5 Popular Joomla Extensions

With Joomla emerging as one of the most popular CMS being used today, you can find yourself stuck in dilemma--which extension of Joomla to use for your website. Using Joomla core software program can have enormous benefits and considerable effort has been put in developing those Joomla components, templates, modules, plugins, extensions etc., which can affect your website positively in multiple ways.

There are a number of Joomla extensions available to choose from. However, I’ve tried to compile 5 popular Joomla extensions here.

1) Community Builder

Community Builder is quite a popular tool that enhances Joomla user management system and makes your website social facilitating users to interact on the same. This extension enables you to integrate additional files in profile, user lists, extended registration workflows, uploading of images, establish connection path between users, integration with components such as Forums, Galleries, Newsletters etc. It allows the existing key users to become moderators and exercise powers such as banning/unbanning of profiles, new membership approvals, report handling etc. Community Builder fetches your members some special privileges such as allowing them to create content for your website, blogging, membership groups etc.

2) VirtueMart

VirtueMart is an advanced shopping cart solution, which is extensively used by a number of store owners across the world. This open source Joomla extension can be run equally well in Store as well as Catalog mode and its strong administration tool enables you to handle varied number of categories, discounts, shopper groups, customers etc. This free extension can easily be downloaded and modified without any restrictions. It facilitates shoppers to manage their accounts easily and view all their order details. It also helps them to make payments in multiple currencies.

3) JCE

JCE is an extendable, customizable popular Joomla extension that fetches you a latest editor for editing Joomla based pages of your website. It entails varied features such as file and image handling, strong administration interface for configuring the editor, plugin support etc. This Joomla extension is licensed under GNU and is free to download. This tool helps you to style test with the help of familiar buttons and general commands such as bold, italic, underline etc and also run a spell check on the write-ups. JCE also enables you to copy text from Word to other text documents and insert images using file browser interface.

4) Joom Fish

Joom Fish is an advanced Joomla extension that enables you to maintain your website in different languages (multilingual content management) with the help of a system bot. This extension encompasses a front-end module for selecting the language along with varied plugins and a router. It can be used without patching of important files. This extension is free to download along with some free available add-ons. Its central control panel permits easy access to all important features and the translation overview entails filters, which help in speedy access to entries you’re looking for. It also helps to translate lists all at once thereby enhancing performance improvement.

5) JomSpecial

JomSpecial is a great Joomla extension that enables you to create and develop your own social network. You can complement your social networking website with logos, themes, graphics etc with the help of this Joomla extension and also customize the same through CSS edits. It includes a broad array of features such as private messaging, friend requests, comment on walls, share photos, follow updates and add third party components with its improved API. You can also create unlimited number of groups, invite and add members to the same, hide the group etc. These are some of the most popular Joomla extension available on the Internet today. I hope improvements will keep taking place and more & more useful Joomla extensions will arrive on the World Wide Web to help netizens all across the world.

Many web hosts offer Joomla hosting such as LimeDomains, HostGator, JustHost etc. You can easily host your Joomla website on the server of any such good web host and use these Joomla extensions to maintain your website successfully.

Source Url: http://www.articlesbase.com/web-hosting-articles/5-popular-joomla-extensions-1178931.html

Domain Name Registration Do Keywords Matter?

How to select

The most important part of the web site concept is the domain name. Get it wrong and your site may never show its full potential. What makes a good domain name you ask? Unless you are going to the trouble and expense of establishing a new trade name business where you will have thousands of domain choices with a new word or new words added to your industries strongest keyword, for example "chameleonpaint.com" or "giraffedomain.com" you are going to have to buy or register the best keyword name that you can afford.

Keywords

The most searched keywords for this site are domain name, so in the ideal world you would choose "domainname" with .com or .co.uk, but as you have properly realized these names have long gone. Some are being used for web sites, but most are parked with one page adverts which can produce revenue and with the hope making a sale and profit in the future. Domain can be combined with the next most important keyword which is "domainregistration" or "cheapdomain" or you can add a descriptive word which will sound nice, "wonderfuldomain" or "insantdomain" but this may be an existing trade name you will need to check. The main point is that these are not good keywords, not many people search for a wonderful domain. It is still better to combine the top keyword with a lesser one to make the name, we had to settle for "domainweb" which are both keywords to this industry.

Are keywords really that important?

There are three main reasons why keywords are paramount.
1, Some of the major search engines add weight to web sites that have keywords in their domain names. Search on msn Windows Live, using your industries keywords and a large proportion of the results contain domain names as keywords. For new sites this may be the only organic traffic you will receive for many months.
2, When people search, organic or ppc the click rate is significantly higher if the domain name is the same or very similar to their search word or words.
3, The sale conversion rate is much higher, customers trust short keyword impressive domain names.

Test the domain name before you buy or register

Lets face it we are all so absorbed in the world of our industries and business that we can convince ourselves that we have found a great domain name. Ask people who know absolutely nothing about your industry what the domain name means, the response should be instant without prompting. A good domain name should instantly tell your visitor what you sell or the information or services that you offer. If the name is technical or specialized to your industry you will have to test it on junior members of your organization.

Michael Shield is a writer and web site developer from Essex in the United Kingdom learn more about domain name registration at http://www.domainweb.biz

7 Domain Name Tools

One of the hardest things about getting a domain name is coming up with one. If you haven't tried it, you will be amazed. So many names are already taken. This wasn't always the case. In the early 1990s, people rushed to create websites and online ventures. And as they did, opportunists started buying up domain names. They were hoping that they could speculate in internet real estate. For many in those early days, their work paid off. Fast forward to the present. You will definitely see how good domain names are becoming ever more scarce. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at some tools that may help you.

LoudSign (http://loudsign.com/) - LoudSign incorporates a domain name search tool on the front page. Type in the name that you want and click on search. Most likely, it will be taken. Now, on the second page you will see a small link under the search button labeled "Try Smart Search." If you click this, it will bring up many more options. Some of those options are: add popular prefixes, add popular suffixes, view choices with dashes, and view choices with related keywords.

Random Words (http://unique-name.perceptus.ca/random-word.php) - Sometimes coming up a word is simply way too hard. When that's the case, try this word to get your mental juices flowing.

WordConstructor (http://www.wordconstructor.com) - When you want to make a word from a common one, then this tool hits the spot.

RhymeZone (http://www.rhymezone.com/) - Rhyming a name makes for a memorable one. This little tool helps you find rhyming words for the one you input. It can also find antonyms and synonyms.

Noemata Name Generator (http://noemata.net/nbng/) - When you want a unique name that requires branding, this tool can help.

Random Domain Generator (http://blog.outer-court.com/domaingenerator/) - Here is another tool to help you generate away.

Dislexicon (http://www.robobunny.com/cgi-bin/dislexicon) - A nice tool that puts prefixes and suffixes on names to generate new ones.

If you are lucky, you will find a great name quick. Just remember, the shorter and more memorable the name, the better. Try to go after names that sound similar to something very familiar. And, if at all possible, go after names that contain keywords around your website. Happy searching.

