Improved Cloud Security a Welcome Reassurance for Cloud-Hosted Websites

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Improved Cloud Security a Welcome Reassurance for Cloud-Hosted WebsitesIt wasn’t that long ago that cloud storage was making quite the splash on the IT scene, and the fact that retaining files and data didn’t have to exclusively occur within hard drives was quite a revolutionary development. Right from day one, however, some people had concerns about the security of their information and other concerns related to a form of storage that wasn’t exclusively theirs.

If it’s not my storage, they asked – then what’s to stop someone from reaching into that ‘cloud’ and helping themselves?

The question’s fair enough, and in truth there’s been increasing concerns over pretty much every aspect of exchanging data over the Internet. A public survey down south in the States earlier this year revealed that 47% of people have cloud security concerns, and 80% of respondents support federal certification of cloud services.

We can’t be certain if those same percentages would be reflected up here, but they likely would be. The next question, though, would quite naturally be – what would a web hosting or other related-service provider have to do, show, or prove to be federally (or nationally in our case) certified?

Products and Services Fueling the Cloud Phenomenon

There are all sorts of examples. Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s integrated cloud are two good ones of where extremely in-demand products are establishing the cloud as the norm for accessible data and services. Small and medium sized businesses are also coming around en masse to cloud hosting, and e-commerce is especially familiar with the cloud now too.

So for as uniformly well-received as its been, the overall security of cloud computing is still a work in progress. But the key word there is progress. Progress is being made, and recently very much so.

It’s a common belief that – because the cloud is so increasingly popular and yet still a remote ‘location’ for external storage – hackers will be particularly enthusiastic about seeing if they can get their way in and pillage the village. The extent to which that’s true is highly debatable, but fact is it’s increasingly important for web hosting companies offering cloud products to anticipate weaknesses in cloud security and address them aggressively.

It’s the everyday guys and gals who are becoming more savvy with potential security issues connected to cloud computing, and as such web hosts are often being presented with very direct questions about what they do to counter very specific risks. We’ve seen a trend where people see ‘malware’ as more than just a strange word, and are now actually quite familiar with it and the threat it poses.

We think that’s great, an informed consumer is good for everyone in the big picture and the more of them that push us to be at our best makes for better service and more satisfied customers along the way to being a more successful business.

More and More – And More – Differentiation Among Cloud Providers

The third more there was definitely intentionally added for effect, but it’s not entirely out of place as there has been extensive differentiation among cloud providers in the last few years.

The aforementioned trend of catering to security concerns had contributed to it, but equally front and center behind the trend is a focus on creating infrastructure that works more effectively for specific user groups.

This inevitably leads to increases in service rates, but solid infrastructure is definitely worth the money for most of us so that’s unlikely to see much opposition. One very noteworthy trend here is automation with the way individuals receive these different ‘wrinkles’ to their cloud hosting and services. For you as a consumer, it’s going to be helpful to understand how your host’s processes are going to go with all of this, so feel free to ask if there’s anything you want / need clarification on.

Then there’s the issue of communicating advantages to customers. Quality customer service is important, but it’s only part of the equation. Cloud web hosting providers need to also find proven-advantageous points of differentiation and market them to customers effectively.

One such example is Cloud VPS hosting, with all the ‘elbow room’ of a virtual private server paired with the super functionality of the cloud.

There’s sure to be more developments regarding Cloud hosting in the near future, and as always we’ll be as on top of it here at 4GoodHosting.

Build it Better: Getting the Most Out of Your Website

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Build it Better: Getting the Most Out of Your WebsiteIt’s increasingly rare these days to find a business that doesn’t have their own website. As is the case with every one of them, there’s a whole lot of work that goes into a website – planning, designing, and the actual construction of the different HTML elements that together make up those web pages we’re happy to just visit and browse through as we like.

Be aware that there are choices you can make when putting your website together, however, that can have negative repercussions down the line and quite possibly sabotage the successes you envisioned for yourself when you decided to take your business onto the World Wide Web.

Start with the Right Conceptual Thinking

First off, all of the following are FALSE:

  1. I need a flashy website that looks ‘cool’

Believe us when we tell you that substance trumps flush in a big way when it comes to the entirety of your online presence. Stressing to your web designer that it’s all-important to have a ‘cutting edge’ site is creating the wrong perspective for what you want to be accomplishing here.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a competition about ‘looks’, it’s about effectively conveying to your customers THAT WHICH IS IMPORTANT TO THEM – which, in nearly every instance, is a quality product or service that’s priced reasonably and comes with positive reviews from buyers just like them. What your website looks like will pretty much be the last of their considerations.

