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<div class="sidebar1">
<ul class="nav">
<li><a href="#hosting">Hosting and domains</a></li>
<li><a href="#website">Making a website</a></li>
<li><a href="#e-commerce"> E-commerce</a></li>
<li><a href="#seo"> Search Engine Optimization</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobile"> Mobile</a></li>
<li><a href="#checklist"> Web Owner's Checklist</a></li>
<li><a href="#disaster">Disaster Preparedness</a></li>
</ul>
<p>This page was written in response to the questions posed to me by the following friends:</p>
<p> <a href="http://www.cezarapanty.com/">Melinda Gros</a><br>
<a href="http://www.party-with-the-stars.com/">Bruce Kamiat</a><br>
Ruth Singleton<br>
<a href="http://www.wollheim.com/">Bill Wollheim</a><br>
<a href="http://shir-hashirim.org/">Jonathan Zimit</a></p>
<p><span style="font-size:80%;">Dedicated to Joseph L. Leon, Editor-Publisher of Data-Guide.</span>
</p>
<!-- end .sidebar1 --></div>
<div class="content">
<h1>MrWebFixit explains it all to you</h1>
<p>Here is some introductory information for non-professionals who want a website or want to improve their current website.</p>
<h2><a name="hosting"></a>What you need to know about hosting and domains</h2>
<p><a name="registrar"></a>Generally you'll want a <strong>domain name</strong> (like EXAMPLE.COM). You "register" a domain name at a "registrar." At most registrars, you'll pay less than $15 per year for the use of a name. I like <a href="https://www.domaindiscover.com/">Domain Discover</a> because they're rock solid, have a simple interface, and offer reasonable prices.</p>
<p>You'll also need a <strong>web host.</strong> The web hosting company stores the files that make up your website, on computers that are connected to the Internet. Typical prices are under $25 per month. I like <a href="http://www.pair.com">Pair</a> and <a href="http://www.pairlite.com">PairLite</a> because they're rock solid, have a simple interface, and offer reasonable prices.</p>
<p>Getting the two to work together usually goes like this: </p>
<ol>
<li>You register your domain first (be sure to keep the login information and password),</li>
<li> then open a hosting account (be sure to keep the login information and password). As part of the signup, you'll supply your domain name.</li>
<li>You get the address of the <strong>nameservers</strong> from your web host, then</li>
<li>you go to your registrar, login to your account and enter the nameserver addresses.</li>
<li>About a day later, your domain name is connected to your website.</li>
</ol>
<p>While you're at it, get the <strong>FTP</strong> (File Transfer Protocol) information from your web host. It typically consists of a hostname, username and password.</p>
<h2><a name="website"></a>How to make a basic website</h2>
<p>Now you need to actually create the files that make up your website. But first get a book on HTML from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.</p>
<h3>You could write your own code and upload it</h3>
<p>Not a good idea for the beginner, but if you do it, you'll need an editor (I like <a href="http://notepad-plus-plus.org/">Notepad++</a>) and an FTP program (I like <a href="http://www.ipswitchft.com/Products/WS_Ftp_Pro/Index.aspx?ps=1">WS_FTP Professional</a>) to upload the files.</p>
<h3><a name="wysiwyg_editor"></a>You could use a WYSIWYG editor</h3>
<p>Most professionals use <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver.html">Dreamweaver</a>. It gives you a "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) view of your site, allows you to hack the underlying code directly, helps create CSS files, has some pre-made Javascript and has an integrated FTP program.</p>
<h3>You could use a WYSIWYG editor with a template</h3>
<p> Dreamweaver comes with a few pre-designed website templates, but I rarely use them. There are however many free Dreamweaver templates available on the Web and some are quite nice. And there are also many really fantastic Dreamweaver design templates available for purchase, usually for under $100.</p>
<p><a name="iweb"></a>Two friends are happily using the Mac's iWeb program (it's part of iLife). While Apple no longer provdes web hosting through MobileMe, both friends have found third-party hosting and are satisfied. </p>
<h3>You could use a web host with integrated templates</h3>
<p>Now we're getting to something more useful for the beginner. You use your browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) to go to the web host, you pick a design ("template"), then you make various modifications (such as changing colors), upload your pictures, add pages, insert your text, press a button and -- voila! -- you're done. Companies that offer this feature include <a href="http://www.1and1.com/">1and1.com</a>, <a href="http://www.web.com/"> web.com</a>, <a href="http://www.homestead.com/"> homestead.com</a> and <a href="http://www.intuit.com/website-building-software/">intuit.com</a>.</p>
