Custom Website Development In New York For Professional Designs

By Stacey Massey


Custom website development in New York is the remarkable service any online company can avail. Websites are everywhere and you should have one for your business. But owning a site online is just not sufficient. This should be crated with care and specifically to grab the attention of the visitors. This is the customer identification of you so you need to make it special.

This concept creates the perfect texture between design layout and the content included in it. These firms are professionally skilled and they can help you to settle down your business in smooth way. Since they are highly experienced in this field they are aware of the tricks applicable for setting up the space for your business in online. The site must be developed in such way that it should attract the visitor.

Simply outsource your task and they will execute it in perfect manner. By assigning your work to these companies will be gainful for you to save your time which can be utilized for other developmental works of your company. As they are aware of the surrounding business details, they will design a site which attracts the customer towards your business. To provide the good service they will keep updating themselves.

Design aspects like color combinations, templates, corporate structures etc makes a huge difference so make sure that you are hiring a right company. User friendly interface of your design is an important factor. It should be easily accessible with fast loading pages and navigation so the user should stay longer to check the services offered by your company.

One may think that he can do his own design using free templates which is true but this fails to give a professional look to your site. These are the reasons why one should be looking for professional help in such matters. Customers wander around internet to buy things and find services so you can catch such customers if you possess a quality site for your business. The designer should be innovative to give you a unique looking eye catching site.

You can fulfill your customized needs and requisites with the help of professional developers. These people study your needs carefully and work as per your requirement to satisfy you. Images, videos and animations should be used in site increase the look of the blog but the usage parameter must be precise and it should spoil the whole structure..

There are different types in online sites like dynamic, static etc. These can be used for various purposes like advertising or marketing. Understand your requirement precisely before contacting these companies for their services. They also allow you to elaborate your unique ideas towards implementation. The fully equipped technical team accompanies you in your business.

Custom website development in New York is intended to work for residents of US. The people who are wiling to have their own site can make use of these firms. These companies are popular because of their dedication and skillful works. They serve good name in this domain and they also provide other services for your complete marketing.




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Selecting A Professional For Custom Web Design In New York

By Myrtle Cash


Anyone focused on the idea of owning a business is known to face quite a few stresses and challenges along the way. A majority of entrepreneurs are now focused on the internet as their main format of operations as they are trying to ensure that as many consumers as possible at able to be reached out to in a productive and consolidated manner. Anyone trying to launch this kind of company should know how to choose a professional skill in custom web design in New York.

Web designers are trained in the ability to ensure that consumers receive the assistance they need in successfully creating their page of interest. Customization options are often focused on by interested owners as part of ensuring their particular operational platform is successfully implemented throughout their efforts. Professional choices are usually made with quite a bit of caution.

People of New York that are focused on this kind of guidance have plenty of professionals available to consider. Making a selection from such a broad base of solutions is actually quite challenging when being assured the best possible services are considered. Making this selection in an informed manner is quite possible when several factors are carefully weighted.

Consumer review sites are some of the most helpful and viable sources of information offered to people in need. The ratings process is now commonly focused on by anyone about to spend money on a product or service to ensure their efforts are safe and reputable. Many people focus their preliminary attention on professionals that have built a solid backing of great postings from previous clients.

Professionals being consulted with should also be able to provide a detailed portfolio to review for prospective clients. The portfolios that are typically built upon by professionals are filled with previous projects which can be the best possible source of attention or anyone trying to ensure they are making a wise decision. This review and insight should be based on paying attention to detail and overall creativity of the sites that were created.

The level of involvement that consumers are encouraged to engage in should also be focused on throughout this effort. Many professionals are interested in allowing their consumers an option to actively participate in their creation efforts while others are more interested in simply taking ideas and making them unique. Discussing this phase of their services should be completed during the consultation process.

People are also interested in making sure they are offered efficiency from the professional in question. Most potential owners are placed under stringent guidelines in actually being able to launch their page in a productive manner. Finding professionals offering the quickest solutions is helpful in managing this process appropriately.

When choosing a professional for custom web design in New York consumers are interested in their cost. Most owners have a specific dollar amount in mind that they are able to spend which must be adhered to at all times. Professionals that offer the lowest pricing for the fastest and most proficient services are generally the best to concentrate on.




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Simple Tips To Make Web Design Easy

By Meagan Smith


Even the most experienced web designer could use a review of the basics. It can be difficult because there are a vast number of resources to choose from. Fret not, because this article is going to help you obtain those basics in no time at all. You'll find a listing of tips below to facilitate the development of quality websites.

Subscribe to a web design newsletter. Such subscriptions are very useful in providing free advice along with keeping you morale high and to stay on top of your website design. Both an experienced as well as a novice can get benefited from reading these newsletters.

If you decide to go for FileZilla, then it is important that you reset all the applications on the quick menu so as to include username, domain and port. With this, whenever, you will log into the server, the entire process will become very easy as all you have to do is to click on that menu and select your personal settings. This will also reduce time wastage.

Use a well known software program that is known for getting the job done to help create a professional looking website. There are also programs that will allow you to design pages without knowing how to write HTML or other code. If you don't have PS, it can be difficult and time consuming building a nice site quickly.

Do not use pop-ups. Most people do not like visiting a website, then having pop-up ads bombard them. The majority of people will leave a site if it contains pop-ups, even if these sites are very large ones. You can avoid losing customers and visitors, by simply refusing to allow pop-up ads on your website. If you are required by your hosting service to have pop-up ads, you may want to consider obtaining a new web host.

From this you must have realized that designing a website is a matter of few basic elements only. Many options are available claiming to give out the basics but, going for one option can be a difficult job. The above mentioned tips should be a good source to get started.




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Calls To Action

By Walker L. Percy


The conversion process on your website has different elements, but the calls to action (CTA) are one of the most essential. This is an element that will communicate with your potential customer and try to lightly push them to purchase a product or service, while browsing your page. Higher conversion rates are a benefit of having a call to action that is properly implemented.

What exactly is a website call to action?

The call to action is your opportunity to drive traffic to your website, get people to subscribe to your newsletter, convince people to click on your advertisement, grow your following on social networks, get people to join your team, sell a product or service, or move someone to do anything that helps accomplish your business goals.

These show up on a webpage as a link, form, or banner that will help the potential customer to move down the line in the conversion process system. As a potential customer finds themselves for the first time on your website, giving them something like a whitepaper or ebook that is easily downloaded is a good idea. For returning visitors, offering them product specs or another promotional enticement will get them to give you some more personal info to receive it, this is for those who have already gotten their "top of the funnel" rewards.

For anyone to take advantage of the offer, the "why" needs to be strong for them. It can be evidence of success, a free trial, a discount, additional bundling of items or even a guarantee of results. Depending on your target demographic, the choice in call to action should be carefully designed, so you should know who your potential customers are. The why may be initially mentioned or alluded to in the advert or article copy to get the audience ready for it. Your potential buyer should see this offer as something they are interested in, and find valuable.

Make sure your call to action is in sync with the content around it. Depending on what content the visitor is looking at, you can offer a subscription to a casual browser on the homepage, or a more intensive demonstration if they are more advanced in their search queries. The area near the call to action should be in the background, and the CTA in the foreground. Creative fonts that resemble handwriting, or arrows and graphics can be of assistance here. This should still be in sync with the rest of your webpage, including color and brand design elements. This should entice the page visitor to look at the area, but not to distract and aggravate them. Your site has it's own style, be sure the navigation of the CTA matches this.

Since time is short, you must engage the audience, or they will not stay on the page long. Give the prospect the necessary information quickly and don't waste their time with unnecessary material. There is no time to waste here, so don't make it lengthy and dull or they will move on, people don't generally have a lot of extra time.

The same rules apply to any forms associated with your call to action. Use short and fast forms for things like email or newsletter subscriptions. Only ask for the essential information. A boring form that takes a lot of time will not do much to make them fill it out. Prospects don't want to have to work hard to purchase your product. You will be more successful when you keep the process of buying the service or product simple. Keeping your calls to action simple and making them easy to complete will dramatically increase your conversion rate.