  1. It’s always good to save few bucks by having my friend / relative / other design my website for a discount

For sure, hiring designers or developers with many years of experience and a proven portfolio of work can be expensive. The best professionals can and do charge what they do because – in addition to designing the website – they also often research, plan, and strategize the entire conversion process and site flow as well.

Needless to say, you stand to benefit IMMENSELY from this value-added part of their service, and these types of analytical approaches are very likely going to be beyond the ability of the guy or gal you know.

Hiring a qualified design pro can also mean that your project isn’t completed as quickly as you’d like. Without going on at length, we’ll just suffice to say that – again – any delay that’s related to making your website a more soundly constructed portal THAT WORKS TO SERVE YOUR MARKETING INTERESTS effectively is very much worth it in the long run.

Conversions, sales, followers, in-store visits (if you’ve got a brick n mortar) etc etc. – you want them, and working with a reputable and experienced web designer / developer is the straightest path to getting there.

  1. A simple ‘electronic brochure’ is really all I need from my website

Maybe so if you’re fine with just staying where you are in as far as the size and scope of your business (and its success). In all likelihood though, you’d like to see more out of your business and in this day and age the BEST way to build your business is to promote it effectively online. And if we were to tell you that there’s not too much involved in going from an electronic brochure to a fully-vamped website, why wouldn’t you choose the one that’s going to give your more sales / service opportunities and make your brand all the more visible?

Right then.

Taking the Right Approach

This starts with answering one direct question – what is it that you need your website to do? The answer can vary, but it’s safe enough to assume that anyone who’s in business will have ‘helping us sell more of our product(s)’ at or near the top of their list.

So, with that understood, your website MUST:

  • Attract the right customers

Determine what your customer demographic has for a ‘buyer profile’ – how do they buy, when do they buy, what types of advertising / marketing collaterals are they attracted to? If you can’t answer these questions yourself, it’s very wise to hire someone who can analyze these correctly for you

Once these questions are answered, your designer should be able to start making design choices that are in line with the findings. Your website’s primary focus must be on attracting the right prospective customers to your site, keeping them there, and converting many of those visits into conversions etc.

  • Be optimized for people and their searches through Google, Bing etc.

Are you familiar with the acronym SEO? You should be, and if not then – again – you REALLY need to hire a web copywriter to put together your site content. SEO is search engine optimization, and having quality SEO for your content means your site will be presented higher up in search results conducted by potential visitors / customers

  • Be sufficiently easy to use

A frustrated or flustered visitor is never a good thing, and 9 times out of 10 they become a contributor to your site’s bounce rate (also a big negative). Your website must be explicitly user friendly, where content is supported, messages are clearly communicated, calls-to-action are firmly identified, and visitors are guided – subtly – toward a conversion.

  • Help you stand out in the crowd

This one tends to be overlooked sometime, but it’s important to remember that there are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of websites out there that are similar to yours. You need to distinguish your site from them as best you can, ensuring that your visitors are likely to remember you, respect you, and – down the line – even refer you!

Some of this stuff can be very overly-conceptual for many folks, so if it’s above and beyond your comprehension then do trust your website to a digital marketing professional. You’ll be glad you did.

Determining the Best Website Strategy

Every page of every business website has some type of conversion objective, even if that objective is simply to redirect them to the page where you’re making your primary conversion objective accessible.

This last part if important to keep in mind, because it’s a fact that not every visitor to your website will enter it via the landing page. A clear, comprehensive website strategy outlines the paths to conversion from multiple entry points on the website. How they move from their entry points, and what type of information they request on their way to a) buying or b) bouncing is very relevant to take into consideration.

So, we’ll now introduce the 4 types of content found on effective websites;

‘Know’ content – lets them learn about you, your brand, and the products and services that you believe will be of value to them. Always be sure to show yourself to be an authority with your subject matter.

‘Like’ content – helps visitors see who you are, where you stand on certain issues related to your products / services, and what you have to say. It can offer quick looks into your personal life, your personality, and your opinions

‘Trust’ content – to attach credibility, reliability, and trust to you in the eyes of your visitors. Shows you to be an expert with a history of proven results, and conveys an understanding that there’s no risk to choosing you as a retailer or provider.

‘Conversion’ content – utilized to persuade visitors to take specific actions and convert new visitors into clients, customers, subscribers, or any other role in the promotion of your business online

Let’s Get Going

Now you’ll have a more broad-reaching conceptual approach. Remember – don’t rush headlong into anything, think things through and get second opinions along with revisiting your own.