Paul McGillivary has been a technologist for 15 years. In that time, Paul has experienced thousands of technology problems, challenges, and products. He brings this experience to bear in the articles that he presents.

Paul is also the owner of Loud Sign Internet Services. Loud Sign provides domain name register services for individuals and businesses. If you need a domain for your website, LoudSign can help you cheaply and quickly hone in on a good domain name.

Domain Names... Setting The Record Straight

Search engine positioning is still a hot topic. Why? Because it can generate very targeted traffic, with a little effort, at almost zero costs.

As new people flock to the internet and search engines constantly change the rules, how is a person to keep up? Here is a new development that just might level the playing field for you, if you got stuck with one of those short non-descript domain names like xyz.com.

For the past couple of weeks many experts have been taking advantage of a change in Domain Name regulations that allows up to 67 characters in domain names. More than 3.4 million domain names, all limited to 26 characters, have been registered since 1993. The rules have changed again!

Why are longer domain names important and how does this affect me?

The reason you want keywords in the domain name is that many of the major search engines often give better positioning to, domains with keywords in them.

Don't like the domain names with a hyphen? Here's an interesting discovery. The hyphen seems to act as a delimiter, parsing each word separately and adding weight to your ranking. Example: cook-book-cooking-books.com

I did some searches and found that these long domain names are going fast, too. But, it's not too late!

John Audette's I-Search Discussion List, included a new post by the search engine expert, Webmaster T, who explained "Having a domain name with keywords in it is very important as it seems almost all engines are parsing URLs. Not only is the domain name important but also the directory and file names are definitely important." http://www.audettemedia.com/i-search

If you would like to do some research on these keyword stuffed domain names. You can perform searches and park your domain
name for free at http://www.abcHosting.net/whois1.htm Also, try their keyword generator to find other highly targeted keywords and phrases. It will also give you an idea of how often they are used in a search. A very valuable free tool.

A Domain Name & Web Site - The Key To The Door.

Having A Domain Name & Website

Just like all things in life, the ways to run a business are rapidly changing and evolving. The potential involved with having a domain name/web site is staggering to say the least. A web site gives the consumer a ‘shop front’ that is not only open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but is also situated right on their desktop. Instead of being locked into only the immediate area, the whole world’s marketplace becomes your sphere of interaction.

Customers can access information on all your products, no more salesperson with limited knowledge trying to explain something they no little about. No more waiting in lines for help, all people have access immediately.

The domain name of the website gives great freedom to the business process. Having your own name is like having an address, then infinite emails can be added to the name so different departments within the company can be reached without having to wait at reception. For example, sales@ Mary’s Plants.com will put the shopper in direct contact with Mary’s sales section.

As a business, the domain name adds professional authenticity, as your address is not affiliated with other companies. In the area of communication, the email system opens up many avenues. Instead of having to put clients on hold because of limited personnel, innumerable emails can arrive at once, even when there’s no one in the office. Then you can pick and choose which one’s to reply to first (the most urgent), while people browsing can wait till later. First come, first serve becomes obsolete as necessary customers automatically reach the front of the line.

Getting a website and domain name is an easy, simple, cost-effective process. You can register your name through web domain registrars like DomReg-M6.Net for as low as $15.00 U.S. per year. That is definitely a very limited risk compared to opening a store, renting a location, and the thousands of dollars involved in overhead costs. How can this be true? A key to the door for anyone who wants to enter a mega-mall that is as big as the Earth. Let’s hope you’ve got something special to share and trade with the global community!

How To Submit Your Website On DMOZ Successfully!

Dmoz id the largest directory system on the internet listing over 4 million websites. Maintained and managed by human editors, this directory has increased credibility in the world wide web because it doesn't rely on automated robot based crawlers. That is why if you get your website listed on Dmoz, it can also play an important part in determining your ranking in Google search results. In fact, Google uses Dmoz results in its own directory. And this is why submission on Dmoz is a daunting task. Your website needs to be highly credible if it needs to be accepted by Dmoz.

Here are some tips that you should follow in order to make your submission on Dmoz a successful one.

Include detailed Contact Information

Make sure that you have your full and detailed contact information listed on your website including your postal address, addresses of all your branches, telephone numbers, email addresses etc. Physical addresses enhance the credibility of the business as people get to know the existence (and location) of the company. Dmoz straight away rejects websites that carry no postal address.

Don't Spam the Directory

Submit your website only once and wait. Even if it is not accepted readily, don't submit it again and again. This would be considered spamming and your website would get blacklisted altogether. Instead, submit your website once and forget about it for three to four months. Also, make sure you submit your website under one category only, the one that is most relevant to your business. Often it happens that big websites have more than one realm of business, and so they get confused about what category to submit in. There can be exceptions in such cases however otherwise it is highly recommended that you make your submission under one highly relevant category.

Include Quality Content

The Dmoz editors prefer websites that are rich in information and contain original and unique content. Therefore, before you submit your website on Dmoz, make sure you have some good quality content on your website. Search engines place increased value on Dmoz because it only lists quality websites and if your website lacks quality content, there is no way it could get listed there.

Submit under the most Relevant Category

Make sure that you submit your website under the most appropriate category. Search engines prefer Dmoz because it arranges the websites according to the links and the keywords thus making their job easier. Moreover, when you place your website under the right category your relevance is highly increased and there are better chances of your website getting accepted by the Dmoz editors.

List the Information Carefully

When you are submitting your website on Dmoz, make sure you furnish all the details very carefully. The information should be highly accurate. Read all the editorial guidelines and make sure you follow them through all the steps of submission. Without this, you wouldn't get your website submission to be accepted by Dmoz. Also, after you have submitted, store the URL of the category that you have submitted your website into so that you can make regular checks if your submission has been accepted or not.

Getting listed on the Dmoz directory is tough but not impossible. With the right techniques and guidelines you can get your website listed there and enjoy enhanced credibility on the Internet.

Kabir Bedi works as a senior web consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a professional website development company based in India. He has been associated with the outsource web design services industry for more than 10 years and has completed many successful web design projects.

Chime Host - Free WebHosting

ChimeHost is one of the best in the hosting business. We strive to deliver hosting that small businesses or enterprises need to prosper on the Internet.

ChimeHost are currently located in a neutral carrier facility that gives them access to many carriers. Currently they are multihomed on Global Crossing, Verio, Williams, Hurricane Electric. However, more is being added as our network need grows.

Free Web Hosting with no advertising, there is no catch, so what you see is what you get.

Features:
- 300 MB of Disk Space
- 5,000 MB (5GB)Bandwidth
- Subdomain or Your Own Domain
- Host your own domain (http://www.yourdomain.com)
- cPanel Control panel
- Website Builder
- Over 500 website templates ready for download
- Free POP3 Email Box and Webmail access
- FTP and Web based File Manager
- PHP, MySQL, Perl, CGI, Ruby.
- 2 Different Web Based Email Solutions
- Unrestricted PHP5 support
- Instant Setup!
- Zend & Curl Enabled
- No Ads at all !

