In this article, we’ll take a quick look at some of the most popular extra features you can add to your web space—and see which ones will benefit your site the most.

Blogs

Blogs are one of the most popular extras available for your web space, and with good reason. There are many different types of sites which can benefit from a blog, including some which might surprise you.

A great example would be a restaurant website. Sure, you can create an absolutely gorgeous site, showing off your menus and featuring a dramatic slideshow of your dining room and outdoor patio area. However, visitors will be very intrigued by a blog written by the owner of the restaurant, detailing day-to-day operations in way that’s fun to read. The idea is to draw customers into your world, which will make them feel connected and entice them to come and taste this wonderful food they’ve been reading about.

If you feel that a blog might help your website, we encourage you to give it a try. This add-on is inexpensive and can really help boost sales and loyalty. A web host that offers Fantastico is a great choice for beginners. This helpful tool makes adding blogs a snap—often it can be done with a single click.

Flashing Graphics

Overall, flashing graphics look amateurish and make people think of a high school student’s social network page. Most small businesses should stick with tasteful, suitable graphics that don’t move or flash. Not only will a flashing or moving graphic cost you money that it will not recoup, but it might actually drive customers away from your web space.

Forums

Forums or message boards let your website visitors interact with each other. This can be a big boost in terms of keeping people on your site longer, and in making them feel connected to the site. However, not every site will draw customers who enjoy forum discussions.

Only you can decide this, since you know your business best. Sites which deal with social issues are ideal for forums. Ecommerce sites, in general, are not. A few customers may want to leave feedback, but there are many less-expensive ways for them to do that.

Unless you want to immediately spark ongoing conversations among your visitors, hold off on a forum until you’re certain that it will benefit your web space.

The Bottom Line

Research each extra feature carefully before you commit money to it. You can always grow your web space later, but in the beginning, it’s best to keep overhead costs low. Click here to see affordable and recommended web hosts that allow you to install blogs and forums for free.

The two main options for web design are custom design and website templates. We’ll discuss both in this article.

Custom Web Design

Your first option is to hire a web design agency or professional to design and code a custom website for you. Make sure you’re working with a professional individual or firm, so that you’ll still be very involved in the process. You can expect to provide your own content, make strategic decisions, and generally collaborate with them on the website.

Website Templates

A website template is a pre-made website design you can buy and use. You can use a template directly, or customize it to meet special design needs. Since the same template is available to a lot of people, this option is more affordable.

There are thousands of website templates online. You can buy them directly from template shops. Also, some web space hosts, such as the ones on our recommended list, bundle website templates for free with their hosting plans.

Website Builders

We need to mention another option which combines website templates and custom design. Many web hosts include website builders free with hosting plans. This allows you to start from a template and customize your website design, all within your browser and without having to know how to code. Site builders allow you to build your web space one component at a time, making the entire process simpler.

Which One Is Right for You?

When choosing between custom web design or website templates, take these into consideration:

Branding

If you want a unique brand, then you have to invest in custom design. After all, anybody can use a template—and you may just go online one day and discover that a competitor is using the exact template you’ve chosen. With all the websites online, you really want yours to stand out from the crowd.

Nature of Business

It just so happens that most website templates available have a sleek and modern look and feel. Now, if you’re selling discounted computer parts, this is perfect. But if you’re a boutique selling vintage pieces, a modern look will detract from your brand image. Vintage necklaces just don’t look at home in the standard Web 2.0 web design style.

Website Size

In general, large sites are better suited to custom design, simply because you want to ensure that all sections and components work together according to your needs. Small sites can do just fine with a template.

Conclusion

Do your research and think of the considerations above when choosing between custom design and templates. Whatever you decide, make sure you choose a good web host that can meet all your web space needs.

What Is a Blog?

Blogs allow you to post about whatever you like, whenever you like, and share it with your visitors. While you may be thinking that nobody would want to read your blog, you’re wrong. Connecting with your visitors is a powerful way to get them to return. A blog can be great whether your website is personal or for business.

• If you run a restaurant, talk about the freshest dishes on the menu for a particular day.
• Selling T-shirts? Write a funny story about how you wore your own creation out to lunch and somebody recognized it.
• If you run a site about social issues, blog about how you started a recycling campaign at your day job and got the entire office going green.

