WordPress creates it’s own entries to the .htaccess file so if you decide to play around make sure you backup your original and don’t delete the WordPress entries.

Here’s some examples…

If you are tired of getting the same spam comments from a specific user over and over again you can ban the ip address like this by adding the following code to your .htaccess file:

 Create an IP Banlist

allow from all
deny from 145.186.14.122
deny from 124.15

Prevent Hotlinking

Tired of people using your bandwidth by putting the images hosted on your server on their website? Add the following code at the bottom of your .htaccess file to prevent hotlinking.

Options +FollowSymlinks
#Protect against hotlinking
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?domainname.com/ [nc]
RewriteRule .*.(gif|jpg|png)$ http://domainname.com/img/stop_stealing_bandwidth.gif[nc]

NOTE: The following article explains better methods to “prevent” hotlinking:
Link building secrets by Maurizio Petrone

Block All Requests From User Agents

It’s possible to block all unwanted user agents that might be potentially harmful or perhaps just to keep the server load as low as possible.

#Block bad bots
SetEnvIfNoCase user-Agent ^FrontPage [NC,OR]
SetEnvIfNoCase user-Agent ^Java.* [NC,OR]
SetEnvIfNoCase user-Agent ^Microsoft.URL [NC,OR]
SetEnvIfNoCase user-Agent ^MSFrontPage [NC,OR]
SetEnvIfNoCase user-Agent ^Offline.Explorer [NC,OR]
SetEnvIfNoCase user-Agent ^[Ww]eb[Bb]andit [NC,OR]
SetEnvIfNoCase user-Agent ^Zeus [NC]
Order Allow,Deny
Allow from all
Deny from env=bad_bot

Redirect Everyone Except Specified IPs

If for some reason you would want to deny everyone or allow only a specific group of IP addresses to access your website, add the following code to your .htaccess file:

ErrorDocument 403 http://www.domainname.com
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from 124.34.48.165
Allow from 102.54.68.123

SEO Friendly 301 Redirects

If you’ve transferred domain names or wish to redirect a specific page or pages without getting penalty from search engines such as Google, use the following code:

Redirect 301 /d/file.html http://www.domainname.com/r/file.html

Creating a Custom Error Page

Are you as tired as me of the default layout of 404 error pages? Well now you can easily create your own and refer to it like this:

ErrorDocument 401 /error/401.php
ErrorDocument 403 /error/403.php
ErrorDocument 404 /error/404.php
ErrorDocument 500 /error/500.php

Set Default Email Address For Server Admin

Using the following code you can specify the default email address for the server’s admin.

ServerSignature EMail
SetEnv SERVER_ADMIN default@domain.com

Disable Display of Download Request

Usually when downloading something from a web site, you’ll be prompted if you wish to open the file or save it on your hard-disk. To prevent the server from prompting users wether they wish to open or save the file and to just save the file, use the following code:

AddType application/octet-stream .pdf
AddType application/octet-stream .zip
AddType application/octet-stream .mov

Found this and other useful web development info here:

http://devmoose.com/

Contact us today and we can set you up by tomorrow.   Domain name, hosting and website.

WordPress has come a long, long way and with it’s built in features and some select plugins you can create all kinds of websites.  WordPress is an excellent engine for Business or Corporate websites and your site will include the blog function you can use to post news and announcements.

You can even build a perfect CMS (Content Management System) to organize your information and make it available to your clients and visitors in different ways.

Using a Static Home Page with your WordPress site is useful when creating these kinds of sites along with a static page used to show your blog or news page.  You can even create a special “home page template” to make your home page look unique.

This post features a video by educhalk.org on this topic.  Creating your Static Home Page and Posts page with WordPress is not a difficult task just watch the video and see.

http://website-creation-tips.com/index.php/2009/06/07/how-to-set-up-a-wordpress-blog-that-is-search-engine-optimized-in-5-important-ways/

There are even more and you can check out www.WordPress.org for a more complete listing.

If you are a small business, corporation, Club, Dentist, Doctor, Restaurant or Entertainer you need a website.  A website is your 24/7 catalog of information available to your clients, patients, patrons or fans.  It gives you a way to keep everyone up to date with your events, new products, or special sales.  It can also be an outlet for actual online sales by having a store area on your website. A domain name and annual hosting package are only $90 a year.  If you are into making your own web site then thats all it costs you.  If you aren’t into making your own or just don’t have the time we can create a very nice looking, unique website for you using your content from a brochure or other information sheets for about $100.  Plus we are available to work with you on a continuing basis to add features or new content that you want to have.  Don’t let them find your competitor online and not you.  Contact us today.  There are many options.

