Find An Appropriate Host Name For Your Website

There are many Web host name services that will allow you to put your website on one of their servers for a fee. The next step after domain registration is to find an appropriate web host for your website. These servers are always connected to the Internet, so your website is always available.

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Choosing a reliable, yet cheap website host name can be one of the most important decisions you make for your online business and is not something that should be taken lightly. Hosting providers offer you different types of packages...

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Web hosting services offer you the wide range of features. Be sure to focus on the essentials that are required to launch your website. Will you use all the nice extras? It's a good idea to choose an initially cheap website hosting and expand your plan as and when your site grows.

For example, you may not need a database solution now, but you may need one in the future. So, when choosing a host name, keep in mind your possible future needs, and whether it will be able to accommodate them.

To make a decision, you should understand all the basic features of hosting services. Below are the descriptions of them...

Disk space

This refers to the amount of hard disk space the web host name provider sets aside for your exclusive use. Hard disk space is cheap these days. Even free accounts routinely offer 20-50MB of space. Most websites only use 2-3MB of space if they are not offering movies, sound, and files for download.

Transfer / Bandwidth

Bandwidth, traffic, data transfer refer to the same thing - the amount of data transferred to visitors as they view your Web pages. The vast majority (some estimates are as high as 99%) of the sites on the Web never come close to generating 2GB a month of traffic.

Some cheap website host name services offer you a limited amount of transfer per month as part of your package and then charge you an extra fee for any traffic over your limit. Others offer unlimited bandwidth as part of your package. They know that most sites don't generate much traffic, and the odd site, one that is the exception to the rule, will be more than balanced by all their other customers.

If, however, your site becomes extremely popular and generates enormous traffic that swamps the provider's resources, it may force you to move or pay more by invoking an escape clause found in all contracts. The clause says that if you do something that "threatens" their operations, they can yank your service.

Another point to consider is that cheap website hosting services that offer unlimited traffic may actually attract more high bandwidth sites than the statistical norm. This could result in network congestion that will make your pages harder to reach or slow to load.

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Subdomains

A subdomain is shown as subdomain.domain.ext, where domain.ext is the primary domain. A subdomain displays the default page located within any directory in your Web space.

Parked domains

One or more additional domains can point to your main domain. For example, you already have a hosting account and the domain name "domain.com." You may register "domain.net" and "domain.org" and park them to your main account, so that no matter which one you typed in, it would still go to the same site.

Add-on domains (domain pointers)

They allow you to share your disk space and bandwidth with more than one domain name. The additional domain name (pointer) can point to to a subdirectory of your main site, so the add-on domain can have its own home page and content.

FTP access

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used to transfer documents from your hard drive to a remote server. FTP is the easiest way to upload and download files between you and your Web host.

Dedicated IP address

Most cheap website host name services host multiple domains on the same IP address. But it's recommended (not absolutely essential, just recommended) to get you unique (dedicated) IP address. If you don't have a dedicated IP, there is a small possibility that if other sites who share your IP address use dubious search engine positioning techniques, search engines may block all of the Web sites hosted on that IP address. This is the IP equivalent of bad neighborhoods.

So, when selecting a Web host, see whether they give you dedicated IP address. If it means that you have to pay a bit more for your hosting, the extra cost is worth it.

POP3 email accounts

Even with cheap website hosting accounts, you usually get multiple email addresses. You can check your email using different email software packages from anywhere in the world. You can easily set up your email addresses or change them.

Catch All Email Address
Suppose, you get five email addresses with your hosting account, but what if someone emails you at an address that doesn't exist? With the catch-all email feature, anything that is emailed to your domain name is automatically forwarded to an email address that you specify.

Email Forwarding
Maybe you have a large number of email addresses and don't want to check all of them separately. With the email forwarding feature, you can forward all your incoming email to another email address that you specify.

Email Autoresponder
An autoresponder is a specific email address that has two functions. First, any user sending an email to that address will receive an automated response. Second, the original incoming message is forwarded to another specified email address.

