The whole reason to have a website and be online is: To be found. In turn, we hope it leads to revenue... but why would you place your business wholly in another's hands. That's exactly what you do by not owning your online real estate.
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Image Credit: James Cridland (Will you lease it?)[/caption]
The Entrepreneur And The Small Business Owner
Recently, I overheard an Entrepreneur telling another Small Business Owner:
"I have my own free google websites already. I use google's blogger.com for my own websites and webshops."
She went on to share a free one-page website set-up that promised to be tweaked for SEO, and offer attractive design options.
When I asked what led the entrepreneur to share so enthusiastically and with such confidence, the reply was similar to this:
"I'm just sharing things I find in my surfing. I am always getting questions on how to set up a website, and most people are too busy or tech-phobic to do it my way, so when I come across a simple free/cheap professional-looking option that has good reviews, I share it with those who might find it useful."
First, the entrepreneur must be having some success, or people would not ask her what she is doing. That should be recognized.
Second, I do think it is essential for small business owners to come together to exchange ideas that have brought success! They should network and communicate with other entrepreneurs at least once per month.
Third, we need to remember that some tasks & topics can be crowdsourced, while others should be left to professionals for hard and fast advice.
By that I mean:
- Would you ask your auto mechanic about your child's sports injury?
- Would you ask your dentist about the leak in your roof?
- Would you rely on Tiger Woods to make the winning Super Bowl touchdown?
The correct answer is, no.
Don't Send Your Ducks To Eagle School
We need to be looking to the correct professionals to perform tasks of their expertise.
Entrepreneurs are great at developing and running their business. But they probably will not be able to give you the best advice on website development (unless that is indeed their business).
Jumping back to the above conversation, I went on to explain to the entrepreneur and small business owner:
"Your methods are actually short-changing your business if you are using free sites for your primary online presence."
The Entrepreneur was not over-joyed by my direct statement. But I made it out of desire to see these small business owners succeed!
Free Is Not Free
Every time you do something on an online free resource - you are part of the product. The owners of the site refer to you as a "user."
All of your activity there contributes to that platform's SEO, not necessarily your own. PLUS, you own nothing there -- it's all "rented or leased" space.
You'll also notice there are usually lots of advertisements, or the site is actually trying to sell you something else. If we're talking about websites, a common tactic is to offer you a small upgrade for $5-10 per month.
Additionally, a big company like Google can make a decision at any moment that affects your business outcome. Haven't we all experienced the ebbs and flows of Facebook?
Sites like blogger.com, wordpress.com, and onepager.com are great for:
- Getting your feet wet. Learning.
- Backlinking - obtaining links into your main site. A secondary activity.
Users of those platforms should remember that the longer they are there on a primary basis, the longer they do not own the ultimate outcome for their online business activity.
Quit Leasing & Own It
A self-hosted site formatted in Wordpress is actually more in-line with modern processes and technologies, and gets great "Google Love" (SEO).
Secret: It's the same thing you find at Wordpress.com ("free"), only you own it. Simple!
It really is. I sometimes get resistance to the idea, but here's the simple truth:
- Wordpress itself is free.
- You can use a free theme to get started.
- It is very customizable through "plugins," (similar to phone apps).
Some Simple Math
Less than a year ago, I paid $126.00 for my domain name, hosting, and security certificates - that's total cost for a year.
My theme (design) was $35.00.
So, a total of $161.00 with tax.
Divide that out over 12 months = $13.42 per month.
My plan includes some things many often opt not to include. But I wanted extra safety features.
For a business expense, that is extremely reasonable!
The Pleasures Of Owning Your Online Real Estate
No landlords or supers - I own it all! And it's easy to maintain -- For just a few dollars more than the "free or almost free" options listed above.
No big companies make decisions that affect me, and I've created an inbound marketing tool that attracts my customers to me - on local, regional, national, and international levels.
Even better - I can monetize my site so it is working FOR me, and it can become an additional form of revenue for my business. Especially if you're blogging to create consistent indexing to improve your Google rankings.
