Friday, October 5, 2007

Building Your Own Ecommerce Website by Karen Ngo

Building your own ecommerce website may not be as difficult or as expensive as you think. If you're like the majority of people online, chances are that you have at least thought about building your own ecommerce website. The reason most people don't get past the actual "thinking" process is because they believe there is too much technical expertise involved or the cost of building an ecommerce website is too high. With the new technology evolving so quickly, you can find many website building programs or softwares available. You can build your own ecommerce website quite easily if you have the right building tools and know the basic steps in putting one together.
First, choose a theme or concept for your site. Think of something that you are passionated about, such as singing, music, golfing, gardening, cycling, fishing, comic books, dieting, fitness, shopping, or anything else you may have an interest in, to use as your main theme. You want to be the expert of your chosen theme. If you are passionate about your hobby or concept, then you probably know more about it than most other people. Combining your own knowledge about your chosen theme with doing research on the Internet will make you an expert in no time!
You need a domain name. Register a domain name related to your site them or concept. Make a list of possible domain names that you would like to use, then choose a domain registrar, type in the domain names that you want to use until you find one that is still available, and if nothing you want that's available, try using .net, .info instead of .com, or you can separate your domain name with a hyphen. There are hundreds of domain registrars on the internet, and most of them charge about ten dollars (or less) a year to register a domain name.
Now you need to find a software to build your own ecommerce website. There are many program you can find on the internet. Some range from a couple hundreds dollars, some let you use it for free. All these programs requires you to know some of the computer language coding and may need to download a few other softwares to create and publish the your site. This process could be a bit complicated if you don't know enough about computer. To help simplify things for the not so techie people, a brand new website building tool is being released called Site Rubix. With Site Rubix, you will be able to drag and drop the content on your ecommerce website, make your own header, add videos or screenshot then publish it right within the software. You'll save lots of time on learning the various programs needed to build your own ecommcerce website.
As for the content for your website, it may be overwhelming at first. Simply express your passion, your expertise on a subject related to your theme like you would be talking to a friend, then it will become much easier over time, and before you know it, you have a website full of interesting content.
Now think about how you can monetize your site's theme. You can promote related affiliate programs or products, insert Google Adsense, selling your own ebooks, or any number of monetization models.
If you are satisfied with the look and feel of your site, you are ready to upload it to your web host for it to "go live" on the internet.Then your site has to be indexed to different search engines. Choose a reliable web hosting for your ecommerce site, because with the free hosting service that some internet companies offer, you won't be able to use your own domain name. Hosting service is not at all expensive. You can have your site hosted for less than ten dollars per month.
To get high ranking in the search engines, you need to find the best keywords relating to your site concept. To find the best keywords (the ones with high demand and low supply), type your basic keyword (site concept) into any keyword research tool you like to use. It will generate a list of hundreds of keywords related to your site concept, with the detailed data for each keyword phrase. Pick out the best keywords that is suitable to your theme and use them as your site blueprint. You will then begin creating pages of content for your site revolving around the keywords you have chosen. Use one keyword phrase for each page you create, and be sure to insert the keyword phrase several times throughout your page. The page with the right keyword density will start to receive high search engine rankings and get targeted traffic to your website.
After you create each website, submit your page to each of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo and Windows Live). You may need to resubmit them about once a month until you get indexed. You can check if your page has been indexed by typing the URL of your page to the search engines.
It may take some time, effort and persistent on your part. When your site starts to receive traffic and generate profit, it will be all worthwhile since it's running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week bringing in income with not much over head. Building your ecommcerce website yourself, you can save time and money, have total control of your own site without having to depend on your web developer should you ever want to make changes to your site.
About the Author
Visit Karen's blog to find out how Site Rubix ecommerce website builder can help you dramatically cut your website building time so you can focus on what is more important to you: running a building a profitable ecommerce business.
http://siterubixsitebuilder.blogspot.com/2007/09/site-rubix-site-builder.html

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Original Web Design by Dustin Schwerman

