Web Concepts

Lunarpages, through our strategic partner, LocalDirective, is dedicated to helping you build a powerful online presence that accelerates your business growth. Your most important goal is to establish a firm foundation from which to grow your online presence. Even though it may seem overwhelming with all of the apparent choices, there are only three things you must focus on to achieve online success:

1) A Comprehensive Website that supports pre-defined objectives. This means your first step in developing a new site is to determine what it is you want to accomplish. For many businesses, it is to grow sales online through e-commerce, drive traffic to physical locations, or for phone or form lead generation. But other purposes might be to build deeper brand loyalty or even to help people self-serve customer service functions. Once you have your objective, then you can proceed to methodically follow best-practice guidelines for site development. If you already have a website, you may want to consider a ‘Revitalization’ effort if your site is not delivering the results it should.

2) Once you have established your online destination, the next step is to drive traffic to it. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in the major national and (potentially local or vertical) search engines enables you to choose to whom your advertising will show, presents a message you want to share, and delivers visitors to the website or landing page destination of your choosing. SEM marketing is immediate, and you can expect results to begin within days from starting your program. It is the ultimate form of directional advertising, boldly replacing the Yellow Pages in that function. Search engine marketing is sometimes called Pay-Per-Click, Sponsored Search or Paid Search. Google says that up to thousands can be earned for each dollar spent in search. Many advertisers report a high ROI as compared to most (if not all) other forms of advertising. What is great about SEM is that it is very controllable – everything from where and when your ads show to how much is spent each day.

3) The third element of your powerful online foundation is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that builds a strong organic presence for a handful of your most important and highly trafficked keywords. Since the search engines determine your placement for keyword searches, a solid program will attend to both ‘On-Page’ factors (how your website is designed and the content) and ‘Off-Page’ factors that increase your ‘popularity’ for the best placement on search results pages. SEO is a longer process than SEM, and Google suggests expecting up to a year for full optimization. Note that many Social Media Marketing (SMM) opportunities serve as SEO techniques, including use of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, as well as on-site and off-site blog posting. A good approach is to begin developing your SEO strategy a bit after the start of your SEM program, so you can use what you’ve learned to develop the most effective SEO approach.

Be sure to check out our website for information about our search engine marketing programs and learn more about how to build your powerful online presence.

We have a special offer for those with VPS, Dedicated or Business Hosting Plans. You can get either our SEO Kick-Start Program ($249 value) with any custom Search Engine Marketing (SEM) package or $100 off your SEM strategy development cost. If you are not a VPS, Dedicated or Business Hosting customer, but would like to participate in this special offer, contact LocalDirective at 1.888.613.7174 or CustomLP@LocalDirective.com today!

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy

In case you didn’t receive your copy, you can view it online here.

This month we covered business growth, design, usability and conversions, sports rituals and how some popular websites looked when they were first created.

The Three Foundations For Your Powerful Online Presence

Lunarpages, through our strategic partner, LocalDirective, is dedicated to helping you build a powerful online presence that accelerates your business growth. Even though it may seem overwhelming with all of the apparent choices, there are only three things you must focus on to achieve online success.

Internet Archive – Waaaaaay Back Machine!

Have you seen the website Internet Archive, Way Back Machine? Sometimes, web sites resemble a pair of old 80′s jeans that need a major facelift. We visit some of the most popular sites today, and view how they looked during their formative years.

Functionality, Design, Usability & Conversion Optimization

It used to be that driving traffic was the major metric to track driving stock prices up and entrepreneurs touting their successes however we have all come to recognize that traffic does not equal sales. There are many factors that contribute to a successful campaign and an increase in conversions.

Google AdWords $100 Credit – Did You Get Yours?

We recently sent out all qualifying USA and Canadian clients $100 in free advertising. If you lost the piece we sent in the mail or if you have not already redeemed your AdWords credit and you are ready to create a NEW AdWords account, don’t miss your chance to experience the power of Google AdWords.

Lunar Picks – Your Favorite Sporting Team and Rituals

It’s a great time of year for sports – World Cup, NBA finals, Baseball, Australian State of Origin and more. Do you have a team/sport that you are passionate about or a ritual when observing this time of year and your favorit

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy

In case you didn’t receive your copy, you can view it online here.

This month we covered business growth, design, usability and conversions, sports rituals and how some popular websites looked when they were first created.

The Three Foundations For Your Powerful Online Presence

Lunarpages, through our strategic partner, LocalDirective, is dedicated to helping you build a powerful online presence that accelerates your business growth. Even though it may seem overwhelming with all of the apparent choices, there are only three things you must focus on to achieve online success.

Internet Archive – Waaaaaay Back Machine!

