Frequently Asked Questions

Experiment.

What’s right for your blog depends on (a) what your audience wants and (b) what you’re comfortable creating.

If you’re a freelance writer, your blog articles should serve as a showcase for your writing.

If you’re a public speaker, most if not all of your blog posts might be embedded videos (i.e., a vlog, or video blog). Post your videos on YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, etc. Then embed the videos in your posts. (Ideally you would include text transcripts.)

If you have a podcast, embed postcast episodes. (Again, ideally you would include text transcripts.)

If you ask me, publishing high-quality articles with regularity/frequency is more important than format.

I use MailChimp for my own email marketing and for many clients.

But I’m not married to it.

Features vary across the many services, and I can help you decide which is best for you.

One feature I highly recommend is sometimes referred to as RSS-To-Email. This is an autmoation feature that generates and sends emails with summaries of recent blog posts.

It depends.

While some people take the shotgun approach — posting links to their blog articles on every social network imaginable, usually with the help of an automated posting system — I don’t generally recommend that. Social networking is about interaction. Start small. Start with one or two social network platforms that you already spend time on — or want to. Social networking is a 2-way street. Avoid being that person who shares all your stuff but never interacts with others.

One of my clients has been meaning to get involved more with LinkedIn, but he has procrastinated. He told me he’s gotten hundreds of connection requests he hasn’t dealt with for months. My recommendation to him was:

1. Drill down and check who’s inviting you to connect. See if they are connected to your existing connections. Beware of LinkedIn users who are obviously trying to amass the most connections.
2. Accept connection invitations selectively.
3. Commit to spending a certain amount of time every day or week reading posts from your connections. Interact with them by liking, commenting on, and sharing posts you find of interest.
4. Once you’ve established some good will by showing you’re paying attention to your connections, start posting your own content.

Yes, you certainly can engage me to do a website audit.

Step 1: Discovery

The first step would be for us have a brief (15-20 minute) meeting, either by telephone or Zoom conference. From this meeting (no cost to you) I would learn what issues you are trying to address.

Book a free 20-minute meeting

Step 2: I provide estimate

Based on what I learn from our meeting, I’ll provide you with a fee quotation for performing the audit and furnishing you with a summary report of an implementation plan. (You would be under no obligation to hire me to implement the plan.)

Step 3: You hire me to do the audit.

If you want to move forward with the audit, you would hire you by paying my fee.

In most cases, I provide a flat fee for the audit.

In some cases — especially if there’s a high likelihood you would retain me to do additional work beyond the audit — I will work on retainer and you could purchase Retainer Consulting Hours to cover the cost of the audit.

About Retainer Consulting Hours
Purchase Retainer Consulting Hours

Step 4: You grant me accesses, as needed.

Make me an admin of your WordPress site

I would almost certainly need to be made an administrator of your WordPress website, if only temporarily. Here are instructions.

Give me access to your web hosting resources

It’s highly likely I’ll might need access to some files and other resources on your web server. Giving me partial and temporary access to your hosting account is usually the simplest and quickest way for me to get what I need.

Details here on what I typically need and how you make that happen (for some popular web hosting platforms). If giving me access to your hosting account isn’t feasible, there are other ways to skin the cat.

Give me access to your domain registrar account

If any of the issues you want addressed pertain to your domain, I’ll need access to your domain registration account. If your domain is registered with GoDaddy, here is how you can give me limited access to your GoDaddy account.

Step 5: I perform the audit and provide my report

My implementation report will include an estimate of what it would cost to address your issues. I would answer any questions you have about my report, and we would negotiate the scope and cost for moving forward.

Step 6: (Optional) Implementation

Implementing some or all of the recommendations in my report would constitute a separate engagement which we would negotiate separately.

Book a free 20-minute meeting

Undecided? Ask me questions…

To work with you on your WordPress site, you need to add me as a user.

My preferred credentials and settings are these:

• username: jdcohan
• email address: jeff@nsiteful.com
• password: You can let the system generate a password for me; I will reset it myself.
• role: Admin

Tick the checkbox for Send User Notification

Web Hosting Functions

There are a number of setup and maintenance functions that can be accomplished best (and in some cases exclusively) through your website’s hosting control panel. Examples:

• Setting up FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• Configuring DNS (Domain Name System) settings, if your site’s nameserver resides in your hosting account
• Direct access to the WordPress database if/when troubleshooting requires it
• and more…

How you give me access to your web hosting control panel depends on where your site is hosted. Here are recommendations for common hosting platforms.

(Note: Only as a last resort should you share with me your hosting account credentials. Instead, you should add me to your hosting account as a user with administrative priviledges if your hosting account supports that.)

SiteGround: Giving Me Access to Your SiteGround Hosting Control Panel

In SiteGround, you be adding me as a “Collaborator”. This will give me access to all but a few of the functions that you, as “owner” of the hosting account, have. Examples of functions I will not have access to are:

• I will have no access to your Billing information
• I will have no access to your Email settings
• I cannot add websites to your hosting plan
• I cannot delete any backups

To make me a Collaborator on your SiteGround-hosted website:

1. Log into your SiteGround account
2. From any screen in your SiteGround account, click on your profile image in the upper right corner of the screen.
3. Select Manage Users
4. Click the ADD NEW USER button
5. Select Collaborator
6. If you host multiple domains on your hosting account, select the appropriate domain from the dropdown list
7. Enter my name: Jeff Cohan
8. Enter this email address: jeff@nsiteful.com

Once you complete this process, I will be notified that you have added me as a user, and I will accept the assignment.

GoDaddy: Giving Me Access to Your GoDaddy Hosting and/or Domains Control Panel

GoDaddy calls giving access to account features “Delegating”.

