Africa Web Space

According to Wikipedia “A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control on the Internet. In layman speak, a domain is an internet address that you own to define you or your organization. For example, http://www.kcbbankgroup.com is a name that takes you to the KCB Bank Group website. A domain name can be compared to a business name on the website and there fore before we look at the domain name in detail let us look at a business name. A business name can be descriptive e.g. Jims Green Grocery which would probably be a green grocery owned by Jim. A business name can also be non-descriptive without any apparently clear meaning. For example LG. The advantage of a descriptive name is that the public can determine your line of business from its name.  The disadvantage is that when you want to change the business line or its area of operation, you may have to change the name also.  A non descriptive na...

A lot of movies portray hackers as people who can access your information from any database in the world through a simple computer and that your data is therefore not secure however we know more on this. The Kenya Police account was at one time hacked and people at once assumed that it was refined programming skills and an exceptional intellect that did the job, however as further investigations were carried out it was shown that it was their own fault for leaving it unsecured. In the IT world, having the administrator’s login name as admin and the password as password is the same as not putting any security measures. So, some things that others must know: 1.)    Not all data is accessible Even if you can hack into a website due to the laziness of the programmer who could not set up a semi-decent password, not all of an organization’s data can be accessed from a website. You might be able to deface the homepage and alter them from the safety of your anon...

Now if you own a website and your business is classified as an SME then you had better read this section so that next time you sit with your designer you will ensure that he/she incorporates this. Every web page or online article has a shelf life and here I am talking about the content not the look and feel which can generally stay the same for a long time. Content must change on a regular basis. Search engines love fresh content they visit millions of websites daily just looking for updates, changes and additions. A content management application can sort you out making it easy to update your site daily with only basic word processing skills. But you need to be careful, only go for a search engine friendly content management system. This brings me to the next important aspect of SEO (search engine optimization) which is content enrichment. Search engines tend to reward websites that ha...

Did you know starting July 2018, Google chrome and other browsers shall be marking all websites without a secure connection as “Not Secure,” which could cost your website visitors and customers. What is an SSL Certificate? SSL creates an encrypted connection between your website and your visitors’ web browser allowing for private information to be transmitted without the problems of eavesdropping, data tampering and message forgery. With our SSL Certificate your website shall be marked as secure using either a green padlock icon or https URL. Enable ‘HTTPS’ on your website using our SSL-Certficate. Our SSL Certificate will: Secure credit card transactions, emails data transfer and logins for customers. Protect your online shopping transactions from fraudsters Protect your website information to help keep it safe. Boost your site’s trustworthiness and gain visitors’ trust. Boost your website position on Google search engine ranking. There shall be high chances of ap...

We have previously discussed the mistakes that people make when planning their websites including the demand for over the top site and too many images on a single page. Today we look at the next level of mistakes albeit not their fault. These are the mistakes you will see when you decide to take your site to a semi-professional, someone who knows how to code but hasn’t done it enough to know the rules, those that can be bent and those that can be broken. For those who always find that cheap is expensive, look out for:   1.)    Multiple fonts. Fonts are the website’s handwriting and just as you can tell something about an individual from their writing, the font also speaks volumes about the designer and you, the client. Times New Roman is a decent font, easy on the eyes, legible, so are Calibri, Arial and even Cambria. You can’t however put all three or even four of them on one page and then wonder why people don’t rate your site highly. This is n...

Did you know if you lose your domain name you can easily lose your whole online identity? This is because you can only register a domain name for a year or so, you will need to make sure that you renew it before the expiry date. Once your domain name expires, you will no longer own that domain name. Your Registrar will then own it and be able to sell your domain name to the highest bidder. To make sure you don’t lose your domain name you will need to make sure you renew your domain name at least two weeks before it expires. Domain Renewal Services Kenya

Recently i met an accountant who was complaining to me about processing payroll and how he has 12 excel sheets that he needs to update monthly, each with 500+ staff names, first there was the Paye sheet, then the NSSF, NHIF, HELB, SACCO contributions list, Loan Repayment list, Salary advance list, etc. His main problem being errors made on some of the reports and how seeking refunds for the over payments was a lengthy affair, while on the other hand under payments attracted penalties and his boss was now threatening him if he did not make an improvement. I asked him if he had tried any payroll software to at least automate routine tasks and just print payslips and he had not. I quickly took it upon myself to introduce Quick Payroll and after using it for only two days feeding in initial data and processing the first salary with it and he says it took less time compared to the excel worksheets he had and had fewer errors. I cannot wait until he works on it the second m...

A business that I started from home and has continued to thrive even during the hard economic times : Selling domain names, hosting space and designing websites is not the regular business women opt to start. One there is some learning you need go through before you can confidently… Website Service Providers

The choice of a domain name is a serious consideration for any one selecting a domain name. Normally the choice of a name would be synonymous with the organization name. But what about the suffix? Is there any advantage in having a .co.ke domain over a .com domain. The answer to this question is that, sometimes having a .co.ke domain has certain advantages over a .com domain or a .net domain. The first advantage of a .co.ke domain is that it is a localized domain and hence gives some assurance that the organization encountered online is registered in Kenya and can be located in Kenya. This is a major advantage particularly in online business because it gives the assurance that the organization contacted has a presence in the country it is operating in. A .com domain does not give that assurance because most .com domains are located in the United States and Canada and the orgranisation represented could be anywhere in the world. Another major advantage of a .co.ke dom...

