Affordable, Cheap, Inexpensive Website Solutions - APSWebSolutions Blog

What is Ecommerce?

2011-09-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ecommerce is the buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the Internet. Sometimes these transactions include the real-time transfer of funds from buyer to seller and sometimes this is handled manually through an eft-pos terminal once a secure order is received by the merchant.

E-commerce can provide the following benefits over non-electronic commerce:

Reduced costs by reducing labour, reduced paper work, reduced errors in keying in data, reduce post costs.
Reduced time. Shorter lead times for payment and return on investment in advertising, faster delivery of products.
New Markets. The Internet has the potential to expand your business into wider geographical locations.

Payment Gateways
PayPal and Authorize.Net offer credit card to bank account payments.

Ecommerce Software
The software can be developed from scratch by web developers in custom PHP, classic ASP or ASP.NET. Or you could use open-source software like Joomla, Magento and OS-Commerce.

Imagine a web site that would allow your customers to place an order for your goods and when they sent their order to you, your stock or inventory database was updated immediately, outwards goods were notified and the customer was sent an advice from packing staff when the goods were shipped.

Managing your website

2011-08-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

In custom PHP or classic ASP you can have an admin panel similiar to the one shown so that you can manage the content on your website. The advanatages of having a custom website is that you can make changes to your website. With 3rd party softwares like Joomla & Wordpress there are limitations. Customising those softwares are not always easy as we have to work within their framework. So if you need a simple 5 page website, WordPress would be good for that. If you need a simple ecommerce website, Joomla would be good for that. WordPress & Joomla come with their own administrative panel via which you can manage your website. However if there are more complex requirements in your website, it is always better to go with a customised website as your website and database can be scalable. It will also be easier for the programmer as they can change the code according to your requirements.

Joomla Chronoforms

2011-06-14T01:43:00.000-07:00

Recently I needed to create custom forms for a client's website, in Joomla. I found Chronoforms to be very useful. It is more than 4 years old. It comes with a huge list of features with a very easy to use drag and drop interface to help you build any type of form you may need. I was able to integrate my forms with Virtuemart tables using PHP code. I was also able to submit the form data via email as well as post it to a database. This came in handy because I was not able to create custom forms within virtuemart easily. So I simply used virtuemart to display the products and their options in the front end of the website. Then I simply used Chronoforms together with Virtuemart tables to gather information from the visitors and send them to Paypal to pay! My client gets an email with all the selections a visitor has made and the amount they have paid. After that my client goes to paypal to verify if he actually recieved the amount. He can also see this transaction information in the joomla admin panel.

Video Marketing

2011-05-02T23:42:00.001-07:00

Video marketing is the next big thing on the web. It is underused by many marketers and fantastically profitable for those that do use it.
Many people don’t use video promoting simply because they do not understand how to start on it. It’s not actually that troublesome and you will find it outstandingly simple when you actually use it.
Videos can very simply go viral and you’ll end up getting lots of traffic from them. The search engines love video because it is highly regarded currently. You can frequently see a variety of videos in the top five ranking, for any key phrase in Google.
Making the videos doesn’t need to be tough. You can create a live action video using your mobile telephone or digital camera, or if you live in the dark ages, a webcam. Promotional videos can be made by Windows Movie Maker, which is installed on most Windows XP and above computers or on an internet site such as Jing or Animoto.
Set up a Google Alert for your video name and you will be surprised to see how far a single video will get you. So long as you have put your URL in the description and in the video itself, then you will get a good amount of traffic from this.
Video marketing is emerging as a extraordinarily strong and effective method of getting traffic. It is still under used and one that you can begin to use to further boost your sites in the search engines.

Organize Website Content

2011-04-04T03:17:00.000-07:00

Well-organized web content is one of your best sales tools! It drives visitors to your site, positions you as an expert, gives you higher search engine rankings, and keeps clients coming back for more. Before you build your web site you need to spend some time organizing the content and information that will appear on your site. There are many ways to organize your site’s content. Home Page – Give an overview of your services. Start with a headline, tell who you work with, briefly describe a problem your target market has, and then tell how you solve it. End with a call to action (example: “Contact us today for a free quote”) About Us – Your bio builds credibility. Photographs of you and your staff are appropriate here as well.

