The definitive goal of SEO is to move your site to the top of the SERP, thus increasing traffic, page rank, visibility and conversions – otherwise known as web presence. As research has proven, increased sales are the direct result of a strong web presence and what company wouldn’t want to boost their sales? SEO is primarily accomplished by building quality organic backlinks through various methods such as article marketing, directory listings, press release distribution, e-newsletters and signature linking on blogs and forums.

The meta tags (title, description and keywords) of a web page are also key elements that search engines use in order to categorize and rank web pages. Most times, these tags remain invisible to the visitors of a site because they are in the head section of the HTML document. Meta tags provide information regarding page content and consist of keywords describing the page’s subject matter. In-depth keyword research is at the heart of a successful online business. Utilize Google’s Keyword Tools to figure out the best keywords for your site.

For the owners and operators of businesses operating on the Internet, especially those carrying a vast array of products and/or services, creating exclusive meta tags for each and every item/page can be a daunting, lengthy and drawn out process. The Miva Merchant Shopping Cart simplifies this procedure and consequently, gives the online entrepreneur more time to focus on the actual operation of their business.  In face, Miva Merchant is regarded as the most customizable shopping cart software on the market.

With Miva Merchant 5.5, you can attribute unique descriptions, keywords and titles to the bulk of your pages by simply editing three page templates. These templates are known as Storefront, Category Display and Product Display. By utilizing these templates, you can save time, headaches and ultimately money.

The Storefront template allows you to create and easily apply the most effective meta tags and title for your home page. On the other hand, with the category and product display templates, you can quickly and painlessly create and apply tags and descriptions to all individual product and category pages.

It is imperative to use the most searched for words so that page rank can improve and traffic to the site can grow. This will, in turn, lead to higher sales. Always remember that finding and using dynamic keywords is a crucial component of the SEO process.

A principle selling point for cPanel is how it turns an abundance of previously complex processes into simple point and click processes thus making life less complicated for its users. The cPanel interface is extremely user-friendly and intuitive to even novice users.

The cPanel Automated Control Panel puts the power back into the client’s hands. Clients can now perform tasks that used to only be able to be completed by the web host providing the client with a more hands-on approach in the management and maintenance of their websites.

Website owners should have no fears that cPanel will be over their heads. If any questions or problems arise there are numerous tutorials and help files available 24/7.

Some formerly tiresome tasks that cPanel simplifies include:

· Uploading and managing web pages

· Creating email accounts

· Backing up data

· Viewing detailed visitor statistics

· Creating logs to aid diagnose problems

· Installing common web applications (ie: blogs & forums)

cPanel includes top-notch security defense systems like virus protection and rootkit detection. Thanks to its monitoring and update system, users will be alerted instantaneously of any failed services or potential threats.

cPanel is recognized as the most powerful automated control panel on the market and can help take your website to the next level.

cPanel comes standard with all packages offered by WebNet Hosting, Premier Partner Miva Host since 2004.  WebNet Hosting provides fully PCI Compliant Miva Hosting with 100% uptime as well as e-commerce solutions and basic web hosting.

Please give us a call at 1-877-503-HOST (4678) for more details!

Online business operators have a tendency to forget that the company hosting their store is the foundation of their business and a successful business needs a strong and reliable foundation. When looking for a web host, remember that finding the company with the cheapest price is not the goal. Paying a higher fee for better service and more dependability is ultimately the smartest decision. Conversely, the most expensive company is by no means going to be the best either.

When launching a new e-commerce business, finding the best shopping cart hosting for your needs can be a tremendously daunting task. There are simply so many web hosts out there and it is a tiresome and grueling process to separate the good guys from the bad. Many folks looking to start a website begin by checking out web hosting review sites and directories. On these sites, you can read what clients have to say about their current and former web hosts.

When searching for a host, do not be suckered into buying into gimmicks. Things like “unlimited” plans may sound appealing but there is really no such thing as “unlimited.” When a company says unlimited, that means that your site will be generally placed on an overcrowded server where you will be forgotten about. It’s important to research the history of the company and find a reliable host that is not trying to use sneaky marketing tactics to gain customers.

Your Host Dramatically Impacts the Performance of Your Store

There are a variety of major ways that your web host impacts the performance of your online store including:

1. Uptime and Downtime
2. Technical Support
3. Site Speed and Page Load Times
4. Management of your account including data, email, backups
5. Virus Protection
6. Defense from Hackers and Malware
7. The ability of your hosting to grow with your business (you should be able to increase hard drive space with one quick, simple call)
8. Your host should aid with the technical aspects of accepting credit card orders, including setting up a payment processing system.
9. Hosts should help you find developers or Miva Modules to make your site function properly.

