The reality is that to make money online, you’ll need to produce your own website. Easier said than done? Not really, if you take the time to learn some basic skills. You’d be amazed to see how quickly progress can be made. Let me cover the essentials.

What you’ll need:

When you create your website, you need to give it a catchy and easy to remember name. That’s what is called a domain name. This is the part that fits between the “www” and the “.com”. You buy a domain name from registrars such as GoDaddy and NameCheap.

Secondly, you’ll need to choose a hosting company. Chances are the registrar you chose can also provide you with hosting services. But remember, you don’t have to buy these two elements from the same company. You can do a Google search for “hosting companies” to see what’s available. No matter which one you select, they all do the same work which is to connect your website to the World Wide Web.

Start creating

How can I transfer what I have in mind to my computer screen? There are some programs that are effective in helping you with that task.

First of all, you’ll need a web editor to design your web page on your computer. There are many. Some are available for free, but you can also invest in one that provides more features. If you’re about to create your first website, I’m sure the free software “Kompozer” will fulfill your needs.

You might find it a bit overwhelming to create a web page from scratch. Many tools are available to help you get started. Do a Google search for “free website templates” and you’ll have access to thousands of professional-looking templates you can start working with.

Once you are satisfied with the web page you created, you need to upload it to your hosting company. Even though you might be able to do it with your web editor, I suggest you learn how to do it using a FTP client (Filezilla works very well and it is free). FTP stands for Files Transfer Protocol.

You first log in to your hosting account. You will then transfer what’s on your computer to a specific folder at your hosting company. Note that when you create an account at your hosting company, they send you an email with all the information you need: username, password, nameservers, which folder you need to publish to, etc.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong with that scenario. First off, if the client hired a freelance web developer, the former cannot be assured that the latter would be free by the time the client decides that there should be changes on the site with regards to search engine optimization. Another reason, what if the site is built around Flash and JavaScript? Then the SEO specialist tells the client that the way the site is built would not be able to rank well. It could mean starting from almost square one again.

My point is that before you commission someone to build a website, make sure that they are privy to on-page optimization. This is the part of SEO concerned about how the website is built and how it would be read by search engine bots. If they are not familiar with it, you can either look for another developer or have an SEO specialist work side by side with the developer.

Now, if you are already in the process of having a website built and you do not have the budget to hire a full-time SEO guy or gal, here are some tips to serve as a guideline to help you make your site more search engine friendly.

1. Have only one URI for your homepage. Yes, URI because a URL is a URI but a URI is not a URL but I digress. What it means that if I visited www(dot)yoursite(dot)com/index.html or www(dot)yoursite(dot)com/index or http: //yoursite(dot)com, it should point to only one page. You can set it with the www or without it, with /index.php, /index.html, or plain /index too but stick with only one. Your web developer should know how to do this.
2. When it comes to page size, keep it below 150 kilobytes. If you said that some websites have page sizes way more than that, it is because this sort of limit only applies to sites without significant authority. Yes, like the site that is yet to join the World Wide Web.
3. Content is king. While it can be appealing for a website to have all sorts of bells and whistles, if it has no readable content for search engine bots (written words/text), it would not rank well. So try to stay way from Flash intros.
4. Don’t drive people away. Yes, people (generally) love music and music is meant to be shared. But please, we don’t want our speakers coming to life without any warning. It can be very frustrating if you auto-play some sort of background music on your homepage. In this age when multi-tabbed browsing is the norm, it could be very frustrating going from tab to tab to see where that music is coming from.

Aside from these four, there are other things to consider in making your website more appealing for search engines. Do not be overwhelmed though since if you made the right decision in hiring a web developer or a web development team, they would know at least the basics of incorporating SEO tactics in web development.

Looking for the right web developers can be really tough, especially if you are on a tight budget. With our economic instability and regression, it is imperative to avail of the most inexpensive solution. Although there are expert web developers who offer their services at low prices, a lot of people commit mistakes by just trying to cut their cost. They tend to overlook the harmful effects that can destroy their entire plan. Here are some of the common mistakes that people make just to save from web design expenses.

