Archive for the ‘Web Hosting’ Category

34. Five things you should do when writing a small business blog

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

A business blog is a place where your company employees can converse with existing and potential clients in their own unique voices. A company can demonstrate their collective knowledge and experience of the company and through these comments have a conversation with customers informally and openly. When writing a blog, think about the following:-

 

Content

Good content needs to have a purpose whether to inspire, educate, inform, assist or entertain. It should engage the reader and provide something they can relate to. Fresh information is better than stale so even if you are writing about a topic that is timeless, it should be done in a way to make it new and exciting.

 

Headlines

The headlines of your blog will the first and perhaps the only impression you make. Without a headline that converts a browser into a reader, the content of your blog may as well not even exist. A headline can grab someone’s attention, a great headline will entice the reader into the body of the text you have written. In essence, a headline should promise some kind of advantage or reward for the person reading it in trade for their valuable time to do so.

 

Keywords and Phrases

In order for your blog to get noticed by people other than those working for your company you need to maximise the potential for it to get noticed on the various search engines used by potential customers. It is important that you use the best and most unique keywords and phrases for your blog as they provide these search engines with a brief description of what your blog is about and the easier you make it for search engines the better chance your blog has of being noticed.

 

Writing Style

A blog is not an advert or flyer for your company. The other sections of your website should provide these bits of information, so try to sound like you are chatting to someone when writing your blog. Read your blog back to yourself before publishing, does what you have written invite your customers to initiate a response?

 

Frequency

You need to ensure that your blog is updated regularly. Content should remain fresh but not overstretch your resources. At minimum you should set a time each week, however depending on your business requirements you may have a need to respond to or update on posts more frequently.

If you are interested in starting a blog to help your business or organisation and would like advice and guidance, please contact me on info@digitalark.co.uk.

If you are ready to start, you may be interested in our reliable web hosting packages with 1 click WordPress install.

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Posted in SEO, Small business online, Web Hosting | Comments Closed

26. Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011 from Digital Ark

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

I wanted to close the year with a very quick post to thank all of you who have visited the Digital Ark blog in 2011.  I hope you have found the information useful and it has helped you with your own web site projects.

I have enjoyed writing the articles and creating the beginners guide to web design and I am looking forward to creating and adding more in 2011.

Writing this blog has demonstrated what a versatile platform Woprdpress is.  So if you have been thinking about starting your own blog, I can assure you it is very easy.

At Digital Ark, we offer relaible web hosting with simple 1 click WordPress install.  This makes it very easy to get up and running with your blog.  Also by signing up to one of the Digital Ark plans, you will get real support to help you when you get stuck.

Like wise, if you have been thinking about launching a website, use the start of the year as your reason to put the plan into action.  If you sign up to one of our pay monthly website plans, you could have your website up in running in the first few weeks of January 2012.

I look forward to sharing more thoughts and insights in 2011 and hopefully helping make your website or blog a reality.

Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous 2012.

Simon

 

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Posted in Beginners Guide Web Design / Hosting, Web Hosting, Website Design | Comments Closed

13. Complete beginners guide to buying web hosting

Monday, June 13th, 2011

I recently had a strange call from a lady telling me that her web hosting was suspended and she did not know what to do to get it back online.  What was strange is that she was not one of my clients.  She had gone to the website of her web hosting company.  However, as there was no listed telephone numbers she had started clicking the links on the web site, which must have included paid advertising displayed via Googles Adsense and she had ended up finding my web site and telephone number.

So not only did I have a surreal telephone conversation, the cost per click on the advert meant I had to pay for it!

This is a good real world reminder why you need to be careful when choosing your web host as many are very difficult to contact!

Anyway, during the conversation it became clear that there is a large number of people who have very, very limited understanding of the internet, web hosting ,etc.  Many web hosting and web design sites assume a level of knowledge and miss out a whole bunch of steps on how to set about choosing and buying domain names and web hosting.

So over the coming weeks I aim to provide a very simple (novice, beginners, dummies) what ever word you would like to use, to explain the steps to get online.

If you have any topic you would like me to cover, please e-mail me and I will see if it can be included.

Here is looking to providing some practical help from sunny Colchester.

