Why should my business use the internet?
Do I need to provide computer related services to succeed on the internet?
What is a website?
What is a web application?
What is a database?
What is hosting?
What is a domain name, why should I get one?
What is Internet Marketing?
How can Internet Marketing benefit my business?
What is Web Tracking and Traffic Analysis? Why is it beneficial?
What is Search Engine Optimization?
How frequently should I update my web page?
Linux versus Windows Server

Why should my business use the internet?
Friday, October 4, 1957 marked the beginning of a new era. On this day, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite into Earth's orbit. As a response to the Sputnik "threat", US President Eisenhower approached Congress for the startup funds necessary for ARPA, the Advanced Research Projects Agency. From ARPA's work to create a standard means of communication among computers, TCP/IP, the internet was born. No one expected that standardized communication amongst computer devices would impact society and world culture as a whole that this single step would lead to the beginning of a true "global village"!

The internet is one of the most powerful tools for business. Instant communication, instant payment, speed, efficiency! Just as millions sit in front of the television, millions now use the internet everyday, and internet users are steadily growing.

Unlike television, which is regulated and monopolized, the internet is the final free frontier for information. The television was invented in 1921 and by 1990, 98% of all American households had at least one television set. As television is now engrained in our culture, internet usage is growing rapidly. As of 2002, 71.1% of American's use the internet for activities such as communication, readings news and gaining information, entertainment, and shopping. The internet is catching on faster than TV!

Now is the time to take advantage. Technology moves at amazing speed, and making intelligent decisions about how your business conducts its operations on the internet is critical.

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Do I need to provide computer related services to succeed on the internet?
No! That is one of the incorrect perceptions about doing business on the internet. The internet is not about computers. It uses computers as a means to enhance communication and information sharing. It expands your reach on a global scale! Using computer automation, your business transactions can be performed instantly and securely! This level of quick and efficient customer service is simply not possible using standard business methods!

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What is a website?
A website is simply a collection of information stored on a server. This information can be graphical, text based, movie based, etc. When someone visits a website, they request this information, and it is presented to them. Simple. You are browsing a website right now in fact.

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What is a web application?
A web application is a computer program which generates website content dynamically! The user requests information, the server generates, or creates, the user's request on the fly. This allows users to send information to the server, the server to process that information, and return results based on the initial information. Web applications are powerful! They make the leap from a website, which presents information, to a new frontier, which allows the user to interface with the system, and the system to interact with the user! From online ordering and message boards to multi-user business management systems, web applications take the World Wide Web to a new level.

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What is a database?
A database is a collection of information stored in separate tables, or information stores. These tables, or rather, the information stored in them, may relate to information in other tables, providing a means to store, and manipulate information as well as perform statistical analysis.

Eg: Your store sells many different brands of Ice Cream. A database might hold the brand names, costs, the supplier names, delivery dates, the quantity sold, etc.

From this information, you can quickly and easily calculate statistics such as the most popular flavors, the stores busiest times, any potential problems with the delivery schedule which may affect your inventory, etc. A database is an essential tool.

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What is hosting?
When you produce a website, or web application, you need a way for people from around the world to access your content! This is where hosting comes in. Your website, or web application, is stored on a computer server. This server takes requests from your potential clients, and provides them with your website.

Hosting solutions are important. It is important your website is accessible, fast, and reliable. Think of it this way: a customer attempts to walk into a store to make a purchase. She attempts to open the door, to step into the store, but the door is locked! How can this be? The store is open, but there is no way to enter! A hosting provider is like that. A customer can attempt to access your website, but if your hosting provider fails, it's like locking the door! Hosting is an important aspect, and a good hosting provider is a worthy investment!

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What is a domain name, why should I get one?
A domain name is a necessity on the internet today. Many disputes involving large corporations, business, and companies have emerged over the domain name system. A computer on the internet is assigned something called an IP address. This address allows a user to connect and request services from the host machine. A domain name provides a means to provide actual names for this number scheme.

Eg: domain name: yahoo.com
IP Address: 127.0.0.1

As you can see, it is easier for most people to remember "yahoo.com" rather then its number based IP address. That is why it is important for all serious business, and organizations to have their own domain name. This is the name your customers will know you by!