1. Uncertain goals and unattainable expectations
   This is one of the most common mistakes that people overlook. When looking for web design services, you need to ascertain what’s your purpose of creating a website. Your goals should be realistic and feasible so that you can provide a detailed description on what you exactly need. Even the most skillful web developer will have a hard time meeting your demands if you don’t have a direction. If you make changes apart from the agreed direction, then it will cost you more money that might even exceed your budget limit. If you want several features like a flash player, forum or online chat to make your site look gorgeous, but is not necessarily needed, then do not be surprised to pay more than what you expect. More features mean higher cost. It is best to stay as simple as you could if you really want to save on expenses.
2. Failure to notice the hidden fees
   Before you commit into something, see to it that you have checked every aspect of the deal. Keep in mind that any company or business individuals would try to win your trust. They will only showcase everything that is beneficial to your end while hiding the disadvantages you will get. One of the most common hidden charges is the ongoing hosting fee. Before you close the deal, make sure that you have reviewed and understood the terms and conditions. Confirm the agreement and ask for assurance of no further adjustments. In this way, they will be forced to reveal everything, and you are secured to get the best value out of your money.
3. Unaware of regular maintenance of the website
   Website owners should know that maintenance is already a part of owning a website. At some point in time, you will need to make an update or delete old contents. Ongoing maintenance is not really a part of a typical web design service. However, there are companies that provide built-in content management system, which allows you to easily update, edit, add or delete articles. It is best to take advantage of this software, even if it means spending more money because in return, you will be able to recuperate the cost because it allows you to manage your website by yourself on a long-term basis.

If you are on a tight budget but want to build a great looking website, you have plenty of options. With so many free templates available for websites today there is no need to put out anything subpar. In addition, many of these free templates allow you to build upon them through basic HTML code for very little cost. If you want a cheap website design, try a few of the following tips and keep your money in your bank account.

Use a Free Web Host that Offers Great Templates

There are a plethora of free web hosts that provide great looking free website designs. Though many people shy away from free templates because they are often over used and lack uniqueness, there are easy ways to make your page unique even through the use of a free website design. You can do this through the use of your own images. Customize your space through your logo, your own images and unique color schemes. Though the template set up may be the same, the design will take on a uniqueness that makes it your own.

Build on Existing Templates in Creative Ways

If you know a little bit of HTML some free templates will allow you to use HTML code to further customization. This is a great option for anyone who has a little money to invest in their website but still doesn’t want to spend too much. This allows you to pay a little and make big changes to your website design. If you don’t know HTML, you can purchase a variety of books or look online for basic codes that will help you build your own website design onto a pre-existing template. Because the hard work is already done for you, you won’t need to know the more complex codes.

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Though this may be the least popular way to design a website, it’s a legitimate one. Investing the initial money into your website and building in some advertising space can allow you to both create a nice looking fully customized website design while recouping the money you spent, and sometimes more, through advertisements. While this will make your website a virtual billboard for many, often random, websites, you will be able to enjoy a website that is your own design.

There are many different ways to get a cheap website design. Though you may need to be a little creative and in some cases you may need to compromise on your ideal design, you can get what you want for the most part. In the end, if you do want a fully customizable personalized website design you have to be willing to pay for it. However, this does not mean that you cannot have a great website design without spending lots of money. On the contrary, follow some of the tips above and you can have a great webspace without having to worry about burning a hole in your wallet or cleaning out your bank account.

In today’s technological advancement, having a website or online presence for your business has become a very essential part for marketing your company. Those businessmen who have websites built for their company have observed that they gain more income because having an online presence allows you to gain more potential buyers since the customers gain access to your company’s products and services all around-the-clock.

Businessmen who depend on the traditional way of marketing their company and who depend solely on the sales they get from their physical storefront have a slow growth on their customer base than those businessmen who exploit the benefits of having a virtual storefront and physical storefront.

Although there’s the benefit of having the sales increase more than usual, there are still some businessmen who are skeptical and reluctant to invest in a website for their business. One of the reasons for this is that some business owners do now know the expected cost for building a website. They believe that having a website built or redesigned is expensive and they assume that having a website does not help their business at all. Some business owners wrongly conclude that the investment will not pay off eventually because they already have encountered bad experience with some web agencies and some of them are just unaware of its benefits so instead of investing their money in websites, they opt for spending it more on production or on the traditional way of marketing their business.

The cost for developing a website has drastically come down over the last couple of years. From $7,500 to $12,000 which was the price range for developing a website fifteen years ago, it comes down to approximately $1,000 today. Well, there are many important factors to consider when estimating a web site cost but the point is that the cost for building the same professional website with the same number of pages and features has changed a lot over time.

For some of you who are interested to have their websites built or redesigned, you might wonder how the cost of websites has come down over the last couple of years and you might also wonder if you can really rely on these websites when the price has come down for up to 7 times lower than before. I will answer these questions in the following paragraphs.

