An Intro to WordPress Plug-ins

By Brad Stitgen

One of the many great things that draw web developers to WordPress is how extendable it is. It truly is a website development platform that allows maximum flexibility in the building of websites. In today’s blog post I’ll be discussing how plug-ins are a key component in this flexibility.

A short History Lesson

WordPress plug-ins were introduced early on in version 1.2 (2004) of WordPress. A few years later, in 2008, version 2.7 added built-in plug-in installation and updates. No longer did adding or updating plug-ins require knowledge of FTP. Plug-ins could now be installed or upgraded from within the WordPress Admin Area.

Plug-ins Help Keep WordPress Simple and Lean

The purpose of plug-ins is to add functionality that is not built into the WordPress base installation. You may ask yourself, why doesn’t Automattic (the company that makes WordPress) just add these functions into the base installation. The reason is that the folks at Automattic work to keep the base install as lean as possible by only including features that are used by the widest possible audience. By allowing the installation of plug-ins which meet the specific needs of a specific website the complexity of any given WordPress installation is held to a minimum.

How to Choose a Plug-in

With over 50,000 plug-ins currently available on the WordPress.org/plugins/ site it probably comes as no surprise that there are more than several plug-ins providing similar functionality. So, with this in mind, how does one decide which plug-in to install? Here are a couple of guidelines to help you make a good choice.

– Steer towards plug-ins with the largest number of downloads. As the saying goes, there’s safety in numbers. Plug-ins with a large user base are much more likely to be actively updated as new releases of WordPress become available ensuring future compatibility. They are also more likely to have new features added and should problems creep up… timely bug fixes.

– Look for plug-ins that are recommended from trusted bloggers, mentioned by speakers at WordCamp conferences, and by developers that have worked with WordPress for a while. Having built numerous WordPress websites there are a number plug-ins that I commonly work with. Most developers have a list of plug-ins that, through experience, have proven themselves to be solid choices.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

With the vast number of WordPress developers, at varying skill levels, developing plug-ins for an ever-evolving WordPress platform there are bound to be problems from time to time. For this reason, it’s important to be aware that plug-ins can break or slow down your website. Choosing your plug-ins wisely will greatly alleviate this problem. In most cases, if something goes wrong you’ll simply need to uninstall the plug-in. Fortunately with WordPress’s built-in installer, uninstalling plug-ins is typically just as easy as installing them.

To keep things simple when installing new plug-ins, especially ones you’ve never used before, it’s a good practice to install plug-ins one at a time and test before installing another plug-in. This way, if there is a problem you’ll have a much better idea of which plug-in is causing the issue.

One last piece of advice when installing plug-ins. When installing plug-ins it’s a good idea to have a recent backup. That way in case there is a problem that can’t be fixed by uninstalling the plug-in all is not lost. While this is not a common occurrence, As the saying goes… better safe than sorry.

Premium Plug-ins

While the vast majority of plug-ins are free, there is a category, that is not. These are commonly referred to as premium plug-ins. Premium plug-ins tend to have better support than free plug-ins — that is partially what you’re paying for. The plug-ins tend to be more complex requiring more development effort from the developers. Commercial development also tends to mean that updates and bug fixes are much more frequent than free plug-ins.

The Takeaway

The ability to use plug-ins was a great addition to WordPress. They allow the core WordPress install to be as simple as possible, yet allows for customization to meet the specific needs of a wide range of website needs.

WordPress Frameworks & Child Themes

By Brad Stitgen

A common way for professional web designers and developers to build fully custom websites is to use a WordPress framework along with a custom child theme. In this blog post, I’ll explain what each of these is and why this combination is so popular.

First, What is a WordPress Framework?

A WordPress framework is a special type of WordPress theme. Frameworks differ from the thousands (and thousands) of ready-made stand-alone website themes in two major ways…

First, frameworks are not intended to be used by themselves. This is also why they are often referred to as a “parent theme”. This is in stark contrast to traditional standalone themes in which the theme will likely look like the final product. Frameworks rely on a second theme, known as a child theme, to ultimately determine what your website will look like.

To sum it up, traditional (stand-alone) themes are more limited in their feature-set and the final look and feel of the websites is dictated by the theme. On the other hand, websites built using the framework and child theme combination split this functionality into 2 separate themes. The framework provides the added functionality to WordPress and the child theme provides the custom look and feel for the website. As you’ll soon see, there are some very compelling reasons for doing this.

