Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Web Hosting Is The Most Important Aspect Of Your Internet Business.

Finally decided on something to base your business on and ready to start building the web pages? Getting through the first aspects of starting you internet business can be a struggle. Getting all your ideas into an organized layout etc etc. Well now that you have all your ideas organized what to do next?

The most important thing you will need to have for a successful internet business is what type of web hosting you will choose to host your web pages.

Why?

Well for one, your web host will have all your html pages, all graphics, scripts etc. What happens when your host goes offline? Does your website stay up or go down? It goes down. When your website goes down, you lose customers, no sales during the downtime meaning a loss of potential income.

Take time to find a good host that will suffice every aspect of your business. Do some research and ask some questions.

If you are looking for a shared hosting solution, find out if the host is overselling its servers. Overselling is when a company packs too many customers on one server, putting strain on the server resources. Shared hosting is not recommended for business type sites that need performance for its users, but it will suffice a business just starting out.

Another type of hosting solution is a dedicated server. A dedicated server is a server dedicated to only you. It is the most expensive out of hosting solutions, but will provide the most stable environment. No one else has an account on the server, so all server resources are for you. A managed dedicated solution is when your host will install operating systems, upgrades to software, or security fixes for you. You can call them any time to fix a problem because that’s what you pay for.

A step below a fully dedicated server is what is called a VPS or Virtual Private Server. A VPS is almost like a dedicated server but the physical server will have a few other users on it. You still have full control over your section of the server, you can install anything you want or upgrade. The server resources are shared among users, but many web hosts guarantee you a fixed amount of resources dedicated to your account.

If not wanting to shell out a pretty big check on web hosting for a starting business, I would recommend at least starting out with a virtual private server. Once you outgrow the VPS you can move onto a dedicated server of your own.

Before signing up to any web host, do some research! Find several hosts that have what you are looking for and search for reviews, your internet business depends on it. Cheaper is not always better at least in webhosting!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Web Hosting And Domain Names, Where To Start?

When you make the decision to start a website for your business, it is a big step. Going from the world of offline business where clients are limited to geographical locations to online where the entire world is a potential client can be overwhelming.

There are many things to take into consideration. You have the products to sell, and the design of the website all planned out, now it is time to put it all together by choosing a web hosting company.

The first thing you should decide on is a domain name. This is perhaps the single most important decision you can make. You want something that is professional; the domain name will reflect the nature of your business. Avoid using cute names; people tend to skip to the next website.

Try to choose a name that is short and easy to remember. Think about your customers when they try to reach your web site. Will be easy to type? Can you spell your domain name at the phone without much trouble? This is going to be your presence in the internet from now on, so choose wisely.

Choosing the web hosting company that is right for you is a long process. There will be millions of options, it is important to ask questions and that the web hosting company answers those questions adequately.

The most crucial point of any web hosting company is their reliability. If the site does not offer enough space, then your website will be shut down for all or part of each month. This is not the goal you have set for your business. Ask the web hosting company if it offers an uptime guarantee. Usually if a company offers a guarantee of this type, their service is reliable.

When you are new to Internet marketing, you will have a lot of question. Sometimes the questions you need to ask will not be during business hours. It is important that customer service is available by phone, email, or even a chat window twenty-four hours a day to answer any questions that you may have.

Another service that is just as crucial as the rest is the storage and bandwidth that your website will need. Most likely, you will not know what your website is, but the web hosting company will. If you want a flashy site, you will need more bandwidth. It is important that you know before hand the ins and outs of web hosting companies.

A good way to find your answers is to do some research. A Google search will yield you all of the information you need. The world is your potential client, reach out and make contact. It will ensure the success of your business.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Important Things to Consider when Choosing a Web Host

A Web host company will provide you with space to host your A domain name and a whole host of scripts from forum software to shopping cart integration.

If you want to be seen on the internet you will need a web host, but do not just go picking any host. You need a reliable web host who offers a quality service. So here comes a few of my own personal needs before i sign up with a web host.

Price, Ok this is not the most significant factor when choosing a web host, but we do not want to be paying stupid prices for a service we can get just as good from someone else at half the price.

Experience, This is one of the things i expect from a web host, Yes every company has to start somewhere but why should you be the one to suffer if someone does not have the experience to keep your site online at least 95% of the time.

