Overview of cPanel Hosting

cPanel Hosting refers to any web hosting plan that uses cPanel as its web hosting control panel. cPanel is the leading control panel interface in the web hosting industry today. It uses a graphical interface that greatly simplifies the management of a website. As such, we offer cPanel on each of our web hosting plans.

cPanel simplifies a lot of the routine website management tools by providing users an easy to use front-end interface. It allows you to easily manage your email accounts, your FTP accounts, the files that are on your website, your add-on domains, your sub-domains, your MySQL databases, and it will even provide you with your website statistics.

If you're on a PHP web hosting plan, cPanel will also allow you to access Fantastico, the instant script installer. With Fantastico, you can install a variety of popular scripts such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Mambo, phpBB, Zen Cart, OS Commerce, Coppermine, Gallery, and much more. You can install each of these with just a few easy clicks and avoid the hassle of installing scripts the traditional way.

Web Hosting Sizes

The size of your web hosting account decides how big your online presence can be. There are many ways to determine the size of a web hosting account.

Disk Space

The size of a web page is around 10 to 50 kb - most of the disk usage is graphics. If you throw in large image galleries, big databases, scripts, email and log files, the total size can easily rack up.

Email Accounts

Many web hosting providers offer one email account with their free web hosting plans. Even if only one person operates the website, it is convenient and logical to have separate email accounts for different purposes. For example, you can have yourname@yourdomain.com for private emails,info@yourdomain.com for general inquiries and newsletters@yourdomain.com for signing up newsletters. It is also nice to get email aliases.

Also check if the web host offers webmail with your free web hosting service. If not, you will have to download your email to your computer with a POP3 mail client (ie. Outlook).

Data Transfer

Data transfer is the amount of data transferred to and from your web hosting account. This includes file uploads, emails and visits to your website. Normally, visits to your web site will be the dominant factor.

If your average web page size is 20kb, 50,000 page views will result in 1 gb of data transfer. Most web sites use less than 1 gb per month.

Multiple Domains

Many free web hosting providers do not offer this, but it is a very cost-saving feature to have, especially if you're planning on running multiple websites under one account.

If your free web hosting provider offers multiple domain hosting, there is normally a limit to the number of extra domains you can host with one account. However, the apportioned server resources (disk space and data transfer) of a free web hosting account, you normally cannot host more than a handful of websites on one account.

Common Web Hosting Mistakes

1. Falling for the price trap
Yes, many different companies offer free web hosting services at no cost. However, a common set back is most of these free web hosting plans do not offer sufficient features you need for your website and/or most of them force you to place advertisements on your website.
2. Inexperienced reseller
Hosting with a reseller is not a bad thing. However, you need to do extensive research - sometimes a reseller is very good all around but inexperienced when it comes to scripts and server environments.
3. Not clearly defining your requirements
You should keep a list of what resources your website needs and add to that list as it grows. This will make it easier when you need to upgrade your web hosting services in the future.
4. Forgiving a host's bad or limited website
If a web hosting provider cannot or would not take the time to put together an informational website for their own business, most likely they won't be too concerned about yours either. Look out for cookie cutter websites.
5. Putting all eggs in one basket
If you manage several websites, it may seem like a good idea to have everything in one account. You can simplify your billing and get a better deal. But that's not always the case. If your websites generates income and they are all interconnected, having all of them down at the same time is bad.
6. Not keeping a record of their contact information
Many of us are satisfied with email, forum and live support. But when your web hosting provider is down for days, including their own site, you won't be able to contact them at all if you don't have any records of their telephone number.
7. Relying on host backups
Always keep your own backups, even if your web hosting provider performs backups as well. It happens far too often - a customer's website goes down indefinitely and they couldn't put the website on another web hosting provider because they didn't have any backups of their own.
8. Trusting your host to have the latest software
New software or latest patches are meant to plug security holes. Check with your web hosting provider what versions they are running and how often they make updates before you purchase web hosting services from them.

What is VPS Hosting?

VPS hosting is a type of web hosting that uses Virtual Private Servers. Although the websites are hosted on the same physical machine, VPS allows each website to be fully independent as if each were on its own separate machine.

How VPS works

The easiest way to visualize how VPS work is to use the apartment analogy. Each virtual server, or "container", on the machine is like an apartment suite. You can install any software you like or restart your own container without affecting the other containers on the machine, much like how you can renovate your own suite without affecting the others.

On a shared hosting server, problems with one website might cause the entire server to go down, causing all of the other websites on that server to go down with it. This would not happen on a VPS machine because only the problematic container would go down, but the other containers would be unaffected.

Similarly, some high traffic websites in a shared hosting environment may hog all of the server's resources, thus causing other websites on that server to be unreachable. This would not happen on a VPS machine as each container may only use the resources that are allocated to it.

Why use VPS Hosting?

