Tag Archives: Website Hosting

Keep all Software, CMS, Plugins Up To Date

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Keep all Software, CMS, Plugins Up To DateWe have talked a lot about having great content on your sites. The content needs to be original and interesting or informative for readers. However there is another area that is equally important and that is, keep all software, CMS, plugins up to date. Why? There are multiple reasons why web designers and web site operators need to pay attention to. Security of your site is up to date and known vulnerabilities are dealt with. Website responsiveness is maximized. Functionality is also improved every time you upgrade. Let’s explore these issues in a little more detail.

Keep all Software, CMS, Plugins Up To Date

The writer recently updated this blog to use PHP7.1 from 5.4. The hosting provider had updated their servers to support multiple levels of PHP and was sending messages to indicate that website owners should take advantage of this upgrade. better processing speed, better security, and improved functionality were suggested.

The first test involved upgrading and trying to access my websites. A white screen was presented so obviously something was not working. After checking the error logs, it was obvious that an outdated plugin was to blame. Reverting back to an older version of PHP corrected the problem.

The next step involved finding new plugins with the same functionality which also supported the latest level of CMS(content management system) and PHP. Two plugins needed changing since there were no updates for the plugins I was currently using.

Once the new plugins were installed and configured, I was able to upgrade to PHP7.1 with no problems at all. All sites worked well and the new plugins had more functionality than the old ones did.

The site appeared to run much faster as well, although I have not fully tested this on all my sites. The final step was to test each site to ensure that they were working properly for desktop presentation as well as on mobile devices.

The moral of the story is to Keep all Software, CMS, Plugins Up To Date to ensure that security is not compromised and that your site runs smoothly.

For more posts about web hosting, click here.

Monitoring Host Responsiveness

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Web for Small BusinessIn today’s environment, consumers expect an instant response as they visit various web sites. Read posts, purchase various items, and browse web site looking for information. Monitoring host responsiveness can pay dividends if you speed up response time.

Studies have shown that many consumers will wait at most 10 seconds before they will move onto another website. Even 10 seconds seems to be a very long time.

In this environment, it is even more important to spend some time monitoring host responsiveness.  Response time can be impacted by a number of different factors. There are a number of areas that can be monitored and improved.

Monitoring Host Responsiveness

Apps and Widgets – all of the apps and widgets that have been installed on your server will take milliseconds of time. Some have more overhead than others. WordPress is a popular content system with many widgets that can be added. It is a good idea to conduct a study after every new widget or app is added to determine the impact that it may be having on load time.

Latest Operating System – will ensure that your server is running with the latest software which should be optimized for the server as well as the overall system.

Network Connectivity – Once the server has prepared the page to be sent, the data must travel through many routers and networks. As many as 20 network elements could be involved in order to be received by the client. Most web site managers have little control over the network. You can run tests from time to time. Evaluate how much time is consumed by the network in transmitting your content.

Complex pages with Images – The more complex the page and the larger the images etc. are, the longer it will take to compile the page and send it. Evaluate your content. Make sure that files and images are kept to as small a size as possible to limit total response time.

 

Business Hosting for Web Sites

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Business Hosting for Web SitesSmall Business Hosting for Web Sites is critical for any business since this is really part of your advertising budget. As with all advertising, it is very important to make sure that your advertising is as effective as it can possibly be. What does this mean in terms of designing your website? There are a lot of technical details that the experts must take into account. However, we will discuss a few of the more important elements that any business must consider when they set up their business web site for the first time.

Business Hosting for Web Sites – Domain Name & Hosting

Choosing a domain name is almost as important as choosing the name of your company. This name will be synonymous with your company and will be how it becomes known online as well as with your customers. It should be easy to remember so that customers do not even need to look it up when they want to return. Selecting a hosting company is important as well since you want a company that has a well-managed traffic system, is on top of servers that are under stress, and has a strong security program to deal with spam attacks.

