How to choose a web host

Posted on June 24, 2010 by websys

Being from the web hosting, I noticed that most of the review sites have very specific reviews, not generic advices as the topic suggests. Choosing a good web hosting service can be a very daunting task. While choosing the best web hosting service for your website there are many things you should look at. There are numerous web hosts now claiming them to be the best and offer unlimited storage and bandwidth which entices a customer easily. So for a successful business operation choosing the right web hosting service has become more complex than before.

Price is one of the key factors that one should look at. Depending on what site your are host, you may require lots of gigabytes or you may even need simply 10 MB.  Many sites often offer a high disk space but tie it down to 1 single domain, which would render this large allocated space to little or no use. Furthermore, lower cost could signify a limitation in features, customer support, Databases, backup support and so on.  If you don’t require the features then the lower cost deal may be suitable, otherwise not.

Depending on what you desire to do with your website, the suggested features can be very important.  Not all web hosts support the updated programming languages, and without them, it might not be possible for you to do exactly what you desire to.  Some hosts offer regular backups and uptime assurances, occasionally even to short term money-back guarantees.  Knowing which features will work for you that the web host offers will let you get the most out of your host, or it might assure you to change hosts entirely.

The toughest thing to differentiate between hosts is the web host policy or terms of service, but they can be very important.  They often state what you are permitted and not permitted to display on your website, how you can use it, and what occurs if you over-use or misuse it. That balance can occasionally be tough to find.

Last but not least, we, being a provider of web development India thinks that the level of customer support is of utmost important.  A seasoned programmer might require less customer support, but if the site proceeds down and it desires to be fixed from the server point, even professional and expertise programmers will desire to have a very fast and hassle free customer service.  So, it would be safe to say by finding a company with better support options, actual phone numbers (not just Live Chat), and quicker email responses. Find a hosting company through references – not by website claiming a multitude of features with gastronomical figures and low cost hosting plans.

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Simplicity in Web Design

Posted on June 22, 2010 by sankhadip

We are currently living in an age where people have less and less time every day. Hence we zap through web pages anticipating to find precisely what we desire as fast as possible. Why not? There are so hundreds of web pages on every topic. According to statistics, the average web surfer gives less than 10 seconds on a web site. If 10 seconds is all you have to influence your online prospect, guess what sort of web design makes most impact? The most flashy web design? May be not. Try simplicity.
So are we talking of a crude design or no design at all – definitely not. Attractive design still makes a person stop. Neither does this signify that the back end of the web site requires to be simple. You can have the most complex  content administration system; the most comprehensive feature set in your web design, but hold the front end, the interface as simple and intuitive as you can and think of usability for the surfer.
Simple can signify different things to different web designers. Many persons like fancy things. There is nothing wrong in applying with a splash of color on a web design. At the same time, avoid altering too much from the accepted paths. We all speak of change and identify its advantages but we are animals of habit and we would rather proceed along the same easy route rather search for new way of getting somewhere. This standard applies in web design. Online clients are used to navigating in a certain way. Change the way on your web design and you could make it too hard for your clients.
Keep it simple, short and familiar. While it can be useful to have a plethora of features and functionality on your own website, but maintain a balance of what is necessary for you and your users, which could easily vary from your competitor’s website users.

It is often a common practice/ demand for many of our clients of web design in India to have the exact same features he/she has seen elsewhere. It’s innate to believe that the more number of options you invest in, the more it will awe your customers. But, it is not always the case. Sometimes the simplest features, pays you back more on a simplistic approach to web design.

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Upgrading WordPress 3.0

Posted on June 21, 2010 by websys

Our blog looks a bit plain vanilla currently . Yes, we know that and our designers are hard at work creating a brand new wordpress template. That’s just a minor setback, but being a web development company doing several open source customization, we like to change our blog design every few days.
The good news is that we have just over the weekend , upgraded to WordPress 3.0 version (named Thelonious). The new version, undoubtedly with several brand new features and a nice looking admin interface was not a critical update but with open source scripts like WordPress , it is always better to upgrade as quickly as possible to prevent / protect your blog / website against hacking attempts quite common with mysql / XSS exploits becoming more and more rampant. If you need your blog to be upgraded , feel free to drop us a line , as our php programmers are very efficient and can help you smartly .
Currently we are using the pre-installed twentyten template which now comes with wordpress .
One of the smartest new feature in WordPress 3.0, i liked was the menu builder / menu management system. Besides this there are many more advancement such as the custom taxonomy, dynamic header, and contextual help per page / screen ( which i used to notice more in magento previously … very handy thing to have).

