It is hard to any longer deny the importance of blogging, and its offspring, microblogging ( also known as Twittering - www.twitter.com ).   Currently, 96.6 million US Internet users read a blog at least once per month, representing 48.5% of the Internet population. By 2013, 128.2 million people, or 58% of all US users, will take part.   The numbers of bloggers is also rising. In 2009, 27.9 million US Internet users have a blog they update at least once per month, representing 14% of the Internet population. By 2013, 37.6 million will update their blogs at least monthly.

To order your website with WebsiteForge please go to http://www.websiteforge.com/website-design-prices.html or the page "Prices & Features" and select the package you want by selecting the "BUY NOW" button. (It's best to use Microsoft Internet Explorer to do this with. As of this date 5-11-2009 we are not fully compatible with MAC but over the next few months we should be. )   Fill out the information on the following pages and sign the receipt. You will be asked if you would like to continue into the Member's Area, if you do you will see the tools we use on the back-end to build your site. Please keep in mind there is nothing for you to do in there, as we design and set-up the entire site for you initially. You will see several messages, just ignore them, they are for the Project Manager. You can logout of that area once you've gone there.   Within 24-48 business hours our Project Head Kevin Ledezma (x203) or his Assistant Jeri (x207) will contact you to answer any questions you may have and to assign your Project Manager & Team. If you feel your project is not moving in the direction it should or if you have any issues with your Project Team please notify Kevin or Cindy (Assistant Project Head x 214) as soon as possible so he can make sure you remain one of our many satisfied clients.   If you are paying by check, once you get to the credit card information page please exit out of the screen and fax a copy of your check to 517-338-5064 made payable to WEBSITE FORGE LLC.   If paying by Paypal, on once you get to the credit card information page please exit out of the screen and click on this link https://secure.wf-api.com/support.websiteforge.com/29.html  enter your payment reason as "Just purchased site and wanted to use Paypal". Give us your URL name as well.   It is important to have clear communication with the Project Manager. Typically we can have your design ready in 2-3 weeks with good communication from both parties. Once the design is ready we enter all your content and set-up your site which takes about 1 week for an Informational site and 2 weeks for an E-Commerce site. (3-6 weeks total) You should have your first draft design in 3-5 business days after the Project Manager collects your design specifications. Once you view it you can Reject it or Change it as many times as you want until you Accept it. We give you unlimited revisions on the design so you'll always be 100% satisfied.   If you have any questions, please call or e-mail me.   Thanks,   Douglas Marks Website Marketing Consultant E-mail - dougmarks@websiteforge.com Business - (888) 558.2446 Ext. 208 Fax - (517) 338-5064 Business Hours: (Monday - Friday) 10 AM - 6 PM Eastern Standard Time  

Remote Hands Editing is for anything you need done... just give it to us and we will do it for you. Remote Hands includes ROLLOVER MINUTES so you can accumulate the time and never lose it and also includes CASH-IN VALUE towards other services like a new design, flash, graphics if you don't use the time for editing.     Our typical turn-around time is 24-48 business hours for editing.   For more information about Remote Hands please call me.     Douglas A. Marks Website Marketing Consultant Business - (888) 558.2446 Ext. 208    

Four Easy Steps to a Professional Website   WebsiteForge Makes Being On The Internet Easy & Affordable! It's As Simple As 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. Live!   Step One: Purchase Within 24-48 business hours after you have purchased your website a Web Coordinator will contact you and send login and password information to your website membership area and the Project Management System.   You will be able to select a Temporary Design to use as a COMING SOON site. Once your Custom Graphic Website is Designed we will swap it out.   Step Two: Gather Text and Images Your Project Manager & Web Coordinator will help you to gather the information needed to complete your site. You will be given all the time you need to submit all text, images, music, etc. that you would like to include in your website. These items will be submitted through our Project Management System.   Step Three: Development Once WebsiteForge has all of the information needed to complete your website the Project Manager & Web Coordinator can quickly have your website live. Most websites can be completed in just 2-6 weeks.   Step Four: Publish Live When your Project Manager & Web Coordinator has completed your website it will be published live on the internet. You can also have a "COMING SOON" site prior to your site being completed and you can start using your e-mail account right away.

