Web Hosting Guide and Features

The Internet is teeming with web hosting providers and buying a reliable and affordable web hosting service can sometimes become a daunting task given the astronomical number of web hosting companies out there. A few steps and preliminary homework would help you choose the right provider and save you probable loss of money and effort put in. Whether you are looking for online presence, sharing information or creating an online business, a reliable web hosting solution naturally becomes indispensable in order to achieve this. A powerful web hosting solution offers all-inclusive features and benefits that facilitates downloading, browsing and prompt updating of your website in minimal time.

An e-commerce enabled website would require advanced features as well as high end security and the customer needs to ensure in advance that the web hosting company is well equipped to handle these aspects. Once you have zeroed down on the web hosting company, it is wise to analyze the various packages offered with their corresponding features and benefits, the fee structure, any kind of hidden fee involved, their terms and conditions etc. Mentioned below are a few important aspects to be considered when buying web-hosting services:

Disk Space and Bandwidth

It is important to ascertain in advance as to how much disk space or the amount of storage your website would require. This specific amount of storage or disk space is offered by the hosting company and is dependent on the type of package you choose. The bandwidth equates to the amount of traffic that your website would receive. It is important to note here that greater the traffic your website receives, greater is the bandwidth required. Also, more graphics and downloads from your website implies higher storage and higher bandwidth for your website.

Operating System and Programming Tools

You need to make sure that the web hosting company utilizes highly secure servers and the latest operating system, in order to upload your website. Most web hosts run on a UNIX based operating system, usually Linux or BSD. ASP, .NET, MS SQL, SBS and others are required for running various web applications and a web-based host is the best solution to achieve this.

Pricing Structures

It is vital to compare and analyze the various pricing structures of different web hosting companies and the corresponding features and benefits attached with their respective hosting packages. Do not be deluded by the fact that higher pricing equates to better services and features. Many affordable web-hosting providers offer quality and superior services. It is only wise to go in for a company that has been around for a while.

Uptime, security, backup and support

Most of the web-hosting providers offer 24/7 customer support through toll free or local numbers. An e-commerce enabled website required high-end security features at all times. This aspect cannot be ignored or overlooked in order to ensure smooth and hassle free web site hosting. Also ensure that the company offers 99% to 99.9% uptime guarantee with all their hosting packages.

The Best Web Hosting Prices

When it comes to performing a comparison on the web hosting prices, the customers are subjected to a wide range of budget options as well as diverse pricing structures. With an astronomical number of web hosts to choose from, it becomes difficult to select a web host that would deliver the worth of your money. So let us take a look at the best web hosting prices you should be looking at and which hosting packages would be best suited for your website.

It is important to perform a preliminary research on the basic pricing structures that exist in the hosting industry, keeping in mind the reliability of the corresponding web hosting company.

It is important to first figure out which type of hosting best suits your requirements. You have an option to choose between Windows web hosting, Linux web hosting and discount web hosting among others.

Since a majority of net savvy individuals out there are looking to create a space for themselves on the Internet, it is only natural that discount web hosting is the most sought after web hosting package in the hosting industry. If you are just starting out to be an online entrepreneur then discount web hosting is seemingly the best option to choose. Discount web hosting has proven to be a cost-effective package and comes at quite an affordable pricing structure. In fact, the cheapest web hosting services could range anywhere between $6 to $10 per month for the most basic hosting package. Most of these plans offer both the Windows and Linux plans and could at most go up to $15 per month. If you are looking for added bandwidth and disk space, then this structure would of course go up.

It is very important here to first ascertain your website needs, future potential and goals as well as budget constraints before you select a discount web hosting package. Make sure that the discount web-hosting package does not include any kind of hidden costs or other restrictions that are not explicitly mentioned. It therefore becomes important to read the service agreement and terms and conditions in its entirety. If you still have queries or doubts, you can seek customer support and thereafter make a well-informed decision. First off, set yourself a monthly hosting budget and analyze your website requirements. This will help you determine what web hosting tools and features would best befit your website. Then analyze and compare various reliable web-hosting companies. The key here is to achieve a hosting package that delivers the worth of the monthly price while being cost-effective. Furthermore, it is important to opt for companies that offer a money back guarantee in case the customer is not satisfied with the hosting services.

Do your homework well and perform an in-depth research on the given company before you select your web-hosting package. While the price tag is of considerable consequence to the web-owner, the quality of services offered cannot be overlooked in any way either.

Web Hosting For Managing Multiple Websites

If you own multiple websites, chances are that you are making a living on the Internet and these websites then equate to your virtual offices. It therefore becomes highly desirable that these websites remain functional, up and running 24/7/365. Running and managing multiple websites can however become a daunting task but by employing the right strategies you would be able to make the most of it.