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Website design – Ashwika Kapur

Posted on June 21, 2010 by websys

New website design for Ashwika Kapur

Websites for people and professionals, as opposed to websites for companies and online stores are expressions of the persons themselves. Truly speaking, we do not do personal websites as much as we would like to . Continuing to work with clients and corporate websites who outsource web design assignments, it was a breath of fresh air designing a website for a professional photographer.

Ashwika Kapur is a young creative wildlife photographer from Kolkata, India, with a variety of passions. Our work started with a brief initial discussion and a basic mock design. Even though the design was very modern , the client wanted a total redo. Being a creative person herself, she chose to guide us on the way she wanted her website to be – from the fonts on the site to the way the menu items had to come , she has been very hands on and we thoroughly enjoyed working with her. The final request , which did take some to and fro was how she wanted her photos in her African portfolio was to come across , specifically with her watermark .
Now the website is up, we look forward to any feedback you have on the current design as well as the initial mock, we really look forward to it. Visit AshwikaKapur.com

Mock design by Websys

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User generated content

Posted on June 18, 2010 by sankhadip

We all understand that content is very important but creating new content regularly, often is a difficult task for many of us. When you keep writing for a certain period you might not find a flow of new topics to compose. To overcome this situation, in this Web 2.0 era , we look upon user generated content for our websites.

So what defines User Generated Content ? Well, it can be of any form, varying based on the type of website you own ,  as listed below :

  • Posts and Threads on Forums and Message Boards
  • Guest comments on Blogs
  • Guest submitted blogs and articles
  • Reviews and Ratings of products sold
  • Testimonials and Reviews on services rendered
  • Link suggestions and submissions on a business Directory
  • Adverts posted on a Classified website
  • Fan art and Pictures submitted on gallery websites
  • Sample flash animations or Code samples on repository / code banks
  • Additions and Edits on Wikis
  • Applications submitted on sites like Facebook , Orkut
  • and many more …

It is true that getting user generated content is a not that easy. Primarily because people are not that energetic to write and comment unless it benefits them back. You require reaching up with techniques in order to make them feel interested to comment or contribute on your site.

If your website is new then you have to keep patience. Don’t anticipate persons to reach and comment in overnight. You primarily require to compose consistently with new topics ( in the case of Blogs) as if you are the only user of your site. If you can extend this for at least 6 months, slowly and steadily with some promotion , users will come trickling in.

Here are 5 quick and easy ways to encourage UGC ( User Generated Content ) on Blogs .

  1. Make creative posts – Create controversy – try to have motivating discussions by composing about things that is probable to rile up readers’ sentiments or divide opinion. Don’t habitually compose what your readers desire to hear. Be bold to put your own attitude there.
  2. Be graphic , 1 picture says a thousand words – Collect and acquire meaningful graphics and if necessary create your own imagery or graphs to analyse and discuss in more detail. Who knows , some of your readers may find it interesting enough to link your graphic / credit you for it.  Keeping on the context , if an image is interesting , imagine what effect a video can have . Create your own videos , upload on your own site or video sharing websites and help your visitors understand in more ease.
  3. Create Lists … people love lists . Not only lists help all of us to get the primary points of your discussion , but also end up in other peoples lists :)
  4. Be the first to comment - Change the wording on blogs from ‘no comments’ to ‘be the first to comment‘  – No comments sounds like as if your website receives no visitors whatsoever , where as Be the first to comment , makes the same status more coveted .
  5. Be Proactive – Be proactive and reply to remarks left on your blog. Your readers deserve all the attention you can give them. Rest assured reciprocation will come towards you and the blog. And if you can, visit other related blogs,forums and apply for co-authoring and request them to return the favour.
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Top 10 Essential SEO Tips

Posted on June 14, 2010 by websys

A Quick Look to Top 10 SEO Tips

To endure in the ever changing e-marketing world and get ahead in the competition, nearly every e-commerce enterprise and small business are using Search Engine Optimization techniques. While the stack of SEO tips are many, choosing the best scheme is tough, as there is no single fit-for-all technique. Ideally you should have rudimentary information of SEO and try to be equipped with the trends on this field. Here are some of the important and effective SEO tips bordered for you.

