Website Services

If you’ve seen the Joomla add-on on the side of your web hosting control but aren’t quite sure what it is, you’ve come to the right place.  Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS) that enables users to manage content, photos, videos and any other type of web content imaginable.  Joomla may sound a bit less serious than WordPress but the word is actually derived from the Swahili ‘Jumla’, meaning ‘all together’.  A quick look into Joomla’s offerings, and you’ll see that this phrase truly encompasses exactly what Joomla is.

The advantages of Joomla may not be obvious to new users, but they are worth reviewing.

• Joomla is free and works well with shared web hosting packages, and this combination makes it possible to build powerhouse websites with an extremely reasonable operating budget.
• Joomla is ideal for businesses, non-profits and multi-media sites.  This content management system is especially suited to sites hosting forums, newsrooms and other user-generated content.
• With over 6,000 extensions to choose from, Joomla makes it possible for websites to perform nearly any web-based action.
• Joomla is an open design platform that can be used by any design company, so if you use Joomla you won’t be obligated to stay with your web designer if the relationship sours or your budget changes over time.
• URLs created using Joomla don’t have any query strings, which makes them SEO friendly.
• Once installed, Joomla is relatively easy to maintain.
• It is easy to modify Joomla’s core system to reflect your specific needs and preferences.

On the other hand, the disadvantages of Joomla are often touted by nay-sayers are reasons to choose an alternate CMS.  If you’re considering Joomla, you should be aware of the disadvantages so that you can make an informed decision on your own.

• Joomla is slightly more difficult to install and setup than other content management systems (such as WordPress), and may require professional assistance.
• Users looking for a straightforward blog site may still prefer the simplicity of WordPress over the more complex offerings of Joomla.
• Many users complain that Joomla has difficulty accommodating sites that receive more than 50,000 users per day.
• Users often complain that Joomla sites run more slowly than sites built with other content management systems.

Although it may be impossible to find a CMS that is entirely perfect, Joomla seems to come pretty close.  If you’re starting a blog, you may still be better off with WordPress, but if you have your sites set on popular site or a multimedia presentation, Joomla may very well be a good option for you.  Just make sure that you’re familiar enough with the technical aspects of building a website so that you’ll be able to maximize the building process.  If not, you may want to hire someone to help and to teach you how to proceed independently.  With a bit of technical know-how, you should have no trouble maintaining a successful Joomla website.

If starting a new blog was one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2010, you’d better get a move on it because the year is nearly over.  And if you’re planning to start a new blog in 2011, you’ll probably want to know your options before the ball drops.  Luckily, you’ve come to the right place.  Over the next few weeks we’ll be featuring different blogging CMSes (content management systems) to give you a glimpse of what each one offers and to help you determine which one is best for you.  This week’s featured blog CMS will be WordPress, which has long been the most popular blogging software available.  But if you’re a conscientious consumer, you wouldn’t want to choose WordPress just because everybody else is doing it.  Instead, you’d want to know what it is that makes WordPress so great.  So without further ado, here are my favorite 8 reasons why WordPress is so fantastic (and I’m not just saying that because we use WordPress to power this blog).

1. It’s easy enough for newbie bloggers.  Believe me when I tell you that setting up a simple WordPress blog is easy.  It may not be as snazzy as a professionally-designed WordPress blog, but it’ll still be nice and functional.  Many (but not all) customizations are easy to do, and most plugins are easy to configure (more on that later).
2. It’s great for professional web developers, designers and techies.  There are some seriously high-profile blogs that are powered by WordPress.  TechCrunch and gigaom are just two examples.   Believe me when I tell you that hundreds (or thousands) of big businesses aren’t using WordPress just because it’s free.  There are endless ways to personalize or configure a WordPress blog if you have technical know-how.
3. Search engines love WordPress.  Although there’s no documented reason why this is, there’s no question that Google (and other search engines) seem to take notice of WordPress blogs over other blogs and sites.  Perhaps it’s the intuitive navigation, the easy-to-create page tags or the general popularity of the CMS.  But whatever the reason, if you want your site to get noticed, building it with WordPress might help.
4. The spam-filter rocks.  WordPress uses the widely recognized Akismet spam filter to keep junk posts as far away from your blog as possible.
5. You can privatize your blog.  If you blog for business, you’ll probably want as many people as possible to access your blog.  But if you’re starting a family blog you may not want strangers stumbling upon your posts.  WordPress makes it possible to privatize your blog so that you can make sure it reaches your target audience – and nobody else.
6. Entries are autosaved. This may sound obvious, but other CMSes like Joomla require a download in order to  have them autosaved.  WordPress just saves automatically so that your entries are never lost.
7. Thousands of plugins are available.  Need your blog to do something that isn’t automatic?  Chances are great that you can find a free plugin that can help you customize your blog.  From SEO plugins and social media plugins to graphic design plugins and advertising plugins, someone’s probably already created the plugin for you.
8. Free backups.  WordPress keeps an automatic backup of your blog so that you don’t have to (though you may choose to do so anyway).

