Round Tale
Web Hosting news and views!
0
Blog Web Hosting Content Provided by FatCow FatCow Web Hosting
If you are currently blogging, or are considering creating a blog you will need to have it hosted somewhere. With literally thousands of web hosting companies out there – how do you choose among them? What should you look for to ensure that you find a quality web hosting provider? Here are a few tips to get you pointed in the right direction.
Reputation – Perhaps no other single factor is as telling about a web hosting provider as their reputation. By reputation we refer to the comments generated by current customers. In other words, the publicly observable appraisal of those actually engaging with the web host day in and day out. There are a few great ways to check on a potential web hosting company’s reputation online.
Google Search – Step one is to search Google for the company name, but also search phrases like ‘company name problems’ or ‘company name service’. Google is great for seeing the total accumulation of comments over time. You’ll see the disgruntled customer from 2002 that created a whole website to voice his displeasure. Or you’ll see comments from years past about how great your potential webhost is. What to do if you want to see extremely current information? Try Twitter search – see below.
Twitter – Besides being a great place to view the outward face of your webhost through their Twitter feed, you can also see comments from current customers. These comments are often less than a few hours old as well. So the information that you are getting about a customer service issue or outage are often happening right at the moment you are learning about it. To use Twitter as a real time search engine simply go to the search box: http://search.twitter.com – and type in your query. Try both the format ”host name” and ”@hostname” (this is the usual Twitter handle for a business).
Web Hosting Resource Sites and Forums – There are also specialty websites that research and review web hosting providers and their products. These sites range from current news and information about reputable hosting companies to ongoing conversations and threads in various web hosting forums. Among the best resources are: The Hosting News, webhostingtalk.com, Ping! Zine and Tophosts.com. Be aware that there are also some ”Top 10” type websites that receive affiliate bounties for recommending certain hosting providers. While these may be great web hosts, you ought to conduct separate independent research on any web host recommended through a ”Top 10” website.
Account Types – A second important factor to consider when selecting a web hosting provider is to match your online needs with the specific account types offered by the hosting company. Often a webhost will specialize in a particular type of web hosting. As an example, let’s say that you have selected the WordPress content management system as your preferred publishing platform for your blog. You would of course want to make certain that your web host is capable at WordPress hosting. Further, if WordPress was a specialization of your potential web hosting company they may offer special features such as a ”one click” install of the WordPress software, or special proprietary plugins developed just for their customers. You may also need WordPress themes and a specialized WordPress provider may supply free themes for their customers. Here are a few different type of hosting that you may want to consider.
Linux Hosting – Plain vanilla Linux operating system behind the hosting. This is very common, flexible and often is at a lower cost.
Windows / ASP.NET – This operating system is built upon the Microsoft server technology and is sometimes a prerequisite for enterprise or business scale hosting.
Shared Hosting – You receive a small sector of space and resources on a web server shared with others. If high security and uptime are important to you – you may want to select a virtual server or dedicated server instead.
Virtual Server / VPS Hosting – Virtualization has become commonplace and can offer many of the same benefits of a dedicated server (security, space, scalability) at a lower cost. A virtual server is a ‘’server” that is created with software – but has all the same attributes of a dedicated server. This is true even though multiple virtual servers exist on a single dedicated server.
Dedicated Server – In the case of very large sites, or website where security is paramount, a dedicated server is a great option. This is an entire web server which houses nothing but your website and databases. The benefits are high availability, high security and plenty of room to grow. The benefits come at a price though – dedicated servers are at a higher price point than both shared and virtual servers.
There are many more types of hosting, with each serving a specific market niche. To match up your needs with those of your provider give them a call to discuss your specific website configuration.
Geography – When considering which webhost is right for you, take a moment to consider your audience. That is, who will actually be viewing your website content. More specifically, consider which search engines will be important to your business strategy. If getting traffic from search engines is important to you (and it should be) you must select a host that serves your geographic target. This is because search engines look at the geographic location of the originating server to decide which countries and local geographies will be most relevant for that website. For example, if you plan on targeting website visitors in the United Kingdom, you would want your business to be listed we among the search engines for the UK (for example google.co.uk). Therefore, you would need to select a web hosting provider who has servers based in the UK.
