PSPINC Official Company Blog

What Every Successful Website Needs

Feb

6

Every website is different in what it looks like, what it offers, and its overall purpose, but a good website has several key qualities that will distinguish it from a poor site. For a business, a good website is vital to its success as it helps establish credibility, build trust, increase brand awareness, improve its customer experience, and keep the company competitive online.

A good website will attract more qualified visitors, keep people on your site for longer, give off a better impression on potential customers, and drive conversions like an increase in signups, readership, and sales. To do well online, a website needs to be secure and possess certain characteristics that every website needs to thrive online. While there are many types of websites (i.e. blogs, portfolio sites, business websites, etc.) available, they will all still need some of the same features needed to succeed.

Essential Features of a Good Website

Having a secure website is vital to attracting users to your website, not just to protect users while browsing, but also to prevent them from encountering error messages. The easiest way to do that is to have an SSL certificate for your site, which will guarantee users’ data is safe when they’re online. Without one, they’ll run into a page that informs them the connection is not secure and not private, and it will recommend users go “back to safety”.

While having a secure site is a start, other essential features include:

Mobile friendliness: how well a website looks on a mobile device. An easy way to make sure your website works and looks great on all devices (including mobile devices) is by using responsive design practices.
Search engine optimization: elements that affect how search engines rank your website in its search results.
- Page titles: the title of a web page.
- Meta tags: an HTML code snippet with information about a website.
- Alt tags on images: read-aloud text for users that conveys the “why” of images that search engines index to determine your site’s search ranking.
- Header tags: HTML tags that separate headings and subheadings on a webpage.
- Title tag: an HTML tag that defines a web page’s title.
- Sitemap: a file that lists all of a website’s pages and how they relate to each other.
- Page load time: how long it takes for a page to load. The longer it takes, the lower search engines will rank your site.
- Backlinks: a link on your website that links to another website.
- No broken links: If a link on your website doesn’t properly link to another web page, search engines will rank your site lower in the search results.
Clear calls-to-action (CTAs): a direct instruction on what you want users to do on your website. Without CTAs, website visitors won’t do anything on your site, which is a missed opportunity to convert them into customers.
Easy and helpful navigation: a menu of buttons and links that let users explore your website. Making it easy will lessen the possibility of users getting frustrated.
Fresh, high-quality content: new or updated content on your website will result in a more favorable search ranking, and exceptional content will encourage users to not just come and stay on your site, but it will also encourage them to come back.
Strong brand identity: A website is just another opportunity to create a cohesive brand identity with your company logo, color scheme, types of graphics, tone of voice, and brand messaging.

If you’re not sure how well your website fares or if it needs an update, check out our new free website evaluation tool that will help you assess your website at a basic level in just minutes. Just check out our Web Design page to try it out for yourself!

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 #branding #business #businesstips #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #mobile #responsivedesign #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #website #websites

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 205 “PSPINC /Apps Now Available!”

Feb

1

To better manage your PSPINC web apps, we're happy to announce that we've released PSPINC /Apps, an all-new multi-service login! With PPINC /Apps, you no longer need to remember every login to your multiple PSPINC accounts. Instead, they’ll all be in one place for you! All you have to do is sign up by clicking on Products on our website and clicking on the PSPINC /Apps banner on the right side. After signing up, you can connect your PSPINC web apps’ accounts, including:

Then you can log into any of these accounts with just one login with PSPINC /Apps. And to make your accounts even safer, add an extra layer of security with two-factor authentication (2FA) to your PSPINC /Apps account:

Log in to your PSPINC /Apps account
Click on My Account
Connect your account to your choice of authenticator app by either scanning the QR code or manually entering the key. Although PSPINC /Apps should support all authenticator apps, we recommend:

Enter the code displayed in your authenticator app to confirm the connection.

Get started today to make it easier to manage your PSPINC accounts all in one place with one login.

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.

#app #b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cybersecurity #data #digitalmarketing #newsletter #officetips #pspinc #pspincapps #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #update #web #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 204 “Dreamersi Web and Email Hosting”

Jan

25

The first product we created as a company was web hosting. Before 1996, PSPINC focused on growing the Japanese market with already-popular software technology from the U.S. But in 1996, we introduced our premiere web hosting, Dreamersi, which we created in-house, and our customers still use today. Over the years, we’ve continually updated and improved our software and eventually introduced email hosting as part of Dreamersi services.

Even all these years later, Dreamersi is still our biggest selling point because of how much control our developers have over the system, making it easier to customize it toward our customers’ needs. We also offer even more specialized web hosting with VPS packages. In addition, we also sell SSL certificates, which everyone needs for their website today. Learn more about our Dreamersi web hosting plans by going to our Dreamersi page on our website.

