Incorporating Flash into your web site can work if done properly. Some of the basic rules to consider when designing or hiring a web designer include:

• Give the visitor a way to skip the Flash presentation.
• Avoid having your index page entirely made of a Flash presentation. Utilize a navigation with an embedded (smaller) dose of Flash.
• Make sure there is text on the home page if you do include a Flash presentation.
• Flash in general is not search engine friendly. A site designed entirely in this method will guarantee no rankings organically.
• Avoid creating your navigation entirely in Flash. If you must use this method, add a text based footer.

Take a good look at your web site. There could be elements on there that are turning away your visitors.

Some of these items include:

• Excessive pop-ups
• Broken Images
• Dead (broken) Links
• Slow Loading Pages
• Old Text (such as rates for 2005, when it's mid way 2007)
• Lack of Contact Information- Having to scroll through pages to find a phone number or even an email address will surely irritate any web site visitor.
• Lots of rotating graphics, icons, fading pages or anything else that's 'free javascripting'. This can not only turn off a customer, but search engines as well.

If you are unsure about your web site's design, or interested in a new look, feel free to contact us for a FREE web site review.

Many clients ask what kind of software should they use for designing their own website or maintaining a website we create for them.

Most of us who professionally design use software such as Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Photoshop to create the great looking sites you see in our portfolio, however software such as these can run hundreds ($600 +) of dollars.

The 'cheaper' software such as Front Page from Microsoft is widely used by many of our clients. Is it a good choice for you?

The first question to ask is how much updating or modifications do you plan on making on the website? If we designed the site and you have an older version of Front Page, there is a good chance Front Page will not correctly update the site and may throw tables out of whack. We also design in CSS and Server Side Includes (SSI). Front Page may not be as friendly of a software to handle such elements in our designs.

Should you need to update on a regular basis and Front Page is the only option, we can modify the site at the time of the design to make sure Front Page will work properly.

If you are designing on your own, and funds are limited, Front Page or Adobe GoLive is another great option. Both come with templates for quick layout choices, or you can take a stab at your own creation.

All hosting with HostServices comes with Front Page installed, so you can easily create, modify and publish sites using this method.

SPAM... we absolutely hate this ever-growing beast that seems to plague everyone's email accounts at one point.

If you are a hosting client with IHS, and forward your emails to your AOL, Hotmail, YAHOO (etc) Accounts, please be sure you check you SPAM folders that these email companies provide. Unfortunately, these email services by these companies are not designed for business use. If you intend on keeping AOL or Hotmail, or any free email service for that matter as the main source of online communication, checking your SPAM account is a must.

The best alternative is to use either the FREE POP accounts we provide (using your company email address) or forward to more reliable sources that many high speed cable and DSL companies provide.

In a previous post we discussed the importance of not having duplicate pages (same text but on different pages) within a website. Here's a great tool to use to check if you think you may have similar pages either on the same website or residing on two separate sites (both of which can harm current or potential search engine rankings)

Similar Page Checker Enter First URL Enter Second URL

Pay Per Click (or PPC) can be a great tool to increase your sales or inquries for your business. The two most popular Pay Per Click programs are offered by the two giant search engines; Google and Yahoo. MSN has recently launched their own Pay Per Click service and is slowly taking off as well.

Just what is PPC? It is a way to pay for placement on a search engine using their sponsered results program. For instance, Google's AdWords displays PPC customers either in the top or right hand side of their results. You'll notice boxes sometimes with a blue, green or white background. People choose the keywords they want to show up under, and how much they are willing to pay. If someone clicks on their link, the amount they decided to pay for that keyword will come out of their budget.

Some of the beneifts of PPC advertising include instant placement (or usually within 1-2 days), control of a budget and keywords. You also can advertise specifically in a local, national or international market.

Each PPC program varies. Depending on where you are advertising and the keywords you choose, you can spend some cash. If you don't have time to maintain your accounts, you may be paying for more than you need to, or not maximizing your potential.  With some of the strict guidelines that Google and Yahoo have on their ads, you may not be capturing your audience with the way your ads are written.

You can benefit from this program. If you have PPC accounts already, we can review them for you to see if it really is working, or set up PPC accounts and start driving more business to your site almost immediately.

