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September 13th, 2009
Your website is quite likely your customers’ first impression of your business. Websites, much like houses and hairdos, need to be updated. You really don’t want to be the last person with the mullet, or the “framed” coding and comic font, do you? Depending on the business you are in, you may want to update your website every few years or even every few weeks. If your site is looking a bit frumpy, it may be time for a bit of sprucing up, or a whole new make-over.
Take a good hard look at your website, and ask yourself some of these questions:
Is Your Style Outdated?
Look at your website with the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time. If there isn’t consistency, it could confuse and lose the customer. Are there multiple fonts, colors, and sizes? Do you have outdated clip art or flashing animation? How about outdated colors, or separate frames coding? If you have a distracting background, such as tie-dye, plaid, or certain repeating patterns, you are guilty. Think about what colors and fonts you admire on other sites. Much like your business, you want to present a unified, clean, modern appearance to your customers.
Is Your Technology Outdated?
Technology changes quickly, and if you want it to work for you, you have to stay on top of it. There are many different ways to view websites now with five major browsers, wider monitors, and phones that people are increasingly using to surf the web. Do you know how your site looks on all of them? Is your website compatible with the main browsers? Make sure all of your links are working and current, including internal links. Has a usability study ever been conducted on your site? Track visitor activity on your website to determine what is being viewed, and which areas are of the most interest. This knowledge can help you in modifying your services and product areas to those with the most interest, and lead to increased sales. You may want to consider adding a shopping cart, forms, a place for requests, customer log-ins, or even online appointment setting to further assist your customers.
Is There A Reason To Come Back?
Is there a reason for your customers to revisit your site? Generate some interest to get repeat visits, as well as new traffic. This can be fun and creative, or informative. Think about adding specials, coupons, sales, or new arrivals. Post statistics related to your business, how-tos, recent work and projects you have completed, before and after pictures, a portfolio, or customer stories. Allow a place for customers to give their feedback, which in turn, will help you better your business. Writing a humorous or informational blog, a monthly newsletter, or a calendar with upcoming dates will bring those customers back for more!
How Does Your Site Rank?
How does your site rate in search engines? This is an important part of how your customers find you today. Make sure that your great website is being seen! Are your keywords up to date? Does your text contain an appropriate ratio of important keywords? Update your written content frequently to increase your ratings. Be careful not to flood your keywords, because this will do more harm than good. Most customers will not browse past the first few results pages when they do a search. Ask us how to help your company be on that first page!
Is Your Site Difficult to Navigate?
When people come to your site, is it user friendly? Your layout should not only be pleasing to the eye, but easy to use. Can customers find what they are looking for easily? Do customers ever complain that it’s difficult to find certain things on your site? Make sure the text is the right size and in good contrast to the background. If your background is a picture, it can be difficult to read text over this. Not only should customers be able to find the information, they should be naturally led to other interesting parts of your site as well. Make sure your links and buttons are prominent and all your information is easy to find.
Does It Represent Your Company Today?
When you first built your website, it was a big step. Has your company grown or changed since then? Have you changed your logo, or colors? Maybe you specialized, or have become known in the community for excelling in an area. If you have won awards, reached goals, or received some great press, make sure to share that great news! Sharing your successes demonstrates that your business is doing well, and builds confidence with your potential clients.
Does It Help Your Business Grow?
In the beginning, websites were designed more like a yellow page ad or brochure. Today, a website is not only a customer’s first introduction to your business, it is the best source of information about your business. It’s one of the most important ways to serve your customers. Are there questions that customers frequently ask you? Answer them on your site to further free up your staff’s valuable time. Do you need to think about business overseas? Websites are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Open your business up to local, interstate and international business markets. We can assist you with translation services. Reach specialized markets, and different demographics. With 1.6 billion Internet users in the world, there are certainly more people out there that need your product or service.
If you feel that it’s time for an entire new website, start gathering information on how you would like your website to represent you. Make a list of things you would want your website to have now, and have added on in the future. If it is time for a new site or just a few minor lifts, focus on what will make the biggest impact and generate new business with both current and new customers. Make sure you are representing your company at its best, and keeping up with the ever increasing opportunities!
