Category: Sponsors

A2 Hosting: Proud Sponsor of WordPress & the Nashville Community
At A2 Hosting, we’re a proud sponsor of WordPress groups around the globe and we’re excited to be the newest sponsor for WordPress Nashville. We decided to take the opportunity to introduce ourselves. We considered talking about our hosting packages and our history, but you can learn all about that on our site and on our About page. Instead we wanted to write about something that would really help WordPress Nashville users get to know us better. We thought we’d talk about what we, and likely you, care about most; how to get the fastest WordPress page load speeds.

You might be asking yourself, “Do I need to bother with speeding up my site with high-speed internet being the de facto standard nowadays?” The answer for this question is, “Yes”. Believe it or not, there are still many Americans (and millions more worldwide) that are accessing the internet on slow connections, ranging from dial-up all the way down to the old 2G phone standard. Even some 3G and 4G carriers experience extreme slow-down when their network is being inundated with traffic requests.

Studies have proven that the average website has less then 3 seconds in order to capture the attention of a potential customer. If your site is taking 5-10 seconds to load, the chances are you are losing a large number of customers or visitors each day due to your unoptimized website.

If you are running an online store, it is crucial that you take the time needed to maximize your website efficiency. Otherwise, you might end up losing a customer and that can cost you hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars in lost revenue.

At A2 Hosting, we offer an exclusive WordPress setup that does many tweaks and takes the guesswork out of how to get the fastest page load speeds possible. We call it A2 Optimized. Just visit our WordPress Hosting page, sign up for an account and it will comes pre-installed with an A2 Optimized WordPress install.

Not ready to switch to A2 Hosting? You can also try a limited version of A2 Optimized regardless of where you’re hosting WordPress. You can add A2 Optimized to your account in about a minute. Here’s how:
1. Click Plugins
2. Click Add New
3. Search “A2 Optimized”.
4. Click Install Now
5. Click Installed Plugins
6. Click Activate under “A2 Optimized WP”
A common mistake by many WordPress users is that they load their website down with a number of WordPress speed plugins. Unfortunately these plugins require so many resources and can work against each other that the opposite impact actually occurs. Below you’ll find tips on how to quickly and easily speed up your WordPress site.

 Use a Caching Plugin

  One of the features offered by WordPress that everyone seems to love are all the useful plugins that are available for the framework. Some of the best plugins available for webmasters looking to increase the speed of their sites are W3 Total Cache and WP Rocket. W3 Total Cache generates static cache pages for each page that is loaded so they are not being dynamically loaded for every page load. This vastly decreases your site’s load time while increasing performance. You should notice a solid performance boost when these plugins are installed and running. Are you trying out A2 Optimized? W3 Total Cache comes installed and configured on your account for the easiest setup.

 Optimize Your Images

  Images can slow down a site. You can optimize images in your graphic editor such as Photoshop or GIMP, but if you have a large site that is already online and getting traffic, the last thing you want to do is have to go through several hundred images to reduce their file size. EWWW Image Optimizer (also installed within A2 Optimized) can help you bulk optimize your images. It improves page load times especially for sites with many images.

Minify” That Javascript

 Chances are your site is using one or more JavaScript plugins on it. While some of these are designed from the start to be as efficient as possible, there are plenty of others that are coded quickly with little thought to loading times. For these situations, you are going to want to minify the script(s). This means to compress the JavaScript code. There are plenty of solutions online that can minify the code for you. In addition to its caching ability, W3 Total Cache can handle this task for you. Once again, W3 Total Cache is included with the A2 Optimized plugin so there’s nothing to worry about if you decide to use this plugin for your site.  

Activate “LazyLoad” for Your Images

  LazyLoad is a method employed to help reduce page-load times by only downloading the images that appear above the fold. As the reader scrolls down, the script will begin to automatically load the other images as they come into view. If you have integrated an image optimization plugin, you should be able to shave at least significant time off your overall loading times. LazyLoad is available with the previously mentioned WP Rocket option. While WP Rocket is not a free plugin, A2 Hosting customers do receive a 20% discount. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through our WordPress optimization tips! A2 Hosting is excited to be a WordPress Nashville sponsor and we look forward to working with its members.
August 1, 2016
All My Web Needs changes business model to help small business owners

Starting and operating a small business is both exciting and intimidating. There are so many different things to consider, perhaps the most important of which is expense. Often times, the imagination and joy behind a business venture can be dashed by the reality of how much it costs to get things off the ground. Not only are there things we would generally plan for in some way, such as rent or other operating costs for brick-and-mortar companies, there are also those associated with competing in this highly web-based economy, regardless of whether or not your company has a storefront or solely operates online. Even if you have an existing business, sometimes there are expenses associated with expanding, re-branding, or simply revving up your presence amongst the competition. One of these expenses, which you may not have thought about, is your company’s website.