It is advisable to host your major websites with 3 to 4 different web hosting companies. If you wish to open a reseller account, ensure that you open that with another hosting company. The only downside with this strategy would be that hosting with different hosts would increase the time and make site management a little difficult.

Cost: First thing to consider here is the cost. If you are planning to host 10 to 50 websites, it is best to open a reseller account and then host any new or small websites on these reseller accounts for as less as $15 per month as opposed to $25 per month for multiple websites. You host one or 2 major websites with one hosting company. Shared hosting account costs under $10 a month, and dedicated server will cost $50 or more a month.

Downtime Risk: If your websites generate consistent revenue (like a travel website or other shopping websites), then you cannot afford your website to experience any downtime. Even though most hosting providers offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, in the unlikely event of a technical failure, you would end up losing online revenue. So if your website is hosted with a single host, the case would be even worse.

Backup: It becomes imperative to backup all data. If you are not satisfied with your current hosting provider and want to switch hosting companies, then a backup makes the entire process very convenient. If you have a backup or secondary copy running on another server, all you need for the switch is the transfer of the domain, which will take no more than a minute.

The user must take into consideration various aspects that come into play when selecting a web-hosting provider. There is a wide array of hosting packages to choose from ranging from Reseller Hosting, Shared Hosting, Unix / Linux Hosting, Virtual Private Servers, Windows Hosting or Co-location Hosting, ASP Web Hosting, Budget Hosting, Dedicated Servers, eCommerce Hosting, FrontPage Web Hosting, Hosting With Templates, Managed Web Hosting, PHP Web Hosting and more. When dealing with multiple websites it is advisable to compare and carefully analyze the cost, hosting features, tracking records of hosting companies and the services offered by the host. It is important to read reviews, do your research well and ascertain your website needs and budget before you make a commitment. These preliminary decisions would decide the success or failure of your online ventures. Managing websites therefore need not be a daunting task as long as you are well equipped with all relevant information and facts.

Six to Things to Look For in a Web Hosting Company

To a certain degree, most of the web-hosting providers out there are competing for the top spot in the web hosting industry and try to offer the very best services and high-end functionalities for their customers. We have a list of the top 6 things to be taken into consideration when shopping for web hosting packages. So whether you are a growing company or a large company or perhaps just looking for a simple web presence, it is important to be aware of certain vital aspects of web hosting and ascertain what features and benefits you would want to access from the different hosting packages offered.

1. Uptime and Reliability: Look for stability, speed and reliability when it comes to web hosting providers. Also, most web-hosting providers offer an uptime guarantee of 99% to 99.9%. This will ensure that your website is running smoothly and gets maximum uptime. Most web hosting companies offer a prorated refund if the guaranteed uptime falls below the stipulated benchmark. Companies can end up losing business if they do not consistently maintain their standards. So the uptime guarantee becomes a significant aspect to consider, as it would distinctly spell the credibility and reliability of the hosting provider.

2. Data Transfer and Bandwidth: Data transfer refers to the number of bytes delivered from your website to the visitors. Evaluate your current and long term web traffic figures and requirements as this would determine the amount of bandwidth required for your website. If the host is offering "unlimited bandwidth", it is important to find out the amount of traffic that would be allowed with this deal. Also inquire about any hidden costs or bandwidth overage policies. Evaluate your needs and budget before selecting the set package or perhaps just consider an upgrade if you would be paying for additional GB of bandwidth.

3. Disk Space: Do not get lured into "unlimited disk space" advertisements or large amounts of disk space of up to 500MB. Most of the web sites usually require not more than 10-20MB of disk space including the graphics, text, pictures or motion graphics.

4. Customer and Technical Support: Opt for a web hosting company that offers prompt and superior 24/7/365 customer and technical support. This feature enhances the reliability quotient of the web-hosting provider as well. You could also perform a test of their sales pitch by calling on a weekend and checking the reliability, validity, proficiency and promptness' of their technical and customer support.

5. Technical Features: Look for technical features like PHP, SSL, shopping carts, CGI-BIN, FTP etc. as all these are a necessity for your website. These features are essential in order to customize the error pages, set security measures, maintain the databases and much more. Ensure that the company offers full access to these tools and features and no hidden costs are involved within the package.

6. Control Panel: Consider this as your "cockpit" or "tools kit" as the control panel comes equipped with certain utilities that are required to efficiently and conveniently manage the certain aspects of your hosting account.

Review - Dreamhost Web Hosting

Dreamhost has been synonymous with professional and reliable web hosting and the company has been around since 1997. Over the years, the company has garnered ample popularity in the hosting industry as a reliable web host. Their servers are located in Southern California and although the company has experienced some server shut downs, the pattern is no different than any other professional hosting company.

