PSPINC Official Company Blog

New Dreamersi FTP Feature Now Available!

Aug

14

Today, we’re happy to announce that our web hosting service, Dreamersi, has a new feature! With Dreamersi, more tech-savvy users can use the FTP features, which stands for File Transfer Protocol. Basically, what this means is that you can build your website by transferring files to a server. Web hosting like Dreamersi then hosts that server, making it much safer than hosting your site on a local computer, typically called the local host. But now, we’re adding even more security with a new FTP Access Security feature.
ftp feature screenshot

With this new feature, you can protect your site from potential hacks by blocking all FTP access or temporarily allowing access until midnight. When going back to editing your site, head over to the Dreamersi admin panel and scroll down until you reach the FTP Services section. Then, you’ll find the FTP Access Security icon. By default, Dreamersi has the “Permanently allow FTP access” option selected, but it isn’t something we recommend. With this new feature, you can either block all FTP access or only allow it temporarily until 12 AM PST. At midnight, your site will then block all FTP access to protect your site from unauthorized parties. So, just sign up for Dreamersi to take advantage of this new FTP feature to better protect your website. Only available for Dreamersi customers on the new V5 version (reach out to our support team for help migrating your Dreamersi site over to V5!) as well as new Dreamersi users.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #cyber #cybersecurity #dreamersi #ftp #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #update #web #webhosting #website #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 176 “Different Types of Web Hosting”

Jul

13

Last week, we talked about having high-quality web hosting for your website. There are three different types of web hosting: shared, dedicated, and VPS. Shared hosting is usually what you’ll start with when starting your website as it’s the most basic, cost-effective form of web hosting. But for higher levels of isolation, security, performance, and control, dedicated hosting is the better choice.

Lastly, there’s VPS hosting, which is a cross between shared and dedicated web hosting. VPS stands for Virtual Private Hosting and is a single, virtual machine on a piece of physical hardware shared with other virtual machines. But unlike other hosting options, it gives you more control over your website with dedicated resources. That’s why we offer a dedicated VPS here at PSPINC. We customize every VPS to suit our customers’ needs, so contact us for details and pricing. To learn more about different types of web hosting, watch our YouTube video that breaks down each type in detail!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #entrepreneur #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdev #webdeveloper #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websites #webtools

Twitter’s $250M Copyright Lawsuit Explained and What Businesses Can Avoid It

Jul

11

Last month, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) sued Twitter for $250 million for copyright infringement. Why? Because Twitter’s been letting users share copyrighted music without a license for years, as the lawsuit claims. It’s been an issue with the platform for years, but the lawsuit claims it’s only gotten worse since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company. When looking at how other social media platforms compare, most have cut a deal with music publishers and labels, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitch.

So, why hasn’t Twitter made a similar deal? Simply put, Twitter’s been dodging copyright infringement for several years. The reason behind this is financial, as it would cost the platform possibly over $100 million a year. But Twitter had reportedly been in negotiations for a licensing deal with three major labels: Universal, Sony, and Warner since 2021. Those, however, have since stalled since Elon Musk took over. Speaking of, the lawsuit explicitly mentioned him because of his comments about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In a now-deleted tweet from 2022, he called the DMCA “overzealous” and “a plague on humanity”.

Why the NMPA is Suing Twitter

man in black shirt wearing headphones in front of monitor

Not only has Twitter allowed its users to post videos containing copyrighted music, but the only punishment those users receive is a temporary suspension. On other platforms, it’d go as far as risking the removal of those users’ accounts. But tweets including copyrighted music don’t just go on without discipline, many actually go viral. For Twitter, it only benefits the platform with increased user engagement and ultimately advertising revenue. All while not paying to license that music.

In the lawsuit, the complaint cites more than 1,700 songs, consisting of many that have blown up on Twitter. Examples include “Uptown Funk” featuring Bruno Mars by Mark Ronson, “All I Want For Christmas” by Mariah Carey, and “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift, among many others.

How to Avoid Copyright Infringement as a Business

classy executive male reading papers on couch

For a business, getting into legal trouble is one of the last things you want to happen. The easiest way to avoid copyright infringement suits is by using your own content. Especially in advertising material. But when you can’t, that’s where free royalty-free photos, videos, audio/music comes in handy. There are multiple sites where you can easily find this kind of content, but one of our favorites is Pexels. As long as you use material that isn’t owned by someone else, you’re golden.