When you understand your website’s function, eliminate distractions, establish multiple different paths to conversion, and apply the 4-type content process highlighted above, you’ll be on the right path for sure. Last but not least, keep in mind that all websites need web hosting, and quite often a web hosting service provider in Canada will offer Internet Marketing services that include optimizing your website. 4GoodHosting certainly does, and you’re encouraged to learn more at www.4goodhosting.com

Web Hosting – Definitely Not “One Size Fits All”

Reading Time: 4 minutes

"Canadian Web Hosting Provider"Putting together a website involves making a whole lot of decisions. There’s design, functionality, content and more that needs to be chosen, and oftentimes making the best decisions there involves consulting with someone who’s more knowledgeable than you are with Internet marketing.

One of the later decisions you’ll need to make – but one that is no less important – is what type of web hosting service will you need. That web hosting is a necessity for your website goes without saying (your site requires it to be accessible on the Web), but understand that most Canadian web hosting service providers will offer a number of different web hosting packages at different price points.

When choosing which one will be best for you, your 3 primary considerations will be:

  • Optimum performance
  • Security
  • Configuration options

All of them coming, however, after you answer some very basic questions – what type of website do you have, what type of purpose(s) will it be serving (and how), and what type of incoming visitor volume do you expect to see for it?

3 To Start With

Generally, web-hosting packages will include one of 3 different types of web hosting. These are:

  • Shared hosting
  • Platform / CMS (content management system) specific hosting
  • VPS (virtual private server) hosting

So what are they, and how do they differ?

Shared Hosting

Shared website hosting in Canada is ideal for small businesses, individual sites, sites that have low traffic volume, and sites that need to be launched as soon as possible. And a big part of why it’s ideal for many people is – quite simply – it’s the most affordable option and you can often secure shared Canadian web hosting for less than $25 a month.

Shared hosting works by the service provider having any number of large, expansive servers where data is stored. With a shared hosting package, you – and many others like you – get a portion of this expansive space. It’s not unlike renting a room in a hotel, you’ve got your own little spot – and so does the fellow next to you.

This option also has a genuine user-friendly appeal, as shared hosting users will typically have their own control panel dashboard where they themselves can make changes to their site and / or its functionality. You can set up email addresses, add users, view site statistics, install software like WordPress or Drupal, and more.

As far as drawbacks, the 2 primary ones would be loading delays for users if the website begins to experience spikes in visitors, and also limited control in regards to supported languages and restricted changes to server configurations. The second part of that can be problematic for custom-coded sites.

CMS-Specific Managed Hosting

CMS-specific web hosting in Canada is best suited for small business sites built with a supported CMS, the most common of these definitely being WordPress. If your site relies heavily on content – and regularly updated content – having a WordPress-based website is preferable, and you’ll get better performance for it by choosing web hosting that’s designed for it.

Your site will load more quickly, images and other media that is incorporated into your text will load and show more quickly for visitors, and overall they’ll have a better and more visually-engaging and / or user friendly experience while visiting your website.

In addition, this type of hosting makes your website easily scalable. This refers to being able to control how much you pay for your hosting service – you only pay for what you need and the service handles any spike in website traffic. Lastly, CMS web hosting is definitely the first choice for developer. This is because it usually features tools for moving their sites between different stages of release – from development, to staging, to production, and so on. The entire process is simplified

The primary downside of CMS-specific managed hosting is – as with shared hosting – you have limited control and may very well struggle to find or be able to use any tools that are not provided via your web host.

VPS Hosting

Private is the key word in Virtual Private Server, as in it’s yours and yours alone! Naturally this makes VPS hosting in Canada the most expensive option of the three here, but if you have a large website or one that offers a SAAS (software-as-a-service), downloadable applications, or is simply a high-volume site, then VPS hosting is very likely the way you’ll want to go.

Think of it as giving your website as much ‘breathing room’ as it needs to run at peak performance no matter what types of strenuous demands are being put on it. You can rest much easier knowing your website will be functioning just as intended, even when large numbers of visitors are on the site!

In addition, you’ve also got the highest level of control and access with VPS hosting, and that’s a real plus for complex websites that are always being re-evaluated for performance and other considerations. You will typically have command-line access to the server, which allows you to install any processes you may need, and this type of hosting also offers extensive scalability. The servers can usually be spun up and down as needed.

Keep in mind though that VPS hosting puts real demands on the Webmaster. Configuring and optimizing your servers – and being aware of when and how often that needs to be done – can be a very time-consuming and intimidating task for those who are not familiar with the ins and outs of website analytics. To put it generally, VPS web hosting packages are often very high-maintenance and as such they’re best value when in the hands of an experienced and technologically savvy Webmaster.

