Anyone can build a website but the trick is to run it successfully. Domain web hosting allows you to do just that. You don’t have to be experienced with website design or spend too much money. If you are sure about what you want on your website and the image to be projected, a free website using professional online web creation tools can be easily created.
A vast range of free web hosting options are available. So, it is important to carefully read the terms and conditions of service to understand what you will get and how. Some free domain hosting companies may place ads on your website. You must ensure that you have control over the type of advertisements on your site to avoid getting embarrassed later on.
Domain web hosting is an easy, quick and free way to establish a web presence, especially if you don’t expect high traffic. Many web hosting companies will offer this service and website design tools. Of course, they expect you to upgrade to the paid versions as your website grows in size and customer traffic. This will eventually become necessary to keep your online business competitive and satisfy visitors as well as customers.
Some people may tell you that free web hosting generally implies unprofessional looking sites. However, it is not the case anymore. You just need to take the time to compare prices, quality and services offered by different web hosting companies. All that is required is for you to go online and search for reliable web hosting providers that possess all the features that you are looking for.
You can also find web hosting companies that offer free hosting for domain names purchased through them. Still, this form of hosting can be costly if the services are unsatisfactory and ongoing costs of upgraded services are expensive. It is relatively inexpensive to buy domain names so your primary concern should be the benefits derived from it.
As it is, free web hosting is a wonderful opportunity to get an impressive website up and running in a short period of time. Remember that your success will depend on a well-chosen hosting company that has reasonably priced, high quality services. Make sure that you are not permanently locked in the web hosting package. Make a wise decision and you won’t regret it.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Web Hosting Technology: PHP, MySQL and ASP.NET
It is a daunting task to choose between LINUX web hosting and Windows web hosting. You need to know the language of your website, before you can determine the platform or type of server you need.
For a simple HTML website or an ecommerce site created with any other programming database feature created in PHP-MySQL, Linux web hosting is the best. If your site is developed with ASP or ASP.NET, then you must be on a Windows server.
All these terms may seem to be technical and complicated but you can understand them by reading on.
ASP.NET web hosting
This is a division of Microsoft’s .NET platform and a successor of Active Server Pages technology. ASP.NET implies a set of web application development technologies that can be used by programmers for building dynamic website applications and XML web services.
Web application creation becomes much simpler as ASP.NET cuts down on the number of codes and provides flexibility to the choice of language by supporting multiple .NET languages. The pages are easy to write and maintain. This type of web hosting is faster and can face a large number of users with consistent performance.
PHP web hosting
It is a reflective programming language or a general purpose server-side scripting language used for web development, i.e., creating dynamic and interactive websites. It can be planted in HTML code and is frequently used with APACHE on various operating systems.
Basically, PHP acts as a filter that takes inputs from a stream or files containing text and PHP instructions and displays a different stream of data.
MySQL web hosting
It is a multi-user, multithreaded computer language designed for management and retrieval of data, control management of database object access and database scheme creation and modification. MySQL is popular for web application, open-source bug tracking tools and also acts as the database component of WAMP, MAMP and LAMP.
For a simple HTML website or an ecommerce site created with any other programming database feature created in PHP-MySQL, Linux web hosting is the best. If your site is developed with ASP or ASP.NET, then you must be on a Windows server.
All these terms may seem to be technical and complicated but you can understand them by reading on.
ASP.NET web hosting
This is a division of Microsoft’s .NET platform and a successor of Active Server Pages technology. ASP.NET implies a set of web application development technologies that can be used by programmers for building dynamic website applications and XML web services.
Web application creation becomes much simpler as ASP.NET cuts down on the number of codes and provides flexibility to the choice of language by supporting multiple .NET languages. The pages are easy to write and maintain. This type of web hosting is faster and can face a large number of users with consistent performance.
PHP web hosting
It is a reflective programming language or a general purpose server-side scripting language used for web development, i.e., creating dynamic and interactive websites. It can be planted in HTML code and is frequently used with APACHE on various operating systems.
