Robert Goodwin asked:




Define Your Website Goals

Whether your website is a corporate website, an ecommerce website, a niche social media site or a totally new online business concept, you should put your website goals on paper.

Website goals should clearly state the purpose of your website and what the website should accomplish when someone visits your website.

The goals of an ecommerce website is different from a corporate website. One is a self-service purchase of products or services while the other will be more informational based.

You will some very specific goals for your website and they should be written down.

Create a Site Map

A site map can be as simple as an outline of the main pages your website will have and sub-pages you will have.

A typical small business site map will look like something like this:

Home

About Us

History Mission Statement Our Founder

Our Services & Products



Frequently Asked Questions



What Our Clients Are Saying



Request a Quote



Contact Us



Special Website Features

Special website features are capabilities your website will have beyond a standard website page. Special features typically include:

Form Pages – Sending form information by email and database capture. Newsletter Subscription – Automatic signup by visitors for email newsletters. Autoresponders – Automatic sending out of one or more emails in response to a request for more information, series of tips, online course, etc. Photo Gallery -  Slide show or thumbnails of product images. Shopping Cart – Ability to allow users to purchase products or services online. Flash Presentation – Audio and Video presentation to be downloaded or viewed within a website page. Registration and Login – Ability for customers or prospective customers to register and receive access to website pages and information not available to the general public. CMS (Content Management System) – Ability for you and your staff to update website pages, delete and add pages to the website through an Administration page. Knowledge Base – Support for products using a database and content management to offer many topics with support information for each. Survey – Series of questions which captures survey responses into a database. Trouble Ticket – System for customers to contact your support team to resolve issues, track responses and issue resolution. Online Operator (Chat) – System for chatting with potential customers and customers who have questions in real time. Project or Job Status – System for allowing customers to check on the current status of their job or project.

Approaches to Building Your Website

Even if you have a small website project, you should look for an expert to help you build your website. A website designer can save you both time and money, and help you with the many technical issues that you will encounter along the way.

Rent or Own? – There are some online website building sites that let you “rent” space on their server and create your own website using their software. This approach should only be used to build a quick website presence or to create a “prototype” of your website. Renting “Gotchas” – While the low monthly fees of a do-it-yourself website building website vendor are tempting, keep in mind you never really own your website. Later, when you decide to move your website or add more complex features to your website, you will find a rented website to be a major headache. Content Management – You should have a content management system for several reasons. Google likes content rich websites, and having an easy-to-use CMS will encourage you to add more content your website frequently, and free you from having a webmaster make update for you. Branding – Your website should reflect your branding. Make sure your logo and corporate color scheme is used in your website so all your marketing materials look like they belong to the same design family. Website Requirements – Before you hire a website designer, put all your website requirements on paper so there are few if any assumptions made about your website. For more complicated websites, be sure to put together a RFP (Request For Proposal) and ask several website design companies to give you a proposal. RFP – A Request For Proposal, if properly detailed, can help ensure you will have a proper response by several different website design companies so you can choose between several approaches to creating your website. Website Proposals – Evaluate all proposals to make sure the proposal fits your RFP or website requirements. Be wary of proposals that are extremely low or extremely high. Talk to the different vendors who respond to your RFP so you can get an idea of how well they communicate and what it will be like to work with them.

Get It In Writing

Be sure to have a formal agreement with your website designer and make sure you understand the agreement before you sign on the dotted line.

Out Clause – Make sure you have a way out of the agreement in case there are problems or you find your vendor delaying the project or not delivering what the proposal calls for. Website Ownership – Ideally, you should own all the website project files, graphics, website code and files upon completion of the website, but sometimes this is not spelled out in agreements. Hosting – Be careful if the website vendor is providing hosting. In the event you part company with your website designer, you will need full access to the hosting account in case you want to move the website to another hosting company in the future. Additional Charges – Your agreement should spell out how additional project requests are to be handled so you do not have unexpected charges after the fact. Time Line – Your website proposal should include a project plan and at least a simple week by week time line so you will know how long the project will take. Project Management – Who will be responsible for managing the project? Your website design company should do this, but if you hire a freelance resource you may be assuming some project management.