1) Before trying ANY strategy, it is advisable to know your present rank of your site.

  • Google Analytics – comes free with your gmail account . Link.
  • Statcounter – free hit counter , easy to use.
  • Alexa Toolbar and Compete.com – View ranking trends and many more.

2.  Keyword consciousness is one of the best SEO tips. You may need to work on the content, HTML, image title or URLs by using apt keywords. So before embarking upon optimizing your website on any given keyword set, always remember to rethink about your target users – what they would be searching with, try to visit as many competitor websites as possible , review what keywords they are targeting.
If possible , try to take upon a small PPC campaign to see what keywords are more costly – which would in turn mean , those keywords get real customers.

3.  Creating a good Sitemap for your website will help visitors to reach to a particular web page in few clicks. Even search engine spiders will index maximum number of pages on  your site without much effort.

4.  It does not matter if your website consists of static HTML pages or Dynamic database drivem or CMS generated pages. The given URL should be sensible and easily readable. It’s suggested to create URL based on keywords to make it more SEO friendly. Take this urls of this blog for example or our website.

5.  Change or refresh the content of your website on regular intervals. Content that best recounts its service along with explanatory data & images can makes the website more useful and relevant to image searches as well.

6.  Build relevant back links to your primary pages while composing new content. It should not cross the limitations and all the internal links should be incorporated properly. In order to get backlinks , use one way directories, industry portals, client websites and any other contextual websites you find.

7.  Share and display your contact details like office addresses, phone numbers and so on in an organized way so that your user could get the proper idea of your office location and would find it easy to contact you in order to buy your product or service. If after all SEO efforts , your visitor does not find your contact details, what is the use ?
Also keeping such contact details also helps getting listed in Local directories, online yellow pages and classifieds websites.

8. Do not try to over do any SEO tricks or tips . One of the biggest mistake of rookie SEO is to not understand the proper necessity or usage of any particular activity . If ever in doubt , always look for professional help. Getting penalized by Search engines is easy and it may have long lasting effect on your search engine rankings and business from the web.

9. If you have some technical knowledge about HTML and coding , try to make your website using semantic coding – XHTML based, CSS based and w3C compliant.

10. Try to keep your content unique – while not all products and services pages can be unique , it might be more meaningful to have less number of pages than having hundreds of pages with non-unique content that already exists on other websites known to Google , Bing and other search engines, as they will probably not try to index the same on yours.

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Web design: Aakashganga

Posted on March 25, 2010 by websys

Aakash Ganga Holidays is a well known travel agency and tour operator based in Kolkata . Today they are the featured client on our blog . It is not very long before, they approached us for their website design .

Like any web design project , we request various kinds of information from the client – such as their preference of color scheme, whether they have any Logo , who are their competitors and whether they also have existing websites , what are the pages and subject matter they want to have on their own website and many more. The first thing our client suggested that they being a Travel Agency offering exotic holiday tours , assistance for travelers in plane ticketing and travel packages , would like to have a very colorful and new style of look and feel. As we had also designed their logo , getting the color scheme for the website was the easy part. But to create a new type layout , we had to go through 2-3 revisions before the client finally approved . And not just approved, this time they were extremely happy – much to our satisfaction.

Completing the design was only part of the job , as the site was not just a static html website , but to be integrated in our custom developed CMS and and homepage flash banner which they could change from time to time.

Aakash Ganga Holidays is now launched and already serving clients locally and globally . We are also happy to have them as our clients for web design company India.

View website : Aakashganga Holidays

Aakash Ganga Holidays

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SEO Case Study II – Arjunka

Posted on March 5, 2010 by shampa

Finally it’s done! Thanks friends for keeping your patience in waiting for this case-study while we were busy with other projects. In an earlier blog we had pledged that in the year 2010 our plan of action would focus completion of successful projects for our Kolkata based clientele as well as building good relations with various Internet marketing companies internationally. We are glad to inform you that we have stood by our words successfully. As of now, let us look at the details of our plan of action that we undertook for Arjunka International to raise its stature in all the search engines.

Introduction to the project:

The project was for Arjunka International. The company is reputed as a best quality packaging raw material supplier of Kolkata located in Weston Street. We were requested to do entire web development for them.