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 #dreamersi #email #emailhosting #marketing #newsletter #officetips #pspinc #smallbusiness #ssl #sslcertificate #tech #technology #vps #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webhosting #websites #webtools

Important Security Update Notice

Jan

25

At PSPINC, we are always working on doing our best to improve our services for our customers. One of our company’s top priorities is the safety and security of our customers’ data. That’s why we’re updating our SSL encryption strength to maintain higher security standards.

Why We're Updating

To address vulnerabilities of our SSL Cipher Strength (SSLCipherSuite) in case of cyberattacks like DHeat attacks, where criminals perform a denial-of-service (DoS) attack without needing authentication, privilege, or user interaction, and Raccoon attacks, which can either be a side-channel or man-in-the-middle type of attack that leaks the most significant part of the SSL cipher.

This security update will equip your personal and transactional information and other sensitive data with even stronger protection against cyber threats like DHeat and Raccoon attacks, among others. Additionally, we are terminating HTTPS access from Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7, which Microsoft has already stopped supporting.

Scheduled Date & Time:

Feb 1, 2024, at 10 a.m. PST

Target Users:

All Dreamersi users with a website with an SSL certificate

*There is no action required for most users. However, if you’re using an older browser or system, you may need to update.

We strive to create a smooth and secure online experience for our customers. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-800-232-3989 or email us at support@pspinc.com.

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.

#announcement #blog #business #businesstips #customerfeedback #cybersecurity #dreamersi #google #officetips #pspinc #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #update #web #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 199 “Starter Web Design Plan Now on Sale!”

Dec

21

The new year is the perfect time to give your website an update to make sure it continues performing well and helps reach your business goals. So, why not get your site custom-designed? While it’s easy to use a popular website builder, it also traps your website into looking very similar to many others on the market. With a custom design, you not only stick out amongst your competitors, but it also lets you add design elements and features that may not be included in the multitude of popular templates and gives you more opportunity to add more of your business’s branding to your website.

That’s why we’re now offering $200 off our Starter web design plan for the holidays! With our Starter plan, get:

Ten custom pages
WebdeXpress (our website builder) or WordPress template selection
One-year web hosting with SSL certificate included
Contact form
Mobile-friendly
Social media integration
One additional language
20% off web updates for one year

With over 36 years of experience helping hundreds of customers grow their online business, our designers and developers at PSPINC have the expertise you need. Get started by heading over to our web design page and get $200 off our Starter web design plan now.

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.

#b2b #blog #branding #business #businesstips #designer #developer #ecommerce #newsletter #pspinc #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webdexpress #webhosting #website #websites #wordpress

Custom Design and Development Showcase: Payroll Solutions Inc.

Dec

12

Payroll Solutions Inc. is a payroll service provider in the Pacific Northwest, founded in 2005 and now serves hundreds of clients throughout the U.S. Their services include payroll management, workforce management services, and employee time management services. They came to us looking for a visual rebranding and an improved organizational structure for their navigation bar and content, while incorporating their branding and color scheme, with a focus on leveraging their branding attributes, which consist of:

Delivering the best payroll services for small and mid-sized businesses
Always having a customer-centric mindset – focusing on their client’s needs and businesses and providing an exceptional experience.

So, to help them, we fully custom-designed their website by:

Rebuilding the website with WordPress with a fully custom theme
Redesigning their website
Integrating a client resource portal
Following branding guidelines, verbiage, and logo usage
Improving their website’s organizational structure – especially for their navigation bar and content
Leveraging their branding and color scheme
Redesigning their icon
Improving their previous sitemap

Now, if you go to PayrollSolutionsWA.com, you’ll find a fully responsive website that works on all device types. If you’re looking to custom-design your website, you’re in luck! Our Starter plan is now $799 ($200 off the regular price!). Or choose from one of our other budget-friendly web design plans by heading to our web design page.

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.

#b2b #blog #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #ecommerce #marketing #pspinc #searchengineoptimization #smallbusiness #tech #technology #update #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #website #websitebuilder #websites #wordpress

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 197 “Localize for English and Japanese-Speaking Customers”

Dec

7

For over 20 years now, we’ve been localizing content for small businesses looking to market toward both English-speaking customers and Japanese-speaking customers. Beyond just translating, we also build custom web applications, design and develop websites, and create digital marketing assets like social media posts using our localization expertise.

