Christmas 2022

As the year winds down we'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Don't forget to nominate a nonprofit organization to receive a free website. Let us know who you'd like to see us help with their website. Nominate right here.

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Time Is Money – Don’t Waste Either

TIME IS MONEY. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD THAT SAYING?

Business owners know how important time is. Time is the one commodity you can’t replenish. Once it’s gone – it’s gone for good.

There has been much written about methods to save time but saving time is a misnomer – you can’t save time but… you can use it wisely.

Let’s look at saving time from the perspective of websites and how you go about getting one for your business. There’s not a single business person out there who isn’t interested in saving time. Saving time is great but what if saving time means increasing costs?

Consider the following example. You hear a lot about how you can save time by using technology; more specifically computers and the internet. What you don’t hear a lot about is the amount of time wasted by people trying to follow that advice and getting bogged down by all the confusion and minutia of today’s not-so-user-friendly techno world.

Someone has an idea for a new business and works tirelessly to turn an idea into a small business. They need a website but money is tight when you’re just starting out, so they decide to go the route of WIX or Weebly and build their own website. Sure you could do that. But that path saves neither time nor money. The time used to learn about, and create your own website is time taken away from the main focus which is generating revenue. Not to mention that the resulting website usually leaves a little (sometimes a lot) to be desired.

Maybe the cost of hiring someone to build a website is being viewed incorrectly. The expense of hiring a web design firm is more than offset by the time saved. The whole time is money concept is skewed because people view websites as a business expense rather than an investment in their business or a tangible asset.

So that clever little saying is really not true. If you think Time Is Money, let me know and I’ll pay you with 10 minutes instead of ten dollars.

Any of this sound familiar?

If you find yourself in a similar situation, one of our all-Inclusive website packages is the perfect solution for you.

If you’re interested in learning how we can help save you some time and some money, please visit our Web Design page or call us at 319-333-0815 and tell us about your situation.

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Getting a Puppy For Christmas

Should I Get a Puppy for Christmas?

If You're Thinking of Getting a Puppy For Christmas This Post Is For You

Puppies are adorable, fun, and full of energy. But if you decide to get a puppy as a holiday present, it's important to ask yourself some questions. Is this person in need of a companion animal, or do they already have a dog? And most importantly - will the recipient be able to care for the pet properly? If you're considering buying a puppy, there are several things that you'll need to consider. First, how much time and money are you willing to spend on caring for the pet during its entire life span? Second, how well-trained is the pet? Third, what kind of temperament does the pet possess? Fourth, how experienced is the owner in taking care of pets? Finally, you'll also want to know about any health issues that might arise.

Getting a Puppy for Christmas?

Pets make wonderful companions. Whether you're looking for an animal companion, such as a dog or cat, or a more exotic pet like a parrot, snake, lizard, iguana, turtle, frog, fish, hamster, rabbit, guinea pig, chinchilla, ferret, you'll find that there are many different options available. If you want to give a special present this year, then you should consider getting a puppy for your child or spouse. You can choose from several breeds, including German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, and Chihuahuas. You may also have the option of adopting one. This is an excellent way to save money on a pet. It's also very easy to find puppies at shelters or rescue centers.

What Type of Puppy Should I Get?

Puppies are a great way to make your life happier. However, you might find that you’re struggling with the idea of getting one yourself. That’s why it’s so important to know what you’re looking for in a puppy.

Puppy Breeds

Pets are great companions, but they can also cost a pretty penny. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you’re getting the most value for your money. Here are a few tips to help you figure out how much to spend on a new puppy. When you go shopping for your next furry friend, keep in mind that you should always buy from reputable sources. You don’t want to end up with an unhealthy or sick animal. You’ll need to do some research to find out what type of dog is right for you. Some people prefer small dogs because they are easier to handle, while others enjoy large breeds like Great Danes or Labradors. If you have a specific breed in mind, then several factors will influence the price of your puppy. For example, purebred puppies tend to be more expensive than mixed-breed pets.

Dog Breeder

A licensed, professional dog breeder with decades of experience in raising quality puppies for qualified families is a great way to make sure you get a healthy and happy puppy. Professional dog breeders take great care in the process of working with prospective new owners to be sure that each puppy is matched with the perfect new home. Most require a purchase to start the process of adding a new puppy to your life. A great dog breeder we recommend is Providence Puppies. Their puppies are raised in a clean, safe, climate-controlled environment, with a high priority placed on exposing them to as many different stimuli as possible to aid in puppy training. To provide maximum socialization the puppies interact with their family and their own pets. Providence Puppies has a solid working relationship with two veterinarians and maintains health records that record the age-appropriate regimen of vaccinations and deworming for each puppy. All of this ensures a happy, healthy, well-adjusted puppy that will transition easily into your life. A health warranty offers added protection when you purchase a Providence puppy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you’re looking for something different and unique for your loved ones, then consider getting a puppy for them. It’s not only a fun and interesting gift, but it’s also an excellent way to teach your children responsibility and discipline.    

