Paypal pro or Paypal standard

A lot of time when developing e-commerce websites, we are asked by our clients about what paypal account should they use and why. Here is a small description of what both Paypal Standard and Paypal Pro types mean and in … Continue reading

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Features of a good design:

Your website should be visually appealing, well laid out, clean and professional looking. Your website gives the first impression to the world and reflects your company and its offerings. A well designed website will create a good impression on the … Continue reading

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Our Website development Process

Our work flow for the website development goes through 7 detailed phases: gathering information, planning, design, development, testing and delivery, maintenance and post launch support. We follow the step by step procedure from gathering information to the creating your website and finally to maintenance to keep your website up to date and current. Each phase goes through a detailed process and we keep on updating the services and improving the services as per the new developments.

The process of developing a website breaks down each of these phases into high level tasks. These tasks are divided into various milestones or check points that need to be met.

Phase 1-Gathering information: The first and the foremost thing that involves in designing a website is gathering information. This requires creating the scope for the project. The first phase involves understanding the company for which the website is created, its business goals, websites’ aim etc. We collect information like: purpose of the website, goals, target audience and content.

Phase 2-Planning:  This phase involves using the information collected from the first stage and a plan is put together for the website to be created. Under planning we create a site map which includes a list of all the areas of the website. This works as a guide for what shall be the content on the website and it is also essential to developing a consistent, easy to understand navigational system.

During the planning stage, we help our clients decide the technology that should be implemented and discuss about the elements like interactive forms, ecommerce, flash etc;

Phase3-Design: This phase is done by our web designers working within web specifications decide of how the web actual components shall be constructed. Under this process our team takes into account the web’s purpose, audience, objective, and domain information. Our designers know how to achieve the effects called for by specification in the most flexible, efficient, and elegant way. We allow our clients to view their project throughout the design and development stage so it gives them the opportunity to express their likes and dislikes on the site design.

We understand well that at this stage communication between us and our client is crucial to ensure that the final web site will match the client’s needs and taste.

Phase4-Development: This stage involves creating the website and we divide it into various milestones. In this phase we build up the site template and then the pages themselves. We like to review the site template before the bulk of the pages are built out to make sure that the coding is up to scratch. At this stage we take all of the individual graphic elements from the prototype and use them to create the actual, functional site. This is done by the developers by adding their code without disturbing the design. Our Coding team of developers generates necessary testing plans as well as technical documentation.

Phase5-Testing and delivery: The 5th phase includes testing of the website. Our web designers test things such as complete functionality of forms or other scripts, last minute compatibility issues ensuring that your website is optimized to be viewed properly in the most recent browser versions.

Our web designers are well versed in all current standards for website design and development. A part from testing our designers check that the code is validate. Once we get the final approval we deliver the site.

Phase6-Maintenance: Once the site gets online we set up a maintenance plan with the client. Under this we provide fixing of any errors in the life time of this website provided the code has not been tampered with and we make any changes in the functionality or design at our standard man hour rate of $15 per man hour each.

Phase7-Post launch support: We also provide post launch support which includes: search engine optimization for the website, link building, content syndication, online marketing etc;

 

 

 

 

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We are hiring!

Vantagewebtech is hiring! We have urgent job vacancies for the following profiles: PHP coders (freshers):  2 job vacancies for coders having 0 to 6 months of experience. Educational qualification: MCA PHP coder (middle level): 1 job vacancy for a PHP … Continue reading

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Essentials of a Good Website

Setting up a new website is like setting up a new business or a new office or new store where you will be required to interact with your potential clients, buyers etc; and carry on with the business deals. The business that used to dependent on offline sources has now gone online. Here are a few essentials a good website must have:

  1. Good visual design: It’s important to have a Clean and simple design for your website.An eye catching design will grab the attention of the users to take a look around on your website. The design gives the first impression and if it’s not good then the visitors will simply leave.
  2. Thoughtful user interface: User interface is the foundation of any good functional website.  While designing the website, it is important to consider your average users. It is very helpful to create an image of your ideal visitors and have them in mind when planning out the design and features for your site.
  3. Contact information: The contact information page is essential as the clients would want to contact you if they are interested in your services. It’s very helpful for the visitors if they are encountering problems with your website so in this way it becomes easier to get feeds from your visitors and also helps in correcting the problem fast. If the clients/visitors are not able to find you then it then will end up visiting other competitor’s sites.
  4. Search: When having a big website, you must have a search button. This will help the visitors find the specific content without wasting time through the search button.
  5. Content: It’s essential that the content on the website should be beneficial and descriptive as most of the visitors visit the site for information and it is obvious if the content is inadequate the visitors will leave the website.
  6. Grammar and spelling: It’s very important to check all the content on the website and proof read otherwise it could ruin the website’s credibility. Before the site gets online, one must check for grammar errors and spelling.
  7. Social media accounts: Another leads for capturing leads is the social media accounts. The site must be integrated with the social media websites like facebook and twitter so that the visitors can easily share products, log in etc; using these links.
  8. Sign up/subscribe: It’s important to have a sign up /subscribe button as it helps in providing updates to the users regarding the website. The users will be able to get updated with the site blog, newsletter, new offers etc; through signing up.
  9. Fast download: It’s very important for your site to load as quickly as possible and the website should have minimum number of script as this may increase the chances of loosing the customers.
  10. Title: The page title for the website should be short and descriptive as it will appear on the top of your page and will remind the visitors what site they are browsing and other is that once your guest bookmarks your website then it will be more convenient for them not to edit it anymore since it is already descriptive enough.
  11. Images and fonts: Layouts must be tested and programmed well before in order to attain the layout goal as this reduces the chances of errors as all the layouts comes out differently from all the browsers. It’s important to use the common fonts as all the fonts are not available on all the computers. Also make sure the resolutions and file sizes of images are not too large.
  12. Page length: It’s important to write short and brief page content. If the content of the index page is long then the visitors will have to scroll down to read it and it will for sure bore them and they would not even bother to read all of it.
  13. Cross browser compatibility: It is essential for a website to be compatible with all the web browsers. Before a site gets online, it’s suggested to check its compatibility with all the web browsers and platforms as the clients/visitors may be using any one of them.

