Web Design Experts Blog

Internet Security - When a hacker/phisher calls

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 07:35:00 GMT

Phisherman's name: "Harry" with a broad non-anglo accent
Purported Company: "Microsoft"

Had an interesting chat today with a family member. He got a phone call from "Harry" telling him that they have been monitoring the internet and have detected a potential security risk regarding their computer and would he like to purchase specialised firewall software for $300 for two years.

20 odd years in the IT and Internet industry set my spider-senses a tingling however for your regular home user this all sounds kind of legit; but is it?

When our "Harry" was told that $300 was way out of the family IT security budget he suggested one year cover for $151. As soon as Harry heard that this was also out of the budget - the line went dead. Fortunately that household was not a viable target.

So, that's the story; here's the moral.

Harry is almost certainly a crook; and this is his game:

Phone people (possibly from a stolen list)
Get them afraid of the unknown - that big bad internet
Offer them a solution to an immediate threat
Get money

That could have been the extent of Harry's perfidy but maybe not. If he succeeded with the above he could also:

Steal your credit card details
Find out more about you - name, address, date-of-birth, email address, who you bank with, who your internet service provider is and more
Supply you with the "software" you ordered. This could be a virus or worse, spyware. Spyware does things like scan your hard disk for information and send it out, set up a keylogger program which monitors which keys are pressed so that even secure passwords are recorded in clear text

How do you avoid being "Harry's" next victim?

Unless you can verify who you are speaking to, then don't tell them anything! If you are concerned then ask for their name, company and a phone number you can call them back on (most crooks will bail out at this point). Some will try this on too and will wait for you to call back, don't. Instead call the switchboard of the company that they gave you and see if the number belongs to them and that the person actually works for them. If that checks out then you are reasonably safe.

It's onerous, but worth saving the contents of your bank account. Or you can do what we do (both at the office and home). Say; "Thank you for calling, we have a family/company policy not to accept unsolicited phone calls. This policy is absolute, thank you for your time, I will go now". It's then up to you whether you wait for a reply or just hang up. It's polite, it respects poor soul with the hard job of cold calling and it is definite.

Just remember, information is power and not all internet-age thieves use computers to hack into your life.

Watch this space for an upcoming article on internet security.

The Complete Guide to using iOS 4 for the iPhone

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:48:00 GMT

iOS 4 for the iPhone

I'm a bit geeky but not geeky enough to want to spend precious minutes finding out how to do something. Apple made me think (not good for a "Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug" disciple). Indeed when my iTunes on my iMac asked me if I wanted to download the latest iUpdate for my iPhone I have to admit I wasn't particularly iFussed either way; so I said yes...

Hmmm, went in for a quick look at what the fuss was about this iOS 4. The picture thing was nice and a nifty new swishy swirly animation. The thing that most interested me was multitasking, so I booted up an application at random - so far not much thought. I hit the home button; app seemed to close - brain still idling. Expended a few seconds of processing power and intuited the double-click on the home button. Waddaya know! Some apps in a secondary task bar. Thought, very cool!

Got about 3 apps running and decided that I wanted to shut some of them down to keep processor and memory free (hold-over from the PC days). Hmmm, no quit, stop, end buttons; what to do?

Answer: Research.

Looked in the Apple website and got lots of superlatives about how the world was changing... again. Great action shots of the latest iThings. No manual, no instructions. I tried doing a site search on iOS 4 and got an error (maybe everyone was doing the same thing).

Neural Oscillations rapidly rising. Why can't I do this simple function, surely I need to be able to stop processes. So in frustration I hit Google with a specific search "iOS4" and proceeded to follow the first link on the page.

Now, with thanks to "a" from Gizmodo who posted "The Complete Guide to Using iOS 4".

I know that I don't need to stop apps but that I can if I want to. She or He also provided a number of tips that I will read at my leisure so that I don't have to get a PhD in iOlogy. And, yes, it is still intuitive - my problem was past experience making a problem where there was none. I still remember MacOS and Windows v1.

So there. Read the article at http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/06/the-complete-guide-to-using-ios-4/ and save some valuable time.

If you discover any additional resources please post them in the comments section.

Have fun.