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Premium Domain Names

Premium Domains for Sale

We are now offering premium domains for sale at affordable prices. Our newest listing includes some great premium domains that are available immediately. If you’d like to purchase any of them, please click on this link.

What Is a Premium Domain?

Domains are very important when you're running a website. If your site doesn't have a good domain name, then people won't be able to find it easily. And that means they'll never visit it. So, you need to choose the right one. A premium domain is a type of domain that costs more money. You can get them from various companies, but the best way to buy them is through an auction. This is because you can bid on different domains until you find the one that you want. When you use a premium domain, you should make sure that you don't just go with the first option that you find. That could mean that you end up paying a lot of money for a domain that you didn't need. Instead, you should take your time and look at all of the options that you can find. You also shouldn't pay too much for your domain. It might seem like it would be worth the extra money, but you could lose out on other things by doing this. If you own an eCommerce business, then you will know how important the domain name is. A website’s domain can affect the traffic and leads coming into the site. This means that a good quality domain will help to improve your sales. There are many sites available that offer premium domains for sale and it is very easy to find such websites online. A premium domain provides the best service and security features so that you get the maximum benefit out of the money you spend. You may wonder why people buy these types of domains, but there are several reasons for buying one. Here are some examples: 1. Make a professional impression. People will see your company’s logo or website address on your profile page and this can influence their decision of whether they should work with you or not. It is better to use the premium domain to showcase the professionalism of your business than to use free web hosting services where the registration process takes time. 2. Branding. Most businesses will create a new brand for themselves, however, if you have the same branding as someone else, then it can confuse the customers. Therefore, it would be wise to invest in a premium domain because when it comes to selling, nothing is more powerful than a well-known brand. 3. SEO benefits. When you are ready to sell products or services to other companies, you need an online presence. The more popular your website becomes, the higher the chances that you will become a preferred supplier for the buyers who visit it. With the premium domain, you will attract the most potential clients. It is also possible to get ranked in the top search results for certain keywords. 4. Increased credibility. If you want to build up your reputation, then a premium domain is the way to go. By purchasing a high-quality domain, you are sending a message to the online world that says “we know what we’re doing!”. 5. Save money. Premium domains are generally much less expensive than other types of websites. This means that there will be fewer costs associated with advertising, maintenance, and hosting fees.

How Much Should You Pay?

Domains are pieces of a web address that you use to connect your website to the internet. There are many different kinds of domains, but most of them fall into two categories: premium domains and generic names. The difference between these two is how much money you pay for each one. Let's take a look at both options. Premium Domains - Premium domains are usually more expensive than generic names. This means that the price tag will be higher. However, this does mean that you'll have better search engine rankings. In addition to that, you can get additional benefits by purchasing premium domains. For example, some of the extra features include increased security and a longer expiration date. Generic Names - Generic names are cheaper than premium domains. However, they're also less effective in terms of SEO. Because of this, you won't receive as many visitors to your site. If you want to increase your traffic, then it might make sense to buy a premium domain instead. There is no fixed price for any service or product but there will be some things that you should pay attention to when choosing the best services. If you want to know the exact amount, then here I am going to give you a list of important points which you should consider before paying money. Always read reviews This is one of the most common mistakes done by people. They blindly follow the positive review and they don’t even check whether the company has a good reputation. But reading negative reviews is also an effective way to choose the right service provider. Do not trust just because someone says it is the best. Never believe in anything without doing proper research. For example, the company may claim that they provide the cheapest prices but if you do your research then you will find out the actual truth. Research the brand name Before buying the products from any store you need to check whether the brand is reliable or not. The main reason behind this step is that sometimes companies add fake ingredients to their product and make false claims to earn more profit. Try to see the previous work of the company Checking the portfolio of the company will help you to understand what kind of quality work can be expected from them. It won’t matter if it is a professional or a new startup.