Reputation, as anyone who has a buisness knows reputation goes a long way, make sure you choose someone with a good one.

Infastructure & Adaptability, A good webhost will already be planning for the future, they need to be able to upgrade to the latest and fastest equipment as and when it is needed. New things come out on the internet all the time and you want your provider to be able to offer advice and support if needed.

Support, Most websites now offer 24/7 support online and offline, make sure the one you choose also offers the same support, no point having customers if your site is down and your web host is unavailable.

So with all that in mind take your time and shop around, use google and make use of the review sites that are out there.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Domain Name Web Hosting And Beyond

Domain name web hosting is one of the typical considerations in the field of domain name. As such, many companies that are concerned about domain name in general, now provide some services for domain name web hosting. However, even if the domain name web hosting is such a very common event in the field of domain name, still many people are not aware about the nature of this thing. Given such fact, it is then a just move to present even only the basics of domain name web hosting for the people to acquire some levels of knowledge about the domain name web hosting.

So what then is the domain name web hosting?

According to certain resources, the domain name web hosting which is also called as domain name hosting is actually the process of renting space on a web server and applying the user’s own domain name to that space. In simplest terms, the domain name web hosting involves the act of giving the domain name consumers with space in the domain hosts computers which are known as servers. But speaking of servers, many people asked some questions on why those host computers are called as servers? Well, they called servers for the main reason that they serve the details that they carry to the web. As such, anyone that is using the internet will be able to view the site.

The domain name web hosting is in fact offered by certain web hosting providers that publish the web information on their high speed servers that are constantly connected to the internet and thus makes the web site visible. So, as it is mentioned above, due to the domain name web hosting, the web site will be always at hand and will become available for the clients and customers.

For further information, there are also some instances in which is the domain name web hosting companies offer emails to go along with the domain name web hosting account. With this function of the domain name web hosting alone, the domain name owner will then be allowed to accept an email by applying their domain name.

Today, as the impact of the domain name continue to become widespread, many companies that cater to domain name web hosting surfaced bringing certain level of developments on the field of domain name web hosting services. Some of these domain name web hosting companies are even operating online providing several products and pricing that vary widely. However, in terms of those domain name web hosting companies, it is still an important move to consider that a certain domain name hosting company that you may be using has been around for a while as these companies regularly come and go.

So ensuring that you pick up a reliable domain name web hosting provider must be the first priority when evaluating domains and web hosting. And since that today almost any computer can be transformed into a web server and anyone who is using the internet or with an internet connection can claim to be a domain name web hosting provider, you should then choose a provider that is based on really high quality and professional way of service. The notions as monthly price and range of provided domain name web hosting services are also very significant in choosing the best provider. So lastly, it turns out that you should closely check the technical capabilities of any possible domain name web hosting provider.

Friday, June 25, 2010

What Is Reseller Web Hosting?

Introduction

Shared and Reseller web hosting have many similarities, many web hosts offer both shared and reseller hosting. The main difference between the two are in the names ‘shared’, you are sharing resources, which is the same for ‘reseller’ in a way but yo can resell the server resources. You can create your own web hosting accounts and share your allocated server resources with your clients.

The host still remains in control of their server and are responsible for updating server software and maintaining the server. The host will usually also provide support to the reseller, so if there are any issue or faults the reseller will be able to contact the host.

Do I need a Reseller Hosting Account?

Most personal and small business users will have no use for a reseller account, a reseller account is useful to those users who have a number of web sites and want to save money, as a reseller account can be cheaper than purchasing multiple shared hosting account.

With a reseller account you can also sell hosting, so this can be a relatively cheap step into the hosting business. You have the flexibility of controlling your own clients, creating, suspending and terminating accounts. You also have the knowledge that the server is being maintained for you, so you only have to worry about your clients and web site.

The Benefits

If you own a number of web sites, using a reseller account can save you money, and you can create accounts when you need them and share the resources between your web sites easily. You can find reseller hosting accounts with plenty of bandwidth and disk space for around $25 - $50 a month, which can be a big saving if you have a number of web sites needing hosting.

You also don’t have to worry about the maintenance of the server, since the web host should have this covered. You should also receive technical support included with your account.