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Things To Know About Website Design Connecticut

By Lana Bray


There are several things you should know before hiring a website design Connecticut company. You might consider comparing several options before making a decision. Some designers are not able to create responsive websites while others can provide feature rich sites that look great on every screen size. Technology is another important factor in selecting a designer. Some still use Flash technology for graphics and video even though it is not supported on mobile devices or tablets. HTML5 might be a better technology for your web page.

Responsive websites are quickly becoming a mandatory part of doing business online. These types of websites are able to shift components so they fit perfectly on every screen size. They are able to resize and restructure web pages so that the most important information is always presented first. Some developers still do not offer this feature. In the world of mobile devices, it is recommended that you hire a professional that can build you a responsive website.

Flash technology has actually been a pillar among internet designers for so many years. But those days are over. The world is mobile now and mobile screens do not support Flash. Some developers still make use of Flash however their sites will not work on all devices. You should hire a designer that avoids flash and will get your internet site working on mobile screens.

HTML5 is the brand new requirement in developing for the web. It is the standard protocol that responsive internet sites are created in. It is also the standard language for mobile web programming. If you want your internet site to work on mobile devices then you need to make sure that your developer uses HTML5 instead of Flash. Every device supports HTML5 but fewer and fewer devices are supporting Flash.

Creating an internet site that utilizes pop-ups is not by any means an excellent idea. Some designers and marketers might tell you that your internet page will be more profitable when you take them on your internet site but present research from the search engine users will quickly press the back button when annoying pop-ups take place. If you want visitors to stay on your internet site then do not annoy them with pop-ups

Video or sound clips that immediately turn on when the page starts will drive customers away. Marketer and some developers could tell you that this is a fantastic method to capture the attention of your visitors but search engine research suggests that this is a wonderful means of annoying visitors and will make sure that they see your rivals rather of your internet page.

Creating a newsletter for your web page is a vital advertising and marketing technique that will assist you in getting in touch with consumers. The majority of clients do not buy from an internet site till their third time visiting the site. Building a newsletter is a wonderful means to encourage consumers to return to your website and to provide them with special discounts not provided to the typical customer.

Prior to employing any website design Connecticut firm, speak with numerous providers and compare their innovation. Make certain your company can make responsive internet pages that do not use Flash technology and can deal with all screens, including mobile screens. Make sure that your designer can assist you in setting up newsletter software.




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How To Find The Best Web Design Connecticut

By Lana Bray


Many people are starting internet businesses every day, so there is a lot of competition. This is why as a business owner; you have to make sure that your business is competitive by looking for designers to take your website to a whole new level. With a whole directory of web designers at your fingertips, it can be a daunting task to discover the best designers to weigh up and have full confidence in them. Here are tips on how to find the best web design Connecticut.

A great and reliable way of finding Web Programmers is asking for reference from friends, family members, and fellow business people. Talk to people who have been in this industry for some time and ask them who they used to design their website. Although this is an old fashioned way of doing things, it can save you time and money.

The best thing that you can do in order to find the best company is to take some time and analyze each and every firm in your area. Inquire about the charges. Compare their prices and choose one that is within your budget. You should also hold personal interview with the company personnel and ask relevant questions in order to make sure that you get the value of your money.

The very best website designers should complete orders from clients within a short time. Meaning that there should not be delays between the moment clients places an order and time they will get what exactly they ordered. Request for estimation prior to hiring the company additionally, there should not be any hidden charges. Those sites ought to be designed based on the customer's preference.

You can also use the internet. Do not be attracted too much by the discount or advertisements and other promotional languages, but check on experience and track record of every individual who claims to be a designer. Take advantage of online reviews to learn more about different design companies and individual designers.

Professionalism and experience should be considered. Find out if the company you are about to hire has what it takes to offer the kind of services you are looking for. You should compare services from several companies. It is also wise to inquire about the level of employees training and experience. Some of the things that you ought to check include knowledge on SEO, website hosting, web visibility and more.

Request for credentials for example permit, warranty and an insurance policy. Many people ignore this process and they end up losing their hard earned cash to online scams. Having a permit implies that the company has complied with all legal requirements. They are important documents given that they safeguard the clients from any kind of liability.

A good website design is what every business wishes to have but it only through hiring best designers that you can be assured of top quality services. A good website will attract a lot of traffic and thus increase your visibility on the search engines. Looking for a good company may be time consuming and time consuming but definitely worth the pain. To find the best web design Connecticut residents can check online or in the area.




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Marketing Advice For Local Search

By Therese Goodwint


Business have been taking advantage of online local search marketing recently in their pursuit of increasing business. Below, I will discuss ten solid tips to ensure any local business has the opportunity to outrank their competitors.

Look at Your Local Directories

Local search optimization, like any solid search engine optimization strategy plan, requires a bit of research. Perform a search query for your Business. It's essential to find out how your business is listed on local directories, so doing this search is the best way to start. Your business name is not the only thing you should look up during this search; plug in different variations of your address and phone number as well. Keep this information in your records by using a spreadsheet to document links and listings.

Third party data providers and local directories inform the search engines. Your business information is compared to the index kept by the bigger search engines using external data. It's important, therefore, to ensure the signals from every local directory and data provider are correct and consistent. Search engines also use citations in their determinations of rankings, along with third party information. The NAP (name, address, and phone number) of businesses are what citations refer to, and how often these are mentioned online.

Google Places

Use Google Places to list your business. Make sure you include as much information as possible. Select the categories your business falls into, update contact information and verify it's correct, and describe your company and list the hours of service. The categories are one of the biggest parts; your business should have every appropriate category selected that reflects your business. Be sure to select both "restaurant" and "Mexican restaurant" if your business is a Mexican restaurant. Then make your listing catchy by adding the most gorgeous cover photo that you can, along with 5 or more other photographs to showcase your product or service.

Carefully Create some Geo-specific Pages of Content

Create location pages on site for multiple locations. If you have multiple locations, consider creating individual optimized pages on your website for each location. If you want to draw traffic in front a specific region then you need to ensure that you're using keywords that are specific to your targeting market as well as the regions you operate. Landing pages are helpful, that direct customers to the part of your business you are focusing on in the region.

When you target local audiences on your pages instead of globally you increase the chance of boosting your listing for local SERPs. Keywords and phrases should be carefully selected in order to gain the most benefit from the area your business is in rather than globally, and this will help you get higher in the rankings when customers seek out your products or services.

Solicit Reviews

Your marketing strategy should include reviews from customers, as they are invaluable. These make a tremendous difference when it comes to the results from search rankings, so when you have a satisfied customer, it's a good idea to ask them to leave you a nice review. Make it clear that reviews are really important to you and that you are intently interested in that customer's opinion.




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Carefully Picking The Best Website Design Company

By Sybil Bonchack


Company ownership is often considered as being a goal that is faced by people at some point in time throughout their lives. Potential entrepreneurs usually discover that the internet is now able to provide them with an incredible base of opportunities that would otherwise not be available which is often why such importance is placed in creating a virtual base of operations. Anyone concentrating on this particular effort should know the fundamentals of selecting the right website design company to launch their business.

A website design company is trained in offering the services owners need to launch a successful and well created page. New owners are known to concentrate on this professional when they are unequipped with the skills for successful page launch and wish to ensure their efforts are successful and creative. Owners are quite highly particular about the hiring decisions they make in this industry.

People interested in the use of a web design company have a large number of options to consider. Many of these options are quite challenging to sort out when making sure they are offered the most professional and successful guidance available. People that concentrate on various factors are able to be certain their efforts are well coordinated.

Obtaining as many referrals as possible is often considered to be quite helpful in this process. Referrals are usually offered from people that have used the graphic design professional in the past and are willing to share their experiences with others in regard all facets of the service experience. Professionals are known to provide referral discounts when this process is mentioned.

Dedicated professionals should be offered for each particular consumer. The graphic designer that is actually assigned to the client should be consistent throughout project completion as part of making sure the entire process is as personable and specific to the owner as possible. Companies often focus on this offering as part of ensuring their clients are able to receive the service options they need without having to complete various operations maneuvers.