The company's hosting plan starts at $7.95 per month and a free domain name registration is included within this hosting plan! Furthermore, the customer gets access to 160GB of storage, 1.65 TB of monthly bandwidth as well as the ability to host unlimited number of domain names. This therefore is an unbeatable deal and offers complete value for money.

The host offers yet more unique benefits and features to its customers. These include rewards and bonuses in terms of an increase in monthly storage space and bandwidth. So when a customer signs up for a hosting plan with Dreamhost, he would automatically be entitled to an increase in disk storage every week! This amount is in fact determined by the type of plan that is purchased. So if a customer plans to sign up for their lowest priced hosting package (@ $7.95per month), then he would get an increase in disk space of 1 GB every week and the bandwidth grows by 16 GB every week. Furthermore, the company keeps adding special bonuses and offers from time to time and this further enriches the customers' hosting experience.

The company has garnered mixed reviews and testimonials but a majority of their reviews reflect the professionalism and reliability offered by the company. Customers signing up for Dreamhost would not be disappointed by the customer support either. Their interactive forum is very helpful for people who are looking for hosting or company related information, guidelines and tips.

Their single-click installs are a favourite among many users as it facilitates one click installation of plug-ins like WordPress. With a web hosting service that is reasonably priced and boasts of a satisfied customer base, potential customers need not worry about risking their investments. It is however advisable to have any queries or concerns addressed before you sign up for their web hosting plan. This would also help you choose a hosting package that is best suited for your website as well as fits your budget.

Too Good to Be True Web-Hosting Deals

If a web hosting deal sounds too good to be true, chances are that they might just be too good. Just because a few web-hosting companies have made false promises and claims, does not mean that the rest of the hosting companies cannot offer superior features and services. The customer is required to however exercise caution and sift out the shifty characters in the web-hosting industry.

It is important to perform a research on the web host in terms of their history, reliability, and their value for money services, features and tools offered as well as their support system. It is also important to note here that companies who are offering "unlimited" features and tools are probably scammers and only interested in making a few bucks off of you. It may so happen that the company's own web page may not be working. So imagine how would they be concerned about your website? Stay clear of websites that have zero professionalism and reliability.

Companies that are offering cheap and affordable hosting may not necessarily be a scam host. You need to ascertain here however that the potential web host has been in the industry for a while and boasts of a loyal customer base. This can found out through discussion forums and unbiased reviews and testimonials.

A web host that accepts PayPal as their payment transaction mode is usually a reliable hosting company. It is even better that the web host features other online payment options.

If a web host is offering a lifetime or annual membership at a low price, then it is probably a good catch. This way the company would rely on its bulk orders and with enough money coming in, they would be able their backside.

For companies that offer packages like "never pay for hosting again" is yet again a promotional gimmick. These are usually categorized under the "fly-by-night" hosting companies and a bad business model. These companies are there to entice their customers into lucrative pricing structures and unlimited features. Such companies are seemingly too good to true but are actually scammers in the making.

So beware of companies that are offering schemes that reflect a poor business model. Every hosting company would require a consistent source of income in order to maintain and sustain their hosting business. It therefore follows that they need a pricing structure that is reasonable enough to sustain their business and also make a reasonable profit.

A company that has been in the industry for a while and is offering affordable or cheap monthly fee should be a safe bet to consider. Stay clear of companies that advertise themselves for offering "unlimited bandwidth" or "unlimited disk space". Such companies usually do not mentioned the otherwise hidden coasts involved with their hosting packages.

Exercise judicious choice and do your homework well. Remember, hosts that offer prices and features that sound too good to be true may just be your ticket to quality hosting at affordable pricing.

Top Three Paid Web Hosting Companies

Before you go searching for a quality web hosting company, it is important to ascertain your website needs and monthly hosting budget. This would help you avoid the seemingly attractive but larger hosting package that your website may not even require. While there are an astronomical number of web hosting companies that are offering quality services in the industry, there are 3 major web-hosting companies that have set unprecedented standards in the market. These companies have been in the hosting industry for a while now and have managed to carve a well-deserved niche in the hosting industry.

These include IPowerweb, Bluehost and HostGator.

All the 3 companies have amassed a loyal customer base and offer diverse as well as an all-inclusive features and tools list in order to cater for various budgets and website requirements.

IPowerweb for example, offers deluxe hosting packages that are equipped with so many features and tools that can cater to diverse needs of the customer. The consolidated, all-inclusive web host package that IPowerWeb offers is called Business Pro and it easily meets the needs of beginners, professionals, and business owners.