DNS server software

Domain name servers, as systems, are actually actually a combination of hardware and software which basically operates the purpose of DNS: to translate IP data into readable names and establish them as a workable hierarchy. Domain servers can service from the smallers network to wide range of network; examples of huge networks are the root servers and smaller name servers that are set-up at a personal level.

The following are the DNS servers in ranking according to the number of sites it services.

70.105% 24,335,752 BIND
15.571% 5,405,266 TinyDNS
6.237% 2,165,143 Microsoft DNS Server
2.792% 969,097 MyDNS
1.964% 681,614 PowerDNS
1.250% 433,905 Simple DNS Plus
1.138% 395,206 Unknown
0.277% 96,232 Pliant DNS Server
0.203% 70,455 NSD
0.144% 49,921 UltraDNS
0.104% 36,195 Net::DNS::Nameserver
0.083% 28,656 QuickDNS
0.064% 22,087 Incognito DNS Commander
0.025% 8,508 MaraDNS
0.024% 8,174 rbldnsd
0.018% 6,135 Totd
0.001% 386 ATLAS
0.001% 371 Posadis
0.001% 312 NonSequitur DNS
0.000% 12 Nominum ANS/CNS

There are different types fo DNS servers available today. The next sections describe these different types of servers.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

‘BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual’. 2007. Internet Systems Consortium.
[Online] Available at: http://www.isc.org/index.pl?/sw/bind/index.php
‘BIND Name Server’. N.d. European Center for Parallelism Barcelona. [Online]
Available at: http://www.cepba.upc.es/docs/sgi_doc/SGI_Admin/books/IA_NetwkMail/sgi_html/ch06.html
‘BIND vs, TinyDNS’. 2005. Walkato Linus Users Group. [Online] Available at:
http://www.wlug.org.nz/BindVsTinyDNS
‘DNS Server Survey’. 2004. [Online] Available at: http://mydns.bboy.net/survey/
Erdman, J. n.d. ‘Microsoft DNS Server’. Network Clue. [Online] Available at:
http://www.networkclue.com/internet/DNS/MS-DNS/
‘Name Server Daemon’. N.d. Nine T Labs. [Online] Available at:
http://www.nlnetlabs.nl/nsd/

Hosting Embraces Twitte

Twitter was created on March 31, 2006 when the man who is credited with conceiving the idea, Jack Dorsey, wrote the original code version. From that day forward, Twitter has now become arguably the hottest and fastest growing brand on the Internet. If you somehow have completely missed all the popular hype, and actually don't know what Twitter is, Wikipedia defines Twitter as: ''a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. The service is free to use over the Internet.''

From humble beginnings Twitter has grown quickly to become a huge and robust online community. It has recently been reported by the BBC that the Twitter service has grown nearly tenfold over the past year in the UK. The original usage data was gathered by analytics company Hitwise. According to the published reports, Twitter has now overtaken social networking portal Digg in popularity. One boost to Twitter's popularity came a few weeks ago as Oprah Winfrey joined the service - and concurrently Aston Kutcher and CNN raced to be the first Twitter account to garner 1,000,000 followers (Aston Kutcher won).

I first became aware of the true potential of Twitter earlier this year. In February there was a massive snowstorm which blanketed the UK from top to bottom with snow levels that topped over a foot in many places. Although weather reports guessed at snow amounts across the country, it was impossible to use satellite images of the snowfall in real time. That's because the cloud cover prevented the satellites from seeing the ground. One prescient developer named Ben Marsh came up with a unique and helpful idea: get the general UK Twitter population to report on the snowfall at their location in the UK, then create a mashup of that Twitter-reported data by plotting the results on a Google map. The result was a real-time graphical map of the snowfall amounts as reported by people who are actually there on the ground. UK Techcrunch and the BBC picked up the story, which quickly created a bandwidth challenge for Ben Marsh's hosting provider - reseller web hosting company 34SP.com.

Despite the massive additional traffic to the site and the bandwidth requirements to keep it live, hosting from 34SP.com stepped up to the challenge. Daniel Foster, founder and Technical Director at 34SP.com explained, ''Our bandwidth is supplied by Level 3, AboveNet, and Cogent. This is a fully BGP routed, multi-homed network. Failure of any two of the three providers won't affect connectivity. Additionally, the 34SP.com network operates far below total capacity, so any unexpected increases in usage will not cause any network disruptions. This is a key consideration when someone like Ben Marsh gets significant media attention in a short period.''

So now Twitter has been embraced by the larger website hosting community. Consider that HostingCon - the largest gathering of web hosting professionals each year - is actively using Twitter to market the show and keep attendees informed of the latest happenings. Large web hosts like Rackspace are using Twitter to communicate and reach out to their clients. The massive popularity of hosting with the Twitter audience can easily be observed by simply checking out the search feature at Twitter and typing in the search phrase: web hosting.

As the importance and audience numbers of Twitter grow, look for additional web hosting properties and brands to add themselves to the Twitter community. If you are interested in joining Twitter to see what it's all about go to: https://twitter.com/signup.

How To Choose A Cheap Reliable Web Host

Are you looking for a cheap reliable web host for your website or blog? When you are choosing a reliable web hosting company, there are certain factors that come into play. Right here, we are going to show you what the important selection factors are.

1. Bandwidth limit

The bandwidth limit is often referred to the traffic limit. It basically is the “space” that is needed to accommodate your visitors or traffic. Having a high bandwidth means that your website can receive more visitors.

2. Diskspace

If you are familiar with your PC hard drive, that is what the diskspace means. This diskspace basically hosts your website files, web pages, images, scripts and so on.

3. Uptime

All good reliable web hosts should have a minimum uptime of 99.5%. The web host should have a refund policy if they cannot meet this requirement.

4. Scripts Allowed and Provided

Do they allow you to install scripts such as PHP or Perl? If they do not allow you, then it can be very troublesome if you need to run these on your website. Also, make sure that they provide FTP, MySQL, .htaccess, crontabs as these are quite common.

5. SSL (secure server) and Shopping Cart

Do they provide such functionalities? These are important if you plan to run an ecommerce site.

6. Technical Support

Do they provide 24/7 technical support? Can you access to help anytime you want via LIVE chat? This is what makes the difference between a fly-by-night service and a professional and reliable web host.

7. cPanel

cPanel is the most popular control panel in the market because of its user-friendliness and rich features. Make sure your web host provides that.

8. Email Forwarding

Does it allow you to create catch-all email address so that you can receive all emails sent to your domain name?

9. Number of Domains and Subdomains

Do they allow you to host multiple domains and subdomains? Some web hosts have a limit on this and can be rather restrictive if you intend to create multiple websites on multiple subdomains.

10. Price

The price of the web host should be of great concern to you right? However, never compare web hosts based on how much you need to pay. Always compare different packages offered by each web host to have a more objective comparison. For example, Web Host A may only charge you $7/mth for a 500MB (diskspace) and 5GB (bandwidth) but Web Host B charges $10/mth and offers a 1GB (diskspace) and 10GB (bandwidth). On the surface, you are paying more for Web Host B’s package but you get double the diskspace and bandwidth.