VPS is great as it slips in nicely and bridges the gap between shared hosting and dedicated hosting services. VPS will give you the independence and flexibility of a dedicated hosting service, but at the price of a high-end shared hosting service.

For users whose websites have outgrown their shared hosting service but can't quite afford a dedicated server, VPS hosting may be the best solution.

Email Hosting - Your Online Brand

The ideal email address is short, simple and logical. Free email addresses are often long and confusing, and they include impersonal domains, like@Hotmail and @Gmail. In business, it is vital to create the right impression - you need an email address that is both unique and memorable.

With domain email accounts, you get complete control over your online persona. Using your own domain name makes it easy for others to email you and remember your address. It helps establish credibility by showing you are a real company with real employees, products and services.

Remember, your domain name is your online brand. Your domain name gives you're a presence on the Internet. Many people will look for your website when they receive an email from your by taking the part after the @ (ie. @doteasy.com). When your website appears, it validates and authenticates you and your products or services. Authentication is very important because of the amount of spam each of us receives from many free email service providers, such at @Hotmail.com.

Other benefits of using your own domain name for email:

establishes/reinforces your online identity

differentiate yourself from competitors (and spammers)

lets your customers know you mean business

Many web hosting providers offers email services with their free web hosting plans. In additional to access via webmail, you should be able to access your emails via a POP mail client (ie. Outlook) and even your mobile device (ie. your iPhone).

The Boundaries of Web Hosting Support

Website creation, web design, scripting, database, eCommerce, search engine optimization, keywords, control panels, FTP, email clients, bandwidth, disk spce, IP addresses, DNS, domain names, etc. These terms and phrases are related to the web hosting industry and can easily be found in many web hosting providers' glossary and knowledgebase. All of this can be very overwhelming to a new website owner or something new to web hosting. There seems to be a web hosting solution for almost every problem related to the Internet, but not all of the problems are within the boundaries of web hosting support.

Support Tickets

Many people become confused with what their web hosting provider should be able to help. When you visit the support section of most web hosting sites, you will see a menu that lists a variety of categories in which you can file your complaint or inquiry. Many of these categories appear to represent your problem, but that is not always the case.

For example, if you are having a problem editing your website's template or installing a third party plug-in onto your website. You may assume that it is a scripting issue. However, in all actuality, it is not a scripting issue that is directly related to your web hosting account. Your web hosting company may advise you to consult with a web design professional. Many people will see this as a lack of support even though that might be the best solution they can offer. Support ticket categories are perhaps the leading cause of confusion and frustration.

Terms and Conditions

A more accurate way to assess the boundaries of your web hosting provider support capabilities is to refer to its Terms of Service. Very often you will be able to find information about what the support staff is able to help you with. A good rule of thumb is - if the problem cannot be solved within your control panel, then the web hosting company probably cannot help you with it.

Phone Support

The easiest way to find out whether or not your problem can be solved by your web hosting company is to call them and find out in real time. Instead of waiting for an email response you may find it more time-efficient to speak with a customer service representative on the phone (or a Live Chat). This will eliminate confusion and frustration that results from information "lost in translation" via email.

Free Website vs. Facebook - which first?

Free Website vs. Facebook - which first?

So you've decided it is time to establish an online presence for your business. Your buddy suggests getting your own website; your teenage nephew says, Facebook Page is free and not to mention the millions of users you can reach!

Now which one do you choose, your own website or a Facebook Page?

Creating a Facebook Page is easy. Signup. Write. Post. Tada! Your page is now accessible to millions of potential customers.

Facebook Pages, or any social networking sites give you an extra reach you don't get with your website. It can help you promote your business to a massive audience without costing you a dime. It allows you to develop your company image and get creative with your audiences and customers.

However, to develop a long term business strategy and loyal customers, you need your own website, and here's why:

Problems with social networking sites:

1. No ownership, no control. Social networking sites can change its policies, lose data, or one day goes out of business, all at their own discretion.
2. Not everyone is on social media networking sites. For example, the majority of Facebook users in the United States are female between the ages of 18-25. (reference:http://www.checkfacebook.com/)
3. A social media networking site URL doesn't deliver the professionalism a website URL does. Would you buy from an online business that only has a Facebook Page and not their own website?

Your website should always be the foundation of your company's online presence. It plays an important part in how your business is seen online.

If the main reason why you would consider a Facebook Page and not your own website is because setting up a Facebook Page is free, then maybe you should know that setting up your own website with your own domain name is not as expensive as you'd think. Many free web hosting companies offer free web hosting services if you purchase a domain name from them. Take advantage of the competitive web hosting market, look for a free web hosting company that also offers free email services, a free website creator and applications to help you build your website, and most of all, no forced ads.

Your own "http://www.yourbusiness.com" , complete with a decent-looking website and @yourbusiness.com email addresses - now that's the kind of online presence that your business needs, first.