If you have plans to start to own web hosting business, a reseller account can be an easy first step in the hosting industry. It is a relatively low cost solution, meaning you can concentrate primarily on building your business slowly and generate a steady monthly income. One of the biggest mistakes new hosts make is try to accomplish too much in a short period of time. This can lead to unhappy customers and evidently losing clients.

The disadvantages

Potential clients may not be totally confident purchasing a hosting account from a reseller, because you in affect are the middle man. If a problem arises with the server or a customers account, they need to contact you and if you are unable to deal with the problem yourself, you would in turn have to contact your host. This can be a long process from initially receiving the first support request to getting the problem resolved. However if you have proper customer support in place this shouldn’t be a major problem.

As a reseller like I said above you have limited access to admin functions, and if you have experience with the control panel and server software you may find this annoying. The only thing I can suggest is asking the host if it would be possible for them to enable your account more with admin privileges. The worse thing the host can say is ‘no’, so it’s worth a try.

Final thoughts

In my opinion reseller hosting is worth the money you can pay out, it is a good step in selling web hosting and if done properly enables a small business to generate a profit from reselling shared hosting accounts.

If you have high bandwidth or disk space requirements reseller hosting may not be the best solution, possibly a dedicated server would be better suited if you have the technical knowledge.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

How To Choose Your Web Host

1. Use a popular web host.

That cheapo one might be an uncommitted reseller. I used one recently. Very cheap, and very helpful. Then my site went 'missing'. By the Grace Of God I was able to get in contact with the owner, and make a backup, before the service was closed down. I found out later he had only about six customers.

Use a popular web host. Avoid ones that are trying to attract customers by undercutting rates to silly levels. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

2. Their Google PageRank gives a clue as to how popular they are.

This will irk the smaller hosts, but if your site is a serious one, put it on a serious host. Web hosting costs peanuts these days. People can be funny about spending an extra $5 a month. You'll wish you'd paid $500 when your site goes skew-whiff, and you can't get a reply from their technical support.

3. Send them an email or two. See how long it takes to get a reply.

This can be very revealing. If they take two days to get back to a potential customer, how long do they take to answer their _existing_ customers?

4. Check out their forums; how busy are they? They don't have a forum? Next!

They should have enough customers to run a forum, and care enough to have one. Reading it can give you a clue as to what their support is like. Likewise, see when they had the last news update on their site. If it was long ago, they may be moribund.

5. Technical Support.

This is as important as the features they supply. It's no good having a Virtual Private Server for $10.00 a month if there's no one there to answer your emails when the hard-disk fails.

6. Features.

Most geeks favour Unix. It's been around longer, and is more stable. Web hosts offering Unix variants like Linux have always been cheaper. They also seem to offer a wider range of toys. I need SSI (Server Side Includes), SSH (secure Telnet), 10 MySQL databases, Cpanel, PHPMyAdmin and a UK IP number. And you can get this for $15 a month.

Things like MySQL databases, Cpanel and SSH access are real sticking points for a lot of web hosts. If they're generous with these, you've found a rare jewel.

7. Word Of Mouth.

Webmasters are always asking about web hosts on webmaster forums. Find a few recent threads, and note who gets the most votes. Search engines, on the other hand, have been spammed by some hosts. If you do a search on 'the best web hosts' or 'top 10 web hosts' you'll get puff pages. Recent opinions from professional webmasters are the best.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Web Hosting Testimonials Help You Choose

No matter what kind of company or business you are exploring, at some point, they will receive some sort of feedback. If they are doing a good job with their business, then the feedback should be positive. Customers will comment on any aspect of a product or service that has touched them in both the wrong and/or right way. They may find a company's customer support is top-notch or perhaps a business has delivered or fixed a particular service on time or even better, earlier than expected.

Either way, this valuable praise and information received from customers is used to benefit the progress and future of a company. This information becomes especially helpful to customers that are weighing the pros and cons of a competitive line of business, such as web hosting.

How To Use Positive Feedback To Your Advantage

When a company receives positive feedback from the customers they serve, there are two main ways they utilize this information for the good of the business. Positive feedback can be used to enhance already existing products or services, as well as create more options for customers to choose from. The second way companies use positive feedback to their advantage is to use the kind words they receive about their business as a marketing tool. This is accomplished through the display of an online testimonial.

Web hosting testimonials allow potential customers to see how convenient, fast, reliable, cost-efficient or beneficial a particular service can be. This could be the defining piece of information about a company that makes a consumer choose a particular web-hosting provider.

