In under a year’s time, Magento, an open-source eCommerce platform, has become the top-searched eCommerce system online, overtaking popular platforms such as osCommerce and Zen Cart. Not only has Magento impressed business owners, but developers are singing its praises as well. But what’s so great about Magento, and how did it push aside its competitors so quickly? We at The Website Owner’s Manual are here to give you the scoop on Magento, and will help you decide if this popular eCommerce platform is right for your business or development undertaking. For Businesses Magento is open-source,  so it’s FREE to download (individual support comes at a price, but the online support forum is free to use)! The search engine optimization (SEO) features are top-of-the-line in comparison to other platforms.  For example,  Magneto allows merchants to create their own URLs for products on the administrator control panel. Most platforms create a product URL upon creation, which are often times unreadable for the search engines. Google Analytics,  a free tool that allows in-depth tracking of website statistics,  comes integrated with... (more...)

Ten Benefits of Online Office Collaboration 1. Save Money Cloud computing can be a very cost effective way of reducing costs especially in the current financial climate. Yes you can reduce printing costs, remove postage costs and generally work quicker and more efficiently but most importantly, by working together you can reduce mistakes, and mistakes can be very expensive. 2. Many of the IT Requirements You Need are Outsourced There is no need to invest in a complicated IT infrastructure as all you need is a PC or Mac and an Internet connection. The technical equipment is hosted in the cloud, usually with a comprehensive suite of online office programs. 3. Fewer Items to Clutter Up Your InboxAll your project information is stored in one place for you to access when needed. You can view your emails and important documents in an online environment. 4. Create Confidence Through Transparency By publishing information online and sharing it with colleagues, contacts and clients you include the people        that need to contribute on the project and make everybody’s lives a lot easier by keeping everyone in the loop. 5. Clients... (more...)

1. Conceptualize an idea. Think what you like your future website to be. What audience will you cater? Everything you do must redound to their fulfillment. They will be visiting to get what they need. Be sure that their needs are answered. That way they will be satisfied and will keep coming for more. Not only that, they can recommend your site to their friends if they find it functional and nice. 2. Find a host. Having a host is not that expensive. In fact you can get one at $70 for two years. However, if you don want to spend a single penny, there are lots of sites that are hosting for free. The only consideration is that their banner must be placed in your site. That for one is a great deal, isn’t it? Check with the host on how you can subscribe domain names (www.yourname.com). 3. Start with your first page. Do the layout and design your first page. It will be easier and better if you have basic knowledge in HTML. Though there are hundreds of What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editors, but you will create a better site using HTML. There are tutorial sections available online. Take advantage on them and apply your knowledge to the web design you are creating. Software to... (more...)

Jon Orana is a Calgary Internet Marketing coach and consultant. For more client attraction tips, visit www.jonorana.com. ========= You already know once you identify the best keywords and keyword phrases relating to your business, it’s important to use them in your promotional and marketing activities as well as on your website itself.  There are a number of relatively simple ways to do this. First, you can write articles about topics relating to your business (making sure to include the appropriate keyword phrases within the article text), and submit them to publication directories like Ezine Articles (www.ezinearticles.com) and GoArticles (www.goarticles.com).  This can be a great way to get additional exposure for your website, because these kinds of websites get very large amounts of traffic every day. Be careful, though.  If you’ve already published an article on your own website, you shouldn’t spend any time submitting the same article to a publication directory.  Internet search engines ignore “duplicate content” from or linked to a particular website.  You can always rewrite, modify or update your previously-published... (more...)

In the distant past, all business transactions were conducted face-to-face, with a buyer meeting a seller to view the item being sold. Each transaction took a long time to be carried out as everything had to be done in person. Now, huge volumes of business transactions are conducted each minute across the globe. This is largely thanks to technological developments that supply information to be transferred nearly in a matter of seconds. The increase in business transactions has invariably led to a rise in the volume of data. While some data is not kept, most of it is stored for inner, legal and financial documentation. Where does all this data go? Some of it remains within the business itself, while a large part of it is stored on the internet using the latest technology. The exchange and storage of data and files using the Internet is mainly done using File Transfer Protocol, or FTP space and FTP storage services, which are accessed using a username and password. Transferum offers FTP services to clients who want to benefit from the many advantages offered by FTP space and FTP storage. Among the services provided by Transferum is FTP Server hosting, which has many advantages including... (more...)