When it comes to affordability coupled with superior services and hosting products, Bluehost holds a high rung in the hosting industry. Their packages fulfill the requirements of individuals, small business owners to large corporate websites as well. Bluehost is increasingly becoming synonymous with enhanced multimedia features and tools and offers its customers with extra storage and site transfer capabilities all for a very low monthly price.

HostGator is yet another popular web hosting company and has proven to be a very reliable company in the hosting industry. The company offers 4 types of hosting packages to choose from as well as a wide variety of control panel options. Their offers are backed by a 30-day money back guarantee and the customers get access to the most high-end features and functionalities.

Furthermore, the company has the lowest pricing structure as well as a free and instant account set up. HostGator can also help you determine the amount of bandwidth and disk space that would be required by your company. This would help you determine the appropriate hosting package offered by them.

It is a good idea to perform a price comparison as well as a feature comparison between these companies and then opt for a package that would best suit your present and future hosting requirements. An important preliminary step is to perform a thorough research on one's own requirement and budget as every company will be more suitable to certain individuals depending on what that individual's needs are. This way, you are rest assured that you are making a commitment to a company that offers an almost customized hosting package to fulfill your various needs. This would also obviate the need to change your web host as and when your requirements change. So keep in mind the future potential of your website and then opt for a package that delivers ample room for growth and flexibility.

Advantages of Hosting a Blog on Your Own Website

The real benefit of hosting a blog and maintaining it has been a quick way to spread your business across the internet audiences. It has been proved by the search engine marketing specialists and bloggers in the past few years that a blog can benefits your website or business in very effective ways.

When you decide to host a blog on your website, the first question that comes up is where to setup a blog on your own website or separately. Each one has its own advantages that will help your website.

Where to Host Your Blog on Own Website or Separately?

There are two ways you can host your blog, either by creating an account on the blog platforms like Blogger or WordPress or simply installing your own blog software on your own website. Hosting a blog as a sub-domain of your own website looks like a professional approach and often preferred by those who want to boost their website ranking on search engines using blog as a tool.


Search engine ranking benefits

Setting up the blog in as a sub-domain on your existing website also benefits to your websites search engine ranking. Any new content that is added to your blog will be treated as new content part of your main website. Every new blog posts that you create are easily and quickly indexed than regular web pages. It thus helps promote better indexing and visibility of your main website, if the blog is hosted on the same domain name.


Backlinks benefits

If you spend some time and efforts on writing quality contents on your blog, you can easily attract the quality backlinks using those articles. If you host your blog on your main domain then all back-links will benefit your main domain. If your blog is on an external domain then back-links will not be directly passed on to your main website. However, you will still get the benefits if you are able to pull the PR and links from your separately hosted blog to your main website by cross linking. But, in order to get benefits via cross linking from your externally hosted blog it will need to be successful.


Brand targeting for business owners

Some business company’s or website owners can choose to start a blog on a completely new domain name. This can help if you wish to differentiate between the branding of your website and that of your blog. If the blog you are setting up is not directly related to the content on your main website, then you may not wish to combine the two on the same domain name.

If you wish to target on enforcing a collective brand for your company rather than creating a new brand for your blog, installing a blog as a part of your main website will help. If a blog is installed in a sub folder of your existing website, the blog URL will include your primary domain name in the address bar and appear as a cohesive entity.


Technical resources

If you are setting up a blog on your main website or domain name, you will require a certain level of technical skills in order to install the blog and add the database. If you are starting a blog using one of the free blog platforms then no software installation is required and a blog can be set up in a few easy steps.


Cost benefits

Another common reason for setting up an external blog outside of your main company website is the possibility for using one of the many available free online blog hosting services such as Blogger or Word Press. Most leading social networking websites such as Facebook also allow users to set up their own blog using their website platform. These services are usually free whereas setting up a blog on your main website or private domain name will require web hosting space and technical infrastructure.

So, decide your own where to host your blog, if it’s similar to your website and hosting it to boost your search engine rankings then definitely host it as a sub-domain of your own website.

Top 5 Silver Bullets for Managed Hosting

Businesses today have multiple pressures to tackle, global constituencies to integrate, and changing business needs to manage. In such a scenario, most organizations are considering managed hosting as a solution to reduce the IT pressures and focus on their core business outcomes.

Whether it is managed servers, applications, network, databases, or other IT components underpinning key business processes, a managed hosting provider offers cost advantage and business efficiencies to all kinds of businesses. By choosing managed hosting, start-ups and mid-sized companies save on getting expensive in-house infrastructure and resources to manage their IT environment and achieve the scalability to expand based on changing needs, whereas large enterprises achieve tighter alignment of IT with business with access to 24x7 expertise to support their vast IT operations and global customer base.