You get the idea—anything goes. Even posts that are only slightly related can be successful, as long as they’re fun to read. People love to be entertained, so entertain them in your web space to keep them there longer.

Would Your Website Benefit?

In reality, there are many sites which could benefit from a blog. Your audience is a big indicator of whether or not a blog will be good for your web space. The more tech-savvy your target market, the more likely they are to enjoy reading a blog. Target markets which aren’t all that up-to-date on things may not even know what a blog is, and your efforts will be for naught. Are you enticing customers to your hip new Tex-Asian fusion cafe? Blog away! If you’re selling home safety products to seniors, a blog might be a waste of time.

Also remember that your website will only benefit from a blog if you can devote the time and energy to setting it up and maintaining it properly. This includes posting regularly—we recommend at least once a week—and following SEO guidelines.  If this is too much for you right now, don’t force it—-wait a while, research by reading successful blogs, and add one when the time is right.

Blogging Platforms and Web Space Hosts

Self-hosted blogging platforms are the best choice, since they give you the most control. WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are among the most popular, and with good reason. They’re easy to integrate into your web space, offer great features for optimization and, most importantly, are extremely easy for a beginner to set up and use.

When selecting your web host, look for a featured called Fantastico, which allows you to install blogs—as well as other software, such as ecommerce systems and message boards—in a few clicks.

One of the best web hosts for blogs is Just Host. They include Fantastico and support a variety of blogging platforms.

Conclusion

If you can dedicate the time to creating and maintaining an up-to-date and quality blog, go for it. Take the time to research your options, set it up carefully and above all, make those posts interesting! This will draw visitors to your web space and keep them there, generating traffic and revenue.

Image by Harold Groven.

Web Space Cost

You’ve probably been shopping around for a hosting service already, and some of the prices you’ve seen probably left you stunned. Services can run into the hundreds. However, when just starting out, there is no need to pay anywhere near these high costs. Shared hosting is a very affordable option, and web hosts provide it for as low as $3 a month.

Site Builders

A good site builder is essential for the beginner and small business owner. These tools will make what can be an incredibly complicated process simple and easy to understand. All the details have been worked out for you, so your website can be up and running almost immediately.

Site builders also let you make your website really come alive by incorporating personal touches. These touches make your site stand out from the pack, so use them well and show your personal style.

Technical Support

You don’t want a hosting service that leaves you out in the cold when something goes wrong and you need assistance. The best services offer 24/7 support and a variety of communication methods. Look for a service that offers at least live chat support. If they offer email and phone as well, that’s even better.

Uptime Percentages

Uptime refers to the average amount of time you can expect your website to be accessible to you and your customers. Downtime should be very minimal. Look for a service which offers a 99.9% uptime rate, and make sure that this rate is guaranteed. Because the more time your website is down, the more traffic and money you stand to lose.

Backup Frequency

Some of us have gone through the frustration of having our computers crash and losing valuable documents and data. Now imagine if your entire site crashed, taking all your information away, never to be seen again. Not a pretty picture.

Web hosting services offer data backup on a regular basis. In most cases, this backup occurs on a daily or weekly basis. The data on your site is backed up on a secure platform, ensuring that even if the hosting service experiences a crash, your data will be safe and secure. This is a vital feature, and you shouldn’t consider signing up with a hosting service which doesn’t offer data backup on a regular and reliable basis.

Conclusion

Each small business is different, but some fundamentals of web space building simply don’t change. Insist on the best when it comes to these crucial components of creating your site. After all, you can’t build a strong site on a shaky foundation, so start with the best and you’ll have the foundation you need to prosper and grow.

Why Is a Web Domain So Important?

Your domain name isn’t just a web space address; it also tells the world what your site is all about. It identifies who you are and what you do. Your domain name affects how high your site will appear in search engine rankings, so choose the words carefully.

Your domain name also creates part of that all-important first impression. If a domain name is intriguing, potential visitors are more likely to click on to your site.

Since a domain is such a key part of your web space, it’s in your best interests to choose a reliable and established company to register it with.

For domain registration and web hosting, we recommend Just Host. This is a best buy because they offer free domain registration with web hosting plans.

If you want to register your web domain separately from your web hosting, we recommend GoDaddy. They’ve been offering affordable domains for many years.

