Archive for the ‘ Internet And Businesses Online ’ Category

Types of Web Hosting – Assessing Your Website’s Needs

Sunday, July 18, 2010 posted by admin 1:43 pm

Before selecting a web host it is paramount that you understand the various types of hosting options you have. Every website has different needs and meeting your site’s needs will help produce a satisfying end result. Hosting services available to you will likely fall into one of the following categories:

Free Web Hosting

Free web hosting is definitely the cheapest option available, however as we all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch and this holds true with so called “free” hosting services as well. Free web hosts will often be advertisement supported and have very limited features, storage space, and bandwidth. Generally this is not a good option for any website which supports a business or needs to offer users a stable and efficient environment. Free hosting services are best for small web sites which are not intended to do much more than share a bit of info with a small group of friends.

Shared Web Hosting

With shared web hosting a single computer referred to as a box or a server will generally hold a large number of websites. The number will depend on the company, the cost, and the hardware that makes up the machine. Shared hosting is often a reliable hosting option for most websites including both small business and personal use. The overall quality, speed, and cost will fluctuate significantly from host to host so it is important to do your homework before selecting a shared hosting center. Often websites which abuse or use more resources including CPU time or bandwidth will be shut down. If your website requires heavy resource allotment you will likely need to look into another hosting option.

Reseller Web Hosting

This is a less common form of hosting but it allows clients to become web hosts themselves. Common examples of this would be web design firms who host their clients’ websites. In truth, the only difference between reseller web hosting and shared hosting is generally the size of the hosting company. The larger hosting companies such as Bluehost and HostMonster are just much larger versions of reseller web hosting.

Virtual Dedicated Server

Virtual dedicated servers are very similar to shared hosting except in how the allotment of resources is handled. Whereas with shared hosting all clients share the same CPU and bandwidth resources with virtual dedicated servers each client is guaranteed a set amount of CPU power and bandwidth. Virtual dedicated servers also offer their clients what is often referred to as “root” access to their virtual machine. This offers them more hands on control with how the machine runs including the ability to tinker with the operating system.

Dedicated Hosting Service

With dedicated hosting services the user has full control over the server and is the only client who uses the server. There are normally two types of dedicated hosting options which are managed and unmanaged. With managed hosting the client will have various support-personal or plans in place to assist them with managing the server and ensuring that things such as its security policies are up to date. Unmanaged will leave all the responsibility in the hands of the client which can be less expensive in some cases. In both cases having a dedicated server offers you much more control over what options are available on your server from mail programs to FTP services and so on. Naturally dedicated servers are much more expensive and therefore many webmasters opt for the cheaper shared or virtual private server options. With both types of dedicated hosting the servers are owned by the hosting company.

Colocation Web Hosting Service

Colocation is similar to dedicating hosting services, but in this case the user fully owns the server and the hosting center simply provides a physical space, power, and a connection to the internet for the client. In many cases there is little or no further support for the client beyond ensuring that there is power and the negotiated bandwidth available to the server. With this option in most cases the owner of the server will have an administrator who must visit to the facility or have another form of remote access to the machine.

Clustered Hosting

In some cases it is not enough to have one server handling the needs of a website. For these cases clustered hosting becomes a viable solution. With clustered hosting multiple servers host the same information allowing a much larger base of users to access the information at one time.

Grid Hosting

Grid hosting is a form of distributed hosting where a server cluster acts like a grid and is composed of multiple nodes.

Home Server

In some cases webmasters elect to manage their own web servers at home or at their place of business. This can be done on both a consumer-grade broadband connection or in some cases on something more capable. Home servers are much like colocation except for the loss of the expensive facilities which generally have backup power sources, industrial grade cooling systems, and various other benefits. Some ISPs do not allow their users to host their own websites so it is best to investigate this before attempting to setup your own web server.

Which Hosting Option Should I Choose?

If you’re reading this article you probably should be choosing shared hosting, or either virtual or fully dedicated hosting. For most small to medium sized websites these are perfectly adequate and viable options. If your web hosting needs are larger than this you will likely have an IT specialist who is part of your team who would be better equipped to assess your web hosting needs.

Hopefully by now you have a better idea about what type of hosting you need. Now it’s time for the real fun, choosing the best webhost!

