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Apr 21 2010

Don’t Forget the Web Design

Published by under Website Creation

I often talk about promoting a website and doing proper SEO. However, there are other things to consider when creating an site. It must be appealing to the viewer or they will not stay on the site for long.

Designing an attractive website depends on who you are trying to reach. For example, I am mainly a blogger so my audience is readers of my related topic. However, many web entrepreneurs create full business sites or other product related sites designed to sell something. For these types of sites, one may need to hire a professional. It is often advisable to find one in your sate so for me I would look for a New York web design company.

There are many professional web designers so it is important to find everything you can about the company you decide to hire. Check out their portfolio and look at their designs to see how they rate compared to what you are looking for. Next, make sure you carefully look at their testimonials and see what their other customers are saying and if they are happy with the service.

Webmasters need to remember, SEO is very important but it is what people see when they come to your site that determines if they ever return. A well designed site with all the looks of a professional business will draw people in and keep them coming back.

14 responses so far

Sep 13 2008

Web Hosting Made Easy

Published by under Webmaster Advice

Building your first website is fun and exciting. You have tons of ideas of what you should do and how to go about it. You plan for the big launch by finding the right domain name, writing some good content, planning how to monetize it, and then you get to the point of where do you get web hosting.

There are thousands of web hosting companies that are willing to take your money. However, many fall short on performance. With the many choices out there, it is easy to find Cheap Web Hosting. To do so, you must do your research and read all the fine print. All prices should be clearly marked and there should be no hidden fees.

The first thing you want to look for is the company’s uptime. This should be at least 99.8%. This is the amount of time your site will be live and ready for your customers or visitors. Every hosting company out there has a time or two in their life that they go down for either maintenance or from no fault of their own. This should not be often because if it is, your site will not be viewable for those times and you will lose visitors.

The next step is to evaluate what features you need and if the plan you are looking at offers those features. Fir example, if you are hosting a lot of scripts like Word Press or a forum, you need My SQL databases for each. You need to know how many you need so you can make sure your package offers those.

The third step is to see if they allow additional domains hosted on the same account and also how many sub domains. This is very important if you plan to host many sites on one account. It would suck to buy a hosting account with the intention of hosting five blogs and find out you are limited to just one or two.

The fourth step is to look at the additional services offered. One important feature is Fantastico. It is system that allows you to easily add many of the most popular scripts and programs such as Word press, PHPBB and more. If you are like me, I hate to install scripts. That is the reason I always make sure my host offers this feature.

Also make sure the host is up to date on the latest PHP and others. If it is not listed, do not be afraid to ask questions. If they respond quickly, this is a good sign that they will have great support. The more research you do up front, the less hassle you will have later. If you do not know what to ask, check around and ask friends or fellow webmasters what you should ask. There are no stupid questions when it comes to buying web hosting. The only stupid thing is not asking first.

The final step and one of the most important I will mention is the price. Be sure to read carefully. Some host offer by the month but require a year worth of payments. Other hosting companies charge strictly by the month. If you are lucky to find a quality host that has a flat yearly rate, you can often find a great deal. Be extra careful to buy the package that is right for your needs. If you are starting a blog and have no intentions of doing more than that, you do not need the top package. However, if you plan to do several sites or buy or sell sites, it might be wise to look at the reseller packages; no these are not just if you are selling web hosting. I have a reseller package and never sell a single web hosting package.

There is much more that can be written on looking for web hosting. I have written many some post on this blog and will continue to in the future. It is not rocket science but you also have to be smart. Doing your homework and lots of research will prevent you from pulling out your hair later because something went wrong. Being a webmaster is rewarding and having a quality host along side you for the ride is even better.

If you find this article useful, please feel free to link to it and leave a comment or two. Webmasters helping other webmasters is what this blog is all about!

6 responses so far

Jul 20 2008

Road to Riches

Published by under Webmaster Advice

The biggest dream that most webmasters have is to earn lots of money and become rich. They seek the next big trend and they look for that magic eBook that will tell them how to make millions. The truth is, there are very few d who become rich.

