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Archives for April 2010

WordPress Hosting

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Blogging is fun, but once your output reaches a certain level those free blog web hosting services are just too limited. Maybe you even consider making money from your blog further down the road. You would not be the first one who quit the day job and worked from home for himself/herself afterwards with great success. As a blogger you eventually already know that WordPress is one of the best blogging platforms for you. And fortunately WordPress comes as an add-on script with many web hosting packages these days. You click a few buttons, provide some basic information and then WordPress gets installed without you needing to do anything. After that you upload a template and customize the layout and off you go ready write more postings.

WordPress works great in a shared web hosting environment which means you won’t have to pay more than a couple dollars per month to host WordPress on your domain and your own web hosting account. Often these web hosting accounts allow you to host more than one domain and so you could actually start your own network of websites if you wanted to. Back in 1999 I started with a personal website and then quickly added 2 or 3 domain names (it was expensive back then to do that, but it was worth it) and then it grew to what it is today. It’s amazing to see what opportunities the Internet has to offer. Blogging is often just the beginning.

Did you know that WordPress also works great as a content management system? You pick different templates and even give it a magazine or newspaper layout to look more professional. This very website where you are reading this article right this moment is powered by WordPress and sits on a shared web hosting account. Most people do not know how versatile Word Press can be used and how flexible it really is. By using so-called plugins you can expand the functionality easily. WordPress even turns into an ecommerce tool and again, all this can be done on shared web hosting.

When looking for cheap WordPress hosting, I recommend you look for a web host who offers cpanel hosting. Cpanel is a web hosting control panel that allows you to manage all aspects of your website. Cpanel comes with an add-on called Fantastico which is a collection of automated script installers. WordPress is one of these scripts and you will be up and running in no time. There is no need to manually download WordPress and to manually configure a MySQL database (I mean you, but why would you?). There are ton of web hosting companies out there that offer shared web hosting with Cpanel and Fantastico. I recommend Host Monster and Host Gator as your starting point. Both web hosts offer shared web hosting for low prices and WordPress runs great on their servers.

Cpanel Alternative

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Cpanel is one of the most commonly used web hosting control panels these days. The company who develops cpanel puts a lot of thought into their product and has an established user base. However, Cpanel is not necessarily for everyone. It has a little bit of a learning curve and of course everyone has a different style of doing things. You can compare it to an automatic transmission and a manual transmission car. Both work and both get you where you need to go. And the same thing applies to cpanel and other web hosting control panels.

But what are alternatives to this web hosting control panel at all? While some people do not need a web hosting control panel at all and rather prefer to work via SSH (Secure Shell) on their web servers, others might not be that experienced in system administration. Commercial options to cpanel are Plesk and DirectAdmin. If you have a dedicated server you can also look at WebMin which is a free alternative that offers a lot of functioniality but is more geared towards system administrators and not webmasters. Some web hosts even have developed their own web hosting control panel to keep 100% control of their environment and to have a better hand at customizing the web hosting platform for their customers. IX Web Hosting is one of those companies that created their own control panel and seem to do a good job by looking at how many customers host domains with them and how long IX is actually around (over 10 years).

You can (and should) compare the different options to see which one you like best. As mentioned, they all do a fairly good job and make web hosting easier. But as mentioned, there is always a cpanel alternative. However, you might have to look around to find those web hosts as cpanel is a clear market leader. Find a web host with a money back guarantee in case Plesk or DirectAdmin are not a cpanel alternative you expected.

These are some of my favorite cpanel hosts if you prefer cpanel after all.

Host Gator | Just Host | Host Monster

So, what do you think? Is Plesk or DirectAdmin really an alternative to cpanel?

What is Fantastico?

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What is Fantastico is a question I hear quite often. Fantastico is a web hosting related automation tool that is designed to make installing popular scripts extremely easy. Fantastico was developed allow non-technical people or folks new to the Internet to install popular blogging software, forum’s software, and many other scripts. Web Hosting  support teams all over the place received inquiries repeatedly about helping a customer to install WordPress, phpBB, Joomla, or other scripts. Fantastico addressed these questions and the number of support tickets at many web hosting providers went down dramatically.

