Temi’s Blog

Jun 252009
 

temi

Over the past year or so I have kept in close contact with another webmaster in the UK, Temi Odurinde. Temi is a successful webmaster, especially in the forum industry, and is also the owner of Boss Cart, a popular shopping cart software. I have done a review of Boss Cart software in the past, and you may be hearing more about it soon. A little hint here, freebie promo!  What I wanted to mention though is the fact that Temi has a web hosting blog that some of you may be interested in. Continue reading »

Web Hosting Reviews

Feb 052009
 

geeks

After writing about Web Hosting Search last week someone reminded me about Web Hosting Geeks, and that they have been doing reviews for a long time. I have actually been on this site several times in the past, and completely forgotten that they break down hosting types by specifics as well.

Why Use a Hosting Review Site?

On their home page they have a top ten web hosting list of general hosting companies. InMotion is their number one pick. What I really care about though is the best rated hosting companies for the particular niche or need. If a client of mine needs to host just a basic info site, I don’t want to refer them to some hosting company, and then later find out they ended up getting a dedicated server at $200+ a month. On the other hand if they were looking for a dedicated server to support multiple sites, finding the best host company for that is as simple as going to their Best Dedicated Server Page or in the first example a low cost host. I like being able to say “you need X type of hosting, pick the one you want on that page, and it should be fine”.  It gives the client the freedom to secure a site and price they are comfortable with, and I can know they are not getting too little or too much.

A Geeky Review

Web Hosting Geeks reviews are based on several factors, but what I like best is that is mostly influenced by the visitors ratings. Their reviews include all of the hosts details, types of plans, fees, and a link to the hosting company. Customer reviews are all visible without being a member, and offer a star rating plus written review. It’s not really a geeky review, but just a review made by geeks:)

Web Hosting Search

Feb 032009
 

webhosting

Over the past month I have found two popular site themes or ideas amongst my clients. Many of them are financial related, I will be doing a three part series this week on credit cards site by the way, and the second popular theme is hosting reviews. I can understand the sudden increase in financial sites, but have been a little surprised in the number of hosting review sites. I have analyzed ten of them in January alone. By comparing all of them I also learned a little something new in regards to hosting. It also brought me to a hosting review site that has figured out the same thing I did, not all hosting sites are the same, and they should really not be generalized.

Common Hosting Review Sites

So we know all hosting sites are not the same, they offer different packages, different prices, and different customer services. What we often forget, or don’t even realize, is that many hosting companies are geared for a specific audience. They could be specialized for bloggers, e-commerce sites, gaming sites, or anything really. Imagine a typical blogger. Do they really need a host that offers free SSL certificates, or dedicated servers. They want to know what’s best for hosting a blog. Who has the best software, what are the lowest prices, do they support php? What I have found looking at several hosting review sites, is that they commonly omit this concept.

The review sites are catering to a general audience. Only a few of them review hosting sites based on specific niche, and when they do, it’s typically just one. Then I found one site that didn’t forget that there is more than one kind of hosting company, WebHostingSearch.com. Web Hosting Search nicely breaks down the reviews by niche making it easy to pick the right plan.

Reviews by Hosting Types:

  • Cheap Hosting
  • WordPress Hosting
  • eCommerce Hosting
  • Reseller Hosting
  • Virtual Private Servers
  • Dedicated Servers

They have reviews for each type, and if you are still just looking for a generic server they have reviews on those as well, see getting shared web hosting. For those of you looking to support your small business with a website, I had to do a little digging, but they have reviews for you as well, see business website hosting. There is no reason to be paying higher prices for a server that is ten times you need, even if it was rated number one overall. Find the kind that is rated best for for your needs, and then look for the best price.

Web Hosting Search

So why name your site Web Hosting Search when you are a hosting review site? It’s their search function that’s why. They have an advanced search page where you could border line build your own server. As a webmastser setting up a new domain, you can simply go to their advanced search page, check all the different options that you may need, and they will give you the best results of their current 143 different types of hosting plans researched. This is an intense form, and you should have no excused about picking the wrong plan afterwards.

Web Hosting IP’s

Dec 302008
 

Being that the new year is around the corner I am sure many of you have the goal of improving your Google’s Page Rank. Some obvious tips, don’t get too spammy with your favorite keyword, and keep that new content coming. There are some hidden pitfalls though, and some of them are not that easy to spot.

One PR killer can be the simple switching of the IP address for your server. Over the years I have had a couple of sites simply tank after I upgraded my servers. The results were new IP’s, I didn’t even think about that, and I got a sudden drop in PR. I also learned from that lesson PR isn’t everything. I still receive great traffic for those sites from the search engines. It’s hard to think about long term decisions for the things we do online, but when picking out where you will host your site and how will you host your site should be big ones. WebHostingRating has a lot of web hosting articles that go into more detail about the effects of PR and your server’s IP. What’s the PR of your hosting company?

Another killer is hosting several domains on one IP. It’s common practice for hosting companies to do this, but you may get some SEO guys telling you that ideally that IP should be all you. It’s similar to registering your domain for ten years or life.  You are descretely giving your site authority by appearing as a professional orgarnization, and not as a turn and burn site.