Niche experience is also a major source of review for people that are making this hiring decision. Each website in existence is known to have a particular niche in which it operates which is often what dictates the type of consumers that are able to be reached out to. Most providers advertise this niche quite heavily which helps in narrowing down the options.

Maintenance services should also be provided when considering this particular page in question. People often find that attempting to keep their site as successfully marketed and functional as possible is often only successful when it is designed to reach out to their core group of consumers. Companies trained in reaching out to this core grouping are the best at providing this effort.

When hiring the right website design company owners are also interested in their prices. Paying for this particular form of guidance can be quite difficult to focus on when ensuring that all capital expenses are controlled. Low prices combined with the most comprehensive guidance are often what receive the most interest.




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Useful Tips For Web Design

By Meagan Smith


You want to design a website, but you are not sure how to get started. You are aware that you wish to incorporate multimedia into your website, but making this actually happen may be something you aren't prepared for. This information about web design fundamentals will help you do that. Check out some tips below and find out what you're missing.

With every web page that you are involved in designing, take the time to validate them. There a lot of WYSIWYG editors that will add meaningless code to your website design. Take the time to validate your code and remove the stuff that doesn't belong. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) offers a free service to validate pages.

It is always beneficial to have will power of learning new things while designing your website. Whenever you hang up with one design concept, find another to learn more. This practice can slow down the building process of your site but it gives you important information which can emit number of sites.

Visitors will find your site appealing if it is easy to navigate. They should feel trouble free while locating links and information. Keep the menus as simple as you can so that it allow the readers to find the way easily. If you want your visitors to remain on your site then post the links of primary pages on every sub page

Start with small websites so that it becomes easier to figure out your strength and weaknesses. While expanding your sites, you should consider previous mistakes and successes.

It is quite clear now that it is not too hard to design a website. These were few basic principles which are involved in web designing and will help you to figure out all the problems. You will surely create a successful website, if you put these advices into practice.




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Complete Guideline To A Great Looking Site

By Meagan Smith


A successful website is one that is well-designed and impressive. Your site is likely to attract more and more visitors only if it is easy to use, contains enough informative and has a nice layout that is pleasing to sight. The following article will provide you with the most important tips that will help you to design a successful site.

The first stage in designing the webpage is of selecting web host, you must be sure that you have knowledge of all the packages. It means that you have to know about the usage of CPU, disk area in Pc, bandwidth, etc and you must be aware about what will be the outcome of the steps you are going to take.

In designing web, care should be taken while adding sounds to your web page. Users will not like if they do not have control to the sounds on your page. In order to avoid this, you can include separate video and audio folder links. In this way, users can have control to the sounds.

Concept sketching is a smart option to go for before you start to design website. You should first sketch a layout, design of your web, and include all the sections in it. This will help you in making an effective website. One should always begin designing with sketching.

It could profit your website if you purchase an existing domain name from SEDO or another domain auction site. While this option might be costly, having a great domain name is really worth it. Apply these tips to create a website your potential customers will find appealing and interesting.

Do this and your online success will be all but guaranteed, leading to improved financial success too. Because the any successful online business starts with a nice looking site. If you can follow these tips you'll be one step ahead.




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The Best Mobile Phone App Developers Can Aid 6 Types Of Companies

By Ines Brennan


Making the decision to work with mobile phone app developers means that you will have high expectations based on the type of business you currently have. This is because such ideas are completely changing the way that we think about as well as conduct business with our external and internal customer structure. If you hire the right developer, you can count on your enterprise finding all sorts of interesting uses for the software that they can create.

Mobile apps for the medical industry are something to behold because they are improving communication for doctors and other medical professionals across the world. These ideas also help them to move information for patients offsite to another medical establishment in the blink of an eye. This extra speed allows doctors to focus on their job more because of the time they save.

If you work in an office environment, you can find technological solutions to digitally archive all of your documents. Creating such an archive through mobile tech will help to eliminate paper in the office as well as the time it takes to shuffle through files and find documents. Since this is a green measure, it will be easy to appreciate the implications of this aspect of it as well.

Those who are running retail establishments can find that mobile applications are a great way to provide interactive software for customers. This idea can translate into communicating special sales or promotions, giveaways, or anything else that might entice people to shop. Smart phone only discounts will help this particular demographic to feel more privileged to shop with you.

Retail department stores specifically could easily have an application made that interfaces with their registry. Normally, customers would have to print a registry to shop or use a special gun to zap items. Now, they can simply use their phone to find items to purchase from or add to a registry.

Big corporations can use these programs to create a phenomenal dashboard system that they can use. A system like this will give access to employees with certain clearance to some parts of the dashboard while others like executives have full access. Overall, this can improve internal efficiency within your company.

Real estate agents will find mobile programs most alluring. This is because they can offer convenience to potential home buyers that will then turn into a big driver for business. QR codes and other interface systems make it simple to put all sorts of information in the palm of any customer hand. If it is your goal to sell a lot of homes, this technology is for you.

At the end of the day, mobile phone app developers have made things in business different in a positive way. Ultimately, if you have not started using their creations yet, then the time is now. The best mobile programs will aid the overall success of your business and put you in a greater position for growth. Once you embrace the idea, your website or your store will be flooded with consumers before you know it.




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Identifying The Best Minneapolis Web Design Company

By Kathy Kaufman


With many businesses yearning to attract the global market, there is an increasing demand for web design and development services. There are a great number of companies out there offering services in the same technical field, but the best companies not only guarantee classic and professional designs but also the kind of services, which give clients the touch and feel of your online presence. Since you need the best deal and promising results, there are attributes you must look at to identify the best Minneapolis Web Design service provider.

Today, the market has many companies that deals with website development and Search Engine Optimization. Getting the right company, therefore, requires a little more homework. The following are some of the things you will need to look at before you choose a company to work with.

A quality company should be quick to action, easily understand the business model of their client and be keen to details. Do not work with a company that does not carry out business feasibility studies. Ensure that the company you choose takes time to study your business model and understands your objectives, especially the reason why you intend to start an online business.

Companies, businesses and individuals have varying website needs. A quality company is, therefore, the one that designs and implement a plan, which complements the needs of businesses, companies or an individual. It is ideal that the agency base its plan as directed by the client right from the start to the completion of the project.

Web designing and development is broad and since this is the case, a quality company should have a team of experts divided into two groups; programmers and graphic designers. Some companies assign designing and coding work to a single person. However, since designing and programming are too very different tasks, it is almost impossible to find an individual with the general ability to perform both tasks.

You need a company that has a passion in serving customers to the full, the sort of company that will use only valid codes to come up with your website. Whether you need a simple HTML and CSS web page or a complex but easy to use multi function database driven website, a company with skilled team of experts with design and coding passion coupled with experience will do the job just perfect.

Before the work begins, you need an assurance that the company will install the best XML sitemap and a good SEO plug-in to your website. This is important because it makes it possible for a website owner to add Search Engine Optimization tags to their site. A sitemap is ideal for a solid and stable website.

After getting a good Minneapolis Web Design company, you need to keep in touch with the project manager. Request for their contact and keep them with you. The contacts will make it easy for you to keep in touch with the project manager and the design and development team. The contacts are also important in case of emergency.




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What Should Be Done By A Website Designer

By Lana Bray


You can rely on wide variety of experts in several industries worldwide at present. One type that you should not forget is the website designer in ct. For individuals who are unaware, the creation of the websites done by the designers is described with the use of the more general term, which is known as web design.

It is possible for some computer programmers to be designers as well. Moreover, it is their task to apply the designs that they have made in building pages for the Internet with the aid of their programming skills. This is the main reason they are also known as computer experts and artists simultaneously.

In simpler words, there is a client that will approach the designers whenever there is a project that requires their expertise. On the side of the client, they just need to instruct the expert specifically on the details of the page. Meanwhile, there is also a need for them to be knowledgeable about a lot of computer programs.

