Host Gator asked:


The following are the tips one must keep in mind while choosing a new web host: -

1) One must make sure that the new web host plan offers the storage capabilities to handle all of the current website storage requirements. If the size of the website is 50MB, then one must check for the plan that offers at least that much space or more. In case one is not able to make estimates about the space required then he/she must ask his/her current host. Also this information can be found on control panel.

2) One must also check how does his/her current web host determine the amount of storage used for? It is necessary to check what one’s current and new host includes in the plan’s storage amount also one should check are one’s emails and log files counted towards his/her total storage, or the web files only?

3) Its necessary to know what operating system does one’s current hosting plan use? Windows or Unix? Mostly it makes no difference but in some cases it can make the difference between a working website and a broken website. In case one’s site is currently on a Windows server and the website uses ASP scripting, then its difficult to make things work well on a Unix server, as ASP is a Windows based programming language. So one should check immediately whether his/her hosting plan is on a Unix or Windows server.

4) Also its important to check if one’s your site currently use FrontPage? Before switching to new host one should check if the new host supports FrontPage and the prevailing version.

5) Another important issue to take care is the amount of bandwidth offered by the new host. One should check if the new hosting plan offers the same amount of bandwidth that the current host offers. This should be checked in advance to avoid unexpected high bills afterwards.

6) Make sure if the new web hosting plan gives the same amount of email accounts, auto responders and mail forwards that the current host provides.

7) Its necessary to check if one’s site uses a shopping cart that the current hosting plan provides? It is essential to have a suitable shopping cart replacement in case one desires to move the cart to the new host. So one must check that as well.

If one is using any scripts on his/her website, its important to check if one’s new hosting plan supports all of one’s scripts. One must make sure in advance if there is any need to make any modifications to scripts to get them working on the new server.

9) Don’t forget to set up the existing email accounts on the new server before transferring domain name to the new server.

10) In case user is just a beginner and even don’t know how to upload files, its necessary to check with the provider if he can do that with no extra charges. There are some hosts who offer such facility free of cost yet some don’t offer this facility because of liability issues.

It’s necessary to double check if the site looks and functions properly on the new server after completing the uploading process. Preview facility is provided in the form of preview link to see how the site looks and some hosts provide this facility before the domain name is transferred over. In case this preview facility is not available with the host, still there is a method to preview the site. One can modify his/her host’s file to preview the site. The host file tells the computer where to go to look for sites that are listed in that file and this works with any version of Windows. Here the file location can change but the file name remains the same. Below is the way to modify the host’s file:

The file HOSTS should be in the c: windowssystem32driversetc One can find a file named HOSTS.SAM (as in SAMPLE). That is OK; one can modify the HOSTS.SAM file as well and do a SAVE AS HOSTS.

In both the cases one should double click on the HOSTS file to open it. Thereafter one will be prompted by Windows to select an Application (Program) to use to VIEW the file.

Now scroll the list and select Notepad and then one should click on the OK button. The NOTEPAD program will now open, displaying the file HOSTS.

So, in order to tell computer that www.yourwebsite.com is at the address (replaced with the real IP) 12.345.678.90 one should add the following entry to the bottom of the hosts file:

12.345.678.90 www.yourdomain.com (As in the example).

Now one should click on FILE, slide down and click on SAVE AS. Then in the Save As one should type field, select ALL FILES. After completing that click on save. One warning will come which should be ignored i.e. the file already exists but that’s ok, then just one has to click YES.

Now one should close Notepad, by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and click.

Now when one will open the web browser, or try to ping the site, the system will go to the IP address one typed in the HOSTS file.

One should not forget to undo this when testing is finished else the computer will always want to go to that IP address whenever one want to go to that site.

After being satisfied with the site looks and functions, one can go to his/her registrar (where the domain name is registered) and modify the nameservers associated with one’s domain name to his/her new web host’s nameservers. In case one does not know his/her new host’s name servers, should confirm with them. However most hosts have that information listed somewhere on their website or in the email one first get after signing up for an account.

After the completion of domain nameserver modification it will take around 24-48 hours and the site will be displayed on the new server.

One must check his/her domain name and should see if the nameservers added are listed. If yes, the website transfer is complete to new web host. And after the confirmation is received one can cancel the old web hosting account.