BONUS: Google loves Wordpress...I've watched them favor it in the search rankings! :)
What do you think your chances are of being found online at a free site, when you are stacked among those that own their sites?
Did I miss any benefits of ownership above?
I'd love to hear from you below in the comment box...
64 Replies
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I learned a lot from this post. Keep posting. Thank you for sharing. Good job!
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Jacob, Glad you liked this article and found it helpful. We update the blog often with similar insights for business owners and marketers. Feel free to stop back. 🙂 Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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I’m satisfied to see the work you put in this astounding site. Blog’s aren’t my life, yet I trust one day I will come to your “on the web” level. ? Thanks & Regards Benchmark-Developers
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Hi there, Thank you for your very kind words – I appreciate your compliments regarding this website, and this article! 🙂 Blogs are an essential piece to any online marketing and SEO strategy. Plus, it is not very hard to implement a quality blog that attracts customers and collaborators. Please feel free to check back, as we update the blog often with resourceful articles for business professionals. Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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Thank you so much for valuable information about real estate this blog help me a lot
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Darshan, Happy to make helpful information available to our readers. Thank you for visiting and reading the blog here. This article should help with basics regarding real estate, but is meant to be most helpful regarding online real estate (a tad different). Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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Nice post, I think this information is very useful to people.
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Glad you like this post – I appreciate your comment! ~Keri
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“Don’t take your ducks to eagle school” I love that! May I add that if your web person sells you a free blog that is only linked from your website > run! I see this every day and it pains me how people get ill advised. Great content Keri! Thanks for re-sharing
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Great Post …I very like this article, thanks
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Prabhat, Glad you liked the article – Hope it is helpful! Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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I very like this article, thanks
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Glad you found this a helpful article, Jasmine. Thanks for your comment! ~Keri
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Kittie, I do like the Instagram platform! I also do screen capture with SnagIt by TechSmith and import to YouTube. Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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Pingback: Social Attraction: A Most Basic Rule In Social Media
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Hi Paulo Ramos, Woouu! I have excited hear you “after less then a month of blogging I had won around $4,99 on a webhosting referal and more then $15,00 in adsense” How did you do that. I am still struggling with adsense and Godaddy reseller hosting. @Keri Jaehnig , Thank you very much for your post and lost of interesting comments
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CityDwellers, While earning affiliate fees and gaining income from AdSense is nice, blogging is really optimal if you focus on the principles of Content Marketing => Inbound Marketing. Quality content and social networking will bring you far more in clients than the nominal fees described by our friend here. Not to discourage going after them. But in my opinion, your opportunities are greater if you consider them a second or third priority. It is my pleasure to share information. If I can be of help with answers to questions, feel free to post your questions in the comments box on any posts at my site. 🙂 Thank you for your comment, ~Keri
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Me again Keri 😉 Just to say I spent $8,99 on a year of hosting incluiding .com domain name, and I’m using a free theme. The logo design was made by me, and after less then a month of blogging I had won around $4,99 on a webhosting referal and more then $15,00 in adsense. I think I’m in the right track. 😉
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Paulo, Sounds like you’ve done well in certain respects in a very short time. Please be aware that Adsense/Adwords are great, but will not be all you need to do. More and more, Google is rewarding the organic results. And now that they have added Google+, it is more and more personal. Stick with your domain name, and be an adventurer with your blog. 🙂 Congratulations on your success, ~Keri
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Hi Keri I’m very pleased to see the work you put in this amazing website. Blog’s aren’t my life, but I hope one day I will reach your “online” level. 😉 I’m an recent Portuguese blogger writing in english, so excuse me for grammar errors. Best regards Paulo Ramos
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Paulo, I used to work with internationals – So I applaud your work writing in a second language. As far as an “online level”… We are all constantly learning — There is always something new to explore. I appreciate your kind words, and encourage you to visit in the future. Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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This post if full of wisdom! Thanks for shinning light on this very important subject. One added benefit of owning your own WordPress blog is that it forces you to acquire new skills that otherwise you would not be motivated to gain.