Special Right Now For Bloggers

We will set up your hosting package with WordPress installed and any one of our free themes installed with it.  It will be ready for you to login and start blogging.  We will even modify the header to include your picture or a graphic or logo all included at no extra charge.  SO!  You will get a domain name, 1 year hosting package, and your WordPress website set up with a theme of your choice ready to blog for the price of your hosting package.  $90 annually.

Having a website of your own provides your business with invaluable advantages over the traditional advertising channels. There are at least 7 reasons why you should present your business online:

1. Increased customers’ convenience:

Searching for businesses and products over the Internet is much easier and quicker than leafing through the Yellow Pages. Anytime a potential or existing customer wants to find out more about your business, they can easily do that, especially if you have an “FAQ” section added. Your customers can be always in touch with you, all they need to know is your website address.

2. Greater accessibility to your business profile:

Your business profile will be accessible from EVERYWHERE. No other ad channel provides such global coverage. You will not depend any more on restricted presentations based on phone book entries. What is more important, more and more customers nowadays resort to the Internet when searching for products, services and businesses.

3. Greater opportunities for promoting your business portfolio:

People can`t buy your products or services if they don`t know that they actually exist. Through a WEBSITE you can tell your potential audience much more than you could possibly do via any print advertisements, Yellow Pages listings, or TV/radio commercials. There are no limitations with regard to space and time, nationality and residency. You can say as many things as you want, to as many people as YOU wish. And your business representation can be as resourceful as is the Internet.

4. Low-cost efficient advertising:

Practically, what happens is – your website runs a NON-STOP PROMOTION of your business! Your customers are always able to obtain up-to-date and thorough information about your services or products. Instead of having to rely on randomly aired TV or radio commercials, they can simply browse through your website whenever they have time or need to.

5. Around-the-clock availability:

A website is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It will be your hardest-working employee, never getting sick, or taking holiday. And you can always rest assured that your website is there for you – to answer to your customers` questions, or to collect their feedback instead of you.

6. It saves time:

With a website, prospective customers can learn about you and your business at any time of the day or night without you having to be all the time pre-occupied with the process. The time you would otherwise spend on answering or re-directing of your customers` questions can be now saved and invested in further activities to increase your profits, in other words – in further expansion of your business.

7. It saves money:

You can save a lot of money spent otherwise on print and postage costs for brochures, coupons, flyers, specials, newsletters, and other mailings. Furthermore, while regular renewals of printed materials can be quite expensive and also time consuming, updating information on your website is always handy, fast and most important – amazingly efficient. As we all know, nothing is more valued in a business than optimal productivity for minimal input costs.

Let us help you get your website online today! See our “About Us” page for a contact form.

Having a website of your own equals entering into an invaluable communication environment. There are at least 7 reasons why it is highly advisable for you to be present online:

1. Represents your personal profile

A website can be your virtual portrait, showing off your personal self to the world on a 24/7 basis.  Among the most popular ways of presenting your personality online is keeping a webblog (otherwise known as online diary) or a photo gallery, where your friends can stay up-to-date with your daily living.

2. Spreads your voice across the world

A website can be your global “tribune” where you are able to share your knowledge, experience and enthusiasm with people who have common interests, but with whom you might not otherwise have crossed paths. A very popular idea-voicing tool is the discussion board, better known as “forum”. You can also have a guestbook on your site, where people can discuss your postings.

3. Lets you be in touch with people at a distance

A website can be a meeting place for making new acquaintances with people of different religion, nationality and age, as well as for keeping in touch with friends who may be on the other side of the world. Thanks to the almost unlimited online communication possibilities you can conduct one-to-one conversations with many different people directly from your website.

4. Broadens disabled people’s interaction with the world

A website empowers people with limited access, due to handicap or illness, to broaden their communication with others. A website can be a physically disabled person’s door to the dynamic world, allowing him/her to bridge over the difficulties of having a “different” everyday life. It can even be their office, where they can present and deliver certain home-made products/services directly from their living room.

5. Creates a web skill development environment

A website can introduce you to the secrets of www. The contemporary web design technologies have brought the art of creating a website just a few clicks away from the inexperienced user. Thanks to the popular WYSWYG (what you see is what you get) web design tools, absolutely everyone (irrespective of age or education degree) can build their own web page without any previous experience.