Secondly, the purpose of a framework is to perform as a platform. Hence the name, framework. A traditional website theme will have a predefined look and feel. It may be customizable within certain parameters, but there are limits. A framework, other the other hand, does not have the limitations of a simple standalone WordPress theme since the look and feel is determined by the child theme, not the framework.

The Benefits of Using a Framework.

Frameworks have been popular for the past 10+ years for good reason. The following list shows some of the benefits of using a framework.

• Frameworks can speed up the website process of website construction.
• Frameworks promote consistency. Since the child themes are dependent on a single parent framework, the same coding practices tend to be used across all of a particular developer’s websites. This in turn, typically leads to shorter development times and fewer development errors.
• Frameworks such as Genesis, with their large user community make finding answers to questions much easier then if the site was not built on a common platform.
• For popular frameworks, plug-ins are typically available that add even more custom features to the framework.
• Because website theme changes are made to the child theme, never to the framework, they are easily upgradable. You might want to think of the relationship between individual programs and the operating system such as Windows or iOS. Microsoft and Apple are constantly upgrading and providing security fixes to their software. Yet, after the upgrade your programs, which depend on the operating system to run, still work.

The Drawbacks of Using a Framework.

Like most things in life, along with the good, there is always the less than ideal. Fortunately, the list isn’t too long. There really are only two items that come to mind.

First, there is a bit of a learning curve to using a framework. Fortunately, for the website owner, the learning curve is for the website designer/developer, not the person managing or updating the content on the website.

Secondly, many WordPress frameworks are known as “premium” frameworks. In WordPress lingo, premium means commercial… IE The software must be purchased. Fortunately, Genesis is relatively inexpensive with the developer license selling for just $60. Other frameworks cost vary depending on the vendor. When choosing a framework it’s important to determine if you can live with the cost before investing the time and effort required to use the software.

The Takeaway

Frameworks are positive evolution in the way websites are built. For the website owner, they result in websites that are easier to maintain, more secure due to the upgradability of the framework, and contain built-in features such as SEO optimization. For website designers and developers, frameworks can speed up website development, reduce errors and bugs, and promote consistency in website production.

The Importance of HTML Titles for SEO

By Brad Stitgen

The purpose of the HTML title is to provide a label describing exactly what a specific webpage is about. This label is typically displayed at the top of the browser or as the description used for the individual website tabs, as is the case for Google’s Chrome browser. The other place you will see HTML titles being used is when it comes time to save a link as a bookmark. The browser uses the HTML title as the default bookmark description.

To be honest, the HTML titles are probably ignored by most web surfers. Google’s Chrome browser tabs commonly cut off a good portion of the title and with other browsers, the actual webpage is what commands the user’s attention, not the browser itself. In the case of link descriptions, the text is likely to be changed by the user to better describe the actual webpage.

Given this, why should we care about HTML titles?

In a word… SEO! While there are numerous theories and speculations on what makes a website rank well in the search engines. Add to this the constant changes and updates to the criteria by the search engines to judge websites and it becomes clear that SEO is not an exact science by any stretch of the imagination. That said, the one thing nearly all SEO experts agree on is that the search engines put a lot of credence in the value of good well defined and relevant title tags. It’s for this reason that good, descriptive HTML titles that accurately describe the content on each page of a website are a must for good SEO.

How are HTML titles defined?

In the days of old when creating a website meant getting your hands dirty by learning HTML and hand coding your website page by page, one of the first things one learned was the title tag. For those not familiar with HTML, which stands for Hypertext Markup Language, HTML is simply a way to “label” or “tag” text, images, video, etc. used to create a webpage. As far as HTML goes, the title tag is one of the simplest HTML tags.

An example of an HTML title tag for this page could be…

<title>The Importance of HTML Titles for SEO<title>

…with <title> marking the beginning of the title and <title> marking the end.

Nowadays, with the use of content management systems such as WordPress being used to construct and manage websites, it can be a little less obvious what needs to be done when using a base WordPress installation. For this reason, I recommend using either a plug-in or a framework to add this functionality to WordPress. In the past I used the All in One SEO Pack plug-in with good results. These days I rely on the SEO features built into the Genesis Framework. This eliminates the need for a separate plug-in for the task.

By either using a WordPress framework or an SEO plug-in you will be able to easily custom tailor effective and unique titles for each page of your websites. This gives your site an edge in the often highly competitive race to the top of the search engine listings. Good Luck!

