DNS service can be performed by your website/email’s host company, the company from whom you purchased your website URL or even a third party. It is important to use a trusted and reputable company for your DNS services, because even the large businesses can go down temporarily. For example, on September 10, 2012, GoDaddy.com, one of the main DNS providers, crashed due to a hacking incident. During this time, all websites with DNS services through GoDaddy.com were unavailable and unable to be accessed online.

For more information on DNS and trusted providers, contact Optimum Systems Online at 203-702-3680.

If you’re already on Facebook as a regular user, you can make a page specifically for your business. Once made, any basic information can added, such as a phone number, address or website URL.
After that, the next priority should be to work on your image. If your business already has a logo, set it as the profile picture. You will also want to add a cover photo. This will be the larger of the two pictures so make sure it looks good. Get creative with your images. Try different combinations and see which images work together.

When you make a Facebook page for your business, you are given the ability to use Facebook as the business rather than yourself. Use this to engage with your audience. Go out in to the wider Facebook world, “like” pages, make comments and let everyone know you’re there.

Make sure you add some content. No one will be interested in following your page if it looks inactive. Your main goal is to encourage people to “like” your page and potentially share your posts. By liking your page, any updates you make will come up on the customer’s page and in addition to this, other users will see that they have “liked” you.

Make sure to take the time to think on what you will post and how often. If all you are posting is the same link multiple times a day, you might just scare off your customers. But if your posts are informative and entertaining enough, you might get people sharing them on to their own wall and reaching an even wider audience.

1) No Search Engine Communication: Search engines index websites by reading and categorizing text. Flash bypasses the text functionality, giving search engines nothing to index. This hurts your website’s ability to rank high in search results.
2) Mac Compatibility: Flash does not work on all operating systems. Most Apple products will not display Flash programming, preventing your message from reaching a broad audience.
3) Slow Load Time: Most website visitors want to get their information quickly. They do not want to wait for a page to load and may click off a web page, instead of waiting for it to load.
4) Inconsistent on Mobile and Tablets: Flash functionality shows differently when viewed on mobile phones and tablet computers. The message can display inconsistently or not at all depending upon the viewing device, making your website appear unprofessional and hard to understand.

If you are looking to add that visual edge to your website, but don’t want the negatives associated with Flash, there are alternatives available. Websites are now incorporating HTML 5 and Javascript for movement and pizazz. And if you are thinking of incorporating these into your site, speak to a OSO representative who can help you decide which visual program is best to convey your online message.

Every computer has a file containing a variety of fonts for programs to reference and pull from. These fonts are accumulated through different programs, like Microsoft Word or and Adobe program, or come standard with your operating system. As different people use different systems and programs, their libraries of fonts will differ. So if a website tells a computer “show these words in the Papyrus font” and the font library does not contain the Papyrus font, the computer will be unable to show the page as originally intended.

Thankfully, there are a few fonts that have become standard for all computers, including the following font types:
• Arial
• Comic Sans
• Courier New
• Georgia
• Impact
• Lucida
• Times New Roman
• Trebuchet
• Verdana

So, when creating your website, it is important to keep the text fonts within these text families. Otherwise, your message may not be visible to your audience.

Website Domain (aka. URL, Website Address)
A domain is the online address of your website. For example, www.OptimumSystemsOnline.com would be our domain. This “address” can be used from any computer, smart phone or internet device to visit the website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The domain name does not require the use of search engines, like Google, to locate or access the site.

Website Domains are rented on a first-come-first-served basis, so often people are disappointed to learn that their business’ name is already taken by someone else on the other side of the country. They can be purchased for one-year timespans, renewed indefinitely, and allow you to pre-pay up to 10 years’ ownership at a time.

Website Hosting
If a Website Domain is the address of your website, website hosting is the lot on which your website content and email is parked. It is common knowledge that computer files and images take up space, and this is no exception online. The only question is who owns the space you park your website on and how reliable they are with potential web-issues. When you see that a website is not accessible (or has gone down), it is usually a website hosting issue. We have seen sites go down for 2 weeks at a time through the ‘cheap’ hosting companies, with no concern for the effects on the website owners.

Website Hosting is charged on an affordable monthly basis, just like rent. The key is to ensure that you don’t rent from an fly-by-night absentee landlord, but instead focus on the reliability and maintenance of the hosted platform through a reliable source.

The most important thing for you to worry about is that you have the right partner by your side navigating your domains and hosting. Your online partner should be able to help you find the best Website Domain for your business; one that is easily recognizable and associated with your business. You will also want to use your trusted partner and programming company as your website host, as they have a vested interest in ensuring your website is up and running to its optimum capacity, day and night.

If you would like to learn more about Website Domains and Website Hosting, or hear about the added protections Optimum Services Online can offer your business, contact us today.

To ensure you put your best face forward at the next tradeshow, just follow these simple rules:

1) Choose Space Carefully: Not only should you only attend the best shows, but research where the best booth space is. If possible, position yourself in on a corner and near your competitors. The corner spot will give you heightened visibility and a spot near your vendors will maximize the probability that customers who are already familiar with their brand will take the few steps to learn more about yours.

2) Décor is Key: Never cut back on your booth to save money. The only money you are saving is that of clients who would have been paying you for your time/products. A professional looking booth gives the statement that your company is competitive, takes their position in the market seriously and has the attention to detail to predict their client-needs.