<p>Personally, I like this method least because I don't get the flexibility that I want but you might give it a try. The prices these companies charge are modest, so giving it a try won't break the bank.</p>
<h3><a name="blog"></a>You could use a blog</h3>
<p>I've been using <strong>Wordpress</strong> for a while now and I really like it. I think it's a good system for beginners:</p>
<ul>
<li>It's pretty flexible</li>
<li>Many design templates are available</li>
<li>It's easy to manage menus, uploads, and links</li>
<li>You can be up and running quickly</li>
</ul>
<p>Advanced users have adapted Wordpress for all kinds of websites, but to do serious customization of the design, you'll need to learn how to modify its Cascading Style Sheets. And, to get Wordpress to do things that it wasn't designed for, you'll need to know the PHP programming language.</p>
<p>You can get yourself a free Wordpress site at <a href="http://wordpress.com/">wordpress.com</a> but I prefer to use a web host that will install Wordpress for me on my site. Check out <a href="http://www.hostingmatters.com/">Hosting Matters</a> or <a href="http://www.pair.com/">Pair</a> (Pair charges an extra $3 per month for their Software Installation Manager).</p>
<h2><a name="e-commerce"></a>Getting started with E-commerce</h2>
<p>If you want to sell through your website or collect donations, you have a few options</p>
<h3>The very simplest approach to E-commerce</h3>
<p>I know one website where you fill out a form, then go to PayPal and send the money. If you don't have a PayPal account, he'll enclose an invoice with your merchandise! Not a good system for a high-volume business but he'll never get hacked.</p>
<p>I've also seen a site where, after you fill out the form, you call them with your credit card number. Again it's not slick but very secure.</p>
<h3>You can use PayPal</h3>
<p>You can use <a href="http://www.hostingmatters.com/">PayPal's Website Payments Standard</a>. There are no monthly fees and it's easy to integrate into your site. PayPal takes a cut from each transaction.</p>
<h3>You can use an all-in-one e-commerce package</h3>
<p>GoDaddy offers a <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/ecommerce/shopping-cart.aspx?ci=42933">Quick Shopping Cart</a>; their Economy version costs just $10 per month. It can be daunting to set up and its appearance is hard to customize, but it is quite comprehensive. You'll get inventory tracking, invoices, credit card processing, sales reports, GoDaddy phone support and much more. I hate GoDaddy's interface and don't like how they're always trying to sell you more services -- but this is actually a good deal for someone just starting out in e-commerce.</p>
<h3>Create your own e-commerce system</h3>
<p>If you want maximum flexibility without custom programming, follow the <strong>five step e-commerce plan</strong>:</p>
<ol>
<li>Get yourself a website</li>
<li>Install <strong>open-source shopping cart software</strong>. The best way is to use a web host with a system for automatically installing it for you. Pair offers <strong>osCommerce </strong>and <strong>ShopSite. </strong>HostingMatters.com offers osCommerce and at least a half dozen other shopping carts.</li>
<li>You need a <strong>gateway</strong> to transmit credit card transactions to the credit card processor. Make sure your gateway will work with your shopping cart and credit card processor.</li>
<li>You need a <strong>payment processor</strong> to manage getting the customer's money from their issuing bank to your bank. Make sure the processor will work with your bank and your gateway.</li>
<li>Finally, you need a <strong>merchant account</strong> (usually a business account at a bank) in which to deposit funds.</li>
</ol>
<p>You'll also need an <strong>SSL digital certificate</strong> to authenticate your online transactions, but that may be provided by your gateway company. If not, GoDaddy will provide one for about $50/year.</p>
<p>Even if you had the time for all that, I wouldn't recommend it to a small merchant, because you'd also need an IT whiz and you'd have to worry about online security (i.e., making sure your site doesn't get hacked).</p>
<p>A better idea would be to locate a package deal like GoDaddy's, though I'd prefer one where you can more easily customize the appearance. </p>
<h3><a name="online_store"></a>You can use an online store</h3>
<p>One easy way to sell your products online is through an online shopping mall such as <a href="http://shopping.yahoo.com/"> Yahoo</a>, <a href="http://www.amazonservices.com/content/sell-on-amazon.htm?ld=AZFSSOA#!how-it-works">Amazon</a> or <a href="http://stores.ebay.com/">eBay</a>. For each product, you upload a picture, description and price. The shopping mall does the rest: they get you on the web, drive traffic to you, and handle search engine placement, money collection, sales reports, etc. In some cases, they'll even do fulfillment. The downsides include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Little control over appearance</li>