For personal one-on-one assistance with website design, development, and planning, contact Oval Solutions today at (517) 902-7851 for a free quote and some free, fresh ideas!
Tags: business growth, capture new clients, capture new customers, difficult navigation, help business grow, how does your site rank, out-dated, out-dated websites, outdated, outdated websites, remodel, revamp, search engine optimization, style, touch-up, touch-up websites, touchup, touchup websites, website creation, website design, website development, website ranking, website rankings, website redesign, website remodel, website revamp
Posted in Website Related | No Comments »
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August 3rd, 2009
A website is one of the most affordable ways to communicate with the public; whether you want to use it as a marketing tool or simply to provide information. However, a poorly designed website will limit its impact, so it is a good investment to get the best web website built that you can afford.
When considering the design of your website, focus on ease of use. Many people today are familiar with the Internet, but your website should still be intuitive. This aspect is especially important for people who may want to purchase something from your website. They want to be able to find what they are looking for quickly, and they want the ordering process to be simple. Make it difficult, and they may well take their business elsewhere. Zona Research estimates that around $25 billion of potential profit is lost every year due to poor website usability.
Studies have shown that if users have to follow more than three hyperlinks, they start to lose interest. If you have a large site, adding search functionality may be a well-received feature. Your webpage should also load quickly; if it takes over ten seconds then users become impatient. This means keeping pictures and graphics to a minimum and ensuring that they are small and compact. If you do need large pictures, then put them at the bottom so that visitors can read the text while the pictures are loading. Ensure that your website is compatible with as many browsers as possible. The two major Internet browsers are FireFox and Internet Explorer. Here at Oval Solutions, every website we build is compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome. The most common screen resolution is 1024 x 728. Using a different screen resolution could mean that part of your website is not visible to the user. You also need to be aware that some technologies can mean that search engines will not be able to view your website. For example, links embedded in some Javascript code may not be crawled by search engines.
Colors are also important because on the Internet you are communicating with users visually. Companies that have official colors should use the same ones on their website for consistency. For text, you should choose colors that are easy on the eye. Colors can also have cultural and emotional significance. A web designer will be able to help you decide on a suitable color scheme.
Good web content is vital. All words and visuals should be of good quality. You want to communicate the right messages and ideas to your visitors so that you attract your target market to your website. Having good, up-to-date information on your website also gives a good impression and visitors will feel more confident if they think that you know about your market or industry. For example, a bike store that is able to give expert advice on various aspects of cycling will inspire confidence in buyers.
You will be able to tell how well your website is fulfilling its function by how users interact with it. Do they read the text and watch any videos, or do they simply take one look and then leave? Do visitors to your website ask for information, click on links, or make a purchase? All of these questions can be answered by the free analytics package included in every website we build. Contact us today for free information at (517) 902-7851.
Tags: effective website, important website features, Internet websites, things to think about when building a website, web creation, web design, Website, website creation, website design, website usability, what makes an effective website
Posted in Website Related | 3 Comments »
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July 22nd, 2009
Hosted Exchange Email System
Electronic mail, or e-mail, is at the heart of all the communication systems of today’s businesses. Surveys have shown that internet and e-mail services are considered by many small businesses to be more vital to their company than the telephone. Over 72 percent said that losing their website or mail application would cause serious damage to their business and an immediate financial loss. Eighty percent said that when choosing an Internet provider, their most important consideration was a guaranteed service and the provider’s response time in dealing with faults.
Business people want to be able to send e-mails from their desks or when they are on the move, allowing them to stay in touch with customers and colleagues. This means that it is very important to any business that its e-mail system is secure, robust and accessible. Implementing, managing, and supporting communication and messaging tools requires experience. For some businesses, this can represent a big strain on internal resources. Outsourcing the messaging solution can provide a number of benefits:
• Reduction in administration including licensing
• Internal IT resources can be concentrated on core business
• Capital is freed up, reducing risk for a small monthly fee
• Security expertise, the latest virus protection and spam filtering
• Enhanced backup and restore capabilities
• 24/7 support all year round
• Scalable and flexible solution, you pay for what you need
• Professional e-mail service with no hassles
• Large network with built-in redundancy
• Economy of scale gained from tapping into large infrastructure of provider
Hosted Exchange Email is a way for businesses to have all the messaging functionality that they need without the problems of the day-to-day administration. The system uses Microsoft Managed Exchange 2007 as the mail server, and customers typically use Microsoft Outlook as their email client. The system is not just about sending and receiving. E-mail users are also able to share contacts, folders and calendars. Microsoft Outlook is available for browser, mobile, and desktop access, meaning that staff can keep in touch no matter where they are. The inbox stays synchronized as the users always connect to the same exchange server.