Basically, PHP acts as a filter that takes inputs from a stream or files containing text and PHP instructions and displays a different stream of data.
MySQL web hosting
It is a multi-user, multithreaded computer language designed for management and retrieval of data, control management of database object access and database scheme creation and modification. MySQL is popular for web application, open-source bug tracking tools and also acts as the database component of WAMP, MAMP and LAMP.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Budget Web Hosting Plans For Your Website
A lot of people go for a budget web hosting plan for their websites. Still, one needs to be prepared to handle its consequences too. Budget web hosting companies have their own secret way of doing business and this is reflected on their overall performance of the company.
This makes it very important for a customer to find out the different types of features, benefits and facilities involved with the web hosting package which has to be purchased. In case of budget web hosting, you must be aware of the operations of web hosting companies and keep the following things in mind:
1. There are many budget web hosting companies that have no experience or have not been in the market for too long. If you purchase a web hosting service from a brand new, inexperienced company, you will certainly be at a disadvantage. Find a web host with a lot of experience and those who are proud of their service and growth as a web hosting provider.
2. Make sure that you will have to pay less and still get all the benefits offered by a good web hosting company. You will need a 24/7 support system. While most web hosting companies claim to offer this service, only a few will actually provide it. Test them before you sign for their services.
3. Read and understand the service level agreement provided by the web hosting company. If they do not support a SLA, you must not go for this web host. A clear service level agreement helps you tackle issues which might arise after purchasing the web hosting plan.
4. Many budget web hosts claim to be web hosting companies but are actually offering a variety of other business where web hosting is one of the products they deal in. preferably, you should opt for a budget web hosting provider that focuses on hosting alone. Ask them about the same before signing any agreements with them. They must explain the kind of business they are into and sources of revenue. On this basis, you will be able to decide whether a hosting provider is suitable for you or not.
This makes it very important for a customer to find out the different types of features, benefits and facilities involved with the web hosting package which has to be purchased. In case of budget web hosting, you must be aware of the operations of web hosting companies and keep the following things in mind:
1. There are many budget web hosting companies that have no experience or have not been in the market for too long. If you purchase a web hosting service from a brand new, inexperienced company, you will certainly be at a disadvantage. Find a web host with a lot of experience and those who are proud of their service and growth as a web hosting provider.
2. Make sure that you will have to pay less and still get all the benefits offered by a good web hosting company. You will need a 24/7 support system. While most web hosting companies claim to offer this service, only a few will actually provide it. Test them before you sign for their services.
3. Read and understand the service level agreement provided by the web hosting company. If they do not support a SLA, you must not go for this web host. A clear service level agreement helps you tackle issues which might arise after purchasing the web hosting plan.
4. Many budget web hosts claim to be web hosting companies but are actually offering a variety of other business where web hosting is one of the products they deal in. preferably, you should opt for a budget web hosting provider that focuses on hosting alone. Ask them about the same before signing any agreements with them. They must explain the kind of business they are into and sources of revenue. On this basis, you will be able to decide whether a hosting provider is suitable for you or not.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Web Hosting Tips For Effective Opt-In Forms
Email marketing is a very powerful and effective technique of online business marketing. Today, it is one of the most cost effective ways to contact prospects and customers. If you do it well, it can build the value of your brand, enhance sales and keep you linked with the target audience. On the other hand, incorrect use of this technique can get you blacklisted and called spammer by the users you plan to reach.
In contrast to the traditional concept of mass mailing, the process has become much more elaborate these days. This article will throw light on one of the most significant, yet underrated steps in building a successful e-mail marketing campaign.
Sign up form
When you select a web hosting company, you need to make sure that it has experienced and skillful personnel to help you setup and run an effective website(s). It has become very important to make sure that your recipients are opted in i.e. requested themselves to be emailed your information. This can be simply achieved through sign-up forms.