Why is Fantastico so successful? Fantastico is extremely easy to use. As example if you are trying to manually install WordPress blogging software you first have to obtain the software from WordPress.org. Then you have to create a MySQL database and a database user with appropriate permissions is needed, too. Then you need unzip the installation files and upload them to your server. You might be surprised how many people still use dial-up or are on the slowest cable Internet package or DSL package with minimal uploading speed. The entire process can take 15-30 minutes depending how savvy a web hosting client is. Fantastico cuts the time needed down to about 1.5 minutes. This is just one example, but you can imagine how this looks like for other scripts.

Now you need a web host who offers Fantastico. Fantastico usually comes in combination with the famous cPanel web control panel which allows a user to easily manage an entire domain and web hosting account. So, you want to be looking for a cpanel web host and Fantastico is usually included. Here is a short list of web hosting providers that offer cpanel Web Hosting where fantastico is included totally free of charge.

Host Gator | Just Host | Host Monster

Pick any of these web hosts for cpanel hosting and you will be in good hands.

Avoid The Price Increase – Introductory Price is ending

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Last month I wrote about a new series of Dell servers that were now available at The Planet. The servers start at $99 which is dirt cheap considering how much you get in return. The new Dell Pentium G6950 servers are work horses with lots of processing power and The Planet has them at the introductory price of $99 per month available. This promo apparently is a great success (no wonder), however any introductory offer has to come to an end and so is this one.

The Planet is pulling the plug on the promo offer and the price is going up from $99 to $129. Sure, this is still very cheap – especially compared to many competitors, but if you are in the market for a great, brand name dedicated server – now is the time to make your move. The Planet offers great service and these servers are no exception. This offer expires soon, so check out the Planet for cheap dedicated web servers.

The Planet
Click here to visit The Planet to get all the details and to lock in your rate.

About The Planet

The Planet dot com is a web hosting providers specialized in large data center environments to provide very affordable web servers to customers.

Is Cheap Web Hosting an Option for your Website

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The old saying that goes like this “You get what you pay” in regards to quality of a products is partially true when it comes to web hosting. However, one main difference is the nature of how web hosting works at the lower end of the scale. Shared web hosting over the years has really reached the bottom end of where prices can go. Large web hosting providers have driven down prices dramatically, but do require a pre-payment of 12 months or more in return. New web hosting providers trying to compete with these companies have to go through a cut throat process to gain customers. The main difference I see here is that these newer web hosts do not require a pre-payment of 12 months or more – they offer lower prices on a month by month basis.

That’s where things get out of whack and that’s where cheap web hosting can put your website at risk. While the larger web hosts have enough cash flow to work things out, smaller web hosting providers do not. When things do not work out as they hope, they have to eventually shutdown business and take everything down with them. That is the situation you want to avoid. Cheap web hosting is a good deal if you do your homework upfront. You can save a lot of money by going with a cheap web host, but you have to pick a web host that is established and has a proven track record.

If you are able and willing to pre-pay going with a provider like JustHost or IX Web Hosting you easily cut your web hosting cost in half. You can bring your web hosting fees down to less than $4.00 per month without losing out on features, bandwidth, disk space, or support. However, you need to determine if your website is a good fit for one of those web hosts. Most personal or small business websites fit that category well. Websites of power users or larger business websites do not fit well.

The following list shows my current favorites for cheap web hosting (in no particular order).

Host Gator

Host Monster

IX Web Hosting

Local Web Hosting is Expensive – Part II

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Yesterday I wrote about how expensive a local web host can be when hosting your business website with such a company or a local web designer. Many small businesses use a local web designer to get an online presence and then are kind of held hostage by these web designers. While I support honest, local web designers there are some who take advantage of small business customers and charge an arm and a leg for web hosting without providing real value in return.