Testimonials also make comparison shopping a much easier task. Sometimes the most reliable details about a web-hosting provider come from peer reviews. This is because potential customers become well informed about a web-hosting provider by learning how others who have used these services have faired. Reading testimonials may draw attention to a particular issue or feature that they may have not noticed at first glance, making decisions easier to accomplish.

What Makes the Most Believable Testimonials?

When it comes to viewing the comments left by satisfied customers, you should know that anyone can post a quote on their website with a random name attached. The more information that a company website provides with their testimonials, the better. Every extra tidbit of info or detail presents a more reliable testimonial. For example, Jane Webber from College Park, Georgia looks much better than a quote posted by J. Webber or Jane W.

When a testimonial offers additional information, such as a corresponding email addresses, this is especially helpful to potential customers. If any questions should arise regarding a web-hosting provider, individuals may contact someone who can provide additional information before a purchase is made. This not only delivers a link to positive promotion, but also builds a more reliable bond between customer and company. Most of all, the potential customer can feel more relaxed and satisfied on a web hosting choice when they have had all of their doubts satisfied.

One of the best, most reliable features of a testimonial is the inclusion of a photo accompanying direct quotes and customer details. This establishes increased human interaction with someone who has actually had success with the web-hosting provider in question. Putting a face to the product is a helpful way for customers to note that people just like "you and I" have found this particular web hosting provider a success.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Joining a Web Hosting Affiliate Program

If you currently host a website, joining a web hosting affiliate program can not just recoup the costs of bandwidth and server space, but it can bring you significant new income. Web hosting affiliate programs are also easy and free to join - all it takes is a couple of customer referrals from you in order to earn a credit or a payment.

If you’re happy with your current domain and hosting provider, ask them about their web hosting affiliate program. Often times, customer referrals can bring $50, $60, or even up to $100 for each person that signs up to your provider’s services.

Your host may even offer a web hosting affiliate program that gives you a percentage cut of the sales made when customers off your referrals sign up for services. This might be a recurring monthly or annual payment. Most web hosting affiliate programs will provide regular payments via check or directly to your bank account or even to your Paypal account.

An example of a high-paying web hosting affiliate program is the Yahoo! Small Business Affiliate Program. Businesses currently using Yahoo! Web hosting can earn anywhere from $60 to $100 per customer referral. For customer referrals resulting in Yahoo! Domains sales, you can also receive 20% of the total sale.

Other sites catering to website owners also provide affiliate programs. These include TemplateMonster and WebmasterFX. Joining such programs can provide you with additional income while catering to the same group of customers.

Joining a web hosting affiliate program is easy – just fill out an online form and put an approved link on your existing website. Look for a program with a large range of banners and other advertising material to place on your site, and within minutes you can be on your way to making profits through a new revenue stream!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Web Hosting for the Rest of Us

A client of mine paid for a solo advert to promote his website in the newsletter I publish at e-bizministry about two months ago. As I was about to send his advert to my list, he called me up on phone and told me not to send it yet. Naturally, I asked him why. His reply shocked me out of my wits.

He said he had just discovered that his website had disappeared from the net. He even said the same thing had happened to the same website earlier in the year when it disappeared in January only to reappear for just one week in May. I could not help but laugh because I knew his problem. He had made a wrong choice of web host.

Your choice of web host can either promote your business or ruin your business. You have to be very careful when choosing your web host or you will be consistently losing up to 80% of your income due to your web host's inefficiency.

Here are a few quick tips on how to know which web host is reliable, affordable and right for your website.

1. Check if the web host has a web presence. Face it, if a company claims to be a web host and they don't have a functional website of their own, then they have no business hosting other people's websites. Any web host you will use must have a functional website where you can check for domain availability, get support and order for their hosting services.

Additionally, you should conduct random checks on their website. If you visit their site randomly ten times and the site is not available more than once in those ten times, forget about that company except you want your own website too to be unavailable almost all the time.

2. Any web host you will use must have an appreciable level of relevant experience. A minimum of a full year of operation. A new web host will only experiment with your website and the result may not be good for your business. Visit the web host's website and read about them. If they don't talk about their experience, then they don't have it. Just leave them alone.