A few pointers for effective creation of sign-up forms, obtained from many reliable and knowledgeable web hosting providers and webmasters include:
a. If your prospective clients are exposed to the sign-up form frequently, there is a greater chance for them to notice it and opt to receive your emails. Be sure not to reach the saturation point, when the reader starts getting annoyed. It will be best to place your forms on top right of the page, left hand navigation bar, bottom of the page.
b. Your opt-in form should be able to convince people to trust you and give their real names and email addresses. You must explain the benefits of subscribing with the help of samples and testimonials. In the end, finish with a strong call to action.
c. A significant rise in opt0in rates can be obtained by using incentives properly. These may be free whitepapers or e-books, free service or opt-in discount and special reports. Don’t forget to fulfill your promise in the incentive. Provide a link to the free product in the welcome message itself.
d. After your form is ready to be put online, go through it yourself and see if you would be irritated by it or find it interesting and easy to use. The user’s preferences must be given priority while planning as well as making the opt-in form for best results.
In contrast to the traditional concept of mass mailing, the process has become much more elaborate these days. This article will throw light on one of the most significant, yet underrated steps in building a successful e-mail marketing campaign.
Sign up form
When you select a web hosting company, you need to make sure that it has experienced and skillful personnel to help you setup and run an effective website(s). It has become very important to make sure that your recipients are opted in i.e. requested themselves to be emailed your information. This can be simply achieved through sign-up forms.
A few pointers for effective creation of sign-up forms, obtained from many reliable and knowledgeable web hosting providers and webmasters include:
a. If your prospective clients are exposed to the sign-up form frequently, there is a greater chance for them to notice it and opt to receive your emails. Be sure not to reach the saturation point, when the reader starts getting annoyed. It will be best to place your forms on top right of the page, left hand navigation bar, bottom of the page.
b. Your opt-in form should be able to convince people to trust you and give their real names and email addresses. You must explain the benefits of subscribing with the help of samples and testimonials. In the end, finish with a strong call to action.
c. A significant rise in opt0in rates can be obtained by using incentives properly. These may be free whitepapers or e-books, free service or opt-in discount and special reports. Don’t forget to fulfill your promise in the incentive. Provide a link to the free product in the welcome message itself.
d. After your form is ready to be put online, go through it yourself and see if you would be irritated by it or find it interesting and easy to use. The user’s preferences must be given priority while planning as well as making the opt-in form for best results.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Web Hosting Tips For Getting Your Website On Top Of Search Engine Results
Everyone will tell you how important it is to get your website on top of search engine listings but very few people will actually tell you how to go about it.
Tip 1 – Domain name selection
The domain name is a very important part of your website. Search engines give great significance to your site name. Moreover, it gives a fair idea to the visitors about what they can expect to see when they visit your website. The layout of the site has to be undertaken with great care. Make sure that the website has good linking structure and all main links are directly accessible from the homepage.
Tip 2 – Structure of directory
Almost all websites have directory structures and these must be planned before building the site. Also, you need to bear in mind that the directories lying too deep can be difficult to scan. This makes it important to take proper care for naming of directories.
Tip 3 – Avoid frames
It is better to get rid of or avoid using frames. Search engines find it difficult to search sites that use frames. Be sure to make use of no frames tags so that the search bots can crawl the sites and get requested information quickly. It will surely help in improving the rankings.
Tip 4 – Use external CSS style sheets
Making use of external style sheets can be a great idea because it reduces the overall complexity of the website. This will ensure efficient crawling by search engines. You must include CSS files in your website and CSS tables instead of the traditional tables.
Tip 5 – Forming and naming files
The file names can be based on title tags to enable better search engine positioning of the keywords.
Tip 6 – Web hosting package
Select a web hosting provider who offers 99% uptime guarantee to ensure that your website can be accessed at anytime by users across the globe. Other factors include bandwidth, data transfer, email accounts, domain and sub-domain names, technical support and customer service.