Just like other high-priced goods and services, the cost for developing a website has come down over the last couple of years. The reasons for the massive drop in website development cost are the following:

• Modern and high-end web development tools already exist nowadays. These tools have made it possible for web developers to build professional-looking and powerful websites easier and faster than before. Moreover, there are plenty of reliable open-source software for developing websites today so web developers are not forced to use proprietary software products which increases the web development cost. Also, the prices of the components needed to create a website (such as domain name registration and web hosting) have also come down drastically because of improvements in technology.
• The competition to produce powerful yet very affordable websites is growing every year. As years pass by, business owners and regular people have realized how important it is to have a website or online presence for a company so the demand for web developers and web designers have increased extensively. Moreover, there are more and more web developers each year who are able to build nicely designed websites with fast loading speed and full of useful features who charged as little as $1000. There are also plenty of freelancers online and web development companies who compete in providing the most cost-effective websites besides developing interactive websites with superior quality for all customers. And because of the existence of the internet, a business owner can now hire a web developer or web development company from the Philippines or India which will significantly bring down the cost of developing a website.

The above paragraphs have clearly stated the conditions which made it possible for the cost of websites to come down over the last couple of years. Hopefully this article has helped clear some confusions and questions you have regarding cheap websites. Of course, you can rely on websites developed nowadays even if their price is 7 times lower than before.

Low cost websites which are offered by many web development companies, freelancers and developers does not necessarily mean that the quality of the website sucks. In fact, the decline in the price of websites over the last couple of years is something that we should all thank for because now, it is possible for every one of us including businessmen to enjoy the benefits of having a website. Just remember that when you invest in a website, make sure that the person or company who will do the job are trustworthy and when the website is already available, make full use of it.

As the owner of a web-based business, you have certain objectives. Your objectives might include:

• selling a product
• selling a service
• collecting email addresses through an opt-in module
• signing up subscribers to your newsletter
• enticing site visitors to pick up the telephone and call you
• providing incentives to visit your store or place of business (local search)
• gathering information through the completion of a form

These are one or more of your objectives. However, they aren’t the objectives of the site visitor who may be shopping around for a better price (comparison shopping), seeking the advice of a business or financial consultant or printing out directions to your store across town.

The fact is, the objectives of site owners and site visitors are often at odds and that leads to a high bounce rate. Visitors arrive on site, at some expense and effort on your part, however they fail to find the information they’re looking for and they bounce – they leave before they perform your most desired action.

The key to site success is to meet all of your site visitors objectives simply, clearly and transparently. Any attempt to “fool” visitors is bound to fail. Today’s sharp web users know a come-on when they see one. The tactics that worked five years ago don’t work today.

For example, when you offer a free eBook download in exchange for an email address opt-in, that visitor knows that her email client inbox is going to be loaded with spam as you send out auto-responder after auto-responder in a fruitless attempt to back sell that visitor to the grave. Even capturing an email address with an ethical bribe no longer works. Web users know why you want their email addresses and many are reluctant to provide that information in exchange for a 10-page download on keeping tropical fish. It’s just not worth the hassle.

Navigation Simplified

As a web site owner, you don’t know where a new visitor is going to land on your site. It MAY be your glitzy home page with a fancy Flash animated carousel and a complete, 20-minute video sell piece, but a site visitor is just as likely to land on an interior page – a landing page deep within your site accessed by an in-bound link from another site, a pay-per-click ad (PPC) or even organic search engine results.

The fact is, many visitors arrive on a site page that doesn’t interest them. That’s why web site navigation is so important. Clear, concise navigation enables visitors to find the information they’re looking for quickly, keeping them on site longer. And the longer a visitor stays on site, the more likely they are to perform that all-important MDA.

Website navigation simplified:

• keep the navigation simple
• always place the navigation bar or column in the same place on every page of your site
• use descriptions that are unambiguous for navigation tabs
• always provide a HOME link that equips new visitors to start at the beginning, or to start over in their searches for specific information
• never mislead visitors by redirects or “tricks”
• make navigation pop, i.e. stand out from sales text and informational content
• use navigation to draw visitors deeper into the site through the use of drop-down and fly-out sub menus

Use navigation to simplify and enhance the on-site experience for the uninitiated. Confusing navigation creates confused visitors – visitors who don’t want to “figure out” what a navigation tab means. Keep it simple and keep them on-site longer.

Benefits, Not Features

Features describe an aspect of a product or service. A benefit describes an advantage given to the site visitor.

For example, if you sell lawn mowers, you might be tempted to stress the fact that this particular model uses a key to start the lawn mower engine. That’s a feature.

The benefits? No more pulling the start cord. Starts the first time with the turn of a key. Simplifies lawn mowing chores. Translate features of your product or service offerings into benefits that site visitors recognize and understand immediately. Tell them what’s in it for them in no uncertain terms.

It’s not about features. It’s about benefits. It’s not about you. All of your web site copy should be targeted at meeting the needs of site visitors.