Personal CGI directory

Almost all host names allow you to have your own personal CGI (common gateway interface) directory where you can place your CGI scripts. CGI scripts are small programs on the server that can provide your site with interactivity. See CGI Scripts for more information.

Predefined CGI scripts

Almost all free and cheap website host name providers give you access to centralized CGI scripts...

Counter
You may place a counter on your website so that you can count your visitors.

Form to Email
This is a form on your site that allows your visitors to contact you. The submitted information will be emailed to an address that you specify.

Guest Book
You may place a guest book on your site if you want to know who is visiting your site, and what their comments are about it.

Server Side Includes (SSI)

This is a group of functions that can be included directly in your HTML so that a server can include variable values in the HTML file before it sends it to the requester. SSI commands allow you to perform functions not available through HTML.

For example, with SSI you can include running CGI scripts and post the results on the Web page, embed the current time and date or the date of the last update, etc.

Detailed website statistics

Many cheap website host name services provide all clients with detailed graphical site statistics. You can see how many people are visiting your site, what pages they are looking at, when they visit, and much more.

Access to raw log files

The log files store the information of all requests made to your website. They are the files used to calculate the site statistics. Having access to the raw log files allows you to download them for archiving and allows you to run your own statistics software package on your own computer so that you can get more detailed information about your visitors.

Frontpage extensions

Many hosts allow FrontPage extensions so that you can create and publish your site using Microsoft Frontpage without learning how to program.

Uptime guarantee

It's vitally important that your site is never inaccessible. Look for a host name that offers a 99.5% or a 99.9% on-line guarantee.

This is important for both the search engines and your human visitors. If a search engine spider comes to visit your site when it's inaccessible, it's quite likely that it will drop your site from its index.

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Additional features

Many cheap website host name services offer an astounding array of additional features that go beyond the basic features. Some of them you may never use, and some will be must-haves.

For example, if you're building a store, you probably will need database services to update your catalog, secure pages (SSL) and digital certificates, a shopping basket program, and the ability to accept credit cards.

But if you're building a technical support site, the most important to you may be chat or forum software, the ability to post how-to movies for download or to stream them to your visitors, mailing lists, lots of email addresses, and password protected FTP transfers.

Price

You can get excellent or lousy hosting service for the same price. But finding value is not as simple as going with the cheapest host name package. Some of those cheap website host name services get very pricey when you add not-so-optional services such as access to log files, password protection, or security. Conversely, some of those expensive packages might actually be cheap because they truly do provide all the services and features you need now, or will need soon.

Find out the real cost of the cheap website host name. Count all the prices for each service. Don't forget to include all of the various setup fees along with monthly fees. Also find out what the provider will charge you to upgrade your service package in the future.

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Different Types of Web Hosting

Shared Hosting

This is without a doubt the single most popular form of web hosting today. The main reason for this is most likely that shared web hosting is a very affordable alternative, only costing a couple of dollars per month. Shared hosting is cheap since you share the server with other websites. Some claim that this form of hosting lacks in quality but can not find this to be true. However, it is always advisable to do some research beforehand. For example, make sure that you get plenty of bandwidth, disk space and uptime, which thankfully is something that many of the shared web hosting providers provide their customers with. Checking the uptime of a web host can be done either via our web host name reviews (LINK) or through a free uptime hosting monitor. Lastly, check up in advance that the web host name offers the opportunity to work with a user-friendly control panel, as it will be a struggle if they do not.

Dedicated Server

If you are looking for the crème de la crème of web hosting you will be more than pleased with dedicated servers, also known as dedicated hosting. This form of hosting will provide your company, dedicated hosting is aimed at being a hosting solution for major online businesses, with an extremely powerful computer/server that will put all of its efforts on you and your site alone. It will only provide services for one account, hence meaning that you will not share the server with anyone else. Do not worry that you will have to make any physical room for the server at your office as it will be stored, maintained and under the security of the web host name. We have already mentioned that dedicated servers are aimed at being a hosting solution for major online businesses and with this we mean a site that is sure to drive a substantial amount of traffic on a daily basis. Important to think about when deciding on dedicated host name is whether you want it to be managed or unmanaged. Managed dedicated servers are good if you only want the basics and do not handle anything else than the onsite content. If you, or anyone else in the company, on the other hand have the necessary technical knowledge – you can pick unmanaged dedicated hosting. This way you will be more in charge of the server.