Microsoft Exchange with Microsoft Outlook allows the user to:
• Access calendar management and scheduling tools
• Share personal lists and track project progress
• Keep contact information and personal address book
• Share files, assign permissions, get team feedback. Also provides 1GB folder space
• View attachments
• Use discussion views to group e-mail conversation threads
If customers do not use Microsoft Outlook, they can use MacMail, Entourage, or any IMAIL or POP desktop client. Mobile users can send or receive e-mail via any POP or IMAIL connection. They can synchronize their mailbox with Blackberry, iPhone or Windows Mobile devices. Outlook Web Access allows the user to receive mail notifications, calendar reminders, use public folders and global address lists via Internet Explorer 6. OWA light can be used with Firefox, Safari or older versions of Internet Explorer.
A managed exchange service offers peace of mind to customers who are assured that their e-mail system is always secure and backed up. Along with high reliability and performance comes exceptional support.
Companies can choose between two different levels of service – managed and dedicated. With a managed service, customers retain control over the administration of users’ messaging, but the responsibility for the administration of the system is taken over by another company. This solution suits companies that have limited IT resources. The Managed Exchange option features full integration with Microsoft Outlook for e-mail and collaboration. Nightly data backups, rapid recovery of lost data and a high-availability infrastructure provide a robust messaging solution.
The dedicated option is more suitable for larger companies. It provides the scalability and power of a dedicated server. The company’s own IT administrators retain full control over the messaging application and the user services. They are able to configure mailbox, attachment sizes and distribution lists. Data backup and storage size remain under the control of the in-house IT department. The Dedicated Exchange option provides the highest levels of collaboration, configurability and mobile service support.
Tags: Availability, BES, BIS, blackberry enterprise server, communication, communications, e-mail, e-mail services, electronic mail, email, email services, Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, hosted e-mail, Hosted Exchange, mail, Microsoft, Outlook web access, OWA, scaleable e-mail
Posted in IT Services | No Comments »
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June 30th, 2009
Today’s smartphones are very sophisticated and can do most of the things that a PC can do. Web browsing, instant messaging, email, spreadsheets, video editing, photo editing, word processing, and multimedia playback are common functions found on all smartphones. Smartphones allow you to take your ‘PC’ with you and access its functions anywhere.
Palm Pre from Sprint – has a completely new interface called the Palm WebOS. This touch screen interface has synchronization options that allow the user to seamlessly switch between personal e-mail, corporate mail, e-mail on Google and social networking sites such as Facebook. The phone has EV-DO Rev. A for browsing Sprint’s high-speed 3G network as well as support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. It has 8GB of internal storage and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Not only is the screen touch-sensitive, the sides of the phone also respond to touch and gesture. A single home button exists beneath the screen. The screen itself is rich, vibrant and clear. The keyboard has been less well received with many feeling that the space between the keys is too small. The phone has considerable processing power in the form of Texas Instrument’s new OMAP3 chipset. Most buyers rave about the OS, as the hardware is less of a selling point.
Blackberry Curve 8900 from Verizon – the Blackberry Curve is one of the best selling phones This newest model is a sleek modern update of the popular smartphone. The compact and attractive handset is smart and small enough to fit into a pocket. Its screen is bright and large and the QWERTY keypad is easy to use. Like other Blackberrys, it performs well when it comes to email. It has a music player that handles various formats including MP3 and AAC and a video player. Videos look good on its screen, which despite being small, gives a good clear picture. The camera is slightly less impressive. The camera can take both still shots and videos, but the flash is not particularly powerful. Sharing or downloading is possible via Wi-Fi, EDGE or GPRS, but there is no 3G. It has built-in GPS, but the lack of 3G means that the experience is not as smooth as it should be. It has exceptional battery life, lasting for more than 2 days in regular use. However, call quality has been described by many users as barely satisfactory.