Here are top 5 reasons why managed hosting scores over building and maintaining the IT systems and infrastructure in-house:

• Optimum use of IT resources: IT resources are costly, so it is a good idea to use them for strategic activities than engaging them in mundane day-to-day maintenance tasks. The managed hosting service frees up the IT staff members to provide greater value to the organization than focusing on non-critical IT tasks. Moreover the managed hosting provider is better equipped to handle these tasks.

• Lower, predictable cost of ownership: Typically, internally hosted and managed systems include multiple costs like huge capital expenditures, operating costs, unexpected costs in case of system failures, maintenance and repair costs, personnel costs, and many more. By opting for managed hosting or managed hosting solutions, organizations save on huge upfront capital costs and reduce their operating costs significantly, as the managed hosting provider takes care of all the management and infrastructure-related expenses – all for a predictable monthly fee that can be budgeted for in advance.

• High-performance, High-availability SLAs: Managed hosting providers continually invest to better their infrastructure and adopt newer technologies to offers their customer greater value. Their state-of-the-art data centers enable them to offer higher levels of security, performance and availability, which means businesses have “always on” systems with no security threats.

• Access to best expertise round the clock: Many small and mid-sized businesses have the need for an enterprise class solution but cannot afford to develop one owing to high personnel costs and limited access to required technical expertise. With managed hosting solution, companies get access to vast expertise to meet their specific needs such as migrations, upgrades, integration, etc. for which they do not have skilled resources in-house. Most managed hosting providers offer 24x7 support to their customers, with their teams working as an extension of customer’s IT department, which makes it easier for organizations to reach out to the required skill sets anywhere, anytime.

• Quick time to value: A managed hosting provider has “been there and done that,” and with a pre-tested, pre-configured infrastructure and solutions, they can deploy systems quickly. Their ability to scale the solution to align it with changing customer needs enables customers to realize greater value from their IT environment in no time.

Web Hosting Extras You Are Gonna Love

Web-hosting companies are plentiful, which means that those looking for quality web-hosting services have the chance to shop around and find the best solution to suit their website.

Below are some of the little extras that you should watch for. Some of the web-hosting companies may offer these as part of your package, others may ask a small fee for them. Either way, grab them because you will love them.

Dedicated IP
You may have seen web-hosting services around that offer their customers dedicated IP and maybe you have wondered if this service is for you? In a nutshell, Dedicated IP (internet Protocol) means that your website account has a unique address and that no other account holders share that server.

Most websites have the same server or a shared IP. The problem with a shared IP is that, if someone on the shared server sends out Spam and is blacklisted, you will be blacklisted too. By having your own unique IP address, you will have a better chance to rank well in the search engines. For peanuts, you can protect yourself from being punished by other people's disregard of Internet etiquette

Anti-virus
In today's world of hackers and Internet spies, it is a must to have proper protection to keep your computer and your interests secure. By making sure that you have proper anti-virus protection that is updated regularly by a professional company, you will have less chance of having security breaches or losing out because of the damage done by hackers.

Anti-Spam
Anti Spam guards will sort through your emails, getting rid of the rubbish, such as Spam and junk mail, leaving you with only the e-mails that you want. Many anti Spam controls will allow you to pick and choose who you receive emails from and have a reporting system to blacklist those who send out Spam or unwanted advertising.

Anti-Spam will not only save you time and effort when going through your emails, it will also give you more control over your inbox. If your web-hosting company doesn't provide this to you for free, consider it carefully as an extra that you can't do without.

Multiple web mail options
Multiple web mail options will give you the freedom to pick and choose which services are the best for you and the people you have using it. This means more control and being able to have things just the way you like them.

Statistics systems
Many web-hosting services have more than one statistic system available. You can gain valuable information from each of the statistics systems and compare them side by side for a complete analysis of how your website is progressing and how visitors and targeted traffic are reaching your site. This is a must for online and E-commerce businesses.

Before opting for a web-hosting service, you should make sure that the web-hosting provider offers these services to their customers and at what price. Web-hosting services are very competitive, so make sure that you shop around and get the best deal and the best extras.

Cpanel Web Hosting Is Your Best Option

You know when I am looking for web hosting; I am looking for a number of things. The first thing I want to see from my chosen web host is more value for my money. We all know that hosting is not the cheapest thing in the world.

Well I know that is true if I want quality hosting, but many web hosts offer very little to justify any type of cost. Therefore, I want features that will allow me to make the most out of my money and offer my customers more for their money as well. cPanel does this for me. I have the ability to use one product, which carries so many different features, which enables me to provide the very best to my customers.

I am also looking for ease in use. I certainly do not want to use a host that will require me to take classes just on how to use the software or management center. I need a host that allows me to easily manage every aspect of my website in an easy to use manner. cPanel can offer me this with its easy to use format that is quick and easy to understand.

