Web Hosting Archives | Studio 544 Web Design

Owning Your Own Domain Name

Studio 544 — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 20:36:59 +0000

Studio 544 believes one of the most important aspects of creating a successful online presence and branding strategy is selecting the right domain name for your business or organization.

Purchasing a domain is also typically the least expensive piece of the online marketing pie. There are a ton of reputable domain registration (registrars) companies out there and for the most part, a .com domain will run you about $10-15/annually. Of course, there are always add-ons to consider like domain privacy and some hosting companies will actually offer to waive the cost of your domain registration if you host your website through them.

This article is going to discuss the importance of owning your own domain name.

Studio 544 recommends every business should own their domain name

Over the nearly 20 years I have been working with web clients at Studio 544, there have been several occasions when I have run into a situation involving a new client who has worked with a previous web company in setting up their site only to find out that the web company purchased the domain for the client and is the actual owner of it. This can lead to some sticky (and expensive) situations trying to get the previous registrant to release the domain to the rightful owner.

To put it simply, if you don’t own your own domain and run into a conflict or issue with your current web designer or web company that results in you wanting to switch to a different designer or company, you will be at the mercy of the previous company to release the domain to you.

There are a number of very important reasons why you need to own your own domain and here are just some of them:

Most domains are renewed annually. If you don’t have access to your registrar account, you will be at the mercy of the previous registrant to renew the domain for you and risk the chance of not only having your site go down but also losing your domain altogether.

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If you want to switch hosting companies, you will need access to your registrar account in order for you to point the nameservers over to your new hosting company.

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If you want to keep your domain registration information private, you will need access to your registrar account and find out if this option can be added to your domain. Nearly all registrars offer this option. Some charge an additional fee while others include the privacy for free.

Luckily most web designers and web companies out there are ethical and adhere to professional standards and will (albeit many reluctantly) relinquish a domain they may have registered on your behalf back to you but unfortunately this is not always the case. I have heard of horror stories from clients where they were told if they wanted to own their own domain, they would need to pay an outrageous fee to purchase it back from the person or company who initially registered it for them.

Studio 544 feels very strongly about ensuring our client domains are owned by our clients!

Do you own your own domain name?

Not only is this the right thing to do but also makes it easier to make changes such as hosting and other domain-related functions much easier and less stressful for both you and the company you choose to work with in the future.

Studio 544 has been in business since 1998 and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. The president, Mark Lewandowski has over 20 years of marketing and copywriting experience to go along with his web expertise. Many of Studio 544’s clients have worked with other web design companies and web designers who have promised things they could not deliver.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark Lewandowski is a freelance web designer at Studio 544 in Hutchinson, MN specializing in setting up websites for small businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations.

Have a web design project in mind? Call Studio 544 today to get started.(320) 587-5544

The post Owning Your Own Domain Name appeared first on Studio 544 Web Design.