Tip 7 – Balance graphics and content
Search engines can only see plain HTML code. It becomes important to reduce the amount of graphics on your website. Try to maintain a proper balance between graphics and content.
Tip 8 – Content and link monitoring
It’s best to restrict the number of links on a single page to fifty. Similarly, the content on a single page should be kept between 200 to 1500 words.
Tip 1 – Domain name selection
The domain name is a very important part of your website. Search engines give great significance to your site name. Moreover, it gives a fair idea to the visitors about what they can expect to see when they visit your website. The layout of the site has to be undertaken with great care. Make sure that the website has good linking structure and all main links are directly accessible from the homepage.
Tip 2 – Structure of directory
Almost all websites have directory structures and these must be planned before building the site. Also, you need to bear in mind that the directories lying too deep can be difficult to scan. This makes it important to take proper care for naming of directories.
Tip 3 – Avoid frames
It is better to get rid of or avoid using frames. Search engines find it difficult to search sites that use frames. Be sure to make use of no frames tags so that the search bots can crawl the sites and get requested information quickly. It will surely help in improving the rankings.
Tip 4 – Use external CSS style sheets
Making use of external style sheets can be a great idea because it reduces the overall complexity of the website. This will ensure efficient crawling by search engines. You must include CSS files in your website and CSS tables instead of the traditional tables.
Tip 5 – Forming and naming files
The file names can be based on title tags to enable better search engine positioning of the keywords.
Tip 6 – Web hosting package
Select a web hosting provider who offers 99% uptime guarantee to ensure that your website can be accessed at anytime by users across the globe. Other factors include bandwidth, data transfer, email accounts, domain and sub-domain names, technical support and customer service.
Tip 7 – Balance graphics and content
Search engines can only see plain HTML code. It becomes important to reduce the amount of graphics on your website. Try to maintain a proper balance between graphics and content.
Tip 8 – Content and link monitoring
It’s best to restrict the number of links on a single page to fifty. Similarly, the content on a single page should be kept between 200 to 1500 words.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Web Hosting Services For Small Online Business
The virtual world offers equal opportunity to small and large businesses to explore a global market and audience. As a small business owner, you will need to get a website. However, this alone won’t be good enough. An effective web hosting support is also essential to make your website successful.
If you are not sure where to start, this article will help you understand what needs to be done and how for getting good web hosting for your site. There are plenty of services available that specialize in helping small businesses make their online presence. In many cases, these web hosting service providers will allow you to setup a website with ease, even if you are not equipped with designing skills.
Once your website has been created and developed for launching online, it’s time to learn and implement some strategies to help promote your website. Your website will earn only when you drive traffic toward sit. To start, you need to add your website address to all your business cards, flyers and other advertising media being used. You need to make your customers aware of your new website so that they can visit it online.
If you want to drive traffic to your website, you need to learn some online marketing strategies first. A good press release can be one alternative for spreading the word. It will create a buzz about your website once other related sites publish it on their websites. Make sure that the press release is precise and to the point. Keep it easy to understand and factual.
Another way to promote your website is to incorporate some viral marketing techniques. One way to do this is to write articles about your niche and have them distributed and circulated on the online networks. You can also write a small free report and encourage people to pass it on. These measures will enable you to create a buzz about the website and start branding your business online.
Search engine marketing is also a popular way to get traffic for your website. It will require you to get links to your site. Ask other websites in your business niche to link to your website. You can also submit your site to directories, create RSS feed, and start a blog.
Taking your business online may not be easy but it is definitely necessary in this competitive world. Moreover, it is great for expanding your market and business profitability. All you need to do is find out the most effective strategies that suit your requirements and get a good web hosting service for your website. In the beginning, a shared web hosting package will be good for a small business website. As your customer traffic increase and online business expands, you can upgrade your web hosting support to dedicated web hosting.
If you are not sure where to start, this article will help you understand what needs to be done and how for getting good web hosting for your site. There are plenty of services available that specialize in helping small businesses make their online presence. In many cases, these web hosting service providers will allow you to setup a website with ease, even if you are not equipped with designing skills.