Carbon Neutral

Oct 302008
 

carbonWell Hosting Ref missed this site, LCN.com. LCN is a registry and hosting site, that also claims to be Carbon Neutral! I guess Hosting Ref has yet to start reviewing web hosting companies based on their Carbon footprint. Know any other sites using the Carbon Neutral logo?

LCN is a UK site that manages domain names, offers hosting, and also offers website builder packages to get your site up quick. The website builder software comes in a couple of different packages that you can buy into. If you are pretty web savvy, it’s cheaper than a webmaster. As one who started building sites in the 90′s one page at a time, believe me, templates are the way to go. Code is often clean, it’s easier  to create a professional appearance, and with a little finesse, can be customized to your likings. Heck this site is done with WordPress. All I did is customize a theme to my liking.

Too bad for them that I am posting this now, but they are having a 25% off sale all this October.

Web Hosting

Oct 302008
 

hostingref

Ihostingrefn need of web hosting? Hosting Ref has updated their top 10 web hosting sites again. In Motion Hosting took the #1 spot.

Hosting Ref breaks down the web hosts in a simple side by side comparison comparing price, space and traffic, and a few additional items. In Motion Hosting cost $6.95 a month, offered unlimited traffic, and unlimited space. Sounds pretty good, but if you site hits it big, I would imagine some down time. Usually unlimited traffic, and a busy website are not good for hosting sites.

Each review Hosting Ref has done on the sites is fairly extensive. They have profiles for each site listed. The profiles have a basic description, list main features, email features, web design features, blog features, plugins, ecommerce informaiton, database stuff, and pretty much anything you would need to know before making a purchase.

Great way to compare hosting companies on the fly, and Hosting Ref has been around for a while so you know they offer some credible informaiton.

Bid For Position

Oct 132008
 

lbsriptInterested in another way to earn some extra money from your website without plastering it with ads? Does your site have a links page or directory? If it does, here is a great way to turn those pages into cash machines. Create a directory that gives priority to sites based on their bids.

You could create a bidding directory yourself, but there is an easier way. Download this free directory script. The software is called Link Bid, and is written in PHP so it should be compatiable for most of you. To get it for free, you do have to register, but it’s just a simple email/username registration. The confirmation link takes you to the software support forum where you can download, and find all the support you need.

To see a sample of the LBS software in action you can find a directory of web hosting services on their site that have bid for positions. The software has different templates that you may use, will be free to upgrade, and supports multiple payment gateways. The administration panel gives you a variety of methods to handle the directory and the submissions. The layout is template based so it fairly easy to modify, and is CMS powered. As a bidding customer, the submission form is easy to use, it’s even easier to up your bid, and it is easy to figure out the whole bidding process.

Free is a good way to go, and if you have installed in scripts on your site before this should be an easy one for you. My advice to start it off. Place some sites in their already so it looks like you are already getting bids. It might take some time to get things moving based on the facts people like to buy listings on pages with Google PR.

Best Web Hosting Site Survey

Aug 062008
 

Bravely going where no site has gone before, at least on Best Web Image, Best Web Hosting has volunteered their site for some survey questions of their own. Best Web Hosting is a hosting review site. They have a top ten list of best hosts, and a side by side comparison for them. They also have several articles in regards to hosting as well.

Ready to take the survey? Five simple questions that will take you about 1 minute to answer.

Take Survey

Where’s Your Search?

Aug 012008
 

I was reviewing a web hosting company today, and liked what I saw. Clean layout, side by side comparisons, easy to scan text, but they were missing out on one thing. They didn’t have a search function. Typically, you want a search function to help support your visitors in site navigation. Navigation is not always intuitive as we might think, and that search button can help out a lot. For WebHostingGeeks though, they were missing out on money making opportunity.

Web hosting review sites often make money by having referral links to the hosts that they have done a review on. People like me, search for hosting companies, and find sites like theirs. The next step is to click on one of their links and move on to ordering the service that looked good. What happens when I don’t find what I am looking for though? In their case, I go back to Google, and start my search over. This is where they are missing out. If they had included a search function on their site, and made it visible near the top, chances are I would have used their search function first. Then the results are their referral links, not another hosting review company.

I was able to find a search function on their site located in their 2007 reviews, but it was a Google search form. There is no advantage to having that because it will just send the visitor off site. Having a internal search engine for your site is worth the time to set up, and could substantially effect your bottom line.

Web Hosting at Velnet

Jun 072008
 

As I mentioned few days ago in another post about cPanel, when looking for a new host for your website, you can expect to find many with cPanel. Velnet is another cPanel web hosting company I found. cPanel is the leading control panel used for servers today working both on Linux and Windows. When looking for a host I would suggest getting one that supports cPanel. It’s very easy to use, intuitive (at least to me), and when you are spending all day working on a site the last thing you want is to be held up by crapware managing your website.

Velnet offers four packages of web hosting, all supporting cPanel, registration and transferring of domain names, and same day set up. I have been using the same service for years to host my sites, I will not mention name here, but they fail to offer any of those services with exception to hosting space. I have used cPanel several times working on client sites, and life is so much easier with it. Especially when I am off site, and am forced to use a PC that is not mine.

If you are a UK business that sells a product on your site, this might be the place to host your site. They offer instant SSL certificates for a small fee. Reasonable pricing, comprehensive service offered, and something that is not normal these days, several methods to contact customer service, even by Skype!

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