No Such Thing As Good Downtime

Choosing a reliable web host and the correct plan for the amount of traffic your site will generate is of the utmost importance to the success of your online business. Site uptime and downtime are perhaps the most important components of how web hosting affects an online store’s performance. Downtime can really break an online business quickly.

Simply speaking, when your site is down and inaccessible then customers cannot make purchases and you cannot make money. Furthermore, potential customers cannot peruse your site. Let’s face it – people shop online to save time and money. If your site is continuously down then you will not be able to make it in the competitive marketplace of the Internet.

The industry standard for web hosts regarding downtime is a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Never sign up for a hosting package that does not guarantee at least 99.9% uptime because this will surely negatively impact the performance of your store. To put it in more practical terms, with 99.9% uptime, your site should never encounter more than around 45 minutes of total downtime per month.

Sometimes there might be a situation where your server has a critical error and your site may not be online for 99.9% of the month. In any such case, it is your host’s responsibility to credit your account with the pro-rated amount you owe for that month’s charges.

Quality Support is a Must

Reliability and good technical support go hand in hand. When choosing a new host, make sure that they have an excellent support staff. When you first call them, go with your gut instinct. Do they sound knowledgeable and easy to understand? Are they polite? Ask detailed questions and make sure you get well-informed responses. You want to have the comfort of knowing that in any instances of malfunction your issues will be resolved quickly and correctly. A solid web host will have email and phone support available 24/7/365.

Looking, feeling and operating professionally are critical components to running an e-commerce business. Having a sub par web host will toss professionalism out the window rather quickly. It is imperative to establish trust between you and your customers in order to successfully sell online. Customers will not feel safe spending their money with a site that seems unprofessional in any manner.

A Speedy Site is Essential

Another manner in which your web host can impact your store’s performance is your page load times. This can even affect your ranking within Google and the other search engines as they begin using site speed as a factor to determine page rank on the results pages. Having fast load times is imperative not only for the sake of ranking well with search engines but to make your customer’s happy. No customers like a slow site and chances are that if your site is not performing well, they might just click on over to your competition.

A Solid Web Host + A Good Business Model = Happy Customers + Success

Unsatisfactory web hosting can directly impact the customers of your store. Therefore, it is imperative that you choose a quality web host that will not play a part in your store functioning inadequately. Studies have shown that approximately fifty percent of consumers will leave a preferred site if they are experiencing technical problems. All it takes is one unhappy customer to begin the process of bringing down your business. If a customer is not happy the following results could occur:

1. They may never return to your store as a shopper again (this is especially traumatic to your business if they are repeat customers)
2. Word of mouth is a big deal. Unhappy customers have big mouths and they will most likely vent their frustrations with others.
3. A dissatisfied customer may leave a negative review regarding your business on a forum, message board or review site. One bad review can stick with you and your business forever so you must go to all lengths to avoid them. If it does happen, be proactive about it and try to squash it as soon as possible. Try to explain your side and apologize to the customer (remember, the customer is always right). Offer the person a discount or their money back to appease them. With today’s social networks, news travels fast. One tweet could go viral and your brand and image can be quickly tarnished.

WebNet Hosting provides fully PCI Compliant Miva Merchant Hosting and have been a Premier Partner Miva Host since 2004.

If done properly, there are a few basic practices you can follow to make your site more friendly to the search engines and thus rank higher for certain keyword phrases when users search for them. Being at the top of the search engines for your target keywords is a make or break factor for the success of your business.

There are millions of websites in existence and there could be thousands competing for the keywords you want to rank highly for. The Internet is a very competitive marketplace so it is vital to stay on top of the current SEO trends. Not being recognized by the top search engines can be very frustrating, especially after putting a lot of work and money into creating and designing your website.

Each search engine uses a different algorithm to conduct their searches. These algorithms are kept secret by the companies and are always changing but there are numerous people in the search industry whose jobs consist of attempting to deconstruct these algorithms to figure out how the engines rank pages.

The first thing you will need to do is figure out what keywords you will be targeting as your site’s search terms.  There are several tools to aid in discovering keywords such as the Google Keyword Tool.

