Every website has them (or should - it's one of the most common ways a visitor will interact with your website). But, so often, people don't fill out online forms. There can be a number of reasons why a site visitor doesn't fill out a form.

• They visited your site to get contact information only
• They visited your site to find your address or directions
• They found the information they wanted :-)
• You didn't have the information they were looking for :-(

Did they make it to your form?

Before we blame the form, you need to know if your visitors are even making it to your form. 

Do you? Just because you have a form, or 5, or 20 forms on your site does not mean people will either fill one out or that they even got there in the first place! Knowing this information is vital before deciding on a course of action to boost form completion.

CTAs - do you have them? CTAs (Calls to Action) are links to your form, and more than an entry in your main menu. You should have extra links/buttons throughout your website's pages encouraging visitors to take action - fill in a

A good website design is one that is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and effectively communicates its intended message. Here are some specific characteristics that contribute to a good website design:

1. User-friendly interface: The design should be intuitive and easy to use for the average user. Users should be able to quickly find the information they need without having to search for it.
2. Consistency: The design should have a consistent visual and functional style throughout the website. Consistency in design helps users to understand how to navigate the site and find what they are looking for.
3. Responsiveness: The design should be responsive, meaning it should adjust to different screen sizes and device types. This is important because users access websites from a variety of devices such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
4. Clear navigation: Navigation should be easy to understand and use. A good website should have a clear navigation menu that is easily accessible and visible on every page of the website.
5. Visual appeal: The website design should be visually appealing and aesthetically pleasing. A good website should have a professional design that is consistent with the brand or organization it represents.
6. Readability: The design should be easy

Do I own my Google My Business (GMB) profile? Does is matter? How do I claim my GMB? Great questions and ones you need to ask. Let\'s answer these questions and a few more surrounding this important SEO item. 

Do I own my Google My Business Profile?

The first thing to do is check if you own your GMB profile. To do this, open a browser window and search for your business name. In the right hand panel, you should see something like what you see in the above image. If you see nothing, then it's possible you don\'t have a GMB at all - this is bad from an online visibility standpoint, and something you need to address immediately. We'll deal with that later in this post.

For now, we'll assume you have a GMB and you see a panel like the above one. What you need to look for is "Own this business?". If you don't see this, then you already own (or put another way, you\'ve already claimed) your business. Hopefully... There's always a possibility that someone else has claimed it. That\'s bad, and something we'll also deal with later. If you DO see this, then the

main name renewal scams Questions... Where was your domain name registered, when is it due for renewal, and about how much should you pay for a 1 year renewal (generally)? If you don't know you're a prime candidate for a domain renewal scam.

I'd hoped this may have died and gone away on its own, but it seems that "Melanie" (or whoever she or he really is) is a persistent little scammer that's working hard to screw you over. I've seen this email appear in various clients' inboxes. Always exactly the same format with the site URL changed and he/she uses slightly different names, but the scam is always the same. Get some poor sucker to click on a link to "check out a document listing supposed links to images which are copyrighted". There's a linking to a Google Site. I don't know what's at the end of that, and, frankly, I don't care nor have the time to bother finding out. But you can guarantee it is NOT a list of copyrighted image you are using illegally.

Shock! My site is using copyrighted images illegally!

Don't get me wrong, using copyrighted image without permission is WRONG! 100%. And it CAN cost you money if you do it and get caught. That's why we are carefully about where we source images to ensure they're legit.

But back to the email...

It starts off legitimately sounding. Some poor, hard-working photographer is upset that YOU used

1990 Americans with Disabilities Act & your website 

We've probably all heard the stories of brick-and-mortar businesses running foul of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and what it meant to them as businesses both financially and disruptively. Now it's coming to a website near you - maybe even yours!

The ADA - a quick history 

Along with it's companion, the 2008 Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act, the legislation was enacted to address equal access for all people regardless. However, due to the early adoption date, the original Act, and, to a some degree, the subsequent Amendment, did little to give guidelines on adoption in the World Wide Web (WWW).

The Act is comprised five Titles, with Title III (Public Accommodations) applying to website design. This title prohibits private places of public accommodation from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. Your website is considered a "private place" which offers "public accommodation". What this means is your website is privately owned and managed (private place), yet anyone who has a computer can get access to it (public accommodation).

The penalties for non-compliance with the provisions of the Act can be quite severe. Under Title III the maximum penalty for a first offence is

For those who are more my age (suffice it to say, I'm still in my 50s...just!), and took to computing back in our 20s, we remember having to configure EVERYTHING! "Plug-n-play" wasn't even thought of back then, let alone dreamed about. But it did give those of us with some skills the chance to tweak and fiddle. While I, mostly, welcome the new age in computing where things just work (unless they don't!), these advances have made us lazy and un-attuned to potential threats to security. Most of us don't want to spend time setting up a piece of equipment or a software program, we demand that it works "Straight-out-of-the-box" without any intervention by us. I certainly like that for almost all equipment, but for software, that's a different matter. 

Why "out-of-the-box" settings can be bad

While this post can be related to any sort of software, it really references web design extensions. Apart from the fact that we're web designers, these extensions present hackers with their best opportunities for data theft. While doing updates on one of the sites we manage this week, the backup extension we use (for obvious reasons we aren't going to name it!) gave us a

Yes, I confess, the title is a little melodramatic! However, when it comes to your online and IT security, a little paranoia is a good thing! The truth is, there are people out there just waiting to get you. There's an Alan Parson's Project song "The Voice" that sums it up well in one line... "He's gonna get you!"

(As an aside, Alan Parsons was the sound engineer on Pink Floyd's record breaking album "Dark Side of the Moon".)

Good security protocols are your first line of defense. Make strong passwords and don't leave them lying around. If you're really paranoid, change them regularly. Don't use the same password over multiple sites. 

But good passwords is only part of the solution. With the technology available to hackers today, even the best passwords and security protocols are vulnerable. The second string to your online safety is maintaining good backups. Your backups should be both local and remote for good safety.

Making solid local backups 

Your first step in a solid backup regime is saving locally. This doesn't mean just to your hard drive. Those are day to day use files. I think of backups are archives - most of the time, these

 Remember what (hopefully) your parents taught you? "Don't sign anything till you've read it through!" Totally brilliant advice, but, let's face it, how many of us do? When you signed that life insurance, or car insurance application, did you read ALL the fine print? How about a mortgage or loan doc? You did? Wow, high fives and mega-kudos to you. The fact is, most of us ever read any of the fine print beyond maybe a line or two.

But, if you're signing a loan doc, or, as you will soon learn what prompted this post, a Merchant Services Agreement, you do look at the dollars and cents part of it, yes? And the term? And the penalties (if any) for breaking the agreement early? I think we all do (hopefully!!). But, 1 month, 6 months, 12 months down the track, do we remember what we signed? Perhaps you get the idea where this post may be going....

PayPal is good when you're starting out 

PayPal gets a lot of flak about their "high" fees, and, it's true, their fees are up there with the "best" of them. But they're no worse than most other "convenience" providers such as Square,