Looking for your dream in a $19.95 eBook is useless. I have read many and reviewed a few and most the information is so vague and does nothing but earn money for the author or seller of the eBook. Very few people who have truly became rich will take the time to sell an eBook. Rich people are not willing their secret methods for small amounts of money unless their system is no longer working well. Think about it, if you were making $5,000-$10,000 a day, why would you sell that idea to others? Most times the idea is a possibility to earn money but no proven track record. The author does not want to take the time and energy to try it out so they make their money by writing an eBook.

I once read and reviewed a eBook on a not so well known referral program. The book was well written and gave you tools to help with the program. However, the author had not made money from it and it was purely a possibility. This is common in many eBooks.

I can tell you how to make millions of dollars on any affiliate program. Basically, you have to have targeted traffic and get lots of sign-ups and sales. That sounds too simple, doesn’t it? Well it is not that simple but many of the eBooks will make it sound like that. They fail to tell you that millions of others are competing for the same sale or sign-up. They fail to tell you that you will be spending a lot of time and in many cases money for advertising just for the chance to make money.

I am not saying you can not get rich. I am not saying that you can’t pull a nice above average income from being a webmaster. What I am saying is that it takes lots of work, sometimes a lot of risk, and at all times it takes patience. The people who tell you that you can build a site and put it on auto pilot while you sit on the beach of your private island are feeding you a long of BS. You will not get rich overnight! It takes time. In many cases, it takes a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time.

Be a website or blog owner because you enjoy it. Look for every opportunity for making money but make the best website or blog you can. There is  money to be made but you have to be willing to open your eyes and not fall for every get rich quick scheme that comes along. Follow your dreams not the dreams of others!

If you have a success story to share or some words of encouragement for other webmasters, please leave a comment for others to read.

One response so far

Jul 08 2008

Google Is Not God

Published by under Google,Webmaster Advice

Google offers some of the best webmaster tools in the business. Without a doubt, they are the leader when it comes to Internet search and webmaster related stuff. However, wake up webmasters, Google is not a God.

I am a member at many webmaster forums and I am always seeing threads started asking of this or that is allowed by Google. Some stuff is related directly to Google’s services like Adsense and Adwords. However, many times webmasters are asking what they can or can not do on their own site. You, the webmaster, own the site! Google may lower your search rankings but with the right marketing and advertising, that will not mean the end of your website.

Look at John Chow’s blog. He does not even rank for the words “John Chow.” His blog is still one of the most profitable on the Internet. I am not saying you should not try to rank high on Google. I am not saying you should say, “FU Google.” What I am trying to say is that your site should be built for you and your readers, not for Google. You should not spend your whole time worrying rather anything you say or do is going to have you removed from Google.

Truth be told, they need us as much as we need them. Their rules are generally fair and try to prevent spam sites from reaching the top. If you are an ethical webmaster, there should never be a problem. If you are trying dishonest tricks to beat out the competition, you may get caught.

Be the best webmaster you can and do all the honest link building and advertising you can and your website will be successful. Above all, remember, Google is not a God!

4 responses so far

Jun 23 2008

BDominant SEO Company

Published by under Search Engine Optimization

I was recently chatting with a friend of mine who has been a webmaster for quite a few years. We were debating between using a professional SEO service or doing all the work yourself. He made a valid point that often times these professional companies know little things that we have either not learned yet or are beyond most common webmaster’s knowledge. For that reason, he went with a Long Island SEO company to do SEO for his newest website.

This is a friend I respect so I asked for the website of the company and I checked out their site. They offer SEO Services to help a website or blog reach its greatest potential. They offer services that are integrated with a combination of what has worked for years along with the newest SEO techniques. Unlike many SEO companies, BDominant has a real address and phone number for easy contact. They also offer an online form to contact them for quotes and more information.

They promise results in as little as three months and they are a very professional company to deal with. Since my friend was pleased with them, I decided to share the companies with my readers so that they have another option when looking for SEO services. Please come back and let us know if you use them by leaving a comment in this post.

One response so far

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