Archive for web-hosting
More HTML Formatting Help
Posted by: | CommentsWe have already covered some basic HTML tags you will use when writing your web page code. Here are a few more that you might find come in handy, when designing your own web page.
Image Tags
In HTML, when you want to call upon an image to be displayed on your web page, you need to use the img tag. This tag tells the browser and web server that you are going to put an image here, and then what follows src= is the direct path to the image in question.
Code: <img src=”http://www.yourdomain.com/yourimage.jpg” />
Horizontal Rule Tags
The horizontal rule is for making a nice separator between sections of your web page. It acts as a single solid line that can be placed anywhere on your web page. It looks like this:
Code: <hr />
List Tags
If you want to format a list of topics on a single page, then the list tags will come in handy. You would start a list with the <ul> tag and end it with the </ul> tag. For each item on the list, you will want to wrap it in the <li> and </li> tags.
Code: <ul> <li>item #1</li> <li>item #2</li> </ul>
Ordered List Tags
If you want to format a list of topics on a single page, and have them numbered, the ordered list tags should be used. You would start a list with the <ol> tag and end it with the </ol> tag. For each item on the list, you will want to wrap it in the <li> and </li> tags.
Code: <ol> <li>item #1</li> <li>item #2</li> </ol>
Link Tags
Links are used to help users go from one page to the next page. The basic link is started with the <a href=”"> tag with the page’s path you want to link to inside the quotation marks. Then you type in the text of the link, and close it out with the </a> tag.
Code: <a href=”http://www.somedomain.com/pageiamlinkingto.html”>This Text is a Link</a>
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Basic HTML Formatting Help
Posted by: | CommentsWhen it comes to formatting a web page using HTML code, you can think of it (kind of) in the same way you would look at formatting a document formatted by a word processor. You have your headlines to show you where one section starts and stops. You have your paragraphs to break up blocks of text, and you have line breaks to show where there should be a new line started. Now I am going to show you how to get some of these things done using HTML.
Headline Tags
The main purpose of the headline tags are make the titles stand out on the page, and also tell the browser and visitors where the titles are. You can use <h1></h1> for the main title, then (if needed) <h2></h2> for a secondary title. The bigger the number gets, the smaller or less important the title becomes. Remember to use the headline tags for headings only. It is not a good idea to use them to make text bigger or bolder. Also, search engines look at how your headline tags are used to help index the structure of the content on your web pages.
Code: <h1>This Is My Title</h1>
Paragraph Tags
The paragraph tags are important because they show the start (
) and then end
of where a paragraph should be on your web page. Having a long page with nothing but unformatted text is going to be very hard for the reader to navigate through. You want to break up the web page with the paragraph tags to make the web page your working on more scan-able for the end user.
Code: <p>This will be shown as it’s own paragraph on my web page.</p>
Line Break Tags
What if you don’t want to go to a new paragraph, and instead only want to break of one line and move to the line right under it? That is what the
or
tags are for. You might see either used, however it might be best to start using
to future-proof your web page for browsers in the future (just in case support for
was ever dropped.
Code: I can put this at the end of a line to show where I want it to stop. <br />
Blockquote Tags
When text has been blockquoted, it is often indented a little – in comparison with the other paragraphs around it. So you get white space to the left, and the margins around the text are enlarged a little ‘bit to seperate it from the rest of the text.
Code: <blockquote>This text will be shown as indented on my web page.</blockquote>
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WHS Facebook Fan Page!
Posted by: | Comments
It has been over a year since we launched the Facebook fan page and it has been a real success. At the current date and time, we have over 500 fans and we keep growing every single day. Are you missing out on the fun? All you need to do is head over to our Facebook Fan Page and click on the “Like” button on the top of the website. Then post your Firefox comments, questions or just say hi to some of the other people who are following the Web Hosting Show on Facebook.
© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
Modify the HTML Body Tag
Posted by: | CommentsThere are several HTML tags that can act as modifiers to how the web page looks visually.