Most of the programs that they need to master are those that can make graphics along with the ones that can animate images. It is also good if they can make use of some other files such as film clips and sounds to the sites. Aside from those, they also need to target making some pages that have attention grabbing details.

Meanwhile, there are also instances when these experts can be assigned to write as well as edit the content of the page that they are working on. This will only take place if the client will request for it and when the expert will take the challenge. However, this is not something that takes place all the time.

On another note, the responsibilities of the designer is not limited to creating sites. It is also their duty to maintain the pages that they have made and add necessary data on them. It is also their task to keep the sites become updated as always and add more things that will attract viewers and visitors online.

It is also necessary for the designers to have the knowledge about the recent changes and developments in the designing industry. It is something that they have to work on constantly so that they may incorporate new ideas to each of their project. Getting the first place in many search engines are the common aim of these people.

There is no doubt that the page must have some interesting and eye catching graphics for the success of its launch. There have also been people who have been arguing on the requirements of becoming a designer. They concluded that there is actually no need to become a college graduate in the field as long as you are talented and knows how to handle issues.

The website designer in ct. Can also work as a freelance artist all around the world. There are ones who really finished their degrees in many universities while some may have underwent legit training in connected to the field. All they have to do is to meet the numerous demands that are requested by the clients that hire them.




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Business Hosting : Getting The Right Business Hosting Package

By Shandi Munsen


Computers have become so much a part of everyday life and they have become the hubs around which we organize most of our activities. The internet in particular has become one of the most powerful medium of information exchange available today. It is basically the world's biggest encyclopedia. This virtual world contains millions of websites which provide information on all aspects of human life. The huge volume of data that we sprawl across the web requires to be stored some where. Cyber experts save the information on computer hard disks and then link them to the internet so that they can be accessed from anywhere in the world. This 'computer' is generally referred to as a 'web server' and the data stored on it is said as being 'hosted' thus the term web hosting.

Web hosting is the service that allows both individuals and businesses to create their own website on the internet. Companies who provide web hosting services have servers or computers on which the data that makes up the website is hosted, hence the term website hosting. Website owners, also known as webmasters, upload their web content to the web host for storage and publication on the internet. There you go, the concept is pretty easy to understand. This is what allows people from virtually anywhere in the world to use the internet to access a particular website.

There are scores of website hosting options, plans or packages that are out in the market today. There are free website hosting plans which are suited for individuals or for new businesses with a small budget for their presence in the internet. There are others who offer their services at a very affordable cost while retaining all the features that you may need. These are called paid website hosting which is great for established businesses or organizations, and provides more storage and features for the hosted website.

The next step would be choosing the appropriate hosting type. There are several types of hosting which include shared hosting, a dedicated server, and collocation or virtual private web server. For newbies, shared website hosting is the best option. This type involves many users who are using the same web server and share the server resources. A dedicated server is owned by a single user and is accorded complete rights over it. With this type, you can install your own software, use your own programming language, and as the name suggests, it is entirely dedicated for your website/s specifications. Dedicated servers will be useful for enterprise-level sites, dedicated hosting resellers, web designers and developers, corporate intranets, intricate sites with high traffic and secured information, and for sites with restricted content. However, dedicated servers will cost you 8 to 10 times more than the average web hosts. If you cannot afford the expenses of a dedicated server, then a virtual private server is the likely solution. Collocation is best suited for websites that require advanced functions such as custom software and hardware configurations, load-balancing and clustering.

The next stage would be picking the appropriate hosting type. There are many types of hosting, among which are shared hosting, virtual private web server, and a dedicated server. Shared website hosting accommodates multiple websites on a single server by allocating each site its own portion of server space. Almost all web hosting companies today provide shared web hosting feature to their clients. Shared hosting is also called virtual hosting, its is appropriate for low budget and entry-level hosting services. It can provide adequate disk space and bandwidth for most personal or small-business websites. A virtual private server (VPS), also known as collocation is best suited for websites that require advanced functions such as load-balancing and clustering, custom software, and hardware configurations. A dedicated server is owned by a single user and is accorded complete rights over it. This means your website does not share storage space on a server with any other client. Your site has private access to the server it's hosted on. Dedicated server is the best option if you have a busy or intricate website but you don't want to operate your own server.

This is basically an overview of website hosting. You may need to conduct further research and dig into the core of website hosting so that you can make the right choice as to your host, hosting type, and your hosting plan. Once you become familiar with the entire concept and you become well equipped with its intricacies, then you will realize that website hosting is enjoyable and profitable.




About the Author:



BluMinds




BluMinds comes from two combined words. Blu and Minds. Blu refers to the Italian artist who conceals his real identity and has been active in street art since 1999. His free creative paintings interpret the architectural language of public and contributed a radical change in the market. On the other hand, based on Wikipedia, Mind is the complex of cognitive faculties that enables consciousness, thinking, perception, reasoning, and judgement. It enables a person to be aware of the world and its highly new technologies as individual's experiences.

BluMinds is composed of different artistic IT people with different expertise. We were grouped as one to be conscious on the technologies, to think and gather extremely ideas, to perceptualize the client's needs, to reason out accordingly with regards to what is right in order to solve the client's problem, and lastly, to judge on what should be done. As a result for these, we can contribute more to the public most especially to our clients that is suitable for their businesses, may it be a small or large scale.

Our main goal here is to help small to large scale of entrepreneurs in their marketing. We all know that one way to increase the market is through advertising it to the public most especially to online users as we are in the modernized technology world. With BluMinds, your product can be known not only locally, but globally.

Aj
She has been known as being the project manager - business analyst that is so patient and understanding with full of innovative ideas. She can easily mingle with different types of people that she worked with. She loved doing analytical thinking. Her experiences in the IT industry helped and built her to be strong enough. Through communicating with international clients, her English language level has increased. Not only to analysis and design she has knowledge at, but as well as to content writing and search engine techniques. Jp
He is a well-known artist, designer, multimedia specialist in the IT industry, may it be in different aspects of art. Even during his college years, he works as an artist as his part time job. He is a person who would want to share and contribute his knowledge and skills to people who needs it. Jay experienced a lot of doing creative and interactive designs and has broadened his knowledge in Multimedia. His masterpiece does not only end in designing, but he extends his curiosity and exploring the world of programming as well. He makes sure that he is up-to-date with the technologies in order not to be left behind. He is a person who is not contented with just only one illusive idea, but would want to widen and endeavor to make his customer happy with great satisfaction. Beblie
He is an exceptional developer with resplendent techniques on web and desktop applications. From a simple Wordpress and Joomla websites to an exciting desktop application such as Payroll, Inventory, POS, etc. Every team member we have are flexible. Indeed, Beblie is more flexible as he is not only into programming but he is also good into slicing pages. He knows a lot of programming language that made him remarkable. He does not only focus to one level of a skill, rather he expands his learning to a higher level. He is indeed a talented and splendid team member! Fel
She shows her best in business analysis and quality assurance analysis field. With her brilliant and exciting ideas, she can make the documentation more easily understood by the client and the development team. She sees to it that all client's requirements were met before the project deployment with vast quality assurance. She also has her own SEO techniques that could make our client's website ranked higher in any search engine sites. Cj
He never fails to do what is expected from him. He makes sure that he gives his best in programming, focusing more in the back-end, as this is his expertise. Ecommerce or any dynamic website, name it, he will help you make it into reality. A funny guy but with full of bright and illusive ideas makes him unique. He is open to any suggestions and would open up his thoughts if needed. Indeed, he explores more to gain more knowledge and never stops learning new things.

dynamic website name

Dynamic Web projects and applications
There are two types of Web projects: dynamic and static. Dynamic web projects can contain dynamic Java EE resources such as servlets, JSP files, filters, and associated metadata, in addition to static resources such as images and HTML files. Static web projects only contains static resources. When you create Web projects, you can include cascading style sheets and JSP tag libraries (for dynamic Web projects), so that you can begin development with a richer set of project resources.

