Are you asking yourself “Is my website down?”

There are many, many different things that can cause a connection error between between you and your website. Just because you can’t load your website, it doesn’t mean that your web hosting server is actually down.

If your web browser is displaying a connection error, try these things before calling your web hosting company:

1) Try connecting to a different website, and refreshing the page.

If you can load the other website correctly, skip to step 2. If not, you have a general internet connection issue, and should contact your internet service provider.

2) Check your domain name registration: www.whois.net

If your WHOIS record shows that your domain name registration is expired, you simply need to renew your registration with your Domain Name registrar, and your website will be back up shortly. If your domain name registration is NOT expired, skip to step 3.

3) Try connecting using your website’s IP address.

If it works, something is wrong with the DNS for your website. You will need to contact your Web Host and let them know that your Domain Name is not resolving correctly.

If you still cannot connect to your website, even using the IP address, you might be blocked by your hosting company’s firewall, and you will need to contact them.

The best way to tell if your website is actually down, or if your issue is specific to your network, computer, or web browser, is to have someone that is connected to the internet from a different network attempt to visit your website. If no one is available, you can visit your website via a proxy server. Connecting to your website via a proxy website will simulate connecting from a network outside your own.

Here is a link to a popular free proxy site:
www.megaproxy.com

If someone from a different network can connect to your website, then your website is functional, but there is a connection issue caused by either your network, computer, or browser. Your hosting company’s firewall might be preventing your computer from accessing their servers as well, so you should give them a quick call and let them know what is going on.

People are always trying to keep up with the latest trends. Whether it’s the latest trend in handbags or shoes, people are stopping to take notice and see what is emerging on the fashion scene. For all of the fashionistas out there, this post is for you. Let’s take our fashion sense and translate it to what works for our businesses and website design. Stay with me as we touch on the top trends and translate them into design that works!

Trend #1: Canary Yellow is hot hot hot! Use splashes of color within your website design to create contrast and highlight important services or features. A pop of color is not only visually pleasing, but can also help you stand amongst the millions of other websites on the Internet. (Keep in mind, I said to use a POP of color – you don’t want your whole website to be a montage to a bright color that blinds your visitors.)

Trend #2: Braids, braids & more braids. It’s all the rage to braid your hair and I don’t mean the boring, one big braid we saw in the 1990s. Now it’s all about being creative with your braids – maybe it’s a small, side swept braid on just one side of your head or intricate braids tied into an up-do that paint a beautiful weave. Whatever the choice, there is something very hip about being creative with your braids. You are probably thinking how does this translate into my website’s design. It’s simple. While you want your design to be clean and modern, you also want a design that is creative and shows off your personality. Even when it is simple, creativity must be integrated into your website’s design.

Trend #3: Watch your step with those 4 inch heels. The world can be tricky to navigate, especially in four inch heels. However, the height advantage can really work for us shorter folks. However, don’t make your website a maze. Make it easy to navigate. Granted heels make it easier to see farther, but our feet can start to hurt if we have to walk too far. Your website navigation should be a breeze for visitors. The easier it is for them to find the information they need, the longer they will stay on the site.

Trend #4: The oversized handbag is your secret weapon. Inside your oversized handbag is all of your tricks. Use your website to hold a similar arsenal. Not only do you want to have the necessities in your purse (wallet, sunglasses, cell phone) and on your website (contact information, information about the company, products & services), but you want to have the helpful extras. For your website, this means having useful information and links readily available for your customers. It also means highlighting your own expertise for the visitor; you can do this easily through a blog or through posting helpful articles on your website.

Trend #5: Printed graphic tops show what you are made of. One of the most defining aspects of your website is the photography you use. You want to use high-quality, professional photography. Stock photography is very reasonably priced and provides you with the professional look that is necessary. The last thing you want is a website with low resolution images that provide an unpleasant viewing experience for your visitors, who are often potential customers. Fashion rewind … just as your photography translates into what people think about your website, your graphic tops should have prints that are meaningful and reflect your personality. Otherwise, who are you trying to show off to?

Trend #6: One shoulder, please! The perfect top … one shoulder exposed … stunning! Plus, it’s a sassy and fun summer look. Your website should show off your best shoulder. You want to highlight the important information about your company, the products & services you offer, and why folks should choose you.  However, you don’t want to give everything you’ve got away. Use your website to drawn them in. Make sure there is a clear call to action. Basically, you want to entice them to want more, so they will contact you directly.

It is fun to see how two completely separate items – fashion and web design – can relate to each other on so many levels and how you can translate that to success for your business’ web presence.

On a side note, remember to be fashionable in all that you do!

Having trouble deciding on a particular domain name to represent your business?  Keep in mind that you do not have to decide on just one – you can have more than one domain name pointing to the same web site presence.   Your primary domain is usually the one that you use to advertise on business cards and to host your email (bob@mysupergreatdomainname.com), but as you come across great ideas to sell your product (myproductname.com, myindustryname.com), we can set up those additional names to direct traffic to your site as well (and even forward email if you like).