First, let us re-visit the body tags. The body tags are there to tell the browser what part of the document is going to be visible to the end user when viewing the web page. This is marked up in your HTML code by putting a <body> where your web page’s content begins and a </body> tags where it ends.
How to Modify the Body Tag
So, any time you modify the body tags, you will be changing the way the web site is seen. There are several body tag modifiers you can use.
Change the Web Page’s Background Color
You can add bgcolor=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the background color for a web page.
- Code: <body bgcolor=”white”> (this would make the background all white)
Change the Web Page’s Text Color
You can add text=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the background color for a web page.
- Code: <body text=”black”> (this would make the text all black)
Change the Web Page’s Link Color
You can add link=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the color of links on a web page.
- Code: <body link=”blue”> (this would make the links all blue)
Change the Web Page’s Visited Link Color
You can add vlink=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the color of link that have already been visited on a web page.
- Code: <body vlink=”red”> (this would make the visited links red)
Change the Web Page’s Active Link Color
You can add alink=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the color of an active link.
- Code: <body alink=”purple”> (this would make the active link purple)
More Helpful Body Tag Tips
You can use more than one of these at a time. If you wanted to, you could use more than one of these body modifiers at a time. you would just need to remember to put a space in between each body modifier. For example:
<body bgcolor="black" color="white">
This is how you would link more than one together, this would tell the browser to make the background of the web page black and the text on the web page white. There is no limit to the number of these modifiers you can use on the body tag, as long as everything is formatted correctly, the web page should come out the way you want it to.
Only add these modifiers to the opening body tag. It is important to note that you only add these modifiers to the opening tag <body> and not the closing tag </body>.
Where can I find the HTML color or HEX values? You can find these many places. One of the best examples, is on w3school.com’s HTML colors page here:
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
How to Create the Best Website Navigation
Posted by: | CommentsThe navigation section of your web site is one of the most important factors to a web site.
Why? The navigation is what allows you to move from one section of the web site to the next, linking web pages to web pages, and in all making a web site work. Here I hope to explain why web site navigation is important, along with a few other key factors you should remember when creating your web site.
Organize Your Web Pages
You should have a good idea of what your web site is going to be about, and how you are going to create it before you start with any HTML coding. One tool that comes in extremely handy when deciding navigation and how each page links to each idea is mind mapping. You can learn more about that process here:
As an example let us say you are working on a web site about you, so you have these basic web pages designed and ready to go:
- The Home Page (the first thing people see)
- An About Page (which gives more information about you, like your resume)
- Your Contact Page (might have your e-mail address, or various means of contacting you)
- Projects and Work (examples of the work you have done, or the projects you have worked on)
Now somewhere, you will need to have your web site navigation on each of the pages. This can be done in a number of different ways, but the most popular seems to be across the top. This way people can go to and from different parts of the web site, just by clicking the links you see on the top. I would suggest having them formatted this way:
Home | About Me | Contact Me | My Projects
Each one should link to the related pages above. A clean-cut and uniform navigation system is really a must.
Web Site Navigation Tips
Here are some more tips you should watch out for when it comes to web site navigation:
- Create a site map to help people find exactly what they are looking for quickly.
- There is no problem with highlighting certain pages you think deserve more attention, just make sure they don’t take away from your main web site navigation.
- Be sure to use short and precise words in your links, so people will know exactly what they are getting.
This is no doubt that navigation plays a huge roll in how successful your web site is and how long they stick around it. If people can not navigate from web page to web page easily, they might grow frustrated and leave the web site all together. So, having a good navigation system means you can keep more visitors both on and returning to your hosted web site.
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
Top 10 Ways to Market Your Web Hosting Business
Posted by: | CommentsCongratulations! You are the proud owner of a web hosting business. You’ve got a great website, you’ve got great products and the only thing you’re missing is customers. There are so many businesses competing for consumer eyeballs these days that it can feel pretty overwhelming. But fear not! With a few simple techniques, and a little persistence, you can get your web hosting business the traffic it deserves.
