Improving Visitor Experience on WordPress

Creating a valuable and exciting experience for your visitors is crucial when you are building your WordPress site. Naturally, there are unlimited ways that you can accomplish this. Many people focus on the content that is placed on the site. They create awesome blog entries and place captivating pictures and images on their page in order to bring in more visitors.

But, did you know that the speed of your site is something that can greatly improve your visitors’ overall experience? It’s true! In fact, if a site runs too slowly, you risk the chance that your visitors will give up and move on to something that runs faster.

So, if you are looking for ways to increase the speed of your WordPress hosting site, be sure to consider the following items.

Your Images

Images are a common item to add to any website. However, if they are not in the correct format, they are something that can quickly bring down the speed of your website. When you are saving pictures, make sure that you save them using the ‘save for the web’ option. This is an option that is available for those using an image editing software. Doing so helps to make the pictures pull up faster on the Internet so that your WordPress site will run faster.

In addition to this, it is also possible to use an online image optimizer to save the format of your pictures correctly. Also, consider the actual format that you save your pictures in. For example, JPEG is best for photographs, but GIF works better for logos and buttons. You can also use PNG for logos and buttons, but it actually offers a greater range of color options.

Another great way to speed up your site is to use height and width tags. When a visitor clicks on a website, this will allow the pictures to pull up much faster because the site will already know how big the pictures are. Without these tags, the website would be forced to discover the actual size of the picture as it is loading, which will take longer.

What about your CSS?

This refers to the actual layout of your HTML code. This could include anything from fonts to background images and positions. This is what is used to actually add layouts to your website. When you are setting up your WordPress site, one of the most important things is that it is pleasing to the eye. However, there are certain things that slow down the site drastically.

Make sure that you are taking a look at your CSS from time to time. You should take the time to clean it up by removing extra whitespace in the code and getting rid of properties that are not needed. You can also merge similar selectors in order to speed up your website. To speed up the load time related to your website, combine scripts and CSS files together.

Format your Links correctly

Links are also an important addition to any WordPress site and can greatly improve your readers’ experience. However, they can also slow down the hosting side of things. One trick to help speed up the load time of links is to add a slash to the end of the link. This will inform the server what type of page that it is loading. This will help to save time because the server won’t have to figure this information out for itself.

It is always best to keep an eye on what is going on in the background when you are building your WordPress site. These tips will allow you to do just that and will allow you to speed your site up quite a bit. By putting these in place, you will be able to greatly improve the experience that your visitors receive from visiting your site.

How Can A Web Designer Make More Money?

Juggling different bosses and constant deadlines can take its toll on any freelancer. Web design flows from a free, creative mind and stress can only take you down with it. As a web designer you want to identify passive sources of income and spend your free time developing these sources.

Themes

WordPress themes are in constant demand. Create a polished theme with a crisp design that would meet the requirements of more than one segment and put it up for sale on a website like ThemeForest. Offer customizing services to tweak it to meet a client’s requirements. You may also offer other services like branding and logo design with it.

Icons and Vectors

Designers constantly need reusable icons and vectors. If you’ve been working as a web designer for a few years, you may already have a set of icon and vector files that you reuse when you can. Turn them into icon and vector packs and sell them on websites like iStockphoto and GraphicRiver.

Software as a Service

As a freelancer when you have a client and they need additional services that you don’t offer, you refer them to your network. Create software that can be used as a platform. Your network of developers, copy writers, designers, etc., can use the platform and you can charge the freelancers or the clients a small fee to use it. Many clients love working with a closed community of freelancers instead of hiring complete strangers from larger job boards like Elance.

Reseller Web Hosting

Most non tech savvy customers do not realize that they need web hosting and a domain name along with the website they’ve just ordered. You can advise your clients to switch to your servers for better services. If you have a reseller web hosting account, you can offer a package to manage their websites for a monthly fee. With a little free promotion you can make a good income on the side by reselling web hosting.

Take a look at Othio Reseller Hosting packages.