<li>The mall takes a big percentage of your gross</li>
<li>You're competing on the same site with other merchants selling the same goods</li>
<li>Sometimes you're even competing with the mall (ouch!)</li>
</ul>
<h2><a name="seo"></a>Introduction to Search Engine Optimization (SEO)</h2>
<p>The process of improving your website's position in search engine results is called <strong>search engine optimization</strong>. You can find plenty of books and websites devoted to this, as well as many high-priced consultants. But you can get started with this introduction.</p>
<p>The most important thing you can do is learn to <strong>think like a search engine</strong>: read the text, ignore the pictures, follow the links, and look under the hood (you can view a web page's code by using Control-U in Firefox, or View: Source in Internet Explorer).</p>
<h3>Search engines want high quality content</h3>
<p>The more useful information you have about your subject, the higher you'll rank. Make sure you incorporate all your topic's important keywords (e.g., "<em>Toenail clipping</em> is an important aspect of regular <em>foot care</em>, recommended by <em>podiatrists </em>and <em>chiropodists </em>for the health of your <em>feet</em>."). </p>
<h3>Search engines need to know you exist</h3>
<ul>
<li>You can submit your URL to them. </li>
<li>If even a couple other sites link to you, you'll eventually get indexed. </li>
<li>A Yellow Pages listing will get you into some of the Yellow Pages websites, from which the search engines should find you.</li>
<li>Get listed in <a href="http://www.dmoz.org/">DMOZ</a>, <a href="www.yelp.com">Yelp</a> and <a href="http://www.manta.com/">Manta</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Search engines have to be able to find your content</h3>
<ul>
<li>If the content is in a picture, such as text in a JPEG, the search engines won't know it's there. Try to have all important content in real HTML text. You can also add captions to your pictures and use <ALT> tags to tell the search engines what the picture is about.</li>
<li>If your content is in a Flash file or PDF, the search engines may not know its there. If possible, also provide the content in HTML format.</li>
<li>If your navigation uses Javascript or Flash, the search engines may not find all the pages of your site. One solution is to also provide HTML links at the bottom of each page, or have a "site map."</li>
</ul>
<h3>Search engines look for quality links</h3>
<p>The most important way that a search engine will judge the significance of your site is by the incoming links (also known as "backlinks") -- the sites that link to you.</p>
<ul>
<li>Links from significant sites in your category (ToenailWorld.com or FootcareCentral.com) will improve your rank. Links from spammers (CheapLinks.com) will hurt you.</li>
<li>If your incoming links have relevant hypertext (<a href="http://www.melindag.com">beautiful nursing bras</a>), they're even better.</li>
<li> To check on your incoming links, you can search on <span class="mono">link:example.com</span> at Google (though Google will only reveal <em>some</em> of the sites that link to you).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Search engines need help to understand what your site is about</h3>
<ul>
<li>A good domain name helps the search engines know what your site is about (Toenails.com is better than BobsWorld.com).</li>
<li>Most important is the <TITLE> tag in the page's head. Make sure that the most important words come first ("Toenail clipping, foot care and pedicures at Bob's World" is better than "Bob's World is your top Internet site for all things toenail").</li>
<li>You can put a list of keywords into a Keywords meta tag. Put the most important words and phrases first. Not as important as it once was, but I'd do it anyway.</li>
<li>Put a description of your site into a Description meta tag. Put the most important words and phrases first. Some search engines pick up their description of your site directly from this. Others will use the description at <a href="http://www.dmoz.org/">DMOZ</a>, so try to get listed there. </li>
<li>Relevant file names help (moderntoenailclipping.html is better than interior1.html)</li>
<li>Text near the top of the page will be weighed more heavily than text further down</li>
<li>Search engines learn the structure of a web page from your hierarchical HTML tags (use <H1>, <H2>, <H3> as appropriate).</li>
<li>Search engines know that bold text is important text -- so put your most important <strong>keywords</strong> in bold.</li>
<li>You can explain what pictures are about by attaching <ALT> and <TITLE> tags to them.</li>
<li>Sprinkle your keywords throughout the text. If possible optimize pages for a single idea (a page about rough heels will stand out among the billions of pages on the Web, whereas a page about general footcare could get lost).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Search engine optimization tools</h3>