You probably imagined or thought about your website in one way or another, whether it was spending hours dreaming up a visually stunning representation of your business, down to every click and detail of the web design, or simply remembering in passing that you needed one at some point to compete. Regardless of which category you fall into, or if you are somewhere in between, web development and design can be costly. Even a very small business may require a multi-page, complex site, costing thousands upon thousands of dollars. All of the flourishes, bells, and whistles you had in those dreams can add up quickly. Even if you want a basic site and aren’t picky, getting a website that is functional, fits your needs, represents your business appropriately, and will attract clientele, can cost more than you had thought. In many cases, this is not something you budgeted for, but it is so important to your company’s success.

Once upon a time All My Web Needs was just a one-man operation and an idea, so we understand all of the excitement, fears, and unexpected costs that arise when starting out and those that happen along the way. Because of this, and because we know exactly how much is at stake for you, we now offer a solution to those who did not plan for or simply cannot afford the upfront costs of website development to get their virtual presence up and running. With our subscription plan, you can pay by the month for your website in its entirety, much like you would any other operating cost, like rent or shipping. That way, not having all the money needed to put towards the best site your company can have, won’t hinder you from having that site.

It is so important in today’s fast paced and ever growing virtual marketplace for all businesses to be able to compete on a level playing field. The internet, in many ways, is such a venue. But having a professionally designed, constructed, and managed site, as well as a team behind you who knows how to optimize and promote that site, is crucial. While it may seem tempting to go to a domain hosting site that will give you a generic platform branded as yours, these services usually have little to no follow up support, if they even manage to get your site up and running correctly at all. With our subscription and services, you won’t have to worry about a thing. What we do is right there in our title… We do it all! Website design, website development, search engine optimization, social media, graphic and logo design, writing, and more. We even offer hosting and domains. If it has to do with the web, it has to do with us.

Whether you are based in and around the Nashville area or you are all the way across the country, our team is here to help. As a member of our subscription service, or if you opt to pay upfront for our services, you will have the benefit of an actual human being to talk to about your concerns and questions. No speaking to a million people before getting to the right department. You will have an individual web specialist assigned to you who will know you and your business by name, as well as exactly what your site looks like, how it is doing, and what you are referring to when you call. Your satisfaction and success is tied to ours, so all of your needs, are our needs.

If you have been struggling with the idea of how to get your business the online presence it needs without starting out in the red, or if you need a new or re-imagined site for your existing business, give us a call today. We can discuss what you want and what your options are, and provide you with an upfront and affordable quote.

https://allmywebneeds.com/

June 22, 2016
All My Web Needs in Nashville, TN
There are those that like to dabble in building websites and tinker with SEO strategies. They get their toes wet when it comes to web design and social media campaigns. And then there are those (call us nerds if you like) who unconditionally LOVE it and have passionately obsessed with the smallest details to perfect our craft.

Basically, we’re the ones who do a cannonball in the pool of internet marketing. All My Web Needs is a group of like-minded people who want nothing more than to see a small business succeed online. It’s a fire we just can’t put out – and that’s a good thing for our clients.

Community and services

Nashville is our home, and we enjoy being part of a community that is thriving with start-ups, small business, and creative talents, and we want to throw our services into that mix. We stick with a system that allows the business to choose what they want, rather than to offer a one-size-fits-all box package. This keeps pricing fair and allows the business to start their online presence as small, or as large, as they want.

Here’s a list of what we offer our clients:
- SEO
- Web Design
- Social Networking
- Pay-Per-Click Advertising
- Display Advertising
- Logo Design
- Graphic Design
- Custom Videos
- Hosting
- Domains
- Content Writing
Trends and ethics

Keeping up with the trends and changes in the industry is a huge part of staying one step ahead of the competition. We like our clients to have the edge in their market, but we also want to ensure they reach their online business goals using the most ethical and honest methods. After all, word of mouth is still the number one way the growth of a business is influenced.

We think that reputation is sacred and do everything to protect it. We follow the golden rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If we don’t think an SEO tactic is appropriate for our own business, we won’t apply it to our client’s business. We continually expand our education to find the most opportune and effective methods for building exceptional websites. And we do this in a way that won’t compromise their integrity.

Solutions and connections

Let’s face it – when it comes to building an online presence, people tend to forget that it’s more than computers, search engines, designs, and the many technical elements that really make a difference at the end of the day. It’s the real connections we make with customers, the community, and those who work closely with us that’s going to make the difference.

All My Web Needs offers real solutions for real people. A business website is an extension of the true values and nature of the people who go to work there every day. It’s our mission to capture that in all the services we offer, so our clients don’t come across as generic or something they aren’t. When it comes to building a positive online presence, true personalities are what really shine through, and we embrace that in every detail.
November 24, 2015