Once your website has been created and developed for launching online, it’s time to learn and implement some strategies to help promote your website. Your website will earn only when you drive traffic toward sit. To start, you need to add your website address to all your business cards, flyers and other advertising media being used. You need to make your customers aware of your new website so that they can visit it online.
If you want to drive traffic to your website, you need to learn some online marketing strategies first. A good press release can be one alternative for spreading the word. It will create a buzz about your website once other related sites publish it on their websites. Make sure that the press release is precise and to the point. Keep it easy to understand and factual.
Another way to promote your website is to incorporate some viral marketing techniques. One way to do this is to write articles about your niche and have them distributed and circulated on the online networks. You can also write a small free report and encourage people to pass it on. These measures will enable you to create a buzz about the website and start branding your business online.
Search engine marketing is also a popular way to get traffic for your website. It will require you to get links to your site. Ask other websites in your business niche to link to your website. You can also submit your site to directories, create RSS feed, and start a blog.
Taking your business online may not be easy but it is definitely necessary in this competitive world. Moreover, it is great for expanding your market and business profitability. All you need to do is find out the most effective strategies that suit your requirements and get a good web hosting service for your website. In the beginning, a shared web hosting package will be good for a small business website. As your customer traffic increase and online business expands, you can upgrade your web hosting support to dedicated web hosting.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Web Hosting Tips To Make Your Website Load Faster
It is important for you to create a website that loads quickly. Any website, no matter how impressive, that loads too slowly will face immense problems in building and retaining a customer base. Potential visitors and customers will simply give up and click on some other website in the meantime.
Another factor that makes this a huge problem is the use of a variety of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and dial-up connection by users. This may result in heavy websites taking a long time to load onto their browser. That’s the last thing they want as it is very frustrating to wait till a page downloads onto the screen. An indication that your website is suffering from this problem is a large number of hits on your home page alone.
It is vital to have a fast load time for your website as well as your online business. many studies have shown that users will click away from your website if it does not load in ten seconds, and sometimes even lesser than that. To make sure that such a problem doesn’t occur, you need to know the download speed and size of all the web pages of your website.
Apart from that, there are a few other things that must be kept in mind to avoid slow load time for your online venture i.e. your website:
#1. Graphics and Applications
If not used properly, graphics can take a long time to load. If you can remove some of them, your load time will automatically improve. Look at the graphics and think about the use of each on the web pages. You might realize that you have too many that are not required. Another good idea is to switch from larger to smaller graphics by using editing tools like Adobe Photoshop.
#2. HTML
There may be some HTML codes that are not required in your web pages. I would recommend you to use CSS when designing your website. This can go a long way in creating a faster loading time for your website. HTML Tidy is an HTML cleaning tool that can help you clean out any unnecessary coding hidden in your web pages.
#3. Web hosting
Your web hosting company plays an important role in determining the load time of your website. If you have completed all changes to make your website load faster but still see lack of speed, it is perhaps due to bad services of your web hosting server. Email or call them about your concerns and wait for their reply for not more than a week. If they do not respond in an appropriate manner, it is time to look for a new web hosting provider.
A fast loading website means that users can visit the pages they want to without wasting any time. In the end, it’s all about customer satisfaction and sales generation for enhanced profitability of your online business.
Another factor that makes this a huge problem is the use of a variety of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and dial-up connection by users. This may result in heavy websites taking a long time to load onto their browser. That’s the last thing they want as it is very frustrating to wait till a page downloads onto the screen. An indication that your website is suffering from this problem is a large number of hits on your home page alone.
It is vital to have a fast load time for your website as well as your online business. many studies have shown that users will click away from your website if it does not load in ten seconds, and sometimes even lesser than that. To make sure that such a problem doesn’t occur, you need to know the download speed and size of all the web pages of your website.
