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8 Tips for Promoting A Company Website

September 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment

website

Getting your website up and running smoothly is only the first half of the battle. Though getting this far certainly signifies a great deal of hard work and dedication, your new website will ultimately fail to meet its goals unless you continue working hard to promote it. Here are a few of the most important steps you can take in order to do just that.

  1. Social media. In case you haven’t noticed, social media is the place to be in today’s online world. Social media accounts are a near necessity in today’s market–and with a smart campaign, you can attract hundreds of visitors (read: potential customers) to your site.
  2. Social media advertizing. In addition to attracting “natural” social media traffic, you may wish to invest in social media ads (particularly Facebook advertising, the tried-and-true options for most industries.)
  3. Word of mouth. Connections between friends, families, professional contacts, and other acquaintances–sometimes jokingly referred to as “the original social network,” remain invaluable for promoting your new website. Be sure to recommend your site in-person to customers and clients–especially the regulars!
  4. Encourage sharing. Encouraging your customers, clients, and online contacts to share your website via internet and/or recommend it in person can also be effective–especially when a creative discount program or sweepstakes is involved!
  5. SEO. Ensuring that your website is search engine optimized with good keywords, quality content, and professional web design is the only way to ensure that those who look for you online find you.
  6. Harness the power of blogging. Speaking of SEO, a blog can boost your search engine rankings while also giving visitors a reason to keep coming back to your site. Moreover, it will open the possibility of writing guest blogs for other companies in the industry–as well as the possibility of accepting guest blogs. Both of these options are great promotional tools.
  7. Include your URL on business cards, letterheads, email signatures, promotional materials, and in any other location that could drive potential traffic to your site.
  8. Paid Advertising. Though this requires the largest investment, ROI on paid search engine advertising is generally high–especially when campaigns are well managed.

For more important tips for website owners, visit the RFE Hosting blog!

Filed Under: Annoucements, Blog, Blog Guides, Guides, Hosting Updates, Marketing, New Clients, SEO, Uncategorized, Web Design, Web Hosting, Website, WordPress Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Common Mistakes That First Time Website Owners Make

September 2, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Website

Starting a website for your company is one of the best investments you can make for the future. Not only are websites necessary for building trust and facilitating consumer research in this day and age, they can also become profitable online marketplaces for many businesses. Unfortunately, business owners are not always web experts–and all too many first time website owners fall into the same predictable traps. With a bit of research and education, however, you can avoid most of the common mistakes that lead small businesses to lose money investing in the web. Here are a few things to look out for.

Building a website with no business plan. Although websites offer many potential benefits to businesses of all stripes and colors, it is a fallacy to assume that simply building a website with no clear goals is going to do your company any good. Websites can boost brand awareness, drive sales, educate consumers, offer instant customer service and more–but it is important to know what your particular goals are before you being.

Failing to offer mobile adaptability. A significant portion of all web traffic is now mobile traffic–and Google has even incorporated mobile compatibility into its relevancy algorithm. Even so, a surprisingly large percentage of businesses continue to build websites that don’t provide seamless mobile adaptability–costing themselves time, money, and untold numbers of potential customers.

Choosing the wrong hosting service. Though hosting might seem like an insignificant detail compared to the broader vision of your online strategy, it is important to realize that the host you choose will play a large role in determining the quality of your visitors’ online experience. Moreover, choosing an overpriced hosting service that doesn’t offer great customer service is ultimately a waste of funding that could instead be invested in critical components of website growth, development, and promotion! Choose a hosting service that works for you–visit RFE Hosting online today to learn more!

Filed Under: Blog, Guides, Marketing, New Clients, SEO, Web Design, Website Tagged With: , , , , ,

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Website

August 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment

WEBSITE CREATION

Building a successful professional website requires more than just hard work: it requires a vision. Before you invest in starting a website, take time for serious reflection and answer these 5 questions:

What are my goals?

In order for your website to be successful, you need to define what success means for you and your company. For some, e-commerce is the end game. Others are content with promotion and consumer education. Still others hope to profit off of online advertising while possibly fulfilling one or more of the goals listed above. Defining your goals will make it far easier to measure success and craft your online campaign.

What are my customers (or visitors) looking for?

Understanding your audience is another prerequisite to success. Ask yourself what your customers and/or online visitors are looking for. Conduct surveys or market research if necessary. Once you have the answer, crafting your website around those needs will help you reach success.

