Web Content: How Much Should I Pay?
Web Content Strategy
Web Hosting Basics
What is a Web Host?
A Web Host is simply a company that provides you with server space for your website. This includes all of your web pages, graphics, scripts and files.
When your web address is typed into a browser, your web host is being contacted to locate and display the requested page.
Free Vs. Professional Web Hosts:
All Web Hosts are not created equally. There are a number of free hosting services available on the Internet. However, if you're designing a website for business purposes, you should NEVER host your website with a free host.
In order to establish credibility, you must be willing to invest in your own domain name and professional web hosting. Websites hosted on free servers are not taken seriously and will suffer a serious loss of business.
Your visitors may feel that if you don't have your own domain, you may not be a credible company. They'll simply take their business elsewhere.
Not only is professional credibility a great reason not to host with a free service, but many Search Engines won't even index a site hosted on a free server.
In addition, free hosting services don't need to have a reason to shut your site down. You may get up one morning, try to access your site and instead of your site loading, you may receive an error message. There goes all your hard work, your website, your traffic, your Search Engine positioning, your customers -- all gone.
Free hosting services aren't interested in your business or how hard you've worked to design your website and create a steady stream of traffic. Their main concern is their business. That's why they're doing it. They display banner ads on every site they host.
If you're serious about your business and you have a sincere desire to succeed, having your own domain name is a must. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. Businesses using the free services are not taken seriously. Having your own domain name is just as important as a professional looking web site. They go hand-in-hand.
The cost to register your Domain name ranges from $9 - $35 per year, very reasonable and well worth every dime.
Selecting a Domain Name:
When trying to select a good domain name, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration.
Try to select a domain name that contains your most important keywords, as some Search Engines place relevancy on them.
Although there are many new domain extensions available, .com or .net is still the best choice.
Example:
yourdomain.com
yourdomain.net
Keep in mind, it's usually best to select a web host prior to registering your domain name. Most quality web hosting companies will register your domain name for you.
Guidelines:
- Try to select a domain name that contains your most important keyword.
- Try to select a domain name that will be easily remembered.
- Try to avoid using abbreviations or anything that will be difficult for your visitors to remember.
- Try to keep your domain name as short as possible.
Take your time and select a quality Domain name that will grow with your business.
Selecting a Web Host
When selecting a professional web host, your first consideration should be the company. Check out their background. Talk to some of their customers and ask them if they've been satisfied with their service.
- Do they offer fast connections?
- Do they have a back-up system in place to protect your data in case there is a power outage?
- Do they require you to make payments in advance?
- Do they require a long-term contract?
- Do they charge set up fees?
- How is their customer support? Test them.
- Do they provide you with free access to a secure server for order processing?
- Do they offer shopping cart software to process your orders?
- Do they provide you with an online Web Site Manager?
- Do they provide you with an online support manual?
Ask for references. Talk with some of their customers and ask them if they have been satisfied.
Here are some basic features you should look for when selecting a web host:
- 24/7 reliable tech support
- Your own domain name (www.yourname.com)
- At least 10GB of monthly transfer (traffic)
- A minimum of 20MB - 50MB of server space
- Unlimited true POP email accounts - name@yourdomain.com
- Unlimited email aliases
- Email forwarding
- Unlimited auto responders
- Your own unrestricted CGI-Bin
- Access to SSL Encryption for secure transactions
- MySQL Database
- Perl
- htaccess password protection
- Server Side Includes (SSI) support
- Design (and upload to) your site using Netscape or other HTML editing software
- Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions for those utilizing FrontPage
- Unlimited free access to your server via FTP/Telnet
- Easy access to your log files
- Statistics on visits to your site
- Referral Program
When selecting a web host, you must look at the entire picture prior to making your decision. You may find a host that charges $5.00 - $15.00 a month to host your site, however, their technical support may be poor, or your web site may be slow or down a lot.
A lower monthly payment may look appealing, but how much is it actually going to cost you in lost sales? Most likely much more than the amount you'll save.
Web Hosting Woes for beginners
Every individual when it starts surfing the net for choosing its hosting partner get confused by variety of offers. Most of the beginners usually fall into trap of free hosting, cheaper hosting and other stuff that lead them to land in no man’s land later on. All there efforts and time goes in vein and he has a nightmare to restart working on things again. There is no doubt that every one out there on internet look for cheap or free hosting, it is very much important to make decisions thinking of long term prospects. Here are some reasons why:
1. Free sites or free hosting does not have any guarantee; there is a chance to be removed tomorrow. The most important reason I like to highlight that, it leads your site permanently removed from search engines too. There are billions of sites are coming up day by day. The popularity of site is much depend up the maturity of it and it place in search engines natural ways, once you get your site deleted from there it is very hard to bring back the new things again as the vacuum was immediately filled by others.
2. Free hosting or free sites are usually supported by advertisements and other stuffs. You have created a free site in sub domain and also find good free hosting. You have done offline and online promotions to your customer’s friends and other people who are known to you. Here you are falling in a trap, by promoting the ads and other stuffs of free hosting provider. Also the persons who have book marked your site will not find it again once it is removed by the host.