3. Look out for their present clients' testimonials on their website. Call or email the clients and ask them questions. If they confirm that the web host is good, then the company has passed this test. However, if you don't even find a single testimonial on their website, they probably don't have any satisfied client. What to do? Just leave them alone.

4. How fast or how well does the company respond to support emails? You can find out by conducting this small test. Visit the web host's website and submit or email an enquiry to them. If you don't get a response in 24 - 48 hours, please run away as fast as your legs can carry you. Why? When you host your website with them and you have a problem, it will take them more than a month to respond to your support emails or requests.

5. You should not forget to check out their prices. The prices must be within reasonable limits and their packages must have the features you desire; adequate monthly transfer, email addresses, MySQL databases, CGI bin, FTP access, control panel etc. Very high prices don't necessarily translate into very good services. Don't be fooled by high prices. It's a common trick, please don't fall for it.

6. It must be easy and secure to make payments to your web host. It is not advisable to fill in your credit card details when making your payment. You should rather use a web host that accepts other forms of payment that do not require you to fill in your credit card details e.g. paypal and egold. If you are in a country where you don't have easy access to credit card facilities, it is even better to use a web host that accepts payment in your local currency. This will ensure that you won't have any problems when you want to renew your domain and your hosting accounts.

7. Use only web hosts that give 24 hour online access to your account. With that, you have total control over your domain and your website and you can change anything including your name servers (DNS)whenever you want.

8. It is better to use a web host that offers additional web services such as web design, website promotion, search engine submission and website management. They can be of help to you in future if you have any problems with your website or you need any additional services.

9. Before you make your payment, read the terms and conditions of the company carefully. If you don't understand or agree with any of their terms contact them for more explanations.

10. Finally, I know it may be very time consuming for you to conduct these tests on the hundreds of web hosts out there before choosing one. I have therefore taken the pains to analyse hundreds of them. I recommend ten web hosts that have passed our simple tests. I can put my reputation on the line and guarantee their efficiency, reliability and affordability.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

How To Find A Web Host

Customers may evaluate altered netting hosting firm offerings and compare the message to their pick up native hosting requirements, in directive to stack up the exceptionally cooperative plan for their purposes.

In addition, lacework hosting concern rankings are usually provided that may be used as a balmy of "consumer reports" guideline to assist a customer in weighing the elite overall influence and quality of mesh hosting companies. What makes a appurtenant lattice hosting directory?

A germane directory commit nerve center on diversity, as just as quality.

A blimp lattice hosting directory consign certify a ground plan where clients may expose vendor stability, cost, wise (technical service) and security. One remarkably foremost peculiarity of web hosting directories is rankings, which can be an invaluable tool to any prospective web hosting company consumer in determining which web hosting company to patronize.

Typical boodle that a lacework hosting directory may teem with are: tools to explore and sift all kinds of lattice hosting, obsessed servers and collocation; along with net hosting news, information, benign articles, and interviews.

The Rank and File of Web Hosting Directories

Any proper lacework hosting directory should ice advance to dirt from the power leaders; professionals who have been in the rush for various years, and, as such, are in a stand to confirm meaningful insight into web hosting that can save a novice a lot of time and money in the long run.

It may seem as though mesh hosting corporation rankings can be soft manipulated if a directory's diacritic purpose is to originate revenue. However, one style to determine the accuracy of lacework host rankings may be to establish if they are based upon customer voting and have provided their remarks with a website address to verify statements made. However, it is important to keep in mind that, even if that is the case, the information cannot be relied upon as a thorough examination of any given web site hosting company.

It is essential to educe that convenient considering a directory's joyous is provided by exotic or apparently non-partisan visitors, that does not embark on the orientation lump more credible. All it means is that those particular individuals took the time to express their opinions on that specific forum at any given time.

Realistically, it is not conceivable for ration lacework hosting occupation to have 100% satisfying reviews. The substance is that content customers markedly conjure up to recount their opinion. In contrast, however, biased customers who have had a less than adequate consumer experience may be very quick to broadcast it. What this implies is that a negative review doesn't always reflect an accurate capsule of what a web hosting company really has to offer in terms of services and customer support. And this applies to information provided in forums, as well.