Are you a web designer or webmaster looking for a bit of extra revenue?  Actually…aren’t we all looking for a bit of extra income?  If you’re a web designer or webmaster, reseller hosting may be just what you’re looking for.  Reseller hosting is an arrangement in which you purchase a large web hosting package from the web host of your choice, and you break down the storage, bandwidth and disk space into smaller chunks which can be sold to your clients.  And, while reseller hosting may sound like a get-rich quick scheme, it isn’t – you’ll need a bit of technical knowledge and the ability to convince your clients that hosting through your company is a savvy decision.  Read on to determine if reseller hosting is the logical next step for your small business.

Reseller Hosting for Webmasters

If you’re in the business of building websites, you’ve probably found that after the initial building of the site, a client becomes merely a sporadic source of income instead of a constant source of work.  Reseller hosting will keep you connected to each client on a regular basis and will provide you with residual income long after the initial project is complete.  Although your income from reseller hosting client won’t be significant, the combination of a few sales of hosting packages will provide noticeable results on your overall income.

In addition, if you’re a savvy businessperson, you’ll be able to sell parts of the web hosting account separately to your clients.  Many of your clients, especially those who aren’t specifically web savvy, will be willing to pay you for reports that come standard with most web hosting packages, because it will prevent them from having to access the reports and analyze the data independently.  Likewise, you can make even more money by selling additional site security packages, domain names or other add-ons with each web hosting package.

Reseller Hosting for Web Designers

As a web designer, you probably know about the basics of building a website, even if you’re not an expert webmaster.  By taking your knowledge of what it takes to build a website, you’ll be able to explain to your clients why they need hosting services, and why buying them from you will be easier than buying a web hosting package directly from the hosting company.  While you probably won’t be using the host directly, you can take advantage of this arrangement by having reselling hosting services that can directly benefit you, such as those with a site builder that you can use to easily edit your pages.

Choosing a Web Host for Resale

Many web hosts offer reseller programs that can enable you to make money easily while providing your clients with quality web hosting.  Before you make a deal with a specific host, consider the pricing and packages that they offer as well as your projected needs.  If for any reason you’re not able to sell part of the package, you’ll want to minimize your loss.  On the other hand, if you’re able to sell more than you’d originally planned, you’ll want to be working with a web host that will be flexible enough to meet your needs.

Good luck with this new part of your business!

If you’re researching different web hosting plans, you’ve probably noticed that many web hosting packages come with free advertising credits.  But if you’ve never had a website before you probably don’t know how or when to use these advertising credits.  And if you’re not familiar with social media, these advertising credits may not hold that much appeal.  But with a bit of understanding and explanation you may begin to realize just how valuable these credits can be.

The benefits of online advertising credits:

Things to Know about Facebook Credits:

• You will need a Facebook account to use Facebook credits.
• Facebook credits received from most web hosts can be used for both new and existing accounts.
• You can use Facebook credits to promote your company’s Facebook page or to promote your website directly.
• With Facebook advertising you can target people who have interests in line with your product or service.
• When creating ads with Facebook credits you can schedule them to run at certain times or on certain days.
• Facebook offers comprehensive tracking and analytical tools to help you understand the successes and failures of your ads.

Things to Know about Google AdWords Credits:

• Google AdWords credits are most often valid only for new AdWords accounts. 
• If you have an existing AdWords account that is currently pointing to your website you’ll need to use your free advertising credits for a different account point to a different website or for a new account that uses a completely different set of keywords to point to the same website.
• You will need to enter billing information when setting up your AdWords account.  Even though you are using free advertising credits you’ll be required to pay a small activation fee.

Things to Know about Yahoo! Credits:

• Yahoo! Credits work similarly to Google advertising credits. 
• You will need a new account to use Yahoo! advertising credits.
• Fewer people use Yahoo!’s search engine than Google, but some studies indicate that those who use Yahoo!’s search engine may be more likely to convert. 
• A planned merger between Bing and Yahoo! will likely change the face of this type of advertising, so it’s worthwhile to proceed cautiously when planning your ads, in the hope that in the future this search engine will see a boost in traffic.

Good luck with your new web host and your free advertising credits!

A web design service is a web design service…or is it?  Wix, a relatively new do it yourself web design service, aims to prove that not all web design services are created equal.  And while the service’s drag and drop site builder is great, one could argue that it’s not substantially different than other drag and drop editors.  Wix’s extras, however, are what truly set this company apart.  If you’re a smart consumer, you won’t purchase a web design service because of its extras alone…but if you’re savvy, you’ll realize that the addition of these perks to a rather sophisticated site builder make Wix a noble competitor in the running to become the best do it yourself web design service.