GoDaddy FTP User Accounts

Studio 544 — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 19:22:02 +0000

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[wow_h1]Dealing with clients from all over the country at [wow_colorme]Studio 544 Web Design[/wow_colorme], I am accustomed to working with many different web hosting companies.[/wow_h1][/wow_lead]
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The majority of them are very good and offer a wide range of services at affordable prices. Some of these include: Inmotion Hosting, Host Monster and Blue Host. However, I always cringe whenever a client informs me that they are using or would like to use GoDaddy for their hosting company.
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Let’s face it, GoDaddy does a great job with their marketing and I’m sure their advertising budget is mammoth compared to most of their competitors but the fact remains, their back end user interface is a disaster. [/wow_boxsh]
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If I only had a dollar for every minute I’ve wasted trying to navigate through the cumbersome GoDaddy interface to change a simple setting or find basic information for a client’s account, I could treat myself to a night on the town! Recently I came across one of these “wasted moments” when trying to set up a new FTP user account for a client on their GoDaddy hosting account.
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[wow_h1]GoDaddy FTP User Accounts[/wow_h1][/wow_lead]
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While it’s true that some of it was from my own stupidity, this is just another example of why I choose not to recommend GoDaddy to my clients. In the beginning, all was going well as I was able to find the section in the Go Daddy control panel on where to create a new FTP User account. I typed in the new username; made sure to select the “All Folders” from the Access Level option and typed in a new password. According to GoDaddy, I had a green light to create the new account and click OK. Here’s where things got frustrating though.
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After countless attempts to connect the new FTP user account through my FTP program, I continuously got the “cannot connect” error message. I tried everything I could think of such as changing the domain name to the I.P. address in the FTP settings; quadruple checking that I had the correct username and password but every attempt to connect ended in failure and frustration. After about 20 minutes of this, I decided it was time to contact the good folks at GoDaddy and see if there was something I was missing.
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The first tech support representative I spoke with ran me through the same set of steps to make sure I was doing everything properly and when she had the same results after another 10-15 minutes, I was transferred to an “expert” about my FTP connection issue. This is when we had the “eureka” moment as she asked me to repeat to her the new password I had set up for the new FTP user account in the Go Daddy control panel.
I rattled off the lengthy and complicated password and as I got near the end of it, she stopped me and informed me that the last set of digits I had given to her were not relevant because GoDaddy only allows a maximum of 14 characters for their passwords. In other words, if you insert a password longer than 14 characters, their system will only read the first 14 characters. This is what was causing my FTP connection issue as I was trying to use the password I thought I had just created not realizing that Go Daddy was using a truncated version of that same password.
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As I mentioned earlier, part of this is my own stupidity as I should have read their password criteria more carefully when created the new FTP user account but when I saw all the green lights checked off in their same password criteria popup with the ability to click “OK” and create the new account, I figured I was good to go. Isn’t that was green is supposed to mean? My argument with GoDaddy about this is that if they a check in place that would stop you from trying to use a password with more than 14 digits, it would have saved me about 45 minutes of my time not to mention the additional time it’s taking me to write this article!
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The purpose of this post is to hopefully help the next poor soul who runs into a similar issue when creating an FTP user account in GoDaddy and not being able to get it to connect through an FTP program. Double check to make sure your password is 14 characters or less and you should be fine.[/wow_boxsh]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark Lewandowski is a freelance web designer at Studio 544 in Hutchinson, MN specializing in setting up websites for small businesses, individuals and organizations.
[wow_grayarea][wow_lead][wow_icon type=”phone”] Got a web design project in mind? Call Studio 544 today to get started. (320) 587-5544[/wow_lead][/wow_grayarea]

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Washington D.C. Personal Training Co. Hires Studio 544

Studio 544 — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 15:43:08 +0000

[wow_grayarea][wow_lead][wow_h1]Studio 544 Helps Bring the Power of the Kettlebells to Washington D.C.[/wow_h1][/wow_lead][/wow_grayarea]

Dawn Anderson from Sand & Steel Fitness in Washington D.C. hired Mark Lewandowski from Studio 544 to design a website for her new personal training business. Sand and Steel Fitness specializes in In-home, Apartment, or Work Personal Training with an emphasis on nutrition. They offer a variety of personal training packages including partner and group training.

The project with Sand & Steel Fitness involved a variety of services including WordPress theme installation and modifications; custom graphics; social media channel customizations for Facebook and Twitter; basic SEO and WordPress training for the client to be able to update the site on their own in the future.
[wow_colorme]Since 1998, Studio 544 Web Design has been providing businesses and organizations across the U.S. with cost effective, professional web design services.[/wow_colorme] Whether you are just getting your business off the ground and want a web site to help promote it or feel the need to add (or improve) your existing website, contact Studio 544 for a FREE, no obligation quote.