<ul>
<li>See if Google has indexed you (Google on <span class="mono">site:example.com</span>).</li>
<li>Fight link rot -- check for broken links using <a href="http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html">Xenu</a>.</li>
<li>Google knows too damn much about us already, but you'll probably want to install their toolbar to check PageRank (note: PageRank is not linear -- a "4" is <em>much more than double</em> the rank of a "2").</li>
<li>You might want to install Google Analytics on your website to see how many people are visiting your site, and what they are looking at.</li>
<li>Here are some sites you might find helpful in your web optimization:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.visible.net/tools/analyzer/">Visible Net's Analyzer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://marketing.grader.com/?s=wsg">HubSpot's Marketing Grader</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>A few final notes about Search Engine Optimization: 1) using social media can boost your page rank, but I'm not yet in a position to make specific recommendations. 2) I don't think having multiple domain names will help your page rank, but I'd still grab relevant one before your competition does. 3) Keyword analysis is a topic all by itself and I hope to cover it sometime in the future.</p>
<h2><a name="mobile"></a>Making your website mobile-friendly</h2>
<p>If your target market or audience is out-of-home, away from the office, under 25 years of age, or if your product or service is an impulse purchase, you probably need a mobile-friendly website. Some examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>auto repair</li>
<li>towing</li>
<li>sightseeing</li>
<li>bank branch</li>
<li>restaurant</li>
<li>motel</li>
<li>escort service</li>
<li>movies</li>
<li>concerts, plays, etc.</li>
<li>nightlife</li>
<li>transportation</li>
</ul>
<h3>You don't need to create a new website just for mobile users</h3>
<p>To get started, a page or two optimized for mobile will do. Here are the basic requirements: no graphics (only a small logo), no Flash, simplified navigation (number the menu items and use the ACCESSKEY attribute so your users can navigate by pressing a single number on their keypad), a brief description of your products or services, your name, address (don't forget the cross street, nearest highway exit or subway station), and phone number (use the TEL attribute to make the phone number clickable!). Add a link to your main site for those who can view it on their smart phone. If you have uploaded video to YouTube, you can embed it in your mobile pages because YouTube will send a version optimized for a given user's phone. The same goes for Google Maps.</p>
<p>If you're starting a site from scratch, you can integrate mobile and desktop versions in a single site. It's more complicated but will be much easier to maintain.</p>
<p>If you must target your pages to specific phones (because you want to take advantage of the fancier features or bigger screens of the latest smartphones), there are ways to detect which phone a visitor to your site is using. The process is called "user-agent sniffing" or "mobile device detection." Two of the companies that offer databases of the features of various phones are <a href="http://51degrees.mobi/Home.aspx">51degrees</a> and <a href="http://www.scientiamobile.com/cloud">ScientiaMobile</a>.</p>
<h3>Register a .mobi domain</h3>
<p>If your main domain is EXAMPLE.COM, <a href="#registrar">register</a> EXAMPLE.MOBI if it's available. Actually, .mobi domains have not caught on as a standard way to find the mobile-optimized version of a site, but I'd grab the .mobi equivalent of your domain just in case.</p>
<h3>Automatically send mobile users to the mobile-friendly pages of your website</h3>
<p>It's a jungle out there. Some websites use M.EXAMPLE.COM for their mobile pages, some use MOBILE.EXAMPLE.COM, and some use EXAMPLE.MOBI. As a result, mobile users usually just go to the familiar EXAMPLE.COM and hope that it works. You'll need to detect that it's a mobile user visiting your site and quietly redirect them to your mobile pages (it takes a bit of programming code). Also make sure your .MOBI domain name sends users to the same place.</p>
<h3>Use QR Codes to make it easy for mobile phone users to find you</h3>
<p><img style="float:left; margin-right:12px;" src="../images/1ghp8_qrcode_20120507134356.png" width="161" height="161" alt="Melinda's QR code">QR Codes (QR stands for Quick Response) have many uses, but the most useful is that they can encode a web address. When mobile phone users scan the QR code, they are immediately taken to that web page. Make sure you have a QR code on every piece of printed material and packaging you distribute and in every newspaper or magazine ad you buy. I assure you, when I next reprint my business card, I'm including a QR code on the back. </p>