Why would anyone hire a web designer when we have all these wonderful templates so readily available? Many web-hosting companies now provide access to an array of well-crafted web templates, requiring that the user only fill in text and place images. And best of all, access to those templates is often free with the web hosting services. So if you already have all your own text and graphics, why pay the extra money--possibly several-hundred dollars--to have a web designer set your site up?
First, because templates are just that--templates. They are pre-created layouts designed to work for a variety of people. Now certainly, they are well made and functional, and the better ones might even be tailored to a specific field of business. If all you want is a web presence, then by all means, go the template route. That's what they exist for.
Web designers, on the other hand, exist because websites are so often more than just text on a page. It's no longer just about having a clean look and easy link scheme. Websites are tools, potentially very versatile tools, and like all tools they are designed to fulfill certain goals.
The benefit of original web design, of having a website created for you from scratch, is that it can be built with your actual goals in mind, not just the generic goals of running a website. Naturally, this becomes most clear when you want more complex and functional programming in your site. Although ready-made web programs are also readily available, they can also be inferior to programs designed for your website specifically, simply because they were not designed for your website specifically.
There is also the advantage of experience to consider--specifically, the web designer's experience. When you are working with pre-made programs and layout templates, you have to determine the specifics of their information and content. As far as assigning the content appropriate to your business, that's easy. However, there are other factors to consider. Are you using too many pictures, or images with too large a file size? Are you taking into account the differences of other monitors when looking at your product? Is your site optimized for the search engines? Can the search engine spiders efficiently navigate your entire site? Will the code work the same on different browsers?
Web designers are not only there to create code. If they were, then templates would be a much more viable option. However, web designers are also experienced in the rules and standards of website design. A good website designer won't just crank out the code and pick up a check; it will work with you to make sure your site is working properly, does everything you want, and conforms to important web standards. A good web designer can also expand or change its code as your needs change--try and get that from a template!
Templates are good for getting content on the web. However, they are not substitutes for original web design, performed by a knowledgeable website designer. If you are going to have a website at all, original web design is the way to go to create a site that suits your business.
About the Author
Dustin Schwerman is the head web designer for Truly Unique--Affordable Custom Website Design. Truly Unique specializes in creating highly customized, visually impressive websites at affordable prices.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Enhance the Popularity of Your Link by Anthony Callea

If you want to enhance the popularity of your link, you must know the difference between a directory and a search engine. A web directory like www.urlz.net establishes links with other websites and categorizes the links and lists them as per category and sub category. On the other hand, a search engine like Google has a web hosting directory, finance directory and real estate directory in it.
This distinction is primarily based on the content and building the database. Directories deal with the whole of the website and not just a set of keywords or a page. A search engine utilizes automated programs to search and collect data from various web pages to include it in its database. On the other hand, data is fed manually in directories like http://www.urlz.net/Business_And_Shopping/Financial_Service http://www.urlz.net/Internet/Web_Hosting or s. These articles are first examined and then put into the directory.
These days there is great rush for online presence as websites vie with each other to gain virtual space and direct more and more traffic to their site. All of them are trying their best to seek the attention of the readers.
Your website can emerge as a winner if you know all the tools that are available and you can optimize its use. The most popular and effective tool that you can use to take your website to the top of search results is via directory submission.
Directory submission is an easy thing to do. You just need to submit your site to any web directory like http://www.urlz.net/Business_And_Shopping/Real_Estate. Every web directory is guided by a set of rules and regulations. There is no standard guideline. You would basically have to submit the Anchor Text - the name of your site, its description and the URL.
The good news is that many directories will let you add key words too. Then, you can let your fancy take wings and go on enhancing the method to display the information. Your success depends on the keywords you choose. By using the best possible words for the anchor text and the description you can expect to get the most out of your directory submission.
What's more, you can submit to several directories at the same time if you have the time. Otherwise, you can hire the services of directory submission services. They will submit your articles to hundreds of directories on your behalf, and help you in many more ways. For instance, these companies will offer a variety of anchor texts to choose from in order to enhance your visibility. They will also give you an idea about the approximate amount of backlinks you can get.
There are plenty of directory services companies willing to get your business. So, don't be in a hurry to hire the first company that you come across. Find out more about the services they offer and then match it with your preference and requirements. After you have decided what you want and where you can find it, your job is over; the web directory service company will do the rest of the work for you.
About the Author
Author Anthony Callea is a skilled web marketer who provides a collection of extremely useful web directory related links. Click for his finance directory links.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Getting Your Site in the Search Engines by Josh Hoffman

If you put a lot of effort into building your website and getting it online, and spent a lot of time searching for the perfect hosting company and having a professional design it well, you want people to notice that it's there. You need people to come to the sites so your business will thrive. That is how you're going to make money, and is not that the purpose of your web site in the first place?
Getting recognized by the search engines is of vital importance to any Internet marketing plan. Your aim should be to find not only any position but a top position in the search. In the absence of that no one will hear of you.
If people are not even aware of your existence, how do you expect them to do business with you? You have to boldly advertise the product or service that you have put up for sale online. For that purpose you need to have a definite internet marketing strategy.
Internet marketing can be quite confusing to people who are new to the game. It involves many different facets of the online world, and it is almost impossible to figure out what will work for you. You need to know what has been successful for other people in the past. Moreover, even if you have some experience in the online world, it is quite a mammoth task to sift through the multitude of information that is floating around online.
The moment you type a related search word or term into a search engine, you will see so much information on web marketing alone that you will get lost in it.
Link building is very important to get recognized by the search engines and grow your popularity online. Your aim should be to move up the search engine list so that your website becomes more popular and eventually you make more money.
Every webmaster wants his business online to thrive and be successful, and the best way to do this is to get recognized by the search engines. If you cannot manage it on your own, take the help of Aviva, a company that helps webmasters get recognized by the search engines. You can visit them at http://www.avivadirectoryreviews.com.
Aviva is an experienced company that has been helping webmasters get their websites on to the search engines through link building. The listing fee is quite low and you get coupons at http://www.avivadirectoryreviews.com/coupons.php. Aviva will help you get into the search engines at a reasonable price. Soon, you will see lots of people visiting your site and your business will be on the road to success.
About the Author
Josh Hoffman is a SEO expert who now offers Aviva Directory Coupons. Click here to check out his Aviva Directory Reviews web site.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Netwave Interactive Takes Different Approach to Online Marketing by Eli Minatore

