Best Personal Web Host: DreamHost [Hive Five Followup]
# hivefivefollowup Last week we asked you to share your favorite personal web host , then we rounded up the five most popular nominations for you to vote on. Now we’re back with the results and a discount code for DreamHost! More »
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For your professional website, you need secure and reliable web hosting services. The right and effective web hosting packages surfs, update and download your website in the smallest span of time. There are many kinds of web hosting services that have enough flexibility among them for specific business needs. Understanding the required and beneficial web hosting packages can help you to get your business on winning path against their competitive.
These different web hosting services are flexible, fast and easy to get setup. The web hosting packages shared hosting on secure and reliable Microsoft Windows 2003 and IIS web server. The web hosting providers also offer Microsoft standards such as ASP, ASP.NET, MSXML and SQL Server. These servers are perfect for any business application. Web hosting services also include virus & spam protected email.
Web based Email Packages
The web hosting companies also offer web based email packages with a variety of features including anti-virus, communication tools, email security and many more. They allow website owner to easy access all website email accounts from anywhere to the internet and a web browser. Web based email packages provide the spam filters that reduces the amount of junk mail in your inbox. Web based email packages can also include email forwarding, email encryption, email threat protection, message templates, auto-responder, DNS Manager etc. These web based email packages offer the best value for all type of businesses.
Find the best Web Hosting Packages
Finding the best web hosting packages for your website can be sometime complicated. The web hosting services have different criteria from small to large websites. Getting the right and essential web hosting packages is very important to run your business site on the web all the time. Several aspects need to be considered in getting the business web hosting package that really works for your enterprise.
There are many affordable web hosting options available for smaller business that cannot spend much for web hosting services. Check the bandwidth, disk space, and uptime guarantees among the various web hosting packages according to what exactly your business needs. You can review the background, feedback and history of number of web hosting provider companies. By comparing one hosting provider against another helps to make the right web hosting packages decision for your business.
Benefits of Web Hosting Packages
Every business over the web needs reliable web hosting packages. Get web hosting packages benefits including:
· Web hosting packages also provide spam protection service.
· Improves web site performance and availability.
· Attract high traffic and support large files and graphics.
· Offers most up-to-date security measures.
· You can choose unlimited disk space.
· Get website security and reliability benefits.
· 24×7 customer support.
Fiverivers provide professional web hosting services for all business websites. Our web hosting packages helps every business to get high-powered service at an affordable cost. We are confident in providing highest level of support with 24×7 email support, web based email, and web based control panel services in all web hosting packages. Our Web hosting West Midlands services offer maximum guaranteed uptime and highest customer service with secure backups.
Author Info
Keddy Williamson has been written many articles for Five Rivers which provide Web hosting service UK. We offer various Web Hosting Packages that are suitable for running a single, high traffic or database intensive website.
IN plain English will it up my rankings? To have both 5 yr domain names instead of 1 for a year and 1 for 5 yrs?
Free Hosting is sometimes a great way to go when you want to put up a website. Its great when you don’t have a credit card to arrange the hosting and domain name. Also if it’s your first website, a personal page or many other factors you may choose to go the free hosting route. In order to have a good website though, there are some things you need to be aware of and look for in a free host provider. They are:
1. Trustability
For the first reason, I’m inventing my own word Trust in the provider is very important though because your privacy is of importance to you. The last thing you want is to have all your information sold to mortgage companies or something.
2. Storage
This one is important. Storage is important, especially if you want images on your free website. Many free hosting services are free for the first 10mb and then start billing you in order to get more storage. Find a host that has at least 50mb of storage so that you don’t risk running out
3. Bandwidth
This is where lots of free hosts fall down. They only offer small amounts of bandwidth, and then once you reach it, they suspend your account. If this happens, often you need to pay for more bandwidth, or wait until the month is out in order to get your account functioning again. If this happens in some cases you can email them and ask for more and they might grant you some more, but is it worth the risk of website downtime
4. Ads
It’s a free service and the provider needs to make the income to pay the servers and maintenance somehow, so ads are expected. Lots of free hosts though go overboard with Popups and float-ins, as well as banner ads and plenty more. Try and find a free hosting provider that has non-obtrusive advertising (NO Popups, visitors hate that)
5. Functionality and Uptime
Without user-friendly functionality, you could struggle to get your pages looking the way you want them to look. Try and find a service provider that offers easy editing and also has safe, reliable servers and maintenance, otherwise you may risk your website being up and down throughout the day
In conclusion, you need to find a safe host that provides you with plenty of storage and no over the top advertising. This way you are ensured to have a pleasant experience hosting your free website. Why not try http://www.eqquhost.com. They offer lots of storage, Massive Bandwidth, great security and have their own servers and maintenance guys Hope that this article was helpful and enabled you to make a more informed choice.