The Website Owner’s Guide to Registering Domain Names

By Brad Stitgen

One of the first steps in building a website is registering a domain name. Be forewarned, finding an available domain name be difficult. Especially for the highly desirable .com domain names.

In today’s market finding a domain may require creativity, the use of alternate top-level domains (for example: .co, .biz, .net or one of the new generic top-level domains ), or purchasing an already registered domain from someone willing to sell. Once you have found a good name it’s time to register it with one of many domain registrars, before someone else does.

Domain Name Registration
Who Should Register the Domain? In short, I strongly recommend that website owners register’s their own domain name, in their own name. This is a far better option than having it done by the web designer or web design company. Here’s why…

Registering domain names is simple. All that’s required is your name, contact information, and a credit card. It’s no more difficult than signing up for a magazine. Just be aware, that just like a magazine, it’s a yearly fee. If the renewal fees are not paid on time you could lose your domain (and all the hard work involved in finding an available domain) Once someone else registers it may not be possible to get back.

Losing a domain can a very bad thing to happen to a business. This is because once you start using a domain it can become a very valuable asset. Domain names are commonly printed on advertising materials, company vehicles, and business documents. Having to change domain names can quickly get expensive.

Everything with the old domain will need to be updated to the new name. In addition to updating the name, any SEO rankings associated with the old domain will go to the new owner.

In short, a missed $15 renewal payment is something that should be avoided at all costs. By registering the domain yourself, and keeping your contact info current, you’ll be notified when payment is due which in turn allows you to be sure that the domain registration fee is paid and up to date.

Given how much your domain will likely be worth to you or your business it’s risky to let someone else be in control of your domain. If your domain is registered in the name of your web designer/developer and they don’t for any reason renew it, you can lose your domain. Businesses, no matter what the size, can go out of business, be bought out, etc. Unscrupulous vendors could use the leverage of having control of your domain to make it difficult (or costly) to leave them. Having your own domain registration eliminates these types of problems.

From time to time the Domain Registrar will be contacting the domain owner to see if the registration name and address listed for the domain is correct. This is always best handled by the domain owner. It can also save a lot of unnecessary back and forth emails.

Transferring domain names from one registrar to another, while not difficult, is time-consuming. It requires a lot of back and forth with emails, EPP codes, and the like. If you have the domain in your own name you can avoid all of this. It should also be noted that should you decide to change your web hosting it’s just a few simple changes that need to be made to your domain registration settings. You don’t need to get a new domain name registrar to move to a new web hosting provider. In fact, I generally recommend keeping web hosting and domain hosting with separate vendors. If you need help with any of this just ask your web designer/developer for assistance.

In Conclusion
As a web designer/developer I always recommend that my clients secure their own domain name registration. I’m always more than happy to recommend the domain registrar that I use and answer any questions they may have. Honestly, the process of registering a domain name is pretty simple and it’s well worth the modest amount of effort required to do it yourself.

How Often Should You Post to Your Business Blog?

By Brad Stitgen

A common concern business owners have when deciding whether or not to include a blog on their business website is how often will it need to be updated. Truthfully, there really is no one right answer. As is often the case, it really just depends. The following are some guidelines to help you determine what’s best for you and your business.

Check out the competition.
A good way to determine how often you should blog is to check out the blogs in your industry or in similar industries. When doing this you’ll want to be sure that businesses you are looking at are similar in size. Larger organizations may have more resources to dedicate to the task, or for that matter, have outsourced to an outside service. You may find that posting one well-written blog post per month is all you’ll need to place your business way ahead of your competition. The key thing to remember is that while in some industries you may need to blog multiple times each week, or even once a day, it’s not that way for everyone. Keep in mind, you don’t need to be faster than the bear… just the other campers!

How much time do you have to spend on the task?
It’s important to be realistic as to how much time you or your team members can spend writing articles. If you have the time, and enough ideas for interesting blog posts which allow you to consistently post 2 or 3 times a week, great! If like many business owners you don’t have that kind of time to post that often it’s better to post less freqeuntly but on a consistent basis. Even if it means posting just once a month!

Tip: If your business is seasonal or you find you have some extra time and some good ideas for blog posts you may want to stockpile articles for later use. This, of course, assumes your blog posts are not time sensitive! If this option is available it really can help take the pressure off you when your time is being taken up with everything else.