Who We Work With – Give more detail about the clients you work with and how you help solve their problems. This helps qualify clients by letting them know exactly what you do and what you don’t do. Your time is valuable and you don’t want to waste it on prospects that are looking for something you don’t provide. Services – Detail the services you offer and end with a call to action (example, “Call or email us to learn more”) Testimonials – These are important so if you’re not already gathering them, start now!

Contact Us – Give people several easy ways to contact you. Consider placing a well-thought out “request for quote” form on the contact page as a way to qualify leads. (If they don’t take the time to fill out the form they may not be serious prospects. You might want to limit how much time you spend trying to turn them into a client.)

Post Affiliate Pro

2011-03-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

I recently integrated Post Affiliate Pro for one of my clients with their existing website using API integration. It is a good affiliate tracking software. Once you go through their online documentation, it is easy for a developer to integrate it with your website. I used the Click Tracking (Pap_Api_ClickTracker) and Sale Tracking (Pap_Api_SaleTracker) methods for integration. I simply updated my client's database with the affiliate id and campaign id when a customer comes to the website from an affiliate's link. So every time a sale takes place, the affiliate gets a commission. Their online documentation is very helpful.

Multilingual Website

2011-02-03T04:13:00.000-08:00

English might be the dominant online language for the time being, but that’s changing fast - right now there are over 1.3 billion people online for whom English is not their first language. Taking that into account, along with research that shows 85% of online consumers will only buy from a website in their own language, and you can see exactly why it’s a good idea to go multilingual with your online presence.
If you plan to have a CMS website, WordPress has features to easily translate your website into different languages. Google Translate is also a nice feature to plugin to your website. Now a days many websites have their own toolbar integrated with Google Translate API so that a site visitor can easily get a web page translated in their language.

Recurring Billing With Paypal

2010-12-14T02:19:00.000-08:00

Recently I worked on a project that requires recurring billing. I had to do some research to figure out how Paypal's recurring billing works.
If your business has products or services that require regular billing, you might want to look at PayPal to automate the billing process.

If you have signed up for Website Payments Standard, you can use Paypal's IPN, which stands for Instant Payment Notification (PayPal's automated notification system for payments) to update your database. IPN sends you a signal every time you receive a subscriber payment or when a subscriber cancels a subscription; you can then intercept this signal and write code to do something with it, such as automatically activating or deleting a subscriber account.
In your Paypal account you have to turn 'on' IPN and enter the url of the web page which has to be called. In that page you can write code in the common Web development languages, including PHP, ASP.NET, and Perl to get subscription details and store them in your database.

If you have signed up for Website Payments Pro, you can use Recurring Payments API provided by Paypal, to get subscription details.

Automated process does away with the need for manual processing of PayPal subscriptions. The script we write can automatically turn a subscription "on" or "off" depending on the contents of the notification.

META Tags

2010-11-12T23:31:00.000-08:00

META tags are part of the site’s HTML code and if your site has them, they can be seen by choosing “View > Source” from your browser toolbar. These tags include “keywords” and a “description” of your web page. Generally, this is where the search engines look to see what your web page is all about. But having the tags is not enough – because most of the major search engines today pay very little attention to them.

Is optimizing META tags enough?
When the Web was in its infancy, search engines depended profoundly on the meta tag for search result relevancy, giving this piece of code high prominence in their ranking algorithms. However, as the Web has matured and search technology has become more sophisticated, meta tags have lost significance. Although they are still a factor considered in most of the major search engines' ranking algorithms, they no longer carry the weight they once did. As a result, novel factors, including off-the-page considerations such as link popularity, now have higher weight in determining the relevancy of a search result.

What is SEO Copywriting?

2010-10-04T03:58:00.001-07:00

SEO copywriting is the abbreviation of search engine optimization or search engine copywriting. Optimization of the search engine pages, for higher rankings, can help you attract more visitors to the website. This is a technique of creating content with viewable text for the web page. The format of this copywriting is to target specific search terms for making the content easily readable, and also to increase its ranking in the search engines. Use of targeted search terms, and the viewable text optimizes the other elements on the page. These include the keyword tags, title, description and headings on the page, along with alt text.