The Right Web Hosting Service, from the Right Web Hosting Provider

Be very inquiring when working with clients in determining their web hosting needs and referring them to a service provider. Start with their objectives, site design, and where they see themselves AND their online identity being in a few years time. After that, the questions will typically be very specific given the type of client and the nature of their business or venture.

There will always be a number of service providers who’ll meet their needs and offer competitive pricing on their web hosting packages, but – again – you want to look for one that has a track record for reliable web hosting to go along with those fair prices. 4goodhosting.com is one such Canadian web hosting provider who can offer right-fit hosting packages for nearly any business or individual and back them with some of the most failsafe web hosting to be found anywhere, from Victoria all the way to Halifax.

Blogging For Beginners Made Easy: How to Get your Blog Up and Running Fast with Unique, Quality Content

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Businessman hand press web blog button icon
The word ‘blog’ is a term that’s a condensed version of ‘web log’, and these days they’re incredibly popular as a means for people to express themselves and share their interests, expertise, or perspective on what’s new in life or what’s happening in the world. You can start by understanding this – setting up a blog isn’t difficult at all, and if you’ve got quality content (writing) and some snappy images to go along with them then it’s equally easy to have people visit your blog regularly. Here’s a few tips and guidelines so that you can get off on the right foot and avoid making the kinds of mistakes that are common for newbie bloggers.

Construction Underway

Any spot that’s located on the World Wide Web will need its own domain and web hosting, so the first thing you’ll need to do for a blog is to register your domain and get yourself an affordable web hosting package. Once you’ve done that, you need to familiarize yourself with a piece of content management software. WordPress is one of the most popular for the fact that it’s really simple to use and most folks can get the hang of it in a day or two. Download it and start installing the plugins and themes you’ll be using.

Now to your content – What do you have to say, and why is it worthwhile sharing it with readers on the web? Maybe you’d like to promote a hobby of yours that you think would be super enjoyable for others to get into to. Maybe you’re a huge sports fan and you want to share your perspective on the big league and its players. Maybe you’ve got an idea that you think can become profitable if you build up the right readership and then attract advertisers.

The possibilities are endless.

Find a Niche

It’s highly unlikely you’re the first one that’s thought of publishing what it is you’ve got in mind. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful with it. Find your niche within that subject matter and you’ll be able to distinguish yourself, and doing so is definitely important.

So, some tips in this regard:

1. Establish your ‘voice’, and make your content stand out

Find a few blogs that are on the same subject, and have a look at the way the blogger writes and organizes the information and layout. Do you like it? Good, take notes of their approach and then think of ways you can incorporate that style into your blog. But once you start writing, try to bend it here and there and add different touches. And you’ll need to write often if you want to have a quality blog that keeps readers coming back, so you’ll have plenty of practice at this.

2. Take a different approach

This is simple enough to understand, so let’s use and example. Let’s say you want to blog on standup paddle boarding. They’ll likely be more than a few blogs on SUP out there that talk about techniques, gear etc etc. You should talk about those aspects too, but how about attaching a GoPro to the front of your paddle board and add a new segment each week about what it’s like to paddle board at “Echo Lake”, for example. It’ll engage readers more, and it’ll give you a reason to go paddle boarding somewhere new each week.

This is just an example, but surely you get the idea.

Back to the Infrastructure

Now that we’ve got you on the right path for writing your blog, we need to get back to the set-up of it. As mentioned, you’ll need a domain and web hosting. Think web hosting is expensive? Think again, it’s absolutely NOT expensive at all and you should be able to find personal web hosting in Canada for less than $30 for a whole year, and many providers offer free blog website domain registration as part of their package. Make sure you go with one that’s very reliable, has a guarantee on uptime at least 99+% of the time and – as mentioned – has fair prices. 4GoodHosting is one of Canada’s best web hosting providers, and you’ll be able to check off all these boxes with them.

Choose a domain that’s easy to remember, not too long, and is a good indicator of what your blog is all about. You can then register it for free with 4GoodHosting and enjoy the affordability and convenience of their personal Canadian web hosting service that’s currently just $2.95 a month! Talk about affordable, and from there you can focus on the enjoyable part of it all – writing your blog and publishing new content regularly!

Have fun with it, and we look forward to seeing what you’ve got to share with the world

Google & Facebook will be Building a Big Trans-Pacific Fiber-Optic Cable

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Map published by Facebook

Google and Facebook are engaging in a partnership to pay for the laying of what will be one of the highest-capacity undersea data cables – piping data in the form of light all the way across the Pacific; bridging Los Angeles & Hong Kong.