What makes Wix stand apart is that it looks like a web design company but acts like a web hosting provider.  While hosting services such as iPage and Just Host offer free advertising credits, few (if any) web design services offer similar credits…until now.  As a new partner of Network Solutions, Wix is now offering $50 in Facebook ad credits and $75 in Google AdWords credits.  In addition, Network Solutions will be hosting any site created by Wix for free for one year.

Another benefit of the Wix premium plan is integration with Google Analytics, a feature that is not only rare in the world of web design, but is not especially common in most web hosting packages either.  Google Analytics is a program designed and supported by Google that allows site owners to see who is coming to their site(s), where their visitors are coming from and what pages are getting the most traffic.  It is a great way to learn about your user behavior so that you can maximize the success of your site.  And, while it may be a free tool, having it integrated into the Wix package (and having support available to help) provides a dramatic advantage.

A final perk of Wix is that it makes it incredibly easy to create a Flash website.  While many other web design services support Flash files or offer Flash templates, none offer the customization abilities that Wix offers.  Although this is not a specifically new offering, it’s important to realize that if you want to create a Flash site Wix will offer unparalleled options.

There’s no uniform do it yourself web design service that will serve the needs of every webmaster or business owner.  I am merely suggesting that if you’re looking for a reason to choose one from a handful of do it yourself web design companies it’s worth looking beyond the standard offerings to see how each service enhances their service.  Because after all, being a smart consumer is about getting the best bang for your buck with a product or service that works – and Wix is clearly giving other web design companies a run for your money.

In these days of tight budgets and constant expenses, it’s normal to want to find free alternatives to paid services.  Web hosting is one area in which there are several respectable free options – if you’re willing to compromise on certain aspects of your website.  The question becomes, however, when it is necessary to pay for web hosting services and when is free hosting a viable option?  Here are some things to consider when making this important decision.

1. Do you want a custom domain? Many free hosting services require you to take their domain name onto yours.  In other words, instead of having mysite.com, you’d have mysite.yolasite.com if you’re using Yola’s free hosting service and a similar extension if you’re using the free services offered by Wix, Network Solutions or one of the other dozens of free hosting providers available.
2. Do you want an ad-free website? Many free websites impose placement of advertising on websites built through their platform.  This may not bother you if you’re starting a family blog (or even a personal blog) or are just using the website to test out the features of the web host before committing.  If you’re looking to create a professional web presence, however, you may not want irrelevant ads cluttering the design of your site.
3. Do you need significant storage space or bandwidth? If you’re planning on hosting a site that contains video or audio files, you may need more storage space or bandwidth than most free web hosting service offer.  Likewise, if you’re planning on having heavy traffic to your site or hosting a database for your site, you’ll need a significant amount of storage.  Many free web hosting providers offer only 5-10 MB of storage, which is insufficient for sites that are more than just a few pages of text.  If you’re looking to post your artistic portfolio, to sell items through a product database or to stream videos directly from your site, you may want to pay for a web hosting service such as FatCow which offers unlimited storage for a very reasonable monthly fee.
4. Do you want a completely custom design? If you’re choosing free hosting services through a web design company that offers a free package you’ll likely be limited to specific design options instead of having the flexibility to choose from the full array of options.  If you’re choosing a free hosting option through a hosting provider such as i6Networks you’ll probably have full customization abilities – if you have the technical prowess to design and build your own site (and if you don’t, you’ll need to pay a significant sum for this service).
5. Do you plan to expand the scope of your site in the near future? If so, you’ll need to consider whether you’ll eventually outgrow your free hosting plan, and the expense that will be involved in transferring it to another web host, domain name or design.  These fees can add up – so if you think you’ll need to pay them soon, you may end up saving more money by paying for web hosting straight from the outset.
6. Do you want a search-engine-friendly site? Many free websites are not particularly search-engine-friendly and will not assist you in achieving natural web traffic.  If you’re looking to expand your audience through search engines, you may want to consider a paid web hosting service that is located in your country so that you can better target the audience you’re looking for.

Although free stuff always sounds appealing, when it comes to free hosting it’s important to remember that saving money now may not actually save you money in the long run.  However, the true benefit of using a free hosting package is because it allows you to test out the hosting service (and web design service when relevant) to see if you like it and whether you want to continue using this service in the long run.

It’s fairly common knowledge that Google’s search bots love WordPress blogs. Whether or not you actually implement any SEO (search engine optimization)strategies for your blog, using a WordPress blog will most likely get you more natural traffic than the other platforms such as Blogger and Typepad. If you do use WordPress, there are lots of great plugins that can help optimize your pages and give your SEO standing a boost. In this post I list 2 specific SEO plugins, although I hope to follow up regularly with other valuable plugins in the future.