Netwave Interactive is a full service online marketing firm that specializes in various activities, all designed to help you get more new clients and more business from existing clients. Our New Jersey based online marketing firm has more than three decades of marketing and management experience. Many online firms can build pretty web sites, but because of our solid marketing experience, we deliver web sites with a solid return on investment (ROI). Our areas of expertise include:
 Email Marketing  Search Engine Optimization (SEO)  Digital Marketing  Merchant Accounts  Web Design and Hosting  Ecommerce  Shopping Carts
As a full service online marketing firm, Netwave Interactive prides itself integrating each client's digital tools with marketing objectives. We form close relationships with our clients because we take the time to understand how each business operates. This involves a six step proecess:  Analyzing your business requirements  Helping you set realistic marketing goals  Integrating your Internet goals with your business marketing and sales methods  Determining your target audience  Incorporating performance metrics  Recommending new digital tools to replace costly advertising and direct mail Call today to set up a free consultation or send an email to our president.
Netwave Interactive Marketing Inc. 654 Ocean Road Point Pleasant, NJ 08742 732-701-9797 http://netwaveinteractive.com contact@netwaveinteractive.com
About the Author
SEO Specialist with over 5 years of Online Marketing experience.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Outsourcing SEO Services Serves Tremendous Benefits by Rajeev Guglani

The most prominent reason for SEO services outsourcing is to gain expertise, experience and expensive analytical equipment which are not available in-house. You can save great money which allows you to provide your product/services at a cheaper price and increase your sales and productivity. SEO services outsourcing allows the company to focus on greater value adding activities while its support services are assumed by an outsider provider. This has enable organization to accelerate its grown and success through expanded investment in those promotion areas which offer greatest competitive advantage. This helps the companies to become more profitable and thus leads to better service levels than internal departments provide.
Whether you need to implement traditional or fully integrated,mulltichannel SEO strategies, outsourcing solutions deliver the proven, scalable and secure infrastructure you need - from order and information management to billing, web site promotion and hosting, customer service, affiliate marketing, website marketing, online internet marketing. This helps to build a customized solution designed to meet the specific needs of your online business. This further ensures that it remains dynamic and flexible enough to respond to an evolving marketplace.
Thus SEO outsourcing can be termed as a management tool for managing and accomplishing the search engine targets of a company. This helps the company to think for more long term targets for organization in a more flexible way and create long lasting relationships with the clients. Company can concentrate on more strategic matters as the technical SEO issue becomes the responsibility of an outsourcing firm.
Web promotions outsourcing company often need to keep skills, certifications and efforts up to date in order to stay competitive. This effort can become as asset and resource for their clients. Management of technical staff and projects becomes the responsibility of the outsourcing firm, so your company can concentrate on its own business.
Thus in the era of communication and fast developments outsourcing SEO is highly recommended. Tasks are designed to cheaper destinations by trannsational corporations at lower cost thus reducing the manufacturing and production costs. SEO services outsourcing assisted with internet and leased lines has earned tremendous popularity across the world and most companies have started adopting these processes in order to maximize profits.
About the Author
Rajeev Guglani writes articles for SEO. He has vast exposure in writing for Web Promotions and outsourcing SEO services. He is working for NDDW. For internet marketing, web promotion services and Outsourcing SEO Services Visit www.nddw.com

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Promoting your blog with little budget by charles gan

