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Keeping your web design & hosting customers happy

Doing business is not a walk in the park, that’s the reason why only a handful of people would like to engage in it. If you’re dabbling in the web design & hosting industry, you’ll find that competition is fierce and the market is full of providers targeting the same market as you.

The key to staying alive in this business is keeping your customers happy. You need to make sure that you are able to cater to their needs and requests in as short and as quick a time as possible.In short, you need to have reliable and effective customer support. So make sure to live up to your claims and have staff that you can depend on.

Uptime is everything when you’re running a website that you depend on for profit. And that’s exactly what your customers will be expecting from your service. Most providers guarantee nearly 100% of uptime, and it makes perfect sense because any amount of downtime suffered by your clients would mean an opportunity loss and reduced revenue on their part. Invest in powerful servers that are durable and proven.

If you have these figured out, then you’re in good position. All you need now are customers that are recurring to keep your business running. It’s not always about finding new clients, repeat business is just as good as finding new customers.

These are practically all that you need to keep your customers happy. And if you want something to stay ahead of the competition, you might also want to try marketing gimmicks such as promotions, discounts, and even loyalty programs

Do the Research When Selecting a Web Hosting Service

Savvy business owners research every decision they make which impacts their company. However, this doesn’t always happen when it comes to selecting a site to host their website. Many business leaders believe that all web hosting services are the same, so they choose a provider based on a promotional deal or the strength of an advertisement.

Not doing the right research on a website hosting provider before you make a final decision is a recipe for disaster. Your website is one of the most valuable assets that you have as a company; if you are a web-only business, it is your only way to research new customers or clients. Having a web hosting provider that is as reliable and dependable as it is affordable is critical to make sure that your website operations are efficient and trouble-free.

Making the wrong choice for your web hosting leaves you open to a host of potential problems. Not having enough bandwidth or storage space can limit your ability to grow your website. Reliability is also a major factor, as you want to avoid outages which can severely impact your site’s success. The quality of a company’s customer service is also an important factor to consider. You’ll want to know if they have someone available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help you in case there is a problem with your site.

Another factor to consider is that certain web hosting service providers target specific customer demographics. The features that one company provides might be perfect for some clients but not right for others. For example, reading an iPage hosting review at a site like Consumer-Rankings.com will give you a clear sense that they are a great choice for bloggers and small businesses.

So don’t make a costly mistake by overlooking the research required to find the best web hosting service for your business needs. Visit a reputable consumer research site like Consumer-Rankings.com, which can provide you with unbiased and informative information on all of the major web hosting services in the industry.

The Different Types Of Web Hosting

Getting web hosting for your site is not as simple as signing up for a hosting account. There are various packages that go from under $10 a month to several hundred, and making the right choice now, could make all the difference a few months down the line.

First you get the most basic hosting package, which is usually for a single domain and limited resources such as disk space and bandwidth. This type of package is fine if you only plan on hosting one site in the short term and don’t expect it to grow rapidly. While a lot of the hosts advertise all of these packages as being unlimited, don’t expect to be able to run a heavy traffic website off the basic package. They usually use some condition in the fine print to suspend your site due to over usage of the server and insist that you upgrade to a dedicated server plan instead.

There is also the slightly higher spec version of the basic package, where the only difference is the ability to host more than one domain name. Once again, this package is good if it fits in with your short term plan. Remember that both the basic packages and even the reseller package described below, are all shared hosting packages which mean that several accounts will share the resources on a single server.

One step higher is reseller hosting, this package allows you to rebrand the hosting account and sell web hosting as if it were your own. You can brand it in every way, from the domain name, to the logo and telephone numbers within the control panel. This is only if you’re interested in reselling and is not something you should bother with if all you want to do is host your own websites.

Finally we have dedicated hosting, which is effectively renting out an entire server for your use. Use this if and only if you either plan on your site growing rapidly and serving thousands of customers a day. These packages are usually expensive, sometimes hundreds of dollars a month, but are well worth the cost.

How to spend less and get more out of your website

Running a website is not free, at least for those that you actually want to look good. You will have to get the services of a website design and hosting provider, and you will have to purchase a domain and various other things so you can get your website running in good condition. However, what you may not realize is that there may be certain features and factors that may be redundant or useless in your online business because it’s not bringing in any revenues for you. Another thing to consider if a feature you have on your website is actually being used by your clients or not. These things cost money to make and maintain, and if they aren’t being used by you or your customers, then you might as well take it down to cut down on costs and expenses. We’re not saying that you should take down your website because that would be suicide. What we’re saying instead is that you should take down services and features in your site that are not being used. Streamline is the word you need to live by, and it will definitely help you save on your expenses. If you’re wondering how you can do it, your hosting provider usually keeps data of traffic and visitor movement in your website that you can easily access. This will help you determine which parts of your website are making money and which ones aren’t. This is a great way to help you in making business decisions.

The Benefits of Using a Free E-store

If you have decided to become a retailer in the online world, there is no doubt that one has to open an e-store for a start. Since some of them might require a decent upfront investment, beginners might not necessarily be pleased with the way things turn out, so it is always advisable that one tries out a free e-store first before investing any money.

And if you have any doubts, here are some benefits that might help you to make that choice sooner rather later:

Benefit #1: First and foremost, the only expenditure when using a free e-store is that of your time, so it is always a good idea to get started this way.

