The reason why people search on the web is to get a solution to issue or need. Either they need a specific something, by name, or they know they need something, but are not sure what. Make sure your website sufficiently addresses these two audiences.

The most important thing your website can do is help solve a prospective customer's current problem.

Why are the most popular websites on the Internet search engines? Because they help someone do something. Sometimes it's just to learn something about a topic. Sometimes it's to find something to solve a specific need/want/desire.

Does your website help your prospective (or better, current) customers solve any need, be it informational or transactive?

Unless you sell or deal with specific name brands that customers are looking for, you should focus your website's content on the most popular usages for what you sell or provide. What are the different needs it serves? Do you focus in specific industries?

The first place to start is to with your customer. Build a profile of who your customer is, or who you want them to be and what you want them to do. Give your profile a name. Think of your profile's need for information. What do they need to know in order for them to reach the conclusion you want (do business with you), to your mutual benefit (their needs are satisfied (at the least)).

Again, turn back to your current customer base. What are the questions you answer in order to move the sale forward? Have you documented them or just committed them to memory so you can rattle them off on the phone or in person? If you have everything "up there" you need to write it out on your website, "down here." Because that's what most of your website should do. Answer ALL the questions. Make some up if you want to. Make sure they are chock-full of the keywords and phrases you want to be found under. If you serve a specific geographic region, make sure you include that as often as possible.

What keywords or phases should you pepper your content with? Well, the ones that you see in your website traffic logs and if you have a site-specific search tool, hopefully you log searches. As well as the ones you want associated with your company/product/services. But you cannot just stuff them in there. You need to work it in where appropriate. If it's excessively overdone, then even if it ranks well, it may turn people off. And that's not the result you want.

Until Google can search your brain, just because YOU know something someone else needs to know, they have no way to know, unless you post it to your website. The great thing is that, unless something changes about the information you published, you will be able to refer customers and prospects to the information for years to come (in newsletters, direct email, on the phone, etc).

Of course, the biggest benefit to come from this is that hopefully your page will be found by someone who can do business with you, but didn't know you existed, but does now. And now considers you to solve their problem. What is better than that? New, fresh and free prospects. Make sure you have strong call-to-actions on your website and in your content, about what you want your prospect to do, such as Add to Cart, Email Us, Call Us, etc. This way you can clearly guide them to what you want them to do next. Hopefully they will.

In the world of website design it is always important to be sure that your website is viewable by the largest audience possible. It is also good business sense as well. If you're selling products or services, the larger the audience you have, the more opportunity for sales you will have.

In terms of web browsers, there are currently two that make up the lions
share of computers out there viewing your website. Internet Explorer still holds on as the
number one web browser of choice with 55.7% of all
web surfers using Internet Explorer in September 2007 (Version 6 & Version 7). However, it is important to note that
Firefox controlled a whopping 35.4% of the market during that same time period (source: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp).

That means that one in every three visitors to your website is now using Firefox. So it begs the question, have you ever checked your
website in Firefox? One should never assume that because your website
looks fine in Internet Explorer that it looks fine in Firefox. In fact,
nothing could be further from the truth. Internet Explorer and Firefox
both conform differently to web page design standards and render web pages
differently. Many times things that work perfectly in one fail
completely in the other. If this is the case, you could be losing 33% of all of your web traffic due to coding incompatibilities. Turn this in to dollars and cents and you could be losing 1/3 of your sales as well.

So what can you do to help prevent Firefox users from fleeing your web site like rats from a sinking ship. Well, the first step is easy. Get the Firefox web browser and take a look at your website. Does it appear the way you expected it to? If so, then there likely isn't anything you need due except check it every now and then as new versions of the browsers come out.

But what if you have a problem? Luckily, these problems are usually easy to fix. One thing we have noticed quite often is that the browsers will sometimes place objects just a tad differently positionally on web pages, often off by a just few pixels. Usually a few minor tweaks using CSS can often lead to a middle ground that works for both browsers. If you have a javascript that doesn't work start searching the web using Google for others having the same problem. Many times fixes are already in place and only a few minor code changes are needed.

Having a website that provides a positive viewing experience for both Firefox and Internet Explorer viewers makes good business sense. If your website has problems with one browser or the other you could substantially increase your bottom line with just a few minor changes. If you need help with designing or fixing a website for your business, feel free to contact us.