Note – the company itself doesn’t have to be located in your target geography. They just need to have a server presence in your target country that can house your website.
Service Factors – Webmasters range from the uber-technical to the novice. No matter your level of technical expertise, you will need to obtain the help of your web host at some point. A critical consideration in selecting a web hosting provider for your blog needs to be: Will this company make it easy for me to ask questions and get problems resolved quickly? Look for a web host that offers communication in the ways that you prefer. For example, if you like to use chat to get issues resolved – look for a hosting company that offers support via chat. Similarly, if you want to call up and get a human being on the other end of the call, look for strong phone support. It never hurts to do a ”test run” on communications prior to buying. Use the chat service or phone number to ask a few pre-sales questions. This will at least help you gauge how responsive the host is to queries.
Good luck in selecting the best web host for you. Remember to conduct your research ahead of time, to ensure that you have a great and trouble-free web hosting experience.
Source: Blog Hosting – Choosing The Right Host
Blog Web Hosting Content Provided by FatCow FatCow Web Hosting
If you are currently blogging, or are considering creating a blog you will need to have it hosted somewhere. With literally thousands of web hosting companies out there – how do you choose among them? What should you look for to ensure that you find a quality web hosting provider? Here are a few tips to get you pointed in the right direction.
Reputation – Perhaps no other single factor is as telling about a web hosting provider as their reputation. By reputation we refer to the comments generated by current customers. In other words, the publicly observable appraisal of those actually engaging with the web host day in and day out. There are a few great ways to check on a potential web hosting company’s reputation online.
Google Search – Step one is to search Google for the company name, but also search phrases like ‘company name problems’ or ‘company name service’. Google is great for seeing the total accumulation of comments over time. You’ll see the disgruntled customer from 2002 that created a whole website to voice his displeasure. Or you’ll see comments from years past about how great your potential webhost is. What to do if you want to see extremely current information? Try Twitter search – see below.
Twitter – Besides being a great place to view the outward face of your webhost through their Twitter feed, you can also see comments from current customers. These comments are often less than a few hours old as well. So the information that you are getting about a customer service issue or outage are often happening right at the moment you are learning about it. To use Twitter as a real time search engine simply go to the search box: http://search.twitter.com – and type in your query. Try both the format ”host name” and ”@hostname” (this is the usual Twitter handle for a business).
Web Hosting Resource Sites and Forums – There are also specialty websites that research and review web hosting providers and their products. These sites range from current news and information about reputable hosting companies to ongoing conversations and threads in various web hosting forums. Among the best resources are: The Hosting News, webhostingtalk.com, Ping! Zine and Tophosts.com. Be aware that there are also some ”Top 10” type websites that receive affiliate bounties for recommending certain hosting providers. While these may be great web hosts, you ought to conduct separate independent research on any web host recommended through a ”Top 10” website.
Account Types – A second important factor to consider when selecting a web hosting provider is to match your online needs with the specific account types offered by the hosting company. Often a webhost will specialize in a particular type of web hosting. As an example, let’s say that you have selected the WordPress content management system as your preferred publishing platform for your blog. You would of course want to make certain that your web host is capable at WordPress hosting. Further, if WordPress was a specialization of your potential web hosting company they may offer special features such as a ”one click” install of the WordPress software, or special proprietary plugins developed just for their customers. You may also need WordPress themes and a specialized WordPress provider may supply free themes for their customers. Here are a few different type of hosting that you may want to consider.
Linux Hosting – Plain vanilla Linux operating system behind the hosting. This is very common, flexible and often is at a lower cost.
Windows / ASP.NET – This operating system is built upon the Microsoft server technology and is sometimes a prerequisite for enterprise or business scale hosting.
Shared Hosting – You receive a small sector of space and resources on a web server shared with others. If high security and uptime are important to you – you may want to select a virtual server or dedicated server instead.
Virtual Server / VPS Hosting – Virtualization has become commonplace and can offer many of the same benefits of a dedicated server (security, space, scalability) at a lower cost. A virtual server is a ‘’server” that is created with software – but has all the same attributes of a dedicated server. This is true even though multiple virtual servers exist on a single dedicated server.