If, for some reason, you have to use something that isn’t free for commercial use; you need explicit permission from the owner to use it. And you may have to pay a fee to do so (like those other social media platforms with licensing deals). Otherwise, you may find yourself slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #blog #branding #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #dmca #elonmusk #lawsuit #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #news #nmpa #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #twitter #web #webdesign #website #websites

PSPINC’s 36th Anniversary!

Jul

7

Today on this exact day in 1987, our founder and CEO, Kenichi Uchikura, started Pacific Software Publishing Inc. (PSPINC) and has since evolved to become what it is today. We’re proud to say we serve more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world, not just by providing web hosting, but with all their website needs. We have an amazing team working hard to design and develop software in-house to help businesses thrive online.

Thank you to all our customers and employees today and over the years for helping us get to where we are today.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstools #ecommerce #hosting #marketing #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 175 “High-Quality Web Hosting”

Jul

6

Web hosting is about more than just getting your website online. Investing in a good web hosting service ensures better security, better customer service, and better maintenance support. A good web hosting service provides an SSL certificate for your site. That way, users won’t encounter an error page, warning them that their connection isn’t secure when entering a URL. And the service should also include frequent backup services. If something were to happen, like accidentally deleting an important file, you’ll still have your backups to rely on.

Dreamersi is our premiere web hosting service with email hosting, VPS packages, and more robust SSL certificate options, available as add-ons. In all our Dreamersi web hosting plans, our customers get a free domain, free access to WebdeXpress, our easy-to-use web builder, data backups, domain validation (DV) SSL certificates, and world-class support. We’ve had over 20 years of experience providing high-quality web hosting services to small businesses everywhere. Get started today.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #ecommerce #hosting #marketing #marketingdigital #newsletter #pspinc #searchengineoptimization #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webdesign #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websites #webtools

The Reddit Blackout Explained

Jul

4

Reddit is a forum full of thousands of communities, or subreddits, where people share news, content, and opinions. Seven years ago, Reddit released a free API or Application Programming Interface. With an API, developers can integrate existing software systems into new applications. For example, when signing in to certain websites with your Google or Facebook account, it’s using an API to do so.

Developers use APIs for multiple different reasons, like sharing information between different platforms and carrying out diverse tasks. All while still building out their own interface. With Reddit, whenever a user wants to view or comment on a post from Reddit, the app sends a request to the API. However, this won’t be the case anymore. Reddit announced in April that they’d start charging third-party applications for API access. In other words, developers that made an app for Reddit and those that use its API will now need to pay for requests to use their API.

Why Reddit Users Are (Still) Protesting

The trend of charging for API usage isn’t new, as Twitter did the same after Elon Musk took over. But it also shut down dozens of third-party apps. With Reddit, they’ll be charging $0.24 per 1,000 requests. It doesn’t sound like much until you realize that the app, Apollo, a popular iOS Reddit app, makes upwards of seven billion API requests a month. That’s almost $2 million a month and over $20 million a year, which is just too high of a price for most companies.

When you compare it with Twitter’s API cost, it costs developers anywhere from $100 to more than $5,000 a month. And their plans have limitations set on them. For larger businesses on the enterprise level, it’ll cost much more than that. To protest, Reddit users agreed to what started as a 48-hour blackout called Reddark, where nearly 8,000 subreddits were set to private starting June 12. But even after the 48 hours were up, the blackout persisted, as over 6,000 communities on Reddit are still private. Regardless, it hasn’t deterred Reddit from changing its mind.

Reddit’s API Changes

So, why did Reddit update its API terms? According to its CEO, Steve Huffman, the free API model just wasn’t sustainable. Especially now that Reddit has its own ad network now. Users coming to Reddit via third-party apps don’t see those ads, which greatly impacts how effective and how profitable Reddit’s ad network is. And advertisers won’t want to work with Reddit anymore if they’re paying for ineffective services.