11. Minimum Contract Period

You should check out the minimum contract period of each web host. Most offer a monthly, quarterly and annual plan. The longer you stay with them, the cheaper it is. Very often, the prices you see in advertisements are the monthly prices based on an annual package. If you go for the monthly option, it is always more expensive. If you have never tried a web host before, you might want to consider the monthly option so that you can leave anytime if you find the service poor.

12. Other Users’ Reviews

Reading other users’ reviews give you a good feel of how professional and reliable a web host is.

Reliable Web Host – Comparison of the Top 3 Web Host

We did a review on more than a dozen of popular web hosts based on the 12 selection factors and found a few of them consistently score well in these areas. You will read about the top 3 cheap reliable web hosts here.

1. HostGator

 HostGator is one of the most popular web hosting companies in the world and has been winning many awards at different web host review sites such as FindMyHost.com Editor's choice Award, WebHostDirectory.com #1 Reseller Hosting Award, WebHost-Guru.com's 2008 Green Host of the Year and many others.

Founded in 2002, it now hosts millions of websites. Take a look at the HostGator’s shared hosting plans.

Hostgator Plans

Name Platform Price Space Bandwidth Domains

Hatchling Linux $6.95 350 GB 3000 GB 1

Baby Linux $9.95 600 GB 6000 GB Unlimited

Swamp Linux $14.95 1000 GB Unlimited Unlimited

HostGator uses cPanel which is one of the best control panels. They do support PHP4 & 5, SSH, Cron jobs, Python, Ruby On Rails etc and provides Fantastico script installer. All packages include POP3 accounts also.

Uptime is 99.9% which sets the industry standard. What we like about the site is the 24/7 customer and technical support. Whenever you need any help, the friendly customer service officer will be there to help you.

2. BlueHost

BlueHost is another top but cheap reliable web host. Similar to HostGator, BlueHost also uses the cPanel. Other features like PHP, Perl, Fantastico, MySQL etc are also included. Take a look at BlueHost’s packages.

BlueHost’s package is very easy to understand. It provides unlimited diskspace and bandwidth. Take a look at the different plans.

3 Months: $9.95/month + $30.00 Setup + Domain ($10.00 if purchased from BlueHost)

6 Months: $8.95/month + $30.00 Setup + Domain ($10.00 if purchased from BlueHost)

12 Months: $7.95/month (no setup fee, free domain included)

24 Months: $6.95/month (no setup fee, free domain included)

The customer support is friendly and professional and we like the way they constantly upgrade their services and software capabilities.

3. IX Web Hosting

IX Web Hosting is one of the oldest web hosts around. In terms of size, it is definitely within the top 10. They now host over 490,000 domains. If you are looking for a budget plan to host a small site, their $4.95/month package is something you might want to consider. Small ecommerce and personal sites can be supported easily by this budget plan. Take a look at their different packages.

Name Platform Price Space Bandwidth Domains

Expert Plan Linux $4.95 Unlimited GB Unlimited GB Unlimited

Business Plus Linux $7.95 Unlimited GB Unlimited GB Unlimited

Business Plus Windows $9.95 Unlimited GB Unlimited GB Unlimited

Unlimited Pro Linux $12.95 Unlimited GB Unlimited GB Unlimited

Unlimited Pro Windows $15.45 Unlimited GB Unlimited GB Unlimited

IX Web Hosting uses H-Sphere control panel. While it is not as common as cPanel, it is also quite easy to understand and use. IX Web Hosting packages offer good value for money but their uptime loses out to the top 2 reliable web hosts we mentioned. In fact, the last time it was tested with a 3rd party service provider, the uptime was only 98.7%.

 

History of HostGator

HostGator is one of the world's top 10 largest web hosting companies with more than 2,200,000 hosted domains. We have over 200 employees to provide you around-the-clock superior support. We are the perfect choice whether you are looking for business, personal, or even Fortune 500 hosting.

Every web hosting plan comes with a 45 day money back guarantee, 99.9% uptime guarantee, and is fully guaranteed by the owner himself. If you ever have a problem with regular support just ask that your ticket be assigned to Brent and he will personally take the time to give you the VIP attention that you deserve.

» Web Hosting Packages

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Domain Names .COMs starting at $9.99

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Frequently asked questions about web hosting

How do you get a web site live on the Web?

That's where a web hosting company comes in. These companies basically rent you space on their web servers. Web servers are computers that are connected to the Internet 24/7, that have special software designed to serve up websites.

 

How much does it cost to host a website?

Web hosting cost is affected by how much traffic your website gets and any special features that your site may need. That said, for 99% of websites, you can expect to pay as little a $3.99/month.

 

How do I choose a hosting company?

It can be hard to find a good hosting company because there are so many out there. That said, I can suggest a few things to look for:

Quality of service:

A good hosting company will make it easy for you to contact them. So an easy to find phone number and an email address is important.

Reliability:

It is really hard to tell when it comes to reliability. So I would suggest calling a potential web hosting company and see how they are on the phone. You probably want to avoid the fly-by-night company, so look for one that is well established. Usually, if they offer a lot of services, they've been around.

Variety of services:

A good web hosting company should be able to provide a buffet of services and packages. This way, if your website's needs expand (shopping carts, database access, blog tools etc ...) you can be pretty sure that your host can provide everything you need.

 

What web hosting package should I get? 

I would just get the basics that you need. But be sure that your hosting company can scale up with you when and if you need too. ... Just check out the packages and services that they offer to get an idea. We offer a few great packages and provide plenty of support. Check out our website hosting packages.

Do I need to have a domain name?

To get your site on the Web, you do need to buy a domain name. To make things easier for you, some hosting companies offer domain registration services along with their hosting services. Remember these key points: But sure that when you do register your domain name, that it is registered under your name ... you are the owner. At no time should the domain name be owned by the hosting company.

The Ten Things You Should Look When Searching Your First Web Host

Searching for a web hosting company can be enough to make you pull your hair out, especially if this is your very first time doing it. Plus, you can read a multitude of dissertations on what you must have and things you should consider as option, and what to do when the system crashes and what if, what to do, how you should…it’s all enough to make you pull every last strand of hair from you head. Fear not, friends. Choosing the right web host only takes some research on your part of the web hosting companies that pop up when you Google the term ‘web hosting’.

Here are ten things that you should consider with each web hosting company you look at that can make your life a lot easier when you come done to making that final choice.

Connection

The first thing you need to know is how the web hosting company’s server that will house your website connects to the Internet. Obviously you may want to consider avoiding dial-up and DSL links. Dial-up is archaic at best and DSL can be fussy with the change of the weather and position of the satellites. Something like a digital cable or T1 connection is the best. They will provide you with reliable service, the speed your site needs to function properly and security measure to protect your personal information.

Reliability

Research the web hosting company’s track record and see what they are averaging in downtime every month. Downtime may not be an issue for you if your website is more personal than commercial. Read customer reviews and testimonials about the company and find up what time of guarantee they offer you when the system goes down.

