Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Affordable Web Hosting

5 Steps To Choosing The Right Web Host

Now that you've decided to join the world of internet marketing, choosing the right web host to put your site online will be one of the first things you need to consider. Where do you start?

Good news. It may be easier than you suspect to determine your requirements and find the best fit from amongst all the hosting companies available to you. Just by following this simple 5 step process it will enable you to narrow down the field and identify your needs very quickly.

1. Dedicated or Shared Server? The volume of business you plan to do right at your site will determine if you need a dedicated or shared server. If your site is intended for a heavy volume of purchases such as a 'shopping mall' then you'll also need a shopping cart at the site. This type of business would probably need a dedicated server. However, if you're using your site to redirect traffic or to dispense information your needs should do well with a shared server.

2. Customer Service – You definitely will want access to customer service at all times in the event that the site has gone down. Your site will only produce for you when it's online therefore it's of utmost importance that if and when such an occurrence does arise that you're able to notify and work with your server ASAP. A quick test of this would be upon visiting the web host site see if they display any type of support page or contact number. If not then just scratch them off your list and move on. If so, do they return calls or emails? Here again if they don't reply or the time frame within which they do is unacceptable continue to look for a company that better measures up in these areas.

3. Guarantee – Do these companies offer any type of money back guarantee on their hosting plans? If not, there's probably a reason and I'm willing to bet it's not a good one. If somebody is not willing to stand behind their product then why should we as customers be expected to pay for it? Remember in this case, you lose your server, you lose your site, and you lose your business! End of story.

4. System Maintenance – Does the company in question have a maintenance schedule that includes excessive downtime? Again you need to remember once your site is offline your business is shut down. Are you comfortable with the 'projected' downtimes?

5. Ability to Switch Between Plans – Are you able to easily change hosting plans with-in the company you're looking at without a hassle or at all? Most all reputable hosting companies allow this.

Now that you've determined what it is you need to consider in choosing the right web host for your online pursuits, it's time make your choice and get online. I'll see you on the internet!

To your many successes!

By: T. J. Philpott

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina. For additional success tips and a free guide that demonstrates how to find both profitable markets and products visit: blogbrawn.com

Reliable Hosting - A Critical Component

Reliable hosting is one of the most important aspects for your business on the web and is a critical component of any business strategy. Reliable hosting is a must and there are a variety of hosting options that carry the specific needs of your web site. Always test out the Tech Support Staff for reply time, ease of use etc... before choosing a provider.

Business

Providers that help customers to establish themselves on-line in a timely manner is critical. Whether your business is operating from your home, or from a huge office, you will need a reliable hosting provider, it is the key to e-commerce success in that it gives the consumer a great experience while preventing down-time for the site, that could end up costing the business owner 100's and maybe 1000's of dollars.

Overall, it's important to know your space needs, budget, and bandwidth before choosing your hosting provider. When you're ready to start a web site for business or personal use, you need to find reliable web site hosting services. You just can't have an online business without reliable hosting and dependable customer service.

Servers Choices

There is a wide range of hosing services available on unix and windows servers, dedicated and shared services are also offered to address a wide variety of security, space and reliability issues. What is the difference between Unix and Windows hosting accounts? Unix provides a secure and reliable environment perfect for most hosting needs, but sometimes you may want to take advantage of Windows applications such as MS Access, ASP scripting. For that you might want to use NT.

What is SSL

SSL security protocol provides server authentication, data encryption, message integrity, and optional client authentication for TCP/IP connections. Because SSL is built into all major browsers and most reliable web servers, by simply installing a digital certificate turns on their SSL protocols.

Hosting prices can vary quite a bit but getting cheap reliable hosting is not impossible. Good hosting is always important, but it is especially so when your website is the main or the only source of income. Having decided on your business web site design and over-all strategy, reliable servers are essential. However, even reliable servers go down sometimes.

By: Arthor Pens

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

The author is owner & operator of several reliable hosting websites. For cheap and Reliable Website Hosting Visit www.myreliablehosting.net today.