DNS is the distributed database system that controls these names. It is a government controlled and regulated system. Since internet domain names are controlled entities, it is necessary to go through a registration progress.

Domain names are given out on a first-request first-served basis. It is important you get your domain name ASAP before it is taken. We at Atomic Hosting will guide you through this process. We can even take over and entirely handle this for you!

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What is Internet Marketing?
The main objective of Internet Marketing is to draw customers to your website and keeping them there. Internet Marketing consists of strategies and techniques applied on the Internet to support the organization's overall online marketing objectives. Goals may include driving targeted traffic to a Website and features on the Website to create a desired call to action. Internet marketing may include keyword and meta-tag strategies, newsgroup and mailing list postings, banner advertising, reciprocal links, online promotions, content positioning, online image development, email strategies and other interactive features.

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How can Internet Marketing benefit my business?
The Internet has added new dimensions to human conversation, extending the reach of your business to millions of people who are online. Internet users are asking questions, browsing different sites and if you don’t learn to participate in the conversation then you are left out of those sales. Your target market is full of people but if you do not have a strategy to draw them to your website, that is sales lost. Changing suppliers, manufacturing or services is as easy as a click of a button, listen and strategy or you will be left out of a multi-million dollar sales.

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What is Web Tracking and Traffic Analysis? Why is it beneficial?
All online business should closely watch how visitors behave on their Web sites to determine how to better serve them and get them to buy. Businesses should concern themselves over how quickly their sites serve up pages for customers. A successful Web strategy means doing both. There are many tools and techniques that Atomic Hosting can offer businesses like yours, to help you better understand how visitors interact with their site, how well sites are designed to achieve business goals, and how quickly sites perform page downloads and other tasks. We recommend that companies keep an eye on all those things. The more you know about your website and your customers the more you are able to change your site to better serve your customer!

Data such as hits, referrals, etc are some of the statistics that will be available to you about your customers from Atomic Hosting. You can easily discover what keywords people use to find you, which search engines are sending you traffic, how many of your visitors come back to your site, how people travel your pages, how long they stay... there are dozens of available reports all in an easy-to-read format in various presentation styles – data to graphical output.

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What is Search Engine Optimization?
Did you know that 90% of Internet surfers use search engines such as Google and Yahoo to locate specific products and services? In order for these potential clients to find your Web site, it has to be optimized correctly for the search engine spiders to recognize it. Effective search engine optimization will significantly increase your company's Web presence.

With this in mind, it is no mystery why search engine optimization has become one of the hottest topics within Internet marketing. With 391 million people online, the amount of daily search engine traffic is staggering. For an individual or company who is thinking of marketing their products or services, the Internet can be a virtually limitless gold mine of potential customers.

However, to reach these customers you will need to position yourself on those same search engines that hundreds of millions people are using daily. When queried, a search engine will reveal all of the web sites it has in its database about a particular subject or product. If your web site happens to fall into the requested search category, this is called your web site ranking.

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How frequently should I update my web page?
You should keep your content fresh and relevant by updating as your web page as often as you can. We provide maintance at a low-fee for those who prefer to concentrate on their business. We can also provide our own easy to use web editor so you can update your own site. There are so also programs such as Website Builder & HTML - Download Evrsoft 1st Page HTML editor! if you are comfortable with HTML.

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Linux versus Windows hosting ?
Both technologies are suitable for beginners, professional web developers, and everyone in between, but it is essential to choose the technology that is more suited to your style of web building. Each technology has its own distinct advantages for users.

Linux hosting
Linux is widely considered to be the best operating system for web hosting servers. Characteristically reliable, stable and efficient, Linux has been proven in the most demanding web and mail server environments.

If you plan to incorporate work that uses PHP, Perl or MySQL, Linux is the solution you should choose. Linux is also ideal for the kind of websites that display information as a brochure, in newsletter format or as data sheets. Linux works well for 'brochure-ware' sites that offer interaction via inquiry forms, online purchasing and other e-commerce functions.

Microsoft hosting
Microsoft should be your choice of platform if you plan on utilizing Active Server Pages or other Microsoft applications to design your web pages. MS hosting also offers an advantage if you wish to incorporate searchable databases into your website. The Microsoft platform delivers reduced development time and better functionality for databases.

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