And don’t expect site visitors to determine benefits of features. TELL them what your products or services do to them and for them.

3-2-1 Contact

This is perhaps the single-most important step you can take to create a client-centric site.

Provide numerous means for site visitors to contact you. They may have questions before they buy. They want more information before they sign up. They may want an order status update. The ability to contact your help desk or order desk easily, using a number of common tools, indicates that your on-line business is all about site visitor satisfaction.

So, how can visitors reach your people? Some suggestions:

• Provide 24/7 access to a human being by telephone, even if it’s an order capture service. Your web site is open 24/7 and you never know when a prospect needs a little hand holding.
• Provide flexible scripts for the employees who man the help desk and empower them to deviate from the script within certain parameters. When you see an unidentified charge on your credit card and discover it’s a late fee, for instance, you can often get that charge reversed simply by talking to a human who’s empowered to credit your account.
• Talking to a human, rather than the typical call-answering maze is always a pleasant, welcome surprise.
• Install an email module on your site – a link that opens an email box into which visitors can enter questions that don’t need an immediate response. It may be a billing question or a question on your latest service offering. Simplify the contact process.
• Consider live chat. Many larger companies employ this tool. Visitors click on the LIVE CHAT link and are connected to assistance in real time. Often, it’s easier than trying to get through by telephone and the advice sent back to the visitor has been vetted, i.e. it’s accurate and correct.

Keep the Focus On the Visitor

If your site is industry specific, use the jargon of your industry based on the assumption that site visitors know what SIPs are or what a sell sheet does.

The plain truth may be a little painful when you weigh the amount of time, energy and capital you’ve laid out to build your on-line web business but it’s true: site visitors simply don’t care about you when they land on your web site. They don’t know you, they don’t care what your objectives are, they don’t care that the rent is due on Monday.

The first question any site visitor asks is “What’s in it for me?” Answer that question quickly and easily, equip the visitor to move through your site without a lot of headaches, simplify the checkout or contact process and talk about visitor benefits, not product or service features.

In the end, visitors will recognize that you value their business and they’ll be back. A lot.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to get yourself a place on the web, you’re not alone. If you are asking what is WordPress, it is a great way to build a personal website without the need for prior knowledge on web development or comprehensive knowledge of HTML. WordPress provides you everything you need from start to finish. From helping you set up a URL to providing you a variety of templates to chose from, the user-friendly site helps you build your website and hosts it as well.

Why Use WordPress?

For one, it’s free. Though there are many additional features that require payment, the basics are all included through WordPress. If you are on a tight budget or simply just want a space of your own without any frills or commitments, WordPress will work for you. However, this does not mean that WordPress cannot be a robust tool for the more advanced website designers. On the contrary, a good knowledge of HTML can get you far on WordPress. If you want a good amount of control over your space without needing a web developer you’re also in luck.

What Can WordPress Do?

WordPress provides a wide variety of templates that allow you to start blogs and websites of all sorts. With so many templates available for free, and even more available for purchase, you can customize your webspace almost anyway you would like. Though WordPress is best known for supporting blogs, it has since come a long way and can be used to support many different types of content as well. WordPress can even support your videos so you don’t have to upload and embed your videos through other websites. This provides a cleaner look for your space.

Who Uses WordPress?

WordPress is available for use for anyone. There are no limitations to who can use it and you can register many different WordPress accounts. If you’d like to start five blogs or webpages, you can do that without a problem. Regardless of whether you are a novice or an expert in the website building world, it provides guides and tutorials that can help you make the most of your webspace.

How to Start Using It

Simply visit their website and sign up for an account. You will be prompted to enter certain information and then will be asked what you’d like your blog or site to be called. Upon entering that information you will be given your URL which will read [nameyouentered].WordPress.com. You will then be able to work through the backend of your website and start building on your webspace by picking a template and color theme.

It is a great tool for anyone who is looking for a quick and easy way to build a blog or website. It is also a great place to start for anyone learning how to manage online content on their own as it provides all the basics and offers room to grow as well as great online community tech support and a variety of tutorials.

Designing your own website can be a distinct challenge if you are not familiar with web design. However, it is not impossible. There are easy ways to design your own website through the use of preexisting templates and through the guidance of web hosting companies that provide robust services. Regardless, there are a few important things to know about designing your own website before you get started on your venture.

Find out What Works

It is extremely important to do your research. Look at various websites that you like and that host content like yours. Many professionally designed websites provide key answers to questions regarding how to best display certain types of content or information. Use these websites as guides when designing your own. You can learn a lot from what already exists out there. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Learn from what you like and use it to your advantage.