Dynamic Web projects are always embedded in Enterprise Application projects. The wizard that you use to create a dynamic Web project will also create an Enterprise Application (EAR) project if it does not already exist. The wizard will also update the application.xml deployment descriptor of the specified Enterprise Application project to define the Web project as a module element. If you are importing a WAR file rather than creating a dynamic Web project new, the WAR Import wizard requires that you specify a Web project, which already requires an EAR project.

Java EE conventions may represent extra overhead if you only want to create a static, content-based Web application, which contains no dynamic files, such as JSP files or servlets. In this case, when you need only the most basic Web project, you might want to use the static Web project type (see Static Web projects). Note that static Web projects can be converted to dynamic Web projects by selecting Convert to a Dynamic Web Project, from the Project menu.

The Java EE model, and more specifically, the Sun Microsystems Java™ Servlet 2.3 Specification, defines a Web application directory structure that specifies the location of Web content files, class files, class paths, deployment descriptors, and supporting metadata. The Web project hierarchy mirrors that of the Web application created from a project. In the workbench, you can use the New Web Project wizard to create a new Web project.

The main project folder contains all development objects related to a Web application. The Web content folder contains the elements of the project necessary to create a Web application. This folder structure maps to the Web application archive (WAR) structure defined by Sun Microsystems.. The following default elements are located in the Web project folder hierarchy:
Note: In the Project Explorer view, Web projects are filtered into folder nodes to customize the display of Web resources for easy management during development. For information on the filtered structure, see Project Explorer view.
Web Deployment Descriptor
The standard Web application deployment descriptor (the web.xml file).
JavaSource
Contains the project's Java source code for classes, beans, and servlets. When these resources are added to a Web project, they are automatically compiled and the generated files are added to the WEB-INF/classes directory. The contents of the source directory are not packaged in WAR files unless an option is specified when a WAR file is created.
Note: Though the default name given to the folder is JavaSources, you can change the name by right clicking on the name in the Project Explorer and clicking on Refactor > Rename.
imported_classes folder
This folder may be created during a WAR import, and contains class files that do not have accompanying source. The imported_classes folder is a Java classes folder; Java classes folders can also be created using the Web project Java Build Path properties page.
WebContent folder
The mandatory location of all Web resources, including HTML, JSP, graphic files, and so on. If the files are not placed in this directory (or in a subdirectory structure under this directory), the files will not be available when the application is executed on a server. The Web content folder represents the contents of the WAR file that will be deployed to the server. Any files not under the Web content folder are considered development-time resources (for example, .java files, .sql files, and .mif files), and are not deployed when the project is unit tested or published.
Note: Though the default name given to the folder is WebContent, you can change the name in the Project Explorer by right-clicking the folder and selecting RefactorRename or from the Web page of the project's Properties dialog. In a dynamic Web project, changing the folder name will update the Java build output directory.
META-INF
This directory contains the MANIFEST.MF file, which is used to map class paths for dependent JAR files that exist in other projects in the same Enterprise Application project. An entry in this file will update the run-time project class path and Java build settings to include the referenced JAR files.
theme
The suggested directory for cascading style sheets and other style-related objects.
WEB-INF
Based on the Sun Microsystems Java Servlet 2.3 Specification, this directory contains the supporting Web resources for a Web application, including the web.xml file and the classes and lib directories.
/classes
This directory is for servlets, utility classes, and the Java compiler output directory. The classes in this directory are used by the application class loader to load the classes. Folders in this directory will map package and class names, as in: /WEB-INF/classes/com/mycorp/servlets/MyServlet.class.
Do not place any .class files directly into this directory. The .class files are placed in this directory automatically when the Java compiler compiles Java source files that are in the Java Resources directory. Any files placed directly in this directory will be deleted by the Java compiler when it runs.

/lib
The supporting JAR files that your Web application references. Any classes in .jar files placed in this directory will be available for your Web application
Libraries
The supporting JAR files that your Web application references. This folder mirrors the content of the lib folder. In addition, Web Library Projects, which are "virtual" JAR files that do not physically reside in the Web project, but are associated with Java projects elsewhere in your workspace, are included in this folder. They are packaged with your project when you export the application's WAR file.
Note: A library entry on the Java build path will remain there unless the actual JAR file is deleted from the WEB-INF/lib folder. If you remove a library path entry but not the JAR file, the library entry will be re-added to the path automatically.

Wanna Buy a Domain Name?‎Bearglecorn buys a domain name, takes first step toward internet dominance


name.com domain search results page
The search results page: Click “Add” or check the appropriate box to place a domain in your shopping cart.

Our wonderful mascot, a part-bear, part-eagle, part-unicorn mashup who goes by the name Bearglecorn, is currently limited to a cameo deep within the name.com About Us page. This must be rectified immediately. Bearglecorn needs his own website, and I intend to provide him with one.
So on that note, welcome to a new weekly feature at the name.com blog, where I'll document the creation of Bearglecorn's website. If you're thinking, "This is just a poorly disguised excuse to show off name.com's account management features in a logical progression," well ... you're absolutely correct. Congratulations, you win unlimited free visits to the soon-to-be-active Bearglecorn website. 

To the home page, Bearglecorn.

The first step toward Bearglecorn's pending interweb fame is to purchase a domain name. The easiest place to get started is the search bar on the name.com homepage. Search for a keyword or phrase you have in mind for a domain and you'll get a list of the domains available.
I'll keep it simple and search for "bearglecorn."
name.com home page domain search
The name.com homepage. Click "search" and the magic happens.

Domain search results: Apparently there are no other bear-eagle-unicorn hybrids

My search results are below. In a not-so-bewildering turn of events, I can have pretty much any domain my heart (or Bearglecorn's heart, to be more accurate) desires for this keyword, including all of the top-level domains like .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Results for top-level domains are displayed in the bar at the top of the screen, and even more results--including suggestions for similar domains--are available as you scroll down.
Today I'm going to keep it simple and go with bearglecorn.com. I'll click the "Add" button to place it in my shopping cart, and then click the "Checkout" button to proceed.

The checkout page: Bearglecorn reviews his order

Next is the checkout page. This is the step where I could extend my bearglecorn.com registration for up to 10 years, and I could also add hostingprivacy protectionSEO tools, and more. I'm just going to stick with a one-year registration and hit "Checkout" again to move on to the billing page (Note: If you don't have a name.com account you'll have to create one before proceeding. It takes about 1.62 seconds).
name.com checkout page
The checkout page. Add some bells and whistles.

The billing page: Bearglecorn opens his wallet

Domains may be cheap at name.com, but they aren't free. I'm using account credit to purchase bearglecorn.com, but you can also complete your domain purchase by entering your credit card information before clicking "Complete Order."
name.com billing page
The billing page: CODs are not accepted.

The confirmation page: bearglecorn.com is off the market

After the order processes you'll be forwarded to a confirmation page. You can view an invoice of your order (this will also be emailed to you) or start managing your domain. In bearglecorn's case, that'll have to wait until next week, when I'll get him started with a RapidPress site.
Name.com order confirmation page
The confirmation page: Looks like I didn't screw anything up.

Epilogue, Part I: Godspeed, Bearglecorn

You’re ready to venture out into the land of cat videos, anonymous comments, and porn.

Epilogue, Part II: A video tutorial


Does Changing Domain Name Affect SEO?

Does Changing Domain Name Affect SEO?



I want to address three questions that recently brought people to the SEO Theory blog. They are all connected, although the people asking the questions may not have realized that. The first question is the one that intrigued me the most.

Does Changing the Domain Name Really Affect Your Search Engine Optimization?
Almost anyone with three or more years’ experience in the field should know by now that, of course changing the domain name will affect your SEO. But I don’t believe that is really the question these people mean to ask. I think they are looking for answers for a question more like, “Will changing my domain name affect my rankings/search engine optimization results”?

In other words, people don’t normally look at changing their domain names unless something compels them to. Maybe they have been told by The Company (or The Client) that the domain name is being changed and they have to make sure nothing bad happens. Maybe a merger has happened and an old domain is being folded into another. Maybe someone sold a domain but kept the content.