1. Log into your GoDaddy account.
2. From any page, click on your initials (in the upper right corner)
3. Select Account Settings from the dropdown menu
4. Click on the Account Settings link and select Delegate Access
5. In the section headed “People who can access my account”, click +Invite to Access
6. Enter my name: Jeff Cohan
7. Enter the email associated with my GoDaddy account: jdcohan@bellsouth.net
8. Select Products & Domains
9. Click the Invite button.

Once you complete this process, I will be notified that you have delegated access to me, and I will accept the assignment.

Other Hosting Platforms

Refer to the first section on this page for the features and functions I need access to. Perhaps your web host support team can help you. Let me know if you have questions; having worked with more web hosting firms in my day than I care to admit, I’m sure we can make things work.

Communication is essential as we collaborate on your project.

I will use whatever methods you prefer.

Here’s my rundown of communication vehicles I uses and how they seem to work for me and my clients.

Telephone

Best for:

• Time-sensitive or urgent issues that require real-time communication

You need not ever hesitate picking up the phone and calling me on my mobile (I discontinued the land line long ago). If I can answer I will. If I need to call you back or set up a Zoom conference, I’ll let you know — and then I’ll call you back.

Sometimes those asynchronous messages in emails, project forums, etc., just don’t do the trick. Sometimes we just need to have a real-time, synchronous discussion. When that’s the case, call (or text; see below):

Messaging (Text/SMS/Other)

Best for:

• Time-sensitive or urgent issues that require real-time communication, when we wish to minimize disturbing the other party

Similarly, don’t hesitate to text me at any (reasonable) time. If you have a quick question, you can text me and ask if I’m available to talk; if I am, you’ll get a prompt callback.

(I also use the WhatsApp and Signal messaging systems. The fact that they both encrypt messages is a plus. But the real reason I like them is that they have desktop versions which allow me to download attachments to my computer — and upload attachments from it.)

That said, messaging systems are best for quick, ephemeral discussions that don’t have much shelf life and relate to time-sensitive and/or urgent needs.

Examples of when I’ll messaging works well:

• You want to arrange an ad-hoc meeting.
• One of needs to inform the other that we can’t make or will be late to a scheduled meeting

Online Collaboration Systems

Best for:

• Substantive project discussions that have a shelf life

My current preference is Basecamp. Basecamp is free to you.

I also like and use Trello (also free to you); however, I’m finding it is not as intuitive or user-friendly for some people.

And I’m open to using a system that you use.

What I like about online collaboration systems (especially compared to email):

• They typically maintain threaded discussions.
• Messages and attachments don’t consume storage space on my or your computer.
• No one has to worry about saving, filing, and organizing messages and attachments; that’s all done by the system.
• Portability: Project correspondence and resources can be access from any device connected to the internet. And most of these systems have smartphone apps for portability.

Zoom Meetings

Best For:

• Initial Get-To-Know-Each-Other Meetings
• Training; demonstrating procedures, processes, prototypes
• Trouble-shooting problems

I have a Zoom account and can set up a meeting at a moment’s notice (free to you). With your permission, I will record sessions for the purpose of referring back to them.

Alternatively, we can use Teams, if that’s your preference.

Email

Best for:

• Substantive project discussions that have a shelf life (if we’re not using a system like Basecamp)
• Forwarding content from other emails

Some clients prefer good old email for project correspondence and collaboration. If that describes you, I’ll certainly go along (although I might encourage you to give a try to Basecamp, for the reasons discussed above).

I may recommend you migrate an existing website to SiteGround, which has been my preferred hosting provider for many years for many reasons.

(I don’t resell web hosting. I have no interest in being a hosting reseller. Been there; done that. You don’t need a middleman for web hosting.)

Doman Registration

If you want to use a new domain name for the SiteGround website, register that domain name with your preferred domain registrar.

Otherwise, just proceed with the next steps.

Hosting:

Purchase web hosting at SiteGround.

• If you are not changing your site’s domain name, you can purchase your hosting plan immediately.
• If you are changing your site’s domain name, you should be able to do this very shortly (minutes) after registering the new domain name.

Use my affiliate link (I will get a small commission, and you won’t pay any more).

If you don’t wish to use my affilate link, use the standard link.

Choose a Hosting plan

For most clients, the GrowBig plan is recommended. However, we will discuss your options, and I will make a specific recommendation.

SiteGround (like most hosting vendors) offers a steep discount for the initial term. For all the plans, the 12-month term (paid in advance) is the best deal.

Set Up/Migrate the Website

If this is a new SiteGround hosting account, you will see a “SET UP SITE” button. Click that.

(If you’re migrating a website to an existing SiteGround account, you would click on “Websites” and then “NEW WEBSITE“.)

Official instructions are here on the SiteGround website.

By the time you are ready to migrate your site, we will have consulted together to determine whether an automatic or professional migration is the best route.

Automatic Migration

This method requires installing and activating the free SiteGround Migrator plugin on the source website (i.e., where you’re moving from) and entering a migration token. Note that while the plugin is free, you may incur a cost if you require assistance in performing the automatic migration.

Automatic Migration instructions here.

Professional (Manual) Migration

In many cases, the professional migration is the preferred migration method. As I mentioned above, I often recommend the Professional Migration option because (a) for a fee of $30, it’s actually less expensive than using me to install the automigration plugins and perform the migration; and (b) the SiteGround tech support team does a fine job.

To initiate the professional migration, you would select “Migrate Website”, then “Professional Migration“.

Make me a Collaborator on Your Website:

(Recommended but optional)
By making me a collaborator on your SiteGround website, you will give me access to many site management functions that you will probably want me to handle for you — without having to share your hosting account login credentials with me.

Read this FAQ for some examples of the functions I’d have access to as a collaborator; to learn which functions a collaborator does not have access to; and for directions on how to make me a Collaborator.