MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

A Valuable Lesson for This Winona Chiropractic Center (and Brett)

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I can empathise with Brett Terpstra, a web designer who waited almost four years for money owed to him for a web design job that he completed for a Winona, Canada, chiropractic firm.

In desperation he changed the web site as below, the image went viral and loads of controversy erupted around his actions. Brett should have done what he has now and just taken the site down – see http://winonachiropractic.com/.

In the interim the chirpractor that Brett had a beef with opened another practise under a different domain with his daughter – http://www.winonachiropractor.com/.

Waht you don't want to see happen to your business web site

What is done is done but the legacy will live on for many years for Brett and the named and shamed chiropractors.

What can you do to help avoid this happening to your business?

Paying your bills will help but the actions by Brett have highlighted what I tell business people time and time again:

  • Make sure that YOU own your domain name and that it is in YOUR name e.g. the MyPE domain name is clearly under my control.
  • Ensure that you have access to your web hosting account to check stats etc. If you don’t know how then learn – even if you have to pay your web designer / hosting provider for the knowledge.
  • Better yet open your own web hosting account and host your own web site.
  • From the word go ensure that your web site is well optimised in the Search engines for your business name, location and products.
  • Get your business listed on lots of ‘benign’ sites such as business directories, social networking accounts etc – these sites are normally well optimised to compete in the search engines and most of them will rank above anyone trying to ‘attack’ your good name.
  • Once you have paid your bill change the FTP passwords to your site and continue to do so on a regular basis.

Remember that the temptation for an aggrieved web designer, SEO expert to damage your business reputation on a whim is a very real one.

But, what is patently obvious here is that Brett has harmed his reputation as well – any business seeking his services for web design in the future will think twice before placing the order. Sad, really.

 

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.