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Sherry, Thank you for your energetic complimentary words! You are completely correct that you learn new skills by owning your own site. Skills that will be important to know, and helpful in other parts of interacting online. Once I got into the details, it seemed like all I “needed” to know lives in that department. The other stuff is just gravy. Nice to see you here, ~Keri
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Hi…For me, we need this so much!Thanks a lot!
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Karylle, Thank you for visiting my site. Glad to be of help and offer insight. What goals do you have for your website? ~Keri
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Hi…I have learned a lot from this post and I want to thank you for sharing it to us here…
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Charry, Thanks for reading – Always my pleasure to share! 🙂 ~Keri
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Wonderful post, I have told many people that not only is it great to own your site but who is going to remember the free sites name i.e. sexybagsnshoes.wordpress.com, when the time comes to drive offline traffic to your place online, you want something that is easy to remember and that reflects your image, not that of the free site. While wordpress is free, it cannot be completely customized to suit your needs & all it takes is one wrong comment & someone to mark you as spam and your site is gone. Personally when I speak with others who say they have an online business & they give me the name of a free site, I do not take them seriously. Hope people will read this & take your advice.
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Shoe Diva, Oh, Amen!! We need you to do speaking tours… 🙂 ~Keri
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Hi Keri, Where I agree with the majority of comments mentioned above, I would like to add something. Not to be contrarian, but the notion that we are safer with a self owned/hosted blog vs a free hosted blog I believe is false. The reality is, either direction you go, you are STILL at the mercy of the host provider. Unless your blog is TRULY self hosted on a server which is owned by you, then it’s not safer. A hosting company can fold just as easily as a free hosted blogging platform. This is why we should always backup/export our posts as a safety precaution. I have been using blogger.com, tumblr.com, and then of course wordpress.org (which is “self-hosted’) since 2008 with no issues. Now with that said, the reason I believe folks should use WordPress.org over other blogging platforms is because of the amount of flexibility it offers. I know this, even though I’m still on blogger (temporarily) as my WordPress theme is being designed. Great post Keri 🙂
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Dave, Always nice to see your smile! 🙂 Very good points. It is more than vital to proceed cautiously — anywhere on the Internet — In this case, protecting your own intellectual property. Finding a good host provider is quite essential, and we should all do our research. Is it best to completely own & host your own site? Maybe only if you are an expert in computer technology, hosting/servers, etc. There are plenty of good hosts out there that allow blog and website owners to sleep at night. I too use tumblr.com — As a secondary blog for support to my other online activities. So far, it’s all been good…fun. Can’t wait to see your new site, Dave!! ~Keri
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I just read you post and the many, many comments. What a wonderful group of friends and colleagues you have. I wholeheartedly agree with you about owning it. Yet sometimes it is hard to make people understand. From now on, I will point them to your post. ‘Nuf said! Cheers. Dorien.
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Dorien, Your words make me smile. There is a post of two of yours I send people to. It’s maddening that there have been a group of professionals that would rather game the system and keep their clients in the dark to what really works, rather than learn new protocols. Now that Google has released social into search, the jig is up! This post is meant to pave the path to understanding. There is a whole segment I did not include about Alexa rankings (and similar), and how websites get found, but first we walk…then we run. Maybe a Part 2 of this post…? Always a pleasure, ~Keri
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Great post Keri as always! Very educational and lots of valuable information. Thank you! Jocelyn
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Hi Keri, I am so glad that I decided to pay for my own domain and not go the cheap route which I almost did. Plus, many bloggers decide to sell their site down the road to earn some cash and I don’t think you can sell a free account/website.
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Justin, You have made a good point. There are companies and investors that watch website rankings — Not only for their marketing, but also to purchase! We have seen several news stories about sites selling for millions. Others, several thousand. IF they’ve attracted a large, engaged audience that is…theirs. (They own it). Even more reason – thank you for pointing that out! ~Keri
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Hi Keri, I am new to the blogging world and I am planning to launch my first wordpress blogsite in February 2012. I have done some research on wordpress and its themes and plugins. Initially I was planning to go for a free website but eventually I came to know that it would be better to own my own site rather than going for the free options. After reading your blog, I am truly delighted and motivated to own my wordpress blogsite.