Most of ‘domainer’ who buy domain name and Later on discover that the names are not just working for them seems to have neglected the fact that, before you could buy any domain name o any kind there are some indispensable facts you need to consider. Here, I’ve produced FIVE of the most common characteristics/rules of choosing a good domain name. Study them very well and use them effectively.
Now, before registering or buying any domain name, I strongly suggest that you should use the following characteristics as a general guide when thinking of any domain name to buy/register. Following these rules will likely yield good result and save money
Easy to pronounce &spell
Choosing a domain name that is easy to spell and pronounce will increase your chance of being remembered. Fro example, choosing a name like fone.com may be a good thing but if you are pronouncing the domain name to someone else they will hear and interpret the spelling of your domain name as phone.com instead of fone.com this miscommunication could cost you money. You should always try to ensure that it cannot be misspelled or misinterpreted.
Memorable &short
One of the ways of choosing a good domain name is by going for a one-word domain name of five to six letters. For example, sport.com, shoe.com, books.com etc. these name are firmly entrenched in our memory when we want to visit their site. You could also do the same thing.
Dot com (.com)
The most popular domain extension is the dot com. Generally speaking, a .com name will always command a higher premium when compared with other extensions. For example sport.com will be worth more than sport.net
Marketability
Does your domain name fit into a commercial market segment? If so, you potentially increase your domain value. Having a domain name that fits into a genre like business, sport, computer, health etc, gives you domain name market appeal.
Good Traffic
Good domains generally receive visitors. Having eyeballs at your site can prove to be beneficial, especially if you have something better to offer. More so, if you have a domain name a developed website with visitors you are increasing your domain value.
So you need hosting for that great website you have planned. You did the obligatory Google search and found out there are a gazillion web hosting companies. They all are offering what you need (web hosting) and you found the price varies from free to sky’s the limit. You also found that there are a ton of features some of which you have no idea of what they are. So now what you thought was going to be an easy task has just turned into a semester of study at your local junior college. Well believe me I know what you’re going through. Through trail, error and mistake I have learned that not all web hosting is created equal. While there area ton of features and hosting plans offered by web hosting companies, there are five basics factors you will want to make sure you are getting when selecting your hosting provider.
1. Databases
Be sure you are getting ample databases to support and expand your website. All blogging, forum, and Websites that use any form of dynamic data applications or capture user data require a database to function. Unfortunately, most shared hosting packages only offer one to five databases; this can limit your ability to expand and may not be enough to carry out the planned functions of your website. The minimum number of databases you should look for is ten. Granted you may not need that many but if you do they will be readily available without spending additional money to add on databases. Usually the higher priced hosing plans offer more databases but you should not have to opt for a more expensive plan to get 10 databases.
2. Multiple Domains
Web hosting companies usually limit the number of domains you can serve from your hosting plan. Some hosting plans, usually the lower cost or free plans, only allow one domain name per plan. If you are for sure you will only have one website then this will be of no consequence. However, if you plan on having multiple websites then you should look for a hosting plan that offers the ability to host multiple sites from a single hosting plan. A hosting plan that offers at least 5 domains is a minimum. You should be aware that the resources of your hosting server will be shared by all domains assigned to the web hosting plan. Make sure the plan you get provides ample disk space, bandwidth and databases to keep multiple sites up and running.
3. Developer Support
Developer support is the litmus test for any Web host. You may be starting with a simple website but as time goes on many times you may want to add additional functionality or features to your site. Also when adding new websites to your hosting plan additional capabilities may be needed. This is where a hosting provider can easily make or break your plans. If your web hosting provider is limited on developer languages or web application offerings you may have to find a new hosting provider. This is something you do not want to do. Having multiple hosting accounts or hosting providers is a sure way for confusion and frustration. Most hosting companies offer various language support and misc. application support but why not get it all. Yes there are hosting providers that offer everything you will ever need and it doesn’t cost any more.
