Zoho Is a Great Alternative Hosted Email Service
It’s become apparent to any company that uses email today, that the number one concern is security.
You can’t go a day without reading about another hacked company. You need only look at the 2016 Presidential election to know the damage that can be done when someone hacks into your emails.
Website-Hosted Email Service
When your website is on a shared hosting environment, the easiest way to handle your email is to have it also hosted on the same server — It’s a serve that is offered by every hosting company, from bluehost to godaddy, etc.
It’s not the best way to do it.
Chances are, those email servers are rudimentary at best. And their security leaves much to be desired.
First of all, your on a shared server. You don’t know who else is hosting their website on your server. They could be a spammer. They could have less security than you and become a “host” of a hacker — who is using it for their illegal operations. No Matter what, it becomes quite easy for you to get on an “email blacklist”.
You can’t afford to have that happen.
After an exhaustive search for a simple solution, I arrived at Zoho.
Zoho is perfect for getting your feet wet into hosted email.
It’s easy to setup and it’s free!
Easy setup. It took me about 30 minutes on my first try to get my email set up for this website. Anyone hosting with xtremeimarketing.com can have their email’s switched at no charge— it’s part of our service.
Here’s what you get for free:
5GB /UserMailbox Storage
5GB /UserDocs Storage
1 Host domain (your domain)
25 email addresses
Online Office Apps
Docs desktop sync
If you need more, I suggest you compare ZOHO with Outlook365. both have their benefits.
Building Back Links
Let’s face it. In web marketing the mantra is: “Get First Page Search Engine Ranking”
One of the most important ways to increase your rank in Google is to have high quality web sites with links to your site! The more links you have, the more popular your site appears to be to search engines. This is called, “Backlinking”
Getting sites to link back to your site takes a strategy. It’s called “Building Backlinks”
Here are several techniques used by the pros:
First and foremost, remember that to get quality back links make sure that your web site is loaded with quality content: ie: Great articles, a good blog, great information on your services or products.
Commenting on other blogs and forums.
You may already spend time going to other websites or blogs in the same niche as your site. If those sites allow comments on their articles…. do it! Most comment boxes will allow you to put your URL as a part of your signature.
You can also do the same with niche forums.
Article Submission
We speak about this topic at length in our “Article Submission” post, but for brevity sake here, simple know that if you will write articles on your particular area of expertise, you can submit them to Article Directories. Once posted, you are back linked to your site!
Link Exchange
Another great way to build backlinks is to exchange links with ?th?r sites. There are link exchange web sites, but the best way is to contact websites of a similar niche as yours, and ask the owner if they will exchange links. (You post their URL on your site/they reciprocate)
Directories
There are many free directories. Probably the most important are Dmoz, Google Business Listings and Yahoo. If you are listed in their directories, you are well positioned to get back links from other web sites.
Remember: Be selective. You only want links from quality sites. Linking to sites that have limited content could harm your ranking in Google.
And finally, Do Not Spam! In time, you will be found out and penalized for using the technique. You may be removed from Google altogether.
Choose XSTREAMHOST to lead your web site marketing strategy.
Questions? Contact Us Today!
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Search Engine Optimization
SEO is an acronym for “search engine optimization” or “search engine optimizer.”
Deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time and help you increase your revenues.
If your business wants or needs to thrive on the internet, then you should ask yourself the following important Questions:
- Does your web site stand out from the rest?
- Does your site show up on the first page in Google, Bing, or Yahoo searches?
- Are you currently utilizing the latest internet techniques for achieving high ranking, like back inking, article submission, and keyword analysis?
If the answers to the above questions are a resounding, “No!”, then you should seriously consider hiring an SEO firm or, at the very least, having your site retooled and enhanced to get up to current standards.
Simply put: If you want visitors to your website, you need to be on the first page in any key word search! This is called Ranking! And anything lower than the first page is seldom clicked on by web viewers
To get high ranking, you have to Optimize Your site!
You must: consider how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms typed into search engines and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content removing barriers that would hinder search engine indexing. Another key tactic is to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links to your site.
You can try to get it done in-house. There are many useful and free online optimization tools: meta tag generators; meta tag analyzers; google adword tool; keyword analyzers; Search engine submitters.
However, if you are concerned with your bottom line, you need to be honest with yourself and realize that this process will take weeks or possibly months to implement by yourself. And even then, the results can be negligible.
A good SEO firm will save you much time, and provide many useful services for website owners, including:
- Review of your site content or structure
- Technical advice on website development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages,
- Content development
- Keyword research
- Website optimizing
- SEO training
- Track the results and make adjustments.
The HostModa Team makes Search Engine Optimization efficient and affordable.
Our process is simply: 1. Analyze your current website 2. Research your key words and phrases. 3. Optimize Your site. 4. Recommend and help you implement additional techniques like back linking and article and directory submission.
We can also help with follow up by tracking results, suggesting additional adjustments, and informing you of the latest techniques.
So, What will SEO cost me?
Contact Us for a consultation and quote. Before we can give you a price, we need to look at your site and speak with you about your goals and needs.
We can assure you that our prices are reasonable and competitive.
In the end, our goal is for our SEO efforts to pay for itself in increased traffic, and ultimately revenue for your online business.
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Security Plugin Issues
Do You Trust Your Website to Security Plugins?