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Lauren, I am honored that you have stopped by my site before launching your own! It sounds like you did some thorough research, and you should feel good about your solid beginning. If I might, I recommend the CommentLuv plugin… Please stop back after you launch and have made a blog post or two, and leave a comment just as you have here. The CommentLuv premium will show your most recent post (The premium version, which I have here) allows a comment author to choose which link will be attached with their comment. Hope that helps. Congratulations on your upcoming launch!! ~Keri
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Keri, Great article. I think for some people, they don’t know how easy it can be to own or have a business. Especially with the pennies that you have pointed out that it costs. I hope people will be inspired by you, and open up more businesses online. Keep up the good work. Luke Fitzpatrick
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Luke, You are exactly right – Many are unaware of just how much it does not need to cost to put their owned website together. It’s more tedious and initially time-consuming, than anything else. That’s why it doesn’t make sense to spend the same amount of time and rent your website or blog. We can only keep making information available, and hope to educate where possible. I appreciate your words of confidence. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts, ~Keri
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Thank you. Great article from one who is learning.
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Kelly, Thank you for visiting my site, and for taking a moment to read! We are all learning – Internet technologies are always evolving. So, we have the learning phase in common. My recommendation to you: Use Google to search for information, and continue forming relationships with thought leaders. Please feel free to join me on Facebook – There, you can write on my wall and I answer questions as they appear. If I do not know the answer, I will find it for you and point you in the direction of credible help. Great to meet you here! ~Keri
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I think people just to damn lazy to start learning something new. Especially if they are not techy (even though you don’t even need to be an engineer to build an online presence. In general people are afraid of things they don’t know or understand and that’ kind of crippling. It’s much easier to collapse in front of the TV after a long work day than to get that butt in front of the computer and start beating on the craft of “blogging”. Owning a blog has a entrepreneurship feeling. You’re the boss, you run the show. great share! Akos
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Akos, You make some very valid points. Today’s society conditions we humans to like things, “easy.” And the way the world worked for awhile, it was okay to get away with that. Especially with Google’s new Google+ affecting search rankings, the playing field is different, and I think we’re really going to be able to tell the men from the boys. If every time we enter something on our free site just to pump up a big company’s SEO, the free-opter will begin to disappear in the online marketing space. As you say, owning a blog – a website – has an entrepreneurship feeling. So, it’s kind of ironic that business owners don’t typically jump to it, eh? So wonderful to meet you here and exchange ideas! ~Keri
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Thanks for this post Keri and nice to be back here on your domain. I liked the “don’t send your ducks to the eagle school” 🙂 LOL
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Mattias, Always a pleasure when you visit! Glad you liked my subtitle. You are one to like the phrasings of Gary Vaynerchuk, which are similar, but a bit more “dynamic.” 🙂 ~Keri
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You make really valid points. I think many people who are business minded about their own specialized field (golf clubs, window treatments, etc.) do it for the love of their field and make broad assumptions on everything else so they learn from trial and error in most aspects of their business, including the part about hosting their own site. It’s good that someone like you is able to steer them to the right direction. By the way, I got here via a tweet and am glad to have landed here as you’re doing exactly what I’d like to do with my career – social media marketing consultant. I’m glad to see someone is successful in my chosen path (i.e. there is hope yet for me!) Always great to find inspiring women like you 🙂
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Justine, You make a valid point – many business owners are successfully multi-talented before their entrepreneurial pursuits, and bootstrapping, so the ownership of a site does not stick out as the top priority investment. Trial and error learning has it’s benefits. Though there are easier ways… It makes me smile to know you landed here prompted by a tweet — Proof the system works!! 😀 Your words are so kind – I appreciate your words of confidence and would hope to offer support where I can. Please feel free to tweet me at @connectyou. Justine, great meeting you here. Thanks for sharing! Much success, ~Keri
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Great image picturing Tiger Woods rushing a touchdown! LOL. I totally agree with you. Having a free platform gives the idea that you do not really want to commit with your business.
