Did you know that HostUtopia offers 24/7/365 customer support via email and phone? Well, we do! If you need help with your site, here is all the information you should ever need.

Start by checking out our extensive selection of Online Tutorials and Manuals.

If you can’t find what you are looking for and still need help, use the following information to get in direct contact with one of our Customer Support Technicians:

For the more adventurous and knowledge thirsty individual, we offer the following recommended reading:

• HTML, XHTML and CSS Visual Quickstart Guide
• PHP and MySQL Visual QuickPro Guide
• Ruby On Rails

We also recommend several books on WordPress, but will post these recommendations at a later time. WordPress 2.7 is scheduled for release in December and will be a major revision. Several publishers have updated manuals in the works and we will make recommendations after having a chance to review them.

What is Phishing?

“Phishing” is when criminals use email, phone and online scams to purposefully and maliciously trick people into sharing information such as passwords, Social Security numbers, account and credit card details. Phishing is Phraud and it is a crime.

Defend Yourself

Educate yourself, your family, and if applicable, your co-workers, clients and business partners on what Information Theft is, and what you can do to protect yourself. No legitimate business or government agency will ever ask for personal information via email or phone unless you initiate the contact. If you receive such a request, DON’T RESPOND.

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that HostUtopia offers free, online tutorials? Well, we do!

We have both video and written online tutorials to help you do it yourself. Whether you are looking to buff up on something specific or just getting started with a new project, we’ve got something for everyone.

ONLINE VIDEO TUTORIALS

ONLINE MANUALS

cPanel User Manual

Check out these topics when you have a moment. You might just learn something that could save you time and money!

We are updating the Resources Section on our website and plan to add a page dedicated to local web designers in the Vancouver area. If you are a web designer servicing the Vancouver area please complete the following form for consideration of inclusion in the special section. Please pass this onto anyone you feel may be interested.

WP Contact Forms by MHS

With a crisp chill and the hint of fireplace smoke in the air, this year’s Holiday Season will be upon us sooner than we think. Whether you have a direct sale eCommerce site or a brochure style site advertising your company’s offerings, taking a few moments now to contemplate a plan can pay big dividends. In the spirit of giving, we now present ten tips from our Marketing Department to start you thinking about your Holiday Strategy:

1. Deck The Halls

Getting your website in the spirit of the Season can go a long way in keeping shoppers at your site. There’s nothing that says “Shop Here!” like a few well placed decorations on your home page. Go for Warm, Friendly and Inviting.

2. Test your Marketing Ideas Now

Whatever you are thinking of doing to market your site in the run-up to the Holidays, perform some small-scale tests as soon as possible and monitor the results. Find what works best, and refine it. If search engines are important for your traffic, make sure you put extra effort into your optimization in plenty of time.

3. Cater for Last Minute Shoppers

Christmas shoppers fall into two camps: those who buy early and those who buy later, which is generally after the 20th of December. Make clear the last day customers can order for Christmas delivery. Ideally, place this deadline at the top and bottom of every web page.

4. Make Sure you can Handle the Extra Traffic

If there is anything worse than having no orders; it’s the frustration of winning the business, then going out of stock. Problems like this produce unhappy customers who won’t be coming back. eCommerce sites typically see a 30% rise in orders in the holiday period. The key thing is to make sure all parts of the business can cope with any increase.

5. Help Customers who are in a Rush

Most online shoppers, and particularly Christmas ones, are in a hurry, so you must have a powerful search capability. This should be able to match both by category and by price range. If you don’t already offer expedited shipping, you may want to consider it.

6. Maximize Sales with Upselling

Many gifts don’t stand-alone; they need other items to go with them. What’s the use of a Tickle Me Elmo without batteries, or a Wii without games? In the rush of Christmas shopping it’s easy to forget, so explicitly offer related items with your products wherever relevant. You might also suggest other similar gifts to buy, as people buying presents can be susceptible to offers like ‘buy two and get one free’.

7. Use Seasonal Promotions

Find creative ideas to support the season of good cheer. If this approach is good enough for Google, it’s good enough for others too. Put likely presents and links to gift packs on your home page, and stock Christmas-themed items. Depending on what you sell, an email or letter to past customers with a special holiday offer might produce a good result.

8. Advertise January Sales

Make sure that you have planned your January sales well ahead of time, including working out the appropriate delivery dates. Give your ‘valued shoppers’ who held off at Christmas a chance to clear all that dead stock for you.

9. Proof Read and Solicit Outside Opinion

Over time, simple mistakes can become easy to overlook. Take the time to painstakingly check every single page for accuracy. Try asking friends and relatives for constructive critique to get fresh eyes on your site. Ask them to answer questions like ‘Does it read well’, ‘Is it easy to navigate’, ‘Were you able to find items you were looking for’, etc..

10. Wrap it Up

Another great service offering for eCommerce sites is gift-wrapping. Although the additional overhead requirement can make this option difficult for some, it can provide a great opportunity to increase margins. Maybe something to consider for next year….

Need Christmas Icons for your website? Click Here to auto search Google.

~Cheers!

Find out more about HU Blogging Tools!

What’s in a Blog?

“Blog” is an abbreviated version of “weblog” which is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is a frequently updated, personal website featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.

Many blogs focus on a particular topic, such as web design, home staging, sports, or mobile technology. Some are more eclectic, presenting links to all types of other sites. Others are more like personal journals, presenting the author’s daily life and thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »

You may have heard about some recent high profile email accounts that were broken into by hackers. Although the term ‘hacker’ generally denotes a high level of computer expertise, the recent break-ins were about as low tech as it gets, but incredibly effective nonetheless.

HOW IT HAPPENS

When signing up for a new online email account, you are asked a series of questions during the process. One piece of information requested is the ‘Secret Security Question’, which is used to validate who you are in case of a required password reset. Generally, there are some pre-written questions to choose from such as “Your Mother’s Maiden Name”, “Where were you born”, “What High School did you attend”, etc… If you ever need to reset your password for any reason, you simply fill out a web form, answer the question correctly and the email account password is then reset. Read the rest of this entry »

You ask for it, you got it!

Welcome to the HostUtopia ToolBox!

This incredible collection of add-on and stand-alone applications gives you the flexibility to take your webspace to the next level. Have you ever wanted to run a blog? A ListServ? Want to place a poll or guest book on your site? The HU ToolBox contains tools to do all this and more. Read the rest of this entry »

“Having a website is like printing a brochure; but if you don’t buy stamps and mail the brochure, nobody will see it.” ~ Danonymous

Many small-business owners are facing the fact that simply having a web site is not enough anymore. They need a web site that people can find. Consumers are increasingly using search engines to locate businesses which means a company’s bottom line may depend on landing a premium spot on search result pages.

Studies show that few people dig more than three pages, and there’s only so much room at the top. Read the rest of this entry »