Before your start thinking how to promote your weblog and how much you going to spend on it. First think about what is your blog value, and what is the key content that attracts visitors. Is the topic of discussion hot?
Make your blog useful, and with good content that user are looking for. Once you got your blog setup and filled with good contents and photos or video clips. Its time to get serious into business, lets get some money out of it.
Get yourself a google adsense account, and paste some adsense ads into your blog. When user clicking on those ads you are making cash. And this is point number one.
Point number two, your website need to have alternative income likes amazon links, or commission junction products links etc. And these affiliate links can generate you some income as well. Make sure the product you promoting is relevant to your website.
And once your cash machine is setup, its time to promote it and get more visitor and convert them into cash. If your new web hosting is offering you ads credits like ixwebhosting is offering $50 dollars google adsense credits. You can make good use of it. Use the free credits and get hundreds of user to your website. And these user will convert into cash later on. Another good option is look for cheaper web hosting, and this will cut down your initial cost. For blog hosting, I highly recommend hostican hosting, and you can get a $50 hostican coupon at http://www.hosticanreview.org/hostican/hostican-coupons And your just save $50 dollars from your web hosting, plus $50 at marketing credits from google.
Use social bookmarking to promote your blog. If you having a good blog, and want to let others to know about it, you can sign up to few social bookmarketing site, and get people to vote your blog post. And the more vote you getting, the better ranking you are getting, the more people recommend it to others. And this means user bring other user to visit your blog. And it's a free traffic. What you got to do is just build good content and a good blog.
About the Author
CharlesganMore details about Hostican & Hostican Coupons.

Good website design bring more sales by charles gan

When ask about good web design, we always think about web templates. Get a good web template and edit it, and custom it to our website themes and product. It should work perfectly. The fact is that, start with a design template, does require some level of technical skill. You will need to know how to edit the HTML, layout, CSS stylesheet, and even javascript. This is not a simple work, even for a advanced web user. You got to be a web developer or webmaster to do that.
Find the right tool for the right job, else find the right man for the right job. If you are not good with designing website, then don't do that. I been experiencing this ten of times, and I not prefer to do it again. It just don't work. Fact is that I am not a good web designer.
Getting smarter, and get the real work started. Its time to hire a professional to do the job. Google around, and fall to few web designer service website, and some will offer just what you looking for. You need to set your goal. You will need what type of website, basic design, how many row and column design, and how many pages you want, any blog of forum for the website, and finally what is your budget for it.
You can either find a professional freelancer to do the job or find a web hosting company that offering web design services as well. Remember that, you must make sure the freelancer is really a professional and he doing that for living, really good at it, and have good web design portfolio. Check on it before you sign him up.
The safest and easiest way is to get web design from web hosting company, they will offer you professional services, and with long term site maintenance as well. Another advantage is that they will install the website for you and with the hosting plan you purchased. Its full set solutions. Ixwebhosting is one of these company, and this link http://www.ixwebhostingreview.org have the most comprehensive ixwebhosting reviews. Go through the review of their web design service, you will be impressed.
About the Author
Charles GanMore details about Ixwebhosting & Ixwebhosting Review

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Steps To Becoming A Super Affiliate On A Budget by Corrinna

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Steps To Becoming A Super Affiliate On A Budget by Corrinna
Create A 1 Page Free Report Web Site With A Simple Subscribe Form.
Before we get into creating your Mini Affiliate Site we need to select an Affiliate program to promote. If you already have one you want to promote, move on, if not read on :)
When selecting your first Affiliate Program for your Mini Affiliate Site, I suggest you go for a product with a rather large price tag, so you can make profits from day one. Of course the big money comes from you backend, which we will talk about later.
I always suggest you promote a product you have used and trust before anything else.
Don't just promote an Affiliate Program because of the commissions, as that's a sure fire way to fail.
If you're looking for a directory of Affiliate Programs to join instantly, I suggest you look at Allan Gardyne's AssociatePrograms.com.
Setting up a web site now has never been easier. A few years ago, domain names sold for $35 for 1 year, and webhosting was about the same for 1 month. Now it's so very inexpensive.
You can purchase domains names for $13.50 at 000domains.com and even cheaper at godaddy.com.
The last time I checked they were selling dot com, net, org names for only $8.95.
As I speak, there's a new hosting company that specializes in hosting Mini Sites. They are www.bizminisites.com and for only $9.95 you get 3 months of quality web hosting.
If you would like an example of a very effective Mini Site have a look at the following sites.
http://www.philwiley.com/
http://www.track-your-ads.com/
http://www.hot-date-finder.com/
http://www.sohohelper.com/
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com/
You can find a lot of really good web site templates at www.freesitetemplates.com.
You can get the get the FREE complete step-by-step digital book on how to generate cash & traffic using articles with Adsense and affiliate programs here (Private Membership Reg Code "MAMBO"):
Click Here To Download Your FREE Ebook And Audio Now!
About the Author
Click Here To Download Your FREE Ebook And Audio Now!
Click Here To Download Your FREE Ebook And Audio Now! or go to VirtuousWealth for more information on article writing.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Dedicated Web Hosting: The Executive Summary by zeshan