What To Look For When Selecting A Web Host

Selecting a webhost is one of the most important decisions you have to make and there are a lot of decisions to be made before selecting one. There is a lot of tech talk in the web hosting industry and for those of us that are new to creating websites and new to the web hosting industry this can all get confusing. I understand that this can all be confusing which is why we took the time to explain some very important factors when selecting a web host.
First off I wanted to point out that there are companies that offer free hosting for websites. Ever hear the saying “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” well it’s true. “Free” web hosts place ads all over your website which they profit off of. This can make your website look cheap and tacky which is no good for any website. They are also not the most reliable companies. You should never choose to go with “free” webhosting.
What to look for in a Commercial Host:
• Reliability- Many web hosts have 99%, 99.5%, and 99.9% uptime guarantee. This is usually something that is well advertised on a hosts site, but if it’s not you should definitely see if they offer any type of uptime guarantee. Also, make sure you check the hosts agreement so you truly understand what they mean by 99% uptime. Some hosts are so confident in their system that they not offer the 99% uptime guarantee, but if for some reason they go below that in a certain time period they will give you pro-rated payment for that time.

• Space- The amount of space a web host offers you is the amount of space they allow you to take up on their server with the web pages and files that make up your website. The amount of space offered by most web hosts is more than enough for most websites, but there are certain factors that you must look at. “Shared Hosting” is when a hosting company oversells the space on its server because it realizes most users won’t use up all the space. This is much like when airlines oversell the seats on their flights. Also many hosts offer unlimited hosting space. This space is not truly unlimited, but it is certainly a lot of space. You have to check the hosts agreements to see the actual size.

• Bandwidth(Transfer)- This is the amount of data that is transferred from the host’s server to a viewers computer when they are looking at your website. Bandwidth is measured in gb/month (i.e. HostICan offers 20000GB of bandwidth per month). Just like with space most web hosts offer more than enough bandwidth per month and there are some that offer unlimited. You must make sure to read the fine print.

• Support- Many web hosts offer a lot of space and a lot of bandwidth with good reliability. One of the biggest factors that set web hosts apart is it’s support. One thing you check for is that you have access to your host 24/7 through one way or another. They should have multiple ways to contact them such as live chat, ticket, email and phone support. Make sure you test your host’s support.

• FTP, PHP, Perl/CGI, .hta access- These are all important features that your host should have. An FTP is how you upload your files to the hosts server and you want to make sure the host gives you access to this. PHP,Perl, and CGI scripts are how you program your site. .hta is how you control the error pages that show up and also allow you to protect certain parts of your website. You want to make sure host offers access to that.

• SSL-This is your secure server. If you are planning on having a business from your website, taking credit card information, or any other type of personal information you want to make sure your host will store this information on a secure server.

• Control Panel(CPanel)- This is the interface where you control all the parts of your website from your dashboard on the host’s site. This allows you to have great control over your website. There are different quality control panels and this is something you’ll have to find out from doing research and trial and error at the host’s site.

• Shopping Cart- If you are running a business on your site where a checkout will be needed than you should check that the host offers shopping cart software.

• Price- This is not something you should put a lot of weight on. Don’t just go for the cheapest because sometimes they are the cheapest for a reason. You want to look that you are getting the cheapest price coupled with the highest quality service. To make sure of this do a lot of research before you select a host. Also some hosts offer other features such as marketing credits. Again don’t just go with a host because of these, but if it works out and you get these features with a good host make sure you take advantage of these great gifts.

These are some of the major factors that you should look at before selecting a web host. Doing research on a certain web host before you choose them is a vitally important decision. It can prevent a lot of pain in the future. Good Luck and Get Started!

By: Steve Quatrani

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Steve Quatrani is a co-owner of www.RebateRabbit.com. RebateRabbit provides reliable rebates to make hosting as cheap as possible for it's customers. RebateRabbit also gives host reviews, articles, and tutorials to allow customers to make their own educated decision about web hosting.

Web Host Review 2008

I decided to carry out a Web Host Review, after a number of years of owning and setting up websites, blogs and e-commerce sites a web master becomes more intuitive about which web hosts are reliable and affordable. After using no less than 15 different web host over the years I came to thinking that it was time to share my experiences, good and bad regarding the different web hosts that I have used.

What is clear throughout my experience is that cheap is not always the best option, nor is expensive going to provide you with the best facilities or service. When I started out I began using some European sources for Web Hosting but soon found that with the dollar weakening against the British Pound and the Euro, these web hosts were comparatively more expensive to their Stateside equivalents.

