PSPINC Official Company Blog

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

6月

15日

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

Dreamersi Mail V5: New In-Email Spam Reporting Feature!

5月

16日

We’re happy to announce that Dreamersi, our premiere web and email hosting service, now has a new feature! We will now display an in-email warning for any incoming email that looks suspicious but isn’t caught by the spam filter.

screenshot of new in-email spam reporting feature

screenshot of new in-email spam reporting feature

When you report an email as spam, it will lead you to a page where:

in-email spam email

· The message removal option is checked by default
· You can choose to add the sender to your personal spam filter

When you report an email as not spam (“Looks okay”), it will lead you to a page where:

report email as not spam

· You can click on the “Submit” button to report the email as not spam to help our spam filter system improve its accuracy

In both instances, you’ll also receive a “Thank you for your report” page and a Thank you email.

The 'Report Spam Banner' option is also turned off by default, so unless you manually go in to turn it on, you won't see the report banner. To turn it on, go to 'Spam Filter Settings' and select 'On' in the 'Report spam banner' option at the bottom. Then click 'Save' and you will then see the banner the next time you receive an email that may look like spam.

spam filtering settings in dreamersi

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 #customersupport #email #emailhosting #hosting #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #website

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 167 “Make Calls Easily with Tap-To-Call”

5月

12日

When our CEO, Ken Uchikura, realized his parents were having trouble calling him on their phones, he had an idea. If it was this hard for his parents to call people, it must be a problem other senior citizens face, too. That’s why he created Tap-To-Call. As the name suggests, users can easily make phone calls, as well as video calls, with the tap of a button!

While many senior citizens own a smartphone, about 42% according to Pew Research Center, technology evolves quickly. Even for younger people, keeping up with how fast technology changes can be difficult. Tap-To-Call makes it easier for those who aren’t as tech-savvy. For just $0.99, it’s easy to add, edit, and/or remove contacts. Just download the app on the iOS App Store to get started.

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 #appstore #blog #business #businesstips #call #ios #iphone #mobile #newsletter #phone #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #taptocall #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 165 “Custom Web Design Solutions”

4月

28日

An important part of developing a business’s brand identity is its website. The elements that go into designing a business website include a logo, a simple navigation bar, a clear call-to-action (CTA), a product and services page, and an about us page. The web designer’s job isn’t just to create these components, but it also involves making the site look attractive using specific colors and overall imagery provided by the client. Those colors and imagery help create the overall brand identity of the site and business.

Now, to make it easier than ever, we’ve created budget-friendly web design plans perfect for your business needs. Whether you’re just looking for a basic web presence or a site with everything you’d ever need for your business, we’ve got you covered. To learn more about our web design packages, head over to our custom 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 #business #businesstips #businesstools #ecommerce #marketing #marketingtips #pspinc #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webdexpress #websites #webtools #wordpress

Why Google Analytics is Switching to Google Analytics 4 and How to Switch Over Manually

4月

26日

Released in 2005, Google Analytics is a free web analytics service where users can view statistics and have access to basic analytical tools for their websites. These tools help website owners optimize their sites for search engines and better market their sites and potential businesses. Since 2012, Universal Analytics (UA) became the default property type. In 2020, Google released Google Analytics 4 (GA4), giving users the option to use either.

Starting July 1st, Google Analytics will not only switch to GA4, but it’ll also stop its data collection for UA properties. And they'll solely support GA4 rather than giving users the choice to either GA4 or UA. Even though it’s almost two months away from now, it’s recommended you switch over sooner rather than later.

Why is Google Switching to Google Analytics 4?

Internet users today are becoming more aware of their privacy online in recent years. With that concern, many users have opted out of tracking cookies, which are text files that collect data about a user’s behavior on their browser. When you first go to a website, many times, it’ll ask if you agree to accept tracking cookies. As users learn more about internet safety, more and more people are opting out of tracking cookies. For Google Analytics, that changes things because UA captures data by relying on first-party cookies. With more people opting out, UA’s data set will become less helpful moving forward. GA4, however, uses event-based data modeling to gather data.