Content

Web Hosting asked:


There are several business enterprises in the market, some running as a small unit commanded by single person and some other large corporations standing as multi-national corporations. But still what is common between them, is their web presence providing description about their works to the customers i.e. what is their work? their location?, their past background?, what makes them outstanding etc. Majority of above mentioned businesses also used to sell their products and/or services through the website.

If a user is having a business with him/her and desires to make a mark in cyberspace, then one should buy a package from a particular web hosting company.

There are some segments of people who may not be able to get what the web hosting actually is? Web hosting means process of taking computer space and bandwidth (potential of data transfer) on rent from a particular company for making the website useful for plenty of visitors.

If one talks in a simple manner, the user opts to buy an owed space on a computer from a particular hosting company, after that the files are transferred from user’s website to that computer. After this task, that particular website becomes available for several users across the world, and they can easily browse down the website as well as can download files and purchase concern products and services from the user to whom that particular website belongs to.

Domain Name

Selecting a domain name for one’s website is the foremost thing the user is required to do .A domain name in simple language is an address for the concerned website. User should remember that the domain name should not contain very long and complex words in it making it difficult for the user to recall.

Style and Design of Website

One can follow any of the three routes mentioned below for designing the website:

Route no.1

There are several website assisting software packages one can easily get from the market. Example two such popular packages are Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dream weaver. With assistance of these programs, one can easily design and edit his/her web pages and can judge their quality on the spot with respect to users.

Route no.2

There are few companies in the market offering an easy alternative for the user to create his/her own website by providing templates for the user to select the desired one. Through this type of service, the user needs nothing much to do but just has to select a particular layout from several available pre-defined templates, choose some color, font and graphics options, induce some text, and a good-looking website is ready.

Route no.3

One should hire a specialized web design company for his/her business. No doubt it is the most expensive option but the user will get definite worth of money, resulting in exactly dream website.

Receiving a web host:

As soon as the formalities of selecting domain name, designing of website etc are completed by the user, the next thing to do is searching for a hosting company.

If one goes out in the market, he/she will find that there is no scarcity of hosting companies there. One should look for a company which is well respected and offers same kind of services which is required by the user. One can even consult to the friends relating to this matter.

After that, the user should choose a web hosting package according to his/her requirements and then should sign up for an account. Generally users do the payment for the hosting service through credit card online. If the user has not registered the domain name in the beginning, he/she can do it with respect to the hosting company.

When the formalities of payment are concluded, the user will get an email substantiating with details related to his/her hosting package. One should go through this email with an open mind as it contains information related to the way of logging on to user’s own hosting account.

Subsequently, user needs to upload all the HTML pages, graphics, etc on to his/her web space. It can be accomplished through the control panel on user’s website, or through applying an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program like CuteFTP.

Now after the website is online, it will be available for users all around the world, so one should make sure that the information it contains like one’s email address and telephone number needs to be up-to-date. This is very important if one’s business is online business.



Content for WordPress

Web Hosting asked:


No doubt, there are several free web hosting accounts that are free to use, but they will cost the user a lot of money, time, and customers as well as if he/she possess a site that is meant for work related to business and is more than the simplest site possible. One should throw light on the following things to know why free web hosting might cost him/her more than what he/she had bargained at the time of signing up.

Thought no.1 Bandwidth

Often, one can say that free web hosting providers offers the user little bandwidth which denotes that it will take longer for his/her page to load. If a page takes more than 10 seconds to load then the user will lose visitors because they will just move on. Due to this reason, one might lose a lot of customers and sales from his/her facility of free web host.

Thought no.2 Advertising

It is a universal consideration that many free web hosting companies are “free” to the user, yet, the user will have advertising posted on his/her website in addition to pop up ads. Several people do not like such thing and avoid visiting user’s site due to this reason. One should be careful about signing up with a free web hosting company that use to advertise. It probably may not bother the user in the beginning, but it will perhaps affect his/her traffic and sales.

Thought no.3 Web Capacity

By considering that, web host is free; one cannot desire for an ample of web space. Often people do not get the space they require to upload their web page and which include all of their information. The user should confirm that there is sufficient amount of space available from his/her free web space provider and it should properly match with the required elements of the user’s web pages.