Virtual Private Server

What if you need something that is stronger than shared hosting but do not need it to be as strong as dedicated web hosting? The solution is VPS Hosting. This form of web hosting displays a virtualization of a server being split into several “virtual” servers. Next to shared hosting, virtual private servers are becoming the foundation among many web hosts. With VPS hosting you will get grass-root level access without having to think about the hassle (it can be a hassle if you are not technically minded) that can come with dedicated servers. Shared hosting can be kind of a “closed” environment and with virtual private servers you will get a more customizable solution. This form of web hosting is often utilized by medium-sized companies and it will most often cost around $30 to $40 per month.

Green Hosting

As the earth is getting increasingly ill the web hosting industry is making an attempt in green hosting to do something about it. Green hosting is eco-friendly and is growing in popularity which has lead to more web hosts offering it to their customers. With eco-friendly means that the web host name either purchase carbon offsets or use eco-friendly energy efficient servers. Green hosting is almost exclusively shared hosting which means that it can be a good alternative for you that want to do something for the environment and only require shared host name for your website.

Cloud Computing

The other type of “it” hosting at the moment is called cloud computing. The easiest way of explaining cloud computing is in the way that it is different from the “traditional” hosting.

The above mentioned qualities are also what make cloud computing as popular as it is today. Your hosting grows when you need it to and you only pay for the amount of hosting that you are using.

Choosing the Best Web Host Name for Your Blog

Blogging has become a common way to publish content and express yourself online. This popularity is reflected in the countless number of new blogs that go up each day. No longer do you have to be restricted on who you to run your blog with because you can easily host it yourself on a variety of platforms. Before creating your blog site and throwing up your first post, there are some important factors that deserve careful consideration.

What Blog Software Will You Use?

There are many blogging applications available to you, with WordPress, Blogger and b2evolution being among the most widely used. This is all a matter of preference, but it should help to know that WordPress is the most popular of the bunch. Supported by a large community of developers and users, WordPress is highly customizable through a vast selection themes, widgets and endless plugins. Regardless of the platform, you may want to put an emphasis on ease of use as some blogging applications are more complex than others.

Free or Paid Blog Hosting?

When making the decision to set up a blog site, you also need to determine if you want a free or paid host name service. Free services are abundant and usually do not force you to litter your pages with third-party advertisements like free web hosting offerings. However, there are some disadvantages you should know about. Opting for free blog host name restricts you in terms of features and control, factors that could possibly limit your potential. If you want to make the most of your blogging experience, it would be best to purchase an affordable web hosting plan that comes with free blog support. Being that blogging has become such a phenomenon, rest assured that these services are plentiful on today’s competitive market.

Finding a Host Name

If you decide that paid hosting is the best move for you, the next thing you need to consider is the company that will be hosting your blog site. In the past, finding a good web host name was a rather tedious process that often left prospective customers worn and frustrated. Things have changed as more resources are now available to aid in your search. There are numerous sites online that provide side-by-side comparisons of companies offering blog hosting services. These sites generally tell you the price you will need to pay for the service and the type of blog supported along with other specifications such as the amount of disk space and bandwidth included in the package. Review sites also make a good source of information, particularly the ones that offer both expert opinions and feedback from real users.

Technology just keeps moving along but it is hard to imagine an internet and World Wide Web without the blog. This medium is here to stay and will likely evolve with improvements that make the experience even more worthwhile. If you can find a web host name solution that provides adequate support for your specific needs, a blog can give you a viable and near flawless connection to the rest of the world.

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Free Hosting Is Not Always The Best Choice

With the economy hitting not only the individual but also businesses, many are looking toward free web host name services to house their online site. For monetary reasons, this looks great on the surface. But going free is not always the best choice and may, in fact, cost your business money in the long run.