No matter what hosting package you are considering, make sure you are getting the most support possible. Below is a list of the most popular website development items available:
• PHP
• MySQL
• Ruby on Rails
• Python
• CGI
• Perl
• Java
• ASP.net
• Coldfusion
• Frontpage Server Extensions
• Content Managment Tools
• eCommerce Solutions
• Project Management Tools
• Blogs
• Message Board/Forum Tools
• Photo Gallery Tools
• Admin Tools
• Misc. web-site add-ons
4. Customer support
Working late at night on that website, or perhaps on the weekend (Sunday Night)? Got a deadline to get a site up and running but just ran into a problem. Perhaps you just discovered you need an additional web app or database. It can be very frustrating and sometimes costly if you cannot get customer support from your hosting company when you need it (on your schedule). Always look for a web hosting service provider that provides 24×7 customer support. That is 24 hours a day 7 days a week and I don’t mean just Email support. Email support is important and should be part of the customer support package but what you really want is phone support. Many times problems or issues need to be discussed to reach a quick resolution, passing Emails around can takes days or sometimes weeks. Your number one tool for support should be the phone, make sure your web hosting company is awake and working when you are. You will want to make sure there is an on-line knowledgebase as well. Not only is a knowledgebase good for answeering questions, it is also very usefull for use as a learning tool.
5. Server Uptime
Your website should be up and running 24×7. However things do happen in the real world that can sometimes cause a website to go down. In spite of real world problems, your web hosting provider should offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee. With today’s internet technology there are ways to insure websites stay functional virtually every minute of every day. Don’t settle for a hosting company that cannot guarantee your website is up and running around the clock.
Web hosting is the backbone of the success of your website. While the content of your site is vitally important, any short coming in your web hosting service is sure to translate to failure at your site. The hosting company you start with is most likely the one you will stay with, so take the time to choose the right web hosting company from the start, you’ll be glad you did.
I turn down a lot of potential business week after week. I get a lot of individuals who believe that that web is an unlimited source of outrageous income and that you don’t have to do much to get it. I get a lot of fanatical people with off the wall ideas. I get offers to do splits and joint ventures with a lot of half baked conceptual ideas. These people all fall into one unique category.
Every single one of them believes with all their heart that you can attain this type of wealth with five pages or less. We are talking serious numbers here too folks, ($20,000 a week +) with absolutely no effort on their part and zero marketing strategy.
Not only do I turn them down I take them off of my list. I am a bit surprised at the amount of investment they believe that is needed to plunk down twenty grand a week. I am going to list the common traits that all of these individuals have.
1. Web page is five pages or less
2. Web pages are not optimized for search engines
3. Business owner will not submit any audio or video, (”Absolutely no podcasting!”)
4. Investment is usually $2,500 or less!
5. Business owner will not link to anything on the web, (defeats the whole purpose)
This is the best part. Everyone that falls in the $2,500 investment category has threatened to sue or take me to court if they don’t get these outstanding results, ($20 grand or more a week). They all come with a bully attitude and are beyond lazy.
My advice to them is to play the lotto.
THE SEVEN FAMILIES OF SEARCH ENGINES
Ten years ago search engine technology was not where it is today. We only had a few search engines to play with and most of them weren’t very reliable. In 1997 we did the best we could. Often times we had to rent outdoor advertising such as buses, subways, and billboards to promote our web sites to the public.
Today the scene is very different. Google, MSN, Yahoo only is responsible for 10% of all web site traffic. The rest of this comes from other sources. When you consider how much money is dumped into pay per click campaigns this becomes problematic. It’s very expensive and the return to do a typical PPC campaign is not worth it in some markets. The way to get around all of this is to do something with the other search engines.
Podcast Search Engines – Online audio commercials are featured on these and they include http://Podnova.com , http://Meefeedia.com, and Podcast Pickle.
Standard Search Engines – MSN, Google, Yahoo.
Video Search Engines – Web 2.0 search engines including http://YouTube.com, Google Video, and at least 700+ others around the world.
Social Directories – Delicious, Digg, Redit, and many more support reader voted content. This allows people to give the thumbs up on what they like on the web.
Niche Directories – There are many private niche directories on the web to find things you are interested in.
Article Sites – Article Submitter, http://Isnare.com and sites like this allow you to submit articles that get distributed throughout the Internet. This tips the PR model upside down and also gives you more recognition for the things you do or sell.
Industry Directories – Or Industry Portals. Every type of industry has a search engine type of environment where searches can be made connecting companies to goods and services.
IT’S CALLED WEB MARKETING FOR A REASON
This is where so many online marketers hit a flat tire. They don’t market. They don’t even go online to check on the status of their sites or how they are ranked. They dump the money into a “cash vehicle” and then harass the professional who established their site in the first place.