Learn more here: http://www.hostservices.net/ppc.html

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In order to have a web site you need hosting. There is no way around it. It's the lifeline of your online business. With so many choices out there, it is difficult to choose. Although price is a driving factor, not all cheap or low cost hosting sites are worthwhile.

Here are a couple of things to consider when deciding on a web hosting company:

• How long has the hosting company been in business?
• Do they offer toll free support or make you pay extra for it?
• Are there set up fees and if so, what does that include?
• Do they provide web site statistics? More than just a hit counter?
• Do they offer any other services such as web site design, search engine optimization or other marketing services?

Many online business owners do not realize they need both hosting and marketing services to successfully promote their business. Time and time again we hear the statement 'But I thought my site would show up in the search engines when I paid you for hosting'. Unfortuntately that is not the case.

Online marketing is an industry completely separate from hosting. Unless you plan on taking on the role of promoting your site online (a role that would consume all your time) then you need a professional marketer who understands how online marketing works.

Hosting is the lifeline of your online business. Without it, the site could not exist. Many hosting companies do offer a combination of hosting and marketing services but typically expect to pay more for the services.

Would you like a FREE website review and see where your site ranks on the search engines? http://www.hostservices.net/website-review.html

This is an old trick that appears to be evident on many websites today. Many years ago when I started online marketing it was a general practice to hide text on a website. It wasn't meant to be a bad thing, but a way to let search engines know what your keywords are (or target market) without cluttering the look and feel of the website. It also made it more appealing for visitors as they could not see it.

The idea was to take whatever color background the page was (typically a white one) and have white or the same color font.

Over time, search engines became clever (although sometimes I question that ). Most search engines know what to look for and if they do find out you are purposely hiding text (also referred to a keyword stuffing or spamming) they can penalize you. Being penalized by a search engine is really one of the worst things that can happen to your web business. I've seen sites lose rankings, have a hard time competing with other sites for top position, and even banishment.

The bottom line is, if you have hidden text, remove it ASAP. If a person or search engine company is using this technique, tell them to stop immediately. If they tell you it's ok, definitely leave!

If you are not sure, let us review the site for free.

Many clients seem to still ask what options are available when checking their email with us. Some clients still use freebie email services like Hotmail or Gmail as a convenience.

With our hosting, free webmail is available. You also have UNLIMITED emails. That means a small business can easily create email accounts for their employees at no extra charge. If you are traveling or do not have access to Outlook, simply go to your webmail to send and receive messages.

To access, go to your domain (website address)- http://mail.whateveryourwebsiteis.com. Enter the name of the email and password and you're ready to go. Voila! 

Many people think because they sell a few items online, they need to spend hundreds, even thousands on a fancy schmancy shopping cart. The fact is, many sites may not require it; yet.

If your site is just starting off, and you have a handful of items (or services) then perhaps starting off with a secure form or even Pay Pal may do the trick for now.

What are the benefits? Pay Pal is a world recognized service that is owned by eBay. Just about anyone online knows of this service and will feel comfortable shopping with it. Pay Pal also does not charge you a dime unless you make a sale.

A secure form allows shoppers to safely send you their credit card information online. It will NOT process the transaction, but does allow you to receive info and process it either through a merchant account service through the bank.

Shopping carts (also referred in this blog as E-commerce) is a viable marketing tool for your web business. This is not intended to prevent you from having one. Shopping carts do provide a very secure method of processing payments for products/services via your website. Many of our clients are just not sure which to choose. Hopefully this helps. Feel free to contact us for further review.

OK, so some people use the term 'borrow' when it comes to using other people's website content. If you are a travel company for instance, what harm is it if you grab some text from a chamber of commerce website?

Well, let's first take into account (and many don't realize this) that using other people's content (or text) from a website can be considered copyright infringement.

If you still do not think this is bad, maybe this will do the trick; search engines are clever enough these days to detect sites using similar content as others. This can cause your site to either rank low, have a hard time even getting ranked, and the ultimate punishment; the site can get banned.. possibly forever.

Think about it... it may be worth the time and money if you have to hire a professional writer.