Ads

While a company may offer hosting at no cost, they are by no means not making money off of your site. Nearly all free hosting offers will involve advertising placed on your pages. These will be completely out of your control. Some companies try to gear ads toward being relevant to the site topic but this isn’t always guaranteed. Add in the very real fact that your competition may be placed on your web site and this can equal a loss of revenue for you.

No control

Another downside to hosting for free is a severe lack of control. Most free host name companies do not offer a control panel or an ftp access account to allow administration of a web site. This means you cannot make page changes on the fly or add in programs that may be needed by your business. If you are a retail business, this means no ability to add in a shopping cart or software that helps you control your inventory. Putting a bit of tracking coding is not an option unless you can have access to the page coding. Even attempting to change the look of your web site can be an issue. Some free hosting sites will give you access to templates and a few will even allow some minor changes made to backgrounds. But, all said, you are very limited to what you can do within your own site.

Support

Support is another problem with free web hosting. You’ll be limited to perhaps some online forum areas to ask your questions but you won’t have numbers to call, ticket support systems or one of many options offered by paid hosting. If your business site isn’t working, this can end up costing you a lot of money.

Affordable solutions

Paid hosting these days really doesn’t put a huge dent in your pocketbook. Some hosting companies run specials on a regular basis and you’re sure to find one that will fit your budget. You can find host name from as low as $3-$5 a month, depending on what your business web site requires. Many of these companies also give a lot of great features for your money – including unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth and a huge assortment of easy to install programs to get your site up and running quickly.

What it boils down to

When all is said and done, you need to ensure your business is hosted with a company that you can rely on for support and also one that gives you the needed tools to ensure your online site is a success. This is one time when you do not want to “tighten your belt” or “pinch pennies.” Do a bit of research and find a good, solid hosting company with a price you can afford.

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Tips to Apply to Free Hosting

If you have been considering a free web host name service for your website needs, you may want to think twice and prepare yourself to deal with pop-ups, pop-unders, third-party banner advertisements and other annoying elements. You also have to keep in mind that common features such as PHP programming, MySQL databases, CGI scripts and FTP access may not be available.

You can embark upon a mission to look for a quality free web hosting service with no advertisements and useful features, but you will likely return disappointed once your search has concluded. While you can never really expect any guarantees when it comes to free hosting, knowing what to expect will better assure that you do not end up with a terrible service.

Understand How Free Hosting Works

There are more than enough free web host name providers to go around. Unfortunately, most of them force you to place advertisements on your site or only provide you with the free service for a limited time. Some do set you up with a quality service in exchange for carrying banners while others leave you to run your site on slow and insufficient servers. In some cases, these servers fail to respond at all, leaving you with a website that is essentially useless. So, if the service is impractical, how do free hosting companies make enough money to survive?

More and more, we are seeing free web hosts keeping themselves afloat by persuading their customers to sign up for paid hosting plans. If they can provide a good service, this actually turns out to be a fair deal. Premium hosting services are very affordable these days so purchasing service with a company you trust could prove to be worth your while. The major downside is that even when upgrading to a paid service, your package could still end up lacking features that are commonly found on the professional hosting market. For example, you just might have to pay extra for items such as FrontPage extensions and FTP support. So even when you purchase service from a free web host name, you still have to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

Secure Your Web Presence

Should you find yourself in a situation where you must rely on a free web hosting service because of financial restrictions, there are a few things you can do to protect your website and identity. First, you can register yourself a domain name with a reputable company such as www.GoDaddy.com or Yahoo. Domain names are pretty cheap these days and only cost about $10 to $12 per year. Before registering the name, look out for domain features such as a control panel and URL forwarding. This will provide you with the ability to redirect your domain and change the destination to where ever you prefer. So if your free web host folds and goes out of business or things simply are not working out, you can point the name somewhere else and move your website right along with it.

Find An Appropriate Host Name For Your Website And Other Tips On Web Hosting Of Your Website