Apart from that, there are a few other things that must be kept in mind to avoid slow load time for your online venture i.e. your website:
#1. Graphics and Applications
If not used properly, graphics can take a long time to load. If you can remove some of them, your load time will automatically improve. Look at the graphics and think about the use of each on the web pages. You might realize that you have too many that are not required. Another good idea is to switch from larger to smaller graphics by using editing tools like Adobe Photoshop.
#2. HTML
There may be some HTML codes that are not required in your web pages. I would recommend you to use CSS when designing your website. This can go a long way in creating a faster loading time for your website. HTML Tidy is an HTML cleaning tool that can help you clean out any unnecessary coding hidden in your web pages.
#3. Web hosting
Your web hosting company plays an important role in determining the load time of your website. If you have completed all changes to make your website load faster but still see lack of speed, it is perhaps due to bad services of your web hosting server. Email or call them about your concerns and wait for their reply for not more than a week. If they do not respond in an appropriate manner, it is time to look for a new web hosting provider.
A fast loading website means that users can visit the pages they want to without wasting any time. In the end, it’s all about customer satisfaction and sales generation for enhanced profitability of your online business.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Factors Determining The Choice Of Web Hosting For Your Online Business
There is no magic formula for the success of your business. While some people say that it’s all about the quality of your products and services, which may not hold true in all cases. The most common cause for success is the business marketing. Once you get your marketing resources right, you can utilize the potential of your business to maximum.
In the current scenario, you need to rely on the internet for worldwide coverage and exposure. Almost the entire globe is connected through the power of World Wide Web. This has resulted in people being able to reach millions of customers around the world within no time. Creating your own website is one way of generating more audience and sales for your business.
Making a website is a crucial step but supporting it with a reliable server is even more important. For designing your website, the best choice can be dynamic generators. These include a lot of pictures, objects and other components that can catch the user’s eye. For creation of web pages, servers that can be used include Cold fusion and ASP. It gives you the ability to develop dynamic web pages.
The next step is to find a web hosting company. your choice will depend on the size and nature of your website as well as your future business plans. If you used ASP, you will need an ASP web hosting service or if you used cold fusion, you will require cold fusion hosting provider.
The information included in the website is required to be stored on a server and the company that owns the server will be known as the web host. Thus, the framework used for creating the website will determine the kind of web hosting service to be selected.
Go online and you will come across breathtaking offers by thousands of web hosting companies. However, not all of them are what they seem to be. Business web site hosting will mainly rely on two things:
Cost of the package
uptime offered (minimum 99%)
Make sure that you get maximum uptime, bandwidth and disk space in the most reasonable prices. This does not mean that you go for cheap web hosting packages that are incapable of maintaining a well-performing website. Compare different web hosting companies and then decide which is the best for you.
In the current scenario, you need to rely on the internet for worldwide coverage and exposure. Almost the entire globe is connected through the power of World Wide Web. This has resulted in people being able to reach millions of customers around the world within no time. Creating your own website is one way of generating more audience and sales for your business.
Making a website is a crucial step but supporting it with a reliable server is even more important. For designing your website, the best choice can be dynamic generators. These include a lot of pictures, objects and other components that can catch the user’s eye. For creation of web pages, servers that can be used include Cold fusion and ASP. It gives you the ability to develop dynamic web pages.
The next step is to find a web hosting company. your choice will depend on the size and nature of your website as well as your future business plans. If you used ASP, you will need an ASP web hosting service or if you used cold fusion, you will require cold fusion hosting provider.
The information included in the website is required to be stored on a server and the company that owns the server will be known as the web host. Thus, the framework used for creating the website will determine the kind of web hosting service to be selected.
Go online and you will come across breathtaking offers by thousands of web hosting companies. However, not all of them are what they seem to be. Business web site hosting will mainly rely on two things:
Cost of the package
uptime offered (minimum 99%)
Make sure that you get maximum uptime, bandwidth and disk space in the most reasonable prices. This does not mean that you go for cheap web hosting packages that are incapable of maintaining a well-performing website. Compare different web hosting companies and then decide which is the best for you.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
What Does A Website Monitoring Service Mean To You?