Yes, it is a vicious world but nothing comes for free dear boy. There is a price and it is called Web Marketing for a reason. You need to show up where you are supposed to. You also need to show up in front of the right market.
These people I mentioned in the earlier classification also suffer from another delusion – they are seem to suffer from technophobia. These individuals can barely turn on their computers let alone attract a customer on the Internet. I see a lot of mistakes being made in their offline efforts too. All too often it is one in the same.
You see, the coupons and the direct mail pieces are often identical. Usually the web site, business card and flyer are all the same marketing effort. It is one of the worst sins you can commit in marketing because they dare to be boring. A brochure web site is nothing more than a glorified business card and there is really nothing too special about it.
My advice to anyone who feels compelled to market this way is for them to save their money. Put it into something else that will yield them some type of return.
What should a good offer look like? I’ll give you one of my top favorite ways to attract a customer online and offline. These usually get the message across and will get some type of response.
Speed – Your offer should have a time limit on it. Limited offer, limited supply, act quickly by March 10th to get the special introductory price.
DO I REALLY NEED MORE THAN FIVE PAGES?
The phone company and telecom groups did a great number on the public a few years back and continue to do so. There is this belief about keeping up with the Joneses. Many web site packages are sold through telecommunications groups as part of their “business package”. The business owner is told how to do basic things with it like make changes to their pages and so on. The problem is that the business owner will continue to make changes to the same five pages over and over again. They will never be able to get high up on the search engines because they change the content over and over again, (most times it was never formatted properly to begin with – think Meta Data).
You can forget about getting any type of real marketing penetration with this type of thinking. The other negative is that these pages never progress outside the initial five pages. Working with your site takes a great bit of effort and diligence.
Case Study 1: JVC
Companies like JVC do not mess around. They know that when they get a page up and indexed on Yahoo and Google it is better to leave it there and build around it. When I was looking for a particular camera model I was surprised to see it was no longer being made. Instead of taking that page down they took the content out and put a link in that said, “We no longer carry this model but for something similar click here….”
They knew how to keep the customer inside the site and gave him plenty more options. This is a very powerful strategy. Think infrastructure.
Case Study 2: SONY
Sony is another company that believes in heavy infrastructure. There are thousands of web pages that are out there that lead to a product or service. They don’t take anything down but continue to add to it. This is the norm for a lot of the great companies of the world. They don’t nitpick and fuss and rewrite over content or the same pages to get their point across.
Online real estate is a big deal. You want to hold as many spots as possible on the web. Even if you change a product or service it would be wise to leave the pages up and have re-direct links to other pages that sell something similar. This is something that cannot be overlooked.
Do you really want to start fresh from scratch week after week? Or would you rather build an infrastructure and have consumer penetration? This is the cheapest way to build up a brand. With web site hosting being as low as $10 bucks a month it would be wise to build multiple sites.
An example of these would include:
1. Video testimonial sites, (let others do the selling for you)
2. Article information sites
3. Lead generation sites, (lead capture sites)
4. Ebook giveaway site
5. Members only site
6. Audio testimonial site
7. Dot Info, (.info) sites, (they get indexed quicker than dot coms)
Ted Cantu runs iMobile Media, (http://www.1seomichigan.com )and works out of NYC, Chicago, and Detroit, Michigan. He has the number 12 podcast show on http://www.podomatic.com you can listen to it here… http://911copywriter.podomatic.com
Anyone who is starting to set up a website can tell you how frustrating it can be to find a company that has everything he or she needs. It can be difficult to find a host that satisfies all of your needs if you do not have a plan to help narrow down your choices. It does not have to be difficult. Simply make a list of the things that you need and weed out the companies that do not have the services or quality that you need.
Tip #1 – Domain Registration
Find hosts who can help you register your domain. Domain registration is important, and those who have never done it before are likely to find some confusion. Choosing a company that can help you with this process is important.
Tip #2 – Customer Service is Vital
You need to find a company that has a great customer service staff and technical support. While you might be web savvy enough never to need the support, knowing that it is there and that you will be able to rely on it 24 hrs a day is nice, and it can give those new to the web the peace of mind they need.
Tip #3 – What do They Offer?
Are they able to offer everything that you need? The list that you made should have all of the things that you need from your host, as you go through the features the company offers check those items off the list. If they do not have what you need, move on to another company.
Tip #4 – What is the Uptime?
A company that can guarantee 100% uptime is a company that you will want to choose. You do not want to deal with one of the smaller companies that has performance issues.