Are you considering a move to dedicated web hosting? Then this article is for you. It explains what dedicated web hosting is, its advantages and disadvantages, benefits, and what to look for in a dedicated web host. What is Dedicated Web Hosting? Dedicated web hosting can alleviate the need to share hardware or software with any other sites or web pages. Webmasters are given the autonomy to decide on applications that are installed on the server to create specific configurations for their web needs, and have the ability to provide a secure environment for their site. As compared to a shared-server environment, dedicated web hosting offers a peace of mind that a site will be delivered in a reliable and secure manner.
There are major benefits of dedicated web hosting, as discussed below. However, the major disadvantage, cost, is quickly being overcome. Because of continual growth in the dedicated web hosting industry, the rates for dedicated server plans are rapidly declining. A competitive environment drives up the level of service and decreases cost. This reduction is powered by an increase in small and medium-sized businesses gaining an online presence and the rapid proliferation of web hosting providers.
About the Author
www.yoursdomain.com

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

MOVING TO A NEW WEB HOST by zeshan

So, you've decided that your current host doesn't suit your needs and you need to choose a new one. Well, don't worry - it happens all the time. Many webmasters upgrade their hosting services once their Web sites become popular, usually because their current hosting firm cannot provide an effective level of scalability or technical support. Before you move, it's extremely important to make sure you have copies of everything related to your site. Double-check that all content, including Web pages, databases and scripts, are properly archived. But don't archive your Web sites just in case you switch hosts - always back up your data at regular intervals in case you experience unexpected data loss or hardware failure. This will also ensure that all your data is archived and compressed in its original directories, which is very important if you want to retain the full-working integrity of your Web site when you move.
About the Author
www.yoursdomain.com

The Web Host Industry Week in Review by zeshan

In a particularly notable aside from the greater trend, the week's most unusual news was the report that Rasmus Auctioneers intends to liquidate $15 million worth of surplus data center equipment, including Egenera blade servers, EMS data storage arrays, switchgear and hardware. The equipment, the result of a US government decision not to renew an IT lease with a contractor, is scheduled to go on sale September 12. As has become almost standard in recent weeks, the Web hosting business saw another collection of acquisitions, as providers used their wallets to take on new customers or capabilities. Early in the week, it was reported that UK Web host UH Hosting had acquired Prime Hosting, a specialist in cPanel based Web hosting, for an undisclosed sum. Prime will carry on as its own brand, and will incorporate all of the services provided by UH Hosting. On Monday, network appliance vendor Infoblox announced that It had acquired enterprise IP address management software developer Ipanto. The deal will enable Infoblox to add value for enterprise customers relying on Microsoft systems, including Active Directory servers or domain controllers.
About the Author
www.yoursdomain.com