This project is the second partnership Facebook has joined in. It is yet another current example recent big business in the submarine-fiber optic cable industry. This internet-centric industry has traditionally been dominated by group of private, and government, carriers.

Companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon operate huge-scale data centers that deliver various internet services to people worldwide. These internet big boys have are quickly reaching a point where their global bandwidth needs are so high that it makes more sense for them to fund cable construction projects directly; rather than to purchase capacity from established carriers.

Previously this year, in May 2016, Facebook announced that teamed up with Microsoft on a high capacity cable across the Atlantic called “MAREA”. This cable will be linking internet backbone hubs in Virginia Beach, and Bilbao, in Spain. Telefonica will be administrating this future transatlantic data line.

Europe and the Asia Pacific region are important markets internet services giants. The MAREA cable will boost bandwidth levels between both companies’ data centers both in Asia and the US.

The submerged fibre line is named the “Pacific Light Cable Network”, named after Pacific Light Data Communications, Inc – the 3rd partner of the project.

Both the MAREA and Pacific Light cable will be built by “TE SubCom”; one of the biggest names in the submarine fibre optic cable industry.

The 120Tbps (Terabits per second) PLCN system will provide greater diversity in transpacific cable routes, as Facebook recently published. “Most Pacific subsea cables go from the United States to Japan, and this new direct route will give us more diversity and resiliency in the Pacific,” Facebook’s article states.

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One difference that PLCN and MAREA have from traditional transoceanic cable systems is they will be interoperable with different networking equipment; rather than being designed to function with specific or proprietary landing-station technologies. Companies will be able to choose what optical equipment best fits their needs best. When better technology become available, the companies involved will be able to change or upgrade that equipment – as better technologies becomes available. Equipment refreshes can occur as optical technology improves.

When equipment can be replaced by better technology at a quicker pace, costs should go down and bandwidth rates should increase more quickly.

Another cable, “FASTER”, is backed by Google and several Asian telecommunications and IT services companies, became operational in early 2016. Yet another big submarine cable project is the “New Cross Pacific Cable System”, which is backed by Microsoft and several Asian telecoms. NCP is expected to light up in 2017.

Also earlier this year; Amazon Web Services made its first direct investment on a submerged cable – helping make the planned “Hawaiki” Submarine Cable project between the US, Australia, and New Zealand possible. Both before-mentioned cables are to be surfacing in Oregon.

High speed optical cable is bringing the world together at the speed of light faster than ever before. At the speed of light, approximately 186,000 miles per second, data can circle the whole world more than 7 times a second.

Due to factors such as this, 4GoodHosting.com intends to continue serving websites all over the world, and reaching a larger, global market of new customers who wish to have their website hosted from Canada. (a most liberal, low-key & relaxed country)

Glorify Your Website (8 Easy Tips)

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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Website security is an everlasting major concern, not just for your website host and you – but especially for your site visitors.

In 2016 malware infections are down about half as previous years. The major reason for this is because the average internet surfer is paying more attention to the sites they visit and what they download on their computers and phones.

A big part of competing in the internet marketplace is proving ‘trust” to visitors. A high-security reputation you’ll capture more customers, leads, and revenue.

Now how can you build confidence for your visitors?

Below are a few easy techniques on you can secure your website and give it the right kind of impression.

Design for a Professional Appearance

Above all, 1st impressions count tons. Use high-quality graphics/images. Make sure an appropriate layout of your webpages, and typography, for your site’s purpose. Don’t clutter your pages with too many sponsored ads and flashy elements. If your website resembles a kid’s art project – then you will most likely not be earning trust for those who open your website.

Also small errors, such as a misspelled word, or a missing or broken image will rapidly diminish your credibility – so be sure to triple-check all content and graphics on your website. Broken frustrate site visitors and make people wonder if you are sometimes maintaining your web pages. To check for broken links, just drop your domain into a online broken link checker.

It important to prove your website represent a real business

On your contact page, include your address & phone number on your contact page. Write short employee profiles on your about page, possible with photos – and display Better Business Bureau (BBB) and maybe also your local Chamber of Commerce insignia’s on your website.

Further explain why you should be trusted

It’s really not enough to simply display “trust seals”. Don’t be shy about letting your site visitors realize that that you have taken much effort in the past to earn their trust. If you have earned it before than plug your special industry awards or positive articles others have written. Display your credentials prominently. Recognize employees on social media for their community service. Are you a member of a respected organization in your field? Bring it up…

Trust Badges

Trust badges doesn’t take much effort; like PayPal’s “verified” (which shows that show that your website is secure). If your website is missing a trust seal, you might be losing about half your prospects. ” When it comes to web hosting and additional security decisions trust badges show that your company partners only with credible industry experts.