Remember, Your blog is just part of your website.
For sites that are solely a blog, attempting to attract a steady readership, posting often is important. For sites that are simply a business site with a blog section, blog traffic may not be critical for the success of the site. What the blog brings to the table is a way to consistently add content in an organized and logical fashion over time. This, in turn, should help with the overall SEO for the site.

As time permits you can always increase the number of posts.
You may find that after an initial period of posting say once or twice a month that you could easily post more often. Alternately, you might find that hiring a writer or assigning the task to a team member makes sense. Either way, by having a realistic idea of how much time is needed to create posts you’ll reduce the risk that your blog will site dormant without any new content.

The Importance of Keeping a List of Blog Ideas

By Brad Stitgen

Adding a blog to a business website is a good idea. It’s good for SEO and is a great way to let your customers and potential customers know about your business, your industry, etc. The problem that many non-professional writers have is coming up with what to write about!

It’s a Connected World
It can really be tough sometimes to come up with good topics. Especially when pressed with a deadline to get that new blog post out. The trick is to keep a list of potential blog post titles. These days, with the advent of cloud-based services such as Evernote and iCloud it is easy to quickly jot those flashes of inspiration. These services let you record your idea the moment they pop into your head — and before they are (commonly) quickly forgotten.

Bonus Tip: Jot Down What You Have
Chances are when you have that first flash of inspiration you’ll also have a bit of an idea of what you want to say. If so, take a moment to write it down — even if it’s just a paragraph or two. It really can be helpful later on. This can be really easy if you have a smartphone that has voice recognition built into it. Simply speak your idea into the phone and have it translate it to text. It won’t be perfect, you’ll definitely need to proofread the text. You may even get a good laugh! That said speech recognition software has gotten a lot better and can be a quick easy way to get thoughts down.

Takeaway
Including a blog on your business website is a smart idea. It’s good for SEO and it’s a great way to connect with your customers and potential customers. Trouble is, blogging can kind of be like starting and keeping with an exercise program or eating healthy. It can be a lot easier said than done. Keeping a list of blog ideas that can easily be accessed via your smartphone can be a great help. So when you are walking the dog, riding the train, or at the mall and the thought of an interesting blog post pops into your head… jot it down. Later on, you’ll be happy you did when you pressed to create a new post for your blog.

Don’t Forget the About Page

By Brad Stitgen

While your homepage may be getting all the glory it’s easy to forget about your often equally important about page. This is especially true for small businesses that don’t have a history of years of extensive advertising and promotion to get the word out about themselves.

For Fortune 100 companies such as McDonald’s, Apple, and Disney I would suspect that having an about page is more or less simply a formality. Most people already know the basic story behind these companies. It would be unlikely that any knowledge gleaned from reading the about page would help a potential customer decide whether or not to do business with one of these corporations.

For many small businesses, quite the opposite is true. Potential customers often want to get to know the businesses that they patronize. Describing a good backstory, revealing tidbits about your expertise, or simply describing the passion you have about your business and your customers are great content for an about page.

It’s information like this that enables you to better connect with your customers. By giving your business a personal connection to your customers you are thus in a better position to compete with larger well-known competitors. In the past, before the appearance of the web, getting this type of information out was not easy or cheap. Businesses needed to rely on traditional advertising and promotion. With the birth of the web, this has all changed. These days, having not only a website is expected for most all businesses… having a well written and presented about page should be considered mandatory!

So while much time and effort will likely be spent on creating the perfect home page it’s important to not forget the about page. It’s often a common must-see destination for potential customers and a great opportunity for you to get across what makes your business special and unique.

Prep Your WordPress Website for the Big Version 5.0 Release

By Brad Stitgen

The WordPress development team has been working hard since early 2017 to modernize the way pages and posts are edited. The new editor, known as Gutenberg, is a completely new editor that will replace the current default text editor, TinyMCE.

As with any big change software change, there will be a bit of a learning curve to become acquainted how the new software works. Depending on how your WordPress website is set-up, what theme you may be using, and what plug-ins have been installed there could software issues. At this point, while it is likely that any issues should be minor for most websites, nobody knows for sure how a particular website will react when the new editor replaces the old editor.

When will the new editor be released?
Currently, the Gutenberg editor is available as a WordPress standalone plug-in. Honestly, for most business websites, it’s unlikely that one would install the new editor plug-in. Let’s face it, most business owners are busy running their business. Trying new editors is likely not a high priority!