Designing a Facebook Fan Page

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:43:00 GMT

Have you seen some of those great custom Facebook™ Pages that show exactly what you want new followers or prospective customers to see as soon as they look you up.

Do they work or are they just a new way to spend money?

I have implemented a few corporate Facebook Pages now and the answer is; it depends. Yeah I know, that dreaded non-answer. Well, that's just how it is and any Web Design or Web Marketing expert worth the title will immediately follow that up with a bunch of questions such as:

Who are you marketing to?
Are you after new customers or customer communication?
Do your followers potentially have stuff to share with you and each other?
Are the people in their friend lists likely to become customers?

Snapshot from Facebook as at 28-5-10

If you want more detail on the nitty gritty of campaign development see my post on The long answer to "Is Facebook Twitter and other social marketing strategies good business sense".

Case Study ATS Facebook Page Design and Implement

When Australian Training Solutions www.oztrains.com answered those questions (and more) it became clear that this was a valid marketing platform. ATS run hospitality courses and their key demographic includes school leavers, young international visitors on a working visa (backpackers) and I daresay, out of work actors. You can see their Facebook page here.

The brief was to create a Facebook™ Page landing page that showcases current courses and specials with deep linking into the main website. Past and current students are encouraged to engage in dialogue with the trainers and administrators and new information is posted where appropriate.

The page does account for hits to the website and vice-versa (details are confidential) and the number of followers is on a steady increase.

Staff can now interact with past, present and future students providing them with additional value in areas such as who's hiring, changes in qualification requirements and even providing them with the beginnings of a professional network.

Speaking of Spending Money...

Setting up is the easy part. Most Facebook page setups are fairly straight-forward. The real skill is in making sure that you are establishing a real community.

Off-hand, the cost of a basic Facebook page setup, contributor access setup and training will probably be around $500 - $700. A fancy custom page design without much FBML (Facebook's own language) adds around $700 - $800.

And, you're away!

Want to find out More about Facebook Pages?

Call Web Design Experts on 1300 884 553 or leave your details on their Facebook and Twitter Social Networking page for a fast call back.

The long answer to Is Facebook Twitter and other social marketing strategies good business sense

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:27:00 GMT

Social Media marketing using Facebook, Twitter, advertising and Landing Pages

The long answer is as unique as your business, however some of the more general points are:

You get a mechanism to communicate with your customers and prospects as often as you want
Your customers and prospects get to respond and comment too
Whether they are happy or not, it's all good because it gives you the opportunity to address issues that you would never have known existed
The only time you should censor a comment is if it is malicious, inappropriate or derogatory
Referral business is often the most profitable in terms of customer acquisition. Social media makes it easy for customers to share their experiences
The whole social media landscape is about interacting with the community and building loyalty through honest and straight-forward dialogue.

Posts must be engaging such as:

Hey! Here's how one of our customers benefited by using product X in a new way
There's an important update for product Y on our website
Last Friday our company lunchtime pool comp was held - here are some photos
Sign up for this Event on that Day

You get the drift...

You Spoke - We Listened

These days it's not enough to have a professional end engaging website. Businesses need to consider their online presence as a sales, marketing and support function that should be contributing to the overall success of the business.

If you are not engaging with your customers and prospects online then you may be missing out. I have realised that in order to help fire up this latent business development engine you need a plan. That's where we can help.

Our Social Media Services value proposition

We do the research to determine what the current best practices are and to identify the danger spots. Our consultants are constantly updating the corporate knowledge base to help you decide what you want out of this (usually business related) and how far you are willing to go to get it (from a resources perspective).

We work with you to define the most appropriate course of action and the areas we look at are:

The potential for your business to benefit
Which marketing and communication methods are appropriate for your goals and budget
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Adwords campaigns
- Email Marketing
- Blogging
- Print advertising
- Mini-sites (also known as landing pages, lead capture pages or more colloquially - squeeze pages
- On-page chat facilities (new)
How much is the business willing (or able) to take on
How will the statistics be reported and how often

How much does a Social Media Campaign cost?

Before I delve into facts and figures I need you to think about what you currently spend on printing, newspaper ads, radio/TV ads, yellow pages, magazines and any other advertising media that you currently utilise. Now, while I am not advocating the abandonment of these forms of advertising media I will ask you to look at the amount of business that you can attribute to these more traditional campaigns.