Shadow 2009 from T-Mobile – is an upgrade of the original Shadow. It provides the rich features of Windows Mobile 6.1, but is less complex than other multimedia devices. It supports Wi-Fi, GSM and UMA to use T-Mobile’s Unlimited HotSpot Calling service. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and spinnable d-pad. It has a 2 megapixel camera and a 2.6 inch display which is bright and clear. The right edge of the phone has a camera button for activating the camera application, and a dedicated messaging key that goes straight to email and SMS. The contents management system on the Shadow is exceptional, allowing users to store any information about their contacts. Data can be stored and synchronized with Microsoft Outlook. Battery life is good with long operating times both in active use and in standby. It has the mobile version of Windows Media Player and has good support for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, as well as messenger services. Support for games and the internet browser are not very good.
Nokia E71x from AT&T – AT&T is one of the most popular carriers in the USA. Their 2009 lineup of smartphones includes the Nokia E71x, a powerful device with an attractive shell. Although its interface could do with some improvements, it is outstanding at e-mail, call handling and web browsing. There have been some visual improvements, but it still lags behind other smartphones with repetitive menus and confusing shortcuts. Messaging is very good, with an impressive array of options. Scheduling and productivity are also good with plenty of options, if a little unpolished. The Nokia mini-map web browser is very good and may be the best web browser on any mobile device. Pages load quickly and look sharp and accurate on the screen. Scrolling is also very fast. The media player is good with many advanced playback options. However, organization is poor and it isn’t exactly pretty, whilst the camera is decidedly mediocre.
Tags: blackberry, e71x, nokia, palm pre, pda, shadow 2009, smart phones, smartphones, sprint, t-mobile, tmobile, verizon
Posted in Consumer Product Reviews | 3 Comments »
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June 21st, 2009
Almost daily, I see computers with an incredible amount of dust and debris in them. Depending on the environment in which your computer is located, it should be cleaned out once every 6 – 12 months on average. This pertains much more to desktops than it does to laptops, however, I have seen the fan vents on laptops become so clogged with dust that they overheat in a matter of minutes and shut down. On desktops, simply unplug your computer, take it outside, remove the side from the computer (panel removal procedure different on every model), use a can of compressed air to blow all of the dust out, and replace side cover. Sometimes you may also need to remove the front panel, as the intake vent can be quite clogged in that location. You may not be able to see it without removing the front cover.
Be careful with the compressed air so that you do not spray any liquid into the computer or on the components. You can prevent that from happening by holding the can upright when using. If you see a liquid or mist coming out of the can while spraying, stop immediately, as you may damage your computer if you continue.
Households with animals and children need to perform this clean up more often. In businesses where the computer sits in a relatively dirty area (garages, workshops, industrial areas, etc), you may need to do this more often. Cleaning the debris out of your computer on a regular basis will increase the life span of your computer and keep it running at optimal performance.
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CPU Fan Clogged With Dust
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A Disaster Waiting To Happen
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Front Intake Vent Clogged With Dust
Tags: dust, front intake vent, maintenance, over heating, proper computer cleaning
Posted in Computer Maintenance | No Comments »
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June 4th, 2009
There are many reasons why any business should have a website which include:
Convenience – these days access to the Internet and familiarity with its use is commonplace. Every day over 20 million people search the Internet to find products, compare prices and find information. Using the Internet to find information or to shop is faster and easier than ever before.
Exposure – you can advertise your business in the local phone book or newspaper, but the Internet can give you access to a much wider audience. You will no longer be tied to a geographic location, but be able to offer your services or products nationwide or even internationally. The National Retail Association forecasts that in 2009 the value of retail sales over the Internet will reach $204 billion dollars, whilst the rest of the retail industry is expecting slow growth. This represents a 17 percent increase on the previous year. America has 220,000,000 Internet users and in 2008 global spending over the Internet was $6.8 trillion, 15 percent of the global GDP.