In the internet world today, customers expect a lot of benefits and options. This is something I have to give my customers if I expect them to come aboard with my business. This means that I need to have the ability to offer my customers unlimited possibilities. With all the different operating systems available, I want to make sure that my customer's needs are well taken care of, with cPanel, I can do just that.

One absolute must is automation. Without automation, my job is that much harder. The whole point in creating an interest business is that the internet makes the world an easier place to shop, learn, and provide service to surfers. I want a host that offers me solutions or lets me use my own. I need a host, like cPanel, that allows me to make use of any number of business tools to help my business succeed.

With that being said, just as offered with cPanel, I will need a flexible hosting package. I need to be able to add features, delete features, and customize my customers viewing and shopping experience as needed. I have a custom application that I am looking to use within my business; the host must have support capabilities to integrate the application.

Lastly, my host needs to keep me abreast on how my account and server is working. If there are any problems with my account, I want to know. cPanel, sends me emails or messages via an instant message program or even through my cell phone if there are any issues with services, my account, or server. This is important, because I do not always have the time to log into the website to check the status. With these messages, I can always be sure that everything is running smoothly.

The Little Web Hosting Service that Shouldn't

Everyone has their own opinion on that, including web hosting companies. They say it is. That's why when you look at their hosting packages, the feature list goes on and on and on. You'd think they cover their customers in gold with how much they apparently give away. Mail accounts, shopping carts, disk space, diesel generators - the works! But wait, along with that huge list of items you get, comes that huge price. Maybe you think you need all that stuff, though, so the price is justified. I mean why else would they include all this stuff if you didn't actually need it, right? You might not like the answer. The unfortunate but TRUE answer is that they believe the more features you see, the more likely you are to PURCHASE.

How do you fight back? By actually evaluating what it is they offer and figuring out if you'll actually NEED it. Why pay for something you won't use? If you're going to do that then, please - I need a new pair of shoes!

What you DON'T need.
Ok, let's look at some of the commonly useless items found on these lists.

Bandwidth. Basically that means "action" or "traffic". How much "action" do you think your site is going to get per month? Here's a great tip: if this is your first time, start out expecting less traffic. Most companies can give you that upgrade if you need it with a click of the button. Most people, though, are paying for bandwidth they NEVER use.

SSL. It stands for "Secure Sockets Layer" and it means you have a secure server. It's a great thing to have IF you plan to accept credit card payments. You may also see shopping cart software, also useful if you have an Internet business. However, there are well over a billion Internet pages and the vast majority of them are not there to accept payments. Most of the Internet is simply about free information - giving it out and searching for it. Again, don't pay for something you simply don't need.

Search Engine Submissions. Sounds great, except most of the search engines are free to be a part of anyway. And if you are really looking to be ranked in the top 10 or 20, you're going to need to hire a professional. Don't think that because it says "free search engine submissions" that it will help your site rank higher. That's a business of its own.

Scripts. A script is a type of computer language like ASP, JSP, PHP, etc... If you could just pick the ones that you plan to use, that would be nice. But -whether you use 1, 2, or 4 - you're going to pay for all 12 every month. It is more wasted money that most people just don't pay attention to.

Catch-all Email accounts. Here's how they work: I want to spam your website so I type in webhost@yourdomain.com. You think you won't receive my spam email because you never created an account called "webhost". Well, if you DIDN'T have a catch-all email account, you wouldn't get my spam, but since you do have a catch-all email account - who knows what I can dump into that bin. If someone can't get even the first part of your email address correct, do you really want to receive that email?

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.

Choosing a Web Hosting Provider by Their Customer Service

When choosing a web-hosting provider, there will be tons of questions you need answered before settling on the service that is right for you. Most often, when dealing with customer service, there tends to be a conflict of interest. Of course, they are trying to sell a service to you, so their ultimate goal is to make their web hosting features sound much better than the next choice.

Some companies will even stretch the truth just to attract business. For these customer service representatives, it is all about securing the deal and achieving a sale. But, what about the customer? In the long run, it is actually detrimental for businesses to lure a customer under false, misinformed or vague pretenses. If customer needs are not successfully satisfied or the company doesn't deliver as promised, consumers are sure to place negative feedback and spread the word about their experiences.

Customer service is put into place to help customers make the decisions that are right for them. Just because a company offers low prices, doesn't mean it will provide the proper services that a particular customer needs. They may need specific features to achieve all of their Internet goals and desires. It is the responsibility of customer service to make sure that all inquiries are answered with customer satisfaction in mind.