SEO style of copywriting is preferred compared to regular content writing because it helps the search engines find only the genuine content pages. Often, not optimizing the keywords or titles can lead to search engines finding the additional pages or the doorway pages. SEO content is created with the mere purpose of attaining higher ranks. Using this technique ensures that the search engines don’t view SEO pages as undesirable. Rankings achieved through SEO techniques are as successful as other methods of increasing rankings.

RSS Feed Setup and Management

2010-09-02T23:23:00.001-07:00

A great way to get your website content and blog posts seen by consumers is by setting up an RSS feed. Simply put, an RSS feed is an electronic collection of your website content. This feed can be picked up and read by RSS readers such as Google reader, and in most popular email programs. Everyday consumers who are interested in your products and services will get notification of any new content on your website, all in one easy to access place.

Domain Name

2010-08-11T23:45:00.001-07:00

What is a domain name?
A domain name is the web site and email address that people use to find your company - online.
Computers connected on the internet use a unique number (called IP address) which would be impossible to remember - therefore the domain name replaces the IP address to make it easy to find a company's web site.
Domain names can contain numbers and letters, plus the hyphen. And the domain name can contain up to 67 characters.
Why is it important to have a domain name?
A domain name is important to a company's online presence.
The only way to make money online is to build up credibility among your customers.
It will most likely be the first thing that your potential customers will encounter, and remember your company by if they find your business online.
It makes your customers feel that they are dealing with a large, established company, rather than with some fly by night operator.

Benefits of having a Blog

2010-07-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

There are enormous benefits of having a Blog
You show to the customers and prospects that you are listening to them, and are willing to share what’s happening in the company, and what’s coming in the future.
You showcase your thought leadership in your industry.
You generate a lot of links for your website - which helps in getting a high ranking in search engines. Many people blog for the sole purpose of generating links, and improving their ranking in organic search results. Search engines love new content, and come to visit your site often, and index more pages.
People find a way to interact with you through your blog - they can leave comments, and offer suggestions to you, which may not be possible through the normal website, or may not be easy enough.
A blog gives you a competitive edge. This is a great way to differentiate from the ordinary competitors, and show your expertise. Other may be doing the same things as you do, but if you are the first one to educate the prospect, show them your detailed process, and interact with them, you are treated as the thought leader, the one with the knowledge, expertise and oomph.
It is easy to setup and configure a blog on your website. Your IT people should be able to do it quickly. Or you can seek professional help from me. I can setup your blog in a day…
Conclusion: Using a Blog as one of the bullets in your Marketing strategy is a sure fire way to get things started with a bang. Be seen as a thought leader, network with clients and prospects, and learn a new medium you will fall in love with - Start Blogging now!

Why Email Marketing Generates Better Returns Than Print Ads

2010-05-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

There are a many advantages of Email Marketing over advertising in magazines. I am listing a few of them here for you to review and decide for yourself. Let me know if you agree with them or not.
Longer copy: An email is much longer in size, and you can place as many photographs and product details as you want. A print advertisement is limited in size and width. Printing in colour is even more expensive. An email is ALL colour.
Clear Contact Information: Your company’s logo, location, address, map can all be put on an email with all relevant details, in bold and easy to view/find. Your print ad may take up more space for the product features, leaving miniscule space for the contact information. Often, the address is in such a small font that one has to strain the eyes to see it.
View Full Product Details: The reader can click on the link and visit your website for more information anytime. For an ad, a reader can’t visit the shop if it is night. Nothing more frustrating than to wait for the next day or Monday to talk to someone to find more information. Often, people forget about the whole thing by the next day. Here goes another lost sale! At least provide the website address in your print ad.
Email has a long life: The holding power of a magazine is probably 1-2 hours. Once it is read, it is thrown in the trash can, or in a pile, never to be picked up again. An email is more often kept in the Inbox or filed away in a folder. We have seen people contact us for information even after 9 months of sending the email.
Online activity can be tracked: Once a email is opened, it can be tracked. We can analyze the links clicked by the reader, which pages, products did he/she viewed, and how long did they spend on the website. No such thing with a print ad. You don’t even know if your target audience got to see it, let alone how many saw it.
Get to know the Prospect: An email can invite the user to leave their contact details for exiting promotion offers, and future discounts, private sales when new shipments arrive etc. This is the first step to start building relationship with the prospect and generate good quality leads.
Build Constant Contact: Once we get the email address of the visitors, we can contact them periodically, and suggest them to buy additional products, give them away as gifts to their loved ones, or simply refer new customers to us and get discounts/points.