Challenges in the project:

Arjunka International is in the business of finest packaging raw materials for the last seven years, yet, they lacked an online presence. It is thus comprehensible that they were losing business online. We started from the scratch, the project required designing, programming and SEO strategically planned and executed. The level of competition for Arjunka International was unknown.  There was no local listing for the site. Further, for a proper optimization of the website through the right keywords, analysis of reader friendliness and robot attractiveness were required too. To put it together, the site needed an expert touch.

The unique plan of action that we undertook:

Every site that comes to us is worked on with unique strategies and plan of actions. However, the plans are foolproof ones and are applied with clear understanding and high level of confidence and expertise.

  • Our expert SEO analysts analyzed and finalized the keywords that were to be worked on. For this we had to have sessions with the owner of Arjunka International and discussed on the web promotional strategies of the competitive sites and ascertained the keywords.
  • Not only keywords but the website as a whole was to be checked for current state of the site, amount of probable traffic and popularity of the site etc. through the application of various SEO tools.
  • Planned manual submission of the site in hundreds of directories, forums and social media was needed for generation of back links and promoting the site. A selection of relevant directories was done for this.

Implementation

Once we were ready with the primary steps of our plan of action and strategies we seek client’s permission. Once it is done, we started off by making on page optimization, attached relevant content, meta attributes and keywords.

We further worked on image optimization, Meta tags and Meta descriptions, creation of relevant titles and generating sitemaps and doing local listings.

Submission to directories in a planned way was done, along with, proper utilization of the various other promotional tools for link building purpose.

The result:

All our hard work have shown good results with Arjunka International. With all the keywords it ranked in the first page of the Google search engine and acquired good positions in other search engines. Here’s a comprehensive list of the achievement of Arjunka International:

  • packaging raw materials company Kolkata – Google India – 1 and 2
  • packaging raw materials company – Google India – 1
  • packaging raw materials company Google India – 1 and 2
  • packaging raw materials – Google India – 10
  • raw materials for packaging – Google India – 2
  • packaging raw materials – Google dot com – 2
  • packaging raw material – Google dot com – 3
  • raw materials for packaging – Google dot com – 2
  • packaging raw materials company – Google dot com – 1 and 2

We promise to deliver you the best web development services. If you are looking for hiring a SEO company, do email us at sales@websys.co.in

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Misconceptions of SEO

Posted on February 26, 2010 by arindam

How is it going guys? I am sure you are awaiting the next release of SEO Case Study of Websys, but I am sorry again for I am not done with it yet. So how did you find my post on Benefits of Twitter? Well, I have decided to put forth some common misconceptions about Search Engine Optimisation. Being an internet marketing professional for years now I have come across a set of out of the whack wrong conceptions about SEO – the subject matter.

SEO is all highly technical - Yes and no both! Just a part of the entire Search Engine Optimisation process is technical… not the whole. With experience in SEO, I think major part of SEO process demands the skill set to have a systematic approaches to optimise your website. Getting top ranks in the major search engines actually requires very little work with backend programing or HTML. Effective strides have to be made through different tactics and approaches to reach out to the right kind of audiences, which definitely requires a strong hand on internet marketing. However, SEO is a constantly evolving topic, and hence requires diligent people, who can both think in and out of the box.

SEO should happen overnight – Some of our clients ask for an overnight rise of their website across the web. SEO requires a great deal of work, strategies and implementation of the strategies, hence demands intense  labour and dedication. It may take time to get things move towards the desired direction. It is actually a continuous process with consistent effort to be laid while implementing the best suited strategy for a website to be ranked in the top results in Google. Various offsite factors is part of the total SEO plan- Google updating their index, various other directories and blogs accepting your submissions, the authority of the other websites , who may or may not link to you , change in Search Engine algorithms.

SEO is for one time – Well, this may sound weird to many people who have been planning to optimize their website. We, at Websys, make it openly evident that is not so…  the more you keep on optimizing your website, the better it stands to compete on the search engines AND remain and retain the rankings. Yes, we do sometimes may need to change our strategies as and when necessary, we do stop certain things and start new things, we do sometimes put less emphasis on on-site and more on others, but we really do not recommend on stopping an active SEO campaign. If you have really decided to take the plunge and increase traffic and improve your position on Google, Yahoo or Bing, stick to it . There are always your competitors – who will cross you the chance they get .