As a customer, familiarizing yourself with the ins and outs of web hosting providers and services is quite beneficial. Arming yourself with relevant knowledge will help you pinpoint the type of questions you need to ask a customer representative when searching for a service. How will you be able to comparison shop if you don't even know some of the basics of web hosting? There are numerous aspects of choosing a web hosting provider that you should take into consideration. Below you will find a few areas of web hosting to keep in mind when researching web-hosting companies:

Email: Having access to more than one email account through a web hosting company is quite desirable. Good questions to ask customer service regarding email is how many accounts you will receive. Will they provide a catch-all account? Will there be any limitations to the space per account or the size allowed for attachments?

Disk Space and Bandwidth: The answers to questions pertaining to these topics will determine your limitations regarding website space and Internet traffic. Ask web hosting customer service reps how many sub-domains are allowed. How much hard disk space will you receive? How much maximum bandwidth?

Information Protection: For some, backing up information is extremely important. A potential customer will want to know if a web-hosting provider has any backup policies. Will it cost additional fees to retrieve these backups, if offered? How many times during a week, month or year are files backed up?

Knowing a little bit about related web hosting topics before approaching customer service allows you to get the most out of your questions. In the end, with the help of a reliable customer service rep with good intentions, you may or may not choose a particular web hosting company for your business.

What to Ask For at Your Web Hosting Service

Web hosting is the backbone of your online business and it is one of the most crucial services that ensures your online presence. There are thousands of web-hosting service providers and all of them claim to be the best. Therefore, it is a difficult process to identify the right web hosting service provider.

There are a few important questions that you must ask your web-hosting service provider before you sign up. Normally, the first question people ask is about the cost involved. Though it is an important factor that will help you make your decision, cost should not be treated as the primary factor. There are other crucial factors that need to be addressed.

You must first ask your web host about their average server uptime. Most of the hosting service providers advertise 99.9% uptime, but, in reality, it may not be so. There are a number of server related problems that can keep the visitors off from your website.

Second, you must ask your web host about the connection speed. You must have fast connections to give your website users an enhanced visitor experience. If the connections are slow, your website will take a long time to load and server connection will get disconnected before people can see your website, leading to annoying "The page cannot be displayed error."

Third, you must know how much web space you get for the package you are signing up for. Most web hosts offer flexible packages. You should be able to advise your web host on the web space depending on the nature of your requirements. There are web hosting packages that range from 10mb or less to several GBs. The greater the space the greater the price.

Along with the allotted web space, you must also be clear about the data transfer bandwidth that is allowed for your package. If you anticipate high traffic, it is better to go with packages that have higher bandwidth capabilities.

The next question will be on the number of email addresses you can configure. There are many web hosting companies that offer unlimited email addresses. If you choose a lower end package, the number of email addresses may be limited to 5 or 10 or 25, depending on the web-hosting package you choose.

You must also be clear about the nature of the database tools that are available and the database types supported by your web-hosting service provider.

If your website is intended to sell your products online, it is important that you have a reliable shopping cart. Make sure you check with your web host whether you have any built-in shopping carts installed and the procedure to customize them to your specific need.

With the advent of the open source technology, web hosting service providers offer a number of free yet useful scripts for their customers bundled with the web hosting package. Check with your web host on the available free scripts, such as forums, blogs, chat support, web statistic tools, etc.

The control panel should be highly user friendly. Your list of questions to your web host must have a question about the control panel features.

Above all, the customer support capabilities of your web host and the turn-around time to resolve server related issues and other complaints is very crucial. To stand the competition, most web hosting service providers offer 24x7 customer support service to their clients. Make sure that your complaints will be addressed during weekends as well.

Web Hosting and Design Services Companies

Huge businesses and organizations spend a lot of time and money creating magnificent websites that are of top quality in terms of their looks and programming capabilities. Very often, they get disappointed when they approach their web hosting service provider to launch their brilliant sites because of server incompatibilities. Some of them realize that parts of their website's functionality do not work correctly when hosted on to their server; some of them realize that a particular service, which would be the core to their business model, could not be implemented on their server. In such situations, these companies have to spend additional time and money to make their website functionalities compatible with their server specifications.

All of this happens because of the gulf that exists between the web design company and the web hosting service provider. This could be avoided to a certain extent by having your web design company communicate with your web hosting company before your website is built. However, this may not be an apt solution because your web hosting company has to be cooperative in responding to your web design company.

The ideal solution in such situations is to look for companies that will offer both services. There are many companies today that offer multiple services. Therefore, you need to find a reliable company that offers both web design and web hosting services. You will win a great advantage by hiring such a company to take care of your web design and web hosting needs. You do not have to worry about wasting your time and money in restructuring your website to make it compatible to your hosting server. While analyzing your requirements itself, the web design team will be able to advise you on any issues that may rise later or at least take care of the issues during the development phase.