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

How To Find Low Cost Business Email Hosting Services

Saturday, July 17, 2010 posted by admin 12:10 pm

Every business owner knows how crucial email is for the business. This is especially true in case of small businesses, since most of them cannot afford the cost of more expensive means of communication like long distance phone calls, fax etc. It is also difficult to shell out a hefty amount for professional email hosting services. The best thing to do under the circumstances would be to look for cheap business email hosting services.

What a Business Email Hosting Service Must Have:

Since you run a professional organization, you need a business email service that reflects that professionalism. “Low cost” does not imply shoddy or badly run hosting service. Here are some essential features of a good business email hosting service.

1) The web host must provide you with at least 10 email accounts.

2) The storage limit of your inbox is crucial. If you send many large files like pictures or documents through email, then having a small storage limit will be disadvantageous for your business. The storage limit should be at least 500 MB for business email accounts.

3) How many emails you are able to send is also important, since many web-hosting services automatically activate spam-blocking filter when the number of emails being sent out exceed a certain limit.

4) Protection from Phishing, spam and virus is very important. Nothing clogs up your mailbox like spam, phishing endangers your business by stealing your identity, and viruses can bring down the system causing business loss.

Getting a Low Cost Business Email Hosting: Procedures

1) Getting a Domain Name

Register a domain name with any registration service. Look for cheap domain name registration.

2) Look for Cheap Email Hosting Service

Find a web host who will provide cheap web hosting. If you search carefully, you may find some web hosts that offer business email hosting services for less than $5.00 annually.

3) Get Business Email Accounts

You need to set up business email accounts with the web host. The accounts can be POP (Outlook), IMAP or web based email account (for example, Yahoo).

What to Watch Out for When Opting for Cheap Business Email Hosting

Anything “low cost” may have some associated downsides. Before you settle for a particular low cost email service for your business, look for the following.

1) Upgrading fees, Monthly Fees, Hidden Charges

Check if the “low cost” is low cost. If you begin to receive an unexpectedly large number of emails, will your account be cancelled unless you opt for a more expensive “upgrade”?

2) Traffic Limit

Is there a traffic limit to your business email hosting service that has not been mentioned on the agreement? If you receive more emails than expected, you may end up paying more.

You need to do some research before you find low cost business email hosting services. Keep the above points in mind while settling for any low cost email service. If you are unable to locate a low cost email hosting service for your business on your own, you could consult a business advisor.

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

Pay Per Click Principles

Sunday, July 4, 2010 posted by admin 2:55 pm

The fundamental principles of online advertising

The bidding system for pay per click is one of the most challenging aspects for online marketers. This is advertizing on a knife edge. The costs that are involved in bidding for the project mean that any mistake is expanded in terms of reducing the viability of the business. The fact that the charges are levied on clicks rather than conversion can be problematic. Thus if the website has many surfers that click without converting then they charges on that website will grow. It is a delicate balance and the PPC managers have to ensure that they are monitoring the service on a regular basis.

There is no constant set of key phrases that will work on every single occasion. Rather the merchant has to adjust according to the prevailing circumstances in the market. This process can be automated by use of bespoke pay per click management information systems. This is particularly useful in cases where the campaign is very large. The use of the automated systems forms the foundation for developing the capacity of the company to deal with the variations in the metrics or surfer behavior. In fact the merchant may have to settle for second best alternatives if the desired phrases are too expensive.

Category : Internet And Businesses Online

Web Hosting – The Key to Your Online Home Business Success

Thursday, March 25, 2010 posted by admin 9:51 am





Running a home business and making money online is impossible without a web host. Web hosting makes your site visible in the online community 24/7. It is the second step after creating and registering your domain name. With the numerous hosts on the net, choosing the right host is crucial to generate traffic to your site. Here are factors to consider when selecting your web hosts.

Reliability and Speed

Reliability and speed are the two most important factors when selecting hosting. It must guarantee uptime of 99.5% or higher. The uptime is the time when the server is functional. For your home business to make money online, choose a company that will assure you of all time visibility. Otherwise, you are only wasting your money if your potential visitors cannot reach you.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of bytes transferred from your site to your visitors as they browse your page. Other companies promote an unlimited bandwidth for your online home business. However, this may not always be true because when you exceed your allowable bandwidth, you get an exorbitant bill or a sudden cut-off from their servers. To help you make money online without paying unreasonable charges, always look for the details of how much traffic the package allows. A 3 GB of traffic per month is a good start to starting your home business. As your business becomes more popular, you can just upgrade your bandwidth.