Whether your business is based in the UK or Germany, Japan or the USA, the great thing about Web Hosting is that you can host your files anywhere globally, so if you are in the UK, with the Pound as strong as it is against the dollar it makes sense for you to purchase hosting in the USA, not just for a year but for as long as you can afford, it is suggested that purchasing long term hosting plans (2 years plus) will also assist in your Google Rankings, as this is a sign of longevity.

So once you have decided where to host your website, you need to read reviews and take advice from users in the marketplace. In my opinion, after using several American hosting companies, I feel that the States do have the edge of the European counterparts, perhaps this is because they have more saturated internet savvy marketplace? What is clear is that with such a mature online marketplace, service and reliability (uptime) is paramount, given the amount of competition that exists in this service industry.

My experiences and Web Hosting Reviews are therefore restricted to US based Hosting Services, due to the advantages of the dollar in purchasing and the high levels of service culture that the US hosting market demands.

So from the fifteen hosts that I have used in varying degrees I set out to assess the very best of them, taking into account a variety of factors such as:-

  • Overall Hosting Experience

  • Ease of Use

  • Maximum number of domains

  • Maximum Hosting Space

  • Monthly bandwidth restrictions

  • Number of email addresses allowed

  • Maximum number of blogs per domain

  • Google, Yahoo and other advertising credits offered for FREE

  • Service Ability and Reliability

  • Monthly Cost of hosting


  • Given the number of players in the web hosting market, my reviews were purely focussed on the top four providers, each of them excellent in one way or another but as with any review there has to be a clear winner, this winner is the hosting company that I revert back to again and again in the main due to the pleasurable experience and ease of use, not the cheapest but not the most expensive. If you are undecided as to which web host you should be using as a beginner or an intermediate web master then following this simple but effective web host review will keep you on the right track…

    By: NaVaHo

    Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

    Nigel Handley is a mentor to the frustrated IM Newbies and Intermediates, the creator of Digital Ripple an Internet Trust Source and Web Host Review 2008. Web Host Review

    Understanding The Concept Of Web Hosting

    Web host services allow individuals and organizations to create their websites via the World Wide Web. The hosting companies connect their web servers to the internet. They are kept in a physical center called ‘data center’, which has a 24/7 secure environment complete with HVAC temperature control, virus detection software, excellent backup, as well, as disaster recovery capabilities.

    Organizations that prefer web host services independently have to incur huge expenses and require the latest technology. Choosing a professional web hosting service is more viable than hosting a site independently.

    Web host services generally come with two options - a free web host service and a paid web host service. While free web host services are good option, but there are chances of unnecessary advertisements popping up and distracting visitors. A paid web host service, on the other hand, is more popular with recommended features, such as, a 24 hour technical support, POP3 email accounts, CGI-Bin access and a minimum of 20MB disk space.

    Web host services are classified in three main categories:
    a.Shared web hosting
    b.Dedicated web hosting
    c.Reseller web hosting

    a.Shared hosting:
    Shared web hosting is used by many businesses as well as hobbyists all around the world. Shared hosting is relatively inexpensive, as several websites share the same server. In other words, websites reside on a same server with the costs shared between the individuals on the server. Most website owners create their own script using PHP JavaScript and HTML.

    b.Dedicated hosting:
    In dedicated hosting, an individual has his own server and does not share space with any other website. The best advantage of a dedicated hosting service is the option to host multiple websites on the same server. The individual also has this option to handle site traffic, configure software and even scale the bandwidth.

    c.Reseller hosting:
    Reseller hosting involves individuals selling their hosting space further. Reseller hosting is for those who want to start a business and offer shared hosting to their customers. Resellers include web consultants, such as, web designers, and web developers. Most reseller hosting companies require a dedicated server for this service.

    Further, there are two platforms for hosting a website - Windows and Linux. Among these two, Linux hosting is becoming a popular choice among organizations. Since Linux is a free operating system, Linux hosting is quite economical and much more secured.