If you are new to online business and just setting up your new website then the above points are very pertinent to you. As a fresher to the field, you will not be able to make wise decisions on the features and functions of your website that will lead to functional efficiency of your website. Very often, it happens that the new comer finds it difficult to translate what their web hosting company says in terms of server compatibility, Operating System, scripts etc to their web design company. This inadequacy of the website owner leads to the delay in the completion of their website. If they have not anticipated this delay but planned to have their website launched before a certain season to promote their business, there is a great danger of missing their deadline, defeating the whole purpose of having a website.

Hiring a company that offers both web design and web hosting service will also help you in the long run. This will help your website maintenance become much easier. Every website needs periodic maintenance at hosting levels and at design levels to ensure continued efficiency of operation of the website. Therefore, when it comes to website maintenance, you need not have to run to two different vendors. You can have them all done from the same vendor. It is all the better to get your website maintenance service from those who developed your website.

Shared vs. Dedicated Commerce Hosting

You basically have two options for your commerce hosting: a shared server or a dedicated server. The differences between the two are great both in term of quality and in price.

If you choose shared hosting, this means that you will have to share the server your web site is on with many other different websites. You will have less bandwidth at your disposal and your web pages may operate more slowly. As the business owner, you may have less options available to you for customizing your pages and your site. Again, the needs of your business and your clients must be weighed against these limitations.

If you choose a dedicated server, it will be yours and yours alone. You will be the only one on it and you will share bandwidth with nobody. You will be able to personalize everything and install software at your own discretion. More personalization, more speed, and faster service for your customers are the hallmarks of a dedicated commerce host.

Of course, you will pay for the dedicated server bonuses. A dedicated server can easily cost you a few hundred of dollars a month. By contrast, shared hosting costs just a few dollars each month. Cost may well be the deciding factor when you first launch your ecommerce site. But be sure to re-evaluate your decision regularly as your ecommerce business changes and grows.

Select a Hosting Option for Ecommerce Success

Let's assume that you are an enthusiastic webmaster who wants to take their business online. It's a practical and probably smart ambition.

The business world is changing at an ever increasing pace. More and more sites are bringing good products into the homes of millions of internet users world-wide, and this is just the beginning of the revolution. When you are ready to enter the world of online business commerce hosting must be one of your top priorities.

Before you jump into selecting a commerce host for your website, start at the beginning. What exactly is e-commerce? By most definitions, it is the action of marketing, selling and distributing products over the world wide web. The center of ecommerce is naturally an online store.

Without a website or page containing your ecommerce store, you have no ecommerce business. It is certainly possible to make money online through many other means than operating on online store. But ecommerce is one of the fastest, simplest ways one can start earning an income online.

In an online business, having quality commerce hosting is vital. It may even make the difference between your business succeeding and failing. You and more importantly your customers will depend on safe, reliable hosting. Without a capable, professional commerce host, sales aren't likely to be made.

How To Build A successful Hosting Company

There are a couple of key things to look at when starting a hosting company. Basically there are four major factors to look at provided you have the servers, and technical abilities.

1. Site design is the first thing a prospective customer sees I have seen some horrible designs for hosting companies. If you think putting some text, links and a logo on a page is enough, you will likely fail before you even realize. You will also notice a lot of companies have a generic template that can be found online at template monster or any other temple site. Avoid these. It is very hard to develop a company image when you look like 134,000 other hosting companies. I suggest put a bit of effort and creativity into a well designed professional looking home page for your company. The bottom line is a new customer will not even consider you as their host if they feel you are an armature no matter how great or cheap your packages are.

2. Develop your website as a total package to its clients. Dont just present your hosting packages and leave it at that. Offer tutorials, articles, support forums etc. These additional services not only provide additional content for you clients, but if developed correctly will bring additional traffic to your site which will potentially lead to more sales.

3 You MUST understand how search engines work. Over 90 percent of your business will likely come directly from search engine results. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to optimize your site for search engines. You could have the greatest hosting plan in the entire world, but if no one knows about it, then its useless. Do a search on Google for Search Engine Optimization SEO. You will find tons of great information on how to create a website that is both user friendly and search engine friendly. There are also a countless number of companies out there who offer SEO services. Just be cautious of their offers and do your research first

3. Find your niche. The hosting business as a whole is a huge industry which is very competitive. Your best chance at success is to simply find a market and develop your business to cater to that specific niche. An excellent example who offer hosting and development to those who operate online forums.

Maybe in the early 90s the idea of if you build it they will come might have been true. But in the year 2005 the internet is a far more competitive and complex. place To be successful today, you have to develop a business plan which works from all angles. If you can develop a hosting company which has a professional design, some extra content, search engine friendly and which targets a specific niche, you will have a far greater chance at success Of course there are many other factors to consider as well, but if you can master these four, everything else should fall into place.