Thought no.4 Reliability

Another point to consider while selecting free web hosting is reliability. Often time’s limitations are put on one’s traffic flow and if one exceeds this, his/her site may be disabled for a period of time or one may even receive a bill. Thus one should find out what the rules for traffic and what can be the consequences if one exceeds his/her limit.

Thought no.5 Limitations

In most of the cases, one’s free web host will have rules regarding the size of photos, its upload, icons etc. One should check in advance these things before signing up the contract as if this facility is not available then one is not in a position to upload his/her own photos and then he/she has to check for any other host..

While talking technically, free web hosting is free but in reality it indirectly costs much especially in the long run because it limits activity and business from occurring at the rate set by consumers. Due to this if one’s business is growing and his/her site is experiencing big traffic then free web hosting is really going be an expensive affair. Thus instead of getting in trouble afterwards its better to check in advance if a free server will really be worthwhile and thereafter one should make a plan for change and growth ahead of time as everyone works with a desire to grow.



Content for WordPress

Web Hosting asked:


The Actual Trouble

It is quite frequent that a chain of systematic incidents take place with the new (inexperienced) webmaster as he/she signs-up with the first good hosting plan by just observing the glittering surface he/she can watch; then he/she purchases a domain name, built up a site, produce a small income, and then gets excited and remarks “Hey, this works, I should make another site”. Commencing from this point the webmaster buy a new domain and start functioning on a new site just for realizing that his/her hosting plan supports only 1 pointed domain; and he/she will need to buy a totally new hosting plan for the purpose of per new domain name.

But talking about the quantity of “pointed domains” which a web-hosting plan can support is habitually ignored from the side of new webmasters. It is quite expectable that it is not at all seems to be important in the beginning but afterwards its need is felt. It is among other important factors which are ignored in the beginning like space, bandwidth, price etc. As discussed earlier, beginner’s more often while purchasing a hosting plan did not even consider the quantity of pointed domains. It did not put impact on them early but several months later they decide to initiate a new website. But, some beginners even remain lucky as they for e.g. stumble into a plan that permits around 50 pointed domains.

Solution

So, after knowing the problem the solution would be to have as many pointed domains as possible. There are several instances where a user lament on his/her decision of buying such an ample amount of domain and say to himself/herself “God!, I am never going to have a need for 50 domains that’s just a waste”. If a user possesses mindset like above mentioned, he/she definitely will always dream about that next big idea, that next big website that he/she is going to shape. One should not hinder himself/herself by choosing a host that cannot support all his/her dreams because wings are there to reach the sky not for show.



Content for WordPress

Web Hosting asked:


In web hosting world there are many interesting events that take place. For a beginner it’s quite difficult to segregate between two hosting companies as all look alike in the beginning the difference is only found out afterwards when he/she gets shut down without warning.

The problem faced by beginners now a day is how to rely on a web host review when thousands are there. It is really impossible for anyone to review the thousands of web host out there, but it is in one’s favour if the user bases his/her web host review on high in demand providers. It is a fact that there are many top marketers having their own server, and one can’t afford to pay $200 or more monthly for one’s own server.

In this article we are going to discuss on the things which are helpful in preventing web host shut down and the ways by which one can learn how to use the forums to find recommendation for choosing a right web hosting provider.

For a beginner it is really difficult to digest that even the forums given are not very helpful. These forums are posted by people who are not having any good experience by the company.

Following are the four tips one should follow to get a good web host review:

1) Say no to unlimited domain names: One should always keep in mind not to go for unlimited domain names. Whenever a user creates a new account a provider automatically divide up his/her hosting bandwidth, it means that if one is just having 40 Gigs of bandwidth and he/she opts to divide it up by four domain names, in that case he/she must have used up all his/her bandwidth. Thus addition in any domain name will exceed the bandwidth as well. This is the policy adopted by cheap web hosting providers. By this way cheap hosting providers charges unlimited for extra bandwidth and user has to pay as he/she is not having any other choice. Thus one needs to be very careful regarding this matter.

