Dedicated Website vs Facebook

Dedicated Website vs Facebook

Social Media in modern society has taken over a lot. It has worked its way into our lives and embedded itself. Facebook has got over 1.3 billion users and is still growing. Twitter is a hub of social activity and even the neglected Google+ has now got its fair share of active users. Social media has become so prominent that it is being used as a platform for marketing and selling, turning everyone into an entrepreneur. The fact that it is so easy to get followers and likes and build up an audience has raised the question for businesses, "Is it worth having a dedicated website?". Although it has to be noted that this question does not only apply to businesses but to everyone who thinks a Facebook page is useful. Is getting a dedicated website and investing time and money into that going to be fruitful when the other option is to just have a Facebook page and direct traffic towards that? Of course it is possible and advisable to have both and link them to ensure and promote traffic to your business or service but many people are deciding to forgo the idea of a dedicated website purely because of the simplicity of social media.

For example, ASIT-Group are currently developing a website for a local band (the link will be supplied when it is completed). Almost all of the members of this band were very hesitant about the idea of a website at first because Facebook is the most prominent form of advertising online. After doing a bit of research and looking around at other bands they finally decided to launch their very own dedicated website for a few different reasons.

1) Professionalism

                Having a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, a Google+ account (and for the more daring of you) a Linked In account is all well and good, but easy. Being able to set up an account on any social media requires little to no knowledge and an email address. As such, every social media platform is slowly, but surely, becoming flooded by spam and people vainly attempting to make a quick dollar. Having an account is a good and effective way of reaching your intended audience quickly, however, having a dedicated website, custom designed for your brand, is a whole new level. It oozes professionalism. It speaks volumes about the seriousness of your endeavor without needing to say anything. If you can hand over a business card that has a "www.thisismywebsite.com" on it, then people will immediately trust you a little bit more and they have that incentive to actually go to the site and become engaged. On the other hand, if you meet a potential client and at the end of the meeting say "Look us up on Facebook"...well...what do you think?

2) Possibilities

                The possibilities of a dedicated website far outweigh anything generic social media platforms can offer. Yes, you can have band profiles and merchandise pages and a myriad of different things with social media. However, a dedicated website offers you that and more. You can have a custom designed space in the cyber world completely dedicated to you and your business. Look up "beautiful websites" on Google and tell me that those websites are not incredible. It is literally a form of art nowadays and having a website that stands out from the crowd will definitely attract a bit of attention.

3) Business

                Selling stuff. That's what you want right? Whether it is physical goods, content, music or something else. The whole point in the end is to either make a name for yourself or to make a bit of cash. Honestly, if you have a well set up store on a dedicated website that people trust then they will buy things. It's as simple as that. Many people try and sell things through the platform that Facebook offer but every social media ever has had security issues and lots of people don't trust it. To be able to tell people that they can buy your goods on your website means they will at least check it out and in the end traffic is traffic.

Don't get the wrong idea. Social Media is amazing. It has opened up the door to incredible possibilities and has almost limitless potential, but don't underestimate the power of a dedicated website. In the end, a combination of the two will prove to be the most effective solution and guarantee the maximum possible audience.

Till next time.

Alec

Part 2 - Improving your network

Welcome to part 2 of our Home Networking blog series, sit back, sip a warm cup of tea, and learn about your network.

We are covering Maximization of networks today, and will be discussing wireless signal strengths, improving network coverage and speeds, prioritizing traffic, and basic tools for parental controls.

Once you have built your network with the appropriate hardware, sometimes our needs will change, or our infrastructure won’t perform how we intend, this is the time to re-evaluate the network.

When trying to improve wireless signal strength around the house, you can take two different approaches, running Ethernet cables or EoP (Ethernet over Power) devices, or wireless repeating / boosting.  The latter of the two will be the easiest to implement but is not without its own disadvantages.
Wireless repeaters will take a wireless signal they are given (from something like your modem/router) and rebroadcast it, already we can see that the wireless repeater will have to be placed somewhere in your house that has decent Wi-Fi coverage, this will be fine for most applications, however if we were trying to cover an adjacent property or another floor in the house, getting a good Wi-Fi signal to repeat may become a bit of a problem, and that is usually when you will start looking at running Ethernet cables, or a EoP solution.
Ethernet cables and EoP allow internet and network traffic to travel through physical cable, thus giving flexibility of placement and greater range than a traditional wireless signal, at the termination point of the Ethernet cables or EoP module, a wireless access point or Router will need to be installed, these could give you more Ethernet ports for things like TV’s, Computers, Game Consoles etc., as well as extending the wireless coverage of your home.

BREAKDOWN

Wi-Fi Range Extenders:

Pros:
                Inexpensive and quick to set up
                Simple solution to boost coverage
                Unobtrusive and applicable to rental properties
                Easy to reposition / remove
                No permanent modifications necessary.


Cons:
                Gaming traffic will have higher latency / ping
                Limited usability due to architecture of the devices
                Reduced network speed when using multiple devices
                Limited range
                Placement is very particular, getting this right is key

Ethernet / EoP + Router / Access Point:

Pros:
                Durable hidden infrastructure, requires little to no maintenance
                Up to Gigabit speeds (depending on cables and hardware used)
                No real increase in latency for gaming applications
                Can be used up to 100m away with standard Ethernet cabling
                Coverage of multiple levels
                Many Ethernet cables can be run for a comprehensive solution

Cons:
                More expensive than range extenders as you are buying multiple devices
                Costly to install
                Not easy to move / reposition
                Setup and configuration is more complicated than range extenders

Now we move on to prioritizing network traffic.  Yes this can be done and should be set up at the time of installation and configuration.  We won’t be going into depth here on Quality of Service rules, or what ports to use, as there are numerous tutorials online for the exact modem / router you will be using.  In short, Quality of Service will prioritize network traffic you specify, for example, I could make sure my emails and attachments always get priority for my work computer, or give priority to a gaming console for that extra boost in reaction time and to reduce lag, how you implement this is up to you and is very much hardware specific.

Limiting what can be viewed at home on your network can be a daunting task when presented with the plethora of hardware and software solutions available on the internet, I will be covering the basics of a software solution provided by openDNS.com. With a solution like openDNS you configure a ‘midway station’ or sorts for your internet traffic, instead of going straight from a website to your computer, you are routing it through a filter.  The great thing about this is that everything is filtered, not just one or two computers.  Phones, tables, laptops, it is all managed externally.
OpenDNS is simple to set up and is designed so a basic computer user can get the ball rolling, setup is immediate and even suggests new sites that you may want to exclude from your family’s browser history.  When openDNS you can even create a custom splash screen, not a generic NOT ALLOWED response, and if your family thinks the filter has a page blocked in error, they can email it to you quickly and easily.  Read more here: http://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/parental-controls/

Ok, so that’s it from ASIT-Group this week, keep your eyes peeled for our next blog post coming from Alec, another one of our directors.

Till next time,
Alex