3) Train Your Staff: Tradeshow presenters should never slouch, eat in the booth, or speak poorly of their company. These may all seem obvious, but when walking around a show, it is so very common to see employees looking bored, with crumbs on their clothes and food stashed by the demo products and using lines like “It is an expensive product,” “We haven’t really tested how long it will last before needing to be replaced,” and “It is pretty much the same product as XX made by YY.”

4) Network to Make Friends: Anyone can talk shop, but few strive to be memorable at shows. When encountering a potential contact, don’t just try to sell them on your product/service, try to sell them on you. You want them to trust that you won’t steer them wrong. You want them to feel comfortable talking you as a person, not just a salesman.

5) Follow-up in Time: The best method to reach out to your new tradeshow contacts is through a two-step process. One week after the show, send out a generic “Thanks for visiting, here is a link to our website, here is my contact info, we’ll be in touch soon” style email. This provides the attendee with any information that they may have misplaced when traveling back to their offices. Then 3-5 weeks after the show has ended, personally call and email every contact you have made, noting what had interested them at the show and any additional information that may trigger-their memory as to who you/your business are.

Showing at Tradeshows isn’t an ends to itself, but a tool to achieving greatness for your business. Make sure your company stands out from the crowd. Show professionalism at every turn. Be engaging. And value each and every individual who comes by your booth. Don’t just show up, roll out the red carpet of greatness!

The Facebook page for Skittles is an excellent example of how the Social Network can be used. Their posts are a bit of silly nonsense but they get can get thousands of “likes”. For the post “Marshmallows don’t dissolve in hot cocoa, they teleport to their home world” they got over two thousand “likes”. With such a fun candy, the silliness is the perfect tone to represent the brand and attract the right users.

For a company that requires a more serious tone, think of a unique offer to bring on followers. Contests are an excellent way of receiving “likes”. Even if your company doesn’t have its own products to give away, you can offer iPads, Kindles or even company t-shirts. Create a post explaining the contest and tell people to “like” or comment to enter.
Another way to interact with your customers is to utilize the “check-in” function. Much like Foursquare, you can offer special deals to anyone who “checks-in” to your business for the first time. Use it to encourage loyalty by offering deals or freebies to anyone who “checks-in” a certain number of times.

Keep your customers updated with photos. If the only things you’re posting are blocks of text, your customers might start to skim past anything you do. Photos will make your timeline more visually interesting and if they’re good enough, you might just get customers browsing through your albums.

Whatever you choose to do with your Facebook page, be creative and make sure you’re making the right image for your company. Your customers won’t just “like” you, they’ll love you.

1)      Only Attend the Top Shows:  Though these shows offer a less intimate experience and can be more expensive than the smaller shows, they give you the opportunity to review more vendors and products in a shorter amount of time.  Even the specialized vendors understand the importance of the larger shows and will surely be there.

2)      Map Your Path: It is easy to spend hours wandering aimlessly at a show, so to maximize your time by reviewing the floor map in advance and map a route to the main vendors that interest you.  You will certainly stumble upon additional vendors along the way, but the focus of your route will ensure you get the information you came for.

3)      Take Brochures and Notes:  You won’t be able to remember everyone you meet or everything you see, so keep a pen and paper handy to take notes as you go.  One great idea is to use large sticky-notes that you can attach to the brochures you pick up along your way.  And don’t forget binder clips to group together the take-homes from each vendor.

4)      Network with the Worthy:  Though it may be easy to become distracted by the scantily-clad Promo Models and flashy displays, but remind yourself that neither of these distractions will help with real networking.  While the other attendees are preoccupied by the glitz, spend time talking to booth’s lead individual, who can often be picked out by his clothes and technical knowhow.

With these helpful tips, you won’t need to attend every show in the book, saving yourself untold time and money, while still gaining the knowledge and relationships to help your business grow.  Don’t waste another minute wandering around, wondering “why do I even go to these things”, when you could be establishing lifelong relationships for your company.

When designing a website, many amateurs make the mistake of believing a ‘pretty’ website is all you need.  Wrong!  When it comes to websites, content is king.  Without proper content, search engines like Google will not be able to find your site to share it with others.  Visitors to your site will leave, as people cannot become engaged with ‘pretty’.  But most importantly, lack of content makes your website generic, showcasing your business as no different from your competitor’s.

To create the optimal website content, you should concentrate on the following areas of to distinguish yourself:

1. Navigation Text:  Website users have come to expect certain categories of navigation on the sites they visit, but this does not mean you can’t be creative.  The “About” page’s title may better reflect your company’s personality when titled “History and Heritage” or “Making a Difference” or even “How We Do It”.
2. Copy Text: There should be at least one paragraph of detailed copy on every page of your website so search engines have something to read in their algorithm, to properly direct search traffic.  Even if your home page is created just to lead people to more applicable internal pages, make sure you include a paragraph about the company, detailing the categories of what your company offers.
3. Imagery:  Always use imagery to stand out from your competitors.  For example, every spa website seems generically the same, with the same Zen sand images, blue and tan colors, and close ups of a woman’s face looking serene.  To stand out from the crowd, ignore these trends and focus on other image-themes that are less utilized, like ‘regrowth/rejuvenation’, ‘cleanliness’, or ‘energy-enhancing.’
4. Audio/Video:  Technology has grown to make it easy to share audio and video clips online with your audience, which helps your business demonstrate its true specialties.  Remember: We humans communicate more by word and action than we ever have by the written word.  As such, a narrated video-tour of your pet boarding facility will speak more to your potential consumer than any text saying “we have a clean and happy dog center.”