The Alectronic Journal

Plain-English notes on web design, local SEO, and website security. Search the archive, or start with the featured story.

Featured storySecurity

The Four Things You Have to Control

The Ten-Minute Check

Two people exchanging a set of keys across an office desk

The "Web Guy Disappeared" Scenario

Locking It Down Once It's Yours

Who Actually Owns Your Website? Domain, Hosting, and the Logins to Check Today

Plenty of business owners don't control their own domain, hosting, or website login. How to find out in ten minutes, and what to fix before it costs you.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

Read the story

Inside this article

01The Four Things You Have to Control
02The Ten-Minute Check
03The "Web Guy Disappeared" Scenario
04Locking It Down Once It's Yours

From the archive

A hand unlocking a smartphone with a fingerprint sensor

Security

The Two Security Habits That Stop Most Small Business Break-Ins

You don't need a security budget to stop most attacks on a small business. You need a password manager and two-factor auth on the right five accounts.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A hand-drawn landing page wireframe on a tablet beside a keyboard

Web Design

What Actually Belongs on Your Homepage (and What's Just Noise)

A visitor decides in a few seconds whether your homepage is for them. Here's what needs to be on it, in what order, and the common things that should come off.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

Two people at a laptop filling out a long online form

Web Design

Your Contact Form Is Quietly Losing You Leads

The contact form is where a website visitor becomes a customer, and it's usually where they give up instead. Here's what's going wrong and the five-field fix.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A business owner writing notes beside a laptop and coffee at a cafe table

SEO

Does Your Small Business Actually Need a Blog? An Honest Answer

Everyone says you need a blog for SEO. Sometimes that's true, often it's a time sink. How to tell which one you are, and what to write if the answer is yes.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A woman speaking a question into her smartphone

SEO

Google's AI Overviews and ChatGPT Are Answering for You. Here's How to Show Up.

More customers ask an AI instead of scrolling results. The businesses it recommends aren't doing anything exotic: they're clear, consistent, and well-reviewed.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A 'Sorry we're closed' sign on a shop door decorated for Christmas

Business Tips

Get Your Website Ready for the Holidays: A Two-Hour Checklist

The busiest season is when small website mistakes cost the most. A two-hour checklist to get your site ready, plus a January reminder to undo it.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A laptop on a desk showing a Google Analytics dashboard

Business Tips

The Only 5 Website Numbers a Small Business Owner Needs to Watch

Analytics shows hundreds of metrics and almost none matter to a small business. Here are the five that do, where to find them, and what a bad number looks like.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A person working at a desk with a large high-contrast display

Web Design

Is Your Website Accessible? A Plain-English Guide for Small Business Owners

Accessibility sounds like a compliance chore until you realize how many customers it quietly turns away. Here's what it means, what it risks, and what it costs.

Alectronic Solutions7 min read

A customer leaving a star rating on a phone at a cafe counter

Business Tips

How to Get More Customer Reviews Without Being Annoying

Most happy customers will leave a review if you ask once, at the right moment, and make it take thirty seconds. Here's the timing, the script, and the mistakes.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A phone showing a loading spinner on a blank page

Web Design

Why Your Website Feels Slow (and What Actually Fixes It)

Slow sites lose customers before the page finishes loading. What's causing the delay, how to measure it honestly, and which fixes are worth paying for.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A laptop showing an email inbox in a dimly lit office at night

Security

The Email Scam That Targets Small Businesses (and How to Stop It)

Most small business losses don't come from hackers breaking in. They come from an email that looks legitimate. Here's the scam and the four fixes that stop it.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

SEO

Your Google Business Profile Is Doing More Work Than Your Website

For most local searches, your Google Business Profile is the first thing a customer sees and often the only thing. Here's how to fill it out properly.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

A laptop and desktop monitor side by side displaying website dashboards

Web Design

Wix or Squarespace vs. Hiring a Professional: An Honest Comparison

DIY builders are cheap and fast. Professionals cost more and do more. Here's an honest breakdown of when each one is actually the right choice.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

Business Tips

Website Subscription vs. One-Time Cost: Which Actually Saves You Money?

Compare monthly, annual, and one-time website payments with clear first-year costs, handover terms, and management-only renewals.

Alectronic Solutions4 min read

A row of small-town storefronts along a Central Valley main street

SEO

Online Marketing for Central Valley Small Businesses: Where to Start

From Lodi to Merced, Central Valley businesses face a different online landscape than the big metros. Here's where to focus first, and what to skip.

Alectronic Solutions6 min read

Warning alert icon displayed over a laptop screen

Security

What to Do If Your Website Gets Hacked: A Step-by-Step Recovery Guide

If your website has been hacked, acting fast and in the right order matters. Here's exactly what to do to recover safely and prevent it from happening again.

Alectronic Solutions7 min read

Map pin icon over a city street representing local search results

SEO

Local SEO for Small Businesses: The Complete 2026 Checklist

Ranking in local search results takes more than a Google Business Profile. Here's the full local SEO checklist small businesses need to actually get found.

Alectronic Solutions7 min read