Have you seen the website Internet Archive, Way Back Machine? Sometimes, web sites resemble a pair of old 80′s jeans that need a major facelift. We visit some of the most popular sites today, and view how they looked during their formative years.

Functionality, Design, Usability & Conversion Optimization

It used to be that driving traffic was the major metric to track driving stock prices up and entrepreneurs touting their successes however we have all come to recognize that traffic does not equal sales. There are many factors that contribute to a successful campaign and an increase in conversions.

Google AdWords $100 Credit – Did You Get Yours?

We recently sent out all qualifying USA and Canadian clients $100 in free advertising. If you lost the piece we sent in the mail or if you have not already redeemed your AdWords credit and you are ready to create a NEW AdWords account, don’t miss your chance to experience the power of Google AdWords.

Lunar Picks – Your Favorite Sporting Team and Rituals

It’s a great time of year for sports – World Cup, NBA finals, Baseball, Australian State of Origin and more. Do you have a team/sport that you are passionate about or a ritual when observing this time of year and your favorit

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy

Your .htaccess file, with any Apache based server or hosting account is a very powerful tool that if you can learn to use for your advantage can help you complete many time consuming or difficult tasks with ease. How do you create one though for your web hosting account? This is a question that we hear often, and below is your solution using either cPanel or LPCP (Lunarpages Control Panel).

cPanel

Login to your cPanel with your user name and password, then once you have made it in, head over to your File Manager. Now the File Manager’s interface is a very familiar Windows-styled look at your files on your hosting account. You will want to click on your folder icon next to your public_html link next, that will take you to the insides of the public_html folder.

Inside you will see all your web site files. You need to scan down the page till you see the bold text, Create a New File. Click that and you should get in the upper-right corner a box with a few more setting to fill in. In the empty text box, put in .htaccess. Keep the drop down box on Text Document and then hit the Create button.

Now you have your .htaccess file inside of your public_html folder all with the help of cPanel and your helpful File Manger.

LPCP

To create a .htaccess file in LPCP, log into the LPCP, and then go to your File Manager. Click on the text link labeled, ” public_html” to navigate yourself inside the public_html folder.

In the empty text box to your upper-right type in .htaccess, make sure the drop down box is set to “File” and then hit the button labeled, “Create”.

Your .htaccess file will be created in your public_html folder on your LPCP powered account.

• Find out how to manually create and upload the .htaccess file to your web hosting account!

For more LPCP help, tips, tutorials and more, be sure to check out the web hosting wiki. Hundreds of guides have been published there to help you get more out of your web hosting account at Lunarpages.

&copy Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy

We ran this article in our newsletter this week.  In case you missed it

Did you know that you can use Gmail as a PỌ e-mail client? This way you can both send and receive mail as you@yourdomain.com through the Gmail interface.

If you have ever found yourself wanting to use Gmail more, but did not want to abandon your professional looking e-mail address this is the tutorial you have been looking for. We’ll share with you how you can setup Gmail to both send and receive e-mail to your non-Gmail e-mail address.

How to Receive Your Lunarpages E-mail in Gmail

Here is how you can add your e-mail account to Gmail.

From within Gmail, click on the Settings link, at the top of the page. Next, click on the Accounts and Import link.

Now, you will want to click the button labeled, “Add PỌ email account”. That should pop up a new window where you can input the information about the e-mail account.

1. Provide your e-mail address (you@yourdomain.com). Click the button labeled, “Next”.
2. Next, give your user name, password, POP server (yourdomain.com or mail.yourdomain.com). There are other settings to choose from, but lets ignore them for now. Click the button labeled, “Add Account”.

Now, when you go to Settings > Accounts and Import you should see your e-mail account listed under Check mail using PỌ. If you click the edit info link beside your account, you can then edit the other details we skipped before, such as:

• Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server
• Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail
• Label incoming messages
• Archive incoming messages (Skip the Inbox)

So now Gmail is acting as the e-mail client looking for e-mail from yourgooglename@gmail.com and your hosted e-mail account. That covers receiving incoming mail from both accounts. What if you need to send mail as you@yourdomain.com?

How to Send E-mail in Gmail from Your Lunarpages Address

Here is how you can send mail using your personal e-mail account, rather than your Gmail e-mail address. From within Gmail, go to Settings, and then Accounts and Import. Under the Send mail as: section, click the button that reads, “Send mail from another address”.

This will pop up another window, where you can input your information.

1. Give your name, as you want it to be seen as the sender when somebody gets an e-mail from you.
2. Give your e-mail address you wish to send from, such as the one you setup using the previous steps above (you@yourdomain.com). Now, click the button labeled, “Next Step”.
3. You then have the option to send mail one of two ways:
   + Send through Gmail (easier to set up)
   + Send through yourdomain.com SMTP servers (recommended for professional domains)
4. You will then be e-mailed a message at this address to verify you are able to use it. To perform the verification click “Send Verification”. They will then send an e-mail to you@yourdomain.com with instructions on how to verify your address.