Business Hosting for Web Sites – Function

What is the function of the web site? Is this pure advertising? Is it designed to be the go-to site for your customers to find information about your products and services? Can customers place orders from your web site and issue comments and even trouble tickets for whatever you are selling them? Deciding early about these questions will drive the overall design and provide you with a better set of expectations for timing and cost.

Business Hosting for Web Sites – Marketing

Another point to consider is that this web site is your marketing site. It is the online presence for your company and it should provide the information your customers need to learn about your products and services, draw them in and convert them to customers who purchase your products.

Business Hosting for Web Sites – Keep it Fresh

It is also important to continuously update your content and keep it fresh so that the search engines have something new to index and see your website as a dynamic site with changing content. Better indexing leads to more visits and more customers. In addition, your customers need to know that your site is up to date. It must have the most current information about your products and services. You may want to have someone assigned to keep your site up to date and current within your company based on a schedule that has been developed.

Small Business Web Hosting Companies

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small-business-web-hosting-companiesDo you run a small business and need an inexpensive hosting site to launch your business web site,? We can set you up with a five-page site and blogging platform that allows you to do your own updates at a very low price.  If you need us to help with updates and changes we are also available to provide assistance. This is our starter package for customers who are not sure of exactly what they wish to place on the web. Or perhaps just need a few pages of content. If you need more content, we would be pleased to discuss your needs. Check out our prices and services. Your costs will be kept to a minimum while you develop your strategy for an online presence. We focus on Small Business Web Hosting Companies and their needs.

Reduce Your Overall cost of being Online

Small businesses can save money by taking this approach and avoiding thousands in costs for hosting and web site maintenance while making their job easier and less costly.

WordPress blogs are very easy to use, maintain, and keep up to date. If you already have a domain name, your company’s website can be up and running in 24 hours. Just point your domain at the URL we provide and your website will be live. Once we set it up for you and initiate your first few pages we can continue adding content for you or the web owner can take over. WordPress is easy to use and is much like using MS Word for example with a few twists. we can help you get set up and started and then provide support to you as needed.

Small Business Web Hosting Companies – Confirm your Cost

Check out our rates as well for basic page and post creation. Our rates are very reasonable. Once a web page is created, business owners can also make their own adjustments and updates if desired. The choice is yours. We offer flexibility and inexpensive business web sites. This is one of the most inexpensive and easiest ways to build your own companies website.

Don’t let someone try to tell you that a web site is a complicated process and only the experts can do it for you charging thousands of dollars. It is much simpler than that unless you have a sophisticated eCommerce site in mind.  Most business owners just need something to establish their presence on the internet and bring customers to their main business. We can help you with this challenge and make it easy and inexpensive for you at the same time.

Call or email us today for more information! Our rates are surprisingly low for the value you receive.

Professional Web Site Design

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Professional Web Site DesignThere are probably as many opinions about professional website design as there are websites on the internet. Some people believe they should be flashy with lots of catchy pictures and colors. While others are much more conservative and frankly boring.  The bottom line is really determined by the owner of the website and the customers/clients/ readers or visitors think of the site and whether they come back for whatever reason.

Professional Web Site Design

Basic Functionality of a WebSite

The basic functionality of a site should include what services or products your company provides, where you are, and how to contact you. You will be able to include the URL on your business cards and people will be able to find you on the internet if they search specifically for your name or your company’s name.

Delivery Information

Your website can also deliver information. This can include sales promotions, information about new products, new staff members, and general information about the company. The sky is the limit in terms of what you may want to provide on your company’s professional website.

Increase the Customer Relationship

Providing social networking links, accepting and monitoring comments by customers, and adding testimonials are just a few of the things that can be added in this area. Basically, you are attempting to create customer loyalty in this area of your website. Customers might subscribe to a Twitter feed, a Facebook page, or an RSS feed to keep abreast of some of the products and services that you offer.

Full E-commerce Site

One of the next stages is creating a full e-commerce site that customers can interface with and order products and services. They should be able to pay for what they order and be able to also follow up and review the status of the order. This is a major step up from a basic site requiring much more in terms of design and back-office support.