<p>I've started using <a href="http://www.delivr.com/">DELIVR.COM</a> for QR codes. The basic service is free and includes stats on how many users are scanning your codes.</p>
<p>There are other fun things you can do with QR codes. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>A QR code on a movie poster could take the mobile user to a preview of the flick</li>
<li>A QR code on a bottle of pop could take the user to a coupon offer</li>
<li>A QR code sewn into a pair of pants could make it easy to re-order</li>
</ul>
<p>And I just saw a donation card for the ASPCA with a QR code. It said "Have a smart phone? Simply scan the code above to make a donation."</p>
<p>Politicians should definitely use QR codes on their mailings and posters. CDs and other product packaging can benefit. Everything an exhibitor takes to a trade show or convention (banners, giveaways, literature) should have a QR code. Even <a href="http://www.themobilists.com/2011/08/30/qr-codes-in-museums/">museums</a> are starting to use them. But there are three caveats:</p>
<ol>
<li>Next to the code, say WHAT to do and WHY (E.g., "Scan this with your smartphone to get a free coupon.")</li>
<li>Don't use QR codes where people can't scan them (subway posters, highway billboards, etc.)</li>
<li>Don't have a QR code that connects to a non-mobile site</li>
</ol>
<h4><a name="QR_size"></a>How large should I make the QR code?</h4>
<p>That depends on many factors: the quality of the smartphone that will scan the code, the distance from phone to code, the lighting on the code, the quality of the code's printing, whether the code is flat and perpendicular to the phone, and how much data is encoded in the QR code.</p>
<p>"Thanks a bunch," you're thinking.</p>
<p>The simple answer is make the width of the code equal to <strong>one-eighth</strong> the distance at which you expect it to be scanned. This applies to Version 3 codes such as you'll get from a URL shortener such as <a href="http://www.delivr.com/">DELIVR.COM</a> (according to <a href="http://www.qrstuff.com/blog/2011/01/18/what-size-should-a-qr-code-be">Greg Slapp's fine article</a> and confirmed by our recent experiments).</p>
<h2><a name="checklist"></a>Web Owner's Checklist</h2>
<p>Back in late 2000, I wrote up a checklist for my web clients, outlining steps that they can take to keep their sites secure and up-to-date. Here is the list, newly revised and extended. I suggest that anyone who owns a website make it through this list annually. To make it easier, you might do part of the list each quarter. If your site has high traffic, many content changes or is mission-critical, there are parts you'll need to do much more often. Feel free to contact us for suggestions.</p>
<h3><a name="web_info"></a>Document your site</h3>
<ol>
<li>Make sure you have a list of your domains, the registrar for each, the user name and password.</li>
<li>Make sure the WHOIS information for your domains is up to date.</li>
<li>Make sure you have a list of your webhosts with user name and password.</li>
<li>Make sure you have the user name and password for your blog, exchange server hosting company, Google Analytics, email addresses, downtime monitoring service, online backup account, etc.</li>
<li>Don’t store this information on your computer or in a binder called “passwords.”</li>
</ol>
<h3>Secure your site</h3>
<ol>
<li>Make sure any critical data stored on your website is encrypted. </li>
<li>Make sure the administrative password for your website or blog is hard to guess.</li>
<li>Make sure the password for the contact email address at your webhost, domain registrar or blog, is hard to guess. In other words, if someone can guess your email password, they could masquerade as you and get into your website, steal your domain name, or deface your blog. Not to mention steal the money in your bank account.</li>
</ol>
<h3><a name="web_backup"></a>Backup your site
</h3>
<p>Make sure you have a backup of your site on a CD, put away in a safe place. For many sites, you could do this once or twice a year. If you’ve got a busy site where the content changes frequently or where you’re doing a high volume of ecommerce transactions, you’ll need a more robust backup scheme.</p>
<h3>Review your site</h3>
<ol>
<li>Go through your site and make sure the buttons, forms and links work (I use <a href="http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html">Xenu</a> to check for broken links).</li>
<li>Make sure your content is up-to-date. I recently saw a site offering a copy of Quicken 2003 on its home page. </li>
<li>Does the site need to be reorganized to make it easier for your customers or visitors to find what they’re looking for?</li>
<li>Is your site’s appearance old and tired? Maybe it’s time for a facelift.</li>
</ol>
<h3><a name="analysis"></a>Track and analyze your site's visitors</h3>