Know your Limits

It’s also very important not to bite off more than you can chew. If you are new at designing websites, make sure you first take small steps. Perhaps try out a few free templates and make minor HTML changes. Once you get the hang of that, move on to bigger changes. This will help you build on what you already know and move forward. Don’t jump into the complicated stuff right away using shortcuts. Though this may get you want you want initially, you will quickly find yourself struggling if something goes wrong and you don’t know where to look for the problem or how to fix it.

Learn a Little about Design

Though you may know about websites and website content, take the time to learn a little bit about what makes good web design. There are plenty of books available that can take you through the basics of how to make a webpage look aesthetically pleasing and still be fully functional. This is very important in how your website is received. If you are proud of your content you want to package it in the best looking way. It won’t take too much time to learn what the basics are in doing this. You’ll quickly find by changing up some colors, using certain shapes and lines as opposed to others and simple organization and spacing can make a huge difference in how your website ultimately looks.

Designing your own website is no easy task. It will take time and patience. You will find yourself making many changes throughout the process. What you start with or first thought would be best may be incredibly far from what you end up with. The important thing to remember when you design your own website is keeping an open mind and remembering the importance of good visual representation in the web world. You will quickly learn that regardless of how great your content is, if it does not look great, people will not stay to read it or watch it. Do your research and take your time. You’ll eventually find the best web design for your content.

There are thousands of web sites on the Internet and it is a sad thing to say but most of them just don’t get it. The whole point of building a site and publishing it on the Web is to attract visitors and get them to take the action that you desire. This can be to purchase your product or service, opt in to your email list or become a subscriber to your page eagerly awaiting more interesting and engaging content from you.

The other mistake that people make is not considering the search engines when they design their pages. At the beginning of site creation the first thing that you should do is undertake some keyword research to find out what terms people are entering into the search engines so that you can get in front of this traffic with your site. A lot of small business tend to have sites created around their company name and will register a domain name in the same name. It is better to get a domain name with the keyword you are trying to target in it. If you own a hairdressing business in Chicago then it is far better to register hairdressingchicago.com then it is to get sallysalon.com. Google and the other search engines need as much help as they can get and they will never realize that sallysalon is a hairdresser in Chicago.

Keyword research is so easy but a lot of people are put off by the word research as it sounds like a lot of work. You can use the Google Keyword Tool for free to find out if the search terms that you have in mind are popular or not. If they are not then look for ones that are. All you have to do is enter the terms you are thinking about using and the tool will respond with the search volumes for these and some other suggestions. It really is that easy. Once you have chosen the most appropriate keywords then save them as you will be using them to create pages for your site later on.

When it comes to creating content for your pages, make sure this is related to the theme of your site. Google and the other search engines reward relevance and if you have a site about hairdressing and suddenly start creating content about rocket science then the search engines will penalize your site for this.
If you are in business online then offer people genuine incentives to call you or purchase your products or services. For a hairdressing site or other service based business you could have a special coupon on the page which people can quote when they call to make an appointment which could entitle them to 10% off or a complimentary service free of charge. Also you could create a free style guide and offer that to visitors in exchange for their email address. Once you have their address you can follow-up with them offering special deals.

Among these internal processes, web design and e-commerce development have popularly surfaced and are sometimes regarded as independent “job contract” components. It is however wisest to package the whole website development contract to a reliable web developer who understands your business or organizational operational nuances and objectives.

Most of these companies have, at their employ or their pool of human resources, people who can effectively and efficiently deliver what is asked of them. And the level of skills of their web development specialists is, more or less, at par with industry standards. They even provide reviews and testimonials from industry associations and experts as well as from satisfied clients to support their indubitable track record.

Individual practitioners are sometimes fresh graduates who may or may not be able to deliver the goods. What’s worse, they may be hiding under fictitious names leaving them unbound from reputation protection as opposed to established commercial and professional web developers who are duty-bound to protect corporate image.

What are these processes or work blocks that have to be ascertained to be of highest quality by commercial web development companies for their clients’ satisfaction?

• Web design
  A process that starts with the establishment of the design concept, from organising the website wireframe design/layout, mock up to the actual design. It is in this development phase that it is decided whether or not to incorporate other web technologies such as social media.
• Web content development
  Also based on the design concept, it is more detailed and conveys the message of the organisation and the web pages. The data are “pasted” onto the web pages after the web design has been “finalised”.
• Client liaison
  Establishment of keen and strategic interaction with the client to insure that the website design and functionality concept jibe perfectly with the business operational concept and modus.
• Client-side/server-side scripting
  A crucial component especially with database maintenance or management websites. Functionality failures and similar errors happen if this component is neglected.
• Web server
  Commonly used for website hosting, it is also the hardware and/or software that makes possible for content to be accessed via the internet.
• Network security configuration
  Provision for site integrity to assure security of sensitive data in the server or site.
• E-commerce development
  A component that renders the website with commercial and trading attributes for transactions to be possible online, including purchasing and payment via e-bank or credit card.