In conclusion, rankings on lattice hosting directories may be unduly seemly in comparing web hosting companies. The main firm is to fulfill that the confidence provided is select going to reflect what has been provided to a particular source. That is to say, there is no way that each and every customer's experience will be reflected in a given ranking. Therefore, it may also be prudent to check other resources, such as forums, to get a more comprehensive view and make the most intelligent choice possible.

Monday, June 14, 2010

How To Avoid Problems With Web Hosting Companies

The best way to determine the quality of a hosting company is to use their services. Some of these companies will cause many headaches for you, and you want to avoid this at all costs. In this article I will describe certain problems you could have with a hosting service, and how to avoid it. Because your websites rely on hosting services to keep them running, what they do can effect you, whether it is for the good or bad.

One of the most common problems people run into when dealing with hosting companies are server downtimes. When the server goes down, this is a big inconvenience to everyone who uses the service. What really makes it bad is when it takes days to get a response from the tech support department. Some companies don't even answer their emails. Hosting companies which do this have bad customer service, and should be avoided. You should also let others know about their service so that they can avoid it.

Another problem which webmasters will run into is hosting companies which like to hold their domain hostage. When you build a website, and decide you want to sell it, you may find out that the hosting company will not allow you to. They will make up some excuse for why they don't allow it, but basically they want control over your domain. This is a big headache, and to avoid this problem you should always ask if you can transfer your website to other servers if you decide to sell it. If they tell you this can't be done, look for another service.

I've talked to many webmasters about this, and most will not buy a website if they can't transfer it over to their own server. If you plan on selling your website, it is critical that you use a web hosting service which will allow you to easily transfer over your domain without any problems. Even if a hosting company offers excellent service, if their servers are constantly down, you will have problems. When you ask them about this, they will almost always tell you that they have a 99.9% uptime. My advice is to not take their word for it.

Sign up for webmaster forums and ask questions. Get more than one answer, because many webmasters own hosting companies and will refer you to their services to make money. While nothing is wrong with this, you will want to make sure you get a bunch of opinions about a particular company before using it.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Choosing Your Web Host

It isn’t easy trying to choose the correct and best web hosting plan to best suit your needs. Even though there are so many web-hosting companies out there, some thought and careful consideration should be implemented. Two things you don’t want are:

You don’t want to end up having to pay for extra features that you realize afterwards you needed.
You don’t want your sites not showing up on the Internet due to excessive downtime by your hosting providers servers.

When choosing your web host you also need to consider your requirements. You will need to consider:

How many websites will you need?
How much disk space and bandwidth do you need?
What extras will you need eg email with auto-responders included?
How much do you want to spend on web hosting?

You should compare at least 5 hosting providers to see what they are offering. Here’s what you should look for

A reasonable price for your needs - usually a monthly fee.

Disk space and Bandwidth allowance – is your site or sites going to have audio, video or downloadable material?

How Many Domains – look for unlimited.

Sub Domains – look for unlimited.

Does it have an in-built Website Builder? Comes in very handy if you don’t know much about building websites.

24/7 email and phone support – this is important. Not everyone has this.

At least a 99.5% uptime 99.9% is best

Free set-up – no hidden charges.

Unlimited email accounts allowed.

FTP accounts.

Auto-responders included – you don’t want to pay extra to add on an auto-responder later.

Compare all other special features even though you believe you may not need them like

CGI.
FrontPage.
Streaming Audio and Video.
Hotlink protection.
Web stats.

When choosing a web host it’s important you take your time to compare hosting plans before you make the decision. There are some out there that are absolutely useless at web hosting, remember that anyone can become a web host. Your best bet is to go with a company that has been around a few years. Search for online reviews on the company you are considering.
If you are considering a new web host I would recommend you include http://www.hostgator.bloggers-guide.com

in your list of 5 web hosts to compare. – Visit the link. Go to “WEBHOSTING” Take a look at the plans – and when you make the comparison you’ll find that they will come out on top.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Web Hosting On A Budget

If your business needs a web presence you will find yourself faced with a choice of whether to choose a shared hosting option or a dedicated hosting one.

Other terms for shared hosting are virtual or mass hosting, however, the term "shared hosting" is by far the most common. It refers to a hosting service which is shared with other websites.

The hosting company is able to provide efficient and inexpensive services, including technical services to maintain the server, because the cost is shared among users.

Additionally, if you use a shared hosting service you will also be able to customize your website and add extra features if and when you desire.