Friday, June 15, 2007

How to Appraise the Value of Web Design Services by Nicole McCullum

In today's competitive marketplace, there are thousands of Web design firms, freelancers and agencies competing for your business. Their prices can range from rock bottom to outrageous, but how do you know that you're getting the best value for your hard-earned dollar? What if you spend a bundle for your Website design only to realize that all the promises your sales consultant used to lure you to his or her company were nothing but hype?
Whether you're a novice to the Internet-based business world or a technology expert, it's important to understand what is needed to take your business online. This article is designed to educate business owners on how to navigate the online process and assess an accurate value to Web design services. By having greater understanding, you can avoid paying too much for too little or for extras you simply don't need.
Website Design
Before you begin your search for the right design firm, first consider your budget. Actually figure out how much you have to spend on this venture, with the idea in mind that your Website will be your actual online storefront--a true representation of your company, what it does, what customers can expect from it, and whether it seems unique, exciting and trustworthy. Few customers want to part with their money when they encounter a homemade-looking Website, or one that contains lots of errors, is hard to navigate or looks like a million others across the Net. If a designer claims they can build you a fully functional site for a couple hundred dollars, you can accurately presume that your site will likely be built around a template created by a fill-in-the-blank software application. If that fits your budget, fine--but don't expect anything original, polished or fail-safe, because such mass-produced sites litter the Web and are typically rife with problems, including deadly slow load times, text bleeding into images, sloppy alignment, dead links and frustrating error messages.
On the other hand, don't assume that a company that charges $10,000 will necessarily be better. The anonymous nature of the Internet makes it a breeding ground for charlatans, so do your homework. Unless your site is extremely complex (for example, has a shopping cart system designed to handle hundreds or thousands of products and images), you can get amazing quality for a fraction of that price.
What to look for
* The first hurdle is contacting a prospective company and seeing how long it takes them to return your phone call or email. If you don't hear from them in a day or two, they may be too busy, understaffed or disorganized to provide solid turnaround times. * Next take a good hard look at the company's portfolio, both its premium designs and its lower-priced examples. If the sites in your price range look amateurish, cookie-cutter, bland or in any way unprofessional, so will your business. * Test the company's own Website for design, content and ease of navigation. If theirs looks slick and works well, it suggests they have the resources to create quality work. * Find out how long the company and/or its staff have been in business. Is the firm fly-by-night, or does its workforce boast experts who have been in the business for years? * Will they customize your site? A good company can use your current marketing materials, including your business logo, color scheme, literature and graphics to create a site that brands your business perfectly. If you have no such branding material, do they have the talent to create if for you? * Does the company have sufficient staff to work with you directly? A good firm will assign a project manager to discover exactly what you want and how to implement it. They will also provide you a written estimate of the turnaround time and keep you posted as the project moves forward. * Do they offer any sort of guarantee? If you're not satisfied with their work, will the company return to the drawing board until you are satisfied? Do they offer a no-strings money-back guarantee if they can't please you?
We all know the old adage "penny-wise, pound-foolish." Simply put, it's worth it to invest some money in order to get quality work and reliable service. And if you enjoy a comparative discount while getting exactly what you want, then you have found the right company.
The Supporting Services
In order to take your business online, let's forget about "bells and whistles" for now and get down to the essentials needed to establish your company on the World Wide Web.
Domain Name - A domain name is your online address (URL), and the right domain name is crucial in enabling your current and prospective customers to find you. That's why it's vital to select a memorable, easy-to-spell domain name. Try using your business name if it's unavailable; if not, try forming a name based on words that describe what you do or otherwise associate with your business. Untaken domain names can run from about $2-30 or more--however if the URL you want is considered a "premium domain name," which is typically a name in high demand due to its simplicity, memorability and widespread market appeal such as homes.com, cars.com, food.com, etc., expect to pay a premium price. Premium domain names are available from Websites such as www.buydomains.com and others, but be prepared to find many names already taken. Some companies will sell their domain names to interested parties, but unless you're certain the investment (which could be in the thousands) is worth it, you may want to brainstorm until you find an available alternate.
Web Hosting - Web hosting is the service of providing server space to Website customers so they can keep their sites up and running. The server space size required varies from site to site--if yours is large with lots of pages, graphics, traffic and/or shopping options, you will require more space than a 1-3 page brochure site.
No matter what your site's size or ambitions, one important caveat when choosing a Web hosting provider is to make sure that it provides 99% uptime--companies with long or frequent downtimes mean your site is also down during that period, possibly costing you credibility, customers and sales. How do you know a host's uptime record? Solid companies will post it on their Websites or have a representative who can give you an exact percentage. If they don't know or say it's 100%, pass them by. All reputable companies have their stats available, and no company is up 100% of the time, no matter what they say.
A host offering 99% uptime allows your Website to stay up and running virtually 24/7, assuring your customers that your Internet doorway is always ready for business.
Website Content
The content of your Website is a combination of all the information and graphics on your site, most notably the text. Apart from its design, your Website's written content is more important than any other element because it serves two key functions: It represents the professionalism, tone and purpose of your business, and it has the potential to get you found above your competitors on the Web.
If you feel inspired to write your own content, that's great. Make certain, however, that you include the important elements of your business, such as what makes it special and why its products and services are revolutionary, superior and/or necessary. Also make sure to pack it full of the keywords and phrases Internet surfers are most likely to use when they type them into a search engine's search field. All content should be proofread by an expert in grammar and punctuation before it's published--otherwise your business will look as if it cuts corners and lacks quality. After all, if you don't care enough to make sure your Website is professional, why would anyone trust your company to be?
If you're anything less than a proficient writer, it is a good investment to have a professional writer create and/or edit your content so that you know it will be an accurate and positive representation of your business. You should aim to have at least 50% of your content reviewed and ready before you begin the design phase so that your designer can use it to create the perfect aesthetic and navigation for your Website.
Website Marketing
Marketing your online business is similar to any corporate marketing strategy, except it enjoys the benefit of being more focused since it doesn't require a mix of traditional multimedia. The first step is to figure out your action plan for overcoming the obstacles to your business growth, such as: How will your site get discovered by prospective customers? How will you keep their interest? What will set your business above others in your industry? How will you satisfy your visitors so that they become buyers?
Whether you do it yourself or hire an expert to do it for you, some important tasks are as follows:
1. Get your site listed in the top search engines - Internet surfers typically use the most popular search engines, like Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc. to find what they want using keywords specific to a service or product. This random audience is far more likely to find you among your competitors if your site is listed in all the major engines, and your Website is packed with appropriate keywords. 2. Place online advertising in relevant places. If you have the funds, you can pay search engines like Google to place your company at the top of certain keyword lists, so that a random search for say, "running shoes" places your site up top and in bold print. Less expensive options include placing banner or text link ads on the Web pages of companies whose products or services compliment your own. Many companies are anxious to affiliate, meaning they will trade ad space with you at no cost. Also, don't forget to put your URL (Website address) on everything, from your business cards to stationary to the company car, anywhere it will be seen. 3. Write newsletters, articles, blogs and other Web-based material so that your name is out there. This low- or no-expense practice can get your message dispensed throughout the Web and establish you as an expert in your field. If you're not a writer, hire a professional to write this content for you. People who find value in your posts will forward them to others, who will in turn forward them, and so on. As you know, word-of-mouth travels fast on the Net. Take advantage of people's love of sending forwards to generate some free publicity for your company.
Maintenance
Now that you understand what is needed to take your business online, you'll want to make sure that the cost for each necessary element doesn't end up depleting your overall budget. For example, you might find a Web design service that touts its low prices, but always inquire what that low price includes. Oftentimes such "deals" are like ordering from an à la carte menu--once you include everything you want, the price can end up being an unpleasant surprise.
Ask up front if your design company offers everything you might need, such as search engine submission, hosting services, marketing consultation services, ad campaign creation, copywriting services, tech support and other elements your company may require to launch your online business. How are the prices for these services structured, and what do you get for your buck? One company may give you a break on your Website design, then charge you a whopping $50 a month for hosting. Does their bargain-priced Website include any other services, like customization, graphics, branding elements or Flash animation if you want them? Will they allow updates to your site when you need them? If you encounter technical trouble, will there be anyone on staff to help you? If so, do they charge for the service? All these so-called extras can really pad your final invoice, so find out before you sign on the dotted line.
About the Author
Nicole McCullum is the Director of Business Development for Captivate Designs (http://www.CaptivateDesigns.com) a leading Web and Graphic Design and Internet Marketing firm dedicated to helping small and mid-size businesses achieve online success. You may reach her at Nicole@captivatedesigns.com .