So, the first thing to understand is that not all domain name swaps are the same. If you retain control over the old domain (and you should plan on doing that for at least ten years) then you’ll want to implement 301-redirects to ensure that the link value pointing at old content is transferred to the new domain. Don’t even hope that you can get all the old links changed. That’s a real waste of time.

On the other hand, if you’re selling the domain name and have to start over for some reason, you can kiss the link value good-bye. Sure, you might get a lot of the old links changed but that’s a lot of work. Nonetheless I have known some people who sold their domains and kept the content. They really wanted to keep those links coming in.

Frankly, I would forget about the old links, even if they are only 2 weeks old. When you’re launching a new domain you will have your hands full just teaching people to search for the right domain. You will need NEW links anyway. If you sell the domain and keep the content there is no practical way to bring the link value with you. But if the content was really that good then who is to say it won’t attract new links if you republish it carefully in a measured pace?

In fact, I have attracted new links after republishing my old Suite101 articles from more than ten years ago. I’ve done that at least twice. So moving content to a new domain doesn’t mean you have lost all link value forever. In fact, quite the opposite. Most links don’t last as long as content and yet people in the SEO industry continue to invest more time and effort in obtaining links than in managing content. Talk about being inefficient!

In short, changing your domain name will indeed affect your SEO — that is, your search referral traffic — at least temporarily while the search engines get the redirects sorted out and permanently if you’re not able to redirect old URLs. Either way, if you continue to work on the site and produce good content you should recover any lost traffic in a reasonable length of time (3-6 months in my experience).

Should Your Domain Name Have Keywords?
Few ideas have been more misunderstood by the search engine optimization industry than use of keywords in the domain name. For years Internet marketers have told themselves, each other, and everyone else who will listen that “you have to have your keywords in your domain name”. Never mind the fact that Wikipedia continually kicked their keyword-ass domain names from here to Sunday 70 different ways.

Sure, in highly competitive verticals where every variation on the vanity keywords was used for domain registration even Wikipedia often struggled to appear on the front page of search results. But the magic secret was never in the domain name. After all, Google never said that keywords-in-domain-name was a ranking factor (and every time someone whined about “the exact match domain problem” Googlers were careful not to give credence to the idea that SEOs knew what they were talking about).

The reason why your EXAMPLE.COM domain ranked so well was that you spent all your time getting links that said “EXAMPLE” to point to your EXAMPLE.COM. Links may not be the most important part of the algorithm but they are the most important factor to many naive SEOs. When all you do is buy exact-match domain names and point keyword-rich anchor text at them you’re not going to see much benefit in doing anything else.

When Google finally rolled out its “Exact Match Domain name” update plenty of people with EMD Websites survived just fine. Why? Because they hadn’t invested solely in those keyword-rich anchors. Which is not to say that every affiliate spammer was nailed by the EMD update. I noticed several prominent affiliates who didn’t have a word of complaint about the EMD update.

Google went after the low-quality (by their standards) stuff as always. They don’t care if you use keywords in your domain name. If they did SEO-THEORY.COM and MICHAEL-MARTINEZ.COM wouldn’t rank for their vanity keywords.

Keywords-in-url was a helpful ranking factor for many years. If you had them in your domain name then you had them in your URL, but the algorithm was always looking at the URL. People who should know better have shown me their analytics data — packed with thousands of keywords sending traffic to their thousands of pages of content — and they pointed to the top results saying, “See? Keyword in domain name matters.”

I guess there is only so much room in an SEO noggin’ for revolutionary ideas and some idiot must have got in there first.

So, should your domain name have keywords? Actually, if you can get a short domain name with keywords it should help consumers remember the domain. But if you’re just buying cheap articles and slapping them on a WordPress site, putting all your emphasis on affiliate calls to action — well, it really doesn’t matter what you call the domain. IXQUIGGY.COM may still be available and at least that would be memorable.


Benefits of a Subdomain — Does Google Like Subdomains?
Google loves subdomains. They think subdomains are perfectly good Web constructions.

I really don’t understand the SEO obsession with subdomains. Either they are trying to stomp them out completely, yelling “subdomains are dead!’, or they are looking for ways to levearge subdomains into new advantages for search engine optimization.

If you want an advantage over the competition just browse Warrior Forum, WebmasterWorld, SEOmoz, SEOBook, SEO Chat, and every other popular SEO blog and forum. Write up a list of all their advice and then put that in the category of “DO NOT DO THIS SHIT.” Anything else will be offbeat enough that your competitors won’t have a clue what you’re doing.

Following the crowd — doing what everyone else is doing — endlessly following in the footsteps of people who share their cool ideas and discoveries with you keeps you in the rear. You’ll always be copying someone else hoping to repeat their success. And you’ll have plenty of company, too.

You can certainly argue that everyone needs to learn the basics somewhere, and doing what the SEO blogs and forums tell you to do should help you get up to speed. But when you have picked all the low-hanging fruit and it’s time to start climbing trees you’re going to find that “SEO 101″-grade advice just doesn’t cut the mustard.

The real stuff isn’t sitting in some private collection of archived SEO secrets — it’s waiting for you to figure it out on your own because each Website is different, each set of search results reacts differently, and everything changes over time.

I use subdomains all the time. I have never run into any of the nightmarish problems that other SEOs complain about. People search for my subdomains just as much as they search for my domains. That’s all brand-quality traffic. And my subdomains rank for thousands of useful searcher queries. That’s all long-tail traffic. And my subdomains get sitelinks, and show my picture, and do all that other cool SEO stuff that people make such a big fuss over.

I don’t use subdomains because they are the secret to success. Sure, they make some things easier (and less expensive) but I could just as easily use folders. It doesn’t matter.

The benefits a subdomain gives you are simple and straight-forward:

The subdomain is free. You don’t have to pay for it if you own the domain.
The subdomain lets you put keywords before the brand in the URL (if you care about that).
The subdomain can have its own completely isolated hosting account (more secure).
The subdomain can have its own IP address (might help with load management).
The subdomain can have its own design and navigation.
This is all money in the bank. But then, you can write up a list of the advantages of using folders and say the same thing: it’s all money in the bank.

The Real Question: How Important Is Domain Name for SEO?
This is really what people need to know. How important is the domain name for search engine optimization? Frankly, it’s not important at all. It never has been.

Domain names are important to people.

Search engine optimization simply has to support the business decision. You decide on domain name EXAMPLE.COM and then you work to promote it. Any competent SEO strategist can take a non-descript, generic domain name and build traffic for it in any set of keywords. The search engines don’t care. The search optimization process doesn’t care.

We pick domain names because we like them, because we believe in them, because we trust them. There is no SEO reason to use domain name ALPHA over domain name GAMMA.

So changing a domain name, or adding a subdomain, these actions don’t really affect your SEO. These are business decisions and your SEO supports them. That is no fine and subtle distinction — it’s an axiom. It just does not get any simpler than that.

How to Rescue Your Website from the Clutches of a Bad Web Designer or Bad Web Host

How to Rescue Your Website from the Clutches of a Bad Web Designer or Bad Web Host


From time to time, more frequently than one would think likely, I get emails from my visitors asking me if it is possible to move a website from an errant web designer or a bad web host without the cooperation of that person or company. This may happen because the web developer or web host has refused to relinquish control of the site when asked to. For example, they may not have given the owner his/her login and password so that the latter can access the site to update it themselves. This article attempts to address the problem.

The Context of the Question
The people who ask me this question usually have slightly different circumstances. The most common scenario is that they have hired a web designer to create and maintain a website for them, and that designer has ignored their requests for the site to be updated. And when they ask the designer to return the website to them, they meet a wall of silence. Another common scenario is where their web host has gone bad in some way (or even missing), and they want to move their site elsewhere.

Before you take the steps written here, consider the following:

Are you sure there is no misunderstanding between you and your designer as to the scope of his duties? Re-read your contract with that person. Does it specify that he/she update your website or does the fee you paid only include the initial design work? Maintenance work (that is, updating of your website) usually involves a monthly (or annual) fee, over and above the monthly (or annual) web hosting fees. If you only made a one-time payment, chances are that it only covers the initial creation of the site.