Information – you can provide much more information via a website than you can in a phone book or even a brochure. TV/radio advertisements are limited by the amount of time that you can afford to purchase, but with a website there are no time restrictions.
Cost – a website is an inexpensive and effective form of advertising. Customers can browse through the information on your website at their own pace. In 2008 $65 billion was spent globally on Internet advertising. Printing and posting fliers, brochures, newsletters and other mail costs money. Internet advertising is more cost effective as it is a better way of reaching your target market. A website is a one-time cost other than the nominal hosting fee.
Branding – a well-designed website will become an extension of your brand. It becomes part of the experience of doing business with you and a good professional online image will set you apart from the competition.
Availability – your website can be available 24 hours a day, so if customers want to search for information or place an order outside of normal shopping hours, they can. You will always be open for business.
Time – a well-designed website will provide customers with information about your company, services or products, meaning that you don’t have to spend so much time answering questions on the phone.
Measurable results – with a website you are able to track the number of visitors to your site and also record how they found out about your company. The number of inquiries and the number of sales can be recorded. The ratio of inquiries to visitors is known as the conversion rate and you can use this information to improve the ratio and increase your sales.
Testing new ideas – a website is one of the quickest ways of publishing new ideas. Trying out new content can be done within a matter of minutes and at no cost. This allows you to try out new advertising material before committing to a costly print campaign.
Tags: Availability, Branding, Convenience, Cost, Exposure, Measurable results, Reason, Reason for website, Reasons, Testing new ideas, Time, Website
Posted in Website Related | 5 Comments »
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May 13th, 2009
Computer ownership today is a responsibility. A virus on your computer has the potential to slow down the Internet service of your neighbors and send spam e-mail to everyone in your address book. Your important data on your computer should also be safe-guarded against loss and theft. Luckily, there are some great solutions out there that are affordable and effective.
I will talk about two different products that I highly recommend. The first program is the #1 rated anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware, and firewall product on the market. The second program is the same program that I use to back up all of my files, including my sensitive financial files.
Norton Internet Security 2009 is the #1 rated security program on the market. It has won numerous awards and was completely re-created for the 2009 version. Many people associate Norton with a cause of computer slowness. While it is true that Norton products used to be a little bloated, the 2009 version is the lightest and fastest security program on the market today designed for home users. This program retails for $69.95. However, if you click here and enter coupon code 10offnis09, you will be able to purchase it for only $62.99. This program covers three computers with one license.
Now that your operating system is protected with Norton, it’s time to protect your data from loss due to hard drive failure, building fire, natural disaster, and more. The best solution for most users today is Carbonite. Carbonite is an offsite, online data backup system that is fully automated. No more trying to remember to burn your data to CD once a week or copying your important files to a thumb drive. Carbonite works in the background and automatically backs up your data as you generate it. It can run once a night or constantly back up new files as you create them. Carbonite offers unlimited storage for only $54.95 per year! Would you pay $54.95 to recover your data if you lost it all due to hard drive failure? If the answer is yes, then don’t delay; get yourself protected today by clicking here.
Posted in Online Security | 2 Comments »
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May 13th, 2009
Internet Explorer 8 has just arrived! Should you upgrade? You should if you currently use Internet Explorer for your web browser. Alternatives to Internet Explorer (IE) are Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome. Internet Explorer and Firefox have a combined 90% market share.
Reasons to upgrade really include just one main reason: security. Older browsers are not supported well, if at all, and are more vulnerable to attacks via websites you visit. Even common websites such as MySpace and CNN have been attacked by hackers who hide code inside the popular website that attacks visitors who are not protected.
If you currently use Internet Explorer, you can upgrade free-of-charge to version 8 by visiting Windows Update. Go to http://update.microsoft.com and click on “Express.” If you do not currently have it, you should see it in the list of high-priority updates. Click on “Install Updates” to apply the latest patches and software upgrades to your computer. If you need help upgrading and/or protecting your computer, please contact Oval Solutions for a free, no-hassle, no-obligation estimate.
Posted in Online Security | No Comments »
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