  I got an email today from Alex who is looking at having a professional web site design created.   This is what he said...   "I had a website and created it myself using a template but hosted by a company that got very little response and few orders of silver jewelry, following all the rules that you should. I used citytymax.com, a stand alone site with out blogs and things to direct clients to the site...very disappointing."   Unfortunately this happens all the time when you use these free or low cost tools to build a website yourself. The underlying problem is they are not using Search Engine Optimized Coding that will allow you to be found higher in the Search Engines and thus never found. No one is going to look 1,423 pages deep in the listing for you.   Read my Blog on Why Hire A Professional Web Site Designer by clicking on the following link http://www.websiteforge.com/48.html?m20:post=why-hire-a-professional-web-site-designer

Website Hosting vs Managed Services   Hi Everyone,   I have to say... there is a lot of confusion about Hosting vs Managed Services which is what WebsiteForge offers and others do not.   Hosting of a website is no more than providing space for your website to reside. It also only allows so much space and traffic to that space which is called Bandwidth. Typically if you go over the alloted Bandwidth limit you are charged more money just like cellphone service otherwise your site can not be viewed.   Some hosting companies provide other services like Backup Services. Backing up your website is always recommended so you don't lose your data. Hosting companies differ, some only allow you to do the backup and it's not automatic, while others will automatically backup your site every 7 or 30 days or some set period of time.   Website Hosting can run anywhere from $4.95 - $10K a month or more depending on the services you purchase.   There is also a lot of confusion so always ask the company that is doing the hosting, "What is included in this price"?   With WebsiteForge we provide the following Managed Services including Hosting http://www.websiteforge.com/48.html?m20:cat=managed-services-hosting.   Managed Services, Support & Hosting   Includes 1/HR Month of Remote Hands. Anything you need done just give it to us and we will do it for you. Remote Hands includes ROLLOVER MINUTES so you can accumulate the time and never lose it and includes CASH-IN VALUE towards other services like a new design, flash, graphics. etc.   Managed Services - Fortune 100 Hosting Platform   Seven Clustered Redundant Servers - You don't have to worry about a server failure. Seven Redundant servers mean that even if one fails the other servers will pick up the slack and make sure your site continues to run.   Every 4 Hours Automatic Backups on all 7 servers along with a copy of the Backup stored at a secondary location for extra security and peace of mind you'll never lose your data.   Security - Locked Down Code Hacker Prevention System w/5 Levels of Security. No other hosting company on the market offers this feature.   Five Tier-1 OC-12 Backbone Connections with Unlimited Bandwidth - It's like recruiting the "Fantastic Five" of internet connectivity. Think of five HUGE pipelines provided by SBC, Time Warner, UUNet, Quest, and Sprint. These are the companies that will connect your customers to your web site 24/7/365   Third Party Performance Monitoring - We pay professional monitoring companies to have your web site monitored every 5 minutes to make sure things are always running smoothly. Monitoring is done from several locations across the globe.   On Site Technicians - Our hardware is maintained by on-site technicians that are there 24/7/365 to make sure any hardware repairs are done immediately. Of course you won't notice because our triple redundant servers will keep your site running.   High Security Data Center - Our data center is locked down with key code and hand scanner security access. Your data is completely safe!   Hardened Linux Operating Systems -  It's simply a fact of life that Windows systems are a constant target for hackers, nasty worms and viruses. We rely on hardened Linux based servers to provide you the very best reliability available   Customer Support M-F 9AM-7PM EST - Online & Phone Support provided to any any questions you may have.   Technical Support 24/7/365 - With WebsiteForge, you don't have to worry about technical details.We manage the hosting for you without costly hourly or per-incident charges.   Unlimited Software Updates & Upgrades - Over 300 Updates & Upgrades every year as WebsiteForge invest over $200,000 back into the system on such improvements as; hand-held devices, browser & system compatibility issues, additional functionality, content management tool updates and features, new tools and software, etc.   Unlimited Bandwidth & Data Transfer - Never have to worry about having your servers crash due to traffic limits.    Unlimited Disc Space Storage - Store unlimited amounts of data on your site, including, pages, text, video, audio, products, etc.   Much More!   E-Mail Solution    50 POP 3 E-Mail Accounts with 30M of storage each. Spam Control Virus Scanning Online Webmail Access Grey Listing   EV 256 Bit SSL Security Certificate   Renewal Included in the Monthly Managed Services Fee. Extended Validation SSL with 256 Bit Encryption. This service exceed New Standards places by all the Credit Card Companys this year.   Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Hard Coded   WebsiteForge is the only website design company that has this unique feature. Your site will have META TAGS on every page and product on your website. Your site will also be Search Engine Friendly (SEF), that allows the Search Engines to find every single word, product and service on your site. But the KEY FEATURE is our Hard Coded SEO Software on your site that is set up like the Search Engines want to see it. The same Coding sites like E-Bay and Amazon have, the kind of programming that would cost $10,000-$60,000 for you to do if you hired an SEO Expert to do it. This software also includes an admin area where you can manage your own SEO campaign with out the expensive cost of SEO or a PPC campaign like Google Adwords.   Unlimited Support   Training Webinars Online Documentation & Support Help File Video Tutorials Customer Support M-F 9AM-7PM EST - Online & Phone Support provided to any any questions you may have. Technical Support 24/7/365 - With WebsiteForge, you don't have to worry about technical details.We manage the hosting for you without costly hourly or per-incident charges. Remote Hands - 1/hr/mo x 12/hr/yr of anything you need done to the site, rolled over if you don't use the time and you can cash unused time towards a new design, additional graphics, flash, etc. (Valued at $600/yr)   Site Coming Soon Page   Display a Site Coming Soon Page until site is ready to launch.   Content Management Tool    You have the ability to create unlimited content pages upon completion of our online & phone training webinar, or view our online video library at your own pace.   Domain Name   FREE Domain Name Web URL Address; yourbusinessname.com   Website Hit Statistic Tool   Professional 20 page report detailing who found your site, where they came from and where did they go.   Create Unlimited Forms   Create custom forms Information can be stored onsite and downloaded into an Excel Spreadsheet for database management   Newsletter Sign-Up & Creation Tool   Collect vital information Create custom Newsletters Create a huge database of potential customers   Mass E-Mail Marketing Tool   Collect E-Mail addresses and information Market to new and potential customers   Pop-Up Marketing Tool   Create your own Pop-Up messages on your site. Great for promoting a sales campaign or gathering e-mails.    Add Unlimited Links   Create as many outbound links to your site using our Content Management Tool. Great for building your own SEO campaign, referral page, advertising and more.   E-Bay Publishing   Publish your products directly to E-Bay through this easy to use Listing Tool. (ecommerce only)   Copy Protection Feature   Make sure competitors can not copy your site or steal your images.   Google Analytics   Generates detailed statistics about the visitors to your website.       If you have any questions about the services we provide, please call me!   Thanks, Douglas A. Marks Website Marketing Consultant Website - www.websiteforge.com Business - (888) 558.2446 Ext. 208 Fax - (517) 338-5064 Business Hours: (Monday - Friday) 10 AM - 6 PM Eastern Standard Time  