Commitment

What type of commitment does the web hosting company require from you? You need to know if the web hosting company offers a trial period so that you see if the service fits your needs or what their stipulations are if you decide to cancel any form of contract you have with them. More than likely you’ll be able to test out the site first before upgrading to a full pay service but it’s better to research the information and play it safe.

Price

The cheapest web hosting company is not going to be the best just like the most expensive company isn’t going to be the best. Free or cheap companies may have restrictions on what you can do with your site while expensive companies usually use dedicated servers that you may not necessarily need. You want something in between that fits your price range and offers the services that you need or want. It’s worth paying more a month to get what you want and make your website functional and useful than skimping on things that could drive you crazy later when you need them.

Domain Name

If you have already purchased your domain name then you will not need to look for a web hosting company that offers it in their package. If you haven’t, then look for one that also offer domain names for free or at a discounted price as part of the web hosting service. Not all web hosting services offer this feature but purchasing your domain name outside your web hosting company is not a problem and is not difficult to do. When you sign up for the hosting package, you just give them the domain name you have paid for and they will do the rest.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Since you are new to the website game, you want a web hosting company that has 24/7 customer service and technical support. Make sure they have contact information readily available for the customer service and technical support departments. Find out if the technical support aspect is free or if there is a small charge when you need to get their help. Additionally, see if they have a user’s forum that you can join and contribute to. Sometimes the answers you need are in the forum already.

Bandwidth

How much bandwidth does the hosting company allot you every month and can you add more at a later time? Most new websites do not need a lot of bandwidth, but as the customer and visitor base grow, you will probably have to have more. Ask what happens when you exceed your monthly bandwidth and if the web hosting company will notify you when you get close to exceeding it so that you can add more. Make sure there are no hidden penalties for increasing the bandwidth at a later date.

E-mail Addresses

Most web hosting companies offer you POP3 e-mail addresses, sometimes up to hundred at a time. Research how many e-mail addresses each hosting package offers and what type of storage options and features – mail forwarding, webmail access, auto responder, etc. – the e-mail has with it.

Other Stuff

What additional items does the web hosting company offer you? These items could include blog software, shopping cart software, photo pages, and more. Make sure you understand how much space the web hosting company will a lot for site and always read up on the extra items you get so you know they are available even if you never use them.

Read User Reviews

Reviews by other users of the web hosting company will give you some good insight as to how the company operates and treats their customers. Keep in mind that not everyone will be happy with every company and that one or two complaints out of a bunch do not imply that the web hosting company should be avoided. It simply implies that these complainers were picky.

Why Should You Own a Domain Name?

Well, if we are to be perfectly honest with you buying your own domain name is not necessary, but first have a look at the classical way of setting up web sites. Some years ago it was common to put up the sites via your ISP (e.g. Comcast or Time Warner). This is still possible but it comes with some risks. If you choose to set up your site the old fashioned way you will be locked to your provider - this goes for the domain name as well as the e-mail. If, or when, you choose to break free from your provider, 301 redirects are a must. This means that the search engines will lose track of you, as will probably your visitors, dropping the coveted ranks you have earned.

So, owning your own domain name is not necessary but since it comes at a low cost we think that it might be a good investment. It is still possible to buy your hosting, internet connection, wherever you like. You can register several domain names on one single set of web hosting account; for example same domain name with different TLDs, .com, .info, and .biz. This is done with branding in mind. Remember to choose one, preferably the .com, which is the most important and link the others to this site. Owning your own domain name increases the chances of getting a high rank on search engines, but what you do with the site will obviously be the deciding factor.

What Domain Name to Choose?

Picking a Domain Name can be quite the task but there are a few things that you should ask yourself when finding yourself at this moment. First of all, think about what the purpose is of your business and the web site. Your budget will also set the limit of what domain name you can choose. If you live in the US and do not specify the top level domain, you want to get the .com by default.

However, if you live and run your business outside of the US you might still want to consider getting your domain name in .com as well as in your local top level domain. For two reasons: 1) a .com is the most powerfully branded TLD; 2) a local TLD would lead to a higher search engine ranking in the local Google/Yahoo index.

SEO and Domain Names

Some people think that SEO only is about stuffing keywords in the content and getting links to their site. Sure, that is important, but there are a couple major concepts you should know about when it comes to SEO and domain names. The older the domain name is, the better it will rank on the search engines. Search engines value older sites than newer one, almost like legacy holding. If you are looking to buy a domain at say SnapNames.com it might be worth looking up how old the name is.

Second, domain names should be easy to understand and related to the content of the webpage. Some companies have been successful with creating company names that completely unrelated to the theme of the site. Doing this, means you will have to work very hard with associating your domain name to the content. The better way is to tie the two together. Want a quilting and hobby site? Choose a name like patchwork.com or quiltingtips.com. A site called catsandneedleeyes.com will take a longer time to be understood by a search engine as a quilting site.

What more is there to think about?

A domain name can consist of 127 characters at maximum. Allowed characters are A-Z, the numbers 0-9 and hyphens. This is as long as the domain name does not start or end with the hyphen - it doesn't concern the letters or numbers.

Sometimes you will get the opportunity of having a domain name evaluated for a small fee. We would highly recommend you to avoid this evaluation since it does not show you anything of value. A domain name will be worth what you do with it - an outsider can never tell you this since they do not know your plans with the domain.

It is extremely important to think about is that the "www" isn't part of the domain name so make sure that you do not include it when searching domain names. Otherwise you might get disappointed.

13 Things to do before Breaking up with your Web Host

Agreed, it’s a pain in more places than one when you have to migrate from one web host to the other, but when your needs grow and your current host fails to keep up, it’s best to do the dumping as soon as possible. But before you sever all ties, you must protect what’s yours and make sure your site is up and running without a hitch at your new host.

Here’s a list of 13 things you must do before you dump your web host:

1. It’s obvious, but has to be said. Find a new web host and make sure that it meets all your needs.

2. Check if you have enough storage space, enough bandwidth to prevent crashes and down times, support for the operating system and applications that run on your server, support for scripts and an adequate number of email accounts and auto responders.

3. The next thing to do is back up everything on your server to a secure location. You don’t want to be left holding an empty tub looking like a fool when you realize you’ve thrown out both the baby and the bathwater. Make sure you get all your email, databases and website files.

4. Upload all your files and databases to the new server and make sure you retain all the file permissions as they were on your old one so that you don’t end up with scripting errors.

5. Get your new web host to test the scripts, contact pages, and databases your website before you make the necessary DNS change.

6. Before you update your DNS to point browsers to the new location of your site, you need to plan for the downtime that results from this procedure. DNS updates take up to 48 hours to spread to all DNS servers on the Internet.

7. Let your customers and website visitors know of this planned upgrade. Make the move when your servers are expected to be the least busy.

8. To reduce down time as much as possible, make DNS changes before you move the domain. Before you do this though, check to see if your mail server is running on the new host so that you don’t lose any email messages.