1. Social Networks
You are probably familiar with social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. What you may not realize is that these social networks can be powerful marketing tools, when they’re used wisely. Start by setting up an account for your business on each of the major social networks. Before you start adding friends or soliciting followers, make sure you populate your profile with information about your company, images, and links to your website. As a general rule, don’t start posting promotions right away. Establish yourself as an interesting person to follow. Post links to relevant industry news articles and build a following in the tech community. This takes time but, once you’ve got loyal followers, you’d be surprised how many of them turn into customers.
2. Search Engine Optimization
SEO is a term that is bandied about all over the place these days, and for good reason. The higher up your site appears in searches, the more customers you’ll get. It’s a one-to-one ratio. If you’re not familiar with SEO, head over to one of the many SEO forums and start reading up. It’s not complicated, but improving your SEO is a skill. A good way to start is by using a tool like Google Analytics to see what
search terms people are using to find your site. Once you know what people are looking for you can start seeding your site with those terms to boost your relevance in searches. You can also boost your SEO by earning backlinks from other websites in your industry.
3. Backlinks
A backlink is just what it sounds like: a link back to your site from another site. Backlinks are heavily indexed by Google and a few high-profile backlinks can send you right up the search result list, fast. The more popular the site is that links back to you, the better. Consider soliciting backlinks by offering products or services, or by reviewing other providers. Backlinks grow naturally as you grow your business, so the real grunt work comes at the beginning. Don’t despair if you don’t see immediate results. Chances are, when you do start seeing results, they will snowball quickly.
4. Press Releases
Press releases will get you immediate attention, and they can be great for marketing specific products or promotions. There are many websites where you can post press releases for free, and some where you can pay for your release to be indexed faster and more comprehensively. If your release is particularly newsworthy, you can submit it to local papers and radio and television stations.
5. Email Newsletters
Email newsletters get your message out to the people who care to hear it: your opted-in subscribers. There are many email newsletter platforms you can use to manage your contacts and automate your messages. Most of these cost under $30/month and include widgets for your website. Start sending out a monthly newsletter about happenings in your company along with special promotions just for newsletter readers.
6. Ad Buys
Ad buys are a classic, tried-and-true advertising tactic that work best in conjunction with other forms of online advertising for grabbing consumer attention and driving sales. Ad buys work best on forums or magazine websites, where readers are spending a lot of time. Ad buys can be expensive, so, in order to maximize your ROI, you should wait until you have a special promotion or a new product line before purchasing them.
7. Classifieds
Classifieds are free, there are a ton of them out there, and they are thoroughly searched by consumers on a daily basis. You probably won’t be able to post a straight-up ad without getting flagged, but free giveaways, free trials and contests are all fair game for most classified sites. Work classified posting into your weekly schedule and the benefits will accumulate over time.
8. Articles
Well written, well researched articles may not be easy to write, but the results can be exponential. If you write something people want to read (and include a link back to your website) people will follow it just to learn more about you, the esteemed author. There are tons of free article-submission websites where you can build a following fast. A single article can continue to drive traffic for months, and it gets you noticed, both good things for your business. Writing one really good article that impresses readers is infinitely more powerful than twenty mediocre articles nobody wants to read. Take your time. Think it out. It’ll pay off.
9. Forum Participation
Forums are communities and, as such, participating in the discussion and making friends is just like networking in person. Build trust with the people you meet. Contribute interesting or helpful information. Establish yourself as an expert in your field and be sure to include a link to your website in your signature. Many no-follow forums may not get indexed directly, but if you do your job, they will get followed.
10. Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are a critical part of any established business. Reviews allow current customers to express themselves and share their experiences and they allow new customers to learn about your business. As a business, you can learn a lot from the experiences of your customers. If you strive to deliver top-notch customer service, you will see it reflected in your reviews. You may want to consider partnering with a third-party review service. This lends authenticity to your reviews, so your customers know they are real and unbiased.
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