Disk Space

Like the bandwidth, your web host can offer you unlimited disk space. However, most sites need only an average of 10 MB. If you purchase more space, it is unlikely to use all that space and you will still be paying for it.

Technical Support

For you to make money online, your host must be available in the most inconvenient times like midnights, holidays and weekends. To know whether the company has a competent technical support, try reaching to them at these times. Try asking technical problems to determine their competencies. It is useless to run an online home business served by a host without knowledge on technicalities of web hosting.

Features

A good web hosting provides the PHP, FTP, Perl, SSI,.htaccess, telnet, MySQL, crontabs and SSH. All these must be a part of your hosting agreement to make your site successful. These features allow you to customize your site, correct errors, protect your site, run programs or receive payments.

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

Introduction to Web Hosting Server Side Language

Saturday, March 20, 2010 posted by admin 10:03 pm





There is countless website in the internet today and to make yours stand out from the rest, you will need something special. One way to achieve that is to have a dynamic server-side scripting language. What is this? Well, it is a script that could do extensive task on the web server. So, there are many languages available which you can use to enhance you web hosting account.

Among the popular scripts are ASP, JSP, PHP and Phython. ASP is known as Active Server Pages. This language is created by Microsoft and is suited for business because of its dynamic capability in content which are unparalleled. Then come along ASP.Net, the second version of ASP which further improves ASP. It provides you with more than one language to be use in the website design. Because it is created by Microsoft, both of the language is most commonly found in Window-based servers where you can utilize with FrontPage and MS SQL.

The second language that is commonly use is JSP, Java Server Pages. This language is very famous for enterprise solutions because it has the serve-side operation function. It is amongst the favourite for programmers because it uses a program called servlet that works with HTML in making website. However, this language is more complicated and therefore, only experienced programmers can use it to the fullest. It could be a disadvantage for new users but if can get the skills to use it, you will be able to create very interesting sites.

PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor is also very well known among the scripts. It is considered as the easiest script to master and is becoming very popular in the past few years. By being simple, it is widely used by developers and also normal webmasters. There are many guides you can search for to help you grasp the method of using PHP. They are often found in open sources and books. Another factor that made it popular is the fact that it is often include in cheap and even expensive hosting packages.

Another language that we should know about is the Phython. Although it is not as popular as the ASP, but it is one of the oldest languages it is very easy to use and works well with any typical applications out there. It is a multi purpose language that enables you to create good graphics for programs that is heavy. It is a well balanced script that provides you a little something for everything.

Choosing the right scripting language really depends on the web hosting company’s operating system. You will need the language ad therefore you have to learn it if you do not know it. The ideal way is to start of with something simple rather than going for one that is going to create tangles in your mind.

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

What Kind of Hosting Account is Most Suitable For You?

Thursday, March 18, 2010 posted by admin 12:54 am
The internet has become, by far, the most efficient and cost effective way to literally reach millions of potential customers from all over the world. In order to have your own website to advertise your business you will need what is called a hosting company. There are 2 basic types of hosting companies, free hosts and paid hosts. But which type is most suitable for you?

Free hosting companies are a great option for every new webmaster. Personally I started with a paid host, then quit because I didn’t understand what to do. Then I went to a free host and was able to take my time and learn at my own pace without the frustration of having to pay for something I didn’t understand. Most free hosting companies will automatically put advertising on your website, but if you look hard enough, you can find those that do not. Also, there is no guarantee of 100% up time. From experience I can say that I had nearly as much down time with my paid hosting account as I did with my free account. Support services on free hosting accounts do exist, but are limited and not available 24/7.

Paid hosting companies are good for webmasters of all levels of experience. Here too you will find different types of services; shared hosting and dedicated hosting. Dedicated hosting is more for big businesses with a huge customer base and a larger expense fund. While shared hosting is more suitable for individuals and smaller companies. Shared hosting is also much less expensive and can be found as low as $1 per month in some cases. With either dedicated or shared hosting you will have much more control over your website. Site support is generally available 24/7 via live chat, support tickets, email, and even telephone in many cases.