2) Say yes to monthly payments: It is quite often that web hosting providers offer cheap prices in case user is making yearly payment. However in that case user will be in great loss as after paying the yearly amount he/she has already tied up with the company and now they will provide the services which are just useless and user have to accept it. Thus one should go with a company that is offering quarterly or monthly payment plan with money back guarantee.

3) First test by sending email: One should first test by sending a simple introductory email to check the response time. The response time of the host provider will tell everything about his/her services.

4) Ask for refund: One should always keep all the receipts safely and at any time if his/her site gets shut down, he/she should ask for refund from the provider if the payment is paid in advance. One should immediately file the complaint and should do all to get valuable money back.

Thus after keeping all the above 4 points in mind one will surely know how to get rid of problems and will safe his/her valuable money.



Content

Web Hosting asked:


While choosing ones Web hosting provider one has to confront with thousands of companies, tens of thousands of different plans as out of these thousands of companies and plans only few are suitable for the website and online needs.

In today’s world Webhosting has become a part of the informational revolution brought by the Internet and it has become compulsory for both business and also individuals.

Here we are just going to point on few things related to choosing an adequate web host for a web site as there is no need explaining why a website is a must on World Wide Web. This business might seem very complicated but once one knows what to look for it is easy to find out. Stick to ones requirements after analyzing it properly.

Many inexperienced web owners often buy more than required while evaluating their needs in terms of space and bandwidth. Thus many web-hosting providers size their web servers taking this into account as this is exceptionally common and in fact over sell the space and bandwidth assuming that customers will never make full use of it.

Ask ones web host provider per server ration to avoid web hosts that result to just that or crowed their web servers to get an extra profit per customer. To become a clever buyer one should do this with all the other companies one finds interesting to do business with and are eligible to host web site. Never buy a web-hosting plan that fits just perfectly instead always leave some space as website is like a living creature which always grows so buy a little extra space so that when website is expanded one have resources available. Always leave margin for error too as supposing the initial bandwidth evaluation proves itself insufficient then one might not be able to use its website because of exceeded bandwidth. For both knowledgeable and less knowledgeable web owners most web hosting plans come packed with features and some even offer pre-installed scripts and programs that might come handy.

Do not forget things actually required like the OS (Operating System) or the PHP support, as one could consider any extra feature a plus. Do not allow the provider to tell something not required or is less than expected so one should decide of its own what is needed.

Importance of Support: – One might overlook Support facility when one finds an offer which is suitable both in terms of space, bandwidth and has all other facilities which one needs but remember all the good features will go in vein if one does not have good support. If the web-hosting provider is too careless then any technical problem, which arises, will take long hours to be solved even after making many support help calls thus curtailing the work.

If one wants to test the quality and how responsive the support personnel is then one should fire many pre-sales questions through email. Check if the response fact is enough. Now supposing that a conference has to be attended and the site is down and many clicks are expected, check if the website is online to get them and also whether the response one is getting from the support is thorough or is just scratching the surface and is the response understandable.

Look for these qualities when looking for good support: -

-Online support staff, help desk, message boards etc.

-Try to find on forums or discussion boards Information on the reputation of a web-

hosting provider.

-Would one like to be among one those discontented customers there?

Another aspect of the problem is reliability. Company’s web server’s uptime should be asked. Usually 99.9% of uptime is guaranteed by Most of the hosts, as 100% is not a realistic figure in the computer world. This guarantee means that, the money will be refunded for that month or free webhosting will be given for a month as compensation for web site being unavailable if the web site was not available 99.9% of the time.

Our sincere advice to everyone looking for web host provider is don’t try too hard to find the cheapest possible web host though it is true that one has to pay for paid web hosting. Still if one goes for cheaper one then within two weeks from the date of purchase one will stumble upon a better deal and thus will most likely end-up wasting an incredible amount of time. On the other hand paying extra amount to get what one could have got for less is also not a good deal. Getting 200 MB of space with 2 GB of bandwidth for $60 one is getting cheated and at the same time getting same service for $6 or $10 can be a good deal. A thin line between Nightmare of getting slow server response, unreachable support and irritating server downtime and Profitable and enjoyable web presence is drawn by individuals’ themselves.

So we conclude saying one should always choose ones web-hosting provider vigilantly who can live up the promises and can deliver good quality web hosting!



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