thing you must do is collect as many facts about the problem as you can. Be sure to write down dates, important information and anything else that might have happened before, during or after the problem took place.
For example, if you were working on your web site, changed a template file, and then the web site wasn’t working, you need to be sure to write down the dates each change was made (the best you can), the files that were edited, what you did (if you can remember) and the error codes or problems you had afterwards.
Be Upset, Not Angry
It is alright to be upset when something is so bad, you have to go ask or report it to a support team, however getting angry isn’t going to help get the issue resolved any quicker. I’ve seen many people who think, “Well, if I just yell at them enough – they’ll get the message” and that is actually the worst thing you could do. Keep a calm head on your shoulders, and remember – even when asking for help – you’ll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar.
Explain Your Entire Problem the Best You Can
You don’t have to write a novel about the issue, but do make sure that you explain your situation the best that you can. If somebody request support, and just says – “Hey, (insert object here) is broke, FIX IT!” that is not going to cut the cake. Present the facts that you have gathered in a way that anybody could understand it.
You might have to write it, re-read it and make sure it makes your case. Explaining things well the first time will keep you from having to go back and forth as the tech support worker tries to recreate the situation on their side, so they can find a fix for you.
If you can master those three things, then the next time you contact any support team for any reason, your situation is going to be a much better one indeed. You will get a better support experience (in most cases) and get the result you are looking for quicker as well.
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