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Is Microsoft Really Promoting Open Source Applications?   1 comment

Posted at Mar 21, 2012 @ 3:26pm Web hosting

Those of us with any knowledge of the software industry would question statements aligning open source applications with Microsoft Products. Even more unusual is the fact that a new product from Microsoft which has recently come to market, actively promotes the use of open source applications to be run from its new web development platform. Strange as this may seem Microsoft’s new WebMatrix application is basing much of their marketing efforts of this product through the promotion of open source solutions which traditionally did not blend well with anything from the leader in licensed software.

For those of you that don’t know what open source applications are let me offer a brief description. Open Source Software “OSS” is that which is available in source code form and the source code as well as certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders, are provided under a license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software free of charge. Some of the more popular open source applications you may recognize are, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Sugar CRM.

Before I discuss anything more about this phenomenon of Microsoft promoting open source software, I want to first explain what WebMatrix is and what it is capable of providing. WebMatrix connects you to a world of popular and free open-source Web applications, including DotNetNuke, Drupal, Umbraco, WordPress, Joomla and more. Once installed on just about any windows operating system, you simply select an application from the templates available or select from the built-in open source application gallery, and WebMatrix handles the downloading and installation of your new Web site. The days of hand-editing configuration files and making sure you have all the right components are long gone. Customize your site using the built in code editor and make it your own.

Why is this happening? What is the benefit to Microsoft? I am of the opinion that because many of these open source solutions such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are becoming so popular it is changing the culture of the industry and becoming more accepted that many of these solutions are every bit as capable as their more highly publicized licensed counterparts including many Microsoft products. Now by bundling many of the most popular open source offerings into a very user friendly web management platform, Microsoft gains the best of both worlds. By leveraging the consumer awareness surrounding the OSS products along with the branding of Microsoft it further legitimizes their acceptance and Microsoft still gets to participate as the developer of the platform. Oh and please be aware, WebMatrix at this point in time is a free application available to anyone, no strings attached. Don’t worry, I am sure as the leading software company in the World they will somehow be benefiting from this application release.

Microsoft is currently running promotions with many of its partners including Turnkey Internet to bring brand name awareness to this exciting new application. To find out how you can take advantage of the of discounted pricing by bundling WebMatrix with other offerings visit WebMatrix at TurnKey.

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Where For Art Thou, Blog?   no comments

Posted at Jan 2, 2012 @ 6:51pm Small Business

One of the most common questions we get from new business owners is whether it is best to host their blog on their own site or on a blog hosting site like WordPress. We typically recommend that business owners host their own blogs, since the cost is low and control is entirely in the hands of the author. However, there are some instances when hosting on a free blogging site makes sense.

When Free is Right

If your budget is tight and you are worried about the learning curve, utilizing a free blogging service may be the right choice for you. WordPress and Blogger are two free hosting services you may consider. Of course, the downside of free hosting is the lack of control. Not only are you stuck with the non-customizable URL, you don’t have complete control of your own content. For a business, having control and security are essential. More on this below.

What’s the Deal with WordPress

As a platform, wordpress has many advantages. It’s customizable, easy to navigate, and has a large community of people sharing tips, troubleshooting tricks and free templates. The problem with hosting a WordPress site on their free service is that they can enforce their “non-commercial-use” policy at a moment’s notice. This means if you use your blog to advertise your own products or include affiliate links, you run the risk of losing your content. The good news is that WordPress is available for free to host on your own site. This means you can take advantage of all the perks of a WordPress site without worrying about the WordPress police. You’ll need your own hosting account for this, but you can often include a WordPress blog on your existing hosting plan. We offer this here at TurnKey.

What is Your Existing Web Presence?

Do you already have a business website? Do you have a presence on the social networks? If your business is already somewhat established online, it’s probably best to host your blog on your own website. The main reason for this is your URL. When you host on your own site, your blog shares the same URL as the rest of your website. This is good for branding and it keeps customers from getting confused. It also means that your blog’s content will help your entire site’s SEO profile. The search engines will index your blog posts as new content, and this will make your site pop up higher in search results.

Do You Already Have Hosting?

If you already have hosting for your website, chances are good you’ll be able to add a blogging platform at no extra charge. If you have a bare-bones hosting plan, you may need to upgrade, but the cost will only increase by a few dollars a month.

Worried About the Learning Curve?

Don’t be. Not only are these platforms designed to be user-friendly, many hosts offer one-click installation. This means you don’t have to know anything at all about how the technology works to start using it.

Learn More

We offer hosting plans specifically tailored to the blogger. If you’re feeling nervous about setting up your first blog, this is a great place to start.
http://www.turnkeyinternet.net/blog-hosting/

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Written by admin on January 2nd, 2012

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Blog Hosting from TurnKey Internet   no comments

Posted at Oct 26, 2010 @ 3:52pm News

These days blogging is a ubiquitous tool for businesses, but it isn’t always easy to get started. Many free platforms don’t offer the ability to use your own domain name, leaving you to give out amateurish addresses to business clients, while do-it-yourself programs present a steep learning curve without much in the way of style. With TurnKey Blog Hosting, we are fulfilling this obvious need by providing a ready-made blogging solution that is adaptable, robust and professional. As a blogger myself, I know how frustrating it can be to find a platform that meets my two most basic and important needs: good looks, works.

Functionality

TurnKey Blog Hosting offers incredible functionality with quick, customizable templates that are sleek and easy to use. You can use your own domain name so your clients will see your blog as an integral part of your company’s identity and brand. Set up takes about 90 seconds, and you can fully customize your blog to match your existing website. Choose from hundreds of templates and themes, migrate content easily from other blogging platforms like Blogger, Typepad and Livejournal and enjoy complete administrative control for managing access and permissions. TurnKey Blog Hosting also offers state-of-the-art SPAM filters to prevent junk from clogging up your comments. On top of all that, you can monitor your site’s statistics with our webstats program, and take advantage of email via your blog hosting account.

SEO

The other critical element of a successful blog is search engine optimization (SEO). With the constantly changing SEO rules (thanks, Google), optimizing your blog can be a full-time job. Thankfully for all of us, WordPress offers many wonderful plugins and add-ons for automating the optimization process. If you were managing your own blog hosting, you would need to configure your wordpress to integrate these tools, keeping up with security updates, patches and alerts. With TurnKey Blog Hosting we do all of this for you. We have researched the best plugins for SEO to drive the maximum amount of traffic possible to your blog. With our optimized configuration, your blog will be poised to ensnare each and every spidery Google tendril.

What TurnKey Does for You

Our goal is always to provide easy, ready-made “turnkey” solutions that don’t require any technical expertise on the part of our clients. At the same time, all of our products are enterprise-class, professional, sleek, and top-of-the-line. We always try to put ourselves in the position of our business clients. We ask ourselves: “if I were a small business owner looking for an affordable, easy, professional solution, what would work best for me?” When it comes to blogging, TurnKey Blog Hosting is our answer to that question, and we couldn’t be happier with the result. We hope you will try it out for yourself and explore the many ways a TurnKey Blog can enhance the image of your business while driving traffic to your website.

Learn more!

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Written by admin on October 26th, 2010

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