Internet domain registrar, Web hosting company, and SSL Security Certificates provider GoDaddy has been sold to a consortium of private equity firms in a deal reportedly worth $2.25 billion. The company, which grew by 25 percent to $947 million from 2009 to 2010, and which has been expecting 2011 revenues to hit $1.1 billion after managing more than 48 million domain names and 9.3 million customers, will now enter into a strategic partnership with venture capitalists KKR & Co., Technology Crossover Ventures, and Silver Lake Partners. GoDaddy follows in the footsteps of Groupon, Zynga, and Skype as the latest in Silver Lake Partners’ series of technology investments. “I’ve always said we would make a move like this when the right deal with the right partners could help us do the right thing for our customers and our employees,” said Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons in a press release. “This is it! We are partnering with KKR, Silver Lake and TCV – Read the full article
Reliability, speed, support, and pricing: these are the things that one looks for in a web hosting provider. And while there are plenty of hosts who have put their names and services out into the market, none are perhaps as popular or widely talked about as GoDaddy. You’ve all probably seen the Super Bowl ads. But loving the commercials doesn’t automatically mean being familiar with the product or service. Does GoDaddy live up to the hype? Or are you better off with lesser-known domain registrar and web hosting providers? Services: GoDaddy offers a variety of hosting types – Economy, Deluxe, and Ultimate – each of which comes with unlimited bandwidth. Economy gets you 10 GB of space, 100 E-mail accounts, and 10 MySQL databases. Deluxe, meanwhile, offers the best value with 150 GB of space, 500 E-mails, and 25 MySQL databases. An Ultimate Plan gives you unlimited space, bandwidth, and domains, plus 1,000 E-mail accounts, unlimited databases, and a free – Read the full article
Our recent post on premium WordPress templates was a hit. (Thank you, readers!) So we decided to make another list showcasing even more WP templates and themes. Hopefully, it will help you: Enhance the visual impact and usability of your WordPress-powered website, blog, e-Commerce site, or Web page; Ease the development and administration of your site and lift some burden off your shoulders (or Webmaster); Reflect more appropriately the personality and character of your brand and business; Enable you to organize your template files more efficiently and configure them for use under specific situations or seasons; And drive your WordPress site in a way that meets your specific requirements and business goals. If you’re an Internet marketer, online advertiser, blogger, business owner, entrepreneur, online retailer, musician or artist, journalist, photographer or designer, or mom-and-pop store owner, we highly recommend that you use WordPress, Lakeshore Branding’s favorite content management system. (The very site you’re reading is powered by WP, too.) It – Read the full article
Cloud computing solutions are the latest popular development in technological advancements. However, a number of businesses still fear that adopting these solutions would not be in their best interests. So what are the major concerns held by businesses and are they well founded? Concerns on Security, Implementation, Reliability? Research has suggested that the main concerns surrounding cloud technology include security worries alongside adoption or implementation difficulties and reliability. The truth is that while SaaS (Software as a Service) can be exposed to a number of vulnerabilities and dangers, such as those listed, the services are all protected with high security measures in order to ensure that ultimate safety and security of data is maintained. This means that a number of businesses could be needlessly rejecting cloud computing solutions based on unfounded or misguided concerns. (Editor’s note: Be sure to check out our post on the best cloud computing services and apps for small businesses!) Security of Data and Information Perhaps – Read the full article
If you are the proud owner of a new website, then you know how confusing and downright difficult the process of designing and building a website can be. It’s not uncommon to go through the trouble of finding a hosting service and choosing a domain name, only to get stuck when it comes to actually putting a site together and making it presentable for viewers. Fortunately, there are some very basic things, even for newbies, that can make the process much easier. Here are some simple web design tips for new website owners: Templates. One of the fastest and easiest ways to design an effective website is to choose a customizable template. Customizable templates are easy to find. Simply search online, load them to your site, and make whatever changes you want to make the design your own. If you use a blog hosting service like WordPress to build your website, you will be pleased to find that you automatically have – Read the full article
WordPress was first released in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg. Yes, it’s that long ago. Before Facebook even happened. Since then, it has grown to host, as of late last year, around 15 percent of the world’s top 1 million websites. It has also been downloaded over 65 million times! But if you’re still looking for reasons that will convince you to build – or redevelop – your website using the WordPress platform, we won’t shy away from giving you several: WordPress isn’t just for blogging. It’s flexible enough to power your business website, your e-Commerce site, your product and services page, your social networks (check out our recent post on BuddyPress), your anything. It’s simple and pretty easy to use. If you know how to use Microsoft Word, you’ll know how to use WordPress, which has its own WYSIWYG editor to aid users who prefer not to use codes (like HTML). Training a client on WordPress site administration is also – Read the full article
You ever heard of something called BuddyPress? If not, well – you should. Established in 2008, Buddypress is a publishing platform for connecting all your social media streams and networks together in one self-hosted and WordPress-powered site. You can use it as a social network for your family, your university, your school or college, or your class; as an internal communication medium for your company or organization; as a network for connecting people with the same interests as you have; or as a socially dynamic site centered around your new product or service. For more uses, check out this BuddyPress showcase. Like WordPress, BuddyPress is an extremely flexible and versatile solution, especially for those who are looking to grow their businesses and brands via social media marketing. Its features include: Global, personal, and group activity streams where you can view all your comments, status updates, mentions, favorites, and notifications, among many others; User groups that you can choose to be public, – Read the full article
If you think E-commerce is just a fad – poised to flounder amidst economic crises – then think again. Thanks to the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets, millions more people are shopping online and on-the-go. In fact, in a recent article by eMarketer, it was reported that mobile commerce (“M-commerce”) sales (including travel) in the US grew by 91.4% to reach $6.7 billion. And that’s just mobile. If one were also to consider the continued expansion of Wi-Fi availability across the US and all over the world, one will come to understand that E-commerce – regardless of the device driving it – is here to stay. WordPress E-commerce themes That’s why we created this fresh new list of WordPress e-commerce themes – to help you find the best possible look for your WordPress store. If you’re… giving your WordPress-powered site, blog, E-commerce site, or online store a makeover to herald the New Year, looking for ways to improve the – Read the full article