 

 

 

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Choosing between a custom code or third party code

Whether custom code is better or the third party code, it really depends on the project scope you are working and what is your requirement. A lot of third party codes are available but at the same time custom codes also have a great potential. Both have their particular advantages and disadvantages at hand and some are mentioned below:

 Third party codes:

Both free and paid third party codes are available. Clients opt for them as they are cheap, tried and tested, easy to run and use and time saving.

On the other hand, they have a few disadvantages- at times it becomes really difficult to make changes to a third party code, it takes time to understand a code and convert the database into your new custom code and it may not have all the features that you require.

 Custom code:

Custom codes are used when one has good time and budget or when the scope is not that vast and using an already made third party code can mean an overkill.

The main advantages of using custom code is that you have built it so you know how it works and it works the way you will code it. Others are:  it becomes easier to understand and develop upgrades; this makes the development process much easier and you can add all the features you require.

On the other hand, they have a few disadvantages- it takes a lot of time to build custom codes for commonly used solutions like e-commerce, blog, forums etc., it requires testing and there are chances of few bugs even after extensive testing and when problem exists it takes a lot of time to search and fix problems.

So what way to go in terms of third party or custom code will all depend upon the project requirements, time and budget.

 

 

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Social media optimization: A great way to popularize and promote your brand!

If you wish to popularize your brand, it is necessary to popularize your website first. In earlier times, search engine optimization was acknowledged as the only technique of effectively promoting a business but with the growing popularity of social media websites like Facebook, twitter, you tube etc; more of the organizations are switching over to social platforms also for smart promotions of their business.

Basically, social media optimization and marketing is very different from traditional advertising as it has a number of unique characteristics. It includes writing and publishing of content on different social platforms which is targeted for a specific audience.

Today is the time for social media optimization. It can be defined as the method of optimizing a website via social media sites. There are many social media websites so it is necessary for the business owners to select a social media site so that the message or the content they wish to share must reaches the maximum number of people.

Social media optimization is a form of viral marketing as here the information is spread not through friends or family but through social networking websites like facebook, twitter, you tube, flicker( photo sharing website) , delicious(social bookmarking site) etc;  The main goal of marketers interested in creating viral marketing programs  is to create and spread a viral message that appeals to customers with high social networking potential.

It focuses on driving traffic on your website from sources other than search engines and provides you with the tools that help to increase the ranking of your website.

There are two categories of social media optimization:

  • One way is to add social media features to your website i.e. RSS feeds, share buttons, user rating and polling tools, incorporating third party community functionality like image and video feeds.
  • Other way is to use promotional activities on social media platforms. This includes: blogging, commenting on other blogs, participating in group discussions, posting status updates on social  networking websites like Facebook, twitter etc;

It’s becoming an integral part of a search engine reputation management strategy for businesses who wish to maintain a good reputation online. The primary function that social media optimization plays is it builds a community of users for your site which further promotes Business to business and business to customer relationships on both social and personal levels.

 

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WordPress Basics

WordPress is free web software that anyone can use to create and update a blog or website. It’s an open source CMS. You can install wordpress and then use the user interface to create pages, upload images or write articles. The most unique feature of wordpress is that anyone can manage his wordpress website after the design and development is done, without any technical knowledge or the need to write the code. You can extend the wordpress code or modify it in any way. Also, it can be used for any commercial projects without any licensing fee. WordPress is free, it does not just mean it’s free of price but it also gives the freedom to have complete control over it.

WordPress offers templates and it is dynamic so posting and commenting is quite easy.