Buying a Premium Domain

If you're looking for ways to make money online, then you might want to consider buying a premium domain name. There are many reasons why people choose to purchase a premium domain name. A domain name is a unique identifier for your website, a URL stands for “Uniform Resource Locator”. It helps us to remember and connect the site with its owner or company. Many people prefer buying premium domains because they want something which will attract more traffic and help them in getting better rankings in search engines. A high-quality and memorable domain name is one of the best investments for your business. With a good domain, you will get your brand noticed by your audience. It is also important for SEO purposes and attracts more visitors to your page. Premium domain names come with all the advantages of having an extension like.com,.net etc., but you have to pay more for it. You can use any of these extensions and they are similar in terms of price (e.g. $10 per year), but when the domain expires, the renewal cost will be much higher. You will find many premium domains available in the market with different price tags. The most popular ones include: Namecheap – A great place to start your search. It offers a large selection of premium domains, along with several payment options, which makes the process very convenient. GoDaddy.com – One of the biggest names in the industry, GoDaddy.com has a good reputation and a wide range of premium domains. Our preferred domain registrar is Porkbun. This company is a solid contender and has great customer service.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s worth buying a premium domain because it helps to build brand awareness and credibility. This type of domain allows you to set a higher standard for your brand than other brands. It increases visibility, provides a better user experience, and allows you to stand out in search results. And, you don’t have to pay anything extra when you register your domain.

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The Rental Guys

The Rental Guys - Moline, IL

When The Rental Guys needed a website, they called Team 218 Web Services.

We met with Andy Fliege and reviewed their business and sketched out the basic concept for the site. Then we went to work. In addition to designing their website, we collaborated on the creation of their cartoon character mascot, Digger the Dawg. After several iterations of designs we settled on one that fit the bill perfectly. Several weeks later the new Rental Guys website was launched. The Rental Guys Construction Equipment Sales & Rental are located in Moline, Illinois and specialize in good, old-fashioned customer service. Andy and his crew carry some of the most respected equipment brands in the industry. They serve the construction, agricultural, industrial, and homeowner markets with equipment available for rental or purchase.

"We’re The Rental Guys and even though our name says rental, we offer much more. We are your Quad Cities Equipment Experts. We sell new and used construction equipment. We also rent equipment and offer equipment maintenance and repair services. We’re locally owned and operated and we’ve been involved in the equipment business in the Quad Cities for years so we know what we’re doing and what equipment you’ll need for any job. We’re conveniently located just across 27th street from Southpark Mall in Moline, Illinois. At The Rental Guys we are veterans of the construction equipment business. We believe in good old-fashioned customer service and treating our customers like friends. We believe in delivering solid, safe and dependable equipment to your job site or home, and we don’t make you jump through hoops to get the equipment you need. Call or stop by today and see just what makes The Rental Guys the best place in the Quad Cities for any of your equipment needs! You can find lots more information on their website. Make sure and look for Digger the Dawg – The Rental Guys mascot all around the Quad Cities."

Be sure and check out the The Rental Guys website! And if you’re interested in how we can help with your website needs, head over to our Web Design page for lots of information.

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Website Management Service

Let Us Manage Your Website

When Team 218 manages your website, you can focus on running your business.

There are many things to consider when you own a business. You have to focus on making sure that your website works properly. At the same time, you should also take care of its security. You should make sure that the back-ups are always kept in place. You should make sure that you regularly perform system and application updates. You will need to make sure that your web server is up to date. You should also have a backup strategy in place. You should know how to restore your website quickly if something goes wrong. All of these things are essential to maintaining a good website. Your website is the first impression you will have with your customers. A bad website could cost you business. Don't let your website become outdated or vulnerable to malware. Team 218 Web Services offers website management services for a very reasonable management fee. When you have Team 218 taking care of your website, you'll never have to worry about your website again. We monitor your website 24/7/365 for any needed updates or downtime.  Get more information on our Website Management page.

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Should Web Design and SEO Be Mutually Exclusive?

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Why Do So Many Web Designers Neglect Technical SEO?

The web design community has been quick to embrace the benefits of having an awesome website, and we’ve seen a lot of innovation over the years with design software and techniques. But when it comes to the topic of SEO, the landscape has evolved so quickly over the last decade that many web design professionals are either unaware of the fundamentals or, worse, don’t care.