Small businesses in particular can benefit from the many low cost opportunities provided by shared hosting companies. Many of these shared hosting services offer complete services including technical support and even online website creation tools.

Some of these shared hosting companies even offer free hosting however you need to be very careful to fully understand the terms of agreement if you are going to be building a web-based business on the back of a free service.

If you want to get your feet wet without cost, choose a service that allows you to upgrade at a reasonable cost. You also need to be fully aware of potential additional charges as well as whether you are giving the hosting company the right to place advertising on your site or even for their advertisers to place cookies on your computer.

You also need ensure that a shared hosting service, whether free or otherwise, can offer you enough capacity for your website to grow as well as having the ability to handle short term traffic spikes as a result of marketing campaigns and increased traffic over time.

Shared hosting is by far the least expensive form of hosting for websites. However, its effectiveness depends upon the number, size and popularity of the websites sharing the server.

For example, if you choose the shared hosting option and find that you are sharing the server with some high traffic websites using a lot of server space, you may find the performance of your own website suffering setbacks such as slow page loads.

Therefore, despite the financial benefits of using shared hosting, it has its limitations. Should you choose the shared hosting option, you will also be unable to use certain scripting languages and applications.

If you require broader services from your host, you may need to consider dedicated hosting. However, unlike shared hosting providers, dedicated server hosts are only responsible for hosting services although some provide additional support services at a cost.

If you choose to rent a dedicated server, you will be able to use all the server's resources as well as renting server space to other websites should you wish to do so.

Renting a dedicated server may be worth considering if you expect your website to grow quickly as a result of extensive marketing programs.

Generally speaking, the larger the business, the higher the bandwidth requirement and the greater the potential need for more server space and higher level technical support.

Whether you choose shared hosting or dedicated hosting, be sure the company you choose provides 24/7 technical support and possesses a good reputation for security and minimal server downtime.

If you do your due diligence and make sure you are fully informed before committing to a website hosting service, you will give yourself and your business the best chance of online success.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Considerations In Choosing A Web Host

To save time and headaches it's important to keep several things in mind when looking for a Web host. First off is cost. It's easy to be enticed by Web hosts that offer to host Web sites free of cost. However, it is vital to read the fine print to find out what are the hidden conditions.

Typically, free hosting is provided only for a trial period. Don't sign an agreement without checking for this marketing ploy. Another concern is third party advertising. Many hosting companies make the money to host sites for free by placing ads on each site outside control of the Web hosts.

In case of shared or dedicated hosting it is important to find out whether a host offers a money back guarantee. Also the potential for additional charges on extra bandwidth, disc drive space or email accounts that may be needed for site growth should be investigated. Often, hosting companies charge steep rates for anything that is not part of the basic hosting package, relying upon low initial costs to draw in businesses and recouping the losses when those businesses grow and require additional services.

It is a good policy to read the reviews and customer feedback for any potential Web hosts. These are useful indicators of customer satisfaction and can provide invaluable insight. One point that there can be no quibbling about is 24x7 telephone support. Any technical problems that may arise, regardless of day or hour, will require an immediate point of contact between the site owner and the Web host.

If possible, visit the data center where the hosting company's servers are kept. This makes it easy to determine the precise scale of the company's operations. Strictly avoid hosting companies that run one or two servers only, as this is provides woefully inadequate backup capabilities. Rather, look for companies with enough hardware to easily and quickly switch servers one fails.

When it comes time to register a domain name, use only an ICANN certified domain registrar. During registration, double-check to ensure that only the owner's name is listed as administrative contact with InterNIC for the domain name.

It is also imperative to check the sites hosted on the server. Avoid sharing a server with an adult content Web site. Such Web sites are notorious bandwidth hobs and will likely negatively impact the performance of any other site on that server. Also, some Web services that discourage adult content are known to blacklist every site on a server that hosts it.

Multi-layered security should be a requirement, as it works to protect Web sites from hackers. Even though the Web hosts are not strictly responsible for protecting their customer's code, they should have contingency plans to protect sites from network attacks such as DNS poisoning, cross-site scripting, URL hijacking, spam and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

Initially signing up for only a short-term contract is also a good idea. The arrangement can be made long-term whenever the host has proven to be worthy of a long-term arrangement. Any long-term contract should be written with careful attention to being flexible in regards to future growth.