So when will Gutenberg become part of WordPress (also known as being added to “core”.)? The short answer is Gutenberg will be the default editor when WordPress 5.0 is released. When will WordPress version 5.0 be released? Most likely in the very near future.

How should a business that depends on WordPress for their business website prepare for Gutenberg’s release?

The first step I strongly recommend is to create a complete back-up prior to doing the WordPress 5.0 upgrade. While every WordPress owner should already be doing periodic back-ups, it’s especially important with such a major upgrade!

The important thing is the backup needs to be the complete website. Not, just part of the website… for instance just the database files. The back-up needs to be such that you will be able to completely restore from scratch the website on your web host. This means the back-up will be backing up your content, plug-ins, themes, settings, and WordPress itself.

For most business owners I also recommend a second step…

First, let me start by saying I look forward to the new editor being added to WordPress. It really is a step forward in the way content will be created on WordPress websites. That said, as with any major change in a software system, there are likely going to be hiccups and training issues that need to be worked through. So, if you want to minimize the time you need to spend on learning the new editor and possibly any software issues I recommend holding off on using the new editor. Let the early adopters work through the issues that are bound to pop-up.

Luckily, the folks at WordPress have made it easy to keep using the old editor while still updating to the latest version of WordPress. The solution is to install the Classic Editor plug-in ( Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor/ )

The Classic editor plug-in can be installed today in your pre 5.0 version of WordPress so that when the 5.0 version is released your default editor will not be Gutenberg. When the time comes that you are ready to move to the new editor… simply deactivate the plug-in and Gutenberg will be the default editor.

Just how long will the will you be able to hold off on updating to the new editor?

The word from the WordPress development team is that the Classic Editor plug-in will be supported until at least December 31, 2121. (link: https://make.wordpress.org/core/2018/11/07/classic-editor-plugin-support-window/) If usage of the plug-in remains high at that time the support deadline will likely be extended.

In short with the Classic Editor plug-in you will have plenty of time to continue using the current editor. For many, I suspect, this will mean staying with the old editor until their website is redesigned. This would be the perfect time to implement the new editor since the new site would be built using it and thus virtually eliminating any compatibility issues.

Why Wireframes Are Used in Web Design

By Brad Stitgen

As part of the web design process, it’s common to hear web designers refer to the creation of “wireframes”. If this is the first time you are having a professional website built you may be wondering what exactly wireframes are and if the time, and let’s face it… money is being well spent on such an activity.

A Short History Lesson

The term “wireframe” predates its use in web design. Wireframes were originally created to show 3-D objects in Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs. Objects drawn in this manner consist simply of outlines. With no fill to give the object opacity the drawings appear to be constructed out of wire… hence the name. An example of wireframes in the physical world can be seen every year around the Christmas holidays. The reindeer, angels, etc constructed out of wire and covered with lights are a good example of 3-D wireframes in the physical world.

Wireframes as Used in Web Design

With the advent of web design, the term wireframe has also come to refer to a tool used in the layout and planning of websites. While the wireframes used by engineers represent three-dimensional objects the wireframes used for websites are simply two dimensional. Website wireframes can vary greatly in their construction as well as their level of detail. In their most simple form website wireframes can literally be created on the proverbial “cocktail napkin”, although I recommend using a plain sheet of 8×10 paper (and staying out of bars when trying to create websites!). Commonly referred to as low fidelity wireframing, proponents of this method tout the ease and speed at which their wireframes can be created.

While hand-drawn wireframes are a quick way to get the initial site layout on paper, revisions can get a bit messy and tedious as projects get bigger. Another issue with paper-based wireframes is that they are difficult to share by those not at the same physical location. For these reasons, I recommend using a software-based wire-framing tool for all but the initial design work.

What Wireframes Are… and What They Are Not

The creation of wireframes needs to be done early in the website creation process. Once the discovery phase has been completed it’s time to start laying out the wireframes. At this stage, it’s important to understand that the wireframes serve two primary functions. Their first duty is to help determine the site layout and aid with ensuring a good user experience. Rather than just throwing content on a page it’s important for the designer to make sure site visitors can easily find what they are looking for.