This Flash tutorial will show you how to insert an image into an article. Please note, this is for the JCE WYSIWYG editor, which can be found here.

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So what is "Web 2.0"? I'm sure you heard the term and if you haven't, you will soon. It is a buzz word that has really become popular lately. So what exactly does "Web 2.0" mean? Do you need it? Do you already have it and don't know? Some of the most successful websites currently on the web are using "Web 2.0" type features. Some examples of sites using "Web 2.0" are GMail, You Tube, My Space, Wikipedia and many others. Read on and learn what you can do to put "Web 2.0" to work for you.

So what is Web 2.0? The truth is Web 2.0 doesn't really mean anything. Yet at the same
time, it means a lot of things to different people. The phrase was first used, as best as
anyone can tell, by Tom O'Reilly at the the first O'Reilly Media Web
2.0 conference in 2004. Much unlike version numbers most often assigned to software, signifying an improvement or upgrade from a previous version, Web 2.0 was intended as something different. In Mr O'Reilly words, "Web 2.0 is the business
revolution in the computer industry caused by
the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the
rules for success on that new platform."

Well, the world has yet to move onto the internet as a platform and the phrase Web 2.0 has taken on a completely new meaning. Web 2.0 is more about the interactivity of a website now as there is no exact definition.

A Web 2.0 site likely has one or more of the following characteristics. A web site that is interactive. But more than just interactive. It has to be interactive in a way that requires little or no learning curve for early adopters. In other words, it is simple to use. It is a move away from websites that allow people to simply receive information, but to easily contribute information as well. It has a social element that allows users to feel as if they are part of a community. Likely it is in a format that is open for others to use and distribute as well. A "Web 2.0" site also tends to act in a way that is more like software than a web page. Allowing the user to "drag and drop" rather than "cut and paste" if you will. Simplifying the process makes the process easier and open to larger audiences. The net result is an increase in the overall value of the website for everyone.

Users who are able to contribute to a website are more likely to revisit that website and revisit it more often. A feeling of community is also a key to a successful Web 2.0 site. The more a website feels like a community, the more loyal will be its visitors. Thus the more successful.

So what can you do to be more "Web 2.0"? A few easy ways to allow users to be a part of your website is to put a system into place that easily allows visitors to post comments related to your articles or leave feedback. Forums are one of the easiest ways to allow user contributions. Forums also usually attract a loyal following. Allowing visitors to be passionate about a subject along with others with similar interests.

There are a few core technologies that are often associated with the term "Web 2.0". The major players right now seem to be AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), XML (Extensible Markup Language), and Ruby on Rails. Total Hosting currently supports all of these technologies with all of our new web hosting packages.

All of our current web hosting plans include a variety of Web 2.0 applications free of charge. Our servers can even auto install these applications for you with the click of a button (sounds like Web 2.0, right?). Some of my favorites that can be auto installed are following: WordPress, phpBB2, and TikiWiki. WordPress is a blogging tool that has a commenting system built right in to encourage user participation. phpBB2 is a forum that allows users to take place in focused discussions about things that they are passionate about. TikiWiki is a user contributed document creation tool similar to the tool currently in use by Wikipedia. All of these apps have Web 2.0 features built right in.

If you haven't tried these tools now is a great time to start. If you would like to learn more about these and other tools that Total Hosting offers take a look at Pete's article What can you do with Total Hosting?

So you've just transfered your website to Total Hosting from another web hosting company. First, let me welcome you into our family.

We would like to take a few minutes to address a common issue that clients experience when transferring to a new web host.

The web hosting to client relationship has more in common with the relationship you have with your cable TV provider than you think.

Customers choose to terminate their relationship with web hosting
companies for various reasons.  It may be as simple as they no longer
have a need for the service.  They may have found a more aggressively
priced hosting plan with another hosting provider (like ours).  They could also be leaving
because they are unsatisfied with the service.  Regardless of the
reason, how you, as the customer,  terminate the relationship is very
important.

When you sign up with a web hosting company, one of the many things that you consent to is the company's policies and "terms of use".  One of these terms is usually the "cancellation policy".  This policy outlines exactly what the hosting company is looking for in order to cancel your account.  This may seem like simple stuff but consider what the hosting company is looking at.