Your website may be well designed, strategically promoted and obtain high search engine ranking. Still, it will be of no use if the web servers are not fully up and operational. Many items like software lockups, databases, hardware failures, viruses, hackers and Internet connectivity play an important role in the success of your online business.
You may wonder…where does website monitoring fit in?
Basically, website monitoring refers to the monitoring of the operational status and performance of the website using HTTP or HTTPS. Similarly, email monitoring refers to the monitoring, operational status and performance tracking of SMTP servers to make sure that mail flows consistently and in time. This can be an important aspect in determining the performance of your website and improving it over time.
Monitoring firms connect to your website from time to time to verify correct operational status. Some of them simply use ping to see if a server answers and records the response times during the process. Complex techniques like checking the web page code, keyword verification, database connectivity, etc may also be used. When selecting the monitoring services, you must ensure that the method used to determine operational status is applicable to your SLA or QOS agreement.
You may have to install executables on your server sometimes. However, most internet monitoring services can query your website or server service without the need for agents or additional software.
An important element is the monitoring “interval” i.e. the frequency in which a site or server is checked. Most monitoring services offer packages ranging from 2 to 60 minutes. If the site or server is mission critical, 2 minute monitoring intervals may be required to avoid loss of revenue.
The cost of web hosting services may vary depending on the monitoring interval, method used to determine operational status and the services provided. Generally, prices range from free to $99 per month. For mission critical packages, the price range may be from $30 to $60 per month.
To ensure that your servers are truly available to your website visitors and items like firewall are correctly configured, monitoring services can be a valuable tool in your hands. Depending on your business goals, it can play a significant role in your online success.
You may wonder…where does website monitoring fit in?
Basically, website monitoring refers to the monitoring of the operational status and performance of the website using HTTP or HTTPS. Similarly, email monitoring refers to the monitoring, operational status and performance tracking of SMTP servers to make sure that mail flows consistently and in time. This can be an important aspect in determining the performance of your website and improving it over time.
Monitoring firms connect to your website from time to time to verify correct operational status. Some of them simply use ping to see if a server answers and records the response times during the process. Complex techniques like checking the web page code, keyword verification, database connectivity, etc may also be used. When selecting the monitoring services, you must ensure that the method used to determine operational status is applicable to your SLA or QOS agreement.
You may have to install executables on your server sometimes. However, most internet monitoring services can query your website or server service without the need for agents or additional software.
An important element is the monitoring “interval” i.e. the frequency in which a site or server is checked. Most monitoring services offer packages ranging from 2 to 60 minutes. If the site or server is mission critical, 2 minute monitoring intervals may be required to avoid loss of revenue.
The cost of web hosting services may vary depending on the monitoring interval, method used to determine operational status and the services provided. Generally, prices range from free to $99 per month. For mission critical packages, the price range may be from $30 to $60 per month.
To ensure that your servers are truly available to your website visitors and items like firewall are correctly configured, monitoring services can be a valuable tool in your hands. Depending on your business goals, it can play a significant role in your online success.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Best Web Hosting Package For Your Home Based Online Business
Your web host is an important part of your web-based business. It will be a very costly mistake to buy cheap web hosting package and then suffer later on. Do your research carefully before you sign a service agreement with your web host. Out of the hundreds of web hosting companies that claim to be the best in the industry, all have varying degrees of service quality and features.
Some of the important things to be considered while choosing a web hosting company for your home based business include the following:
Setup fees
Any good web hosting company will not ask for any setup fees. They appreciate your business and do not require advance payments for providing their services.
Monthly agreement
Read the terms and conditions carefully before signing the agreement and make sure that you only sign on a monthly basis and not 6 months or annual basis. Enquire about the cancellation fees for your contract.