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Gustavo, A girl’s gotta use attractive imagery, eh? hahahhaa Thank you for your confidence, and for giving the Mr. & Mrs. Business Owner a glimpse of what a potential website visitor might think. I appreciate you sharing your views, ~Keri
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I don’t understand people who really want a business on the web using free blogging platforms. You are giving control of your site over to someone else. Makes no sense. I also don’t understand all the people driving traffic to their FB fan pages. The fan page is to drive traffic TO YOUR SITE! In all honesty, those fan pages can be here today and gone tomorrow. Enough said.
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Martha, You get an A for the year!! All points right on target. Unless we’re driving traffic to an online location that we own, it will be very hard to be found by anyone other than our close friends and family. That does not provide for the scenario of making money while you sleep. Which business expert talked about that? Always a pleasure, Martha! ~Keri
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yes I agree completely. Although typepad does offer a paid and less techy option for blogging that I use and have used for people who don’t want to deal with the hassles that wordpress can create.
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AnnaLaura, I’m not familiar with TypePad’s paid option. I tried both TypePad & WordPress platforms to learn and see what was out there, I ended up liking WordPress more. If you own it, you own it. That is important. Competition in online marketing is tougher these days, and will only become more challenging in respect to achieving Google ranks. I want to know that I make all the decisions and my business can succeed without another company’s ebbs and flows. Respectfully, ~Keri
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I wholeheartedly agree with you there is no good reason to host your primary online business on a free platform – I’ve come across some businesses that try to run their business purely from Facebook, the mind boggles. Free platforms are so restrictive it is hard to achieve your businesses unique branding by using one; your identity is pretty much framed by that of the platform that is hosting you. If I follow a link to someone’s website and I find my Blogger taskbar at the top of the screen then I start to question the integrity of the business that I am looking to do business with. I’m pretty sure I am not the only person that makes these types of judgement. So not only are you making it hard for your business to be found but then you are negatively impacting your conversion rates! /sigh this is one of my biggest bugbears – think I may need to lie down in a darkened room for a while!!
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Kittie, I hope you’ve joined us, and are out of the virtual darkroom! 😀 You are a true marketing professional, and are so well-versed in SEO. You phrased it so well, I can’t imagine enhancing any of your words. Other than to say, I too look at a free-platform site and question their integrity. Thank you for sharing!! ~Keri
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Great Post!! In my business I often find those business owners that give out free tax advice and then run into issues later. So I completely understand where you are coming from and that it is important to find the correct business for the correct issue. I am also glad to see that you and Dorien @MoreInMedia think alike as she advised me not too long ago to do the same thing with a WordPress website. Smiles
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Wendy, I’m glad you are on the WordPress, self-hosted website plan. It really is the best way to go these days! Do easy to work with and customize. And Google loves it — Gotta love it too! Dorien is a true pro! 🙂 ~Keri
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Keri I’m glad you wrote this post. A lot of people think that since it’s easy and free it’s just enough starting. So they forget about the plan! The entrepreneurs are a strong factori in developmen and innovation but should remember that even if web is so nice, it’s not a joke. And involving the business in it requires the standard procedures: Vision, mission, plan, control and management. Smoe years ago there were a nic spot on the TV: we make money the old fashion way: we earn them! I feel you help smallbizzers to think again in this way. Thanks
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Fabrizio, Great to see you here! You said it well. Thank you, ~Keri
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Great post, Keri. You actually beat me to the punch a bit, as the blog I intend to write today is called “Delegate Design”. No worries, I’ll link to yours as an added bonus for my readers.
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Mallie, Thank you for your comment. This one was a direct response to a question brought to me. I opted not to include information on website rankings and Alexa, as it may have confused the issue. Would be honored and enthused by your link! Good luck with your post, ~Keri
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