Many people actually don't really know what works and why, whereas on the internet almost everything can be measured.

Statistics drive better marketing decisions

That's why we won't suggest anything that can't be measured - the incredible diversity of businesses and organisations means that there is no "Package Deal". We suggest, implement, test and measure every campaign we are involved in.

The great news is that we can begin this process with a suite of services whose results we can measure and review.

We can get you onto Facebook and Twitter (and optionally any other appropriate social media network), show you how to keep it up to date or manage the updates for you. This service generally starts at about $550. From there we are able to look at other strategies designed to elicit a specific response such as complete a form, call a phone number or sign up for something. This is where the resources requirement (and cost) can vary immensely.

What if I don't have the budget for an ongoing campaign of new business acquisition?

You can still have your business represented on social media networks and simply see how it goes. I know a guy who set up a basic Facebook page and now has over 15,000 followers in less than one year!

As a minimum you should at least have a presence

It won't break the bank and you never know, you might end up with a huge following too. I just read a great article on the Smartcompany Blog about a small independent video store (yes - one store) and how they boosted business via Facebook and zombies (read it now).

Are you interested?

This link will take you to our own landing page for our Social Media Services where you can register your interest in an obligation free chat about getting social and building business. Or call us on 1300 884 553

I have a great website - where are the visitors?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:49:00 GMT

The site is up and running. All of the vital information has been uploaded.

Where are my visitors?

Good Web Design and clever user experience setup are critical to guiding visitors through your website and presenting them with a credible and compelling call to action. The next question is; "How do I get them there?"

The answer, as with so many business questions is; "it depends".

So to that end, being a highly visual thinker I have mind-mapped the situation from a generic point of view. Have a look, download the pdf version and use it as a starting point.

Cross out the areas that are not doable - for example; TV advertising can be a little out of many small businesses reach so go ahead and cross that right off the list. If you don't know whether a particular method is right for you then ask an expert. Far better to pay for an hour's consulting than spend days trying to do the research yourself.

Once you have your own list together then it's time to look at ROI. Well the returns side anyway. Before you go off getting prices have a good think about the potential return of each method in terms of tangible as well as intangible benefits.

I say potential return for a reason. Namely, you will never really know what the ROI will be until you do it. This is where your innate understanding of your business and its goals will be crucial. Now you will probably need to enlist the services of someone who spends a significant amount of time keeping up to date with the latest trends and techniques and what is working for whom.

Get them to outline a plan and ask as many questions as you need to understand at a non-technical level just how this all works and, of course how much it might cost. Forget the old thinking that the internet space is free or low-cost advertising - concentrate on your returns and manage the process as you would a traditional media campaign (which may even be part of your plan as well).

In closing, it is important to note that the measurability of campaigns means that you can (instantly in some cases) see whether your campaign is performing adequately or not. On the web, almost everything can be measured. Get reports or ask your provider to include on-going analysis as part of the service. Find out what works and do that - lots.

Kindle me Happy. Or, bookworms join the 21st century

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:17:00 GMT

As a long term bookworm, or "avid reader" as I am currently known, I have collected a reasonable number of books which we keep in approximately 26 lineal meters of glass-doored bookshelf. So what does the future hold; or more accurately what will we hold in the future?

The nostalgia of the written and bound book notwithstanding the new (to Australia) Amazon Kindle (pictured) can hold up to 1500 books in its memory with access to a library of over 200,000 books and periodicals. Early adopters get your credit cards. The unit uses the 3G mobile data network to browse and purchase from Amazon's online store and books are delivered immediately. Now if we could only get the authors to keep up (kidding... pulp fiction is not a good staple diet, you take your time authors and give us quality).

Enter competitors; stage left.

Sony has a reader using the same technology but no direct delivery and Apple as usual are tight-lipped about, well, everything.

Just thought you'd like to know really...

Can Twitter be tweaked?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:33:00 GMT

You've taken the plunge and opened an account on Twitter. You've seen the standard themes and none of them quite match up to your expectations of how you want to present yourself or your brand. Six Revisions have published a showcase of interesting Twitter page designs. <-Click to go there.

Have a look and see if something fires your imagination.