Benefit #2: There won’t be any need for a developer as templates and freebies offered by the free e-store will avoid these costs as well.

Benefit #3: There will be no need to upgrade your website or even buy a hosting package in availing of e-stores.

Benefit #4: A community of e-tailers will be there to support you if you need any help.

Benefit #5: Depending on which sites you wish to use for this, one will get help indexing the products or services over the search engine for greater availability.

And while one might not be able to avail of the several options that are open to most e-tailers these days (with their own full-fledged e-store that is paid for), the truth is that in keeping your investment low, your chances of success can be that much greater.

Five Signs of a Bad Client

Working as freelance web designer can be rewarding and frustrating at the same time. And most of this depends on the clients that you have, and how your working relationships with them are. And so, as most folks will know that the ones you enjoy working with can be broadly classified as ‘good clients’ while the others, are well, unfortunately ‘bad clients’ that you wish you hadn’t met.

So, here are some early signs that can help you determine whether a client will be easy to work with or now:

1. No Supplies

If a client does not supply you with images, content and hosting among other things, then it’s most probable that you will not meet the agreed timeline, leading to other issues, particularly financial. After all, time is money… and your time is valuable too!

1. Too picky

If a client complains about your initial mock ups by saying that they hate, it’s probable that a line has been crossed and it’s time to call it quits.

1. Delays in Payments or is looking for someone who will work for low wages

If your client is looking for a bargain or doesn’t pay on time after several repeated requests, then it’s time to say good bye because as the ‘bargaining’ part, you will be working for lesser and feel ‘cheated’ in a way and as for the non-payment part, it’s like working for free.

1. Doesn’t stick to the contract

Some clients who want to get the most out of you will continue to add new things as they go, and therefore it’s advisable that one gets a contract in place. If this happens despite a clear contract, then it’s time to go.

3 Applications for Freelance Web Designers

Handy Tips For Web Designers

Web designing is not as easy as it is made out to be. Since browser and operating system incompatibility remains one of the largest issues in this area for some time now, it has become obvious to the experienced and the rookie web designers that there are more challenges to this field than what is presented.

So here is a list of handy tips that a web designer must keep in mind in order to succeed in the field of web design:

#1: Images

While images can enhance the appeal of a webpage, it is no good trying to stuff your page with images since most users normally use a dial-up connection to surf the web.  If your page loads slowly, you can be sure they would be gone in no time. So, keep your page size to less than 30k per page.

#2: Navigation & Functionality

Regardless of whether you have created a masterpiece of a website, when the user reaches the main page, navigation and functionality can either work in your favor or not.

#3: Mystery Meat Navigation

One trick used commonly is to hide the link until the mouse hovers over it.  In applying this technique to your page, you can end up annoying your users since they will have to move their mouse all over the page to find the invisible link they are looking for.

#4: Browser-specific functions

Stay away from these as they might support one browser while not supporting the others.

#5: KISS

Just keep it simple, stupid.

Design and miscellaneous free web tools

Here is a list of tools and resources that you can use on your website that are free.

W3Schools – This is the official guide to proper XHTML and CSS markup.

Aspect ratio calculator – This calculates the proper dimensions of images and video. Perfect for when you want to crop or resize and want to maintain a certain aspect ratio.

Javascript kit – They have a lot of free scripts that you might find useful on your website.

Hemingway – A tool that will help you make your writing and content more concise.

Headline Analyzer – This one will do a emotional tone check on your headline. Ideal when you want to get specific tone across.

CSS Button Generator – Rather than using images for buttons, use this to create CSS only buttons that look great and load instantly.

Pixlr – Can’t afford Photoshop? Here is an extremely good online photo editor that has enough features for web designers.

AppSumo – An online deals site which has a lot of useful deals for webmasters and developers.

Trello – A new online project management tool perfect for small teams or individuals.

Rapportive – Deal with a lot of people by email? This is  gmail extension which retrieves social media details of recipients so you know who they are.

Jing – Take a lot of screenshots? This is a good tool to take and edit a lot of screenshots quickly.

IFTTT – This is ideal for people who have a lot of standard tasks which can be automated.

Top Website Design and Copy Mistakes Commonly Made

Since there are a score of websites these days, there is no doubt that web design and writing good copy is something that has to be thoughtfully handled as this can result in the success or failure of a business.

While web marketing also plays an important role in this success or failure, there are some mistakes that can be made in website design or when writing copy that can annul the good work that has gone into making the website a success.

So here are a few mistakes that are commonly made when it comes to web design and copy:

Mistake #1:  Keeping your message short and simple which not extends to the website design but also the web copy as well. High-tech clutter can only chase your customers away because they don’t understand what your site is about, and can miss the product that you are trying to sell. The same goes for stuffing your site with plenty of unnecessary information in the text that is used.

Mistake #2: While using words that your targeted audience might not understand is an obvious NO-NO, the same applies for using several colors, font sizes and styles through the website. Regardless of whether it is website design or copy, you have to keep in mind what your audience will be able to understand or not before going ahead with the project.

Mistake #3: If you only mention your strongest selling point only once in the web copy that has been written while not highlighting your selling words and phrases, your message might not get through the customer when all you have to do is ensure that they know what you are selling and why it’s so good in different ways.

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