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

The site that gives you help for free!! by JC Garcia

NEED HELP??
Get any question answered - Let me explain. Have you ever needed some real help on an internet project. Maybe you were building a website, creating a forum or just searching for something and you couldn't find the right answer or you got stuck at a certain point.
How many friends do you have that can assist you with html or help you write a css file or even assist you with advanced settings on your email client, such as outlook express. Whether your computer savvy or just a beginner chances are you will need some help at some point. Thats what brings me to the next point.
I have noticed that it can be easy as well as difficult for a person to receive the assistance on just basic things sometimes on the internet. There are lots of forums out there, and many of them can contain great information for getting what you need at the moment. But then again sometimes it can be difficult getting the right details or understanding what that person is talking about.
THE FREE SITE
With all that in mind I decided it would be cool to create a very basic site that anyone could ask me a question and I would respond as quickly as possible. I figured since I have gained a decent amount of experience in so many fields why not put it to use and give back what others have given me.
HOW IT WORKS
So heres how the site works. You go to colorcave.com. There you will find a form to ask me a question on the home page. You may ask anything about computers, books, painting, organizing, goals, basketball, or even how my day is going. You can ask pretty much anything you like. Keep in mind I do sleep so if you don't get a response at 3AM in the morning its because I am sleeping. However you will receive it as soon as I get up and check the questions.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW
What I can tell you is that I know a little about a lot and a lot about little. What this means is I have been in many different fields of work. Web design, hosting and search engine optimization is what I am currently doing. What I have done in the past include painting, blind and shutter installation, cable splicing, electrical, drywall, sales, parcel handling, revenue recovery, stocking, Public speaking, Filing, delivery services just to name a few. If I can't answer your question well enough I will guide you in the right direction.
WHATS THE CATCH
There is no catch. This service is free. I have put a few ads to support the site as well as a paypal link if you appreciate my service and would like to donate.
With all being said. If you have a question, send it to me and I will do my best to help you.
About the Author
JC Garcia lives in Houston developing websites, watching market trends and offering

Dollar hosting, web hosting services at low costs by dollar hosting, dollar web hosting, dollar hosting packages, web site hosting

