You won’t receive many complaints from iPod owners. Nevertheless, one matter sometimes mentioned is the inability to move songs from their iPod to a new PC Even though the iPod has no trouble copying songs from a desktop computer to iPod with iTunes, the reverse is prevented. If you do not have iPod Copy Package, you will be unable to transmit your iPod content to another machine. This topic sometimes comes up when iPod owners get a new computer or have to install the operating system on their current machine. Apple forbids this action because it doesn’t want unauthorised sharing of purchased music from the iTunes shop. Still yet, there are many honest scenarios that iPod owners need the power to move from iPod to computer. If a PC goes kaput and you have to re-run Windows, you might need iPod to PC transfer software to recover your priceless data. Differently, the fresh installation of iTunes will erase your iPod, potentially costing you $100’s of dollars in lost music. Another common scenario customers necessitate these types of computer software is when they get a new computer and need to transfer their existing database of iPod files on the new personal computer. Again, if you do not install this type of program, you might possibly lose your valuable iPod files. There are many software developers on the Web today that offer programs to carry out this chore. A fast visit to software download websites will reveal a bunch of choices. You might also just type in ‘iPod to PC copy software’ into your favorite search engine.
Good web designs are very subjective and even the designs perceived as great by one person will not be viewed as so by another.
Before starting your search the first thing to establish is what budget you have. This determines whether you should be looking at a design agency or a freelance web designer.
So what do you need to look for? Do you look for someone with amazing creative talents, a history of excellent websites or simply rely on recommendations from others. Without doubt a web designer’s portfolio is of utmost importance, you are not going to contact someone if you are not keen on their previous creations. When looking at their sites check they don’t all look the same, check the pages load quickly and above all check they are easy to navigate through and that you never feel lost in the site.
When you approach a designer we suggest you ask the following questions:
1) If a logo is required ask them how they approach the branding process and how can they build on your current branding
2) Ask them how many design concepts they create
3) When coding sites check they validate all pages on the W3C validator? This ensures the pages are free from errors and any respectable coder will automatically ensure this is automatically carried out on all sites. A good test is to look at their recent client list and check those sites using the W3C validator http://validator.w3.org/).
4) You need to decide what audience you are targeting and hence what browsers you want supported. If you want a site that works in all version 4 browsers and above on PC and Mac then it will cost more than a site is developed for Internet Explorer 5 and upwards on the PC. When you have decided what browsers and operating systems you would like supported check the developer has access to all the relevant browsers and platforms you require (i.e. do they have a Macintosh if you require this)
5) If your site requires e-commerce ask the designer if they have experience in this area and get them to show you examples.
6) Do you require a content management system (CMS)? Content Management Systems help you manage the text on your pages without knowing any HTML. Many developers can offer this service so if you require one ask them for recommendations, as a CMS they have worked on before will be a lot more cost effective than using one they have not.
7) If you want your designer to market your site on search engines then experience in this area is vital. Many companies offer tools which promise to submit to 1000’s of search engines but most people agree these do not work as well as links submitted by hand. Find out what projects they have marketed on search engines, go to Google and if you have the Google toolbar installed find out the Page Rank of the site (a Page Rank of 4 and upwards is generallt regarded as acceptable, anything less than a 3 could do with further optimisation and site submission). Do bear in mind it takes time to get listed on search engines, and even longer for the Google Page Rank to be updated. (this process can take over three months)
Work out if you require affiliate marketing e.g. banner ads or other forms of online advertising. If you want to go down this route you need to make sure they have experience in this area or use a separate company for this work.
So where do you start the search for a designer? Google searches, Kelly Search (http://www.kellysearch.com) and the UKWDA (http://www.ukwda.org) are all good places to start but even better is finding a site you like the look of and enquiring who developed it.
Changing from one web host to another can become necessary if your website becomes popular and your current host can’t meet your needs for bandwidth, storage, etc. This can be especially true if your site is hosted on a free web host.
If a move become necessary, be sure to plan it carefully. The first step is to decide on a new hosting company, of course.
Once you have found a host that can meet all your needs, you need to move your site on to the new server. Before making any moves, be sure to back up your website from the old host.
If your website isn’t well structured and has been growing haphazardly, this is a good time to consider redesigning things. That could simply mean a new page design or it could mean redesigning your database and content storage.
