http://www.solstice-it.com/blog a web design and hosting company Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:41:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en What are they, and how can I use them? An RSS feed (it stands for Really Simple Syndication) is basically a live update from a website.  There are two ways to use RSS feeds. You can supply a feed from your website for anyone who might be interested, and you can ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/20 A common question from local clients is, can I get a grant to help with the cost of my website? In Northern Ireland there are some possibilities, but it's best to first understand that economic development agencies want to spend taxpayer's (thats you and me!) money wisely. Broadly,  if you are simply asking, "can ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/19 Fact: content is the most important thing about your website. What is meant by "content"? Everything on the site that a person browsing your site can see and read - all the words, the images, the titles, and the navigation links.   Overview People (hopefully your customers) won't be interested in your site unless the ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/18 Anyone who has a business website naturally wants to get more revenue from it. That means having people find it from google and yahoo searches. So of course, it's desirable to rank higher for the search phrases relevant to you. That means it can be financially viable to spend money to "optimise" ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/17 In November 2007 BT launched a major online area which I think will be an important asset for businesses http://blog.bttradespace.com/tips-and-tricks/create-a-community-for-your-bu.php   If you are interested in marketing online, this is the sort of thing you need to get involved in - for 2 reasons: As a direct marketplace - this is somehwere to ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/16 If you have a website and more than one domain name for that website, there are some important issues that need managed. If you don't, it can mess up your search engine ranking. How will it mess me up - why should I be concerned about this? If you have lots of ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/15 Introduction  Email can be a very useful tool for marketing to your existing customers and new ones. Its quick and theres no delivery costs. In fact it can be one of the cheapest and easiest forms of marketing there is. There are different ways to do it, ranging from your desktop email client, ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/14 What ownership rights does a customer have over their website. IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) of a website is not quite as  straightforward as you might imagine! There are 2 main areas to consider: Site Content This is covered by copyright law. Copyright is automatic in the UK. Unlike some other forms of intellectual property right, ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/21 Its important to keep your website content up to date. You need to edit it, add to it and constantly review it. Why should you do this? New clients will notice if dates on the site are old, or if there is irrelevant information. Fresh content rightly gives the impression that ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/13 This post is all about taking online payments from customers. This is an area which can cause a lot of confusion, so I hope to simply things a bit. There are two different starting points: You currently can process credit card transactions - you have a "merchant account" and a PDQ machine. You havent ... http://www.solstice-it.com/blog/archives/12