Dedicated Server – In the case of very large sites, or website where security is paramount, a dedicated server is a great option. This is an entire web server which houses nothing but your website and databases. The benefits are high availability, high security and plenty of room to grow. The benefits come at a price though – dedicated servers are at a higher price point than both shared and virtual servers.
There are many more types of hosting, with each serving a specific market niche. To match up your needs with those of your provider give them a call to discuss your specific website configuration.
Geography – When considering which webhost is right for you, take a moment to consider your audience. That is, who will actually be viewing your website content. More specifically, consider which search engines will be important to your business strategy. If getting traffic from search engines is important to you (and it should be) you must select a host that serves your geographic target. This is because search engines look at the geographic location of the originating server to decide which countries and local geographies will be most relevant for that website. For example, if you plan on targeting website visitors in the United Kingdom, you would want your business to be listed we among the search engines for the UK (for example google.co.uk). Therefore, you would need to select a web hosting provider who has servers based in the UK.
Note – the company itself doesn’t have to be located in your target geography. They just need to have a server presence in your target country that can house your website.
Service Factors – Webmasters range from the uber-technical to the novice. No matter your level of technical expertise, you will need to obtain the help of your web host at some point. A critical consideration in selecting a web hosting provider for your blog needs to be: Will this company make it easy for me to ask questions and get problems resolved quickly? Look for a web host that offers communication in the ways that you prefer. For example, if you like to use chat to get issues resolved – look for a hosting company that offers support via chat. Similarly, if you want to call up and get a human being on the other end of the call, look for strong phone support. It never hurts to do a ”test run” on communications prior to buying. Use the chat service or phone number to ask a few pre-sales questions. This will at least help you gauge how responsive the host is to queries.
Good luck in selecting the best web host for you. Remember to conduct your research ahead of time, to ensure that you have a great and trouble-free web hosting experience.
Cloud VPS hosting is reshaping the way corporate and massive web sites operate on a daily basis, by allocating a seemingly infinite amount of server resources to a single website at any given point in time. This concept has revolutionized the way web sites interact with web severs, and how web site visitors experience the internet as a whole. Some of the biggest sites on the internet, including Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay, utilize the cloud hosting concept to host their web sites.
What is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud hosting is different from any other type of hosting because it combines the power of dozens, or even hundreds of web servers within a datacenter, to power thousands of web sites simultaneously without compromising performance. Today, the cloud hosting concept is being expanded into the consumer market with cheap cloud VPS plans that start at about $20 per month. By offering unlimited access to multiple servers, cloud VPS hosting plans provide instant scalability. This concept works because cloud VPS hosting plans are billed on a per-usage basis. Which means you only have to pay for what you use on a daily basis. With cloud VPS hosting you’ll never have to worry about upgrading because you’ll already have instant access to all of the server resources you need.
How Can Cloud Hosting Help an eCommerce Store?
The cloud hosting environment is perfect for the eCommerce setting because sales and search engine traffic can both be very unpredictable. Since the amount of web site traffic cannot be accurately predicted it is helpful to have access to as much bandwidth needed. If you own a busy eCommerce site then you know just how inconsistent it can be. On some days there may be 1000 visitors, while others there may only be a hundred, and then there are days where the traffic spikes to more than 10,000. This is especially true if your site is currently growing and you are building a client base. Cloud Hosting is also perfect for eCommerce stores because you only pay for what you use, which means you can increase your profits by deceasing unnecessary web hosting costs.
Can I Build Stores with Cloud Hosting?
Most cloud hosting plans have a very flexible software configuration that allows you to install site builders and other applications that will enhance your web server and the functionality and design of your web site. Although with eCommerce hosting all of the site building and store management tools needed are included automatically, it is still possible to install these tools within the control panel of a cloud hosting plan. From a cost perspective, cloud hosting is actually more beneficial than eCommerce hosting because there is no risk of overestimating your server needs and paying an excessive amount for your monthly web hosting needs.
Conclusion
While eCommerce hosting makes it easier to setup an online store and provides all of the necessary tools to do so, cloud hosting provides an instantly scalable hosting environment that only charges on a per use basis. If both of these concepts united it would be the perfect hosting plan for online stores, but as it stands, consumers have to choose one or the other.
