The Flow Web Design's Services

Upgrades:

Have an old Windows 7 computer that isn't as peppy as it once was? Wish you could find some use for that old XP computer you've written off?

Adding additional memory and replacing an old mechanical hard drive with new solid state drive can put the pep back into aging laptops and desktops. You don't have to worry about losing your data or reinstalling the programs, or if you can even find the disks, we can clone your old hard drive to your new drive and you won't lose a thing.

That old XP machine that you've written off may find a new life with a Linux operating system like Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

Domain Services:

What's a domain name? A domain name is a Web address, like www.theflowwebdesign.com, that translates to an IP (Internet Protocol) address which identifies a specific location on the Internet. At the time of this writing according to DOMAINTOOLS.COM there were over 142 million registered domains and of that over 105 million were .com domain addresses.

As Alyssa Gregory points out in her article How to Find the Perfect Domain Name on sitepoint.com, finding a domain name that is unique and memorable, search engine friendly, easy to spell and say, relevant to what's on your website, and true to your brand will continue to get more difficult as more business compete for the coveted .com domain names. If your still considering what your domain should be I recommend reading Alyssa's article and searching around the sitepoint.com website for more information regarding domain names.

If you need help deciding on a domain name contact THE FLOW Web Design and we'll work with you to find that domain name that will uniquely identify your business from all the other websites on the Internet and register your choice for you.

If on the other hand you've already done your research and have found that domain name that will uniquely identify your business from all the other websites on the Internet but would like help registering your domain please contact THE FLOW Web Design and we'll register your choice for you.

If you know the domain name that you want and your comfortable registering it yourself THE FLOW Web Design suggests Namecheap for all your domain registration needs. Just click on the Namecheap banner and follow the directions. During the registration process you'll be offered a variety of other service including website hosting. Before choosing your hosting provider please consider THE FLOW Web Design's hosting information.

Domain registration is not something that you pay for once and then you own it forever. Domain registrations expire and when registering you get to decide for how long you would like to register your domain name. The point being, domain registration is a recurring cost. How often it recurs depends on choices made while registering the domain.  Namecheap allows registration for as few as one year to as many as ten years.

Once you've got your domain name you're ready to move to the next step of the process which is the acutal design of the website.

Web Design:

Once you've identified your domain name it's time to begin thinking about what it takes to come up with an actual website.  As Jason Beaird says in his article The Principles of Beautiful Web Design at sitepoint.com, "The actual process of developing an entire site or web application includes a lot of steps, but the process of creating a design comp boils down to only two tasks: discovery and implementation."

The discovery task is one in where the web designer gets to know the client, their client's business and exactly what the client wants from the website.  This is the client's opportunity to provide the developer with the information they need to create a content rich, relevant website.

Some things to begin considering when you are preparing to have a website designed for your business are: your company logo and colors and implementing them in the website, your goals for a website, website content and organization, your target audience, and your competitors and their websites.  You having thought through some of these items before talking to web design firms will make the discovery portion of the web designer’s job easier.

Once the web designer feels they've discovered enough information they'll begin the second task of implementing what they've discovered about their client and their client's business into an actual website.

THE FLOW Web Design's philosophy is to allow your message to FLOW from the screen to your site's visitors.  Our simple, sophisticated style delivers the information FLOW that your visitors expect.

The busyness of many sites obscures their message or makes it difficult for the visitor to find the information they're seeking.  At THE FLOW Web Design we believe that you must have substance or the style doesn't matter.  We strive to build a style around the substance that is your message.

So, if you're looking for a sophisticated, uncomplicated, user friendly, standards compliant site that gives your customers the information they desire let THE FLOW Web Design know and we'll help you develop your presence on the Internet.

Early on during the implementation task your web designer is going to ask you about your website's host.

Hosting:

Domains (theflowwebdesign.com for example) and IP addresses at the time of writing this the IP address of theflowwebdesign.com is 184.154.68.125) pointing to a specific location on the Internet. That location is determined by where your website lives or, in this case, who is hosting it.

THE FLOW Web Design chooses StableHost for all of its hosting needs. Website hosting is StableHost's primary business and not just an additional service they offer. THE FLOW Web Design suggests that you register your domain with a company whose main business is domain registration such as Namecheap and choose a hosting company that's primary business is website hosting like StableHost.

Like domain registration website hosting is a recurring cost and, also like domain registration, how often it recurs depends on choices made while registering for hosting. StableHost offers monthly, 12-month, 24-month and 36-month hosting plans.

THE FLOW Web Design can setup web hosting through StableHost for your website or you can click on the banner and sign up for yourself. If you'd like to do some research on hosting companies THE FLOW Web Design suggests Sitepoint's Web Host Forum and WHreviews.com.

Internet Safety:

Anti-Virus Software

By now just about everyone knows they need Internet Security software that includes anti-virus but not everyone knows about av-comparatives.org which provides independent tests of anti-virus software.

For a single home (non-commercial) PC THE FLOW Web Design suggests Avast Anti-Virus which can be found on our Free* Software page.  For multiple family computers or commercial computers THE FLOW Web Design recommends ESET's Nod32 Antivirus.

Is the subscription up on the anti-virus that came with your PC?   Did you get burned by McAfee's false positive and now you're ready to try something else?  Unsure of how to get completely rid of your current anti-virus program?  Not quite confident enough to install new anti-virus software? Contact THE FLOW Web Design to arrange an appointment to take care of it for you.

If it's time for new anti-virus software, click on the banner above to purchase at 25% off the regular price!

OpenDNS

Are you concerned about lost productivity employee Internet browsing is causing?  Do you worry about what your kids or spouse is viewing on the Internet at home?  Would you like to limit the types of conent that employees or family are accessing through your Internet connection?  If so, OpenDNS could be for you.  OpenDNS uses Domain Name Services to restrict access to categories of web content that you choose to block.  OpenDNS can even provide reports on the content that was attempted but blocked by OpenDNS.

David Ulevitch, OpenDNS Founder/CEO:
Today (Jun 23rd, 2010) we’re introducing a new service called FamilyShield and it’s the absolute simplest and most straightforward way for parents to protect kids from the bad stuff online. There is no complicated set up and no software to install on your computers.

Click on the OpenDNS button above and take a look at what OpenDNS has to offer!  If you decide that it looks good but you aren't sure where to begin just contact THE FLOW Web Design and we'll come to your business or home and help implement OpenDNS for your peace of mind!

Wireless Security

Have you put off adding wireless networking because you're concerned about security? Have you finally bought a wireless router but because the security setup was too difficult you bypassed it and left the wireless open or used the insecure WEP wireless security protocol?  Do you realize that you could be providing free internet access to your neighbors through your insecure wireless router?  Did also you know that they could access anything you've chosen to share on any computer connected to that router?  Without proper wireless security setup on your wireless router anyone close enough can access your network.  Contact THE FLOW Web Design to schedule an appointment to secure your wireless router today!

Expand Wireless Coverage Inexpensively. Are there deads spots in your home's wireless network?  Would you like better wireless coverage?  Using standard home office routers like the ASUS RT-N66U Router or other compatible router we are able to add routers acting as access points to your wireless network.  These additional routers will increase the wireless coverage. All wireless devices, laptops, cell phones, gaming machines, will easily connect to your wireless network!