Creation of websites helps businesses generate traffic. It can contribute to increase sales. In fact, websites are now one of the venues to market products and services. This is where the most important function of a website developer comes in. It has to make sure that the overall appeal of the websites can hold the interest of the online visitors.

This job involves no licensure requirements. It does not need formal education; however, it still necessitates advanced knowledge in HTML/XHTML, JavaScript, and CSS. It also calls for programming, scripting and coding skills. Specifically, it entails familiarization in common servers and operating systems, security and networking, web programming, databases, as well as animation, graphics and web design applications.

To be a website developer, enrolment in a trade school or college that offers a course in website development is essential. If either of these is not likely, online tutorials and articles are also available to provide education. However, the success of this approach highly depends on huge effort and considerable time given by the “student”.

The rate for website developer depends on skills and experience. At the average, one can earn $15 to $25 per hour. This is considering that he carries these basic skills: HTML, CSS, etc. Hence, he can earn more if he makes an effort to add more web design skills, such as PHP and JavaScript.

After equipping himself with the knowledge, he may start submitting applications. To boost his chances of getting hired, he will have to prepare a portfolio that will enable the employer to check his capabilities. This can be saved in a CD or DVD or accessed through his own website. He has to make sure that the design and layout of the functions are enough to capture the attention of companies.

Dealing with customers training was one of my most time-consuming works during all my career as a web developer and designer. I spent a lot, and I mean A LOT, of my time training them in how to use WordPress, how could they post a new page and alter an existing one, how could they add a new image in their media library, how could they create a new category… And many more “how-tos” you probably know.

I received constantly many phone calls, endless emails, so I even made a PDF document with the basic tasks outlined, along with nice screenshots and easy-to-follow instructions. But then, WordPress upgraded and all my screenshots became outdated, so I needed to create them again, and again…

Heck! I actually spent more time training some of my clients than actually delivering them their sites!

Many of my clients were not that ‘internet savvy’, so I had to break down every single step with non-technical language, and that can be really time-consuming.

I tried to find a solution. You know, the type of manuals you just change some names and there you have it! (Although it’s getting difficult to find these ones, I searched for one free WordPress manual on Google and got no relevant results) The problem was that even with the manual they kept calling me and emailing me with new questions and problems that apparently the manual did not cover, or covered it with technical or non-specific language.

I almost decided to completely remove the free customer support from my webdesign packages. Fortunately for me (and my clients!) I did not have to, I found a plugin that trains my clients in my place.
How awesome is that?

It has more than 35 video tutorials, fully customizable with your own logo, and also a nice PDF (available also in doc format for further customization) with over 80 pages and screenshots!

The plugin’s called Video User Manuals and guess what? You don’t have to worry for WordPress updates, you have access to updated videos and the updated handbook, without even requiring you to do anything! (I can hear you sighing)

You just install that thing in your client’s site as a plugin (Did I mention you can install it on unlimited sites?) and whenever they need a piece of advice, they just need to open plugin’s tab and that’s all, you don’t have to worry again for giving technical support to your clients.

When I started my own business to work with small and mid-sized companies to develop websites, I could not believe how they were handling one of their most PROTECTED and most VALUABLE company holdings – their company website domain!

The domain name is where a person would type in your company name into the browser to find you. It comes after http or www. Yes, I’m saying it this directly because out here in the web world people new to it don’t know what things are called. It’s like visiting a new planet that has a whole new language.

Many a trusting soul has plunked down their money and bought a website from a company. These companies range from the teenager on the corner to the savvy web design firm. Regardless of who you are working with, you need to follow the following recommendations to ensure your company rights are PROTECTED!

Now, you may be wondering, WHY is this guy making such a BIG DEAL about this? Well, I’ll share a cautionary tale with you as to the EXACT reason I’m making a big deal about this.

This is what happens when you don’t take care of your web registrations. True story.

A gentleman I’ll call Sam had a friend who said he would manage all of Sam’s company websites. At first, like most people, Sam only had one website. His friend bought the URL (the domain name) and registered it. His friend also built the site. His friend also handled the hosting (this is where you park your website on the web so people can access it from the internet).

Now, the URL was Sam’s company name. The writing, the products, the blog – everything on the website was for Sam’s company. However, guess who owned the website?

That’s right.

Sam’s friend owned the website. Sam’s friend owned the domain. Sam’s friend owned the parking space.