Decide What the Objectives Are

Before you begin, we urge all customers to assess what their objectives are. A basic site represents your company. It is the online version of your storefront. It needs to be accurate, it needs to be pleasing to the eye without being complicated or gaudy, and it should deliver whatever you need it to deliver to your customers. Give some thought to what you are trying to achieve. You do not need a Cadillac design when you just want the basic information out there.

Hire the Right Company to Design Your WebSite

Most companies can set up basic websites and provide hosting. Not all companies can set up a detailed e-commerce site for prices that you can afford. Knowing your objectives and deciding what you need ahead of time will help a great deal.

Focus on Getting the basic Information to Your Readers

Start by getting the basic information to your readers. Spend the time you need to obtain the right domain name. The website design can always be upgraded at some future time. The domain name is the online version of your company’s name. It should, in some manner, be related to your company or the products and services the company provides.

Check out our services and prices here if you need help setting up your company or personal website. Click here

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Professional Web Site Services

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Professional Web Site ServicesMost small business customers are looking for a basic web site. It should come across in a professional manner without having to spend a lot of money to develop it. They want something they can link their customers to. They want an URL that they can show on their business cards. A site that they can easily update from time to time. They may or may not link to the social side of the internet with Twitter and Facebook. That is ok, it can come later once they see the value of these sites.

Professional Web Site Services

A professionally design site may look great, be a nice clean site providing all of the basic information, but it may not be easily found unless your customers have the exact address to type into their browsers. You really want to make sure the site can be found.  Without adequate search engine indexing and advertising your site will not be easily found by any new customers.

Online advertising is one method to use. Google for example provides a service that a website owner can use to advertise their site on other customers web sites. It is called Google AdWords and works very well. However, there is a cost to it based on the number of times your advertisement is clicked on. It is best to set up a monthly budget for advertising if you plan to use this approach. Ensure that your costs are kept to a reasonable level.

Professional Web Site Services – SEO

Search engine optimization or SEO also works. This page is an example of what is needed to increase the indexing of a site, in this case, our site. Google and Yahoo as well as Bing use various algorithms to figure out what information to display. Always have great original content that provides information to the searcher in the area they are looking for. The search engines will rank your site higher. They will show your information on the first page of search results. If you are down on the 50th page, you will never be seen and no one will come to your site.

Contact Us For More Information

Social networking such as Twitter and Facebook pages and tweets can be set up to increase your company’s exposure. A company’s web site can obviously go far beyond the basic 5-page web site that provides contact information, where to find you, the services offered, etc. however if you are looking to get started with a basic web site which can evolve to something more complex later on, contact us via our contact page for more information. Click here.

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Web Designer for Small Business

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Web Designer for Small BusinessMany small businesses know they need a web site. But they feel they cannot afford to hire a web designer to set up a web site for them. They really do not understand the costs involved. Many look at having a website as something they should have. But it may not be considered as part of their core business activities or core advertising business.

In this post, we decided to provide three examples of small businesses that needed a web site and the solution that they eventually went with for their business. All wanted the basic information to be online so they could refer their customers to the sites for more information, they wanted to be able to add the URL to their business card and they hoped to gain customers through their web site from visitors that found them on the internet. When they advertised using traditional models, they would also list the web site.

Electrician and Residential Gas Fitter

This customer really only wanted five pages initially with all of the basic information about his company and the services they provided. He wanted to add some pictures as well that showed some of the installations that he worked on along with testimonials from his customers. This was easily accomplished for him and other than the initial fee to set up the website, he only needs to pay the annual domain name fee and the hosting account fee.

Since we used a blog engine, we also set him up so that he could add pages or blog posts himself and he could also update existing material as his business changed. This was a really attractive advantage to him since he did not want to pay for updates to pages or adding pages. He had a very limited budget and this met his objectives.

Unfortunately, his web site is not ranked very high by the search engines since it is not SEO optimized. There are simply not enough pages with keywords that people usually use to search for the services he offers. At the present time, he is satisfied with that and will continue with his current arrangement.