(The Hosting News) – 1&1 has entered the Polish market today by presenting a very attractive welcome package. 1&1 offers a free professional hosting product for 2 years, which contains all necessary applications for creating a high-quality website, such as a website builder, 10 GB web space, extensive monthly transfer volume of 3000 GB and 1 .PL domain. 1&1’s business activities in Poland are managed by the newly established subsidiary 1&1 Internet Sp. z o.o., based in Warsaw.
“Our launch promotion is based on 20 years of experience, which provides our customers quality, reliability and performance. Our clear goal is to further develop the Polish Internet market so that our new customers can benefit from our global expertise. At the moment, too few small and medium-sized companies have their own website. Convincing the ‘off-liners’ of the advantages of an online presence will be a stimulus for the Polish economy”, says Oliver Mauss, CEO International of 1&1 Internet.
Founded in 1988, 1&1 Internet is one of the pioneers of the global internet industry. According to numbers recently reported by Intac.net, a respected resource for information about the IT industry, 1&1’s fleet of over 70,000 servers is larger than that of any other top player in the hosting industry. Comparatively, 1&1 is third in line for total number of servers behind Intel and Google.
1&1 operates in 5 major markets across Europe and North America. The company manages more than 11 million domain names, while its global community is over 9.5 million customer contracts strong. With the market entry in Poland, 1&1 aims to continue its solid expansion and to further consolidate its position as the leading web hosting company in the world.
“The Internet market in Poland is growing very quickly with only every second company operating a website of its own. Thus, Poland is one of the most attractive markets for 1&1 in Europe. After the introduction of our welcome package, we will introduce a wide range of products to the Polish market in the coming months – a variety of hosting and server offers as well as domain packages and eCommerce solutions. We will offer innovative, high-quality products at a very attractive price-performance ratio, without compromising quality or security”, adds Oliver Mauss.
(The Hosting News) – 1&1 has entered the Polish market today by presenting a very attractive welcome package. 1&1 offers a free professional hosting product for 2 years, which contains all necessary applications for creating a high-quality website, such as a website builder, 10 GB web space, extensive monthly transfer volume of 3000 GB and 1 .PL domain. 1&1’s business activities in Poland are managed by the newly established subsidiary 1&1 Internet Sp. z o.o., based in Warsaw.
“Our launch promotion is based on 20 years of experience, which provides our customers quality, reliability and performance. Our clear goal is to further develop the Polish Internet market so that our new customers can benefit from our global expertise. At the moment, too few small and medium-sized companies have their own website. Convincing the ‘off-liners’ of the advantages of an online presence will be a stimulus for the Polish economy”, says Oliver Mauss, CEO International of 1&1 Internet.
Founded in 1988, 1&1 Internet is one of the pioneers of the global internet industry. According to numbers recently reported by Intac.net, a respected resource for information about the IT industry, 1&1’s fleet of over 70,000 servers is larger than that of any other top player in the hosting industry. Comparatively, 1&1 is third in line for total number of servers behind Intel and Google.
1&1 operates in 5 major markets across Europe and North America. The company manages more than 11 million domain names, while its global community is over 9.5 million customer contracts strong. With the market entry in Poland, 1&1 aims to continue its solid expansion and to further consolidate its position as the leading web hosting company in the world.
“The Internet market in Poland is growing very quickly with only every second company operating a website of its own. Thus, Poland is one of the most attractive markets for 1&1 in Europe. After the introduction of our welcome package, we will introduce a wide range of products to the Polish market in the coming months – a variety of hosting and server offers as well as domain packages and eCommerce solutions. We will offer innovative, high-quality products at a very attractive price-performance ratio, without compromising quality or security”, adds Oliver Mauss.
Source: 1&1 Launches in Poland with Free Welcome Package
(Gawkwire.com) – Searchengineoptimisation.com, a leading SEO services company in the United Kingdom, comment on the news that a full amalgamation of Bing and Yahoo! is imminent.