Reliable
The ability of your web hosting company to provide steady, reliable service cannot be over emphasized. Downtime means loss for your online business and should be avoided at all costs. Conduct thorough research and choose a web host that provided for minimal downtime.
Customer support
No matter how simple your setup or how smooth the operations, there are bound to be technical problems sooner or later. You need to be sure that you are dependent on sound technical support.
Bandwidth
Your website will not always remain the same. If you want your online business to grow, it will require changes in your website. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transferred to and from your website and 5 GB is usually accepted as the industry norm for all websites.
Backup
It is very important for your web host to maintain backup files so that your data remains intact during times of power breakdown or serious crashes. If this facility is not present, you may face a lot of difficulty in coming back into business.
FTP access
Your web hosting company must provide FTP access as it permits you to upload your site at any time and make necessary changes.
Email accounts
Many good hosts offer plenty of email accounts to service your business. the amount you need depends on the type of web business you develop and run.
Additional features
If you can get more features for the same price, why not? Look for deals that include extra domain names, applications, design templates and other features but make sure that there are no hidden costs for the same.
Price
Of course, this is one of the most important factors for deciding upon a particular web hosting package. Mostly, you will be paying about $5.95-$19.95 but you must only buy a web hosting package that takes care of the needs of your website.
Control panel
You have signed up for a web hosting account and your website is up and running. Now, you need to have the ability to manage your host from one place and monitor the activities of your site. All this is done through the control panel offered by the web hosting company.
Connectivity speed
The faster the speed of connectivity and downloading of your site, the better it is for your online business. You will be getting visitors from all over the world and you can’t afford to lose their interest to competitors. Speed of connectivity makes a lot of difference to the time your site loads up.
I hope these tips help you make a more educated decision regarding your web hosting needs and purchases.
Some of the important things to be considered while choosing a web hosting company for your home based business include the following:
Setup fees
Any good web hosting company will not ask for any setup fees. They appreciate your business and do not require advance payments for providing their services.
Monthly agreement
Read the terms and conditions carefully before signing the agreement and make sure that you only sign on a monthly basis and not 6 months or annual basis. Enquire about the cancellation fees for your contract.
Reliable
The ability of your web hosting company to provide steady, reliable service cannot be over emphasized. Downtime means loss for your online business and should be avoided at all costs. Conduct thorough research and choose a web host that provided for minimal downtime.
Customer support
No matter how simple your setup or how smooth the operations, there are bound to be technical problems sooner or later. You need to be sure that you are dependent on sound technical support.
Bandwidth
Your website will not always remain the same. If you want your online business to grow, it will require changes in your website. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transferred to and from your website and 5 GB is usually accepted as the industry norm for all websites.
Backup
It is very important for your web host to maintain backup files so that your data remains intact during times of power breakdown or serious crashes. If this facility is not present, you may face a lot of difficulty in coming back into business.
FTP access
Your web hosting company must provide FTP access as it permits you to upload your site at any time and make necessary changes.
Email accounts
Many good hosts offer plenty of email accounts to service your business. the amount you need depends on the type of web business you develop and run.
Additional features
If you can get more features for the same price, why not? Look for deals that include extra domain names, applications, design templates and other features but make sure that there are no hidden costs for the same.
Price
Of course, this is one of the most important factors for deciding upon a particular web hosting package. Mostly, you will be paying about $5.95-$19.95 but you must only buy a web hosting package that takes care of the needs of your website.
Control panel
You have signed up for a web hosting account and your website is up and running. Now, you need to have the ability to manage your host from one place and monitor the activities of your site. All this is done through the control panel offered by the web hosting company.
Connectivity speed
The faster the speed of connectivity and downloading of your site, the better it is for your online business. You will be getting visitors from all over the world and you can’t afford to lose their interest to competitors. Speed of connectivity makes a lot of difference to the time your site loads up.
I hope these tips help you make a more educated decision regarding your web hosting needs and purchases.
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