Geekspeak Guides

Geekspeak Guides


How to avoid getting the worst tech advice

November 08, 2015

We get desperate when things don’t work, we try to solve the issues ourselves since we can find so many helpful pieces of advice on the web… or are they? Be careful.

Do you go to the gas station and ask the attendant for restaurant recommendations? How do you know what they usually eat, their budget, where they live and more?

Why would you trust your technical advice to a stranger you know nothing about credibility-wise. Just because they post in a forum and spout off advice, doesn’t mean they have the skills to advise. It means they can type.

 

 

 

00:01:30 Why the person giving the advice needs a whole picture to have any shot at giving an appropriate answer.

00:02:00 non tech gurus with groupies
- gurus who are great at coaching or marketing and
focus on features only
- passing along what they have heard is good but
have never used

00:04:00 My challenge to non-tech gurus with groupies

00:05:40 Why you won't find a generic tutorial for a caching plugin on BlogAid

00:09:00 non tech groups based on topic or platform
- social media groups where everyone is a non-tech
and helping each other out
- listen to who they know, not who knows what
they are talking about
- I have been shown the door in one or two
of those groups because I disagreed with their fave person!

00:14:30 What it takes for a pro to keep up with this industry.

00:15:00 affiliate marketers
- endorse something they may have never even used
- endorse only things where they can get paid
- straight paid endorsements

00:18:30 PART 2: How to avoid getting caught in the trap of bad advice?

00:19:00 Check your resources. Do they only know one way?

00:22:00 Go to the source first - If it’s an Adobe issue, go to Adobe’s forums first. Check multiple sources. Spend the time to research.

00:23:00 How to vet the person taking care of your site. Do they know all of this? http://www.webmaster.blogaid.net

00:24:00 Check the date of the post with the advice you're getting.

00:26:00 Be VERY careful when any advice involves “cleansers”, downloads, installs, registry keys.

00:26:17 Deleted plugins can leave orphaned files and database table junk on your site.

00:27:00 Back up what you have first, just in case you have to restore. Don’t skip this step. You’ll be crying all the way to the expensive support store or paid support site.

From MaAnna: The Worst Website Advice You’ll Ever Get http://www.blogaid.net/the-worst-website-advice-youll-ever-get/