Insider Secrets to Start and Manage a Successful Reseller Hosting Business

Webhosting is a highly competitive business. Operating a shared webhosting business is a more than just a full time job. One wrong decision can become an expensive problem in the long run. With this article, we bring insider secrets that will help you start and manage a successful reseller hosting business.

Make a business plan

Sometimes a concept in your mind is just that, a concept. Writing it down and then breaking it into short and long term goals will help you define a direction for your business. It doesn’t have to be an essay, make bullet points or use a template, but make a business plan. A business plan can also help you attract investors and secure a loan.

Incorporate your business

Register your business legally or get help from professionals like Bizfilings.com. Among other advantages like gaining credibility, protection and tax filing benefits, incorporating will protect your personal assets. It will also help you save your taxes by reducing your taxable income.

Create a Brand and Hire a Freelancer

A brand is important to stand out in the crowd. Create a brand name that is easy to remember, something like Hostgator and GoDaddy. Make sure the domain name for the brand is available or start over. Once you have a brand and domain name, hire a designer within your budget to create a logo and a professional website.

Select a Reseller Web Host

This is an important decision because changing services is not an option in the future. A change in provider will result in downtime for your clients and you want to avoid that possibility! Some businesses are into everything and do not focus on any one aspect. I recommend selecting a specialist reseller hosting provider like Othio Hosting. We only do what we do best.

Customer Support

You can’t be online 24X7. If you think you can handle tickets on your own, think again. The time you take to resolve an issue should be less than 4 hours. If you do not have a budget to hire a team of professionals, hire a company that work on a per ticket bases or outsource the department to a reliable company like outsourcehostingsupport.com.

SSL Certificate

You need an SSL certificate to accept payments but you can also use SSL certificates to offer additional security in other sections of your website.

Payment Gateway

You need a merchant account from a payment gateway service like PayPal.com or Authorize.net to accept payments. If you are not based in the United States you may want to check if a company supports your country before you sign up for an account. PayPal is a globally trusted brand and supports most countries.

Promoting your business

Promoting your business on a tight budget is possible. You need to invest time in a range of activities like participating in forums, creating content, etc. Click here to read more.

5 secrets to promote your reseller hosting for free

Promoting a web hosting reseller business without a marketing budget has always been an impossible task. Not anymore, use these secrets to grow your reseller business without investing a dime!
1. Forum Participation: Participate in online web hosting and related communities like webhostingtalk.com, wordpress.org/support, forums.cpanel.net, etc. and help other users or share your ideas to build goodwill in the community. Members tend to recommend friendly web hosting companies. If you invest time in creating your own community it will not only help you promote your business but reduce the load on your customer service department as well.
2. Customer Reviews: According to a survey, 72% customers trust online reviews. If you aren’t getting many, offer a discount coupon or other incentive to your existing users in exchange of reviews and testimonials. Read this article by BusinessInsider.com to market your business using customer reviews. It’s one of the most effective free marketing strategies!
3. Content Marketing: Write informative or self-help articles and blog posts that link back to your landing page. This will not only help generate interest in your service but help you with Search Engine Optimization too. Make sure the article is well researched and has information that you would like to share with your own peers and friends. You may post it on your own blog or website or distribute it for free with a creative commons license.
4. Search Engine Optimization: Search engine optimization takes time and effort but it is worth your while. It helps to target niche segments like low cost hosting for church websites or special hosting packages for Joomla. Learn more at about.com or download this PDF starter guide by Google.
5. Sponsor free accounts: Create a plan with minimal resources for small businesses, hot startups and growing blogs. In due time, some will upgrade to your paid packages. Find them on WordPress or websites like Kickstarter.com and offer free hosting in exchange for promotion of your website. You can also contact eBay or Amazon sellers and offer them an account in exchange of links in their product descriptions. With a free hosting package, you can charge for add-ons like domain and email hosting services.

Don’t forget the power of social media for free promotion. We will cover this topic in detail in the next post. Bookmark this blog now!

Happy New Year!