What? You cry. How can this possibly happen?

Well, this is how it happens. And, this is why YOU should never let this happen to YOU.

Think of your website like a car. The car is going to be ‘parked’ in a parking garage called a host. Think of an electronic world that is just streets and streets and streets with parking garages lining the streets. Each of these ‘parking garages’ is called a host. The host allows you to park your car in their garage – for a monthly fee.

When you buy your car (your website), you need three things: You need an address so people can come see your car (this is your company.com or domain name), you need a car (website) and you need a place to park your car (hosting).

Each one of these is OWNED by YOU. You wouldn’t buy a car in the real world by asking someone to go buy it and then set it up for you. Nor should you do this in the internet world. However, this is what people do every day.

I’ve worked with solopreneurs, small business and also multi-million dollar businesses that handled their websites like this. This is not a matter of someone not being smart. It’s just that people don’t know what they don’t know.

Here’s what you need to know:

You MUST purchase your domain yourself! You MUST make sure YOU are the owner of your domain name. Your domain name is what comes after http:// or www.

If you allow your web person to OWN your domain name, this is like giving your mechanic your car title. Who own’s the domain? YOU DO.

Once you set up your domain in YOUR name, you will own it. After that, you will need to determine how you will give someone access to this valuable asset.

My typical recommendation is for you to make the changes to the domain (typically DNS) and give the user access to the hosting account only. I would also make sure that you have the individual sign a non-disclosure agreement. If at any time the developer goes away immediately change the password on the account at your host.

Maintain constant access to your hosting account and ensure you know the password.

Your hosting account is where you park your car (website). You can’t get to your car without knowing the password to get into the garage. If you give control to your web person and don’t maintain your passwords, your web person could lock you out of your own garage!

Yes, this really does happen. People get new jobs. People quit designing websites. But, you know whose problem it really is when YOU can’t get in YOUR garage (hosting account)? YOURS!

Here’s what no one is going to tell you. The hosting company can only go by what is on their records. If your web person is the contact on the hosting package, then ONLY that person can get access. What? Even if you own the company, the hosting company can get into SERIOUS trouble by allowing someone else to access the account.

This is why you MUST ensure you maintain the account so you can always get access to your hosting.

When you hire someone to design your website, ensure that YOU own the website when you are finished.

If you are not familiar with the land of designers who own things after you have paid them for the design they made for your company, then this is for you. Yes, it is really true. Some design agencies write into their contracts that THEY own YOUR website when they are done?

What?

This falls into the category of who ‘owns’ the art. When a photographer takes a picture of you, who owns it? Yes, the photographer. That’s why each time you want a copy, you have to go back to the photographer. Who owns design materials when an agency holds the copyright? That’s right. The agency.

However, you can ensure you OWN your car when you buy it. You just need to negotiate this upfront.

I have many cautionary tales of web people who have been hit by buses, who have lost it and run back to corporate America, of trusting business owners who were ‘too busy’ to handle the details and the best advice is to set this up the right way the FIRST TIME. Once you do it, then you’ll know how to do it.

You’ve been trying to figure out how a website really works. They look so complicated, with a lot of photos and designs. There’s even video, too. How does a website work? It’s really quite simple once you understand the basics.

All you really need to know in order to understand a website, is have a very basic understanding of how the program Microsoft Excel or any worksheet type program works. There are a lot of columns and rows in which you can put information into in a worksheet program like Excel. You can make each column wider or thinner. You can make each row taller or shorter. There are even specific areas called cells that you can change the size, color, background, font size, etc. In each cell there is also the option to place an image in it.

This is, quite frankly, how a website works. There are some differences, but in order to break it down to its simplest elements, a website is just a bunch of rows and columns. Really, you can take a ruler and place it either horizontally or vertically on your monitor to see the different sections of that particular webpage. This will help you break down a website and then see the rows and columns. If you have a dry-erase marker you could even draw the dividing lines for the layout of the webpage. (Just make sure not to leave the lines on too long.)

To dig a little deeper, there are actually two programming languages that are needed to create the rows and columns, and also to specify the shape, size, and general aesthetics of a page. There are several other programming languages that help with a website, too, but these two languages are the foundation and are used on most websites. The languages are HTML and CSS. The HTML programming language is used to create the rows and columns. It really just holds the content of the website. And on the other side, the CSS code, determines the width, height, and visual appeal of that page. You can really think of the CSS as the decoration for a webpage.

So now that you know how the basic elements of a website are designed, you can start to understand all that went into actually creating that site. This will allow you to have a better appreciation for those people that design and create a webpages.