How much is professionalism and quality worth to you?

2010-04-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

Note:
The following prices are mostly estimates. After years of experience in this business, I can confidently say that with most projects it is impossible to give a firm price without knowing the client's specific requirements. The prices have been published for your convenience, so you may know what price range to expect. I looking forward to hearing from you personally, so we may discuss your specific project and give you a firm quote based on your requirements.
My hourly rate is $25.

Static Website
Site Theme Design
The site theme is what is visible on every page of a website. It includes the design, layout and the site navigation, which are all consistent throughout the site. This can cost anywhere between $125.00 to $800.00 based on the number of pages.

Page Design
Individual Page Creation.
The page prices are based on the assumption that you want to have individually designed pages, which is mostly the case. Large websites or sites that have generically created pages are priced differently. For this you will need to call me to discuss.

For websites that need Flash or Flex you need to call me. I will give you a price based on the amount of work involved.

For a basic CMS website using WordPress it will cost $600.00. To integrate e-commerce plugins it will cost extra.
For a basic CMS website using Joomla it will cost $600.00. For VirtueMart integration it will cost extra.

For a e-commerce website with custom design in Magento it will cost $1300.00
For a custom e-commerce website in PHP or Classic ASP it will cost $1500.00 (this includes product maintenance, category maintenance, simple inventory, product image maintenance with upto 4 views, sales tax maintenance, simple shipping maintenance, transaction processing, shopping cart integration with Paypal/Authorize.net/USAEpay/Google Checkout)

To your website package, for an additional cost of $100.00 you can have a business card design, links to social networking websites like FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn added to your website. I can also create a blog with Blogger.com for you.

How I kick quality, up a notch.
I build search engine friendly websites. I add the meta tags and keywords to your web pages, do Google site verification and add Google Analytics to your webpages. I also submit an XML sitemap to Google for your website. My designs are according to the latest style and follow Web 2.0 standards. I will give you 2-3 design samples to choose from. Your website will be optimised for 1024 by 768 pixel resolution. This accounts for more than 93% of internet users (36% using 1024 by 768 settings and 57% use a higher resolution.) I use XHTML and CSS. Your website will be w3C validated. I will make sure the site is cross-browser compliant also. For security purposes I will provide SQL injection throughout the site.

Contact : http://www.apswebsolutions.com/, 702-516-2006

Take Your Business to a Higher Level!

2010-03-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

Increase your revenue! Decrease your expenses! Go Online!

Web site designs are priced according to how many pages you require. You will be given an estimate of the time required to complete the site and will never be charged additionally unless extra work is requested. Web sites that need to be database driven, e-commerce, etc. will take more time to create and therefore be priced somewhat higher. However because I am versatile with web technologies I can suggest solutions that will be more cost effective.

All web sites are created to be as "Search Engine Friendly" as possible for FREE! Your web site will be submitted to Google. You can research popular search terms, meta keywords and phrases for home page and give them to me so that I can add them to your pages. Links to your FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles can be added to the footer of your website.

Have a web presence today

2010-02-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

Don't let your competitors get the edge over you- have a web presence today!

Statistics indicate that more people are using search engines than the telephone directory to look for local businesses.

Even with a small budget, you can get a small simple website up and running within a week. The good news about a website is it can advertise your business everyday.

Simply put, I stand out by offering an integrated approach to web design, web development and seo. Also with my years of experience I will recommend solutions that will fit your budget. I will help you stand out from your competition.