6. Makes extra profit for you with minimum investment on your part

A website can make residual profit for you, while you are sleeping or enjoying your free time. Thanks to the up-to-date techniques for bringing traffic to your website, you can earn easy money by simply having visitors click on certain product/service promos or links that are relevant to your site content pages (e.g. Google Adsense/Adwords ad solutions) without any initial investment.

7. Makes you a member of the biggest community of the world

A website is a must-have personal attribute nowadays, just like mobile phones and computers are. The fast developing technologies have converted having a website from a whim into a modern necessity. As of today, almost everyone has a web site, whereas twice as many people are expected to be having their own personal space in the global World Wide Web cosmos in the near future. Be forward-thinking, join this trend now.

Let us help you get your website online today!!

by: Riley West

I’ve seen some crummy sites. What about you? How could they make any money? A poorly done website ruins credibility and runs visitors away before your site has had a good chance to present your offer.

Having spent 35 years in retail furniture we learned that if you want to sell top end furniture fast enough to make money each month there are several things retail store managers have to do to make it in today’s world.

First – The store has to be clean. The floor, the walls, the actual furniture itself, and, the bathroom! That’s where our comparison falls apart as there is no bathroom in a website.

Second - The store has to “make sense”. The arrangement of the inventory, the signage, the bedspreads on the beds, and the logic of store branding logos, posters, and policy signs has to look professional as well. The overall look has to be clean and “feel right”.

Third - What about colors! The ladies in this business know things about color and what goes with what than most men would never know.

In furniture stores the colors need to be those that are popular in furniture today, not last year. I wonder how that applies to websites?

Fourth - The salespeople have to speak clearly and without obvious defects in their speech habits. It’s the same with websites. In retail stores the salespeople need to be clean and spiffy and give their full attention to the customer in order not to appear disinterested.

You can see where this would apply in websites to pictures of people, like in testimonials, and scrupulous attention to detail and spelling.

Spelling! There’s a biggie. It deserves a section of it’s own. It is said that a potential customer’s enthusiasm will notch down a bit for every misspelling and grammatical error. It pays to proofread!

Experts suggest that you should have another person do your proofreading for you, since you are not as likely to catch all of your own mistakes.

Fifth - The sales area has to be kept neat and businesslike, but not barren and empty. Like the rest of the place, it has to be neat and clean. It should be easy to purchase!

Sixth - One last thing, in our stores we always strove to have the best music possible playing in the background and it had to sound good everywhere in the store. We had it at a level high enough to be heard well but not so high that it made it difficult to converse.

In the website world that might compare to having clean, easy to understand audio and video. Hmm…is there a place for appropriate background “score”?

Your business website should come across to your visitors as a professional site with which to do business. It should be welcoming and help them around in order to make the sale as easy as possible.

Your website says a lot about your business, so you need to make certain it is saying positive things.

If you want to make sure your website isn’t falling short on the details of general houskeeping, find a few sites that are trying to do something similar to what you are attempting, and use them for comparison sake. That’s a good place to start.

And my favorite! Keep it simple. My sales pages start at the top and go to the bottom. How are you going to lose your vistor with that?

Keep it simple, kill off the clutter, make it easy to read, and don’t allow spelling and grammar errors. Your customers will like that and be more inclined to buy.

Oh, one last thing. Ask for the sale. Don’t waffle here, be strong. You know what you want them to do, and, if your copy is any good, it contains many benefits for your visitor. Customers want those benefits (like more sales, higher conversion rates, and fewer returns) and they are willing to pay to get them.

Be very direct, but smooth. Say to the customer… “Click this button and when you get to Paypal check that the quantity is correct and that the price is right. If it is, continue with your purchase and start profiting from an improved website right away!

Thank you for your business!

Many websites today are really blog sites.  They make a great website because you constantly update the content yourself by posting new articles and information.  We create many websites using WordPress.  This is a very versatile way to create a website since there are so many different templates and themes available to use that can make the site look like no other.  Your site can consist of static web pages with information available to visitors along with articles and announcements you create and publish.  Your articles are also available to anyone via your own RSS feed.   So are you ready to blog?  Want to tell the world your views.  Let us help you get a blog site online now.  Contact sales@gdscomp.com and we will get you online in no time.