On behalf of everyone here at Othio, we’d like to wish you a very happy and prosperous 2014!

We’d like to thank our customers for your continued support and feedback, and for choosing to host your websites with us.

We’re really privileged to have so many talented and successful customers who we’re proud to host.

We have plenty of great new features and updates planned for the coming year so stay tuned!

We’ve Upgraded All of Our Reseller Hosting Plans!

As our gift to all of our customers, we have upgraded all of our FlexiReseller plans. We’ve doubled the all-SSD disk space and maintained our low prices.

Our reseller hosting still starts at only $5 per month, but now you get 10GB of SSD space, 100GB of bandwidth, and up to 10 cPanel accounts. We have already upgraded all current customers accounts.

All of our upgraded plans can be viewed on our FlexiReseller page:
http://othio.com/flexireseller

The new TLDs – A Step By Step Guide on How To Narrow Down Choices And How To Manage A Short List

There are currently a thousand new domain or TLD’s (technically gTDLs, the g is for generic) and one of the challenge that every user faces is which one needs to be prioritized and also the names they want to register in the group. Below is a complete guide on how to narrow down and manage the short list of choices so they can eventually work out what they really want.

1. Begin with the existing assets

Prepare a spreadsheet and start the list by listing down the most important domain, industry and projects. Complete the task by comparing the list with the new TLD’s so you will be aware where you can begin setting up new extensions. If you learn to organize, you end up registering what needs to be prioritized.

2. Projects for the future

Most TLD’s lend their service to mini-sites and fun projects so it is imperative that you check what matches the new TLD projects are and see if it suits your business.

3. Make use of ideal names

If there is a particular name you needed attached to your domain, try and see how it will fit your new extension name.

4. Brand or name protection

Even if you don’t manage your business, ensure that you have a favored domain name to secure. List down the extension name you can include in your line of business and list them down on your spreadsheet.

How To Organize Domain Names

Rating

Once you have listed all the available names for your new TLD’s, include a separate column on your spreadsheet for ratings. Score each name on a scale of 1 to 10. Make a re-order list from highest to lowest rate.

Categories

Add a category column on the spreadsheet and group each extension on every applicable situation. One good example can be on this category format.

• Purpose of the business (social and personal brand)
• Length and name of extension
• Owner (company name, you or your client’s name)
• Type of site (blog, app or portfolio)
• Topic (SEO, web design and coding)
• Importance and priorities

Notes

Lastly, add a column about notes and include the following descriptions.

• Reasons for picking the rating.
• Questions to ask other users or choice of a revisit later option.
• Links between domain names.

Is Your Website Alienating 1.2 Billion Users Every Day?

D.H. Lawrence’s immortal novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover begins “Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.” Today, ours is essentially and increasingly a digital age, and while we certainly don’t have to take it tragically, we do have to take it. Many people can and have turned to the new digital sector as a source of employment, and that trend is likely to continue with the rise of such massive names as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter over the past few years, not to mention the app and technology boom in the smartphone department.

All of this impacts the mobile website industry immensely—but is it for the better, and do users care for this mobile interface?

In many respects, the answer would seem to be a resounding “yes.” Mobile websites do allow uses to surf the Web and keep up with friends and job contacts on the go as well as at home. Digital “clouds”—sites wherein information is stored and accessible by users from multiple devices, including iPhones, tablets, laptops, etc. This added connectivity and ease of access to one’s own work is definitely one element of such websites which is decidedly positive. Anyone who’s torn their bedroom or office apart looking for a small USB drive or—for those who are old enough to remember such a bygone era—CDs and floppy disks will certainly appreciate the ability to save their work to a Microsoft or Apple-supported cloud and be able to access this information at will. Ease of access is one of the most important elements in designing both websites and apps today, and in this respect, mobile websites for devices such as the iPad really does show up as a plus.