SEO is ONLY about bringing a website amongst the top 10 – No! Ranking should not be the only goal for the search engine optimization process. Building up the traffic strength is what website owners should aim for. This can be done only over time. If your search engine optimizer is getting you at the first page of search engines, but not increasing your traffic and inquiries or sales, then you should really reconsider what you are paying for.

You can do SEO by using a software – To be very candid, search engine optimization is not a software program’s cup of tea. Software doesn’t have logic as human brain. Since there’s no single strategy to fit all websites, hence strategies are to be developed in logical manner. This is where the role of a real online marketer comes to play. I have used entirely a different tactics to optimize and promote outside broadcast vehicles website from what I have used for promoting packaging raw materials website. SEO tools however are not unknown – there are plenty of great SEO tools, which can be used to research backinks, analyze urls, create reports, find broken links and much much more . But SEO tools however should not be used or entirely trusted to create SEO friendly pages, submit to directories and so forth.

These are just a few of the many most popular misconceptions of internet marketing and search engine optimisation. Stay tuned… up next, the case studies on recent achievements of the internet marketing department at Websys. Till then, have a great day!

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Benefits of using Twitter

Posted on February 20, 2010 by arindam

Dear  visitors, hope all of you are good. My last post on SEO Case Study has earned a pretty good amount of traffic. I am honored that our readers have gone through the first of the series. I was quite surprised to see emails requesting more SEO case studies. Well, I will surely come up with series of CS on the projects that I have been in charge of at Websys. Let’s talks about a bit different things today, such as micro blogging tool called Twitter.

So, why should you use twitter? I’ve faced questions like this a multiple times as I am part of the Search Engine Marketing industry. I thought I’d now write a post answering why I use twitter! Let me not hide and seek and be very candid… my reason of using twitter actually depends on the types of audiences I have wanted to reach. Frankly, twitter is going to hardly appeal to my school days teachers and my parents and grandparents, but might more be common among web savvy people, who have interest in staying regularly updated, web promotion professionals and news buffs !

So, here’s why you should stop by twitter while you move on with your day’s work.

Building network of followers: I would always suggest you build a sound online persona, whatever job you are into. Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a owner of a company/business or an internet marketing professional like me, building up a strong network across the web is of utmost significance, if you are looking for ways to make business online. Twitter is just one of the few great platforms that can generate relevant traffic. Building a network of followers can help you generate interest. With your twitter account, if you post helpful tips, offer useful advice for free – your network of followers might turn into customers. Some might even retweet your messages , thus spreading your message to more probable customers.

Source your information on twitter: Pre Twitter era, web professionals, internet surfers used to surf the net to read blogs in hope of finding newer information, updates on various topics. Post twitter era – with the arrival of micro blogging , people who have less time to read and sometimes interests – they get to stay updated just by following news sources such as tv websites, reporters, bloggers, sportsmen, public figures and even their friends’ profiles.

Business development: Twitter has ushered in a new way of getting business and business leads. There are so many people who often update their status on Facebook and Twitter. When they are in need of a solution, they truly update their status hoping to find recommendations on service providers, product selling websites and bug fixing. I myself have done it quite a few times … when I was looking for recommendations on buying a new AC and a new 32″ Television, I got suggested some model numbers and store names. A few days back, a web design agency in London was looking for a outsourcing partner in India, and one of his friends recommended Websys i.e. us.

Branding and Reputation Management: If you are somehow related to business, chances are there you have a website or at least a blog. Alongside other online media channels like social networking sites, forums etc. twitter can be a great platform to reinforce your branding online. That is what we have found to have really clicked with twitter. Nowadays, large corporates and local service providers also have dedicated team of agents scanning twitterosphere . When I was having trouble with my ICICI account, and I vented my anger about ICICI on my twitter status – suddenly i got a more personalized reply than I managed by going through their helpline number . :)

Direct traffic and new visits: This is probably what you have been thinking of if you are an online business or have a website or blog! I have been working as an Internet marketing professional since years and now I am happily working with Websys. In the time, I try to post links to our latest web development projects and websites for which we have ranked #1 in Google. I have happily noticed that we generate quite a bit of traffic from these links as well.

There are obviously dozens of more reasons why should you use twitter, which I will post in another edition. Stay tuned… more information to come up in this blog and join us on Twitter here .

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