3. There are hell and heaven difference between a top level domain and a free sub domain. Domains are unique and represent the status of you. No other competitor of yours can steal your name and in matter of time your clients will memories the name. Where as any one can have any amount of free sub-domains, imagine your fate when your competitor starts doing that.
4. Imagine a good client found you on web and become interested it your product and services. Before hiring your services he definitely like know more about you or he will do a research first whether he should consider to contact you. If you hold a free hosting site the first impact of your will go in his mind that you are not a serious seller. To prevent this you should consider a personalized top level domain and consistent hosting services.
5. When you find a hosting company offers services extremely low price, consider twice before choosing. Do a small research to find out why it is so cheap, even below the industry standards. I always follow the principle that “Quality Never Comes Low.” When it comes to provide support or services it involve some cost in manpower and other stuffs which a company need to meet day today. Don’t fall in trap of fly by night operators, always begin with established and trusted providers in industry.
6. Other mistake usually most of the beginners do is, not keeping there backups at there own, but rely on hosting service providers. Imagine the host’s server went down or free host removed the site, you are all stuck and have no option to start again from scratch, which is extremely painful.
7. The most common mistake comes to my knowledge is, beginners are not clear about there requirements. It is obvious that no one knows what is required in future, but if your requirements are clearly documented it will be easier to analyze choosing the hosting services that suites your needs. Always consider that there may be a possibility of shifting from static site to a dynamic one or you may require using certain scripts. It is an ongoing process and if documented properly can help you a lot in near future.
Oops! Seems enough negative thoughts? Don’t get the wrong idea – consider following points also before taking the decisions:
1. Not all free hosts are bad or decisive, there may be an excellent host which is up-coming and can provide wonderful services. They may offer free hosting to promote there services so that they can have customers in there portfolio. But remember those are limited time offers and will be closed soon when they get there desired portfolio filled.
2. Cheap and affordable web hosting may turn to be a great deal, if you carefully compare some of the affordable type plans with some of the more expensive ones, you may discover that there are lots in common between them in reality. Here you always try select which host can have better server; updated software’s and provide you quality support in practical terms.
3. Not all the free websites are going to be removed without notice or provide a bad reputation for your company. There are services from giants like Google’s Blogger or Yahoo’s Geocities will help you to increase your link popularity if used effectively.
4. Also consider reading my previous article (a novice one) “choosing the right hosting solution” . example search term “how to choose the right hosting” which will give you an opportunity to read other articles written by experts in the industry.
Finally, when you choose a host – always think that it is the best friend of your site. When you make a friend in real life you always consider lot of things before choosing and also overlook minor mistakes to keep a long term relation. A web host is a real friend for you as it provides your business keep running online 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
Why to have a website for your company
After having decided to start a business, the next thing that arrives in your mind is How to market the Product/Service? How to create a brand? How to recruit people? How & where to advertise? etc… Next is creating departments like Marketing, Operations, Advertising, Branding and Human Resource. You need some way to represent each department…
For example Human Resource needs a way to represent the company to hire talents, marketing team needs someway to represent products/services, branding team needs a way to represent the company overall... As a startup you can’t make huge investment to represent your company by giving ads in news paper or through sign boards or through hoardings or any other means…
One of the cheap & efficient ways to represent your business is through a website… Let me tell you about the advantages of having a website
• It is cheap
• Your company goes global if you have a website
• Most online advertising is cheap
• Saves time
Likewise there are many more advantages… Ok let me take you in detail about the above mentioned points... To create a web site you need a domain name and hosting space (You can Google to find a cheap domain registrar & host), then the next thing is content (also there are many freelance content writers) or you can do it by yourself if you are good in it… Then you need to have a good web design (http://www.templatemuseum.com sells ready to use corporate designs)… With all these things you can launch a website for less than $50 - $100…
If you launch a prospectus representing your company its reach is only local, by having a website for the company you are going global & your reach goes beyond territories…
Unlike news paper advertising, sign board advertising, television advertising online advertising is cheap & worth it, because
• In online advertising you can advertise to your targeted audience
• Online advertising are global
Normally these are the steps that is involved in marketing
Step 1: Making appointments
Step 2 : Give an introduction about the company
Step 3 : Give a brief about the product / service
Step 4 : Show a demo
Step 5 : Close the deal
Also you are bound to get enquiries from search engines, online directories etc... So you have possibilities of getting new opportunities without any effort.
I’d like to make a point clear that having a website doesn’t mean you are done with everything, it is just a supporting medium to represent your company & can help in simplifying many process… So, it is recommended to use it as a support for your business & follow your traditional way of business too…
7 Reasons Why Using CSS is a Must
CSS is a new option for website designers that have been using HTML and tables for most of their web designing careers. Of course, it is a huge change and requires learning a new language and skill, however most people are saying CSS is worth it and it will give you more control, options, and is easier to edit. Consider the following 7 reasons why using CSS is a must and see if it convinces you to change your method of web design.