In order to increase your web page’s rank in the search engine results:

Keywords:

• Remember that content will always be king. Fill your web pages with relevant information that will help visitors – search engines love this.
• Fill your content with your target keywords but don’t overdo it! Do not stuff your content with your keywords. This is known as keyword density. Make sure that you have no more than one keyword hyperlink per 100 words of content. If the pages of your site contain relevant keywords to a searcher’s search phrase then your site has a higher likelihood of appearing on the results page.
• Be specific with your keywords. If you are selling “Men’s Nike Air Jordans” target that phrase not “Michael Jordan shoes.
• When choosing keywords, put yourself in the shoes of the searcher. What would you search (WWYS)?

Meta Tags (Title, Description & Keywords)

• The title tag is what appears on the top of your web browser. For SEO purposes, you need to use your first targeted keyword at the beginning of your title and try to describe what your website is all about In 10-15 words.
• The keyword tag consists of the list of keywords you have put together in your market research. Search your competitors websites and see what keywords they are using than rank them in order of relevancy from first to last.
• The description tag is a short explanation about the content of your website and its topic. Keep this under 20-25 words and try to use at least three to four target keywords. This is what users will see on the search engine results pages under the link to your site.
• For the best SEO results, edit the meta tags for each page of your website to match the contents of that specific page.

Submit Your Site to the Search Engines:

• It is a quick and painless process to submit to the top search engines. Simply visit the links below and fill out the appropriate forms:

Google
MSN
Yahoo

• You should probably also submit your website to the DMOZ.org directory. It can take a few months to get listed but it is a great SEO technique and most sites listed in the directory get higher priority in the search results over sites that are not listed.

• Patience is a virtue when it comes to submission. It can take days or weeks for the search engine spiders to actually crawl your website.

Build Links by Submitting Your Site to Directories and Niche Websites:

• The more meaningful links from high ranked websites linking to your site, the higher your search rating. However, this does not mean you should practice “link farming” or paying for links.
• The best way to be featured in directories is to make a profile with a link to your page.
• Article marketing is another very valuable SEO tactic. Write articles with keyword hyperlinks pointing to your page. Other sites are happy to have quality content and you obtain linkage so both sides win. You will also see direct traffic from these links which will help your site gain popularity.
• Link building is a time-consuming process that takes time to see the results so again – be patient!

By following these simple SEO tactics, you can raise your ranking in the search engines!

The Miva Merchant 5.5 SEO features will help any e-commerce merchant rise to the top of the ratings.  WebNet Hosting offers fully PCI Compliant Miva Hosting.

Since hosting in the cloud allows for an unlimited number of sites, databases and email accounts, cloud computing is becoming rather popular among big businesses and government agencies.  As with any form of web hosting, there are pros and cons to the cloud, especially considering it is such fresh technology.  For those considering signing up with a cloud host, there are some important things to make sure of.

When it comes to security, there are some controversial aspects to cloud computing since certain privileged users have full administrative access.  If your company is storing secure information in the cloud, can you truly trust those employed by the hosting company when you most likely do not know them?  You need to ask yourself “Who hires and manages these administrators?”  When it comes to secure and confidential information, you need to ensure that you know who is managing the data in case of a security breech or other unwanted activity.

If you are involved in any form of e-commerce and use Miva Merchant as your shopping cart application, for example, you will need to make certain that you are utilizing a fully PCI Compliant Miva Merchant Web Host, even if your site is hosted in the cloud.   You must also make sure, especially in the e-commerce realm, that the vendor is willing and able to be audited, pass security clearance tests and that data is properly encrypted.  They must be compliant with the PCI and have taken all necessary steps to compliant with the new PA-DSS so that your e-commerce company has the ability to legally process credit card transactions.  A QSA from the PCI board must be able to access the network in order to perform regular scans.

In regards to the new PA-DSS, all shopping cart applications must adhere to the guidelines established by the PCI.  If your site is utilizing non-compliant shopping cart software after the July 1^st, 2010 deadline for compliance then you could face increased merchant fees and penalties and even risk hefty fines and having your site shutdown.  Miva Merchant 5.5 is a fully compliant shopping cart that has recently been DSS certified.  If you utilize Miva Web Hosting services then your site is on the road to PCI compliance.

Another question to ask of your cloud hosting provider is if they will allow you to control where your data is physically located.  The physical location of your site’s data centers and servers could be an issue in many ways.  The first thing that comes to mind is site speed.  The data for your site and or company should not be too geographically far away in order to prevent slow page load times.  This is increasingly important since Google is now using site speed as a factor in ranking web pages in their results.  Also, you want to be able to easily converse with those operating the data centers to eliminate any problems where things like time zones and languages can come into play.