Tests throughout the month of August 2010 on organic search results show that Yahoo! Search has been powered by the Bing engine. Searchengineoptimisation.com believe that when the full transition process is complete, searchers can probably expect to see a ‘Powered by Bing’ logo at the bottom of their organic Yahoo! search results. So far only seen in the United States and Canada, this also only refers to organic search results, with sponsored links and adverts managed separately.
When the transition is fully complete, Searchengineoptimisation.com expect the search results ranking orders for organic results on Yahoo! and Bing to be exactly the same. Though Yahoo! will essentially be a different skin, the results will effectively be identical. Yahoo! are also reportedly currently testing the account migration tool on the sponsored, pay-per-click aspects of search marketing, and hope to release it in the coming weeks.
“What many are dubbing a complete handover seems almost to be finished – at least in North America. Our stance is that this can only be good news for the wider world of search as it provides some much-needed competition for Google with the joining of the other two main forces in search,” commented a spokesperson for Searchengineoptimisation.com. “Though we’ll have to wait and see what the search engine optimisation implications are as this merger rolls out globally, we still fully expect most end users to stick with Google for now unless Bing brings something totally new to the table. The Yahoo! acquisition seems to be a step in the right direction though – only time will tell if their strategy is a success or not.”
To find out more about Searchengineoptimisation.com and their SEO services, visit their website at http://www.searchengineoptimisation.com/.
http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/seo_company_comments_on_bing_powering_yahoo_search.html
(Gawkwire.com) – Searchengineoptimisation.com, a leading SEO services company in the United Kingdom, comment on the news that a full amalgamation of Bing and Yahoo! is imminent.
Tests throughout the month of August 2010 on organic search results show that Yahoo! Search has been powered by the Bing engine. Searchengineoptimisation.com believe that when the full transition process is complete, searchers can probably expect to see a ‘Powered by Bing’ logo at the bottom of their organic Yahoo! search results. So far only seen in the United States and Canada, this also only refers to organic search results, with sponsored links and adverts managed separately.
When the transition is fully complete, Searchengineoptimisation.com expect the search results ranking orders for organic results on Yahoo! and Bing to be exactly the same. Though Yahoo! will essentially be a different skin, the results will effectively be identical. Yahoo! are also reportedly currently testing the account migration tool on the sponsored, pay-per-click aspects of search marketing, and hope to release it in the coming weeks.
“What many are dubbing a complete handover seems almost to be finished – at least in North America. Our stance is that this can only be good news for the wider world of search as it provides some much-needed competition for Google with the joining of the other two main forces in search,” commented a spokesperson for Searchengineoptimisation.com. “Though we’ll have to wait and see what the search engine optimisation implications are as this merger rolls out globally, we still fully expect most end users to stick with Google for now unless Bing brings something totally new to the table. The Yahoo! acquisition seems to be a step in the right direction though – only time will tell if their strategy is a success or not.”
To find out more about Searchengineoptimisation.com and their SEO services, visit their website at http://www.searchengineoptimisation.com/.
http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/seo_company_comments_on_bing_powering_yahoo_search.html
(Gawkwire.com) – Searchengineoptimisation.com, a leading SEO services company in the United Kingdom, comment on the news that a full amalgamation of Bing and Yahoo! is imminent.
Tests throughout the month of August 2010 on organic search results show that Yahoo! Search has been powered by the Bing engine. Searchengineoptimisation.com believe that when the full transition process is complete, searchers can probably expect to see a ‘Powered by Bing’ logo at the bottom of their organic Yahoo! search results. So far only seen in the United States and Canada, this also only refers to organic search results, with sponsored links and adverts managed separately.
When the transition is fully complete, Searchengineoptimisation.com expect the search results ranking orders for organic results on Yahoo! and Bing to be exactly the same. Though Yahoo! will essentially be a different skin, the results will effectively be identical. Yahoo! are also reportedly currently testing the account migration tool on the sponsored, pay-per-click aspects of search marketing, and hope to release it in the coming weeks.