Testimonials

A lot of people trust testimonials or social proof, and some brands are missing opportunities to capitalize on their good reputation by not displaying them prominently. When WikiJobs moved its testimonials from the bottom of the page to the top, it saw a dramatic 34 percent increase in conversion rates, based on A/B testing results.

Update Content Regularly


Whether you post new articles every day, twice a week, or bimonthly, stick to a predictable schedule. That way site visitors will see evidence that you are an active business and that others are reading your content (based on your social likes, shares, and comments).

Leverage Relationships

If you have trouble finding time to create newsworthy content, consider inviting guest bloggers — ones who are well-respected by your followers, of course — to pen posts for your blog.
To out-perform your competition, it is critically important to legitimize your website. These tips will help strengthen your reputation as a trustworthy business from the moment a potential customer lands on your site.

Make It Easy to Navigate Your Site

Part of legitimizing your website is making it user friendly. Business to Community (B2C) recommends that you only include the “most important” (or the most heavily trafficked) pages in your permanent navigation bar. Move the less visited links to dropdown menus.

Do you need a SSL for increased website security and customer confidence?

The Art of Emailing Customers

Reading Time: 4 minutes

4goodhosting-blog-emailing-customers

On the internet, email is the standard communication medium. It’s the go-to communication for brands. Email is the most direct channel, it boasts a higher ROI than any other channel and it helps build loyalty and relationships on a much deeper level than any other channel.

Right now, more than half the world is connected to an email account. By the end of 2017, email addresses are expected to increase, to about 5 billion accounts worldwide.

When sending emails to your small business customers, you need an effective strategy.

1. Welcome Email

First impressions are everything. And a welcome email sets the tone for the relationship. So, roll out the red carpet for your customer.

According to Experian, welcome emails generate 4x the open rates and 5x the click rates compared to other bulk promotions.

Moreover, studies found that subscribers who receive a welcome email increase their long-term engagement with a brand by 33%.

Therefore, greet your new customers. Let readers know more about your small business. And tell them what type of emails they will receive in the future.

Write in a conversational tone. A welcome email is like a virtual handshake that accepts a new member to your group. It should be inviting and warm.

Also, consider the timing of your welcome email. It shouldn’t be two weeks after the customer bought your product or signed up for your newsletter.

2. Adoption Email

An adoption email is designed to keep your customers engaged with your products. Once they make a purchase, you want them to actually use it.

Adoption emails can be distributed in a timed sequence or to correspond with specific behaviors or actions taken. Like a good concierge, adoption emails acknowledge where recipients are in a progression, offer suggested solutions, and reaffirm motivations for the original purchase decision.

These type of email campaigns lead to faster adoption of the products or services being offered, greater incremental revenue, and increased customer loyalty.

So, start sending emails with links to video tutorials and how-to guides. And urge customers to contact you if they have any questions or concerns.

3. Thank You Email

Build rapport with your customers. Your team’s ability to make customers feel valued is the difference between a good business and a great one.

68% of clients leave because they perceive the business does not care for them. So, start treating customers more like friends and less like sources of revenue.

Sending a thank you email shows customers you appreciate them. It’s a simple gesture to build a meaningful connection.

Write simple and straightforward. Writing an amazing thank you note doesn’t take long at all, but the impact that it has is huge in today’s digital world.

Don’t assume customers know that you appreciate their business. A thank you email is a reminder that you do. And showing signs of appreciation can certainly drive growth.

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4. Customer Feedback Email

Customer satisfaction is a key factor in maintaining your business. You want buyers happy with your products.
Research shows that a 5% increase in customer retention can boost a company’s profitability by 25%. To maintain more customers, make the shopping experience better.

Use email to gather feedback from your small business consumers. Learn what they liked and disliked about your services.

Collecting customer feedback has to be an integral part of your business process. Getting negative and positive feedbacks are equally important.

Don’t be afraid to receive negative reviews. It will only help your team improve your business operations. So, encourage customers to provide honest feedback.

Depending on your industry, you may want to attach an incentive to your customer feedback email. Offer the customer a small discount for their feedback. Or promise to give them a shout-out on social media.

Improve the customer experience. Ask for feedback.

5. Promotional Email

Persuade customers to spend more. People love hearing about discounts and specials offers from their favorite brands.

For every $1.00 spent on email marketing, the average return is about $40. And customers are far more likely to use that purchasing power if emails contain compelling discounts.

Leverage exclusivity by framing the promotion as a ‘private’ sale. Often times, this type of positioning makes the recipient feel like they’ve specially chosen, which encourages them to take advantage of the special opportunity they’ve been presented with.