When it comes time to provide photos of your product or service for a website, don’t make the mistake of skimping on quality.  A poor, low resolution, fuzzy photograph can kill the presentation of your business.  If you are trying to convey to your prospects that you offer a high-quality product that is of value, your imagery should reflect that.

For best results, we recommend hiring a professional photographer to capture your vision and compliment your web designer’s work.  If you make the investment for good professional photography, you will likely appreciate them for years to come, and use them in all of your marketing collateral.

If you truly don’t have the budget, consider a student photographer looking to expand his/her portfolio.  For some of the less important photos, you can opt for some high resolution digital camera shots or ask your web designer for royalty-free stock images.  Just remember that if your images are washed-out, low-resolution, or cluttered with awkward backgrounds, your audience may be less convinced to buy.

Business owners commonly hesitate when we ask “What will your domain name be?”  Sometimes, they are lucky enough to have a unique and simple business name that is available to register as a .com.  But more and more often these days, those names just are not available.  Here are a few tips to help you narrow the web address challenge down:

• Strive for .com : .com is still the most popular of the name extensions, and the one that comes to people’s minds first.  Plus, if your competitor already has the .com version of your preference, it is dangerous to register the .net or .info – because chances are a chunk of your customers will get confused and visit your competitor’s site – or worse – email them!
• Use geographical words :  Consider where your customers are and incorporate the city, state, or region name with your product type or service.  (For example:  The Wizard of Oz sets up OzWizardry.com)
• Consider your audience : Are you hoping to gain a lot of search engine traffic? Then strive for keywords in your domain.  Are you primarily formatting this name for the human eye? Choose a name that is easy to spell and easy to remember.  Are you planning to focus on solely paid internet ads that drive traffic to your web site? Then the perfect domain name is not as important.
• Mary Poppins doesn’t make very good domain names. There is a limit to how long your domain can be, so keep it simple and brief if possible.  Silly rhymes with more than 6 words aren’t going to fit the bill.

The internet if full of terms that can seem quite confusing.  Many sites use terms and abbreviations that they expect a person to know without even giving them a brief overview about what the terms mean.  Even when you search for the definitions of these terms some of the information you find can read like stereo instructions. Understanding all of these different terms and abbreviations may seem like a daunting task but your concern can easily be put to rest with a little information.

Click on any of the titles to read what the Webii FAQ has to say about these terms.

Bandwidth: The amount of data sent through a connection over a period of time. Also known as Data Transfer.

Catch-All Email Account: The catch-all email address is used in cases of an incorrect name or misspelling at your domain. For example, any email that is sent to someone who is not listed in the POP or forwarding sections will still be received, even if the name has a typo or is out of date (as long as the domain name on the email address was specified correctly).

Control Panel: An online collection of tools that permits easy site management.

Data Transfer: The amount of data that is transferred from an account as visitors view the pages of the web site. Using FTP to upload to files to your site  and checking emails does not apply in this case.

Dedicated Server: A computer that only runs one type of server software, and is usually constructed according to the user’s specifications. Dedicated servers are typically used for websites that have high traffic, and need many resources and much processing power.

Domain Name: The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Webii can register any available .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, or .us domain name through its registration division, SiteReserve.com.

E-Commerce: Electronic Commerce is a convenient and affordable way to sell products or services online. E-Commerce software (like SoftCart) and payment services (like ClearCommerce) enable individuals to maintain an online business while performing transactions right from the Web.

Email Forwarder: An email address in which all emails are automatically forwarded to an alternative existing email account. For instance, you may forward all email to info@youdomain.com to erika@aol.com. Also known as an Email Alias.

FrontPage: A commercial HTML editor for creating, editing, managing, and uploading web sites. Some of the special features of the program (such as a graphical counter, forms, database, etc.) require that the web site be uploaded to a server which supports Microsoft FrontPage extensions.

FrontPage Extensions: A set of server-side applications that allow you to incorporate many advanced features without having to write the complex server-side programs typically required.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): The process by which files are transferred to a web server. You have unlimited access to your web server via FTP 24-hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your web pages on your own computer and upload files to your web site at your leisure.

Host: When you hear the term “host” in the Internet world, it is referring to an Internet company that has the required servers and software to connect domain names to (IP) Internet Protocol numbers so that your site can be viewed by the public when they type your domain in their browser window. Basically this is where you house your site, and you usually have to pay a monthly or annual fee for this service.

IP Addresses (Internet Protocol): A unique number used to identifying machines that are connected to the Internet. Your IP Address is the series of numbers associated with your domain name.

MySQL: A lightweight database engine designed to provide fast access to stored data.

Name Server: A computer that has both the software and the data needed to resolve domain names to IP numbers. Most name servers have names like NS1.whatever.com.

POP (Post Office Protocol): A communication protocol that is used to retrieve electronic mail from a Mail Server.

Script: List of commands that can be executed without user interaction.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): A security protocol designed to create a secure connection to the server for the transmission of confidential data through the internet.