(You didn't think that a small one-time fee paid at the beginning was going to commit your designer to maintaining your site for the rest of his/her natural life, did you?)

Do not use this procedure as a means of solving your dispute with your web designers. That is, if you have withheld payment from them for some reason, and they're ignoring you because you've not paid up, this article will not solve your problem. Your designers will probably just haul you to court for breach of contract (for failing to pay up).

Basically, if you have a legal dispute with your designers, get help from a lawyer, not from some random website on the Internet, even one with a pretentious name like "thesitewizard.com".

Put simply, this article does NOT discuss contract disputes and legal remedies. It merely discusses the technical means that you can use to reclaim a website that legally and rightfully belongs to you. And it assumes that you no longer have access to your web hosting account: that is, you cannot log into your account to download a copy of all your files (via FTP or through your web host's control panel), nor are you able to modify your website's files.

Your Domain Name is the Key to Your Crown Jewels
Ultimately, where technical means are concerned, everything hinges on whether you have control over your domain name.

A domain name is a name like "thesitewizard.com". It is the means by which visitors reach your website. For example, if you type "thesitewizard.com" into your web browser right now, you will arrive at the front page of this website. When you or the person you hired started your site, one of the first things that would have been done is to register a domain name. This typically involves the payment of a small annual fee to a company called a domain name registrar. In exchange for this fee, you get the right to use the domain name for as long as you keep up the annual payments.

The domain name is not the same thing as your website. It's just a name. As explained in my tutorial on How to Make / Create Your Own Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guide, it's like registering a business name for your company in the physical world. Getting a domain name does not automatically get you a website any more than registering a business name get you shop premises in the brick and mortar world.

What you or your web designers did when your website was created was to attach your domain name to the set of documents they created. When your visitors enter your domain name in their web browser, they see the set of documents.

It's the equivalent of putting a sign board with your business name outside your shop premises in the physical world. Together, the business name (as shown on the sign) and your physical shop premises constitute your shop. Similarly, in the virtual world of the Internet, your domain name and the documents created by your web developers constitute your website.

What happens if, in the physical world, you decide to move your shop to a new building? You basically need to rent shop premises in the new building, move your goods there, and attach your business name (and sign) to that new shop. When you do that, your shop will continue to function, with the same name, albeit in a new location.

It's the same with a website. What you need to do is to get a new web host, put up your documents on that new web host, and point your domain name there. Once you complete that, you'll have moved your site. The difference is that in the virtual world, your website will still have the same web address and you don't need to tell your customers that you've moved.

To make sure you understand the concept behind what we'll be doing later in this article, I've depicted the parallels between moving a physical shop (in the brick and mortar world) and a website (in the digital world) in the table below.

Step Physical World Virtual World (Website)
1 Rent premises in a new location (building). Get a new web host.
2 Move goods into the new premises. Transfer documents (web pages) to the new web host.
3 Put up sign board with your business name over the new shop. Point your domain name to your new web hosting account.
In other words, everything depends on whether you can point your domain name wherever you want. For that to be possible, you will need the login name and password for your domain registrar. Note that this is not necessarily the same as the login name and password for your web host. (It may be the same if your web host and registrar are one and the same company.)

Without the account name and password for your domain at your registrar, you cannot easily wrest your site away from whoever is currently holding it hostage. As mentioned at the beginning of this section, everything hinges on your having control of your own account at the domain registrar.

This is why, in my guide on how to start a website, I put the registration of a domain name as the first step, something to be done by you, and not something that is done by a web developer you hire (which I only list as an option in the third step). In fact, if you look at that guide, I even listed the signing up for a web host as a separate process to be done yourself, before you even get a web designer. When you sign up for these things yourself, you'll not only be properly registered as the owner of your own domain, you'll also be considered by those companies (the domain registrar and the web host) as their customer. In such a case, even if you forget your account name and password, you can easily contact those companies to get the information and help you need.

On the other hand, if you have abdicated all your responsibilities to your web designer, and you have an unscrupulous designer, all the contact and ownership information held by your web host and domain name registrar may well point to him/her. Your web host and registrar will, in this case, not give you any information at all (since you're not their customer; the designer is). Your only recourse in such a case is to negotiate with your designer, if you can still reach him/her. Or you can get a lawyer.

For Those Who Signed Up with Their Web Host Themselves
If you are one of the people who actually followed my guide faithfully and only got a designer after you've personally signed up for a domain name and a web host, and you're paying the bills directly to your registrar and web host, you probably don't need to do the things mentioned in this article to regain control of your website.

Even if your web developer has changed the password for your web hosting account to lock you out, you can get it back. Simply contact your web host and explain the situation. You may have to verify that you're the real owner, but that's usually quite easy to do if you're their customer on record and are paying the bills directly to them. Your web host will probably just change the password to a new one of your choosing, and you'll have regained control of your site.

Of course if your web host and your web designer are one and the same, this won't work for you.


Issues to Think About When Reconstructing Your Own Website
Since you'll be moving your website to a new web host, you'll probably want to get a copy of your existing website (unless you plan to start from scratch). However, this is trickier than it may appear at first glance.

Legal Issues: Copyright of Your Old Web Design
One of the things you'll need to do if you simply want to move your existing website lock stock and barrel to a new web host is to find out who owns the copyright to your site's design. There's no way I can help you ascertain this. It depends on a lot of factors, most of which are, quite frankly, beyond my competence to determine, since I am not a lawyer.

For example, it probably depends on the nature of the contract (as well as what is specified in the contract) between you and your web designer. It also depends on whether your web designer was lazy, and used an online site builder belonging to your existing web host, or some website template created by someone else, in which case it's possible that neither your designer nor you own the copyright. See the article Is It Better to Use an Online Site Builder or a Standalone Web Editor? if you don't know why.

Technical Issue #1: Script-Driven or Dynamically-Generated Websites
Another hurdle you'll face in moving the website is if your website depends on computer programs that run on your web host's computer (known as "scripts") to generate a part or the whole of the site's content.

For example, if your website has forms of any kind, such as a shopping cart, a contact form, or a search engine form, it probably depends on one or more scripts. Blogs are also generated using scripts.

Since you can't log into your website via FTP (which is a method of transferring files to/from your website) or your web host's control panel, you have basically no way of getting a copy of those scripts and a copy of any data stored in your web host's database system, if any. While you may think that it's a simple matter to use your web browser to save the pages on your existing website, and then copy those pages to your new web hosting account, you will find that your new site will not function the same way as it did previously if any part of your site depended on scripts. For one, the forms that are on your pages will no longer work. Neither will your shopping cart.

Technical Issue #2: Folders, Images, Style Sheets and JavaScript Files
The appearance of your web page depends on many elements. Its content is contained in the file you see in your web browser (called the HTML file in webmaster lingo). The images on the page is kept in separate files on your website. The appearance is kept in yet another file, called a style sheet. Your page may also depend on JavaScript files kept in separate locations as well. See the article What are HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and Perl? Do I Need to Learn Them to Create a Website? for a brief overview of these elements if you want to have a better understanding of how your website works. (Don't worry, it's written for the layperson, so it's in plain English.)

As such, if you use your web browser to save the pages on your existing website, you will need to make sure you save all these additional files and put them in the correct folders matching the existing folder structure of your website. Otherwise, when you transfer your saved pages to your new web host, your website will not look the same.

For the newcomer, it may not be easy to figure out how to save all the necessary elements that make up a single web page, and reconstruct it correctly on a new web host. The task is actually doable, and isn't too difficult. But the problem is that requires a bit of technical knowledge. If you don't already know how to read HTML, and don't understand how file paths and URLs work, it'll probably take you a lot of time to get it right. And even then, you would still have not solved the other issues mentioned above.

In view of this, you may find that it is easier to just redesign your website from scratch on your new web host. You may still want to save the pages on your existing website using your web browser, so that you can reuse the words and/or pictures that were there (provided you own the copyright to those).