    By: Smit

    Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

    Smit Mathur is an expert for writting Articles and is currently working for Linux Webhost.For more information related to web host services, business web hosting, web hosting provider australia, web hosting services, small business web hosting, web hosting provider please visit www.linuxwebhost.com.au/

    Tips For Finding Free Webhosting

    Marketing your free website

    Setting up a free website is easy and requires no experience and very little knowledge of IT or computer programming. Everything you need to know will be explained in full and the different things that are available to be used on your site are also be explained in full so you can set everything up as easily as possible and without any problems. There is so much that you can do with your own free web site and it is worthwhile to look at this easy option if you are short on cash and want to get a website for your business or for personal family purposes. There are many free webhosting services out there that offer great webhosting for free in exchange for advertising or a service from you. Using free webhosting companies is also not difficult and you can find the best ones through webhosting directories. It is best to keep checking back with the active directories every day, because sometimes these free webhosting companies will fold after just a day, if they are not good enough.

    You can get free webhosting plans that are trials and some will require you to join a forum in exchange for the free website. In some cases you will have to endure irritating pop up ads and banners across your free web sites and some will ask you to fill out forms for them for various offers. There are some that offer good hosting with unlimited bandwidth and large disk space and that also give you no forced ads. These are preferred for businesses, but the only thing you will have to be careful of is that they don’t sell your email address to third parties. Those that don’t require anything in return will probably use a sub domain as a form of advertising, so when you register with them your website address will be yourbusiness.hostcompany.com or something of the sort.

    Setting up your website once you have found the best one for your needs is easy. There are various scripting formats that you can use and there are also basic and more advanced editors. This will allow you to put image galleries on, include maps, RSS feeds and upload photos as well as writing content. In order to market the free web sites you will have to read up about SEO or search engine optimization. Most of the free webhosting service will ask you for keywords and meta descriptions. You must think of as many keywords as you can that someone will type into a search engine that will take them to your site. Then you must also use these keywords in your website’s content. You will also need to create links to the other pages in your website as well as to other places and you also need to have incoming links from other websites. This means you have to add your business and website URL to as many directories as you can. If you want to get your website out into the marketplace and make sure that people know about it, you will also have to write the content with search engines in mind and find out as much as you can regarding internet marking options.

    By: Adam001 drake001

    Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

    Adam drake is author of this article on Free Web Hosting. Find more information about Free Web Hosting here.

    Learn More About Website Hosting

    There are various Website hosting services available. The best Website hosting Service would be that meets all your requirements. First of all, you need to work out the requirements.

    Some of the Website hosting services that may be required are namely, File hosting services; Image hosting services; Video hosting services; Blog hosting services; One-click hosting services and so on. It well known that website hosting provides straightforward internet access strategies. Also, the following factors also need to be considered, viz. the extent of traffic volume allowed and content restriction imposed, if any. To elaborate,

    Traffic Volume: Some Website hosting service providers lay restrictions to the traffic flow to the website. This is something that no one can afford because the use of internet service and the website is fundamentally to drive in business. Hence, having restrictions to the traffic will be something you won’t want. So, this is a factor that we have to look into before signing up for the service.

    Content Restrictions: Some Website hosting providers will lay restrictions to the content published in your website. This may include pictures, content (text) or even music and video. If you require a more interactive website with music and video, you should worry about the content restrictions laid by the Website hosting provider.

    Website hosting services in Australia or anywhere in the world come packaged in various schemes. The Website hosting services in Australia are by and far more reliable and quality, as the developed country offers the most state-of-the-art technology to their customers anytime, anyday. The services expectedly come with a mandatory need to register and 24 by 7 online support.

    As competition has increased, resellers have cropped up who provide reliable and affordable website hosting services. In such situations, the clients themselves are web hosts. There are also Virtual Website hosting services, where in the clients are offered a part of the server, but it appears to the user as if they are provided with a dedicated server. Another type is a shared Website hosting service wherein, there are several other websites who share the same server partition. Few other types of website hosting Australia are dedicated hosting service, managed hosting service, Co-location web hosting service, clustered hosting, Grid hosting and Home server.

    By: Smit

    Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

    Smit Mathur is an expert for writting Articles and is currently working for Aussie Webhost.For more information related to Website hosting, Business web hosting, Web hosting provider, Ecommerce web hosting, Web hosting solution please visit www.aussiewebhost.com.au/