Choosing a Great Web Domain

Here are three tips for choosing a domain name you can be happy with:

• Blend creativity with clarity. Use creativity and flair when you create a domain name, but stick to the subject matter of your web space. As a beginner, your domain name should clearly indicate what visitors can expect at your site. An ideal domain name will contain the name of your organization, and somehow indicate the type of products or services you offer.
• Make it memorable. Some visitors will need to type your domain name into their browser to get to your website. Make it easy for them by choosing a domain name that’s easy to spell and remember.
  
• Optimize for search engines. If you can do so naturally, incorporate SEO keywords into your domain name. However, only do this if the final domain sounds professional and natural; don’t just string a bunch of words together.

Registering a domain name is one of the first steps toward your own web space, and one of the most important. Make it creative, make it memorable, and make it informative. When you decide on the name, register it right away to avoid having to start all over again. Following these simple steps will result in an attractive domain name that your visitors will remember.

Product Categories

You don’t want your customers getting lost while shopping. If you have enough products for sale, organize them by category in a way that’s easy for shoppers to navigate.

Search Features

Adding a search bar to your ecommerce web space can make shopping a much simpler experience for your guests. Instead of reading through every product you have for sale, they can simply type in a request such as “kids’ tees” and be directed to all the children’s shirts you have for sale.

Secure Checkout

In this day and age, nobody is going to purchase anything from you if the checkout process isn’t safe and secure. People trust companies they know, so choose a popular payment service, one which customers will recognize. Encrypted checkouts are the only way to go in terms of keeping your customers’ sensitive information safe.

Shopping Cart

Just as in a real-life store, a shopping cart is a way for your customers to collect their items before making their final purchase. This makes shopping simpler and more convenient, which translates into more and bigger sales for you.

Visual Appeal

Regardless of whether you use a gallery, a slideshow, or individual pictures for each product page, pictures are essential to boosting sales. Would you buy a product you couldn’t see? Of course not. You’ll need quality, high resolution shots of every single item for sale, from all angles. Let your customers see exactly what they’ll be getting. This inspires confidence. The more pictures featured on your web space, the higher your sales are likely to climb.

Do You Need Ecommerce?

The only question you need to ask yourself in determining whether ecommerce systems are right for you is whether or not you want to sell online. It’s that simple. Your web space may be advertising a retail establishment such as a restaurant, but not taking online orders. If this is your situation, you have no need for ecommerce features, so spend your money improving your web space in other ways.

Ecommerce Web Space Hosts

Choosing a hosting provider for your web space is an important step. You want affordability combined with reliability. While many sites offer ecommerce, some stand out from the pack. Just Host is a hosting service we highly recommend for this purpose. It has received outstanding ratings from independent reviewers and consistently delivers on the features which matter most to small business owners.

Conclusion

While ecommerce can seem intimidating, it’s really not a complicated matter. Make smart decisions for your web space by choosing a good ecommerce hosting provider, and you’ll see those sales start rolling in!

Image by zorraquino.

First things first. Web server location refers to the physical location of your web hosting service. Not all servers are located where you would expect. It’s fairly common for a small business in one country to purchase web space from a hosting company in another country, and for a hosting company in one country to lease out servers in another country. This means that you could be in the United Kingdom, purchasing hosting from a company in the United States, which is actually using servers in Australia.

What Makes a Good Web Server Location

Reliable Connectivity

A good location is based on several things. First, think about how developed the area is in terms of Internet connection. Highly developed areas such as North America, Western Europe, and Australia generally have good, reliable connections. This means a smoother web experience for you and your website visitors.

Internet Laws

Another important factor is the political climate and how it relates to Internet practices. A resident of the United States, for example, typically knows little about European Internet laws, and could be in for some surprises.

Servers located in the United States are generally a safe bet because they have a democratic system, not to mention most of the best web hosts and web services in the world are based there.

Your Target Market

Web server location is also important in boosting exposure for your web space. Having your web server in the same country as your target market can increase your website visits.

Search engines like Google consider web server location in their algorithm, so a local server will give you higher rankings if a local visitor searches for your product or service. Also, a local server makes the website load faster for local visitors, which is always a good thing.

Natural Disasters

The likelihood of natural disasters in a certain area is very important when choosing a server location. After all, if the area is hit by a hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, or flooding, connections may be lost for hours, days, or weeks. This is not something you want for your website.