9. If your domain name was registered using a third party domain name registration company, you need to check if your domain name is a part of your old hosting plan. If it is, you must separate the two, since moving your site to a new web host means that your domain name company remains the same while your web host changes.

10. If your site is dynamic, DNS update delays can cause havoc if you’re not careful. Some customers may see your old site while others have access to the new one. To minimize such occurrences, close down your old site with an alert so that it becomes static while the move to the new one is being made. You could also use a synchronization tool to get changes made on the old site mirrored on the new one.

11. Check for incompatibility issues between applications on your old server and your new one.

12. If you have more than one domain to migrate, make sure you start the process with enough time to spare for the DNS update delays.

13. Make sure all the visitors to your old site are being redirected to your new site before cancelling your current web host. It’s best to keep both sites up and running in parallel for at least two weeks before saying goodbye to your old hosts.

Forex Robot Wars

As you can see by my last few posts I've had a couple of trading robots slugging it out for the last few days.

I'm happy to announce that the latest robot has absolutely thrashed my initial robot. Here are the recent earnings for this week:

Sun 0.19%

Mon 3.23%

Tue 3.16%

Wed 3.26%

Obviously, I'm going to retire the previous robot, which earned at an average pace of approximately 0.5% per day, and allocate it's funds to the newer robot.

The next question is... can I find ways to improve this robot's operation? I'll have to think about that.

UPDATE:

I do have an improvement idea. Basically, use the trading and positions of one account to act as signals for another account. This way you can spot the inefficiencies in one and adjust for them with another -- while coding for them directly might require much more effort.

I foresee a second robot that would open less positions but at a higher rate of risk. It could potentially have better performance characteristics based on what I'm seeing happen on my charts.

Maybe I'll dub this concept "meta-robot" in the event that I eventually build it and post about it.

Broker Quotes beta launched

After a substantial development period we’re proud to unveil Broker Quotes, the world’s first multi-source Forex quotes! You can check out the live version in the left column of the News page.

Broker Quotes is small in size but big on functionality. It supports 27 currency pairs quoted in real-time by any combination of eleven brokers. The gadget is fully customizable and remembers your settings with cookies. The details of Broker Quotes operation and design are covered in the user guide, which is a required reading if you want to get the most out of the gadget.

We’ll be testing Broker Quotes on the News page until we feel it’s stable enough to move to it’s permanent residence on the homepage. The gadget has an intricate back-end that is yet to be load tested, so there may be a few crashes and bugs during the beta period (disclaimer! ).

10 Questions To Get Answered Before Choosing A Web Host

It is particularly important for individuals and SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) that build their own websites, or spend very precious capital to do so, to find a good web hosting plan. If you are just now getting up to speed in this area, it is important that you know how quickly things change in this industry. In addition, you need to know what the basic components of a good hosting plan are, and learn to compare apples with apples, as they say.

It used to be crucially important to pick the right web host, as there were fly-by-night firms actually ripping people off and running away to Belize or somewhere. Things have settled down quite a bit, and there are scores of hosting firms to choose from, all of which are reputable and honest. It may still be true that some hosts have better uptime statistics or offer better deals, but as long as you stay with an established host you should not have any problems with rip-offs.

After making a list of potential companies, you should get these 10 questions answered before choosing a web host:

1. Will you get unlimited disk space?

You certainly can't afford to run out of disk storage space when people are relying on your site to provide important information or services. Most of today's plans, even low-cost ones, feature unlimited disk space, a testament to how much the price of hard drives has come down.

2. Is there unlimited bandwidth?

This term refers to the amount of traffic that can be sent back and forth, to and from your site. When a lot of people want to connect to your site at the same time, limited bandwidth is a real problem and a business-killer, too. Again, even low-cost plans now offer unlimited (or extremely high amounts of) bandwidth.

3. Is there a 99.9% uptime guarantee?

No web host can honestly guarantee 100% uptime, but many hosting services get very close. A standard in the industry is now 99.5%, but leading hosts will advertise a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

4. Do you get free setup?

Setup fees were appropriate at one time when the tools were less powerful and the process less automated. There is currently no reason in the world to pay setup fees, and companies that advertise that they "waive" these fees are essentially imputing a value to something they wouldn't charge for anyway.

5. Do you get subdomains allowing for unlimited sites?

You may begin your Internet strategy with a single site, but when you want to launch others you will need a way to do that, and without setting up a new domain at new cost. This option is quite important, as subdomains (with the format, subdomainname.maindomainname.com) allow you to spread out and create other separate online entities that may not be strictly related to the main domain's purpose.

6. Is 24/7 support available, and how much of it is from real people?

Some hosting services don't let customer call by phone, which should throw up a red flag. Support is absolutely critical, so make sure it's available, and the best companies will provide it in several ways-via e-mail, online web forms, chat and phone calls to real human beings.

7. Do you get installed software for databases, scripting, email, etc.?

Even if you don't understand or make use of Perl, CGI, MySQL, PHP or other acronyms you've been told are important, you do need them. You can make use of them through graphical-interface applications that ease the process, or your IT consultant or employee can handle all of it. You do need these.

8. Is the cPanel hosting tool used?

This is by far the most useful control panel for managing sites, and is made available by many of the leading hosts. If not cPanel, what tools are offered? If you can't find much information in a web search about the toolkit being used by a potential host, considering choosing only a host company that has this one available. The cPanel took is the best example of its kind.

9. Is the plan affordable?

Many hosting plans start at under $10 per month. That's very affordable, but you can do even better by paying for a year's hosting service in advance. When you start requiring e-commerce components and huge database access, your hosting cost will increase, of course.

10. Are there contracts, excessive fine print and/or hidden fees?

Everything in the plan should be made crystal clear from the beginning. Read every word of the user terms and conditions, and don't sign up for anything if you don't understand them. If you start hearing about extra fees, scratch the company off your list of potential hosts.

Domain Geolocator

How do search engines assign a geographical location to a domain name? There are two methods:

• 
  
  • Look at the top-level domain (TLD) of the domain name; for example, site.co.uk, the TLD is 'uk' (United Kingdom), while for site.es, the TLD is 'es' (Spain).
  • If you have a generic TLD (such as .com), then the location of the hosting is important. So a .com site hosted in the UK will show up in the UK-specific searches better.
  
  
• Look at the incoming backlinks to a domain name, and profile their geographical location. For example, if a lot of sites related to Canada link to your site, your site will rank well for Canadian-specific searches.

The first method is what Google uses (see their Tips for non-US sites) and there is evidence that MSN and Yahoo use the second method (see this great post at SEOmoz).

How does the Domain Geolocator Work?

This tool profiles the geographical location of a domain name using the two techniques described above. You simply feed it a domain name, and it uses a combination of whois searches, IP resolution searches, and the Yahoo! API to profile the domain name.

The first thing it does is check the TLD of the domain name and check where the domain is hosted. For that, it uses a geo-to-IP database that is 97% accurate. If you spot an inaccuracy, please let me know.