Building your website can be very challenging when you consider all the small pieces of the puzzle that have to fit together to make the project complete.

Working with a website design professional will make the process go faster and more smoothly, so you can focus on what you do best—running your company.

Lastly, if you have a large website project or one with many website features and custom programming, consider creating your website in phases. Focus on getting a basic website up and running in the first phase, then use one or more future phases to add additional features.



Web Hosting and Domain Registration

Jerry Chua asked:




Choosing a web host may be a difficult task for most people. This article will look at some of the factors you may want to take into account when looking for a web hosting provider. A good place to look for local web hosting providers is to go to the forums as they offer reviews on various providers and their offers.

Factors to select a web hosting provider

* Price

Although this is often regarded with the highest priority, we think otherwise. A majority of people will go for a company that providers cheap service without even researching online about its quality. Just think about this: If a company provide you with high performance server and superb customer service, why will it charge you cheaply for its service. It is important to note that although many providers seem to have amazing offers, it is rare for a provider to offer high quality service and a large amount of disk space and bandwidth, all at a low price. Therefore, when you are looking for a web hosting provider, remember there is a trade-off for features and high quality service. Disk space and bandwidth cost money, especially when bandwidth is very costly in countries like Singapore. 1 mbps corporate bandwidth can cost $150 to $250 per month, $0.50 to $1.00 per GB per month. We will all like to get a Porsche for a Hyundai or Kia price but unfortunately it is not possible.

If you offer a lot of disk space and bandwidth, it will be expensive for the provider unless they oversell.

* Server Performance

When you create a website, you need it to load fast for the visitors. Just think about this: will your visitor think if your website take more than 10 seconds to load another page. If you want to avoid the situation, ask the web hosting provider about the specifications of their servers when signing up. A web hosting provider ‘s website should never be slow to load. In addition, do ensure that they have backup hardware in case of any hardware failure.

* Customer Support

Check if the company provide 24 hours support. Just send a simple query to the company support team and wait for their response. If the company take too long to respond to your query, you will get to wait the same amount of time when you need the assistance urgently.

PS. Be aware that a number of “review” sites (and “top host” lists) are websites which are paid for advertising by web hosts – meaning that sometimes the “recommended” web hosts are ones who have paid to get the advertising and exposure.

Webmaster Articles

Ivan Project asked:




VPS stands for virtual private server. It is basically a method of distributing a server. Each VPS maintains its own OS (operating system). Another feature of this server is that it can be rebooted independently. This mechanism of distributing or breaking the service of a server is very much common in the Mainframe computers nowadays. But now, after introducing the concept of virtualization technologies and software, hosting companies are trying to use this old mechanism in a new way. If you want to establish an E-commerce website for doing some online business to make money then the first thing that you should do is to set-up a web server. Dedicated web servers are very much costly especially for the new comers. So, as a new comer, the best thing that you can do to minimize your operating cost is to set-up a cheap VPS. This server will also provide the dedicated hosting services to your website and in this way; you can better monitor and control the traffic of your website. This is not possible when you get some free hosting services for your newly opened websites because in this case you do not have full control over the traffic of your website. Even, if you try to get some dedicated hosting services to some repudiated hosting companies then it also cost a lot. So to set-up a cheap VPS is the best thing that you can do.

Advantages of cheap VPS:

There are lots of advantages of having the cheap VPS services. One of the main Advantages of this type of server is low set-up cost. The set-up and maintenance cost of this type of service is almost 3 times less than the hosting of some expensive Dedicated Server. By using this type of hosting services, you can save lots of money every month and can use this money to some other business operations. If you acquire the services of a local virtual hosting company then you can get much higher speed for your website. This thing is only useful if you have developed your website for a local community. Another great benefit of VPS for hosting companies is that through this type of Server, they can host a large number of websites by just one or fewer servers in affordable prices. As a website owner, you can control you websites in a much better way by acquiring the services of VPS. In addition, you can also install any type of application for your website by using an automated control panel that is allocated by the virtual hosting companies.