How to Switch Manually from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4

two people looking at google analytics and a tablet

To manually switch over to GA4:

Create a GA4 property and data stream

For a site that already has analytics, start by going to the Admin (lower left) in Google Analytics
Make sure the right account is selected in the Account column (if you only have one Google Analytics account, it’s already selected)
Select the Universal Analytics property that currently collects data for your website in the Property column
Click GA4 Setup Assistant in the Property column
Click Get started under I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 Property
In the Create a new Google Analytics 4 property pop-up, depending on how your site is currently tagged, you can either:

Create and continue
Create property

Select the option that best describes your situation on the Set up a Google tag page and follow the instructions to finish creating your new GA4 property
Collect website and app data
Turn on Google signals
Add users

Even though it’ll automatically switch over (if you haven’t opted out), Google still recommends you manually switch to GA4 before the deadline on July 1st. The reasoning behind this is simple: the sooner you switch, the more data you’ll collect in the new system. And that data collection will be vital to help determine trends and insights and how to improve your overall business and marketing plans. If you need help migrating your data from UA to GA4, 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.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customersupport #digitalmarketing #google #googleanalytics #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #security #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #website #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 164 “Marketing with Audio”

4月

21日

Using audio in marketing has only gotten popular over the past few years. Catchy jingles, sponsored podcasts, audiobooks, and other audio advertising methods. And there’s a good reason for this: people are more likely to remember something with audio, especially music. So, when you use audio in your marketing plan, it’s that much more effective.

The goal of marketing isn’t just to get people to buy your product, but it’s also to keep your products and your brand in the back of customers’ minds. That way, the next time they think of something related to what you’re selling, they’ll think of your brand, making it more likely they’ll buy from you. That’s why we created Click It Audio, which gives businesses an easy way to add audio to their marketing efforts. Embed an audio file onto your site or add an audio QR code on your product packaging and business cards. Get started for free or upgrade to our Standard plan at just $9.91/month.

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 #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 163 “Easy Website Builders”

4月

14日

Today, it’s much easier to build a site for businesses, blogs, portfolios, or for any other reason. In the past, web developers and designers worked together to create a site from scratch. Now, there are a bunch of web builders out there that make it easier for non-developers to easily create a site, with features all designed for different goals people have in mind for their site. Businesses can add cart options, bloggers can choose how they want to rearrange their posts, and there are all sorts of templates out there designed to put the focus on images first. But with so many to choose from with a million different options, it’s hard to know which would work best for your website needs.

That’s why we created WebdeXpress, a simpler web-building tool! Compared to our competitors, WebdeXpress comes free with our premium web hosting service, Dreamersi, and includes great features fit for every website need. And for those who aren’t as tech-savvy, we even have a Done-For-You (DFY) plan, where our design team works with you to create your site in hours. And if you’re looking for a more custom solution, we also custom develop and custom design sites for our customers, too!

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 #digitalmarketing #hosting #marketing #marketingtips #pspinc #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webdevelopment #webdexpress #webhosting #website #websites #webtools #wordpress

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 162 “Localizing Content”

4月

7日

For businesses today, you want as many customers as you can get to buy from you. The problem is, when you try to market to everyone, your efforts end up sounding vague and uninspired. When you determine a focus for your campaign, however, you won’t only share better marketing content, but you’ll also end up with customers who are even more interested in what you offer. One way to narrow down your audience is by language; our products and services aren’t just for our U.S. customers, but also for our customers in Japan.

That’s why we work hard to help other small businesses do the same. We started localizing software between the U.S. and Japan in the 90s and it’s only gotten better since then. Today, we do more than just localize software; we also offer translation services so other businesses can feature both English and Japanese languages on their website and other marketing efforts. Doing so helps optimize your customers’ experience, especially for non-English speakers. And on the business side, it helps expand your potential customer base. Start localizing your content with us 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 #businesstips #businesstools #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #webdevelopment

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 159 “2 More Weeks to Get 50% Off Pass Wizard Pro”

3月

17日

In case you missed it, the Pro version of our password manager, Pass Wizard, is currently on sale for 50% off your first year. And it has been for a few months now. But that time is slowly coming to end on Thursday, March 30. That gives you two weeks to claim this offer!