For the first 48 hours after moving to a new host, you should use a redirect page on your old site, that automatically forwards people to the new one. This will ensure that your visitors will see the new site, even if its IP address hasn’t propogated yet.
It takes about 48 hours for a new website to get listed on most domain servers across the internet, so after that you should be fine.
A few more suggestions for an easy transition include:
1. Find out whether your new host is running on Unix or Windows and make sure it will be compatible with everything you’re moving from the old host.
2. Check to see how much storage you need for all your files and content on your current site, and make sure you get enough on the new host to give you room to grow.
3. Check to see what services your new host offers, and make sure anything you have been using on your current host (like autoresponders, mail forwarding, etc.) is available.
4. If your current website is created using Microsoft Frontpage, make sure your new host supports Frontpage extensions.
5. Check to see what your new host’s policy is for extra bandwidth, in case your site continues to get busier.
6. If the new host’s server is a shared server, check to make sure there are no adult sites hosted on the same system. They can get busy and cause all the other sites on the same server to slow down.
7. Check the review sites and forums for customer feedback about your new host before signing up. These are good indicators of the level of service you can expect.
Once you have your data uploaded to your new host, test your site to make sure it’s working properly. You should be able to preview your site before you fully switch your domain name to the new address.
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John Lenaghan writes about free web hosting, business hosting, ecommerce and other website hosting topics on the Hosting Report website. Find out more at http://www.hostingreport.org |
What to look for from a hosting companie. If they can’t provide
95% of the service listed below then you might not want to
invest your hard earn money in them. Let alone start your
business using their service
Member Operations Control Panel DNS Management 24/7 FTP Access,
FTP Users Web-Based FTP File Manager, Site Manager Password
Protect Directories Custom Error Pages SnapShot Instant Click
and Restore Daily Backups Unix Platform Supported Software
FrontPage 98/2000/2002 Extensions PHP4 & PHP5 w/Zend Optimizer,
Perl5, Sendmail CGI-BIN, SSI, .htaccess, Cronjobs Flash,
Shockwave, Midi, Multimedia Support Web Statistics & Logs MySQL
Database phpMyAdmin Daily Database Backups Email Service
Mailboxes (POP3/IMAP & SMTP) Web Mail Access (secure login)
Email Forwarding/Email Aliases Email Virus Scanning Spam Filters
(Black/White & Greylisting Features) DNS Text Record/SMTP+SPF 30
or more Days Money Back Guarantee E-Commerce Ready and more.
Marketing Package, Web Tools & Web Templates FREE! Search Engine
Submission Site Utilities, File Permission Calculator HTML
Checker, Image Optimizer & Image Site Detection Web Tools,
Popularity Check & Meta Tag Generator
And they need to be well known in the online Web Hosting
Community. Watch out for Re-sellers.
Do you really need a website?
A Website is a powerful, resourceful, low cost, low maintenance tool to sell your product and services. And most important, it is reached worldwide.
If focused and marketed properly a website can bring a huge amount of traffic and sales.
Update your Website on a regular basis. Create a Blog.
The Fox Internet Marketing Solutions
A Division of the Fox Advertising Agency, Inc.
9114 58th Dr. East, Suite 103
Bradenton, FL 34202
Phone: 941.758.2404
FAX: 941.756.6484
Email: info@foxadv.com
Website: http://www.foxadv.com/
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in
print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A
courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Word
Count: 382
Blogging for Newbies Copyright 2005 Brenda Lilly
Bogging, everyone’s heard of it. The Internet pro’s tell us it
is important, but why? Well first let’s start with what Blogging
is. Blogging is considered a personal online journal. You select
a subject that interests you and is relevant to your online
business. You make daily entries on your Blog that will be of
interest to web users searching for information on your
particular subject.
For example, my URL is www.robertallenonline.net Obviously by
the title my website has to do with best selling author Robert
G. Allen i.e.: Multiple Streams of Income. Therefore I have
created a webblog http://teamrobertallen.blogspot.com/ Daily I
post points of interest about Robert Allen.
What this accomplishes is the search engines visit my blog to
crawl the new content. They also follow the links from my Blog
pointing to other sites. Some of these links point to my sites
and some point to sites of partners. This helps the search
engine rankings of these sites immensely.