<p>Anyone doing serious marketing on the web needs to track and analyze their website’s visitors. The most popular way is to install <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a>. It’s free, but of course Google will know all about the browsing habits of your visitors. If you want to avoid Google, most web hosts will provide web server logs that record the traffic on your site. To read the logs, you’ll want an analysis program like SmarterStats, Webalyzer or Analog (which your web hosting company may have already installed for your use). If you want to see a comparison of Google Analytics and SmarterStats, <a href="http://forums.smartertools.com/showthread.php/17080-Massive-discrepancy-between-SmaterStats-and-Google">read this thread.</a> <a href="http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/7976/monitoring-your-website-visitors?isc=gdx197a">GoDaddy</a> has a description of several options on their website.</p>
<p>And make sure you look at your stats. They don’t do any good if you don’t use them.</p>
<h2><a name="disaster"></a>Disaster Preparedness</h2>
<p>As a result of Hurricane Sandy, I've been thinking of what my clients can do to prepare for future disasters. And it seems to me that the number one answer is <strong>redundancy</strong> -- if you have two of everything you'll always be ok. Second is <strong>remote access</strong> -- the ability to get things done even if you can't get to the office.</p>
<h3>Have a second copy of all critical information</h3>
<ol>
<li>Keep an off-premises copy of all the access information (host, username and password) for your domains, web hosts, email accounts, etc. See
"<a href="#web_info">Document your site</a>" above. </li>
<li>Keep an off-premises backup of your website, ecommerce data and blog. See "<a href="#web_backup">Backup your site</a>" above.</li>
<li>Keep an off-premises copy of all employee home phone numbers, cell phone numbers and personal email addresses; do the same with vendors and customers.</li>
<li>Make sure you know how to remotely retrieve your voicemail.</li>
</ol>
<p>The simplest way to do this is to burn your access information, website backup, and contact lists to a <a name="backup_cd"></a>CD and take it home. Do NOT leave a copy of all your access info in a Word file on your office computer -- some Russian hacker could break in and steal it.</p>
<h3>Have an alternate way to get into your office computer</h3>
<p>Two popular methods are <a href="http://www.gotomypc.com/remote_access/remote_access">GoToMyPC</a> and <a href="https://secure.logmein.com/">LogMeIn</a>; both have mobile apps available. Keep in mind these caveats:</p>
<ul>
<li>you MUST protect your username and password</li>
<li>don't login to your office machine from a public computer (library, Internet cafe, etc.)</li>
<li>don't login to your office machine using an insecure network (e.g., piggybacking on someone else's WiFi)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Have an alternate way to get to your email</h3>
<ul>
<li>If you can read your email on both your smartphone and your office computer, you're good.</li>
<li>if you're using <strong>Gmail</strong>, you're good -- not only can you login from anywhere, their system is very robust and unlikely go down for any length of time. Yahoo email and Hotmail are similar, though I doubt that they are as fault-resistent as Gmail.</li>
<li><strong>Webmail:</strong> if you're using traditional POP (regular old email which you read with a program like Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird, Agent or Mac Mail), your ISP probably has a way to read email on the Web. Find out how to use it. If they don't, you can use <a href="http://mail2web.com/">MAIL2WEB</a> to get web access to your email.</li>
<li>Consider <strong>IMAP</strong>. Long before the "cloud" buzzword, there was IMAP. A bit like webmail, IMAP allows you to see the same email folders no matter which computer you're using. Supported by virtually every email vendor, most email programs, and some mobile apps. For use only on your own computers and devices -- not at the Internet cafe or on your neighbor's computer.</li>
<li>Consider <strong>Exchange Server</strong> or <strong>Hosted Exchange Server</strong>. This will cost you money, unlike the previous suggestions. But it will sync your email, calendar and contacts on all of your computers and mobile devices. Both <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/email/hosted-exchange.aspx">GoDaddy</a> and <a href="http://myhosting.com/email-hosting/">MyHosting.Com</a> offer inexpensive Hosted Exchange Server plans.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What about "the cloud"?</h3>
<p>"The cloud" is just marketing-speak for "using the Internet to put your things on someone else's computer." But it's actually a pretty good idea. Your website and email are already in the cloud -- usually in a temperature-controlled data center with back-up power and multiple connections to the Internet.</p>