The second thing the Domain Geolocator is profile the incoming backlinks for the domain name using the Yahoo! API. To do that, it retrieves the first unique 1000 backlinks it finds, and then groups them by TLD (.com, .net, .uk, etc as they are found). This gives you a quick glance about which countries might be most relevant to the domain name.

Further, you can get a detailed view for each TLD group. The detailed view tells you what the incoming links are, which domain they belong to, what is the TLD of the domain (country-specific or generic), and where the linking domain is hosted. You can export the detailed views into Excel files.

A note on speed: The Domain Geolocator can be slow as it retrieves the 1000 backlinks. The Domain Geolocator 'plays nice' and is speed throttled to avoid stressing the Yahoo! service (and avoid a ban!). Also, if the data is not retrieved for whatever reason, the Domain Geolocator automatically waits a few seconds and tries again. During peak times, the retrieval can be slow, so please be patient!

How to Register a Domain Name - Step By step

Here's more detail on registering your domain name.

1. Check Availability (opens in new window)

   This is where you check that your preferred domain name hasn't already been registered by somebody else. A domain name can only be registered to one person at any one time, so if someone else has already registered it, you won't be able to (or you can put it on back order). Of course, the good thing about this is that, once you register your own domain name, nobody else can get it - it's yours for as long as you want it to be!

   To check availability, go to ZappyHost, enter your preferred domain into the search form, and click "GO!".

2. If the domain is not available, try again using an alternative name.
3. If the domain is available, continue to checkout.

   This part is just like purchasing any other product online. You simply follow the prompts through to the checkout. You may be offered related products, such as similar domain names or different top level domains. To add these to your order, click "YES! Add these to my order.". Otherwise click "Continue to checkout".

   Note that you must supply up to date contact details. Domain name registrars won't let you register a domain name without providing these details. This is a requirement by ICANN (see below for info on ICANN).

Who is the Worldwide Authority for Domain Names?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the organization responsible for top-level domains. Top level domains include .com, .org, .net, and much more.

Although ICANN is responsible for top-level domains, you can't actually go directly through them to register your domain name. You have to go through an accredited domain name registrar or partner site (such as ZappyHost).

ICANN operates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and is in charge of maintaining the DNS root zone.

About Domain Name Registrars

Domain name registrars are companies accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and/or by a national ccTLD authority to register Internet domain names. These companies are often web hosting companies who offer a range of website-related services.

Domain Names

One of the most important things you will have to do when starting a website is to pick a domain name. It for sure is not the easiest thing to do, as most good ones already are taken, and it is at the same time something that can make or break your business. A domain name is a unique name that usually offers a public service as the World Wide Web or e-mail. Originally it is a numeric IP Address, but the DNS (Domain Name System) translated into IP addresses into alphabetical letters. Having an alphabetical address instead of a numerical makes the site easier to find for visitors.

So, how does one know what domain names are up for grabs? You can use a domain searcher such as our  - simply type in the name that you want. You will immediately find out if the domain name is taken or not. If the domain you want is already taken, you will get a list of names that could be of interest to you. GoDaddy and similar domain registrars work in a similar way. One difference is that if you go directly to a registrar and the domain name already is taken you could possibly obtain it anyway with the help of a "Domain Buy Agent." These agents will look up and contact the owner of the domain and make them an offer to sell it.

More about DNS

The [[LinkExternal:www.webhostingsearch.com/articles/what-is-dns.php]]Domain Name System[[/Link]] was created in 1983 and it translates numbers into letters and meaningful domain names for us humans. One can say that the DNS is the phonebook of the Internet. Ít also makes sure that the readable names are translated into the abstruse IP addresses, which the computers need to communicate with each other.

Apart from allowing you to easily surf the Internet will the Domain Name System also make sure that all of your e-mails find its way to the inbox. In other words, a stabile DNS is necessary for companies wanting to work effectively and that wants everything to run smoothly.

Are web hosting and blog hosting two different things?

Web hosting is a business that provides servers or computers for your website to actually reside in. It allows users all over the world to be able to access your website. There are a number of ways you can use web hosting.
One of the methods is to do web hosting on your own. This method allows you to have total control over your website and be able to have control of all hosting services you require.

To answer your question, web hosting does include blog hosting.

Choosing a Web Hosting Service

Many offer an array of features for different prices. If you are expecting heavy website traffic, keep in mind that you get what you pay for in a hosting service. Heavy traffic requires a dependable server, and this may not be available on an inexpensive hosting site. Before signing up with a company, find out about billing practices and important supported services such as e-commerce, shopping carts, discussion forums, blogs and customer support. If these features are vital to your website, make sure your hosting service can support them. Be sure to ask about customer support and website design support as well. It is also imperative to sign up for an e-mail feature when choosing a web hosting service.

Blog is an application installed on a web hosting. Most web host will have allow one-click installation (via Fantastico etc) of a blogging software such as Wordpress. If you are having problem choosing a web hosting to use, I suggest you do the following:

1. Go to the webhost review sites such as webhostingjury, http://bestcheapwebhosting.org or webhostinggeeks and list down about 3 common top hosting companies.

2. Next, for each web hosting X, do a “X sucks” search on Google. Read some complaints and see if you may encounter the same problems like them. Some of the complaints may relate to certain groups of users only such as VPS, dedicated server users or resellers. So you may not be affected if you are not from these categories.

3. Eliminate those hostings you feel uncomfortable with, and look for the best bargain hosting for your money.

Some good hosts that will allow you to install blogging software such as Wordpress is Justhost, Fatcow and Inmotion.

15 tips on how not to get screwed by your web host

As a smart consumer, you must be aware that every web host are in the business to make money. Therefore, it’s necessary for web owners to put up certain level of defense against their own web host (even if they are trustworthy and efficient).

To get you started, here are 15 ways to protect yourself from a bad web hosting deal.

1. Register domain separately from your web host

Just because your web host offer a free domain doesn’t mean that you should let the hosting company controls your domain registration. Personally, I prefer keeping my domain names with a large registrant (in my case, GoDaddy) and separate them from the web host. By doing so, I can change my domain DNS anytime I want and avoid myself from being locked with a particular web host.

2. Test customer service before you sign up with a web host

A web host customer support department can be your savior or, nightmare. As most hosting companies provide 24/7 online chat support I suggest you to talk with their staffs at least once before you purchase. Ask questions to test the quality of their services and only go with those that provide satisfying answers.

3. If possible, pay with a debit card or PayPal

Lousy web hosts do not play gentlemanly when you are leaving them. I once had my website hosted with Network Eleven (which is a terrible hosting company) and they refused to stop charging my credit card when I unsubscribed my service. Eventually, I have to cancel my credit card in order to stop them bullying me. Moral of the story, always go safe when it comes to money. If possible, always pay your web host with a debit card or PayPal account. Just in case your web host turn bad, you can stop your subscription easily.

4. Learn the basics in web hosting

One good way to avoid from being fooled by the web host personnel is by educating yourself. Even if you are a non techie, make time to learn the basics in web hosting. You should at least understand the differences between various types of web hosting, pros and cons for different web host operating system, as well as some fundamental knowledge about hosting bandwidth.