Ways to promote your website in a cost-effective manner

2010-01-05T00:50:00.000-08:00

Affordable Ways to Promote Your Website

Tell your friends and family all about your website. On average, a person has a couple of hundred family members and friends. Email them, stay in touch and let them know!
Sign up for a leads service that will refer leads to your website. This will be a nominal expense in relation to the leads if you utilize the right service.
Post your helpful articles and opinions on forum web sites. This helps add credibility to you as an expert in your field and will refer people back to your web site.
Consider Search Engine Marketing (SEM). An paid advertising campaign on Google Adwords is another way to reach your potential clients. You can choose the exact phrases and words you want and set your own monthly budget.
Create a flyer or simple tri-fold brochure that promotes your business and your web site.
Place newspaper classifieds in local newspapers. You can generate a very cost effective campaign using weekly newspapers that are less expenisve and can reach your target market in your city.
Write and publish helpful and insightful articles just like this one that showcase your expertise and knowledge and help direct clients back to your web site.
Start your own blog on your website. Your own company blog allows you to add more pages of content to your website and more pages of rich content helps with SEO efforts.
Advertise on services like Craig's List.
Create a Page for your business on Facebook. Have your friends, family, colleagues, and clients become a fan of your page.
Signup for Twitter and LinkedIn. Have past clients and colleagues endorse your work on LinkedIn. This will give your clients more confidence in you.
Have links to your Blog, FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn on your website.

Different E-commerce Solutions

2009-12-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

You can pick and choose based on your requirements...

1) Custom shopping cart integration with Paypal, Authorize.net, Google Checkout or USA Epay. In a custom shopping cart you can define all the features you want and
the programmer will be able to create the shopping cart to suit your needs. You can have your own look and feel throughout the website. You will also be given an administration panel to manage your website content and products, accessories, inventory, shipping and handling, discounts, coupons, ads, transaction processing, recurring billing. You name it, I can do it!

2) Joomla has the features of a content management system with a shopping cart. This solution is better if you have a lower budget. In this you will have to work with the features that Joomla provides and the design can be customised keeping in mind the Joomla framework.

3) Simple website with shopping cart integrated with Mal's Ecommerce solution. Here when you add a product to your cart, you will be taken to Mal's e-commerce website.
This also I recommend only if you have a few products and also if you don't mind the look and feel of your website to change once you are taken to Mal's website.

4) Simple website with shopping cart integrated with X-cart. X-Cart is a e-commerce solution. So you can have a static website and when your customer clicks a tab like Products, they will be taken to the x-cart portion of your site. The designer can customise the look of x-cart to match your website however it won't be a perfect match. Again this solution is better if you have a lower budget. In this you will have to w0ork with the features that At the end of the day, in customising X-cart you may end up paying a programmer more because it costs time and money to customise a software that has been written by somebody else.

5) Simple website with Paypal's shopping cart. Paypal's shopping cart is feasible if you just have 5-10 products.Again here your look and feel will be compromised. You just need to think of the products you are going to be selling online and what kind of visitors you will be catering to.

6) Magento is an open source e-commerce platform with an impressive feature set out of the box. It is becoming very popular for people who want a store with a low budget.
Some of the available features include:
support for multiple currencies / stores
support for multiple payment providers
related products
discount codes
In addition if you find a feature you need that is not in the box there are a large amount of both free and commercial extensions that can be installed to bolt on new functionality to your store. Magento may not be suitable for all projects however. As with all off the shelf software it relies upon the user changing their working patterns to match the software, rather than the software working the way you want to work. However for start ups or businesses on a budget it’s a cost effective way of getting your shop up and running as quickly as possible.

What I can do for you?
Depending on your budget I can create a custom e-commerce website in PHP or Classic ASP. I can also provide anything from a simple installation to a full custom design for your store using Joomla, X-Cart or Magento. Whatever your imagination can think of I can provide it. Each new store needs skinning to make your store stand out from everyone else. Think of Magento, Joomla or X-cart as a basic structure which needs adding to and modifying…

I Offer A Full Range of Website Services

2009-11-17T03:13:00.000-08:00

I offer a full range of services, from full site development to taking over the maintenance of your existing site. For a complete list of my services, please visit my website http://www.APSWebSolutions.com/services.php. Whether your business is located in Las Vegas or out of town, I can help you.