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French-American Heritage Foundation Hires Studio 544

Studio 544 — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:11:35 +0000

The French-American Heritage Foundation of Minnesota contacted Studio 544 in late 2013 to design a web site for their non profit foundation to promote French language and culture in and around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN. The site also includes information about their 2014 Twin Cities French-American Heritage Festival.
The French-American Heritage Foundation hired Mark Lewandowski at Studio 544 because of his experience working with a similar non-profit organization’s web site – The Twin Cities Polish Festival. Studio 544 realizes the special needs of non-profits to make their dollars count when it comes to advertising and marketing and that includes smart, cost-effective web design.
If your non-profit organization is thinking about a professional web site to help promote its services and mission, contact Mark Lewandowski at Studio 544 Web Design today for a FREE, no cost quote.

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WordPress.com Hosted Web Sites

Studio 544 — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 23:09:25 +0000

Are you thinking about using WordPress.com to host your business or organization’s web site?

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This recently came up with a client of Studio 544 and I thought my findings might be helpful for others considering using WordPress.com hosting services.
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Wordpress is a GREAT CMS (Content Management System) and one that I often recommend to my web design clients when it comes to their projects. It’s loaded with powerful editing features right out of the box and there’s a multitude of free (and paid) plugins that can do just about anything you will ever need for your web site. The community support at WordPress.org is wonderful and most hosting companies include WordPress as part of their cPanel arsenal to allow for one-click installation.
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While the free hosting services offered by WordPress.com may be fine for personal blogs, students, grandparents, etc. it is not something I would recommend for my web clients.
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Aside from the added security you may get from a WordPress.com hosted site because of not being able to install third-party plugins, this is about the only benefit I can see in going that route. On the flip side, It’s also one of the biggest disadvantages of hosting a site with WordPress.com. Why would you want to limit your site’s functionality to the standard features that come with their hosting packages when there are so many fantastic WordPress plugins that can bring your web site’s functionality to the next level?
On several occasions while working with my client on their WordPress.com hosted site, the features they were asking for just could not be done because of the inability to install any third party plug-ins and many other request required work-arounds to accomplish the desired results. If you’d like to watch a video that explains the differences between a hosted and non-hosted WordPress site, click here for more information.
On top of this, it also seems like most WordPress.com Premium themes are considerably more costly than other premium WordPress themes and offer fewer features plus much more basic designs. WordPress.com offers several available upgrades to their hosting packages but read carefully about what they do and how much extra they will cost you. You can read more about WordPress.com available upgrades.

Contact Mark Lewandowski at Studio 544 Web Design in Hutchinson, MN today to learn more about the professional freelance web designer services offered.

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Web Designer Questions

Studio 544 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 23:46:14 +0000

Let’s face it. Your company or organization’s web site is a big deal and you need to be confident when it comes time to asking your web designer questions about your site. In many cases, your web site will be one of the first things that will identify you to the public when it comes time for them to look at what you offer. You want that first impression to be a good one.
It’s never a bad idea to educate yourself at least a little bit about what is involved in the building of a web site. This will not only help to prepare you for what is to come and what’s expected of you but it will also make it easier for you to help identity how legitimate your web designer’s bid or recommended services are.
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For example, you probably wouldn’t walk into a car dealership looking to buy a new car without at least doing some homework regarding specific models, prices, warranties, etc. Why not take this same approach when it comes time to asking your web designer questions.
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Over the years, Studio 544 has come across many horror stories from new clients who have had bad experiences with their past web design companies. Many times, poor service is one of the leading complaints for wanting to switch companies but there are also other reasons.

Web hosting for the majority of company’s or organizations should not break the bank and your budget.

Studio 544 offers annual web hosting plans for under $100. Do you really need a dedicated server for your web site or is this just another selling point? While it’s true in some cases that you may need something more robust than a shared server for your web hosting, if this is offered to you in a bid, ask the designer why they recommend it for your web site.
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Another good question to ask your web designer is if they register the domain for you, do you own it or do they?
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On several occasions, clients have mentioned this being an issue with other web design companies who will register a domain name for their business and then when the client wants to change web designers, they will be blackmailed by the web company to pay an outrageous price to claim their own domain name. This would NEVER happen with Studio 544. Any domain names we register are yours for as long as you keep them active.

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