Let’s face it. From the beginning, the biggest knock on WordPress was its vulnerability to security hacks.
Yes, the coders have been relentless in tracking down those security holes and building a more secure platform. And , to further the development of a more secure platform, several companies have come up with some pretty amazing plugins — free and paid, that can help keep the bad guys away.
I generally prefer the All-In-One Plugin for all of my cost-conscious clients to others. But, that’s for another article.
But are there negative side affects of these wonderful plugins?
In a word. Yes.
1. They can lock you out.
Some of the settings can be sooo secure that you might find yourself accidently locked out of your own site! It’s easier to do than you can imagine. Luckily, most of these can be easily overcome by your WebMaster — but still, it’s annoying.
2. They send scary messages
Nothing like getting 500 email messages that people are attacking your website. I generally turn this setting off. Does it really help your client to know how often they’re under attack, if the software is frankly, doing its job and keeping them out?
3. You have to have some basic security knowledge to set them up properly.
If you don’t know what you’re doing in this area, it’s best to hire someone who does. (see my first two reasons above, for my reasoning)
4. They can hurt your SEO
Rather than go into great detail here, suffice to say that you want your site seen by your potential customers. Some of the more in-depth settings can keep google bots away — and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
You Need To Be Mobile
It seems that everyone is using a mobile device these days. Who doesn’t own a smartphone or a table?
But, just how large is the market?
Should your business or organization be adapting somehow to mobile marketing?
The answers are simple: The mobile market is growing at an amazing rate. And yes, you need to get your business up to speed in mobile marketing!
HERE ARE SOME RECENT STATS…From Digby.com
- 56% of American adults are now smartphone owners. (Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2013)
- Mobile now accounts for 12 percent of Americans’ media consumption time, triple its share in 2009. (Source: Digiday, 2013)
- Of the 70 percent of shoppers who used a mobile phone while in a retail store during the holidays, 62 percent accessed that store’s site or app and only 37 percent of respondents accessed a competitor’s site or app.. (Source: ForeSee, 2013)
- By the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices on Earth than people. (Source: Cisco, 2013)
- The number of US mobile coupon users will rise from 12.3 million in 2010 to 53.2 million in 2014, driven by the rapid adoption of smartphones. (Source: eMarketer, 2013)
- Retailers’ apps take up the most of consumers’ time at 27%, followed by online marketplace at 20%, purchase assistant at 17%, price comparison at 14%, and daily deals at 13%. (Source: AdMedia Partners, 2013)
- Consumers spent six times as much time in retailers’ apps in December compared to a year earlier. (Source: Flurry, 2013)
- 65% of U.S. shoppers research products and services on a PC and make a purchase in-store. (Source: Cisco, 2013)
There’s much more: Go here:
The point is: We can help! Our websites are all html5 mobile responsive!
What that means is simply this: You don’t need to spend a ton of money to go mobile! You simply need to move your website into the new internet: html5 and a new Responsive Website from Xtreme Marketing!
Social Media
Social media websites are here to stay. They are ever changing —- just as we as a society continue to evolve.
What that means is that your business needs to be involved in Social Media. It needs to be an integral part of your marketing efforts.
Here’s Just a Few Statistics To Give You Insight Into This Phenomenon:
1. Time Spent on Social Media is Increasing. Social Media usage now accounts for over 18% of all time spent online! (More so in some offices)
2. Social Media Helps You Connect With Potential Customers. The friends of your friends can become the customers of tomorrow
3. Social Media Can be used to Build Relationships with Current Customers>
4. Social Media Is Huge With Search Engines. You simply have to have a presence to keep Google happy!
5. Social Media Viewers Are Talking About You: Twitter is all about talking about everything. You need to know when someone is bragging on you — or dogging you! So you can react properly!
6. Social Media is Can Target Your Customers ! Check out Facebook. It’s amazing how specific you can target your banner ads!
There’s So much more!
Let Xtreme Marketing Cut through the Maze and Get you on a straight path to Social Media Success!
Website Security
As WordPress has gained in popularity it has also gained the affection of spammers and hackers. Security is important. More important than ever! Let Xstreamhost.net help!
Worst Case scenario.
Imagine this. You have spent countless hours designing your website, putting all of the information your customers and friends need to know. Maybe you have a shopping cart and have hundreds of products that your customers want to buy. Then, the unthinkable.
A malicious hacker has gotten hold of your password or found a security hole in one of your WordPress plugins or features. You lose your site. Your own password doesn’t work anymore!
Don’t think it can happen? It happens daily around the web!
YOU CAN BE PROTECTED!
When your website is designed and hosted by Xstreamhost.net you can feel confident that your site is as locked down and protected as possible!
13-STEP LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE
The final step to your website design is our 10-step procedure to lockdown your site from unwanted hackers!. We use the newest and safest security plugins, lock lockdown and WP Security Scan, combined with several hidden techniques that really work!
Finally, all webhosting plans come with a simply monthly option where we backup your site weekly or daily! Yes, the complete site! To a secure location. For as little as $5 per month!
So, if the unthinkable happens? You can be up and running again within the hour!
If you already have a wordpress website and don’t KNOW if your site is protected? We’re here to help quickly and affordably! Yes, it’s true! Protection for as low as $5 per month!