Areas which enjoy stable climates are generally the safest. The United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia are all typically stable, and are home to a great deal of reliable servers.

Conclusion

In the end, it’s best to choose a web server located in developed, climate-stable, and democratic countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Local servers are good for websites that are targeted to people in a specific country.

If you’re looking for excellent web hosts, check out our recommended list. All of these hosts use servers in the United States.

The right location plays a part in having an optimal website experience for you and your visitors, so be sure you make the right choice.

Image by Erwin Boogert.

Here, we’ll clue you in on web hosting subdomain basics. It’s important to have all the facts before you begin to build a website. Being informed not only saves you money, but also lets you choose the best possible host for your web space, which will translate into the best possible website.

On Web Hosting Subdomains

A web hosting subdomain is simply a section of a particular website, dedicated to a specific portion of web space or information.

For example, let’s say that your website is http://mywebsite.com. Let’s pretend that you sell many different things on this site, some of which are completely unrelated to each other.

In order to simplify the shopping experience for your customers and to make traffic and orders easier for you to manage, you might create a subdomain for each grouping of products. These subdomains might be http://cars.mywebsite.com or http://clothing.mywebsite.com.

Larger websites often have subdomains to keep their content organized. For example, when you visit a news site and click on a topic such as weather or traffic, you are often directed to that subject’s dedicated subdomain.

Do You Need Them?

A common misconception among novices is that their web space is simply too small to require subdomains. This may be true in the very beginning, but you need to make room for your web space to grow. Leaving room for expansion ensures that when your site begins to attract more visitors, you’ll have the tools in place to grow your site accordingly.

In addition to growth, your web space will benefit during searches if you use subdomains. If a potential customer or visitor types in something which is not a prominent part of your main page, they may not find your web space. You’ve just lost business.

However, having a specific subdomain for each topic or niche that you offer greatly increases the chances of potential business finding your site.

How Many Do You Need?

There are many reliable and affordable hosting services out there which offer unlimited subdomains, and this is what you should seek out.

Unlimited subdomains give you complete freedom should your website grow larger. Remember that subdomains are tied in with the amount of disk space and bandwidth you are allotted, so ask questions. Determine before signing up exactly how much disk space and bandwidth you will be receiving, and make sure that the numbers are satisfactory regarding your eventual subdomains. Packages can usually be upgraded, but it’s always nice to have everything you need right from the beginning.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, web hosting subdomains are a simple yet effective tool in organizing and managing your web space. The benefits are great, boosting exposure and traffic, and the cost is usually quite minimal. Look for hosting with unlimited subdomains to get best results. Check out these recommended web hosts for high-quality hosting.

Intuitive and easy to use

Microsoft FrontPage works well for people who want to build their own websites without much technical knowledge. It’s an application that allows you to create your website and publish it easily to a host.

It’s a very simple yet robust design software that you can use to build good-looking pages in minutes. Not only that, it’s also a great file manager. When you use it to build your website, it organizes all of the files and folders within it.

Choosing your web host

Here are some things you need to look out for when choosing your web host:

• The web host’s servers should support the version of FrontPage you’re using to build your website.
• Make sure you’ll be able to create the number of email addresses you’ll need. This is particularly important if you own a business and need multiple email accounts.
• Check the bandwidth and storage limits.

Our recommended FrontPage web space provider is Just Host, which offers a generous hosting package and a wide variety of features for an affordable price. Of course, it supports websites created with Microsoft FrontPage.

When you have a business website or web application that needs higher-level resources or particular services, Amazon is a good option for you. Amazon offers a variety of different packages for specific needs.

Amazon CloudFront helps you avoid the messy files and folders, unused paid space, and slow content serving that’s common among dedicated servers.

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud.

Amazon Simple Storage Service or Amazon S3 provides a simple and affordable web service which allows you to save and load any amount of data from anywhere and at any time.

Amazon SimpleDB provides the core database functions of data indexing and querying.

Amazon Simple Queue Service provides a high-performance secure queuing system, allowing you to reliably distribute work between your application processes with no inconvenience.

Are these web services right for you? You first have to determine the complexity of your website and your requirements. Shared web hosting is enough for most needs, but if you’re running a web application or a high-traffic website, you could definitely benefit from these Amazon Web Services. All in all, Amazon web space is a great option for businesses and companies who need more than the basic resources.