Some Drawbacks:

There are also some drawbacks of VPS. One the man problem that you can face is the low speed because some small hosting companies do not have its own control centers and just resell the services of other big hosting companies. Similarly, some virtual web hosting services cost some hidden charges for technical support so you must be aware of all these things.

For more information on linux vps and cheap vps visit: NQ Host



cheap web hosting

Shlomi Bustangi asked:




People with already active and trafficked websites and those who want to launch potential sites in the future are often sitting on moneymaking goldmines that they are not aware of. If you have ever asked, how can I make money on my web site, chances are the answers will surprise.

Answering the question of how do I make money on my web site does tend to involve situational responses. The best ideas for one launched site or a site that’s ready to be put into motion will not necessarily fit another web site. Enjoying the greatest amount of success does tend to hinge on the focus of the site in question.

Let’s take a look at some of the possible ways you might be able to answer for yourself the best way to make money on your site. The reality is, the potential answers to the question how do I make money on my web site are about as extensive as the number of niche websites on the Internet. Here are some questions and answers regarding different site scenarios and the potential moneymaking programs that can suit them:



I’ve been writing about video games online for a few years. My site generates a lot of traffic. How do I make money off my web site? An established site like this might be able to take advantage of targeted affiliate programs and come out with a very good income. It is also possible that advertising firms online would be willing to sell and place ads. Depending on the amount of traffic, an established site like this could actually command high paying advertisements.

I’m getting ready to launch a site dedicated to parenting triplets. What kind of revenue potential do I have?Answering the question of how do I make money on my web site for a yet to launch web site can be rather tricky. This particular scenario does present some interesting possibilities. The site’s focus will make it a rather unique niche. This can bode very well for affiliate program membership. Although generating ad sales would be initially difficult, if the niche takes off with traffic, chances are this will not remain the case. It is possible to start out small with search engine placed ads and work up to higher earning ads. If the site is properly updated, its content is useful, fun and appealing and efforts go into marketing, it could be a real winner.

I plan on launching a web site to sell my own products. Is it possible for me to make money on my web site in other ways, as well? There is nothing that would preclude you from putting search engine placed ads or even text link ads on the site. In some cases, affiliate program membership might still be open, as well. The question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you really want to tout other’s products or services on a site designed to sell your own goods.



If you’re asking the question how can I make money on my web site, chances are there are plenty of options available. Take the time to explore the potential and do consider options that best compliment the site in question.



web hosting forum

Joseph Nyamache asked:




It wasn’t long ago that building a home network was something which was only done by IT professionals and serious geeks. The cost and difficulty made it hard for anyone else to do. But things have changed since then.

Now, the costs of the equipment are far lower. Wireless gear is about the same price as is cabled network equipment; and a length of Cat 5 Ethernet cable costs no more than does an audio cable. Routers were once hundreds of dollars but can now be had for very little money indeed. At the same time, speeds have increased.

Both wireless and cabled networks have gotten better. Wireless was once only something done as an experiment; almost anything could knock out your network and the distance of these networks was quite limited. These networks can now easily provide networking for a three story home (as well as for your neighbors if it isn’t secured).

The best part is that it’s not only the cost which has come down; it’s also easier than ever to set up. The equipment now available has better documentation which makes it easy even for the less than technically skilled to set up a home network. The configuration is far easier and tools to troubleshoot problems are also simpler than they once were.

Your average person also knows a lot more about computers than they did even a few years ago. Everybody uses email now and is aware of a few networking terms (HTTP, ping, etc.). Routers and IP addresses are no longer the sole dominion of nerds.

People are also much more aware of security issues than once was the case. Thousands of pages have been written about fraud and identity theft due to poor computer security, making people better informed about the issue. While they may not follow every security procedure recommended by experts, they are at least aware of the risks. Most of us have had a computer virus by now, so we all know why it’s important to protect our computers and home networks.

The biggest problem for many people is simply familiarizing themselves with the technical terms involved in networking; NICs, protocols and so on. Once that barrier is overcome, it’s pretty easy to do the rest. Internet connection sharing, once a difficult task is a simple matter today – there is a little research, maybe a little troubleshooting and you’re good to go.