Reason #1 Present Data Logically
When you use CSS in the layout of your website you can present your data in a logical way and CSS can then manage how the information appears. This is significantly easier than other methods and is one reason why CSS is a must.
Reason #2 More Options
With CSS you have more options for changing the location of information on your screen. This is important for a variety of reasons, especially if you anticipate the need to change columns or links at some time.
Reason #3 Complements HTML
Another reason CSS is a must is because it complements HTML. HTML and CSS alone both have weaknesses, but when used together your website design will be significantly stronger.
Reason #4 Editing
You can edit your website design if you need to for whatever reason without that much hassle if you are using CSS. All you do is go in and edit the definition. This is a lot easer than searching and replacing of years past.
Reason #5 Faster
When you use CSS your pages not only load faster but they also can be scrolled quicker than ever before. This is a huge deal to most web surfers as well as webmasters because speed is a huge implication in whether someone stays on your page or moves on. CSS increases speed, and as a result is a tool you must learn how to use.
Reason #6 Print
When you use CSS you can also include a printer friendly version of the website that makes it easier to print and can eliminate color, images, and other things that do not print easily.
Reason #7 Control
If you have been working with tables for layouts you are probably tired of the guessing that goes on. However, with CSS you have more control and can issues commands and know exactly where the result will appear, rather than guessing. This is in itself makes CSS a must have.
Now that you have some information on CSS, you are probably interested in knowing more details about how it works and above all how you can learn to use CSS. Fortunately, there is tons of information available online that will provide you with the answers to your many questions on CSS and how it can help you.
7 Must Have Scripts to Look for When Shopping for E-commerce Hosting
When shopping for e-commerce hosting there are a lot of things you need to keep and mind. When you know what to look for it is a lot easier to ensure you get exactly what you need and not leave any important information out. Consider these 7 must haves before you start shopping for e-commerce hosting so you will be prepared.
1. Storefront
Regardless of what software you are using, one of your main concerns should be the storefront. You want to be able to customize your storefront to your specifications, at least within reason, and certainly you want it to appear professional and well put together. This should be a main consideration when shopping for e-commerce hosting.
2. Support
Regardless of the hosting you are using you will want support, 24/7 if at all possible, and support that is real, live, and will help you with your problems. In addition to this, you should look for some self help support as well in the form of a FAQ area and support providing advice for when you find yourself in certain situations. Good hosts will provide you with a great deal of information so you can help yourself.
3. Building
With your e-commerce host you want to be able to build your site easily and to your specifications. So, you certainly want to use software that is easy to understand and implement. In addition, it is helpful if wizards are available to help you throughout the building process as well.
4. Integrated
You want to make sure the host is integrated and works well with all of the other systems that you need for your site to be successful. If it is not integrated you should strongly consider other options.
5. Tools and Functions
This is important because you want as many functions available from multiple currencies to a log of purchases, so your e-commerce host will need to be able to provide you with the space and tools you need to keep up with all of this information.
6. Software
When it comes to e-commerce software you can either buy from a physical store, buy online from your host, or create your own. The best option is to find a host that offers software that is of high quality and will help you with e-commerce.
7. Ease of Navigation
Your e-commerce software as well as your host should allow you and customers to navigate easily through all of the pages and all of the links without getting confused or backtracking.
Shopping for e-commerce hosting requires you know what you are looking for as well as what you need. As long as you choose an experienced host who has verified experience, you'll have a much better chance at making a wise decision.
Web site must haves
Books were the primary source of research before. With only these prints to attain information, people had no choice but to scan and even read through all its contents to find what they are looking for. Although there are indexes and page numbers indications, there is always a possibility that what is being said there does not correspond directly to what you are looking for. Bottom line, reading through.
With the internet at everyone’s disposal, researching and printing has taken a new perspective. Information getting is easier and much more efficient. With helpful and specific sites, what more could anyone ask for?
With the many companies using the internet for promotions and advertising, it is no wonder that the competition among them has become intense. More and more strategies are being thought of to gain advantage over another. What do these companies really need to keep people interested on their site?
Giving them the kind of content they cannot read anywhere else. In other words, try to be unique and different from the rest. Chances are, people would stay longer to read things they have not read before. And probably, even go back for more.
Remind people that your contents can be printed out. Any information that may seem important to them can be put in prints. Printing and browsing can be done all at the same time.
Get them to answer surveys about your site by offering rewards in return. Readers often disregard surveys that are made to help websites in their development. By offering them promos or small prizes, they would more or less spend a little of their time with these surveys.
Make use of directories where people can search for specific topics and information they need. This would insure time consumption and will be a relief to those in a hurry.
Be professional in your publishing. Grammatical and spelling errors are a major turn off to readers. Your website is being accessed worldwide by different kinds of people. Most of them are literate enough to understand and judge mistakes they will encounter.
Make your prints easy to read. Not too big or small for people to understand them easily. And not to bright or dark which is sometimes very irritating to the eyes. Using the right shade of colors in designs also needs consideration.
Use attention catching headlines, like a phrase or a sentence likely to arouse their curiosity. Graphic designs can also be a plus factor as long as it is related to your site and guaranteed to make people stop and stare and browse.