alternet solutions - weblog

Old Buckenham came to Alternet Solutions via recommendation from an existing client. We redesigned Old Buckenham Airfield website and we created a separate website for the Airshow for 2008. In the months leading up to the Airshow the website attracted hundreds of visitors and in the month of the Air show (June 08) it attracted several thousand unique visitors. Old Buckenham Airfield is an established organisation managed by highly experienced people so whilst we do not try to take credit for their own business and marketing abilities, the owners confirmed to us that the website was an incredible success that provided people from all over the world with information leading up to the event and was therefore a major success.

We have updated the website to provide a photo gallery and made available the DVD of the Airshow and we look forward to reworking the website for 2009. If you would like to view the website we designed you can do so here.

As a small Company it is always good to hear that we’ve helped clients in some way to become a successful and thriving business whether they were a new business or existing businesses looking to reach new audiences. Mulberry Days is owned and managed by Tina Bowden who worked previously as a registrar for Norfolk Council. She saw an opportunity to offer Civil Ceremonies from Baby naming to weddings blessings and funerals and grabbed it with both hands. Tina asked Alternet Solutions to build her website which gave her an initial platform to get her business started and 18 months later she has a thriving business and has taken on additional staff to help cope with the demand for her services. Tina has performed wedding ceremonies on a beach in Egypt and on the London Eye but she has also performed her ceremonies in more down to earth places all across the UK.

Whilst Tina’s own business savvy has earned her the majority of her sucess the website played a fundamental role in the ongoing development and is proof of the power of the web.

Alternet Solutions can register domain names for you and we have some very good prices too. I am amazed at the prices some of my clients have been charged by other hosting companies or registrars and yet it’s the same old thing, people don’t know any better. Search engine competition for anything web related is intense and people only tend to look at the first few results. I’ve found some clients who moved to Alternet Solutions web hosting were paying £25 + VAT per year for a co.uk domain name. Our co.uk price, thanks to our web hosting provider is just £6.09 for two years and a .com is only £9.39 per year.

What’s more some hosts charge a years registration to “Release” the domain if you decide to move it. Now I’ve come across several that do not charge, some most certainly do and my personal opinion is that it’s wrong. They call it “Admin” but in fact it’s just another years registration in most cases. Alternet Solutions do not charge to release your domain name should you ever choose to move on.

Just like e-commerce, your hosting service comes with easy to install content management systems which include, Joomla, Mambo or Drupal. A content management system allows you to easily manage your own website and whilst you will need some technical knowledge to to customise it, installation is automated so you can be set up very quickly. In some cases you can get free templates.

The Google XML Sitemap is a file which contains a list of all of your website pages and helps Google to index the website better.

Each hosting package through Alternet Solutions has a sitemap generator included and all you need to do is click the button. Your control panel can also automatically submit the sitemap to Google or you can submit it yourself using Google’s webmaster tools.

There are hundreds of companies and individuals offering web hosting services and choosing such a service when you don’t know what you need can be confusing. What is Data Transfer and how much do I need? What about MySQL databases? Mail boxes, web space and everything else!

I feel that some Companies make the process unnecessarily complicated with their “add-ons”. They tell you it’s only £1.99 per month which sounds great until you realise that you need this and that before you actually get a worthwhile service.

For that reason I like to think Alternet Solutions makes it straight forward because we only offer three packages and the lowest cost package at £49.99 suits most people particularly if just starting out in business. We provide enough functionality to get you started which includes plenty of space to store your website, 5 email addresses and all packages come with amazing features such as free blog software, forums, content management systems and much much more.

We are resellers of a larger web hosting company which allows us to keep our costs down. The best part of the service is that you don’t have to submit a ticket and wait for a response within 24 hours. You can call me (Peter) direct on 01953 859887 or if you prefer you can send me an email using the company contact form (I don’t provide email on the website to avoid spam).

Over the past two months or so Alternet Solutions has been designing and creating a new wedding directory to help people getting married to plan their wedding by bringing together various businesses offering wedding related services.

The directory is free to use for the bride and groom and the website does not receive commissions. Wedding businesses ranging from wedding cake makers, wedding planners, to guest transportation, horse and carriages as well as wedding venues and honeymoons are included; infact there are currently 55 categories to choose from.

Bridengroom more than a wedding directory - it is a community containing a forum section and an online magazine containing articles from real bride stories to articles with useful advice from choosing a ring and alternative wedding services.

Bridengroom is a new wedding directory but the advertising strategy implemented by the business means it will grow quickly over the next year. Please visit the website to read more and join the community.

Starting your own e-commerce business is very easy to do. Alternet Solutions offers four shopping carts with every hosting package and these are - ZenCart, osCommerce, Cubecart and AgoraCart. All you need is a domain name which costs as little as £6.09 for two years and a web hosting package which starts at £49.99.

No matter what your circumstances, if you would like to start your own online business and avoid spending thousands on a custom made e-commerce store then sign up today to get started. If you have no web experience and don’t know where to start then we will install your shopping cart for you.

Call us on 01953 859887 today to discuss.