When it comes to cloud computing, traditional backups as we know them do not exist since there is usually no secondary cloud.  This makes it all that more important for clients to take the proper steps to complete backups on their own.  What happens regarding client data recovery in the case of a disaster?  When it comes to lost data in the cloud, huge, costly messes can ensue.  Exorbitant amounts of money, time, litigation, lost business and lost clients are the results of lost website information.  There have been several high profile instances of the cloud crashing.

If you plan on moving to a cloud environment, you need to find out what the provider will do in the case of compromised or lost data.  Will the vendor be able to safely move your data into a different environment?  Furthermore, find out what will happen to your data if the company goes out of business.  Make sure that your files and systems will be returned to you because even if you do not own the cloud, you definitely own your files even though they are part of the cloud.  Find out what happens in the case of a disaster –Does the vendor offer complete restoration, and, if so, how long does that process take?

Despite the cons and uncertainty regarding some aspects of the cloud, there are advantages to cloud computing.  The most obvious is that users can access systems via a web connection.  There is no need to access a certain computer or program.  The cloud can be accessed with any web-enabled device including laptops and smartphones.  This also allows the cloud to be accessed from anywhere in the world at anytime as long as there is an Internet connection available.

Proponents of cloud computing believe that data is generally more secure in the cloud than in traditional servers because of the centralization.  Also, it is safe to suppose that there are increased security resources in the modern cloud environment.  Since the companies running the cloud have more resources financially they can instill security systems that the average client cannot afford and their staff may be more trained to handle such issues.  On the other hand, opponents (as stated above) worry about sensitive data being in the hands of cloud technicians that they do not personally know and are relying on the company to hire trustworthy administrators.

Featured WebNet Hosting Site for April 2010

Each month we profile one of our clients that are operating a successful e-commerce site in our newsletter and blog.  This month’s company is The Elephant’s Trunk located online at TheElephantsTrunk.com.  This site specializes in selling beautiful, rustic handmade solid wood furniture.  The following is an interview with Roger, Sales Manager of The Elephant’s Trunk.

When did your site launch?  Can you give us a brief history of your business.
Our site launched in 1996.  We offer hand-crafted rustic solid wood home furnishings.  Besides our online store, we also have a physical store located in San Diego, CA.

How long have you been using WebNet Hosting to host your website?
We have been with WebNet for about three years.

If applicable, were you using Miva Merchant before you switched to WebNet?  If not, what made you switch?  If so, what made you sign-up with WebNet?
Yes, we had been using Miva prior to our switch to WebNet but it was too limited for our needs so we had a custom shopping cart developed for our site.  We switched to WebNet because our site crashed when using our previous hosting company.  Also, our previous host’s customer and technical support were not able to respond to us in a timely manner

What do you like most about WebNet Hosting?
The customer service.

What do you like least about WebNet?  What would you change?  What features would you add?
We wish WebNet was more local.  Since we are on opposite ends of the country, there is a three hour time difference, which can complicate things a little sometimes.

How many items do you offer for sale on your site?
We  have approximately 600 items for sale on our site.

Have you had any third-party development done on your site?
Yes, we have had outside consulting on the visual design of our site done.

What were some of your biggest mistakes? (so that others can possibly learn from them)
One big mistake was working with inexperienced web development consultants.

What have been your biggest successes?
We have experienced continued growth during economic downturns.

To view their collection of beautiful hand-crafted furniture, please visit TheElephantsTrunk.com!

]]> http://blog.webnethosting.net/2010/04/13/april-2010-featured-webnet-hosting-site-theelephantstrunk-com/feed/ 0 http://blog.webnethosting.net/2010/03/10/march-2010-featured-webnet-hosting-site-pinkponytail-com/ http://blog.webnethosting.net/2010/03/10/march-2010-featured-webnet-hosting-site-pinkponytail-com/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:00:34 +0000 Forrest http://blog.webnethosting.net/?p=250
Featured WebNet Hosting Site for March 2010

PinkPonyTail.com

The featured WebNet site for March is PinkPonyTail Presents, located online at PinkPonyTail.com.  PinkPonyTail Presents specializes in selling dolls, doll accessories and doll publications.  PinkPonyTail is an authorized gold label Mattel dealer for Barbie, her family and friends.  We spoke with Claudia Brookfield-Cogley, owner and operator of PinkPonyTail.com about her site and experiences running an e-commerce business.

What is the name and URL of your business?
Pink Ponytail Presents
http://www.pinkponytail.com

When did your site launch? Can you give us a brief history of your business?
I wanted to open a doll shop with my oldest daughter in the mid-1990s but the local economy alone couldn’t support such a specialized business, and the Internet was not very well established in our area yet.  So we shelved the idea, my daughter left the area.