Support: Telephone or e-mail technical support provided to a web hosting company’s customers. When there’s a problem with your site or your e-mail, you want to be able to get an answer promptly by e-mail or on the phone.

Whois: A searchable database maintained by Registrars which contain information about the .com, .org, .net, and .edu top-level domains.

As we have mentioned before, there are a lot of methods that deceptive domain registrars use to trick you into registering a domain with them. One trick we previously mentioned involved sending a final extension notice for a domain that you never even registered.

A new trick these companies are using involves sending an email that says you have a possible domain name dispute with someone trying to register your domain name with Chinese or Asian extensions (such as .cn and .asia). This email is a ruse intended to scare you into registering a foreign domain through their company—usually at a highly inflated price.

This is becoming an all too common tactic with some domain registrars. It works because they rely on your fear to keep you from rationally evaluating the situation. When you receive an unexpected notice ask yourself a few simple questions.

Do you trust the source of the information?
Do you do business in the countries the notice refers to?
Do you really care about yourdomainname.cn or yourdomainname.asia?

If you decide to purchase one of those domain names, make sure you shop around and get the best value for your money. The unscrupulous company that sent you the email will often charge a much higher price than their competitors.

Remember to do your research and always verify the source of unsolicited information.

You may have seen small budget providers offer free ‘do-it-yourself’ web site building software, and it looks so easy you don’t know why you should pass it up.  But before you jump into that template software, know what you are actually getting. When you use templates to design your website, your website is usually not consistent. It can appear in different ways on different computer screens and web browsers. In fact, it often looks completely different in the browser that the visitor is using than inside the template program when you created and previewed it.  If the web site looks terrible in one popular browser (like Internet Explorer) how does that reflect on your company? Free template-made web sites also lack in their user-friendliness. Often they jumble things up, overlap information and shapes, and display certain sections illegibly. In the website we sampled below, we had a hard time even finding a phone number because content overlapped and blocks of information were garbled. A website is no good if it your clients (or your staff) can’t even read its content. Beyond user-friendliness, do-it-yourself templates often lack important elements like title tags and meta tags. If they do have them, they are most likely poorly written with default information and not customizable.  You will notice page titles like “Home” or “Contact”.  These titles are the first thing a search engine reads and should be packed with important keywords and specific descriptions. You might be thinking that using a free template program and doing-it-yourself is your only option, because of a small marketing budget. But just consider how much business you might actually lose from a frustrated visitors leaving your web site, never calling you, and possibly even leaving with a bad impression of your company.  Investing a small budget into a professional web design service can be well worth it.

This quick and easy template did not provide this clinic with all it needed. Content is hard to read because it overlaps with other boxes. This site is lacking because it does not have the professional touch to make it stand out. Below, you can see that title tags created by the template program are limited to “Home”. This word does not tell the search engine, or a human being, anything about your company or line of business.

Often customers ask us what the difference is between their web hosting service and their domain name. While these two are closely related, and work hand-in-hand, they are separate entities.

It can be helpful to house all of these services under one roof, so you deal with one company for all your websites needs. For example, you can order your web hosting at WEBii.net, and then register your domain at our sister company, SiteReserve.com.

Keep in mind though that your web hosting services and your domain name are all managed and billed separately. Your web host is not necessarily notified or responsible when your domain expires – even if all are housed through the same company.

So what is the difference between your domain and your web hosting. Registering a domain simply gives you control over that domain name. Only one party (individual or business) can have a specific name. The actual domain does not have anything to do with website content.

Your web hosting is what hosts your site. By hosting your site that means space is allotted on your web hosts’ servers. Web hosting is more than just space. Not only does you web host hold a place on their servers for you, you are also getting bandwidth, and many other features that allow you to manage your web site files online. Once you have established your host, your domain name will point to the specified servers and your site will be running.

Don’t forget though that neither one of these develops or designs your website content, so you will have to either find a designer to help you (custom design & development available at WEBii.net) OR if you are savvy enough, you can do it yourself!

We have had a growing number of questions lately about these very hasty emails and letters that start with something like “Final Notice of Domain Extension”. They go on to explain how you will lose this opportunity to secure your domain if you don’t act right away – by contacting them and of course paying some money – to register it.

People ask, “Is this a scam?”

Well, not technically. But it sure is easy to be confused, and that is what they are counting on. If you look very closely, somewhere in the middle, you will notice the domain name has an unusual extension. Do you really care about yourdomainname.US?

If not, you can breathe easy and ignore that notice. It may look official, but it really isn’t.

Unfortunately, many people don’t realize the deceptive nature of these kinds of notices. They receive the fax, email, or letter – and they quickly panic and fork over some money to the mysterious company behind it. If this does happen to you, you might still have an opportunity to contact the company back and request a refund and cancel the services. But when possible, it is best to become familiar with the providers that do manage the registration for the domain names that you use. Be aware of your due dates or expiration dates for current domain names and stay on top of renewal invoices.

And if you do ever receive a suspicious looking bill or statement, research it, ask your web site developer, look at your past billing statements, and verify it is legitimate.