While wireframes depict how a site will be laid out they are not is a literal representation of the completed website. As the name suggests, wireframes simply outline content area’s as if they were created with wire. The typical wireframe is created in low fidelity. By this I mean there is limited use of the actual site graphics. In fact, some wireframe software deliberately try to make it apparent that the wireframe is not to the final product by making it appear as though the wireframe was hand drawn! The point is that wireframes are not a mockup. In fact, the wireframes are used as a guide when creating the mockups.

The second primary purpose of the wireframes is to serve as a communications tool so that everyone on the project understands where the site is heading. This is important. It’s a lot more time consuming (and expensive) to keep having to go back make site changes in the later stages of the project. Using wireframes can help make the whole project progress much more smoothly when everyone can see where the project is heading in an easy to comprehend visual manner.

How Detailed Do They Need to Be?

Depending on the project their complexity can vary greatly. For a simple small business website a minimum of two wireframes, a home page, and a content page are typically recommended. From there the client and designer should have a pretty good idea where the site is going.

For more complex websites involving teams of people, both on the client side and on the designer’s side, more lengthy wireframes are often called for. This is especially true for projects involving non-standard forms and shopping carts.

In the end, it really depends on how comfortable everyone on the team (both client-side and vendor side) with how the site is being laid out. If there are any doubts or fogginess on how the project is progressing it’s always best to map it out on a wireframe to make sure everyone is onboard.

Some Examples of Wireframes in the Wild

The following links showcase some of the many forms wireframes can take. From simple sketches to detailed high fidelity type documents. Which type is right for your project really depends on the scope of your project and the dynamics of your web team.

• www.wireframeshowcase.com
• flickr.com/groups/ilovewireframes
• 20 Inspiring Examples of Web and Mobile Wireframe Sketches

The Takeaway

Wireframes are an important part of the web design process. They serve two main purposes. Firstly as a planning tool and secondly as a communication tool. Wireframes can take many forms. From a few ultra simple hand-drawn diagrams to numerous detailed pages created by sophisticated wireframing software. To determine which form your wireframes should take really just depends on the dynamics of your team and the complexity of the project.

Domain Name Registrant Privacy

By Brad Stitgen

Have you registered a domain name using your home phone, address, and personal email as part of the required contact information? Did you know that this information can easily be retrieved by anyone on the internet? Yep, it’s true! The contact information that you are required to divulge when you purchased your domain name goes into a database known as a Whois database. Just search for “whois” and you’ll find a number of sites allowing you to search who owns a particular web domain. For businesses with a physical presence such as an office or a storefront operation, this is likely not a big deal. For those working out of their home or apartment it certainly can be an issue.

Why Your Contact Information is Made Public

You may be wondering why domain registrars require you to enter your contact information and then go ahead and publish it in a database that is open for everyone to see. The reality is that they are required to do so due to the rules of the governing body that oversees the assignment of all domain names… otherwise known as ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). ICANN requires that all domains have publicly accessible contact information and since all domain registrars need to abide by ICANN rules there is no way to not be listed on the Whois database.

Enter Privacy Manager Services

While ICANN does require public disclosure of valid contact information for every registered domain it does allow the use of proxy services that act as sort of a registered agent. By this I mean you are allowed to use a service that acts as your contact. This service uses their name and physical location for the required contact information… not yours. If for any reason someone needed to get in touch with you they could contact the registration service which would, in turn, notify you. It should be noted that not all domain extensions qualify for this type of service. For example, .US, .NAME, .EU and, .DE may not use privacy managers. Luckily the major domain extensions, .COM, .NET, and .BIZ are all fine.

How to Go About Finding and Using a Privacy Manager

The good news is privacy manager services are offered by many of the leading domain registrars. If using such a service is important to you simply pick a registrar that offers it. Some of the registrars that offer it are Go Daddy, Google Domains, Network Solutions, and NameCheap. Prices range from free (Google Domains & NameCheap) to around $3 to $10 (or less if you can hunt down an internet coupon) per year for each domain.

Are There Any Drawbacks to Using a Privacy Manager

Not really. While there are those that feel all contact information should always be made public, for many home-based businesses this may not be wise. It has also been suggested that the large search engines such as Google may slightly penalize domains utilize privacy services. Truth is, nobody but the search engines know for sure. That said, search engines use hundreds of indicators in determining how well a website is ranked. Unless you are using hundreds of domain names with hidden contact information in some elaborate SEO boosting scheme you have little to be worried or concerned about. Having plenty of well marked up content and high-quality links to your site are really what is important for ranking well, not whether or not your domain contact information contains your home address!