Social Media is Changing Business

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:31:00 GMT

Just read a great article on Mashable 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business - Really should have tweeted this but I know many businesspeople that I deal with aren't quite into the whole Social Media thing.

Have a look at what people like Adobe, Dell, Timberland and Southwest Air are doing with Twitter.

Cheers,
Sean

GPS system for iPhone

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:36:00 GMT

The iPhone is probably the biggest misnomer for what is undoubtedly a lot more than a mere mobile phone. I'd even go so far as to say that the "phone" bit is the least of this device's functionality.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered that as well as being a phone, instant messenger, time manager, customer database, camera etc. etc. it is also a GPS Navigation System. And not the dinky little app-trying-to-be-grownup type system, I mean a full Navigation System with turn by turn voice instructions, points of interest, lane indicators, speed, the whole shebang.

When I decided I was going to take the plunge 2 main apps caught my eye. The Tom Tom and Sygic apps. So, which did I choose and why?

The Tom Tom has the mind-share as a GPS device so that sounded like a plus but when I dug into the comments on the Apple iPhone App Store there seemed to be a lot of less satisfied customers, the price was also an issue at $99.99 (possibly only because $100.00 wouldn't fit in the "Buy App" button). It didn't have Text to speech where the voice reads out street names nor did it have automatic night mode or a lane selector (very handy on those multi-flyovers).

The Sygic app on the other hand was $59.99 (it's since gone up to $79.99). It comes with maps for Australia and New Zealand (I really should plot a route from my place to Auckland - just to see what happens).

So I got the Sygic app based on recommendations and features that I thought would be useful to me. Once I loaded it up I gave it a run and it performed exactly as the documentation and some of the recommendations said it would. It takes about 100 meters to orient itself but after that away it goes.

I put the phone in a cradle in the car and hooked it up with my Motorola bluetooth car kit which is in turn connected to the car stereo via FM. One thing I found annoying was that although answering a call paused the system and the music if it was in the "landscape" position when the app came back it was in the "portrait" position. Also, in order to make a call I needed to exit the GPS and then restart it and navigate through the annoying disclaimer about playing with the app whilst driving. The TTS (text to speech) I chose was a polite Brittish gentleman who pronounced most of the streets quite accurately. The voices cover many languages and both genders - I just figured I take enough instructions from a woman (genius though she is). The American accents sound like the old Macintosh voices so, no great loss there.

So, in conclusion. I spent a fraction of the price of a "real" GPS system and got; well, a real GPS system.

Please leave a comment to describe your experiences with the growing ubiquity of the iPhone.

Do it yourself website builder option

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:00:00 GMT

Announcing The EXPERT - Build your own Website

Free Trial (30 days)

Sign up for a free trial and have 30 days of full EXPERT functionality.

The main features of this fantastic platform include:

Instantly transfer your existing site (some dynamic cms sites need to be updated after import)
Choose from a number of starter templates that can be modified to suit your own style
Set up forums, blogs and faqs to integrate straight into your site
Full ecommerce functionality is included and ready to be set up
Create secure areas within your site
Manage customer interactions with the included customer relationship system
Communicate with your whole customer base using rich html email templates - or create your own
Easily edit any part of your website
And a whole lot more

The Online Business Expert provides you with the Online Business Wiki to help you get started and provide you with full user documentation on all aspects of the system. It also provides an exhaustive list of video tutorials to get you on your way to converting your website to an online business.

So have a go - once you sign up we'll send you weekly tips and tricks during your trial period as well as your very own website statistics email so you can see at a glance what is happening on your site.

Making Social Media Work for Business - without being a blatant advertisement

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:17:00 GMT

So, What is Social Media

And how can it help me?

Social Media is information that is disseminated via online social interaction. It's about sharing information, it is enormous and growing fast. A case study can explain this far better; I have a friend Matt, who is passionate about travel, he's a travel agent by profession and he is quickly understanding the value of social media and how the right combination of information and promotion brings him in touch with over 6000 people that he might never have reached using traditional online and offline media. So how does that translate into money in the bank?

It doesn't, well not directly. The Facebook page, I SO need a holiday does more than create referrals, it builds social capital which is (in this case) the creation and building of presence and credibility throughout people on Facebook who oddly, like holidays. Because of the quirky title, the sheer number of people who identify with the sentiment and the appropriateness of the content all combined to lead people to join up and then refer the page to their contacts and so-on.