How much am I able to budget?

This may not being the most exciting question to answer, but it will help you allot your resources in the most logical manner possible.

What do I know about the process of building and maintaining a website?

Most business owners are not web developers. Ask yourself how much you know, and make an effort to educate yourself in the areas that are still unclear.

What components of website construction can I handle myself, and what components require professional assistance?

Finally, think about how you can help your website grow–and consider which components may be better off outsourced to experts. Perhaps you are a great photographer, or perhaps you can write great copy–but the odds are good you will still need help when it comes to programming.

RFE Hosting is here to help! Our blog features a wide selection of resources that can help business owners get their blog running, so be sure to visit us online!

Filed Under: Guides, SEO, Web Design, Web Hosting, WordPress Tagged With: , ,

4 Security Tips for Website Owners and Administrators

August 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Web Security

Though it may not be as glamorous as driving traffic or boosting sales, website security is ultimately one of the most important investments that website owners and administrators can make. After all, a breach in security could cause sensitive data to be compromised while endangering both funds and reputations. The measures needed to boost online security are generally simple–and when they are ignored, it is usually due the perception that web security is difficult to attain, or the equally erroneous “it could never happen to me” mentality. That is precisely why learning about the basics of website security is so valuable. Here are 6 things that all website owners and administrators should keep in mind.

  1. Don’t Delay on Security Updates. A great deal of modern hacking is automated: malicious bots scan and scour the web looking to exploit weaknesses. Most updates to software and plugins (including most WordPress updates) are direct responses to newly discovered weaknesses and newly circumvented security measures. Postponing security updates increases your chances of being compromised.
  2. Use Strong Passwords. This tip is the hallmark of virtually every cyber security article on the web today–and the reason you keep seeing it in everything you read is because countless people continue using 123456 to protect extremely sensitive information. Ensure that your passwords are long, complex, and unique–or risk paying the consequences!
  3. Backups matter. Whether due to a malicious security compromise or a failure in software or hardware, the loss of data can be a financially (and emotionally) frustrating experience. Make sure that you frequently back up your online data–and, if possible, make sure that your hosting service automates the process.
  4. SSL Certificates. It bears emphasizing: SSL certificates are not a panacea for security issues. However, they are a true necessity for any website that performs e-commerce: make sure your hosting service offers the possibility of encryption.

Hosting counts when it comes to security. Choose a company you can trust–RFE Hosting can help get you started today.

Filed Under: Blog Guides, Guides, Web Design, Web Hosting Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The SEO Basics

August 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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After hosting, site design, and e-commerce, SEO ranks as one of the prime concerns of website administrators. Although hiring writers to conduct keyword research and produce SEO may eventually be a good investment, it is important to remember that there are many simple steps that anyone can take in order to boost their website’s search engine rankings. Here are a few of the basics of SEO.

  1. Quality. Google (as well as its competitors) are always updating their algorithms with one objective in mind: ensuring that their search engines pull up the highest quality, most relevant content. In case you haven’t noticed, they are getting pretty good at it! This is why the best SEO advice anyone can give is to simply produce high-quality content that really answers the questions your visitors have. Keywords and SEO-friendly formatting is obviously important, but there is no sense in trying to “trick” Google into giving you good rankings by filling a poorly written web page with keywords and expecting results.
  2. Diversity. No matter how good the writing in your website is, you will not achieve maximum SEO results without also including a diverse array of content in your website: i.e. images, video, audio etc. Text is certainly the bedrock of SEO (as search engines still lack the capability to index the content of videos and audio), but text alone is not enough.
  3. References. Remember those research papers you wrote back in high school and college? If you were to write one without citing any sources, your teacher or professor would have certainly failed you! Search engines work in a similar fashion. By citing your claims and linking appropriate content to high-authority websites, you can boost your credibility and pass the SEO test with flying colors! Similarly, if other websites link their information back to your website, you can boost your own authority and, thus, you search engine rankings.
  4. Freshness. Websites that are updated frequently are given a boost in SEO rankings because they are more “fresh.” While updating each page every day is not necessary (or even a good idea) posting regularly to a blog is a great way to stay ahead of the crowd!

Give your website the host it deserves

You work hard to keep your website running smoothly and ranking well on search engines: make sure you invest in a host that supplies the functionality and reliability you need! Contact RFE Hosting today to learn about our top-notch hosting solutions!

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