Low cost, shared hosting is the best choice for most people. But do not be afraid to try a free hosting company or two first just to get a handle on how things look and work on the other side. I suggest getting set up on a free hosting account until you are comfortable and confident enough to put your money where your mouth is.

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

How Low-Cost Websites Benefit Small Businesses

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 posted by admin 6:40 am



When it comes to promoting a new business, especially a small enterprise, setting up a website and using the internet to reach out to potential customers, is a no-brainer.

Any business, regardless of its size would be effectively committing commercial suicide not to take advantage of this hugely popular, fast, cheap and convenient way of get in touch with potentially millions of people who are actively searching the web for they may be selling, be it products, services or information.

As more and more people are turning ‘tech savvy’ and increasingly using alternatives to their desktop or laptop to surf the internet, the age of the ‘always connected’ citizen, insatiable in their quest for an endless diet of information, is well and truly upon us.

This presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs with a good idea, a customer-focused mindset and boundless energy, to connect with these consumers. This is especially relevant to those who have limited resources.

There are many services online that help new businesses set up quickly and efficiently with professional-grade websites using templates. Some of the most useful ones provide entrepreneurs with everything they need to develop their new projects into high-traffic and potentially highly profitable online businesses.

When it comes to choosing the right do-it-yourself website design and hosting service, the first-step for new business owners is always to go for a free trial. This will give them time to ‘test the water’ and find out whether they are comfortable with how the system works. In many respects, it’s a bit like choosing a car: some people like saloons, while others prefer sports cars.

Although it can save a lot of time, the alternative way to get online is to hire a professional web designer. However, some of the costs can bring tears to the eyes! Also, many web designers might be working on multiple projects at the same time and are prone to changing schedules, thus a client may be subject to postponements at short notice.

However, with do-it-yourself websites, despite the requirement to learn a new skill, the online business owner has complete control over the process. Start-up costs are significantly lower and there are no ongoing maintenance costs, as they can edit and update their site themselves.

There are so many low-cost website building packages out there, unless there is an urgent need to get online quickly, new business owners could learn a lot and hopefully have a lot of fun experimenting on the best option for their business.

The quality, design and features of do-it-yourself online website building software now include features such as integrated shopping carts, video widgets, and social networking tools, things that will normally add hundreds to a site built by a professional designer.

The question to the new online business owner is: “If it’s cheaper, faster and you have more control, why not build your website yourself?”

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

Beware of Some Hosting Scams

Saturday, March 13, 2010 posted by admin 12:13 am



At this day and age almost everyone has a website. Many hosts offer great deals with reasonable prices, but if they offer exceptional deals with extremely cheap prices, beware before you become a victim. Web host scams are plenteous, so take caution.

You should research the host before anything. Go to forums and look for ratings and reviews before you commit. Search for the host name on a search engine and find out as much as you can about them. Examine their site carefully, and get to know who they are. There should always be a section that says “contact us” or an “about us” that has some kind of contact information. If you have no way to reach them, how can they be held accountable for things that may go wrong, or even help you with a problem? That’s a major red flag.

Always read the terms of service before signing up. Do a close reading and be sure that you understand payment terms, what you are required to do, and what they promise to offer. You should not have to keep track of and report down time. If the host is shady about uptime, don’t sign up. Make sure the domain name is registered to you and not to the hosting company. It’s not a real sale and you don’t own it if they keep the registration. This is also away of avoiding legal tracking. They can deny the sale if you don’t hold registration rights. You should have the option of paying monthly, not just annually. Although there is nothing wrong with an annual payment, be sure that you have options so that you can be sure the host won’t take the money and run. You should also be able to get a refund of the first 30 days of the membership. If you are not satisfied, you should be able to cancel and get your money back. Non-refundable deals are usually poor deals.

There is no such thing as unlimted bandwidth or data transfer. Check the terms and conditions for the actual limits. Data transfer costs webhosts money, so there is no way that they can successfully run business and make a profit at all with extremely low income. If they promise you limitless space, it’s technically impossible. It is a certain con for your money.

