Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Websites 101---Hosting your domain

If you're a small business owner the costs that come with your website can become a bit confusing. Often the beginner will wet their feet on a website that is included with their cable or DSL service. The first site may not even include your own domain or "your_company.com."

Later you discover that your needs have graduated to having your own .com. Moving your website up to your own business site may include the following:


  • Domain Registration--this is the fee to register the name that you give your website; i.e. your_company.com. No other company can register a domain name exactly like yours. The fee you pay for registration is around $10.00 per year and needs to be renewed or it will expire and be available to someone else. 
  • Hosting---hosting is where your site resides. Websites are placed on servers(on computers just like yours only with special programs) that are constantly on the internet. You can take your domain and move it to any hosting provider that fills your needs. Hosting fees differ with the services offered. Often you can start with a cheaper provider but find your needs grow with your online presence. Some considerations when choosing a hosting provider may be:
    • Service---how responsive are they when you have problems?
    • Programming--what kind of programs are available on their servers for you to use?
    • Security---if you're collecting customer data you'll want to know it is safe. Larger e-commerce sites may need a dedicated server. 
    • Space and band size---what are the allotments and how much will satisfy your needs?
    • Up time/Down Time---all servers need maintenance every now and then. How is this handled?
Navigating through the maze of hosting and domain choices can be daunting and time consuming. A good web consultant can make this task an easy one and have your business generating leads and products online in no time.  

Monday, July 25, 2011

Why bring your business to the web?

Over the past week I've spent a lot of time promoting my business to local businesses in an attempt to drum up some business in this somewhat tough economic climate.

I don't know that I've made any sales, but I have located some local sources for products that I might have purchased over the internet because I was unable to find them locally from an internet search.

My local grocery quit carrying an herb that I like to use in my cooking, savory. Preferring to buy local produce when available, I'd been searching all over for the tasty seasoning. I started my search on the internet. Performing a search on my home city, Valparaiso, Indiana and herbs/savory. I tried both Google and Bing, and with no results, I searched Yahoo. The closest place I found was a business in Ohio. I bookmarked the site and decided to search locally on foot.

Most people today would order from the online source if a local business does not appear on the search. Last week I found the local business, that just happened to carry other items that I had been looking for also.

Turns out that the business had been there for years but I would have missed it had I not been our promoting my services. And that is why your business needs to be on the web.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

New site is launched

The new Blue Heron Moon Web Consulting website was launched this week. We've included samples of e-commerce sites for small businesses and links to our photography portfolio. Our prices are reasonable and can be customized to your needs.

There's even  an area where you can view a testament to our service. We're celebrating our anniversary--so mention this blog and receive 10% off of a service through the end of August 2011.

What we can do for you:


  • Assist with templates and fixes on current sites
  • New web solutions and design
  • Set up e-commerce for retail needs
  • Photography
  • Logo Work
  • Search Engine Optimization
In these economic times you can't afford to neglect the web as a revenue resource. Keep us in mind---for great service, at reasonable rates. Visit us at www.blueheronmoonwebco.com today.  

Monday, July 18, 2011

Copyrights

There has been a lot of talk around the internet and government lately about copyrights. Over the weekend a fellow blogger searched on the first twenty or so words of a blog post. The resulting search indicated that those same identical words had been repeated over and over again with no credit whatsoever back to the original blog or writer.

Even worse are the comics, art, and photos that are pilfered without due credit. These are folks that make their living from their creations. Stealing from these folks is stealing their ability to provide a living for themselves.

And this kind of thing is also bringing regulation to the internet; something that, I believe, all who use the internet regret; once the regulation begins who knows where it will stop.

So if there is something good that needs to be shared let's link it back to its creator; you'll probably make a new contact, customer, or collaborator in the process...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Images

Having issues with your images on your website? Here are a couple of tips and  two really great tutorial sites to check out:


  • Make sure you complete your alt attributes--these are for sight impaired folks or for visitors that have issues loading images. The alt will explain what the picture would show if it could be seen.
  • For the mouse over information that you would like to impart to the visitor complete the title attribute. For example you can show a picture of a certain product and the title could produce a  mouse-over with the pertinent information; even model number and price.
A really cute and informative website demonstrating the wonderful things that you can do with images is  images css. What fun! And check out the other site that is recommended by clicking here.
         

Monday, July 11, 2011

Calculating that shipping

I recently reviewed the current site for a potential client who was setting up for online commerce. The prices of the products were more than reasonable compared to similar products available. The shipping listed was astronomically low; low enough to generate substantial loses. The client was a local business heading for a successful online business...with a few tweaks.

All the major shippers; Fed-X, UPS, even the USPS, have handy aps that can be added to a website to calculate shipping costs. Ask your Web Consultant to add them to your e-commerce site.      

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Guarding your Email Address

Spammers have special programs that crawl the internet looking for unsuspecting individuals and small business owners who unknowingly post their email address to an internet page; either blog or website.

If your business' email addresses are being spammed and your hosting provider is unable to find an issue, you may want to take a look at your blog or website. Chances are you will find that your email address has been posted without the protection of a program to disguise the address. CAPTCHA programs can be added to pages as an additional step to protect a particular page.

And security can be added with a tiny Javascript ap that disguises your address. So, before you post your email, see your web consultant.   

Monday, July 4, 2011

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy Independence Day! What a precious gift we were handed by our forefathers. May we never take it for granted, but guard it with every breath we take.