Welcome to our new and current subscribers! This newsletter is published monthly by Haas Consulting. It is here to be a source of information for anyone who would like to learn about webpages, marketing, and other business related topics. Please feel free to email us with topics you would like to learn more about. You may view past issues at www.thaas.info/articles.php. Enjoy!

Update Your Website!

Not that I am shouting, but please allow me to stand upon my soap box and tell you the importance of keeping your website up to date. Then I will spend a moment or two on how you can do that.

Search engines, whether it is the industry leader Google or any of the thousands of smaller search engines available, have similar goals. They want to present their users with the most accurate and relevant information possible.

The process that they use to determine what is relevant to a key word search is very complicated and can be difficult to understand. One thing I can share with you is that your content is a major piece of the puzzle. One of the things they use to judge the quality of your website is how frequently you change or add to your content.

Basically there are two ways to implement changes to your website. One is to do it yourself and the other is to pay someone to do it for you. Lets talk about both methods.

Do it Yourself

To effectively update your website yourself you need to be able to answer a couple of questions; and answer them honestly.

1. Do you have the skills?
2. Do you have the time?

If you know a bit about coding websites you may be able to make changes, adding or deleting content as needed without too much trouble. That is if your hosting provider will allow you to access your files on the server. A growing number of providers no longer will allow you access, for the protection of the server.

But all is not lost if they will not grant direct access to you. You can make changes through an administration panel. This is simply an online control panel that you can use to make changes to specific areas of the website. It is basically like filling in the blanks on a form. Once you submit your changes a database is updated and your changes are displayed on your website.

There are a few pros and cons to making your own changes.

• You aren't paying someone to do the work for you.
• If you enjoy doing the work, it can be fun!

• How your content is written and presented plays into another key area of how search engines assign value to your website. If you do not understand the in's and out's of SEO you can end up doing more harm than good.
• It takes up your valuable time.
• You can inadvertently mess up your website so that it no longer displays correctly, or some of the features may no longer function correctly.
• Development costs of the website can be higher since you may need to have your developer create administration pages to assist you in making your changes.
• If you use an administration panel you are limited to the changes that you are allowed to make.

Now if the words "do it yourself" strike terror into your heart, or if you just don't feel like you want to deal with anymore of it than is necessary . . . hire someone. You can hire someone to bring into your organization for the purpose of working on your website, or you can contract with a web developer to do the work for you.

Once again there are pro's and con's to which-ever route you decide to take.

Internal Hire

• They are located on site.

• Expensive: payroll, taxes, training.
• You need to have enough work to keep them busy.
• You must provide direction for them. This can be difficult if you don't understand everything about web development yourself. (blind leading the blind)
• Turn over and re-training: costs and time can be substantial.

Contract Web Developer

• Cost effective: No payroll, taxes, or training costs.
• You benefit from their experience and skills.
• Turn over and retraining are the problem of the web development firm.
• Most hands free way of dealing with your website.

• They are not located on site.

What ever method you choose, it is important to choose one and make it work for you. The number of web pages out there is growing, which means your competition for the attention of your potential and existing clients is growing as well. Keeping the content on your website current can often be what put you out ahead of your competitors.

• Marketing Management
• Marketing Plans
• Graphic Design
• Web Design
• Printing Services
• & More!

We are a full service Marketing Firm. From creating a marketing plan to layout, design, and seem less execution, our goal is to help you make the most out of your marketing!

Some of Our Current
Clients

• 3-D CNC *
• ATHC
• BigBoysBid.com
• Dominion Realty
• Fitzloff Photography
• Szachowicz, MD - Facial Plastic Surgery*
• Girl Scouts Peacepipe Council*
• Gull Lake Campground
• Hutch Sport Shop
• Innovative Audio Inc.
• Jay Malone Motors
• Marceau Drafting
• McLeod Alliance for Victims of Domestic Violence*
• Minnesota Valley Investments
• Name Your Frame & Photography*
• Oakdale Golf Club
• Peterson Juergensen
  Hemmerick & Co.
  (In development)
• Picture the Pages
• Platinum Media Design*
• Professional Training Services
• Rental Link.com *
• Schweiss Bifold Doors*
• SpamKillerNow.com
• Storms Welding

Note: Clients without a link are
under construction.

*Denotes Clients using our hosting services for websites previously designed with another developer.

News from Inside

Our two year anniversary is quickly approaching! Our expansions continue and we are thankful for our success.

You may have noticed that our logo has changed slightly!

With our expansion to a full service Marketing & Marketing Management firm adjustments to our logo became necessary.

We are excited about the direction and progress our own development has gone over the past two years.

We look forward to working with more businesses as we move forward!

Our goal is to really celebrate on our 5 year anniversary . . . but we will talk more about that in three more years!

Help us celebrate 2 years now! Invite people you know that may be interested in receiving this newsletter to join our distribution list.

We thank you for your past, present and future support!

Get to Know Your Neighbors*

Rental-link.com  An innovative way to advertise locally for your rental property and to find a property to rent or a roomate!

Additional Links of Interest *

MIStupid.com This website offers you a variety of humorous things based upon the concept that they are stupoid. The Ridiculous Headlines section is sure to tickle your funny bone.

howstuffworks.com This is a great site geared towards answering any question you may have. It addresses the age old questions asked by every two year old until your ears bleed . . . how? . . . why?

* By providing these links we are not endorsing the services or products being offered. We are only offering links to other websites that may be of interest to you.

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