For those who are wondering how to save a copy of your existing website when you have no access to your current web host, just go to each page on your site in your web browser, click "File" from your browser's menu bar, followed by "Save" or "Save As..." in the drop down menu that appears. To save images, right click the image, and click the "Save image..." (or equivalent) item in the menu that pops up. As mentioned above, this doesn't actually save everything, and the saved web page will not look the same as that on your current site. But at least, hopefully, you'll have a copy of some of your content and images.

Once you have done the above, move on to the next section.

Steps to Take to Regain Control of Your Website
To reiterate, in case you skipped the above explanation on the importance of having control of your domain name, make sure you have the account user name and password of your domain name registrar before you do the following steps. There's no point carrying out any of the steps below if you cannot log into your domain registrar. If you don't even know what a domain name registrar is, or you don't know which registrar you used to get a domain name, chances are strong that you won't know your user name and password either. In such a case, you won't be able to do use the steps below to get your site back.

Get a New Web Host
Since you want to move your website away from your current designer's control or from your existing web host, you'll need to sign up with a new web host. A list of some web hosts can be found in my list of Commercial Web Hosts. Those wondering which web host I'm currently using can read my article "Which Web Host Do You Recommend? (FAQ)".

Point Your Domain to Your New Web Host
Once your new web hosting account is set up, you'll need to make your domain name redirect to that new location. Please read my article How to Point a Domain Name to Your Website for the steps to take to accomplish this. You will need to be able to log into your domain registrar's account to do this.

This is the key step that wrests your website out from under your old web designer's or web host's control. Once you do this, your old site will no longer be accessible to you using a web browser. So if you want a copy of your old website's pages, make sure you save them before you take this step.

Redesign and Republish Your Website
Next, you'll need to redesign your website and publish it to your new web host. Tutorials on how to use various computer programs to do this are listed below. You only need to follow one of these tutorial series, not all of them. For example, if you want to use Dreamweaver CS5 to create your site, just follow the Dreamweaver CS5 tutorial.

Dreamweaver CS5.5 Tutorial — Dreamweaver is a well-regarded web editor used by many webmasters.
Dreamweaver CS5 Tutorial — Dreamweaver CS5 is an older version of Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver CS4 Tutorial — Dreamweaver CS4 is an old version of Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver CS3 Tutorial — Dreamweaver CS3 is an old version of Dreamweaver.
KompoZer Tutorial — KompoZer is a free web editor.
Nvu Tutorial — Nvu is an old version of KompoZer (also free).
Alternatively, you can also hire another web designer (hopefully, an honest one this time) to do the redesign.

Preventive Measures to Take When Creating a Website
In a way, if you're reading this article because you face the problem addressed here, this section is probably redundant, since experience has undoubtedly left you wiser. However, for the benefit of those who are reading this article merely out of curiosity (and who did not have to deal with this nasty bit of business), let me collect together a few important things to do when starting out a website.

Get Your Domain Name Yourself
Even if you don't plan to design your website yourself, you should at least register the domain name for your website yourself. I know some people's minds go blank whenever they have to do anything related to the computer, even if it is a very simple thing. But if you don't make an effort to learn to do even this very basic task, then you may end up being the sucker that everyone takes advantage of.

Your domain name is one of the most important things you need to have control of when you start your website. With control over it, even if your web host cheats you, or even if your web designer tries to block you from updating your website, you can easily just move your website elsewhere. Without control over it, your only hope is to get a lawyer. The lawyer route takes a lot of time to resolve, not to mention money, and in that time, you'll lose the sales you might have gained from your website.

As you can see from my guide on How to Register Your Own Domain Name, it's actually an easy task to get a domain yourself. It's just like buying something on the Internet. In fact, it IS buying something on the Internet, except that you won't get physical goods shipped to you. What you get is the right to use a name for your website, and to point that name to any location on the Internet any time you want.

Do Not Give Your Password to Your Account at the Domain Registrar to Anyone
The password that you create when you pay for a domain name should not be given to anyone. And that includes a web designer you hire to create your site for you. Giving that password to someone is like giving them a blank cheque ("check" in US English). It would nullify whatever benefit you gained from registering your domain name yourself, since with the password, that person can simply transfer the ownership of your domain name to anyone he/she pleases.

What if the designer needs to point the domain name to the website that he has designed for you? If you were to ask me, I would suggest that you point the domain yourself using my guide. However, I realise that for those who are already balking at the idea of buying the domain name themselves, this may tip them over the brink. If you really think it's too difficult, get your web designer to do it in your presence (after you log into your registrar's account yourself). Later, when you're back at your own computer, change your password at the registrar's site as a just-in-case measure, after verifying that nothing in your registrar's account has changed (including email address, business or home address, name, domain ownership, etc).

Yes, I know. It sounds paranoid. If you think about it, password security measures regularly advocated by security pundits usually sound over the top. Some of them even sound like they were taken from a Hollywood spy thriller. That is, until you find that your account is compromised and your crown jewels stolen.

What if Your Registrar is the Same as Your Web Host?
If you bought web hosting from your registrar, then it's possible that the same password controls both your domain name and your web hosting account. You may perhaps be thinking that in such an event, you'll have no choice but to give your web designer the password since if you don't, he/she won't be able to create your website. Not true.

The way to solve this is to create a separate FTP account for your web developer (ask your web host how you can do this). Give this FTP account a different password, and restrict the access for this account to only the website area. This allows your web designer the ability to publish your website without, at the same time, also giving him carte blanche to do anything he wants to the rest of your account.

(Note that if you do this, and your website needs a database, you may have to create it for your developer using your website's control panel. But you can usually ask your web host for help for this. It's a very easy task.)

Do You Need to Set Up a Web Hosting Account Yourself?
In an ideal world (in my opinion), webmasters will set up their sites exactly as I described in my guide on How to Set Up / Create a Website, that is, they get the domain names themselves, sign up for a web hosting account themselves, and only engage the web designer (if they don't want to work on the site themselves) at the design stage.

However, I know that this is not a very realistic expectation: if you are the owner of a company and are not very computer-savvy, you may not want to waste a lot of time dealing with all the nitty gritty of setting up a website, especially if the website is just a small part of your overall business. You may prefer to simply hire someone to take care of that end of things, and concentrate on your real work. If you decide this, please understand that the number of options available to you when you face problems with your web designer is proportional to the extent of your involvement at the initial stages of the creation of your site. The table below summarises this:

Your Initial Involvement With Your Site Your Options In The Event Of A Problem With Your Web Developer
You did the following yourself:

Signed up for a domain name yourself and retain control of it.
Signed up with a web host yourself and pay the bills directly to them.
Created a separate FTP account with a different password for your web designer so that he/she can publish your site.
Terminate your web designer's access to your website by deleting his FTP account. This is quick and painless and solves the problem instantly. With this method, you don't ever lose control of your site.

Although the options below are also available to you, there's no need to even consider them.

You did the following yourself:

Signed up for a domain name yourself and retain control of it.
Signed up with a web host yourself and pay the bills directly to them.
Simply get the web host to reset the password, and you'll have complete control of your website again. (See box above.) There's no need to move to a new web host, unless the web host was the culprit that caused the problem in the first place. This process is generally faster than any of the other processes listed below.

All the options below are also available to you.

You did the following yourself:

Signed up for a domain name yourself and retain control of it.
If you can't get your web host to co-operate, you still have the ability to point your domain name to a new web host and start again from there. (See procedure above.) While this is a last resort measure, since it's rather like a "nuke" option obliterating your old website, at least you have this ability to start again with the same web address.

The option below is also available to you.

You did nothing. Your web designer did everything for you.

Pray.

(And try to negotiate with your designer and/or get a lawyer.)

Moving Your Website Without the Cooperation of Your Previous Web Designer or Web Host
It's sad that I actually have to write such an article, where it's necessary for someone to need to rescue their site away from the clutches of a bad web designer or web host. In any case, for those who have control of their own domain, this method of directing your domain name elsewhere is an effective solution to the problem.

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