Despite the backlash and online protests, Reddit is moving forward with the API changes. Even though large and popular subreddits have remained private, there are still plenty more that haven’t. They aren’t nearly as sizeable, but it’s enough not to deter Reddit from its plans. Shifts like this seem to prioritize profits over the community-building atmosphere these platforms are known for, which doesn’t sit well with users. So far, Twitter and Reddit are the only large social platforms that charge for API requests. But whether others will follow in their footsteps is yet to be seen.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #api #apollo #applicationprogramminginterface #blog #developer #developers #digitalmarketing #elonmusk #marketing #marketingdigital #reddark #reddit #smallbusiness #socialmedia #stevehuffman #tech #technology #twitter #web #website #websites

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 174 “Asking for Feedback”

Jun

29

We’ve talked about the importance of positive Google reviews, but feedback is important to every business. Especially a small one. Asking for feedback from your customers shows you care. But for businesses, feedback also tells you more about how customers feel about your products, services, and experiences. More importantly, it highlights where you can improve. If you see a lot of the same complaints about a product, reviews will alert you to the problem. The last thing you really want is to have a faulty product and not know about it. And if you don’t know there’s a problem, it also means you can’t fix the problem.

Other than using Google reviews, you can also ask for feedback from customers with an online form embedded on your website or with Opinion Stand. With an online form, you can ask multiple questions tailored to your business and your customers’ experiences. And you don’t even need to know how to code if you use InforMakers. If you’d rather just get a general rating, embed Opinion Stand into your website, emails, and other digital media. Or create a QR code where customers can click on which face best expresses their overall experiences. Book a demo today.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerfeedback #customerservices #forms #informakers #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #opinionstand #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #website #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 172 “The Importance of Positive Google Reviews”

Jun

15

When you want to look for a new restaurant to go to or get your car serviced, the first place you’ll look is Google. The same can be said when you’re looking for any kind of service from a business. After entering your query into Google, the first thing that’ll pop up is a list of businesses in your local area. And right below those business names, you’ll find their overall rating. The last thing people want to do is choose to work with a business with a bad rating.

Positive Google reviews act as social proof, making your business look more trustworthy. And they influence potential customers to purchase from you, which can make a major impact on sales. On the technical side, it also helps with optimizing your business website for search engines. Google’s algorithm favors new and original content, and customer reviews feed into that. Having good search engine optimization (SEO) helps your site’s overall visibility. If you’re looking for some extra help on better optimizing your site for search engines, reach out to us at PSPINC. We have experts ready to help!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #google #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #website

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 171 “Reminder to Switch Over to Google Analytics 4”

Jun

8

In case you missed it, Google Analytics is sun-setting Universal Analytics (UA) at the beginning of next month. In 2020, Google Analytics introduced Google Analytics 4 (GA4), giving users the option to use either. Now, to favor GA4 over UA, Google Analytics will stop collecting and processing data for UA properties starting July 1st. With more users becoming concerned about their privacy online over the last few years, many opt out of tracking cookies when surfing the web. UA relies heavily on cookies to track user behavior, but GA4 uses event-based modeling to gather data.

If you haven’t already opted out, it’ll automatically switch your site over to GA4, but we recommend you make the switch sooner rather than later. The sooner you switch, the more data you’ll collect in the new system. With that data, it’ll help determine trends and insights to help you improve your upcoming business and marketing plans. For directions on how to switch manually, head over to one of our older blog posts. If you need more help to migrate your data from UA to GA4, give us a call! We have experts ready to help you with your SEO and other marketing needs.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #ga4 #google #googleanalytics #googleanalytics4 #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pspinc #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #ua #universalanalytics #web #website #websites

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 170 “What is Content Marketing?”

Jun

1

Unlike traditional marketing efforts, content marketing doesn’t promote by directly selling to potential customers. Instead, it pulls people in with educational and entertaining content. This content can be through blog posts, social media posts, videos, and email content among others. With content marketing, you aren’t trying to sell anything; instead, your goal is to educate and entertain people, hoping they’ll be interested in buying something from you later. But your content can’t just be random, otherwise, there won’t be any connection between your content and your company.

Content marketing helps establish your brand as an authority in the field and helps with audience retention. The more high-quality educational content you have for potential customers to find, the more authority your company will have in their eyes. If your content is relevant, informational, and interesting to potential customers, they’ll likely stay on the page for longer. And they’ll come back for more. But regardless, producing high-quality content consistently while juggling other business tasks is difficult. But the effort will be well worth it in the end. For more marketing help, reach out to our experts at PSPINC.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.