– First, the number one misconception that faces Web Hosting companies is that customers will switch to another hosting company and not tell their old company. From my experience customers will "assume" that the old hosting company can "see" when a customer makes a switch.  This is simply not true.  We relate this to a customer's relationship with the cable company.  If you switch your service from a cable TV provider to a satellite TV provider and you do not tell the cable company that you have switched, they will continue to provide you the service and of course, bill you every month.

–  Second, in order to cancel a hosting account, the hosting company wants to ensure that they are doing exactly what the "customer" intends.  The "customer" is the person(s) that is on file with the hosting company who is authorized to make changes to the account.  This is why in most cases the hosting company will require that all cancellations be submitted in writing and that there be some sort of "verification" information in the request.  This most often is done by including the main account password.

– Lastly, the web hosting company wants a little information.  The cancellation request is obviously not something that the hosting company wants to hear.  It is an opportunity though to hear what the customer has to say.  If the customer is unhappy, what changes can be made to satisfy their customers in the future? Feedback from customers will help a web hosting company make changes to pricing, policies or hosting plans to ensure their current customers are happy and also to attract new customers.

As a customer, it is important to become familiar with your web hosting company's cancellation policies and all of the "terms of use" for that matter.  The proper and professional closing of an account is just as important as the opening of a new one, to you and the web hosting company. 

Did you know that you
can instantly install just about any kind of functionality you want on your
website? For FREE?

We offer Fantastico, an
instant installer of over 70 different scripts and tools, to make your website:

• Easier to Manage
• More Customer-centric
• More Profitable

Have you wanted to add a
blog? A photo gallery? A wiki? A shopping cart? Well now you can. All for free.

All you need to do is
log into your Cpanel control panel (found at yourdomain.com/cpanel).
From the menu bar go to Control Panel > Software/Services > Fantastico
Once in Fantastico, simply select the script you want to install, follow the
prompts for any details needed (like user names and passwords) and then in
seconds you are done!

Every web hosting
account from Total Hosting comes with 5 MySQL Databases (more available for a
modest fee). This allows you to install up to five scripts at any one time. If
you install a content management system (like Joomla) you can get the
functionality of many scripts while using only one database.

While all of the scripts
included have their merits, here are our favorites:

Blog – WordPress
It's easy to use and has all of the latest tools for getting you the most
exposure. Turn your website into a PR machine. Great for search engines, too!

Content Management
System (CMS) – Joomla
Like a blog on steroids, Joomla lets you manage an entire website, from one
web-based control panel. Flexible templates, amazingly adaptive and great
support from an active user group, all add up to the best thing to happen to
community-driven and actively updated websites in years.

Forum – phpBB2
If you want to add content to your website that you don't have to generate
yourself, or just provide low cost online support for your product or service,
there is no easier way than with a forum. You decide if you want to make it
public or private for customers only. If you ever said "If I had a dollar
for every time I answered that," you need a forum for your business.

Photo Gallery – Gallery
2
The most popular photo gallery programs on the internet. Use it to build a
product catalog or to sell pictures professionally, Gallery 2 can do it all.
Lots of templates available online. Good selection of optional features. This
is a somewhat complex product, but it is fairly well documented. Great
user-based support.

eCommerce – OS
Commerce
The most popular open source shopping cart/catalog manager around. If you just
want to give "eCommerce a chance" here is a great way to get rid of
some excess inventory or build your own MegaLow-Mart online. Installs with a
great array of features that will cover just about every selling situation.
Plenty of commercial and open-source add-ons to enhance your customer's
experience (and make your job easier).

Wiki – TikiWiki
What's a wiki? A wiki is a document builder. It's a great way to build a
user's manual (or series of them) that never goes out of date. Use it for
internal sales and customer service information for your staff. Use one to
provide proactive support for your customer base. Allow any of your staff to
update, all changes can be previewed or revised. Watch support issues decrease
significantly.

Live Customer Support – Crafty
Syntax Live Help
If you want to provide real-time support through your website, give Crafty a
chance. It lets you have a "Live Help Online" option to give your
customers the best support you can, right when they have questions (without
paying for inbound phone calls).

There are lots more to choose from.
If you don't see anything that fits your needs installed directly from
Fantastico, let us know. We can find, install and customize just about any
script that runs on PHP and MySQL.

If there are any topics you would
like to see us cover, please do not hesitate to contact us .