Perhaps most telling is a statistic, cited by mobify.com, a whopping 1.2 billion people across the planet access the Internet daily via their mobile phones. 1.2 billion people account for roughly the combined populations of Europe and the United States, and marks 1 out of every 7 people on the planet. Already 58% of Americans own a smartphone, and with the rise in all facets of the industry—from mobile service to app design to Internet connectivity and beyond—that’s a number which will likely only go up, especially in the foreseeable future.

But are these users browsing mobile-optimized websites, or are they just using a mobile device to browse websites designed for the desktop? Google’s research suggests that 75% of users prefer a mobile-friendly site and about half of users are frustrated when they encounter a website that doesn’t work well on their mobile device. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you need to design two versions of your site. With techniques in responsive design and cross-browser HTML5 features, it’s possible to design a website that works well and doesn’t feel restrictive on a desktop while being lightweight enough to be accessible from a mobile device.

Lawrence’s timeless novel was written after the fallout of the First World War, an event which, for better or worse, heralded a new era in our history as a species. Now, with the rise of the digital market and an increasingly-globalized world, a new period of change has come along, and from the look of things, it’s a brave new technological world indeed.

5 Ways To Use The Internet To Help Your Business

There are many ways that the Internet can help business flourish today. Whenever people want to find or do something that they cannot seem to get around them, they look towards the Internet for answers. It is extremely important that your business can adapt with the consumer market.

1. Effective Advertising

One of the first ways to get into using the Internet to increase business is to create a webpage that shows what your business is about. It is important to keep in mind the different interactive details that the user will encounter on your site. If the site is too flashy or too plain, this could deter possible consumers. The webpage must represent the business in a professional way that accurately describes what the business offers. This is a useful tool because the potential customers that will visit the website can see exactly what you are advertising without even having to leave their houses.

Many social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook can also be used to spread the popularity of your company depending on your clientele. This can greatly increase the popularity of your business without much effort at all.

2. Hiring Employees That Are Capable

For many great businesses, there aren’t enough reliable employment opportunities in many situations. A great way to fix this is to create employment opportunities through the Internet. There is quite a large number of Internet agencies that can help you find qualified professionals in a timely manner. Also, if your company already offers a personal customized website, then you can place information about acquiring a position in your company. Even interviews can be done through Internet based services such as Skype. One of the effective ways the Internet can help you get employees is by giving you the option to have background checks done on potential staff in seconds. With this, you can stay smart and safe by only hiring the must-trusted employees. Many businesses have already moved toward this way of creating their staff because it is the most effective way possible.

3. Increasing Sales On Many Levels

Opening your business to the online market can sometimes be a tricky pain because of all the different set-ups that are necessary for monetary transactions through your website. Small-businesses are using this disadvantage as a strategy is some cases. One of the few ways that they can do this is by allowing their customers a way to see exactly what they want before they buy or make an order. Having this option available can change the way the customer interacts with the small business. Also, being able to charge people using websites such as Paypal can greatly increase the people that purchase your services from you or your business. Using the Internet efficiently can massively change the market for many types of businesses that aren’t already using the Internet.

4. Easier Communication

Due to much not so recent advancement in the capability of the Internet, business communication can flourish like never before. There are many ways that the Internet has greatly affected the way that people can communicate about business. A previously mentioned computer application, Skype, is quickly starting to become one of the most popular business communication methods available. The different ways such as this are so crucial to your business if you operate on an international or even cross-country level.

The other best friend to your communication is the old-fashioned and reliable email. Though sending emails may seem a little outdated, it still serves as one of the most precedent ways that people are communicating over business today. Without these certain key aspects, it can be sometimes very difficult to keep communicate privately with someone and not having to always meet in person.

5. Data, Data, and More Data

There is a large number of information that is collected and stored on the Internet and your business can use this as well. This is exceptionally vital because you can use this to completely revolutionize the way that you run your business. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else might have already done the research for you?

You can improve the way that you run your business in many simple ways by making the Internet work for your business in a positive and effective way. As the space available online will continue to grow, so will the effect it will have on the way that you can increase your business endeavors in a very simple and practical way.