You have invested a lot and finally got that website that you really wanted. Its design is just what you wanted and the colour scheme fits exactly what you specified. The only problem is people are just not visiting it.  It is now a cost centre instead of a revenue center that it should be. So how do you get more people to visit your website. See tips on how to make your website popular below. Tip 1.-Optimize your website.   Many people who are not technically inclined do not know that a website can be optimized for search engine location. This means it is possible to build certain features into your website so that when a google search is performed, your website ranks high on the listing. Search Engine Optimization normally referred to as SEO is a task done by the website builder and requires you to have certain input such as. Who is your target market? What key words are potential clients likely to use when searching for your services online.  As you...

The IT landscape is changing at an amazing speed and even techies have to struggle  to keep up with the change.  In the large corporate sector, IT managers undergo  constant training to enable them to keep abreast with the change but for the small business sector, many have to do it themselves. It is for this sector that we have  compiled an article on the most important system for any small business manager – Email Management Introduction Business managers are very busy people and  a manager for a small business is even busier than your average person. For this reason, the most important IT system for a small business manager is a modern portable device and a unified mail system that can manage multiple accounts.   This system will enable the manager keep abreast with multiple tasks and multiple projects from a single console. A communication system...

he topic of focus today is web hosting and web hosting services. Web hosting basically involves making ones website accessible via the World Wide Web. It is a very powerful tool for individuals and organisations with the option of storing information, images, video or any other content that one wishes to publish on their website or on the web in general.  A web hosting service is a term used to describe the type of internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. The companies which provide this service are known as web hosts. They provide space on servers they own for use by their clients and in addition they also provide internet connectivity to their clients. They also provide data centre space and connectivity for clients on servers they do not own.  As a webhost, one is the landlord to a number of websites and one bears the responsibility of providing the address, internet access, c...

Let’s face this, social marketing is a lot of work and acquiring customers online is really difficult and time consuming. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had your online store for years or if you’re getting started, it’s social and anything social takes an investment of effort and skill. It is one of those channels that can be very powerful when you master the art of listening, responding and interacting… or very boring you’ll see no results in the effort put. No matter the challenges, one thing we know for sure is when people want a product or service they go online and search for it. A professional website. A good advertising tool is your website! Just as it takes seconds to form a first impression of a person, it works the same for websites. Investing in a web appearance distinctly designed to deliver important and relevant information, has statistically shown to improve the visibility and legitimacy of a business hence attracting potential customers online. More...

It’s Very User Friendly It’s Light and Stable hence hardly requires support It’s Very Flexible E-payslips, that is, you can bulk-email the payslips to the respective Employees. You can generate your bank Transfer file for salary payments.  Itax Compatible reports Statutory reports for all government agencies such as NHIF, NSSF, HELB etc and many more benefits  Quick Payroll is making Payroll Processing in Kenya a as easy as ABC..

It’s common for businesses to use Excel for payroll, but spreadsheets are often riddled with errors. For people who know how to work with spreadsheets to their full potential, these programs can perform highly complex calculations. But many small businesses forget that it’s a complex application and don’t restrict it to those with expertise. As a result, many organisations use spreadsheets to help with payroll and find it more difficult than they expected. With regulatory compliance such PAYE rates factored in, your business will be susceptible to financial penalties if you don’t move from Excel to proper accounting and payroll software. You may also hurt the company’s reputation among employees if you continue to use a spreadsheet. There are a few reasons this may happen. One being that there are constant changes to complex regulations and any problems can cause issues between the business and the employee. Another is the fact that spreadsheets do not guarantee reli...

Domain extensions are categorized into various categories depending on location, type of business and generic model.Domain extensions which are categorized based on location usually depend on the country location e.g. .ke is a domain which targets the Kenyan market while .ug is a domain used by Uganda citizens &businesses targeting Uganda. List of Domain Extensions: .ke, .com, .cc, .us, .army, .org, .music, .co.ke, .or.ke, .edu, .church, .mobi, .me, info, .go.ke, .biz, .net, .news, .wine, .club, .apartments, .app, .army, .associates The .ke domain is divided into various domain levels. The domain levels can be used for different functions. They include: .me.ke – for Personal Names .or.ke –  for Non-Governmental Organisations .co.ke – for Companies .ne.ke – for Network Devices .ac.ke – for Institutions of Higher Education (Requires supporting documents) .sc.ke – for Secondary and Primary schools (Requires supporting documents) .go.ke – for Gov...

Did you know if you lose your domain name you can easily lose your whole online identity? This is because you can only register a domain name for a year or so, you will need to make sure that you renew it before the expiry date. Once your domain name expires, you will no longer own that domain name. Your Registrar will then own it and be able to sell your domain name to the highest bidder. To make sure you don’t lose your domain name you will need to make sure you renew your domain name at least two weeks before it expires. Domain Registration Kenya