Yesterday I provided information on how to gain control of your domain name as a first step in the process of moving your business website to a different provider. Today I am going to show how to gain control of the files that actually make your website which is hosted under your domain name. Just taking control of your domain name is not enough as you would lose your website and your content unless you also gain control and physical ownership of your website.

I am assuming you are dealing with a web designer of some sort who is difficult to work with and makes it difficult to move away from him/her. You might have to get a little tricky to get copies of your website in those cases to avoid a situation where the web designer turns hostile and makes it impossible to move away without a major hassle. Any good web designer should respect your wish to use a cheaper web host. Anyway, how can you get a copy of your website? For one you need to determine if your website is just made out of static files or if there is an actual CMS (Content Management System) is used that also has a database backend. Your goal is to be able to upload everything to the new web host at one point and to have a working website.

One good way to ask for what makes your website is actually a valid business reason. Remember 9/11? When the towers of the World Trade Center went down many business were destroyed. Anyone who did not have an offsite copy of their data had lost all business records. 9/11 triggered a large wave of disaster recovery procedures where businesses realized how fast a fatal incident could wipe a business. As a result business started recording business procedures and stored them offsite with critical business data and backups of data. You can use the same reason to request a current copy of your website from your web designer. Explain that you are creating a disaster recovery plan which also includes the website and the web designer. What happens if the web designer gets hits by a bus tomorrow? How can you get your website? Properly explained it will be difficult for the web designer to deny you a copy of what you own anyway. Let’s take this a step further and use the same situation to have the web designer document your website at the same time. This will make it easier for your new webmaster or web designer to put all the bits and pieces together.

That’s it for today. In part III of this article I will provide detail f how to put all this together and how to move your website to a new webhost.

Local Web Hosting is Expensive – Move Away

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Is your website hosted with a local web host in town? Often web designers also function as a web host and sell this service is part of their package to you. This is often “justified” that they need to have control over the account to do their work and that other web hosting just does not offer the same level of control. And as a result the small business owner is kind of being held hostage by this web designer and his/her expensive web hosting. Any attempt to pick a cheaper option is kind of shoot down by these web designers which causes a lot of frustration with many business owners.

How can a small business take back control of their website, their domain, and their content then?

In the beginning of the effort to take back control of your website and your web hosting it is important to determine how trustworthy the web designer is. If it is a honest guy/gal they should understand what you are trying to do. They sell web hosting as part of how they make a living and should not hold you back, but rather support you. It could actually happen that they lower your web hosting prices without any need to do something.  Use my list of recommended web hosting providers to find a new host and see if your web designer can work with one of those web hosts. You should then still make sure you are registered as the owner of the domain name. It is also advised to have local copies of all files and images, too.

If the situation is not that easy, a business owner should first start taking control of the domain name. If the domain name is registered to the web designer it is important to change that right away. Depending on how difficult the web designer is to work with, you should eventually approach this from a legal and accounting perspective and explain that the domain name is accounted for as an asset with a certain price in the books and to make sure the IRS does not complain about it during an audit the domain name needs to be registered to the business. I am not a legal expert and are not sure how feasible this is, but this might be just enough to take ownership of the domain name. Think about other reasons like this and approach the web designer in a friendly way so that. Than have the domain name transferred to your ownership.

This is part one of my guide on how to move your website from an expensive, local web host to another web host and how to save a fortune along the way. The second part in this article series will talk about cheap web hosting and how to take advantage of it with your website.

Web Host Research – How to choose the right Web Host

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You need a new web host. You do a Google Search for “Web Hosting”  and you feel a little overwhelmed by the 252,000,000 results Google presents in return. Admittedly, choosing the right host can be a overwhelming endeavor – no doubt. Now what? You pick a couple of web hosts and look at their websites, investigate pricing and hosting features. Now more confusion – all these web hosts pretty much look alike. Same pricing (though sometimes prices are $0.50 higher or lower), same features, same bandwidth and disk space and even the website design looks somewhat familiar going from host to host. It almost makes the impression they are running their web hosting business of the same blue print or the same manual.