 It’s Features:

  • Themes: WordPress comes with a full theme system and it allows you to have multiple themes with totally different looks that you switch with a single click. You can have a new design every day.
  • Links: WordPress allow you to create, maintain, and update any number of blogrolls through your administration interface. This is much faster than calling an external blogroll manager.
  • No rebuilding: Using wordpress, the changes are reflected immediately on your site and there is no need for regenerating static pages.
  • Easy installations and upgrades: It is very easy to install and upgrade wordpress.
  • Menu: WordPress allows you to create menus so your site visitors can find the way around the site and discover relevant information.
  • Comments: WordPress allows your visitors to leave comments and also you can easily enable or disable comments by visitors on a per-post basis.
  • Full standards compliance: All the content of wordpress generated codes is in the full compliance with the standards of the W3C.
  • Spam protection: To manage and eliminate comment spam on your blogs wordpress provides you with robust tools such as integrated blacklist and open proxy checker.
  • Password Protected Posts: It allws you to give passwords to individual posts if you wish to hide them from public. Also, you can get private posts which can be viewed only by the author.
  • Multiple authors: Word press has a highly advanced user system that allows up to 10 levels of users, with different levels having different privileges with regards to publishing, editing, options, and other users.

 It’s Advantages:

  • Easy to design: The wordpress directory gives you access to over 1400 free themes to choose from. Using this, you can install themes very easily and you can quickly change the look of your blog.
  • Easy to customize: Once the site is ready you can continue to customize it forever. If you have any coding skills at all, you can quickly start designing your own graphics and icons, and use them to promote and sell your products and services.
  • Search engine optimized : Using WordPress you can include a lot of meta tags using which the search engine determines the indexing of your pages. This wil help your blog appear high in all the search engine rankings.
  • Spam resistant:  It automatically puts spam-looking comments into a separate section, making sure you only spend your time on what’s truly important to your business.
  • Easy to update: WordPress sites are very easy to update. It keeps you informed on all the updates and you can have new features, new styles in a few clicks.
  • Build for the future: As traditional website is stagnant but with wordpress you can change it every day. You can add new content, put in a new plugin and develop a new graphic. The best part of this is that you also have the tools ready for what is coming next.
  • Extensions: With wordpress you can easily add functionality to your webiste along with the installations of wordpress plug ins. It allows you to customize your blog your way.
  • Flexibility: WordPress is an open system that allows you to stores your data in an open XML format that can be easily transferred to other WordPress blogs or different content management systems.
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Online marketing- A powerful tool!

Professional online marketing is not only important for your business but vital in today’s world. It has proved to be a successful method of promoting and marketing your business. Online marketing has various aspects. There are four ways to conduct online marketing:

  • Creating an electronic store font: For this, companies can buy space on a commercial online service or it can open its own website.
  • Placing ads online: Companies can place online ads in three ways.

-      They can place classified ads in special sections of major commercial online services.

-      Place ads in certain internet newsgroups set up for commercial purposes.

-      Buy online ads that pop up while people are surfing the web.

  • Participating in internet forums, newsgroups, or web communities: Companies may participate in or sponsor internet forums, newsgroups, and bulletin boards that appeal to specific interest groups.
  • Use online email and web casting: Companies can send out customer newsletters, special products or promotion offers based on customer buying histories. The purpose of an email newsletter is to maintain relationships with its existing and potential customers. These can also include catalog emails- they serve as an electronic Brochure that displays the latest products or services of a company. Also, the company can send emails for quick announcements.

There are a lot of advantages that online marketing has:

  • Reduced cost: The starting cost of online marketing is only a fraction of thousands of dollars that radio, yellow pages etc; cost.
  • Everything is measurable: It makes easy for you to access your direct sales and track traffic growth, sales etc;
  • Demographic targeting: Online advertising platform allows you to specifically target the specific consumers who are most likely to buy your products. It makes easier for you to target your specific audience easily.
  • Real time results: In case of Online marketing, you don’t have to wait for weeks to see a significant boost in your business.
  • Product information: It gives the customers the chance to view, compare and read reviews regarding the products which makes it easier for them to make their decision.
  • Holds their attention: With online marketing, you can encourage customers to take action, visit your website, read about your products and services and purchase them which is not possible via other newspaper or magazine advertisements.
  • Greater flexibility: An online catalog can be adjusted daily or even hourly adapting product availability, price, promotion etc; unlike the paper catalog, whose products and prices are fixed until the next printing.

 

 

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Search engine optimization

Importance of Search engine optimization for your website:

SEO- Search engine optimization is the process of structuring a web page by adding keywords to make it is easily found by the web searchers on search engines. Keyword research is the most important aspect in any search engine optimization initiative.

Having websites that are perfectly designed and developed as well as promotional offers are not enough to make an online business successful.

To understand the importance of SEO, imagine if you have a brick and mortar store that is hidden somewhere and people cannot find it. Now imagine if you advertise using the wrong message and get a lot of visitors who come to your store and realize they are at the wrong place and leave. Again what is the use of a wrong message/keywords (in the case of search engines). So the main step in any SEO campaign is identifying your target audience and researching what keyword phrases they might be searching in the search engines to locate a site like yours. For this, a certain focus is also required which could be location specific, region specific or country specific or product specific etc;

Search engine optimization involves finding the best search for such keywords and optimizing the website and its content for those keywords. This will let your customers know about you, find you easily and place their requirement with you.

Search engines are been considered as the marketing media on internet and it provides marketing of websites through this medium. It helps websites identify exact search engines keywords related with their business, through which various potential customers may be searching on various search engines.

 

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