So if you’re interested in building a home network, then get going and start connecting all of those computers in your home together. You’ll easily be able to set up file and print sharing. You won’t need to pass files in your household via email and CDs. You’ll have better security and you’ll be able to do all the stuff which only the pros could do a few years ago; that’s the best part of all.

 



3D Domain Registration

Rikki L asked:


Yahoo recently acquired Flickr and I already have a website that is hosted by Yahoo. I can’t find any information on how to incorporate the two. Does anyone know?

web hosting directory

Brainpulse asked:




Once you are through with the process of optimizing your website, the next big thing you wish to perform is judging the overall performance of your efforts .i.e. your website. After all, it is all about gauging your well-planned SEO strategies that have been focused to accomplish better performance and a high ranking on major search engines. Every search engine optimization campaign is devised with the objective of gaining top rankings on the search engine results pages. However, to actually attain your most preferred position on the search engine index, it is mandatory for you to understand and then implement the important performance metrics that are responsible for getting your website at the top spot and also help you uphold your position on the search engine results page.

Mentioned below are some of the most important metrics that you need to assess while viewing the overall SEO performance of a website.

Rankings: The main motive behind the purpose of getting the top most ranks on the search engines is actually exposing your website to a much bigger and more potential customer base. In fact, this is the reason why it is believed that your ranking is directly proportional to the quality of traffic that your website receives.  Moreover, better quality traffic ensures better prospects of conversions.

Traffic: Traffic referred by search engines is of no use if it does not deliver your targeted visitors. Hence, receiving heavy volume traffic is worthless if it does not carry your potential customers. To maximize traffic conversion, the website owner has to be very specific and particular about his keywords; a website must contain all well researched and most sought-after keywords. Statistically, it is basically the rate of conversion that measures and decides the success rate of a particular website. As an important metric for measuring the SEO success of your website, it is critical that you utilize the right set of keywords and bring the right kind of traffic to increase your conversions.

Conversions: Conversion rate is very important to evaluate a site’s SEO performance. Conversions are actually the number of visitors acting upon your desired action such as buying your product or registering to your site. It can be openly associated with take rates or interest levels of the visitors. Hence, in order to improve your conversion rate, it is quite mandatory for you to work on improving your take rates as well. In fact, things that can improve your conversion rates are concise and easy to understand online forms, protecting personal and confidential information, simple navigations and etc.

Take Rates: And finally, the take rate, which is basically, the percentage of visitors showing interest in your product or service. However, this rate does not indicate that all visitors will eventually turn into buyers. It only provides an estimation of people actually interested in your business.



web hosting forum

Gary Zivkovich asked:




Wireless web cameras transmit the picture by utilizing the radio signals or through the network.

If you like to purchase the web camera than it is essential to consider proper device to get the details about the web camera. It is essential to go through the specifications to get the details about the web camera available in the market.

Here are some important things to be considered to get the proper wireless web camera.

1. It is essential to know the based of the wireless webcams. You need to consider types of monitor you have. It is important to select the wireless webcam based on the design of the monitor. In the modern time most of the people are using the flat panel monitor to get the suitable web camera. In the market the web camera are not available in only for flat monitor. It is also available for CRT monitor too. Therefore it is important to select the wireless web camera according to the design.

2. The second important one is the lens of the camera. It is essential to select the proper size (PIXEL) lens as per your needs. It is important to select either plastic or glass lens. The glass lens gives proper quality images rather than the plastics. The lenses are available in manual or automatic design so you need to select the lens as per your needs.

3. The wireless web camera is use for communication purposes so it is necessary that you need to select the camera with in-built wireless microphone.

4. The wireless web camera uses AC power or batteries. It is up to you to select the option of power supply. If you purchase the battery operated webcam than you need to charge or replace the batteries at certain time.

5. The frame rate is one of the important criteria for selection of wireless webcam. The normal webcam can produce 24 images per second. The high frame rate (of 30 or more frame rate) camera is also available too.