Simon

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Posted in Web Hosting | 1 Comment »

11. What is the real cost of your web hosting service?

Friday, May 27th, 2011

This may sound like a silly question with an obvious answer.

A simple search on Google for web hosting will reveal a raft of responses all offering web hosting with low pay monthly rates or in some cases free.  However, web hosting packages are not all equal and the true monthly / annual cost may different to the headline offered in the listing.

Below are some of my thoughts on what you should check.

Web Hosting

  • What is the monthly / annual rate?
  • Does this include VAT?
  • Is there a set-up / activation charge?
  • How long is the contract?
  • What is the cost to upgrade?

Domain Name

  • What is the cost of the domain name?
  • Is a domain name provided free?
  • If it is free, who owns the domain and can it be transferred?
  • What are the ongoing domain renewal costs?
  • Can I use a domain purchased through another service?  If so are there any costs?

Features

  • Web storage allowance
  • Monthly downloads
  • Includes e-mail

Important compare the packages to make sure you know what features and allowances you are getting.  If you intent to have video content you will need a web hosting package with high storage and download allownaces.

Support

  • Ensure your service has good support

A number of providers operate a ‘hands-off’ model meaning that the process is automated and that you get very limited online support.  If you are an expert this is probably not an issue.  If you are not real support with a web host who cares about your project will prove invaluable.

Free Services

It is worth making a mention on so called free services.  While there are some that may be truly free, most come at a cost.

  • Is there an activation / set-up / management fee?
  • Do you have to pay premium for domain name registration and ongoing fees?
  • Do you have to pay extra for e-mail?
  • Are the web storage and download allowances low meaning you have to upgrade to a premium (expensive package)?
  • Will your web site have to show advertising over which you have no control?  It is not appropriate for a child friendly, church, etc web site to have adult or gambling related adverts.
  • Will your e-mail or contact details be sold to direct marketers?

Conclussion

I hope the above gives some ideas on what to check when choosing your web host so as to allow you to choose a suitable service (and avoid costly mistakes).

Digital Ark offer web hosting with an all inclusive monthly or annual rate (discounted web hosting for Christian and charitable use).  The web hosting packages are feature rich with good web storage and download allowances.  There are no additional activation / set-up fees and all packages include free .co.uk domain with ongoing renewal.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to e-mail me simon@digitalark.co.uk.

Simon

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7. What do you do when your web designer goes missing?

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Many small (and big businesses), organisation’s and even individuals (like blogger’s) rely on the service of a web designer to provide web site maintenance and web hosting.  So what happens when your web designer goes missing?

This actually can be more serious than you may think.  By sharing the recent experience, hopefully it will provide insight into the potential problems.

Scenario

I was approached by a client whose current web designer, who was also providing hosting, had advised that they were ceasing to trade to pursue other interests.  The web designer had been very honest about this on their own web site and advising that they would provide support to existing clients to transfer to a new provider.  This included listing e-mail addresses, mobile and landline telephone numbers.

I agreed to take on the site and set about the work to transfer the domain to my hosting service so that we could transfer the web site.

The client provided me with access to their Control Panel that allowed me to access the web site files, e-mail accounts, etc.  However, it did not allow the change of domain TAG or nameservers to transfer the web hosting.

Issues

When I looked at the web site I realised it had been developed using a CMS (content management system), meaning that I could not just copy the source files to upload to the new web hosting account.

The client did not have the necessary log-ins, passwords to access the CMS to enable the back up of database, source files, etc so that they could be transferred.

It became very clear that we would need the support of the existing web designer to help facilitate the transfer of domain and web site files.

I sent a couple of e-mails to the web designer asking for clarification on what package was used to develop the web site and if they could make the changes to the domain TAG and nameservers.  Unfortunately no reply.

I asked the client to contact the client.  Again no response.

Over a number of days, numerous attempts by the client an myself were made to contact the web designer.  Unfortunately no reply.

I then tried calling and leaving voice messages on the listed numbers.  I even sent some text messages to the mobile.

At this point I was getting very concerned, especially as the domain was due for renewal at the end of April and did not want the client to risk losing the domain name.

Fortunately, the domain name had been registered in the clients name, not the web designer (see blog post 4. Do you own your domain name).  This allowed me to contact Nominet (the UK registry of .uk domains).