The example below stresses the exclusivity of the promotion. Plus, the buyer has only two days to shop.

Don’t water down the effect by sending promotional emails every single day. They should feel special. Also, create clear calls to action, so customers know it’s a promotion.

Highlight the product benefits. Entice customers to buy from your company.

6. Reminder Email

Roughly 65% of online shopping carts are abandoned; that’s a lot of missed sales.

Use email to lure customers back to your site. A gentle nudge may spark a desire to buy a forgotten product or service.

An abandoned shopping cart does not automatically translate to a ‘lost sale,’ because three-fourths of shoppers who have abandoned shopping carts say they plan to return to the retailer’s website or store to make a purchase.
And don’t just email customers about their shopping carts. Remind them of the value. Tell your customers why it’s important that they purchase the product.

For example, your buyer purchases a monthly supply of vitamins. Encourage them to reorder so they don’t miss a dosage.

Email reminders can increase revenue with little investment. Prompt your audience to take action today.

7. Educational Email

Always make an effort to educate your customers. It’s an effective tool to ensure your customers remain engaged.
Relevant content informs the customer about topics important to them.

Efforts to enhance customers’ knowledge and provide them with the skills and abilities to use critical information can help companies differentiate their service offerings and provide a strong foundation on which to build trusting relationships with customers.

But don’t disguise marketing materials as educational. Marketing ploys can quickly turn your customers away.
Instead, teach consumers something about the industry. Or even show them new ways to use your product.

Moreover, educated customers make the best brand ambassadors. With their newfound information, they will be more willing to share your brand with others. Ignorance doesn’t result in confident customers. So, strive to keep your customers informed.

Summary:

Email helps facilitate the customer relationships. Your team has the opportunity to talk directly with the buyer. Therefore, it’s vital to make every email account.

Send a welcome message to introduce your brand. Thank customers for their purchases. Send promotional discounts. And educate the buyer about your product.

Initiate communication. Build relationships with email.

All our Canadian web hosting plans come with fell email capability.

United States/Canada to cede internet oversight to emerging UN global cabal

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The name of the organization with seen to remain the same, “ICANN”, but the people is power over the organization is about to shift, without your vote, Oct 1st to an assemblage of the world body politic, mostly compose of despots and dictators. The effect of this is still yet to be seen, but one key person involved in today’s political fray, presidential candidate Donald Trump, opposed the lackluster plan.

Basically, the current domain name system as you have grown to know, and trust, is about to go under changes that could easily lead to intimidation and censorship against free speech. Protection of grassroots political speech is also at risk. The world can go on with less adult websites, but the world simply won’t be as good or nice of a place without freedom of speech in other regards. The founders of America frequently stated that the citizenry must always be vigilant and jealously guard their rights and freedoms. This is the attitude now on the podium of Donald Trump; the only candidate opposed to the plan to hand over control of the internet to a conflicted party of those seeking ever more power in the world.

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is currently conducting verbal opposition to the semi-secretively planned transition of oversight of the internet’s domain name system (DNS) management from the US-based governance to the UN, a global organization of political stakeholders from around the world; which could abrogate and hand-over control of the internet itself to authoritarian regimes such as China and Saudi Arabia and others; foreseeably threatening online freedom. Internet DNS is basically a directory for internet-connected devices that helps translate domain names to numerical IP addresses.

He strongly contends that the US Congress should act swiftly block the handover, scheduled to occur next week on Oct. 1 2016, or as his campaign policy director Stephen Miller stated “internet freedom will be lost for good, since there will be no way to make it great again once it is lost.”

The ‘handover’ of the internet DNS was proposed in March 2014, implying the transfer of oversight from the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and is soon expected to fully occur; unless Congress now acts quick and votes to block the move. Recently the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) finally signed off on the agreement.

Some congressional negotiators are currently working to finalize an agreement on a new spending package, due September 30th , allegedly containing a provision to delay the transition.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton supports the Obama administration’s planned transition to give the UN control over everyone’s domain names. If that happens, a highly entrenched foreign political power would have control if anyone’s domain expires earlier than expected, without option to renew – and perhaps even with more authoritarian controls.

This is the workings of the current government and system that everyone worldwide is paying taxes in support of. Please share this article and/or speak your mind directly with others who should be concerned as well.

This page explains domain purchasing today.

BREAKING NEWS: The Link Tax is Officially on its Way

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Currently, the European Union has some of the worst copyright laws in the world. If left unopposed, this could quickly leak over into Canada too.

The new proposals include the unprecedented new “Link Tax” for publishing giants, allowing them to charge fees for reposting links that contain 100 character snippets of “copyrighted” text.

