My Hosting Tips

Archive for December, 2011

Domain Names

Does a website come with a domain name? If not what comes with a website and how do i get a domain name?

New website owners often seem confused about how and when domain names come into play. The questions usually boil down to: “Does a website come with a domain name?” and “If not how do I get a domain name?

Web hosting and domain name registration are usually separate services. Although your hosting company may give or sell you a domain name with your website most hosting companies are not domain registrars and chances are they’re procuring it from a third party. Domain registrars often give you a website but they’re usually not “full featured” websites and another issue.

What’s more despite the fact that hosting companies will generally take care of your initial domain name registration becoming familiar with the basics of domain name management can save you anywhere from a few bucks to a little bundle. For the definition of “bundle” forget Webster’s Dictionary. Look at your monthly statement from your hosting company; if it gives you that sinking feeling that’s a bundle.

Registrars like directnic.com and enom.com for example charge 15 and 30 respectively per year per domain name. In bulk you can get names at enom.com for as low as 9. And with a little shopping around you can do even better than this.

Managing your own domain names will usually have its biggest payoff if you should decide to get more than one domain name a common practice that can sometimes enhance your web presence. How? Let’s say your business name is “Grumpy’s Hardware and Paint.” Some people know you as Grumpy’s Hardware some as Grumpy’s Paint and some as just plain Grumpy. You might want to get three domain names grumpyshardware.com grumpyspaint.com and grumpy.com so your site can be reached no matter what a surfer enters in his browser.

The way this would work is you’d open your hosting account using let’s say grumpy.com. Then you’d add on what’s called “parked” or “mirror” domain names grumpyshardware.com and grumpyspaint.com. Parked or mirror domains are not separate websites; they simply point to an existing website grumpy.com in this case.

The problem is that some hosting companies will charge you setup and/or monthly fees for parked domains. These fees are above and beyond the yearly fees you already pay for registering domain names. And these fees can add up.

By managing domain names yourself however you can avoid all “parking” fees not to mention shop around for a better deal on the names themselves.

The fundamentals of domain management begin with two basic methods of directing domain names to your website. That is the process that gets a surfer from the browser to your website involves a mechanism that takes the surfer unbeknownst to him to your domain name registrar and then to your website. The journey from your registrar to your website can be accomplished by one of two methods “pointing” or “forwarding.” It’s your choice as to which method to use.

What’s the difference? There’s a huge difference.

Although the menus for setting up these features vary from registrar to registrar the concepts are the same. “Pointing” involves assigning a DNS Domain Name Server address obtained from your hosting company to your domain name grumpy.com. This is done at your registrar account.

Then you must inform your hosting company to “set up” grumpy.com on their end if they have not yet done so. And this is where domain name setup and monthly fees at your hosting company come in.

“Forwarding” also referred to as “redirecting” on the other hand works a little differently. Let’s say you wanted to set up grumpyspaint.com for your website. Instead of using the DNS method described above you would simply “forward” it to grumpy.com which would already be pointing to your website. In addition to being a little simpler it’s likely you’ve just saved yourself some money.

How?

When a surfer enters grumpyspaint.com they simply get forwarded to your other name grumpy.com which is already pointing to your website. It’s almost as if the surfer entered grumpy.com directly. And you don’t need any additional setups at your hosting company when you use this method no matter how many additional parked domain names you have. So no setups no fees.

To put it all together if you had let’s say 20 domain names you’d need to set up only one domain name at your registrar using the DNS method and you’d need your hosting company to “setup” that same name on their end. The other nineteen names would need no setup whatsoever at your hosting company. All you’d have to do is redirect at your registrar account all nineteen names to that one name you already have set up. And thus you’ve saved yourself setup and/or monthly fees for nineteen parked domains.

How much can you save? Some hosting companies can charge as much as 20 setup and 5 per month for each parked domain. Figure it out.

Be aware that some registrars charge extra for features such as “forwarding.” But there’s no need to pay extra even for this. Many registrars like directnic.com and enom.com include forwarding and other features at no extra charge.