You should try to find a web host located near you. It will speed up the download of your site for viewers, give greater access to technical support, and assistance with service complaints. Extravagant offers for extremely low prices are a pretty obvious sign that the website is a scam. If you feel that you have been scammed, you should contact your local district attorney. Otherwise, research the site and don’t give your information until you have taken the precautions described above. Have a good time, but play it safe.

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

What To Look For In Business Web Hosting

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 posted by admin 12:06 am





Businesses have found a great potential in the marketing and promoting their respective businesses in the Internet that they create websites entirely dedicated to the nature of their business. Most even take their business to the Internet and offer a website of high quality that gives their clients a sense of professionalism and business sense.

Websites that are dedicated mostly to businesses are given a place in the World Wide Web through web hosting. As there are very many options for choosing a good web host for businesses, there are certain things for you to look for when thinking of getting a good web hosting service for your business.

First things first, take note of the size of the network backbone of the server that the hosting company uses. It is pretty obvious that the bigger the network backbone, or pipeline, the faster and better information travels. If your business requires this type of service, then it is well that you go with this. But there are small companies that will only require a smaller pipeline since the amount of data they transfer is not large so the best options for these companies is to choose a server with a lower bit rate as to minimize the cost as well.

Another thing to consider is how many businesses are to share the server that the web hosting company is providing you. It is best to know if there are certain limitations as to how the hosting company will offer its service to your business.

Space allotment is an important thing to consider when choosing a business web host. You want to be able to maximize and fit everything that your website needs in this space so knowing how much you have for your use will make you adjust the necessary things so everything fits.

Of course, you will want the URL of your website to read http://www.yourbusinessname.com, right? So you want a web hosting service that will offer virtual hosting in order for you to get your own domain name. In relation to this, also look for a web host provider that will give you multiple email aliases to be used in your future business transactions. It is very professional for your business to have this type of service bundled with the hosting service since it gives your future clients assurance that they are dealing with a legal company as compared to having email addresses offered for free by mail providers.

Another important thing to consider is the support available for your business. Support means a technical support staff that is available whenever technical difficulties come in. If you think your business requires this type of support system then just prepare for the additional cost it will entail.

Other stuffs to consider in looking for a good business web host are mailing list programs, email auto responders, provision of statistical data that your website gains, SSL security, etc. Your choice of these features, of course, will be dependent on what your business needs.

More importantly, choose a web hosting service provider that has the best rate and the most features bundled with its service. It always pays to research and compare different hosting services before deciding on one.

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online

A Guide To Web Hosting For The Beginner

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 posted by admin 5:30 pm





What exactly is web hosting? What features will you need from a web host? Questions like these often overwhelm would-be web publishers that are just starting out. But we are here to help. After reading this article you will not know everything there is to know about web hosting, but you will understand enough to get you started.

To start off with – what is web hosting? A web host is a company that manage computers that are part of the Internet, and web hosting is leasing disk space on those computers to store the files that make up your website. This means that there is a computer in a data center on which your files are stored, and the computer will present the web pages of your website to visitors. It should be clear to you that if you want to have a website, you will need web hosting.

What are the most important features to look for in a web host? Different web hosting companies offer different sets of features, and usually at various price points. Two of the most important things for you to look at is the amount of disk space you get and the amount of bandwidth they offer you. The more disk space you have the larger you can make your website. Some web hosts will even let you host more than one website on a single web hosting account, and in this case the amount of disk space will play a large role. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that is transferred to and from your website. You want to make sure you have enough bandwidth to display your website to all the visitors you expect to get. Sometime a web hosting company will offer unlimited bandwidth, but read the fine print carefully because there is usually a catch, often the terms of service restricts the kind of data you transfer. For example you may not be allowed to use audio or video on your website.

Other features to look for in a web hosting account include: is the web host Windows, Unix or Linux based, script compatibility, the number and type of databases, the type of control panel and number and type of email accounts. The operating system of the server will determine what software you can use on your website. The software programs you use on your website is often referred to as scripts. Not all web hosts are compatible to all scripting languages, like Perl, PHP and others. The scripts you want to use on your website often needs a database to manage the operation of the script, so you will need a compatible database. You will usually be able to create one or more email addresses using your own domain name.

Before choosing a web hosting company, decide what you want to accomplish with your website and choose a company that offers you the features and options you need.

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Category : Internet And Businesses Online