Web Design and SEO

In the past, SEO and design were two distinct disciplines that were largely mutually exclusive. While today the two go hand-in-hand. This isn’t to say web design is no longer necessary; far from it. As our world has expanded and digital media has become mainstream, companies have begun to see the need to create websites that are visually engaging and have functionality beyond simple navigation. There are many reasons why SEO and design are intertwined today. The most obvious reason is that web design is critical to the success of your website. As a matter of fact, web design and SEO are so closely related that you can’t have one without the other. So what does that mean? It means that when you create a website for your business, you should use design principles that are SEO-friendly. This includes things like using appropriate tags, keeping page load times as fast as possible, and optimizing images and video. There’s no arguing the fact that SEO is the most important factor for driving organic traffic. But as web designers begin to dabble in web development, they may find themselves neglecting many of the technical SEO aspects of the web. Technical SEO is a very important aspect of website design that often gets overlooked. It is the foundation upon which you build a site and helps determine the site’s overall ranking. The lack of attention to technical SEO can have a negative impact on the success of a website. I've reviewed a lot of websites and am always surprised when I do a basic site audit and find so many basic technical SEO elements not used correctly or missing entirely. To me this seems like a disservice to a client. How can you do good SEO without taking basic design into account? In an ideal world, a company’s website would be the best possible representation of its brand. In reality, this is rarely the case. In fact, most sites don’t even rank in the top 5 for anything. Let’s take a look at what technical SEO elements a web page needs to have in order to rank well in search results. In my opinion these should be mandatory and it's disappointing to see so many web design firms omit or ignore them altogether. The elements we think are important are based on our real-world research and testing - not on what someone wrote in an article somewhere.

1. Title Tag: Title tags are what you see when you click on a title in a browser. They are an important element of the link between the searcher and your web page. It is highly recommended that you use a keyword-phrase in the title tag. This helps to make your web page more relevant to potential visitors.
2. Meta Description: Each page needs a meta description that describes the content of the page with an optimal length between 70 and 320 characters. This should summarize the page and "sell the page". The meta description is what you see when you perform a search.
3. Header Tags: Header tags are used to structure a document and provide information to users about the document's structure. Each page should have only ONE H1 tag. Header tags should follow the correct heirarchy order (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6). Search engines will give more weight to web pages that have clearly defined headings, which help to improve search results. Headings also play a critical role when it comes to screen readers for someone who is visually impaired.
4. Keyword Consistency: Keyword/keyword-phrases should be distributed across important HTML tags like the Title, Description, Header tags, and page content.
5. HTML Structure: HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and is what creates a web page. HTML is also used to create forms, videos, and other documents. A web page's HTML should be clean, simple, and organized. It should follow best practices and be easy to read.
6. Alt Tags: Alt attributes are an often overlooked and simple way to signal to Search Engines what an image is about, and help it rank in image search results. Alt tags are used in place of images for web pages that cannot load any images. These tags are also used by screen readers.
7. Schema Markup: Schema is a type of structured data markup that describes the content on your web page and is used by search engines to understand your content.
8. Content: Content is the information that you want to share on your web page. It could be text, audio, or video. Having good keyword-rich content helps reinforce your page authority to search engines. Ideally you want your content to have a mixture of text & images and contain around 1,000 words.
9. XML Sitemap: You may already be familiar with the concept of a sitemap. A sitemap is a list of pages on your site that outline the content and links within the website. When you make changes to your site, you can easily add these pages to the sitemap. The sitemap is crucial to a successful website. Google and other search engines use this information to determine what your website offers.
10. Linking: Internal linking of web pages is important and often overlooked. Not just using a menu - interlinking pages by the use of anchor tags can boost page rank.

All of these technical SEO elements should be used correctly on every page of a website. Unfortunately in a lot of cases, that's not true. Here are some of the errors I see frequently:

1. 1. Title tag too short or too long. 60 characters is optimum.
   2. Title tag doesn't include the main keyword/keyword-phrase.
   3. Meta description missing.
   4. Meta description doesn't include keyword/keyword-phrases.
   5. H1 tag missing.
   6. Multiple H1 tags.
   7. Keyword/keyword-phrase not included in header tags
   8. Header tags out of order.
   9. Header tags not used.
   10. Alt tags not used.

Good web design and SEO can live together in perfect harmony. It doesn’t matter how good your website looks if no one can find it. Search engines such as Google and Bing make decisions about where to rank websites based on various factors. Your website’s content and the structure of your website pages are often among the most important ones. However, a combination of both is best! It may seem redundant, but consider SEO as a part of the project, not an afterthought. Think about the keywords and phrases you want to rank for, how users will find your content, and what types of content they might want to find. A well-designed site that offers useful information, easy navigation, and an easy-to-read layout will make it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for and keep them on the site longer. A well-optimized website that ranks well for keywords in search results is sure to bring traffic and revenue to your business! Web Design and SEO should absolutely be dual focal points in your website's design and functionality. We incorporate proven technical SEO elements during our website design phase on sites we develop at Team 218 Web Services. If you have questions about Web Design and SEO or anything covered in this post, send us a message and we'll be happy to help you out.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column] [/et_pb_row] [/et_pb_section]

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