Today, businesses simply cannot do without developing and implementing a series of custom software to streamline their business processes and ensuring better business growth. If they aren’t doing that, they are missing the bus by a long way when it comes to increasing their revenue and surging ahead of their competition.

Here are a few reasons why a business doesn’t need an off-the-shelf solution to meet its business needs and requirements.

One size doesn’t fit all

An assembly line software has been developed keeping in mind a certain set of requirements. Now, it is not necessary that you have the same set of requirements that the software attempts to satisfy. But the, the fact that you are choosing this particular software does mean that it will satisfy some part of your requirements, but not all of them. There will be a set of requirements that will remain to be satisfied and which might need to be addressed by putting together some other solution in place. This not only increases the time taken to search for the complete solution for your needs but also gives rise to a flawed business process, something that you need to avoid at all costs.

A Unique Solution for Beating the Competition

A business can’t underestimate its competition. Most businesses are focusing their energies on improving their performance by enhancing their business processes and their sustainability. They are able to meet growing challenges by utilizing the potential of custom software development. So, in order to ensure that your business doesn’t fall behind, you need to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and implement tailor-made software that counteracts their strengths and ensures that you don’t make the same mistakes they have made. This provides you with a wholly innovative and unique solution that not only helps you meet certain business needs and requirements, but also helps you beat your competition.

There are many ways to fund a business depending on how much money is needed and the type of supplies, insurance and credit, but how do you fund an online business? In this article we will cover 5 different ways you can fund your online business.

1. Self-Funding
   If you have savings to use towards your business you must ensure you can survive for at least 6 months. You must consider a return on your savings or it will dry up. You want to be looking at a return of at least 30-50% of profits in order to sustain your business. A smaller % may be profitable but with new startups you will need capital to buy further supplies and marketing to regenerate your income.

2. Credit Funding
   A lot of entrepreneurs use credit cards to fund their business. This can be a risky strategy with a high percentage of interest. If you play your cards right it can be a way to get easy access to cash or use cash for supplies but be very careful with this as it may backfire. This will affect your personal credit rating and I would suggest looking at other sources first.

3. Bank Funding
   Bank funding is harder to find for small business, you not only need revenue but a number of years of consistent revenue in business, 2 years is a good start, so for startups this is not really an option unless you have started other businesses before that had revenues. Even if you have assets banks are not really interested in the business of selling assets and recovering cash if business goes sour.

4. Advertising Funding
   If you understand programs such as AdSense of can find ways to put advertising on your website that is related and won’t take presentation or professionalism away from your website maybe you can use advertising to supplement your income. However, online advertising may not provide a lot of income and depends on your web traffic and the company you use as well as the return on each of the ads.

5. Credit with Suppliers
   Once you are in business for a while, especially if you have suppliers you are ordering product from you may be able to get credit on the product you order. These usually include order periods and are short-term credit periods of 30-90 days at most but may be able to help you in the short-term of your business. This is where your skills will be valuable to generate orders as quick as possible to pay off the credit from suppliers.

Computers are like cars: everybody thinks they know everything they need to until theirs stops working for them. This concept starts with basic functions and continues right up until you hit more niche areas of computing like website development and Internet marketing. Everyone who has taken a website design course thinks they can build the perfect website – but be warned – there is more to making the Internet work for your business than you think!

Maybe you have heard of Search Engine Optimisation before and maybe you have heard of key phrases and traffic driving. Content Management Systems (CMS), social media marketing, AdWords, article marketing and traffic monitoring; these are all important terms that you should know about before going ahead with the development of your business’ website.

It’s not enough to get a nice homepage and throw it online anymore – Internet marketing has become a cut-throat business. Web traffic has become an important commodity and, with so many businesses vying for a user’s time and through sheer market saturation it has become nearly impossible for someone to succeed on their own.

A web presence is like any other form of advertising in that it is a reflection of yourself and your business. Creating something that appeals to customers and lets them know that you are a serious and professional candidate for their spend means developing a comprehensive and effective Internet marketing campaign. This is why so many businesses choose to work with specialised web development and search engine marketing companies to succeed online.

A lot of apprehension exists because, understandably, businesses want to retain control of their image. Web development companies empathise with this and aim to work with you to help shape and evolve your ideas so that they translate online effectively. Understanding your user is invaluable just like understanding your customer in the real world. A website development company will be able to help you turn that real world understanding into an electronic one.

From simple things like choosing keywords that make your website easier to find through Search Engines to forming a social media marketing strategy for your company, having the expertise of a web development team can help your business do wonders online.

Don’t let yourself be poorly represented in one of the largest markets available to you. Put in the effort and take the time to ensure a successful online image. Create your online image with a website development company for the best results.