If you are in need of a web site or already have one that isn't giving you the results you want, please call me at 702-516-2006 or fill out a request for quote form at http://www.APSWebSolutions.com/request_free_quote.php or email me to discuss how I can help you.

Don't let your competitors get the Internet edge - go online today!

Read what my clients have to say at http://www.APSWebSolutions.com/testimonials.php.

Your site will not be developed with only appearance in mind. A great looking site that isn't optimized for the search engines (designed to allow search engines to locate your site), isn't submitted properly to search engines, has confusing navigation, or takes too long to load up will never be seen.

If you don't have specific ideas for the design of your site, I can work with you to develop a site that effectively represents your company or interests with an artistic flair. I will be your partner while collaborating on your site.

I look forward to being your partner in building your unique site and watch your success!

Launched New Websites

2009-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

I launched new websites

- www.ShopItUPchic.com (retail site) and www.IWantYourOutfit.com (rental site). I developed the websites in PHP. I integrated the shopping cart with Authorize.net's CIM method that allows recurring billing. I integrated their chat with Provide Support. Check it out. There are some beautiful apparel for ladies.

What is a Database?

2009-08-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. The data in a database is organised into one or more tables. A table will have one or more fields to organise the data. A row of information in a table is called a record.

For example if you had an e-commerce website ie a webiste where you are selling products(like clothing) online, the database name could be the name of your company. The different tables you could have are categories, colors, sizes, brands and products etc.

Categories table could have a field called category and the possible values could be tops, bottoms, skirts
Colors table could have a field called color which would have all the possible colors for the clothing you are selling example red, light red, shocking red, green, sea green, olive green, blue etc.
Sizes table could have a field called size which would have all the possible sizes for the clothing you are selling example XS, S, M, L, Xl, XXL, 8, 10, 12...
Products table could have the fields - product_sku, product_name, product_category, style, product_brand, product_color, inventory etc
The record in the products table could look like this X123, Red Top, Tops, Peekaboo Top, Hazel, Red, 10

I can create a database driven website for you that increases work efficiencies and reduces working costs. I can create intranet websites so that your company staff/admin can login and maintain company related information like accounts, student information, job postings, news updates, menu for your restaurant, patient data, home owners data, real estate listings, run reports, view invoices, view transactions, view charts etc.

Why is a Good Website Design Important?

2009-08-21T03:28:00.000-07:00

A well designed website can be a great asset to your company by providing insight into who you are and the services you offer. Successful websites have a good, clean design and are easy to navigate. Your company's first impression, your logo will be the deciding factor for many potential customers.

I have the creative talent to make a visually appealing website and the training and knowledge of current web technologies to turn your ideas into a reality! I can create awesome, affordable, and creative logos that can give your business its true identity.

Affordable Website Solutions

2008-11-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

APSWebSolutions provides affordable custom website solutions for small to medium sized business. If you are doing all of your paperwork and data handling manually, I can make your life easier.

My mission is to provide quality website solutions for people who have the vision but limited finances.

I provide website design and website development to suit your needs. I develop content management systems that allow you to manage your website data from anywhere, so that you don’t need to depend on us. I am an expert in E-Commerce websites and proficient in project design.

Technical Highlights: HTML, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Flex, Javascript, Classic ASP, VB Script, ASP.NET, PHP, Ajax, Joomla, OS-Commerce, Drupal, WordPress, Cake PHP, MS-Access, MS-SQL Server, MySQL & Search Engine Optimization.

The reason I have a success story is because I answer the phone, emails, and communicate with you every step of the way. I am sincere in my work, and take every client seriously. Plus I have knowledge in cross-platform technologies (Microsoft or Open Source).

So whether you need maintenance or fixes on your existing website, or if you need a web application built from scratch, I have the expertise to get the job done. I have the creative talent to make a visually appealing website and the training and knowledge of current web technologies to turn your ideas into a reality! With my experience you can be sure that whatever your project demands are, I can deliver! If I cannot, I will be honest with you upfront.

Aparna Subramanian
Owner of APSWebSolutions

Contact : http://www.apswebsolutions.com/
702-516-2006