As the economy begins to rebound, marketers are planning to reinvest in their e-commerce web sites with a particular emphasis on targeted e-mail marketing, improved on-site search and enhanced on-site merchandising, according to a survey by The E-tailing Group.   The organization's Ninth Annual Merchant Survey found that 59% of respondents plan to invest more in their e-commerce web sites in 2010 than they did last year. At the start of 2009, 36% said they would increase e-commerce web site investment.   With the economy in recession last year, e-commerce web sites, though a bright spot on the broader retail landscape, fell 2% to $209.6 billion, marking the first yearly decline for the category, according to ComScore figures. Nonetheless, 92% of those surveyed predicted their 2010 e-commerce web site revenues would increase from last year, with 33% predicting growth of between 6% and 15%.   “Seasoned sellers, emerging retailers and manufacturers are all positioning themselves for growth as the economy rebounds,” said Lauren Freedman, president of The E-tailing Group, in a statement. “Results of our Ninth Annual Merchant Survey find retailers taking a laser-like focus on performance where results dictate category-centric demands and solid execution sets the tone for incremental revenue.”   Keyword search, cross-sells, seasonal promotions, sales or specials and e-mail remain the most valuable tactics, but merchants continue to improvise new ways to sell.   Online conversion rates remained at 3% or lower, according to the survey. To increase engagement and profitability, merchants are relying on analytic data such as conversion rates, but they also plan to increase targeted e-mail (79%), refine onsite search (72%) and enhance merchandising (70%). Other popular improvement tactics for 2010 include usability or A/B testing (58%), videos (48%) and social networking efforts (58%).   Merchants also mentioned social networking efforts considerably more than last year (44%). More respondents also added blogs, customer reviews and community features such as forums and share-by-social to their sites as well. Facebook fan pages ranked as the top social tool for merchants, though 80% also will employ Twitter in the next year. In addition, nearly 40% plan to use mobile to improve e-commerce performance, compared to 19% last year.   The Chicago-based consultancy surveyed 152 merchants in the first quarter of 2010.   To find out how we can increase your E-commerce web site sales online call me today! Douglas A. Marks Website Marketing Consultant Website - www.websiteforge.com Business - (888) 558.2446  Ext. 208 Fax - (517) 338-5064   Business Hours: (Monday - Friday) 10 AM - 6 PM Eastern Standard Time