In late 2003, I decided to move forward with the doll shop on my own.  The site was launched in spring 2004.  Having a website was essential for the success of the business.  We are located in a very rural area of Oregon and we needed to be able to reach doll collectors on a larger scale.  We now ship worldwide.  Some of our strongest international customers are  in Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Finland and Australia.

How long have you been hosting with WebNet Hosting?
WebNet has hosted Pinkponytail.com since 2007, and I am looking forward to a continuing working relationship for the future.

What made you sign up with WebNet Hosting?  Did you switch from another host?
My former webmaster recommended we move the hosting to WebNet and it was a great decision to do so.  Our two previous web hosts were somewhat unreliable and tech support was sketchy at best.

What do you like about WebNet Hosting?
WebNet has fabulous customer service and I really appreciate your technical support team.  After my former webmaster abruptly changed professions, I was left to figure out how to manage my website by myself.  I’ve learned a lot, but there is a lot that is still way over my head if a problem arrises.  WebNet’s tech people are patient, helpful and always available.

I really like that you are sending out a monthly newsletter and reaching out more to your customers.  The Internet keeps us all connected, but that human connection can get lost in the process, and I think it’s important that your customers know you care about that as well.

How many items do you offer for sale on your site?
Pink Ponytail is an Authorized Gold Label Mattel Dealer.  In addition to the full line of collector Barbies, we also carry many Play Line Barbie, Ken and Kelly dolls.  We offer designer doll fashions by Randall Craig and Dressmaker Details, as well as a large selection of Re-Ment Puchi Petites, which are collectible food miniatures from Japan (doll collectors love them for their dioramas and displays).  We also carry back issures of Barbie Bazaar Magazine, current issues of Haute Doll and Fashion Doll Quarterly.

Have you had any third-party development done on your site?
Yes.  The site was originally designed-to-suit by my webmaster.

What do you use for credit card payments and what have your experiences been?
I use PayPal as our payment gateway.  Overall, we have had positive experiences.  Although I have been very interested in using Miva Merchant, after we lost our webmaster and was left to manage the website myself, I felt converting to a full-blown shopping cart was a little too daunting to tackle.  So you can imagine how excited I am to have won the “Miva Merchant 5.5: The Official Guide” book.

The website currently uses the PayPal shopping cart, and we accept credit cards in addition to PayPal.  I would like to switch to Miva because I think it will offer me greater flexibility for the varied products we carry.  Currently we are using separate special ordering forms for orders that are submitted via email instead of going through PayPal because the shipping calculations using PayPal are so limited.  I plan to start using Miva after I familiarize myself with it and all that it has to offer.

How many employees do you have?
I am a one-woman doll shop.  And my husband packs up orders for shipment for me.

What are your strategies for SEO?
At this time in an effort to keep expenses low, I utilize doll collector message boards and other collector communities to drive traffic to the website.  It has been very successful to do so.

What were some of your biggest mistakes? (so that others can possibly learn from them)
I think one of my biggest mistakes was not setting up a full-blown shopping cart on the website from day one.  PayPal Checkout is very limited for shipping calculations for the many different products we sell.

What have been your biggest successes?
My biggest success is having developed a large, loyal customer base through individual attention and customer service.  If you take care of your customers, they will take care of you.

Read PJ’s new interview with CompareWebHosts.com to learn more about the company, e-commerce and web hosting!

The major advantage of cPanel is its simplistic point and click format. The advanced design of cPanel allows webmasters to manage their own accounts while reducing tasks that would normally have to be completed by the web host. This helps put the power back into the hands of the client. Website owners should have no fear that this control panel is too complex for them because it includes video tutorials as well as topnotch customer service and help files.

cPanel simplifies functions such as:

• Uploading and Managing Web Pages
• Creating Email Accounts
• Backing up Data
• Tracking Bandwidth
• Viewing Visitor Statistics
• Creating Logs
• Managing Databases
• Installing Common Web Applications (WordPress Blogs, Forums, etc.)

cPanel also includes state of the art security defenses such as virus protection and rootkit detection. Furthermore, the software monitors and updates itself and will instantly alert users of any failed services or potential threats.

cPanel is a fast, reliable and fully automated program that performs all of the essential duties of hosting a website while outperforming similar control panel software. cPanel is included for free in all of WebNet Hosting’s packages including our Miva Merchant E-Commerce plans.

Check out this screenshot of WebNet Hosting’s cPanel.