All in One SEO Pack – This super popular plugin is streamlined for some of the best SEO practices on WordPress. It helps you optimize your titles, descriptions and keywords, as well as avoid duplicate content issues.

SEO Tag Cloud Widget – If you have a tag cloud, which for SEO purposes I suggest you do, this plugin will display the tag cloud in a SEO-friendly way, using html markup.

Getting your blog ranked on the search engines can be a long process, but small changes like these can help you get “Google Love” faster.

There are so many web hosting services out there that it’s hard to choose the best hosting for your and your site.

A lot of site owners shop their hosting by price. Budget is an important thing to consider, but since the differences in hosting prices are negligible, there are other features and more important factors to consider when choosing the perfect hosting for you.

1. Uptime and Reliability

No matter how much fancy features the hosting offers you, they are no good if the site is down in many parts of the day. Look for hosting services that guarantee uptime, and tell you exactly how they implement this promise.

2. Customer and Technical Support

Customer support in a web hosting service should be efficient and effective, as well as polite and responsive. If you are quickly answered when contacting your hosting service, that’s a good sign. However, prompt responses aren’t enough – the hosting’s support should also be able to actually solve your problems. So – look for a combination of efficiency and responsiveness.

3. Control

If the hosting service offering you a full, user-friendly control panel? Do you have all the access you need? Is it easy to find all the functions you require for running your website? Is there proper documentation and help articles? If the answer is YES to all of these questions – than you are in the right place. The situation is ideal if you have full control of your site and can manage it on your own – most of the time.

4. Backups

A good hosting will not only enable you to back up your files, but will also do it for you, periodically. Choose a hosting service that backs up regularly.

5. Server Features

Whether you require a Linux or Windows server will depend on what you plan to do with your site. Linux servers are often cheaper, ideal for CMS like WordPress and Drupal and are more stable. However, if you need to host ASP scripts then you have no choice but to look for a Windows web host. A good hosting service will offer both kinds of servers, and enable you to move between plans when necessary.

Business owners, web developers and bloggers often feel that even a moment of downtime for their website can be a life-altering event. That’s why they try to choose web hosting services that have guaranteed uptime, are known for their reliability and are committed to providing top notch service. These days, however, being a top web hosting services may be about more than just customer service – it’s about giving to others as well.

Hosting for Haiti is an initiative sponsored by the American Red Cross and some of the top web hosting providers who have joined together to provide Haiti relief to those who have suffered devastating loss in January 12th’s earthquake. If you are still looking for the ideal web host, why not consider one that gives back to its customers and to others as well? You can help Haiti in a myriad of ways, but one of the easiest ways to help Haiti is to choose a web hosting company that has already pledged its support. Among the participants in the Hosting for Haiti initiative are:

- HostGator
- Rackspace Hosting
- Laughing Squid
- Softlayer
- Peer1 Hosting
- Go Grid
- HostDime

And, of course, once your site is live, don’t be afraid to help Haiti by publicizing the Hosting for Haiti initiative or any other Haiti relief efforts – you may be surprised at how even a little publicity can help raise tremendous funds for this critical cause.

If you have a home computer that you use for email, research and the occasional Facebooking, you’ve probably never seriously considered investing in a home computer backup system.  Even if you use your computer for light typing, Excel spreadsheets or storing your children’s homework assignments backing up this information with a home computer backup may not be your first priority.  But if it isn’t, perhaps it should be.

It only takes a few moments for a fire to sweep through a house, destroying everything in its path.  Likewise, a virus can spread through your computer in minutes, destroying your files, deleting your data or corrupting your computer beyond repair.  And, while nobody enjoys thinking that these things may happen, the reality is that they do happen- and they happen with alarming frequency.

While it may be impossible to protect all of your belongings from a fire or other natural disaster, it is entirely possible to protect your data from being obliterated by a tragedy or virus infiltration.  Home data backup can be done entirely electronically, so that even if your physical computer or home is damaged, your data will remain entirely intact.

The great news about online data backup is that some home computer backup can be done for free.  iDrive, for example, offers up to 2GB of free storage, which means that if you don’t have too many files, you may be able to store all of your important information for free.  But, even if you are like most people and also want to backup your photos and music downloads, you can still enjoy home computer backup for an extremely reasonable price.  With few exceptions, storage packages for home data backup can be selected to match your usage, so that you needn’t pay for excessive GBs of storage that you’ll never use.  Interestingly, even unlimited home computer backup services can be affordable.  Carbonite, for example, offers unlimited storage for around $5/month, which is an extremely reasonable price considering the peace of mind that this home data backup provides.

If you think of home computer backup as insurance, you’ll see that it is a truly important addition to every home computer.  Just as you wouldn’t choose to live without homeowner’s (or renter’s) insurance to protect your physical property, you should never live without online data backup to protect your intellectual property.  Because even if a computer can be easily replaced, the data stored on it is likely irreplaceable.