Ski Club

While this is technically not a business, they have many of the same requirements that the above customer needed. Inexpensive and limited update costs were paramount. This site is used to keep members informed about trips and membership updates. There are only 5 or 6 pages that need to be updated. They want to be able to also make their own updates.

They already have a domain name, but no hosting location. Their budget is even more limited. They are presently looking for free hosting and someone to update their pages for them. They are still thinking about the services that are provided and that they need as well as looking for free hosting which one of their members may be able to provide. Again, they are willing to work on the content and just need the basic website structure to be put in place which a content management system such as WordPress can provide.

Word of Mouth Lawn Care Provider

Another potential customer has been offering lawn care services in the area for many years. He is trying to decide if he wants to increase his business or keep it at the present level. He does not have a web site and relies on word of mouth for his business advertising.

While this works for him at the present stage he is at. He knows he needs a web designer for his small business. He also needs a domain name, hosting account, and a web blog that would be easy for him to upkeep.

Although the costs are very low, he is trying to decide what his business strategy will be.  Before he takes the next step should he try to turn his part-time business into a larger full-time business? This will involve personal commitments that he is not sure he is ready for.

For more information about our services and our costs for those services, click here. We can help you with your website requirements.

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SEO Firms in Ottawa

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SEO Firms in OttawaThere are many SEO Firms in Ottawa that have recently hung out their shingle online and are advertising their capabilities to anyone that will listen. Another has joined the fold, Calgary SEO Specialists and you wonder why should I even consider these guys especially when they are not even from the area. Well, there are a number of reasons that you may consider, all of which are important when it comes to making business decisions on how you will spend your marketing and advertising dollars. SEO marketing is the reason.

Too many of these companies focus only on SEO i.e. get the search engines to index your page and list you in the top 10 search results. Calgary SEO Specialists also focuses on the marketing side of the job as well. Not only do you want someone to come to your site, but you also want them to call your company or buy your products. Conversion of the searcher into a customer is were it really counts. That’s what SEO Firms in Ottawa focus on.

Local SEO Firms in Ottawa

The first point that should be considered is that we have a local presence so although our name is Calgary SEO Specialists, we have a local member of our team who has been building Web sites for many years and in particular following SEO guidelines to attract traffic to their web sites. They have also been involved in marketing activities throughout their career and bring this expertise to the design of the site and the content that will be added to your site. This is a specialized business and it is important to hire someone who understands the business and not just someone who talks SEO.

Web Marketing

Secondly, what you are really looking for is web advertising or marketing. SEO is just the technical way that one implements a web site to achieve better results from an advertising perspective. If the company that you hire does not understand this nuance, chances are that you may have a great looking web site, but no one is going to visit it. SEO Firms in Ottawa do understand these issues.

Have you ever wondered why your web site never appears on the first page of search results? Then some guy comes along and builds a web page with your companies name in it. They do a search showing how he got you on the first page. Sure he got you on the first page. He used your companies name or a unique phrase that no one will ever search for!

SEO Catch Phrase

The objective is to use phrases that people commonly search for. The objective is to get you on the first or second page of those search results. There is a scientific method for making this happen. If you are on the first page you stand a much better chance of having customers select your web page! Next, you need a great catchphrase right at the front that is displayed with the search results. Now you are on the first page. You have the best catchphrase which attracts customers to your web site and not the competition! This is what makes them chose your site over the other 9 results that are displayed on the page.

This is what SEO is all about. Only firms with the experience can really put it all together to provide this type of service and results together. In fact, Calgary SEO Specialists are so confident of the service provided that they do not even ask for a contract or a down payment. They do suggest that you give it three months to see the results before making a decision. There are a variety of service levels and pricing to choose from. The services offered are fully outlined on their web site along with testimonials. There are even keyword studies that have been completed for various customers.

Check us out and give us your full consideration. Spending your money is always a decision that is taken carefully, regardless of the business that you are in. With web marketing using an SEO firm with experience is always a better way to go.

For more information about our services and pricing, take a moment, and visit their web site. Click here for more information.

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