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6 Essential Components of a Great Small Business Website

Website

        In today’s world, most businesses have a website. It is now easier than ever to get online and make a website with just a few hours of work. This is good news because it means you can advertise your small business cheaply and practically on the internet no matter what your budget or your schedule. However, it can be challenging as well because of the amount of competition. So how can you set your business apart from the rest? Here are a few of the most important aspects of a great website.

Simple Layout

        Having a simple layout to your website that is navigable and easy on the eyes is a big deal. This can mean the difference between a potential customer and someone who takes one look at your website and turns it off. You do not want your customers to be confused or overwhelmed, especially by your home page.

About Us Page

        Having an “about us” page is equally essential. There are few other ways for your audience to get to know you, your employees, your method, or your message short of an in-depth about us page.

Contact Us Page

        Furthermore, how are your customers meant to contact you with questions or orders for your products without easy-to-find information about your address, phone number, and email address? These should all be found together in a concise list.

Frequently Updated Blog

        To boost your website’s search engine ratings, teach your customers about what you do, and interest both customers and colleagues, make sure your website has a blog that is not only easy to find but frequently updated.

Clear Description of Products/Services

        Having a page with a short—or long, if necessary—description of what your product does and/or how it works is highly advisable, not only because it is practical and useful to your customers, but because it can make your website seem more professional and informative.

Cost Effective Hosting

        Finally, having cost-effective, professional, quality hosting is a necessity for literally every website out there. For information and professional help with this aspect, visit RFE Hosting at our website today.

3 Important Decisions All Business Owners Must Make About Starting A Website

Business Decision

Whether you’re a new business looking to introduce yourself with a killer webpage, or a more established business hoping to finally break in to the online scene, building a website for your company can be both exciting, fulfilling, and…bewildering. There are so many choices to be made along the way that it becomes easy to lose sight of the prize. With a discipline, focus, and a bit of optimism, however, it is possible to get through the process and arrive at that rewarding day when you finally launch. Here are 3 decisions that you can expect to make along the journey.

  1. Marketing and information vs. Direct e-commerce. One of the principle classifications that you’ll want to make for your website before you even get started is whether or not you’ll be performing e-commerce through your site. If you do plan on selling items directly through your site, that will influence a lot of your site’s design and infrastructure—you’ll want a page that encourages sales and that is equipped with security features such as SSL encryption. If your page is not an e-commerce website, on the other hand, you’ll probably be focused more on giving your customers/clients valuable information about your industry and marketing your physical location.
  2. Building it Yourself vs. Hiring Help. Once you have a clear vision of what your website is going to be, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty details of actually building it. With a plethora of web-building services available, an increasing number of businesses are now hiring professionals to build their websites. Don’t be sold too easily, however—using WordPress is easier than you might imagine, and it can be both personally and financially rewarding to build your own website.
  3. Choosing a Hosting Service. Hosting services matter. Picking the best hosting service with great customer service, minimal down time, and world-class technology is an indispensable part of building a successful website. Contact RFE Hosting today for more information on how we can help you reach your clients and customers online!

Alternatives To WordPress

Wordpress Alternatives

We all know that WordPress has, in recent years, gained a reputation as one of the most popular methods of building a website. However, if you are reading this, it is likely because you are wondering, is there other software out there comparable to or better than WordPress? While WordPress may be the right choice for some, each website, being different from all others, has specialized and individual needs. Below you will find a comparison of the three most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) available on the internet today: WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.

WordPress

WordPress is known for being the easiest CMS for beginners to learn how to use. In addition, it is free to download and readily customizable, with thousands of free plugins and themes. All of this does, however, come at a cost. Aside from the fact that–simply because it is the most widely used CMS–it is the most vulnerable to being hacked, WordPress websites are also known to become sluggish and clunky when too many extra plugins are downloaded. Thus WordPress is typically only best for beginners, and those who want to build relatively small websites.

Joomla

Joomla, like both WordPress and Drupal, is a CMS with numerous available free themes and plugins. However, it is known for being more powerful and efficient in some regards than WordPress. For example, it contains numerous features from the moment you download it that, were you using WordPress, you would have to download extra plugins to implement. On the downside, the level of technical experience required to use Joomla is notably greater than in the case of WordPress.

Drupal

Drupal is known as the most powerful of these three Content Management Systems. This is why it is used most often by corporations, government departments, and other groups with a need for large, advanced websites. In addition, Drupal websites often load faster than those of WordPress or Joomla, because it is highly optimized and efficient. However, as with Joomla, use of Drupal requires some advance knowledge of coding. Also, because it is less widely used than software like WordPress, Drupal has a notably smaller online support system.

Learn about web hosting and website building by visiting RFE Hosting online today!

8 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

Domain Name

If you’re planning on starting a website of your own, one of the first items you will need to consider is your domain name. In this day and age, availability if obviously going to play a role in what domain you end up selecting. That being said, there still exists quite a bit of autonomy when it comes to selecting a domain name, and the decision warrants a fair amount of thought and careful consideration. Here are 8 quick tips for choosing the perfect domain name.

  1. Begin by brainstorming keywords related to your industry/interest group in order to keep your domain name relevant.
  2. Avoid selecting names that are too similar to already existing websites.
  3. Keep your name short and easy to spell—this will make branding far easier.
  4. Select a name that is memorable and original.
  5. On a related note, avoid hyphens and numbers, as they can confuse (and thus drive away) potential traffic.
  6. Do your research in order to avoid copyright infringement.
  7. If your business is based in a physical location, consider targeting that area in your name.
  8. Generally speaking, dot com is the way to go.

By following these tips, you will be able to find a domain name that accomplishes several tasks all at once. The perfect domain name should capture the attention of your audience while also sticking in their minds due to its memorability. It should give your audience an idea of what kind of website it is. It should lend itself to further branding without being too reminiscent of another company. And it should be easy to type in order to accumulate direct traffic. If your potential name fulfills all of those requirements, it’s time to see if that name is available!

Start Your Own Website in 4 Simple Steps

Website DesignWhether for business or pleasure, owning and operating a website is both extremely easy and profoundly rewarding. Here are four simple steps that will allow you to start your own website in no time!

  1. Select a Platform. The first step towards own a website will be choosing what is known as a content management system (CMS) or, more colloquially, a platform. A CMS is the program you will use in order to create and format your web page and all its content.  WordPress is the most popular platform out there, as it is both very user-friendly and free. For beginners, it is the go-to. If you have coding experience, it may be worth researching Joomla and Drupal, which are two other free platforms that cater toward a more coding-savvy user base. Either way you choose, you don’t need to purchase anything, or take any action just yet. It’s simply important to know what platform you want to use for later.
  1. Register a Domain name and choose a server. Find an available web domain name that suits your purposes, and register it through a reliable web hosting company.
  1. Create Content. Now it is time to populate your webpage with content. Most hosting companies allow one-click installation of CMS’s such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Once you have installed the platform of your choice, create content! Again, with WordPress, this will be easy, as you will simply follow the user-friendly interface. For Joomla and Drupal, you will have to rely a bit more on your coding skills.
  1. Launch and Promote! Once you have your website formatted to your liking, it’s time for all your hard work to pay off! After “going live” there will still be lots of promotion to be done, however–you’ll want to make sure you are using both social media and word of mouth in order to bring in traffic!

Visit the RFE Hosting blog for more important tips for website owners and administrators!

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