<p>There are many services that use the cloud (i.e., the Web) to help you keep working when your office is unavailable. Such services are often called <strong>collaboration tools</strong>. Here are a few examples:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://drive.google.com/">Google drive</a> will sync files between computers and provides various online tools such as a word pocessor and spreadsheet program (formerly called Google Docs). Be aware the Google owns a non-exclusive license to everything you put on their server.</li>
<li><a href="http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/default.aspx">Microsoft SharePoint</a> has a free version and offers many features but strikes me as far too complicated.</li>
<li>Citrix <a href="http://www.gotomeeting.com/fec/">GoToMeeting</a> -- remote meeting, desktop and file sharing, video conferencing.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/features">YouSendIt</a> -- file sending, sharing and syncing</li>
<li><a href="http://www.carbonite.com/en/v2/index">Carbonite</a> -- not a collaboration tool, but automatic backup of your files to the Carbonite servers. You can retrieve your files from anywhere, including your mobile phone.</li>
</ul>
<p>Some of your current vendors may offer collaboration tools -- sometimes for free:</p>
<ul>
<li>For Giganews customers: <a href="http://www.giganews.com/dumptruck/">Dump Truck</a> secure file sharing service</li>
<li>For VYL customers: <a href="http://www.zimbra.com/">Zimbra groupware</a> with email, groups calendars and file sharing</li>
<li>For Amazon MP3 customers: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_ac?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200557340">Cloud Drive</a> -- upload your files and access them from any computer</li>
<li>For eFax customers: <a href="http://www.efax.com/features">file sharing</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Keeping your website up</h3>
<p>To keep your website online, you could <strong>mirror</strong> it (have a duplicate website at a different webhost). Even though it doesn't actually cost very much, I think that's overkill for my clients, NONE of whose websites went down as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Armed with the <a href="#backup_cd">CD you made above</a>, any competant Internet tech should be able to get you back online in a few hours. (Which tells you something about Fresh Direct and Brooklyn College, both of whose websites are down as I write this at 1:30 a.m. on 10-24-2012.)</p>
<p><strong>Remotely updating your website</strong> is a bit trickier. The conventional website will need <a href="#wysiwyg_editor">specialized software</a> to update. But your Internet tech person can upload a banner to your home page, directing people to your Facebook page for time-sensitive announcements. (The point being that you can easily post to Facebook yourself.)</p>
<h3>Staying in touch</h3>
<p>As Sandy was winding down, my doctor sent me a message about when his office would reopen. He used a HIPPA-compliant web service to conrtact his patients. But you could upload your contacts to a service like <a href="http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp">ConstantContact</a>. Also, you can manage mailing lists and mailings through webhosts such as HostingMatters.</p>
<h3>Final thoughts</h3>
<ul>
<li>Make sure you have cell phone chargers at the office, at home, at the beach house, etc. Get a "cigarette lighter charger" or "<a href="http://www.cellphoneshop.net/2usbcar.html">cigarette lighter USB adapter</a>" for the car. Get a <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/items/?_nkw=crank+Cell+Phone+Charger&_sacat=&_ex_kw=&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_sop=12&_fpos=&_fspt=1&_sadis=&LH_CAds=">crank cell charger</a>.</li>
<li>Having more than one kind of phone connection gives you a better chance of always being able to make and receive calls. I have VOIP, cell and "copper" (an old fashioned phone number).</li>
<li>Other phone options include Skype, Google <a href="http://support.google.com/chat/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=159499">voice and video chat</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/talk/about.html">Google Talk</a>; all require a broadband connection. </li>
<li>Particularly interesting is <a href="https://www.google.com/voice">Google Voice</a>, which provides call forwarding, voice mail, and conference calling, among other features. Mobile apps for Google Voice are also available. If I understand corrrectly, you could deploy Google Voice as a virtual PBX in the event that your office becomes unavailable.</li>
<li>While you're working at your office, sometimes your Internet connection goes down. You could subscribe to a second service (e.g., if you have cable, you could add a DSL connection) and hook both together with a "Dual WAN router." Cute. Such routers from reputable companies cost $200-$500 and you'll still need electrical power. Another approach would be to use a mobile hotspot like MiFi or Verizon Jetpack; or you could "tether" to a smartphone. </li>
</ul>
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