Our team at PSPINC knows it’s about more than just translating the words; it’s also about translating the meaning behind those words. That is the core of the localization work we’ve done for the past two decades, and what we continue to do even today. If you’re not quite sure of where to start, we always start with a consultation between you and our localization team before embarking on our project together. Learn more by heading over to our localization page on our website.

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 #b2b #blog #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #content #design #development #digitalmarketing #localization #marketing #marketingtips #newsletter #pspinc #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #website #websites

What is Web Hosting?

Nov

28

Web hosting refers to providing storage space and access to websites. In other words, web hosting acts like a space where websites store their files so users can view them online. So, every website you’ve ever been on is hosted on a server.

There are three types of hosting:

Shared: consists of one server where multiple websites share resources in equal proportions

Dedicated: offers end users all the hardware resources of a given server instead of sharing them like in shared hosting

VPS hosting: stands for virtual private server and is like a mix of the two, where a single virtual machine on a piece of physical hardware is shared with other virtual machines with levels of performance, flexibility, and control that fit somewhere between what shared and dedicated hosting offers.

Features Worth Considering

When choosing what features you need for your website, start by looking at what each type of hosting plan offers. Paid plans will generally have additional features that make it easier to manage your site as opposed to a free plan, which has the basics needed to get a website online. The more a web hosting plan costs, the more features there will be. But all you really need to keep in mind are these three aspects of your web hosting plan: speed, support, and scalability.

In terms of speed, multiple factors affect your website’s speed—one of which is your web hosting plans, and if your site takes longer than two seconds to load, generally, a user won’t stay on your site. When it comes to support, it’s important to know that your web hosting provider can get your site up and back up and running quickly if it were to unexpectedly go down. Lastly, there’s scalability. Your plan might work for you now, but as your site gets more traffic, you’ll want to upgrade your plan–your web hosting provider needs to have that option available for you to grow.

There is a myriad of choices when it comes time to buy web hosting, and PSPINC is one of them! Dreamersi is our premiere web hosting option that we’ve fully custom-built in-house, making it easier to control the overall hosting environment and features we’ve built into it. To learn more, head over to Dreamersi.com.

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.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customersupport #dreamersi #emailhosting #hosting #marketing #pspinc #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #video #web #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websites #webtools #youtube

What is IMAP?

Oct

17

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol and is a set of protocols that allows mobile and email desktop applications to access email on an email server. POP, in contrast, stands for Post Office Protocol, which downloads email messages to your device locally before deleting them from the email server. Both are used to access emails on an email server, but they’re both done in different ways.

The Difference Between IMAP and POP

The biggest difference between the two is how each receives emails. IMAP essentially copies email messages to your email app on your mobile or desktop device by pulling from the email server. POP, however, downloads email messages onto your local device and deletes them from the server. The easiest way to think about it comes from an example from CloudFare. Think of IMAP like it’s Google Docs and POP like it’s Microsoft Word. With Google Docs, your documents and changes, from both you and whatever collaborators you might have shared it with, are instantly saved on the cloud, regardless of device. But when using Microsoft Docs, if you’re working with someone else and you make a change to the document, the other person won’t see that change because you’ll only be saving that document to your local computer. Email apps that support IMAP include:

Dreamersi – our web and email hosting option
Gmail
Yahoo mail
Mozilla Thunderbird
Outlook – with options to change to POP, if users want to change it in the settings.

Why IMAP Is Better

businessman with laptop at cafe table on street

With the rise of mobile devices, IMAP makes it easy to seamlessly transition when using phones, desktop, and tablet. Because of how users receive emails with POP, users won’t be able to access their email if they want to open their email in an app on a different device in cases of a lost, damaged, stolen, or even upgraded device. With IMAP, users can just open their email app on a new device without a problem because it’ll just redownload from the server onto the new device. So, using IMAP is a much more secure option than POP.

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 #dreamersi #email #emailhosting #gmail #google #imap #mozillathunderbird #officetips #outlook #pop #pop3 #smallbusiness #tech #technology #thunderbird #video #web #webhosting #websites #webtools #yahoo #youtube

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 184 “Web Builders Vs. Custom Designed Sites”

Sep

7

Today, people have built many websites using popular web builders that make it easy for non-technical people to create a website. But as great as that is, many of those sites end up looking the same, just with different content. This isn’t to say that there aren’t great website templates out there because there are. But because of how popular these sites are, it results in a lot of similar-looking sites. The only differences are the images and word choices.

While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does make it harder for new websites to stand out amongst the competition. That’s why many businesses decide to get their site custom-designed. It guarantees that your site will stand out and lets you add features that may not be available from templates. Get your site custom-designed by our expert design team with one of our budget-friendly web design plans.

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.