So just how did Matt get from 0 to 6,630 fans in less than 5 months?

The answer is consistency. He began with sharing some of his own holiday pics and sent a message to all of his personal facebook buddies asking them to join up. They did, then those facebookers were given the opportunity to invite their friends and so on. It's not all organic growth though. Matt also did a little paid advertising on facebook with a very low budget and added a few links from his website.

While it sounds simple the key that made it all possible was that he kept it relevant. There are a few sponsored posts (which were appropriate to the subject area) but he knew what people looking for a holiday wanted to see. No price lists, no gratuitous links to his website. All posts speak to the main message of the page rather than a business or advertising purpose.

Obviously Facebook isn't the only social media vehicle out there. Actually, the possibilities are almost limitless. Blogs, forums, chats, photo audio and video sharing, anything that allows you to leave a comment, games, social bookmarking and many more. Wikipedia has a good list if you are interested. This is not about converting leads to sales, it's about establishing a community from which customers can develop.

The process of setting up a single social media page is fairly straight forward all you have to do is forget that you are trying to sell something and concentrate on the aspects likely to entertain, inform, intrigue or otherwise engage people in your target demographic. If you really want to integrate it into your internet marketing strategy then you need to develop a plan, initiate the processes (fan pages, video streams, podcasts or twitterings (to name a few)), keep it relevant and commit to regular updates and active monitoring to measure exactly what works.

The first part of the statement above is easy and not particularly time consuming. The second part where it becomes a strategic business tool can be incredibly complex and time consuming.

If you think that this type of strategy might help your business then contact us for a chat.

And this is just part one of building and leveraging social capital effectively for business growth.

Part 2: Email Marketing without being accused of spamming
Part 3: Now that I have customers how to support them (FAQ, WIKI, Self Serve Support, Paid Support)

How does the internet work?

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:21:00 GMT

I had to share this little snippet I found today.

Click the pic to see the big one - it's hilarious.

If anyone ever asks you how the internet works - show them this instructional diagram from Vlad Studios (he does great desktop wallpaper too).

Internet Explorer Version 6 - time to go

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:53:00 GMT

R.I.P. to Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Internet Explorer 6

Thanks to Martin Metodiev for his stunning Obituary site:

One of these icons will not be missed.

Web designers world wide are eagerly awaiting news of the eradication from computers worldwide of Internet Explorer 6. There won't be any official documents in stark contrast to Smallpox which was officially certified by the WHO as eradictated in December 1979.

Farrah and Michael, will leave a legacy whether you loved them or hated them. Internet Explorer 6, more of a feeling of "it's about time". With 2 vastly superior generations can I, dare I change my development processes to remove the expensive and time-consuming task of testing and modifying websites so that the less than 19% of internet users can see a perfect rendering of the website.

Why dump IE6?

One word; progress. The capabilities of what we can achieve on the internet in terms of user experience has increased phenomenally. With new CSS standards being defined right now the task of creating great websites to help businesses do great business is getting easier and more flexible than ever before. So why add cost to the development process by having to create mostly redundant code and is a significant handicap to the creative process of building business. Which is really what these web sites are about.

So, if you have been one of those who have politely declined Microsoft's invitation to upgrade for the last 3 years or so (Internet Explorer 7 was released in 2006) then I'd say the time to capitulate is now. The great news is that you don't have to go through dealing with Internet Explorer 7 (which has its own issues) you can automatically upgrade to the shiny brand new Internet Explorer 8!

Ahh! That feels better now that I have got that off my chest. Seriously though, many web designers now no longer warrant that their websites will work under IE6 as do many banks, government agencies and large corporations. With the emergence of web-based applications replacing traditional desktop applications, upgrading your web browser is becoming even more important than upgrading your computer.

Web Design Experts may withdraw support for IE6 later this year - so stay tuned.

Software Shmoftware

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:22:00 GMT

I often receive calls from clients needing software support or desktop support. As a web developer/designer I am very familiar with making software work and getting pcs and Macs configured, that is; my pc or my Mac. I have an intuition of what settings I need to change and where they might be so I can run through a lot of settings very quickly.