So even if you do not necessarily take care of these domain matters yourself but relegate it to a friend or coworker being aware of the ins and outs can help you avoid getting ripped off by a hosting company whose job is not necessarily to keep you informed of the most budgetconscious way of running your operation. After all the information super highway should be for surfing not for being taken for a ride.

by Josh Greenbergerfrom shopndrop.com

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Josh Greenberger: A computer consultant for over two decades the author has developed software for such organizations as NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies ATT Charles Schwab Bell Laboratories and Chase Manhattan Bank. Since 1984 the author’s literary works have appeared in such periodicals as The New York Post The Daily News The Village Voice The Jewish Press and others. His articles have ranged from humor to scientific to topical events. Visit his site: shopndrop.com

Basics Of Web Design

Web design today is as basic a business necessity as a visiting card is but many folds significant. A visiting card can convey only so much but a well done Website with an appealing design can say much more. It can make a modest business appear like a big corporation and vice versa.

Right from those yesteryears when Internet first touched our lives and till date hosts of Web design techniques and tools have emerged which can achieve anything for you on your Website. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there are more ways to do Web design than the colors an Adobe Photoshop pallet has to offer.

And in line with above there are as many Web design and development companies as there are Web sites on the Net.

So what should you go in for and who?

Which Web design company is best for you and which technologies should you choose for your Website design?

One World Technologies is a good choice and this article would show you how.

All Web design companies promise the world and though most of them really mean to deliver a very small percentage actually does. Yes its possible to deliver the world to you through a well designed Website but it takes a lot to achieve the correct balance between Web design Web programming and search engine optimization that will first enable your Website to be found on the Net and then found on a position that is feasible number of notches among the list of millions of other Websites that belong to your competitors.

Its no point showing up on the 50th page of Google search because no one is going to go searching till the 50th page. Most searching visitors would click two pages worth of links three at the most. And the desperate ones would click the fourth but that would be only because what they were searching for could not be found on the previous three and chances are that their object of search has not appeared on Net so far.

So search engine ranking is indispensable to Web design and the chaps at One World Technologies know how to make your Website win in the wake of that extremely tough competition.

After search engine ranking comes keyword optimization and content management. A Website that has these two aspects in control shows up not only in the right place but also to the right people. After all if you are selling flowers on your Website and you keep showing up to people who are searching for cheapest machine lubricant your site would hardly have any visitors no matter how good your Web design is.

Then comes the question of making visitors spend time on your Website. A million dollar question indeed!

This is where Web design steps in.

Web design isnt just limited to imparting your site a high cosmetic value. It goes much beyond that. A balanced Web design is that which provides visitors exact information with ease while pleasing them visually throughout their browsing time.

A site that has excessive Web design elements ends up frustrating the visitors because they would get in their way of seeking information for which they were invited to your Website. A simile to this would be an overly polite waiter who keeps coming to your table every two minutes and ends up spoiling your dining experience.

One World Technologies provides designs that are Web 2.0 ready and accommodate for the Web design considerations mentioned above.

Then comes the issue of information that can be available on your Website. Now information is what is sought but few Web design companies or site owners to be exact realize that information can also act as an effective Website visitor repellant. For more details go to www.handycolorschemer.com .The fact is that no one wants to listen to stories when one is looking to purchase something. If you effectively convey to the visitors the details of your product and how your product can be useful to them its great. But try walking them through the intricacies of your manufacturing process and the hard work you have put in to make it available to them and you will see them yawing already.

So the key is to provide to the Website visitors just what they want and how it will benefit them.

Website content is such a delicate matter in Web design that even valid and important information should be processed and formatted by the Web designer in a way that the visitors find it useful and not overwhelming.

Our content writers at One World Technologies make sure that all the text that goes in our Web design is formatted in a manner that it provides your site visitor the precise and the right kind of information.

Finally the cosmetic aspect of Web design.

Just like a building is designed and constructed with the residents comfort in view a good Web design should beautify the site to enhance the visitors browsing experience. Cosmetic aspect of Web design should be attended to in such a manner that every image every icon and every Flash element should point and guide the visitors to the information that is sought by them.

In a poor Web design these elements act in a counter productive way and would engross the Website visitors at wrong points and for wrong reasons and would distract them. They would overshadow the information the site has to deliver and would use up the visitors browsing time at wrong places. This would result in visitors leaving your site with compliments for the Web designer but less aware of your products and services. For more details go to www.impactsaudio.com .Web design is almost an art. A good designer needs to meet and satisfy a Web design at all levels in an optimal way. And if any Web design company is able to meet all of the above for a Website then yes it can deliver the world to you by bringing it to the door steps of your Website. And One World Technologies takes pride in doing just that for her clients.

www.15waystoboostwebsiteresponse.com
www.instantaudiomastery.com

About the writer:  i am author

Why Blogging And SEO Work Well Together

Blogging is becoming one of the most popular ways to market a company brand personality or product on the Web. Why? Because search engines love content and there is no better way to create and manage content on the Web than a blog. According to Technorati there are over 60 million blogs on the Web with over 100000 being created every day. A lot of people have caught on to blogging and there is plenty of room for more.

