At this point, we’re turning from the rather esoteric ideas to more tangible reasons for learning to manage your own websites and blogs. You may have suspected that what I’m about to tell you is true, so I’ll confirm it.

All the really good stuff you can do to enhance your site involves working with a little code.

There. I said it out loud.

Meta tags. Title tags. Google Analytics. Twitter Feeds. Facebook Badges. Blog Widgets. Live Chat buttons. All of these require little bits of code to be created and placed in the right spot in your websites and blogs. “Tell your web designer to…blah blah blah.” Why? Why not take care of these small tasks yourself. You CAN learn how.

I also work with a lot of clients who are ready to move away from a website template for similar reasons. I had a client who took my training course when I was teaching it via webinars, but who decided to stay with the website template he already had. After about a year, he came back and said he was ready to go for an independent site. When I asked him why, he gave me a list of his frustrations (his words!):

• “Lack of control and spotty technical support – I felt like I was on my own when things went wrong.
• “Internet-based work meant every change I make went over the web, and it was dreadfully slow and therefore, a big time waster.
• “I had to upload all images to their web server first and then access them from there – uploads were another big time waster, took forever.
• “No access to parts of the code, so even if I knew how to change something I didn’t have access to it.
• “The WYSIWYG was not really accurate, for unknown reasons. What I saw in the template system was not always exactly as it appeared on my page, so it was difficult to get things precise – like placing an image in an exact place, lining up text. So I would spend hours trying to get it to look just right and then find it wasn’t just right once it was published to my site.
• “Limits on the font sizes: I could use to a few predetermined ones.”

Now he has a site of his own, created from scratch and designed so he can updated anytime he wants. From time to time I get questions and/or we schedule a coaching session to resolve a problem, but for the most part, he is self-sufficient. His growth and confidence is truly breathtaking to watch.

The concepts behind HTML and Cascading Style Sheets are actually pretty simple. They require attention to detail, but they’re not difficult concepts. This is not rocket science! But it is interesting, there’s room for creativity, and it’s fun.

Get the edge on your competitors by being able to make changes at a moment’s notice. Web skills are one of the best investments you can make in yourself and your business. My website training program includes coaching and a membership site where you can post problems and get answers to questions for a low monthly flat fee.

Tomorrow: Reason 6 – Jazz Up Your Site with Ideas from Other Sites