How do you start your own Blog? There are many places you can
start your blog. You can do a search on Blogs and get many
listings. I personally use www.Blogger.com. The first reason
it’s free. The second and biggest reason is Google owns it. That
means Google will index web pages hosted on their servers often
and fast.
My experience has been Blogger.com is very user friendly. The
Blog is easy to create and easy to update. Both things newbies
really appreciate. You can also set up to run Google Ad Sense
ads on your blog. Which will create an additional stream of
income to you.
Armed with this information - take the leap and start Blogging
today. There is always going to be ways to optimize and produce
more from your Blog. You’ll get there, just take your first
step. To quote Dennis Waitley, “By the inch it’s a cinch, by the
yard it’s hard”. Happy Blogging.
Spend time planning your Web site. Before you design a page or write a word, get a visual, and mental picture of your preferred audience. Your visitors will spend up to 10 seconds on your home page, so plan accordingly.
Draw your specific audience’s attention with compelling headings that include benefits that will solve their problems.
1. Define your preferred audience. Picture them as you create your home page. Create an audience profile including their special needs and concerns. Make sure your Web site solves their problem, and it has a lot of information that will help your visitors.
2. Make your home page simple and easy to read so it will load fast and not make potential customers wait. Include benefits and a few testimonials. Forget the large photos or spinning and flashing signs that distract. Put navigation bars (topics of other pages) on the side or top to lead your visitors to different pages. You may name them: seminars, teleclasses, free articles, archived past eMagazines, products page, testimonials, and how to order page.
3. Send an email survey to your potential buyers to skyrocket your Web sales. Ask them, which titles and benefits would make you want to buy? If you have a service, ask them what the number one question they have about Web marketing is. From their feedback, make every word count on every Web page. Dramatic headlines with specific benefits lure visitors to read, then buy.
One author changed his copy from “Money-Saving tips on Car Buying, Leasing, Repairs and Insurance Reduction Tips” to “How to Buy a Car at $50 Over Dealer Cost.” He discovered why his surveyed customers bought it. More of them wanted to buy a new car far more than the other benefits he offered. When he changed the title, sales increased by over 300% in 48 hours.
4. Put a sales letter on your home page aimed at your major product or service. Some experts write very long ones, others, like myself, write short copy. Check and test every part, every navigation bar, and every link to see how it works. If you are selling a product or service, test your headline and your copy.
Replace dull copy with passionate testimonials, even for your ezine. Be sure to research and include everything that will make your home page sing. Check out the site www.stopyourdivorce.com. Only one sales letter sold $300,000 in books this last year.
5. Check out all the rest of your site. A good tweak before your guests arrive will bring you many more positive results. Check your headlines. Do they lead to a motivating story, rather than right to your products?
Check your offer. Did you include a free bonus report? Check your prices. Low cost isn’t always best. Let your products reflect your professional status. Check your layout–how you lead the prospect to your order page. Check your ordering process. Will your orders come back with proper information on them? You may also want to test the use of color, type style, and copy.
In fact, test everything you put out to your Web site visitor. Friends and associates can be your friendly sounding board.
6. Include a lot of content, and make it easy to reach. Your visitor should be able to click and receive your “gold” in seconds. At the end of each free article your offer include a link to your products, teleclasses, or services page. Each article may steer your visitor to a different place.
7. Don’t worry about being high in the search engines. Just create a user-friendly, easy to navigate, site with meaningful content and submit it manually to the search engines. You can get a list of submission links at http://www.bytesworth.com/submit_urls.asp.
You don’t need thousands of hits a day on your Web site. When you plan and test your Web site content, you will bring qualified, targeted, repeat buyers.
Judy Cullins ©2004 All Rights Reserved.
Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Judy is author of 10 eBooks including Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast, Ten Non-Techie Ways to Market Your Book Online, The Fast and Cheap Way to Explode Your Targeted Web Traffic, and Power Writing for Web Sites That Sell. She offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, “The BookCoach Says…,” “Business Tip of the Month,” blog Q & A at http://www.bookcoaching.com and over 185 free articles.
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Email her at Judy@bookcoaching.com or Cullinsbks@aol.com
Phone: 619/466-0622 -- Orders: 866/200-9743