What is a Blog?
The word ‘blog’ is a slang compilation of two words; ‘web’ and ‘log’ or ‘weblog’. Initially established as a way to publish computer log files the original pioneers of blogging began publishing more and more interesting content. Today bloggers post news commentary and even real time descriptions of events using blog software.

Think of a blog as an ‘online journal’. ‘Posts’ as they are called are short articles that are listed on your blog site in chronological order. Visiting a blog you will notice that the most recent article is presented at the top and earlier stories are listed below or in an archive.

Blog software is available all over the Internet. Some of the more popular sources are WordPress and Blogger. Our favorite is WordPress because it is an ‘open source’ application that can be installed on your own server and customized.

A custom blog allows you to have more control over the look of the interface and event to incorporate the blog into your existing site. This is of particular interest to companies who want to use blogging as a way to communicate with customers and keep fresh content at the forefront of their site; a great search engine strategy.

Blogging and SEO: Why is it such a Good Idea?

Search engines such as Google and Yahoo scour the Web looking for new content to index. In particular they are looking for content that is ‘keyword rich’; content that is full of relevant keywords. When content is keyword rich it provides relevance for the site and allows a search engine to properly categorize your blog site into a particular market.

Keywords can be anything from the name of your product to the name of your company or the type of services you offer. Refining keywords with geographic specificity is a popular way to climb to the top of a search page in your particular region even though you may be competing with a lot of sites on a national level. For instance; ‘lawn care’ gets over 5.5 million hits while ‘utah lawn care’ gets a more reasonable 1.2 million. The more times you can use a keyword in each post the better.

Websites that regularly update keyword rich content are considered ‘alive and active’ by the leading search engines and are given priority over sites that are considered ‘dormant’ or ‘stagnant’. If your site has not changed in over 60 days you are in danger of being considered ‘stagnant’ and falling out of favor with the search engines.

Search engines gain popularity with users based on their ability to direct people to relevant sites that are alive and active with current content. How often do you want to visit a site that hasn’t changed in over a year? The search engines feel the same way and are reluctant to refer a site that hasn’t been updated for a while.

Again; a blog is a great way to add content management to your existing site and is a terrific way to get started on the Web with a basic web presence that can become a very effective marketing tool.

What Else Can a Blog Do?

Aside from writing content you can do a lot of creative and even productive things with a blog.

Blog systems provide the ability to upload files and attach them to your posts articles. Having this ability means you can add your own graphics to each article dressing them up with photos of people places and products. You can also add full motion video slide shows and even link to You Tube or other streaming video hosting services.

Podcasting has become popular and is a fun way to add audio to your articles. You can include music sounds or interviews; virtually anything you can record can be added to your blog as an audio file.

One of the most common things to add to an article is a file such as a PDF or even a Word document. Linking files to your articles allows your readers to download those files which can be anything from a photo instructions or a form to slides video and audio.

There are also advanced marketing functions you can perform with a blog. By incorporating a subscription function you can collect leads from your blog and communicate with your audience via an automated email system. Each time you post a new article your subscribers will automatically receive an email notification. Instant newsletter.

Getting Started

Blogging can be done in a number of ways; there are free options out there that allow you plenty of space to write all you can at no cost. If you are interested in creating a custom site with your own graphics extensions and management options you will want to establish a custom blog on your own domain.

If you already have a domain such as www. yourname. com it is best to establish your blog on a ‘subdomain’. Your Web guy will know how to do this. Name your subdomain with a keyword for the best search engine optimization such as widget. yourname. com.

If you are the technical type or you have someone who takes care of your Web systems; take a look at wordpress. org and download a copy of their latest open source blog software. Once installed you are ready to go.

About the writer:  Art Gib is a freelance writer. Read more about local Internet marketing and seo blog tactics at http://www.orangesoda.com/resources/marketingandyourblog/. Interested in developing an inexpensive custom blog featuring your own graphics technical support and training that will get you started; contact us at the URL above. We’ll be happy to get you started.