Card One Concepts is happy to announce the successful launch of the Discrimination Services of New York (DSofNY) website. The first business of its kind, Owner Caroline Bloodgood assists in professional response services and document preparation for her clients who have been discriminated against in New York State.

Congratulation to Caroline Bloodgood on your decision to improve your online presence and allow your business to grow.

Labels: card one concepts, clients, Discrimination Services of New York, domain name, DSofNY, marketing, New Client, online marketing, web design, web hosting, web maintenance, web site design

Great news to all Card One Concept clients and future clients -- we'll soon be unveiling vDeck 3.0! This new version of our control panel will give you access to additional tools and services and make it easier than ever to manage your web hosting account.

MORE TOOLS AND SERVICES
To give you an idea of the scope of this new control panel, the current version of vDeck incorporates 75 different tools and services--vDeck 3.0 will raise that number to more than 200!

EASIER ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
In addition, vDeck 3.0 will be even more deeply integrated into our platform than the current version, and it will offer:

* Online access to our support ticketing system.
* Online access to our new improved Knowledgebase.
* Online access to comprehensive tutorials to get you up to speed.
* Customizable user by user web hosting control panel.
* Useful and customizable widgets.
* New and improved Webmail system.
* And much much more!


INCREASED SECURITY AND RELIABILITY
We're revamping our hosting infrastructure, moving from our current distributed, box-by-box deployment to a unified, load-balanced architecture--which will provide greater redundancy for your Web site and e-mail.

UPGRADE PROCESS BEGINS THIS FALL
Card One Concepts is really looking forward to rolling out the new version of vDeck, but we realize that it represents a change. We appreciate your support and patience during this process.

Clients now have the ability to login to their vDeck right from Card One Concepts website by clicking the link labeled "Client Login" at the bottom of any page. We are also working to add vDeck login capabilities to your own website on request for free.

If you have any questions, please ask! As always, you can call us at 607-785-5817 or E-mail us if you have any problems logging in to your vDeck Control Panel.

Labels: domain name, internet, New Client, web design, web hosting, web maintenance, web site design

Card One Concepts is proud to announce the launch of a new website redesign for the Vestal Central School District

Card One Concepts worked closely in conjunction with Eyedeas Design to redesign a very outdated and poorly functioning website. So we are very proud to announce the launch of the new and improved website for the Vestal Central School District. The new graphic elements, easy to use navigation, and new search capabilities, are just a few of the new features that make the new website a very useful communication tool for parents and faculty alike.

So please visit the website and see what's new!

Labels: domain name, internet, New Client, web design, web site design

Card One Concepts is proud to announce the launch of our newest clients website www.sonorasgardens.com

Sonora's Gardens is, as their customers say, "One of the Best Kept Secrets in the Finger Lakes Area." Sonora's Gardens is a full-service garden center in the heart of "The Finger Lakes Area" - Horseheads, New York.

Always a family owned and operated business since its opening in 2001, Sonora's Gardens is the cream of the local garden center crop. They specialize in annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, seeds, fertilizers, soil amendments, mulch, stone, and everything you need to make your garden healthy and beautiful. Grown right in their own greenhouses, their friendly, knowledgeable staff is available to help you choose exactly the right plants.

So please visit the website and see what they can offer you!

Welcome to the World Wide Web Sonora's Gardens!

Labels: domain name, e-commerce, internet, New Client, sonoras gardens

Adam Trickett talks about setting up and running your own web server and creating content for it. This is a beginner level talk. See http://www.hantslug.org.uk/cgi-bin/wiki.pl TechTalks for more details and copies of the presentation that accompanied the talk. This talk was given at the Hampshire Linux User Group (HantsLUG) meeting on 2nd December 2006 at Southampton University, UK.

Labels: domain name, how to design, web design, web hosting, web maintenance, web site design

These questions are designed to help you as a designer or business owner to focus on what the needs of the web site project are.

Background:

1. What is the nature of your business?
2. Who is your target audience?


Message:

1. What goals does your company intend to reach with a new web site?
2. What is the primary message you wish to convey to your audience with this site?


Perception:

1. Use adjectives to describe how you want your site to be perceived by the user. (Examples: conservative, progressive, friendly, formal, casual, serious, experts, humorous, service-oriented, professional, etc)
2. How is your company currently perceived? Do you wish to carry through the same kind of message through your web site?
3. What web sites do you find compelling? What do you find the most interesting about these sites?
4. Are there other web sites you've seen that have functionality that you would like to have on your site? Due to differences in server operating systems, not all functionality you see on the web may be available on your site.


Style:

1. Do you have company colors or a color scheme you want us to use?
2. Describe any visual elements or styles that can be utilized from existing marketing materials or collateral.
3. If we are providing graphics, what style would you like them to be in: photography, illustration, cartoon, etc?


Content:

1. Will this site use existing content? If not, will you be creating content in-house or using an outside provider?
2. What is the basic structure of the content, and how is it organized?
3. Will you need to request any sensitive information on your site (social security numbers, credit card numbers)? If so, you will need to acquire a security certificate.


Commerce Sites:

1. How many products do you plan to sell on your web site? Will the products change often?
2. Do your products have any variations? If so, do they apply to all the products? Does each product have different variations? List variations.
3. What is your shipping model (flat rate, by total dollar amount, by piece)?
4. Will you be charging Sales Tax? If so, which state(s) will be charged? What percentage?
5. Are there any special pricing rules we need to know about (Ex: purchase 12 of our product and receive a 10% discount.)?
6. Which credit cards do you accept?
7. Do you need online credit card authorization (Cybercash or ATS)?
8. Do you want to accept checks or purchase orders?
9. Review the commerce options we have and see if one fits your needs best. Our sales representatives will be able to help you with this.


Marketing / Updating:

1. What are your short-term marketing goals (in the next two years)?
2. How will this web site help to meet your goals?
3. Do you have an existing or planned marketing strategy in mind to promote this site? If so, please describe.
4. What do you feel is your number one business problem? (Examples: change image, increase customers, promote company, etc.)
5. What methods of distributing the URL already exist within the company?
6. Do you intend on keeping the site updated? If so, how often? Who is responsible for updating and providing content?
7. What are your budget limitations? Can this project be broken in a phased manner to help you meet your goals?

Labels: domain name, e-commerce, marketing, web design, web hosting, web maintenance, web site design

Most of my clients think that a domain name is the same thing as web hosting, and that when they register a domain name they are ready to let the world see their website. However this is not the case and the following explanation will hopefully clarify the difference between web hosting and registering a domain name.

The easiest way to explain web hosting is to think of your web site as a traditional store with shelves displaying products or services, with a cash register and even employees.

Web hosting essentially is like a virtual online building or store front you rent or lease for everyone to stop in and buy something or even inquire about your services. Your domain name is the like the sign you hang on your virtual store front for customers to get an idea of what your business is and how to find you in a sea of competition.

Card One Concepts offers quality web hosting for small or large business needs. You can view all the features our web hosting packages come with by clicking here.

Labels: domain name, web design, web hosting, web site design

Hello,

My name is Brandon Cardone. I am the owner and art director for Card One Concepts. I have been in the graphics community for several years and hope to see this blog grow into a very useful resource for anyone interested in the graphics and web design world.

Please subscribe to this blog and come back soon for new and informative information related to graphic design, web design, web hosting, online marketing, search engine optimization and more.

Sincerely,
Brandon Cardone

Labels: domain name, graphic design, how to design, tutorial, web design, web hosting, web site design