5. Avoid web host with black-holed IP

Does your favorite web host allow spam activities? Is your website sharing the same server with a porn sites? All in all, is your hosting provider listed on Spamhaus Block List? Many hosting companies care little about what their clients are doing with the hosting as long as they get paid. Sharing same IP with such spammers will bring you nothing but troubles (imagine if your emails can only be found in your recipients spam box – terrible!).

So before you make any purchase decision, make sure you run a quick check with SpamHaus Block List.

6. Check your web host spam policy

I can’t stress how important it is to avoid hosting your website at a spammy web host. In fact, checking on SpamHaus Block List is not enough. A web host that isn’t black listed now doesn’t mean that they will not be blocked in future. To be safe, check out your web host’s spam policy in the FAQ section. A responsible web host will normally have clearly written guidelines in fighting spams. For example, as in my recent post about Lunarpages, there’s a policy where unsolicited bulk emails are forbidden with all Lunarpages accounts.

7. Understand the meaning of overselling

Overselling might not be a bad thing as it cuts down web hosting cost. However you have to be clear about the meaning of overselling. A manged-overselling is acceptable; but overselling without proper planning is simply rubbish and you should runaway from such hosting services as far as possible. To learn if your web host is well prepared for overselling, check your server load regularly. Do not hesitate to complain or even switch host if things look fishy to you.

8. Make sure your web host offer long enough trial period

Following up on the overselling issue, it’s important to work only with web host that offers long enough trial period. This is to ensure you have sufficient time to test out the servers without any risk of losing money.

9. Understand that unlimited hosting is NOT unlimited

Accept it, unlimited hosting is only unlimited when you are not using too much of the hosting capacity. All hosting services are offered based on series of limited resources – how are you suppose to get unlimited hosting capacity with just $3.95 per month? So be wise, if you foresee your website will attracts crazy volume of traffics, a dedicated hosting is the way to go.

Learn when you should pick up a dedicated server.

10. Ensure that your web host provide clear refund policy

Does your web host provide full money return if you choose to refund your service within trial period? How about the refund policy after the trial session? It’s important to know your web host refund policy in-and-out so that you won’t panic when things go wrong. A point worth noting is that some good host (Bluehost, for example) provide pro-rated refund even if your trial period is past. Needless to say, web host offering such benefits is always recommended.

11. Find out what others have to say about the web host

When it comes to web host shopping, it’s important to get opinion from your experienced friends. These friends can be your neighbors, Poker buddies, favorite bloggers or even Internet friends you met on FaceBook. User reviews are always helpful when it comes to picking up the right host!

(In case you need my opinion, here’s where I place my honest hosting review based on my real usage experience.)

12. Read and participate in related forum discussions

As said, nothing’s more important than getting yourself educated. If you are into website hosting, make sure you visit frequent enough on related forums. Web Hosting Talk and Webmaster World are the two best places to visit. I suggest all of you mark them down on your favorite list and visit them from time to time.

13. Make sure your web host runs on with a redundancy protection plan

When dealing with smaller hosting merchants, make sure they have their own data centers and more over, have the data centers fully protected with redundant power supplies and connectivity. “How many lines do they have coming into the facility? Do they have redundant power to the servers? Do they have an on-site power generator? What sort of security measures do they have for the network?” – these are the basic questions to be asked.

So go back to tips #2 and test their support!

14. Do your own backups regularly

Even if your web host provides sufficient redundancy protection, do not trust them 100%. Your website should be backed up always. Utilize cPanel’s cron job and backup features to ensure backup works are done regularly without fail.

15. Always keep your option open

Last but not least, always have an open mind in term of your web hosting choice. It is, after all, simple to switch your website from one host to another. So why stuck with the same old lousy host? If they don’t appreciate your business, someone else will.

Domain Name Registrars

A Domain Name Registrar is and does exactly what it sounds like - it registers domain names. Companies working with this are accredited by ICANN, when it is a matter of generic TLD's, or by a national ccTLD authority. Domain name registrars have not been around for long and it took until 1999 (prior to this everything was handled by NSI) for them to get established. Since then they grew in force and there are now over 500 registrars to turn to when picking a domain name.

It is not possible for an end-user to register a domain name directly to ICANN - a designated registrar must be chosen. Each accredited registrar must pay a fixed fee of $4000 to ICANN as well as dividing a fee of $3.8 million among all registrars.

The rule says that only one designated registrar is allowed to modify or remove information about a domain name. The business is very competitive and as an end-user you are able to obtain services at many various price ranges. When a .com domain name is registered for an end-user the registrar has to pay $0.20 administration fee to ICANN and a maximum annual fee of $6.86. The cost of the registration will often be somewhere between $7.5 and $35 per year for the end-user.

Transferring Domain Names

When you are giving a new registrar the authority to modify, delete or add information about a domain name, this concerns "Domain Name Transfers." When this happens, there will be a transfer process between the end-user and the new registrar. When the process is over, the new registrar will take over all the accounting and DNS issues from the old registrar.

The reason people transfer their domain is most often, they are not satisfied with the services of the old registrar. Perhaps you can save money with a new registrar or get more value for the dollar.

General Rules

All the major registrars can handle and register domain names ending with for example .com and .info but when it comes to ccTLD's it is a bit different. Say that you want to register a .de address - then you have to go through Germany's registrars and this goes for any given country.

Handling the domain name this way is cheap but there are also some disadvantages. As a foreigner there could be some trouble with language, filling out formulas, laws and understanding routines. Do not forget that some countries require that you live in the country where you register a domain name.

There is however also another way of handling country specific top level domains. Four web sites are offering you the opportunity of turning to them if you wish to get rid of the hassle of turning to a local registrar.

With the help of these sites you will be able to buy a domain name wherever you wish. This also goes for countries requiring you to live in their country in order to usually be able to obtain their ccTLD. These four websites have companies in countries worldwide and what they simply do is act as your representative. Of course, you must set up a contract between the two of you but they will stand as owners of the domain in Whois database. The advantage with this approach is obviously that you will get rid of much extra work but their service will cost you a tad more, or in some countries such as Mexico quite much more.

What is there to look at in a Registrar?

There are lots of things to think about when looking at registrars, here are the points we consider to be the most important. They are as follows:

• Price
• Services & Spin-Off Services
• Private Registration
• Where the Registrar is located geographically and juristically
• Reputation
• Possibility of getting actual invoices
• Support
• Experience
• Technical Platform

If you make sure that the registrar will be able to satisfy you when it comes to the bulleted points, chances are high that you will be pleased with the over all experience.

Other Ways of Obtaining Domain Names

There are other ways of obtaining domain names than going straight to a registrar, and one that we would like to recommend is auctions. There are two sites that we think stand out: SnapNames.com and NameJet.com - both have teamed up with a ton of Registrars to offer their services. At these sites you can see domain names that are soon to be expired because of previous owners letting them go or not paying the annual fee. It will not cost you anything to sign up at these sites and if you keep your eyes open you might be able to snap a top domain at a low cost. The minimum cost for an auctioned domain name is around $50 and $60.