Expred Domain Search

Cindy asked:




When you are having a website, you would understand that it is actually difficult to operate it well. You have to compete with millions of other websites on the internet and you have to work hard to update the content on the website in order to keep customers visiting. Without persistent work, you would surely fail to have a successful website.

If you operate a website just for fun, it would be fine because you could actually close the website and quit the web hosting world. But if you are operating a website for your own business, you could not quit indeed. You have spent money to invest in the business and you have selected the internet as the medium for you to promote the products.

If you quit, everything would be wasteful and you would not be able to get the money back. You would have wasted the time and effort in operating the business and you would surely feel that the world is gloomy because you may become penniless.

Thus, you have to learn how to find the best web hosting plan. If you can get one of the best web hosting companies to work for your website, you would actually save a lot of time and effort in tackling the problems that you encounter during the process. It is because the best web hosting companies would try to provide you with a lot of helps.

They would use video tutorials to give you insights in the web hosting process. With FAQ sections, you may also solve simple questions indeed. Therefore, you actually do not need to worry if you have met one of the best web hosting companies.

If you find some difficult problems and you could not solve them using the videos tutorials or the FAQ sections, you may even use live chat methods to contact the web hosting service support team. This is one of the things that the best web hosting company would provide to customers. If you find that the web hosting company could not give you this kind of customer support 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, you should not join them.

Moreover, you should understand that money-back guarantee is important to show that the web hosting companies are the best web hosting companies. The web hosting world is actually full of competitors and it is difficult for one to survive. If a company is willing to give you back the money when you are not satisfied with the quality of services, it actually shows that the web hosting company is confident. They know that you would not quit the plan so they would not actually need to return the money to you.

Yes, if you look at the web hosting plans from different companies carefully, you would see that some web hosts would not provide this kind of guarantee and some would not provide a long period of guarantee. Normally, good web hosting companies would provide a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the period of guarantee is less than this, you have to think twice before you actually join those plans.



Webmaster Articles

lucy de-vere asked:




Looking for dedicated servers?  There is a superb net deal at the moment where when you buy, you can get 1 dedicated server and another dedicated server free here.

A dedicated server is wanted by companies, businesses and website owners, for big websites or if they want more control and less risk in their hosting package than what may come with a shared hosting package.

There are a few suppliers of such managed hosting packages and getting a good deal on this type of hosting is well worth hunting out.

With the buy one get one free server offer, you simply select a server from the list that you want, and then select another server from the list equal or less in value on the second list and that becomes your free server.

With a selection including single processors including; Conroe E4400 1.86Ghz, Conroe E7400 2.8GHz, Conroe E6600 2.4GHz, Xeon X3220 2.4Ghz and Core i7 2.66/2.8Ghz.

Also dual processor servers; HP DL140 Dual Xeon 5160 3.0Ghz, Dual Xeon 5680 3.33Ghz, Dual Xeon 5130 2.0Ghz, Dual Xeon 5670 2.93Ghz, Dual Xeon E5335 2.0Ghz, Dual Xeon E5405 2.0Ghz, Dual Xeon 5650 2.66Ghz, Dual Xeon 5660 2.80Ghz, Dual Xeon E5504 2.0Ghz, Dual Xeon E5520 2.26Ghz, Dual Xeon E5620 2.4Ghz,

Other processors servers include; Pentium 4 2.4Ghz, HP DL380 Dual Xeon 2.8 GHz, HP DL380 Dual Xeon 3.06 GHz, Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, HP DL380 Dual Xeon 3.06 GHz, Pentium 4 3.0Ghz, HP DL380 Xeon 2.8 GHz, Dual Xeon 2.8Ghz, Dual Xeon 2.8Ghz, Dual Xeon 3.06Ghz, Dual Xeon 3.06Ghz, Pentium 4 2.4Ghz, Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, Pentium 4 3.0Ghz, HP DL380 Xeon 2.8 GHz, HP DL380 Dual Xeon 2.8 GHz.

There is a fair range of Dual and Pentium, HP and Xeon servers to choose from, to get this coupon deal, you need to act quickly here for BOGOF Dedicated Server.



3D Hosting Web