They were very helpful and could see that the domain was in the client’s name and confirmed that it would be possible to use the “Reestablish Identity Process” to regain control of the domain.  This is a great service that allows the domain owner (or their web designer) to apply to regain control of the their domain.  The service costs £10+vat and as long as a suitable document on headed paper can be produced confirming the right to the domain, Nominet will allow the owner to regain control.

Fortunately, just as the client and myself were going to go down the path of “Reestablishing Identity”, the web design got in touch, changed the TAG and I transferred the domain to my service.

Unfortunately, while this process was going on, I did have to redesign the web site for the client as I did not think we would get access to the old web site.

Closing thoughts

This is a real world example.  So in order to try and protect your domain and web site:

  • Always ask for the domain to be registered in your own name
  • Ask for all the required log-ins to Control Panel’s, online products used to develop your site (i.e. WordPress, Joomla, etc)
  • Ask about the web designers policy for transferring your web site

The first point is really important.  If the domain is registered in your web designers name they are the legal owner, you can not use the “Restablish Identity Process”.  This will then require you using the Nominet Dispute process (which can be very expensive depending on the level of investigation) or the small claims court.  All very time consuming, expensive and stressful.

If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, please drop me a line at simon@digitalark.co.uk.  Remember Digital Ark will always register your domain in your name.

Simon

 

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Posted in Web Hosting | 10 Comments »

4. Beware: do you own your domain name?

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

After a couple of recent ‘real life’ client experiences I thought it would be beneficial to cover this very important topic in the hope to help others not fall into the same trap.

So do you know if you actually own your own domain name?

Like many, you probably think my business is called <your business name>, the domain name for my website that I have paid a web hosting company and / or a designer for is <your business name>, I have invoices, etc so of course I own it.

Unfortunately it is not as simple as that.  Very much like when you buy a house in England, the owner is the actual name that appears on the Land Registery.  The same applies to the domain name for your web site (just think of it as a Title Deed).

If the central register contains your details then there should be no issues.  However, it is quite common when using a web designer that they will register the domain name in their own name.  This means that in the eyes of the central register, the web designer is the legal owner.

Likewise, there are a number of web hosting organisations offering free domain names while you use their hosting services.  Again in many occasions they will register the domain in their own name.

While this may not appear to be a big issue while everything is running smoothly and their is an amicable working relationship, what happens if there are issues, disputes, breakdown in relationships?  You could find that your web site is taking offline and you have no way of getting it back online.

You may say, well that is fine I will simply move the domain and web site to another provider.  Well you could but only if the web designer or host agrees to release and transfer your domain.  If they say no or demand a huge release fee, you may not be able to get access to your domain name.  As you can see, this would be a big, big issue.

You also run the risk that your domain name may not be renewed giving someone else the chance to register the domain.  For example, what if your web designer is on holiday, misses the renewal notice and fails to renew – you have lost your domain name through no fault of your own.

So what can you do to reduce the risk.

If you have not registered your domain

  1. Register your domain yourself.
  2. Ask the web designer / web host to register it in your name.
  3. Ask what is the cost and process for releasing / transferring your domain.

If your domain is not registered in your name

  1. Ask the web designer / web host to amend the details or check yourself using the Whois tool http://www.nominet.org.uk/other/whois/ (note you do not enter the www part of your domain)

If they refuse, it is advisable to resolve the issue in an amicable manner.  Find out why they won’t amend the registration and find a resolution.

If you think there may be trouble ahead, make arrangements to transfer to a reputable provider.  This will involve asking your current web designer / web host to transfer the domain.  They will probably charge a fee.  As long as it is not silly it is probably less hassle to pay the fee and move forward.

In extreme circumstances, they may not release the domain.  In this case try writing formal, non confrontational letter.  If this does not work, you can try writing to the central register.  If this fails, you may then want to consider seeking legal advice.

Alternatively, can you register a similar domain i.e. .com version versus .co.uk, slight change in domain name, etc?

If you have any questions or require assistance on this topic, please drop me a line simon@digitalark.co.uk.  I would like to add that at Digital Ark we will always register the domain in the details you provide.

Simon

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Posted in Web Hosting | 129 Comments »