Now, where do you turn to find a new web host? While you can use one of the many web hosting comparison websites (including my own list of web hosting recommendations), the best way is usually to follow the recommendation of a friend or family member. Personal recommendations are the best way to pick a new web host.

But when these personal recommendations are missing, how can you choose the right web host? Use common sense, spend some time researching and then create a list of 3 possible web hosts you like to try out. Verify that each webhost offers a money back guarantee and then move forward. Using a web host that offers a money back guarantee is important as it allows you to leave quickly without occurring any cost. Important in my opinion is the choice where you register your domain name. I personally do not want to be tied to a certain web host by registering the domain name I use through the web host. I prefer 3rd party domain name registries like NameCheap as an example. I keep control over the domain name. If I would try a new web host and have my domain name registered through the web host, they might either keep the name or charge a higher than normal price or make it really difficult to leave. What good is a money back guarantee if you have to leave your domain name behind?!

So, register the domain name at NameCheap (or if really necessary at Godaddy (be warned of the many upsells Godaddy has)), then work your way through the list of 3 web hosts that you like to try. Keep a good backup of your website so that you can easily move to a new web hosting provider as needed. Some web hosts offer better pricing if you pre-pay for 12 months or more. While this is a good deal, you might want to go month to month first and once you like a web host, contact their billing department and switch your payment option and pre-pay. Or at least pick the lowest pre-payment option and then upgrade later on. Do not let the lowest price force you into a decision you do not feel comfortable with. Every webhost will want you to stay and so it is never a problem to change your hosting plan option later on.

Here are my 3 favorite web hosts at the moment. Feel free to make them your list of web hosts to try out.

Host Gator

Host Monster

IX Web Hosting

IPower Web Hosting Services

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Web Hosting Services provided by IPower hosting are in demand for many years. IPower Web Hosting is one of the few web hosting providers that actually offers their own web hosting control panel (vDeck) and does not use cPanel or Plesk. This is probably one reason why I have not really looked at this web hosting service provider as the majority of my web hosting is using cPanel. But then you never know what something is good for. IPower web hosting has carved out their own niche in the web hosting industry and apparently with good success. So, they must be doing something right and from what I can tell that is happening in regards to quality of service combined with cheap web hosting prices. They are also not after those customers that want it all for nothing. For IPower Web Hosting it is paying of to not enter the race of who can offer the lowest price (that’s usually where quality goes down as well). For me this is a huge benefit as it shows that IPower Web Hosting is out there to provide you with the best web hosting service possible.

Who is IPower Web Hosting at all? IPower is headquartered in Arizona. This web hosting company was founded in 2001, grown to way over 700,000 customers today it is certainly not a small business. Monthly surveys are done to make sure the customer is happy with the service as well as to find problems before they become issues and to address them. Their main goal is to make the customer happy and to allow them to make the best out of their web hosting.

Conclusion: If you are looking for a rock solid web host with lots of business experience and very affordable web hosting prices, then IPower Hosting is definitely worth a look. See the entire list of features and current pricing here.

Half Price Sale at Ipower Hosting

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IPower Web Hosting just announced one of their rare sales deals. You can save 50% on their “Unlimited Pro Plan” which usually costs $7.95. This sale is on only for a limited time and so if you are in the market for a new web hosting account and want a reliable web host, then check out this deal:

Disk Space = Unlimited
Bandwidth = Unlimited
Free Domain Name Registration = included
Domans allowed = unlimited
Price: $3.95 per month

Read all the Details here.

About IPower

Founded in 2001, IPOWER has established itself as a leader in the web hosting industry, providing a comprehensive suite of online services for small and medium-sized businesses worldwide. IPower has build up a great reputation in the Web Hosting Market and provides very good web hosting. The one thing that separates them from many other web hosting providers is the fact that they have their own web control panel that gives customers access to over 200 different options and tools.

About this Sale

This sale is definitely limited in how long this price will last. If you are in the market for web hosting and are not happy with your old web host, I highly recommend to check out IPower Web Hosting. They offer a money back guarantee so that you are under no obligation whatsoever.

Visit IPower Web Hosting here.