Tip #5 – Budget
Budget is important, but it isn’t the only factor that you need to consider. You will be able to find a number of options that are friendly for budgets of all sizes, such as the hosting offered by Dreamhost and similar providers. Find a company that has services that you can afford, but make sure that they have all the services you need as well.
Keeping the preceding tips in mind when you start your search for a company for your hosting needs and your domain registration, and you will find sorting the wheat from the chaff is much easier.
Five Indispensable MySQL Tools
In the twelve years since first being introduced to MySQL, I’ve spent a substantial part of my professional life interacting with the database. Like any long-term relationship, my success using MySQL can largely be attributed to how well I’ve been able to communicate effectively with the database.
Read more on Developer.com
I would like to discuss 5 main issues with you, that you have possibly questioned before buying your 1st domain name.
1. What is a domain name?
2. Things to bear in mind when considering one.
3. Where do I purchase one from?
4. Are there any hidden expenses?
6. How much will one cost me?
1. What is a domain name?
A domain name is a part of a website address, usually the middle section. The website address will tend to start with www. then your domain name will follow straight after and without any gaps.
This is finished with various confusing strange letters like “.com” or “.co.uk” or even “.org” and many others, but not to confuse you, we will just use one of them for explaining purposes.
We shall use “.com” and if our domain name was “domain name buying” for example, we would end up with www. followed by “domain name buying” and ending in “.com.”
Please do not get your domain name confused with your website address.
2. Things to bear in mind when deciding a domain name.
Some people get really stressed out, when deciding upon which domain name to choose. As long as you follow a couple of basic guide lines, this task should be enjoyable and exciting. Pick a name that is easy to remember.
Firstly, if we refer back to our imaginary domain name from the previous chapter above, we will be able to remember “domain name buying” a lot easier, than say “your web domain name registration created for you”
Now that was a bit of a mouthful wasn’t it? Now you might find that an easier way to remember it, is by going over it again and again and again and for yourself, that might work ok.
But when you verbally pass this on to someone, what are the chances of them finding your website… very slim. Have you ever played Chinese wispers and that’s without the www. to start with and the “.com” to finish with.
So keep it simple, don’t try and make things difficult. Remember you want your internet business expierience to be an enjoyable one!
Secondly, If possible, try and have the domain name related to the product that you are advertising. If we still use our good old friend “domain name buying” then it needs to revolve around that subject matter.
It’s no good using this domain name for house buying, as misleading your customers is a sure way of never seeing them again. Remember, trust is so hard to gain yet… so easy to lose.
3. Where do I purchase a domain name from?
These are purchased from A registrar. Start by going to Google and typing in the search bar… “start a domain name search.” You will now be spoilt for choice and faced with countless registrars.
Click on one of them and once it opens up follow the instructions. They are free to join, (but they will try to raid your pockets in other ways as you will find out in the next chapter).
Enter your preferred domain name to see if it is available. You will possibly need to adjust it slightly until you find one that you are happy with. Make double sure you always check domain names have been spelt correctly, as there is no going back once you have paid for it.
So finding a cheap web domain is pointless if unrelated to your product. These website domains that you are going to pick, are going to play a major part in your business, so take your time and enjoy the journey… you can now proceed to the check out and pay for your purchase.
4. Are there any hidden expenses?
Whilst you are making your way through the buying process within the registrar site, you will be faced with many, what we call up-sales.
These are tempting offers that they dangle in front of your eyes, so that they can put loads of add on features to your bill, (I did mention raiding your pockets, remember).
Now these do stand out like a sore thumb and trust me, you won’t miss them. But it is up to you to resist the temptation, of leaving their site with many times the value, of that what you intended to buy when entering.
Once again, trust me when I say, they are really good at persuading you. If you can picture being on a ghost train with all the crawlies hanging before you, then you’ve a pretty good idea of what I am trying to convey to you.
Now before you can use your domain name, you will need hosting and I will cover this in another topic.
But just so you know, FREE domain name hosting is available if you search around, but an up-sale will be thrown at you when on the ghost train.
Now like I say, you will need it, but as free domain name hosting can be found, why pay for something if you can get it for nothing.
5. How much will a domain name cost?
The good news, is that signing up for a domain name is FREE. The bad news is that your domain name itself will cost you about $10 a year. Also if you end up paying for a domain web host, this will cost you about $10 a month.
Although you will be sent a reminder to re-new your yearly fee, what I suggest you do, is pay for 2 years when signing up. A payment is usually required via paypal or credit card, so make sure you have either available.