As part of our services here at Web Design Experts we set up email services. My customers; it should be noted, are intelligent and adaptive people who just happen to use computers in various ways to conduct their business. When I set up an email service, whether it is via Google Apps or a cPanel driven email system, there is usually 2 components; the mail server (our area of expertise) and the client (not really an area of expertise - just competence).

The thing about client software is that it could be anything, Outlook 2003/2007/XP/2008 or Outlook Express (3-4 versions), Groupwise, Thunderbird, mail.app (v2 or v3), Lotus Notes, and the list goes on (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-mail_clients).

So the difficulty lies in where do we draw the line?

We can configure most software packages because we are programmers at heart and know all of the standards that software writers use (as long as we are sitting in front of the machine with access to the documentation or the internet). As far as providing a high quality service it is not the best option. A desktop support expert would complete the task in minutes where we might fudge through for 1/2 hr or so and then miss some basic requirement and have to re-visit it.

It's not exactly an uplifting experience and it makes writing an invoice equally unpleasant because one of our business missions is to be the "Expert" for our customer so they can get on with what they are "Expert" at. In feeling as though we have not provided the best possible service ends up with the whole excercise being more expensive for both our client and us.

Depressed yet?

Well there is hope.

I am a staunch advocate of Google Apps, in particular the email system. It is just like Gmail but it can be customised somewhat to provide a bit of corporate branding and a nice login address of mail.yourdomain.com.au where yourdomain is your actual domain name (ours is webdesignexperts).

The web based client is very functional, you get calendar, addressbook, word-processing, presentations, spreadsheets as well as a few other services without loading or configuring anything on your computer. This also means that you can access all of these functions anywhere you have an internet connection and a web browser.

I believe that the days of all client software (software that you load onto your computer) is numbered. Even Microsoft know this.

"LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28, 2008 — As part of a strategic companywide shift toward embracing web-based solutions, Microsoft today announced plans to deliver Office Web applications – lightweight versions of Office – through web browsers."

Read the whole article here http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/Features/2008/oct08/10-28PDCOffice.mspx

What does this mean?

Far less configuration
No issues with other software already loaded
No need to purchase and apply updates
You can use your disk storage for data instead of programs
It doesn't matter what hardware you have
When you change computers you won't need to re-load anything

Will it be cheaper?

Well, Google Apps is currently free for up to 50 users with 7GB storage space (this will undoubtedly change). Organisations such as Microsoft stand to lose a significant revenue stream so there will probably be a charge based on either a subscription or data/bandwidth used.

So, we still haven't answered my initial question of "Where do we draw the line?".

For us it is a matter of doing what you do well. This may seem a bit rough however the real answer can be seen in the following cost analysis.

Your web designer e-mails you the config info and you spend 45minutes trying to set up an IMAP or POP connection it doesn't work. You call your web designer and together spend the next 30minutes going through settings to find that you left off a dot or missed a setting (not your fault - you're not a computer person). So far we have a total of 105minutes of resources spent. Then something else occurs, a folder isn't there anymore or a rule stops working, call the designer...

Now consider this scenario.

Your web designer sets up the email server and emails you and your desktop support person the config info. You file it away and your desktop support person initiates an online support session (if they can't "dial-in" look for new support). You go make a coffee and by the time you are back the job is done and tested. Total time spent: your time = 10minutes, web designer = 0minutes and desktop support = 10-20minutes.

Oh, and desktop support is usually cheaper than web designers' fees.

If you are still feeling as though the web designer should do the whole thing, consider a new house; the power company provides electricity to the meter box (try calling them to walk you through installing power points) and you need an electrician to install the power points.

I can get web hosting for 5 bucks

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:58:00 GMT

When I hear those immortal words I am reminded of the old maxim "you get what you pay for". In this case it is never truer. When I think about just how much power we lay in the hands of the person or organisation that is responsible for making sure that your marketing remains visible and emails keep coming I often feel very exposed. Consider your choice of web host a form of insurance.

I read a great article in Smashing Magazine today that outlines some of the important things to be aware of in selecting a web host. Often the cost of one outage can more than cover the price of premium hosting. That's why Web Design Experts have professionally managed web hosting (managed by hosting experts, not web experts) with fully backed up servers covered by 24 x 7 support.

Enjoy the article here.