The solution for individuals or small business owners who want to have their own web site is dollar web hosting, which means web-hosting services provided for a minimum charge of only $1. It is the cheapest way to use the power of Internet in your favor, promoting the services of your company through your site. The web host is a company that is able to offer space on a server for the use of their clients.
Dollar web hosting providers assist their customers in maintaining a professional site, offering them easy-to-use design tools and an interface control panel for managing the web server and installing scripts. The host also provides FTP (File Transfer Protocol) through which it is possible to upload files. You do not have to know very much about web sites in order to benefit of the dollar hosting services, because the provider will take care of the technical aspects.
Other services like e-mails for the customer's business domain or technical support are a part of the dollar hosting packages. A client should take into consideration the hosting uptime when selecting a web site hosting provider. This means the percentage of time the host is accessible via the Internet should be over 90%. If the uptime is less than 90%, it means that there will be frequent server restarts.
Some dollar hosting services also provide dedicated hosting, which means that the user obtains full power of management over the Web server. The most common web site hosting services are managed hosting services, meaning the client can obtain his or her own Web server, but without the permission of having full management powers, in order to avoid configuration difficulties that users may generate. Another type comes in the form of shared web hosting services. This is a number of sites placed on the same server.
The dollar hosting services we offer guarantee full e-mail and FTP access and free uninterrupted technical support (so our clients can benefit from constant assistance, in the case where a problem should occur). We guarantee an uptime of 99.99%, so practically you will have unlimited access to the Internet. Our dollar web hosting packages also include PHP, MySQL, CGI and PERL software, spam prevention, and POP3 e-mail addresses. Our services are affordable to everyone (consider the fact that we practice no setup fees).
Our dollar web hosting services include dedicated servers, meaning that the client gets his or her own server. In addition, our clients can benefit from the web development services we offer, including web design & development, e-commerce & shopping carts and web applications. These facilities will improve the quality (of design and content) of your web site and will attract more visitors. Subsequently, more potential customers will find out about your business and the sales of your company will increase.
To sum up, dollar web hosting is the best choice if you want to have your personal web site. It is the perfect solution for those who want their own site, but have only a limited budget. We guarantee a supply of quality services at affordable prices. It is a fantastic opportunity. You could not make a more affordable, more convenient and higher quality choice.
About the Author
We provide reliable dollar hosting services that will satisfy any demand. Your web site will look professional, with minimum expenses. Our experts will offer you free technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Take advantage of these new opportunities and choose dollar web hosting for your site.

Web site hosting - find the affordable way to have your own web site by Ken Wilson

Web site hosting is a service making it possible for an individual or for a corporate entity to place web pages on the server belonging to the hosting provider's server. In addition, hosting will enable Internet connectivity. If you are the owner of a small business and if you are looking for an Internet presence, first you have to find a provider that offers cheap web hosting. Internet is the most powerful source of information today, so having your own web site is the best way to let the world know about the products and / or services that your company provides.
Web page and small-scale file hosting make the most usual web site hosting services. Users can upload files via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. While single page hosting is regularly enough for personal web pages, for a more sophisticated site it is necessary to provide a more substantial package that contains database support and application development bases, thus letting users write or introduce scripts for applications such as forums and content management.
Moreover, the host comes with an interface control panel, with applications in the administration of the Web server and in the introduction of scripts as well as some other services, such as e-mail. Providers frequently enable web site hosting as a component of a wider Internet access level. A Web Content Management System is a regular element in the web site hosting packages, so that the end-user does not have to worry in vain about the technical issues or the technical difficulties that might arise.
When exploring the demands of the application to select the type of hosting to use, it is necessary for the customer to take into consideration levels such as database server software, scripting software, and operating system. Most web site hosting providers use Linux-based hosting, which includes an ample range of different software. A typical configuration for a Linux server is the LAMP platform that includes Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. The client may also benefit from other services, such as e-mail for his or her business domain, databases or multi-media services for streaming media.
We offer reliable and cheap web hosting services that will satisfy any customer requirements. All the packages include a platform of PHP, MySQL, CGI, and PERL, full e-mail and FTP access and free technical support 24 hours a day (so whatever problem you may encounter, it should meet prompt solutions). Our web site hosting services include web mail and POP3 e-mail addresses. We also offer a control panel for the handling of the Web server. Spam prevention is one of our guarantees, so you will not grow tired with unwanted e-mails. This is only a part of the services we are providing.
You can choose from our customized plans. We offer the Basic Plan (including 100 Mb storage space, 10 Pop3 e-mail accounts and 1-gigabyte data transfer) for only $1. We also offer the Advanced Plan (including 200 Mb storage space, 20 Pop3 e-mail accounts and 2-gigabyte data transfer) for $2 and the Personal Plan (supplying 300 Mb storage space, 30 Pop3 e-mail accounts and 3-gigabyte data transfer) for $3. As you can see, our offer is available to everyone, because we want to provide cheap web hosting services that any individual should be able to afford. We guarantee you 99.99% uptime, which means that you will have uninterrupted access to the Internet. Furthermore, no setup fees are necessary, so you can save money.
Our purpose is to offer our customers cheap web hosting services of high quality. We provide constant online support in order to solve promptly any problem that might appear. The satisfaction of our customers is important to us. If you have any questions concerning our services, please contact us and we will be happy to offer you the clarifying pieces of information you need.
About the Author
Our company is a provider of web site hosting services. Our purpose is to offer our customers cheap web hosting services of high quality.