“What many are dubbing a complete handover seems almost to be finished – at least in North America. Our stance is that this can only be good news for the wider world of search as it provides some much-needed competition for Google with the joining of the other two main forces in search,” commented a spokesperson for Searchengineoptimisation.com. “Though we’ll have to wait and see what the search engine optimisation implications are as this merger rolls out globally, we still fully expect most end users to stick with Google for now unless Bing brings something totally new to the table. The Yahoo! acquisition seems to be a step in the right direction though – only time will tell if their strategy is a success or not.”
To find out more about Searchengineoptimisation.com and their SEO services, visit their website at http://www.searchengineoptimisation.com/.
http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/seo_company_comments_on_bing_powering_yahoo_search.html
Much of the internet’s growth can be attributed to the migration of local business to a global marketplace. Businesses everywhere are recognizing the tremendous opportunity that the internet represents, both financially and socially. With the ability to market to demographics that are untouched in certain industries has made many business owners rich in the past decade. Along with this widespread success has come the rapid growth of hosting companies, since every web site ultimately needs a web server to operate. This represents a significant opportunity for hosting resellers as well.
Locating Local Leads
Thankfully, there are businesses in every city in the country that want to bring their efforts to the online community. You simply need to find them and show them how much of an opportunity there is online, the latter is the easy part. Finding them can be quite difficult though, since most business already have a website. One of the best ways to do this is to cross reference the phonebook with online business directories and search engines. Go through your local yellow pages, taking note of each company that may be interested in opening a website. As you find them, search for their company name on Google or within local business directories. If you are unable to find them then there is a good chance that they need a website.
Pitching the Sale
Once you have a solid lead list it is time to devise a sales pitch. Instead of formulating a set script, it’s better to come up with individual selling points that are unique to each business. For example, if you are talking to a boat selling company, then you could create a PowerPoint presentation and introduce the business owner to some of the online fishing and boat forums that are “full of buyers.” Often times showing them an opportunity is all that is needed to close the sale. If you take the time to come up with a unique and interesting sales pitch for each business then your efforts will be noticed by the prospective clients and it will give you instant prestige.
Why Target Local Markets?
Targeting local markets gives you leverage, since most local business owners are not knowledgeable in the internet industry. This naiveté works on your behalf because you can charge more for your hosting accounts, and your clients will still think they’re getting a deal. The online market is saturated and highly competitive, so it is hard to make a profit with global leads. Local leads may be more scarce but more profit can be made from each lead. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of targeting local leads is the fact that you don’t have to live in the area to find customers. You can use telemarketing to apply the same concept in cities around the country!
Conclusion
Although there is more work involved with soliciting local customers, there is also a much higher profit margin involved. If you can build a client list of 200 people, each bringing you $20 profit per month, you can easily make a full time living with reseller hosting. On the other hand, 200 online customers would probably not generate half that amount in profit, because the market is so much more competitive.
(Gawkwire.com) – Promising top quality and low priced services, “CrazyXHTML.com” offers affordable web design solutions that combine creativity with short delivery times. PSD to HTML and other format conversions are achieved in a timely manner that speaks quality and dedication for a top notch end result. Projects are always completed in the required timeframe, the company’s staff promising a 24h deadline regardless of the task’s difficulty. The special design techniques that use a minimum number of CSS styles and XHTML tags facilitate a fast loading time for low-speed connections.
Table-less HTML is great for people that require no standard HTML and depending on the project’s size, they are qualified to receive certain discounts. Other services include Semantic Markup used for SEO, W3C Valid hand coded, XHTML 1.0 and CSS markup and a lot more and they are compatible with all versions of IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Google Chrome and SeaMonkey, rendering them very flexible.
A 24h free customer support service ensures proper communication for 100% customer satisfaction guaranteed. Interested clientele can also take advantage of the PSD to XHTML or other format discounts up to 25% depending on the coding type, page number and the desired deadline. Thus, discounts are of 5% per extra day and go up to 5 days for a total of 25%.
In a recent interview, “CrazyXHTML” founder, mentioned: “We offer a money back guarantee on all of our services to maintain a healthy and professional relationship with our clients, whom can choose to pay for the project before or after completion.”
With a high range of professional services added to its portfolio, the company’s team of experts brings precision to customers’ projects assuring they are falling between the quality standards demanded by their clients. Customer support is ready to address any type of questions, either by phone, chat or E-mail.
Back to top