Once you complete the verification process, you should then be able to send mail as you@yourdomain.com too.

Now you have yet another option when it comes to picking which e-mail client you wish to use, out of the many choices there are out there today. Using Gmail with your Lunarpages POP3 hosted e-mail account gives you the ability to use the flexibility of Gmail with the reliable e-mail service you know and love here at Lunarpages.

Tip: Once you have set your e-mail up this way, you can enable a button on Gmail’s main interface that will let you manually check for new POP3 mail from your domain. Just go to the Google Labs section of Gmail, and enable the “Refresh POP Accounts” Gmail Google Labs feature.

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy

Have you set up your own e-commerce store or shop, but have not yet found the perfect payment processor to make your web site a success?  Look no further than the new payment processing services from Lunarpages.  We have teamed up with First Data to bring a fast, secure and effortless way to pay.

By adding the payment processing to your Lunarpages hosting plan, you can:

• Accept more forms of payment — Visa®, MasterCard®, Diners Club®, American Express®, Discover® Network and JCB®, plus gift cards and more
• Improve cash flow — Receive funds quickly from the bank of your choice
• Receive personalized support — Superior technical support 24/7/365
• Easily manage your transaction data — FREE online reporting and account information anywhere, anytime

We know many people out there on are a budget, so we have one of the lowest application fees out there as well as a low monthly service charges and discounts on state-of-the-art equipment. You’ll have a reduced risk of bad things going on thanks to the full PCI compliance and advanced fraud protection.

Want to grow your revenue?  With a professional payment processing method in place, you can accept payments from new locations and new methods, to make your e-commerce site a real success.

To learn more about the payment processing solutions from Lunarpages, be sure to check out Lunarpages.com.

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy Armitage

In honor of the promotion we have going currently where ALL USA and Canadian Lunarpages clients get $100 in AdWords credits, we wanted to focus on some helpful tips to help you match your advertisements on your web to your content.  Thankfully, the Google AdSense team has come up with an easy solution called section targeting.  So what is it, and how can you put it in effect on your own web site?

The idea behind section targeting is to allow you to select a block of text and HTML content that you would like the Google AdSense ad bots to pay more attention to when it comes to deciding what type of ads go on your web site.

To get it set up, all you need to do is add a couple of HTML tags to your web site layout, on each page you have ads on.

<!– google_ad_section_start –&gt;

Your important content goes here.

<!– google_ad_section_end –&gt;

To learn more about section targeting, be sure to check out this Google AdSense tutorial on the issue.  I can tell you from experience, that it does make for more targeted Google AdSense advertising.

If you haven’t claimed your credits yet and you don’t have an existing AdWords account, email us!  Remember you MUST be a Lunarpages Hosting Customer so provide your domain name and make sure you qualify!

&copy; Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy Armitage

In honor of the promotion we have going currently where ALL USA and Canadian Lunarpages clients get $100 in AdWords credits, we wanted to focus on some helpful tips to help you match your advertisements on your web to your content.  Thankfully, the Google AdSense team has come up with an easy solution called section targeting.  So what is it, and how can you put it in effect on your own web site?

The idea behind section targeting is to allow you to select a block of text and HTML content that you would like the Google AdSense ad bots to pay more attention to when it comes to deciding what type of ads go on your web site.

To get it set up, all you need to do is add a couple of HTML tags to your web site layout, on each page you have ads on.

<!– google_ad_section_start –>

Your important content goes here.

<!– google_ad_section_end –>

To learn more about section targeting, be sure to check out this Google AdSense tutorial on the issue.  I can tell you from experience, that it does make for more targeted Google AdSense advertising.

If you haven’t claimed your credits yet and you don’t have an existing AdWords account, email us!  Remember you MUST be a Lunarpages Hosting Customer so provide your domain name and make sure you qualify!

&copy; Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don′t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy Armitage

Looking or a minimalist them that has just a touch of color?  Look no further than the Under the Influence theme for WordPress.  This great free theme for WordPress keeps things nice and simple with the ability to modify the colors to something more custom and change the layout from 2 to 3 columns too.

Another feature of this theme, that we like a lot, is the bottom row of navigation columns where you can put in details like calendars, archives and more.

If you want to grab this theme for your own usage, be sure to go check it out over at WordPress.org.

&copy; Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don′t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Amy Armitage

Have you ever seen the web tool Who Is Hosting This.com? This is a website that offers the internet users an opportunity to check who is hosting any domain name without a need to go to whois.sc or other websites that offer a comprehensive information about server, IP addresses and other information that most users […]

Original post by Your (optional) podcast author email address (http://hostingblog.b10wh.com/)