On September 14th, 2016 the EU Commission presented these new rule proposals to the European Parliament. Earlier leaks hinted the rules were worse than originally feared, and the recent announcement proved it. Not only Europeans, but everyone simply has to help stop this now.

Despite online opposition leading up to this point from over 100,000 Internet users, and many dozens of civil society groups, the EU Commission has charged full force ahead with its’ abusive anti-free-speech and anti-free-association plan.

We must demand that our so called “decision-makers” and the entirety of the government absolutely reject such crazy Link Tax proposals, along with any other forthcoming disastrous copyright measures. We must all speak out now or the internet as we know it will be much more corporate and state, rather than grassroots controlled.

In addition, the EU Commission’s new rule proposals include invasive and expensive methods for 1) monitoring and 2) “filtering” user content. In other words, the censoring of content and creativity online.

In more detail:

The “Court of [In]Justice” of the European Union has ruled that it can now be illegal for websites merely to *link* to copyrighted content – such as news articles. Again, we are talking about the “mere act of linking” (or perhaps even just printing a link) to copyrighted content can in and of itself be a breach of copyright.

Today’s decision went against the previously published advice of the CJEU’s own Advocate General, who stated earlier this year that the simple act of linking should never be made illegal.

Although the CJEU created a narrow exception where links are not posted for profit, the sweeping ruling will affect any commercial enterprise, even news startups and small-audience hobby bloggers, that share links with their readers, especially those who monetize their websites by selling advertisements.

The ruling will be directly binding on the 28 EU member nations, but experts have warned it will also have a worrying global impact, given that it affects any link that is accessible within the European Union.

The CJEU proclamation states that: “when hyperlinks are posted for profit, it may be expected that the person who posted such a link should carry out the checks necessary to ensure that the work concerned is not illegally published.”

This certainly places an unduly heavy burden on small businesses and bloggers who may not have the resources or the expertise to check the legality of every link they share.

Hobby bloggers who earn even a modest income from their work, such as by having ads on their blog, will now be legally responsible for ascertaining the copyright status of every item of external content they link to (music on Vimeo, photos on Flickr, etc.).

Small businesses which use Facebook for promotion will now need to check the copyright status of everything they share.

Twitter Direct Messages; now similar to chatting

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Twitter is now adding ‘read receipts’, typing indicators, and automatic web-link previews to its “direct messages” giving it chat-like functionality. These new dynamic Twitter Direct Messages allow you to see who is reading and responding to your messages.

 

Below is a recent tweet from Twitter itself:

 
New! Direct Messages are more dynamic than ever with read receipts, typing indicators, and web link previews. pic.twitter.com/VEU92V5Gqj
— Twitter (@twitter) September 8, 2016

Over the years that Twitter has been mainstream, the “tweet” has morphed from a simple 140-character text message now beholden to more creative expression featuring: hashtags, images/photos, videos, vines, and now more. Twitter has added the ability to poll your community, react quickly and cleverly with GIFs, and share and enjoy Periscope broadcasts in Tweets.

You can now do a lot in a Tweet. In the coming months Twitter will be making changes to simplify tweets including what counts towards the 140 character limit. For example, @names in replies and media attachments (like photos, videos, & polls) will no longer use up valuable characters.

Here’s a summary of planned changes:

· Replies: When replying to a Tweet, @names will no longer count toward the 140-character count. This will make having conversations on Twitter easier and more straightforward, no more penny-pinching your words to ensure they reach the whole group.

· Media attachments: When you add attachments like photos, GIFs, videos, polls, or Quote Tweets, that media will no longer count as characters within your Tweet. More room for words!

· Retweet and Quote Tweet yourself: We’ll be enabling the Retweet button on your own Tweets, so you can easily Retweet or Quote Tweet yourself when you want to share a new reflection or feel like a really good one went unnoticed.

· Goodbye”.@: These changes will help simplify the rules around Tweets that start with a username. New Tweets that begin with a username will reach all your followers. (That means you’ll no longer have to use the ”.@” convention, which people currently use to broadcast Tweets broadly.) If you want a reply to be seen by all your followers, you will be able to Re-tweet it to signal that you intend for it to be viewed more broadly.

Twitter will be making these and possibly more changes over the coming months. The twitter updates now in progress will have a significant impact on the art of tweeting. Twitter will be endlessly exploring ways to make tweeting easier and more content rich, somehow without excessively compromising the unique brevity that makes Twitter perhaps the very best place for live commentary, connections, and now even conversations.

Thank you for reading over the 4GoodHosting.com blog.