With Pass Wizard Pro, in addition to a secure password storage and password generator, you gain access to multi-factor authentication (MFA) options via either SMS or an authenticator app, as well as group sharing features. To get 50% off, sign up for Pass Wizard for free (if you haven’t already) and upgrade to Pro. While checking out, enter the promo code, PRO50, to get 50% off. Then, you’re all set!

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 #cybersecurity #newsletter #pacificsoftwarepublishing #passwizard #passwordmanager #passwords #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webtools

What is Web Development?

3月

8日

Web development refers to all actions required to build, maintain, and manage a website. There are three types of web development: front-end, back-end, and full-stack. Front-end development is the clint-facing side of the website, app, or digital product, and refers to everything users will see and interact with. This usually entails designing the site and developers use their knowledge of HTML, CSS, and sometimes JavaScript to do so.

Back-end development refers to everything that happens behind the scenes, ensuring a site works the way it’s supposed to. This usually includes creating a site’s basic framework, like database interactions, server, network, and hosting configuration, and business logic. To do so, back-end developers use their knowledge of server-side programming languages, which include PHP, Ruby, and Python. Lastly, full-stack development combines knowledge and tasks from front-end and back-end development, so full-stack developers usually take on more leadership roles on projects.

Steps in the Web Development Process

1. Acquire a domain name

Domain names are the unique URLs users will type into their browser windows to get to a website. Good domain names can be hard to come by, so doing this step first helps lower the chances someone else will snatch the one you want first. But the name of your domain will also heavily influence the overall design of the site.

2. Form a plan

If you’re building a website for a client, the planning steps include meeting with said client and figuring out what they need. Even if they’re not entirely sure what they’ll need, as the developer, you’ll need to determine the site’s overall purpose and goals. That will then help inform the kinds of content that will be on the site and how it’ll be arranged.

3. Create a mockup

To give you and your client a better representation of what the site will look like, create a mockup. This will generally start with a wireframe, which is a two-dimensional skeletal outline of a webpage or app. And it’ll also involve creating a sitemap, which lists files on your site to help search engines like Google crawl and index your site’s context. In addition, you may also need to create a prototype that takes the mockup a step further to show how the site will function.

4. Research your client’s target audience

Learning more about who the website’s meant for will give you a better idea of what content will be on the page. And that will then help inform how the site should look. Again, the site’s overall design should appeal to the client’s audience, encouraging them to take action like purchasing a product or staying on the site longer.

5. Build the back-end

Back-end developers will start by building the back-end of the homepage first and move on to the other pages by creating a “shell”, which front-end developers will later fill with content. During this step, developers will add functional elements like contact forms and shopping carts and make sure they work properly.

6. Build the front-end

Working on the front end of the website will focus more on the design aspect of the site and will include some basic coding using HTML and CSS, as well as JavaScript, if needed.

desktop and mobile view of pass wizard's website

desktop and mobile view of pass wizard's website

7. Test your site features

To ensure everything works the way it’s supposed to on your site, test your site features. This will prevent users from coming to your site and clicking on a broken link or encountering other issues. Another thing to look out for is seeing how different the site may look on different devices and different browsers.

8. Launch your site

After finishing the development phases, it’s time to launch your site!

9. Promote your site

While having a site is a great first step, no one will come to your site if no one knows it exists. That’s where promotion comes in, which you or the client could do in-house or outsource marketing work to an outside agency like PSPINC. Web development work doesn’t always involve a lot of marketing, but it’s important to remember that the site you’ve built and the marketing work it’ll take to promote that site directly correlate; the site needs to stand up on its own once the marketing team leads users to the site. A good marketing strategy will bring users to the site, but the site and its offering will determine if users stay and convert.

10. Monitor your site

Lastly, your web development duties may also involve monitoring the site, which includes checking website traffic, adjusting content to better optimize the site, and updating content as needed as time goes on.

If you’re looking for custom development, custom design, or even marketing services for your business, reach out for a free consultation on our website so we can work together to find the right solution for you and your business.

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.