Why Colocation Web Hosting is an Excellent Option to Consider

If your business requires complete control over server configuration (unlike dedicated servers where the server is owned by the web host company), this is the ideal choice. Essentially, your company will pay another company to connect the server you own to the Internet. If you don’t already own one, most companies will build one for you.

Colocation web hosting provides you with greater flexibility. You get to choose your hardware and software for the server. The hosting company is responsible for keeping your server connected to the internet and handles all those environmental details. You will simply be responsible for maintenance.

Initially, you will have to pay a start-up fee including the server itself, the space it takes up, purchase of other equipment, such as a switch or router, the cost of staff time to set-things up and possibly a few other costs. Of course, there is also the monthly fees for rental and connection.

Other Colocation Aspects to consider

Colocation web hosting offers you support from knowledgeable and helpful staff. The host will also offer uptime guarantees on the performance of your server. This means you won’t have to worry about much downtime that will leave you absent from the web and suffering business losses because of it. You can also rest assured that this type of hosting will provide you with great security assurances.

There are other minor things to consider, such as the contract terms, facility where your server will be located and bandwidth, but those are minor details that vary from host company to host company. You will want to do your homework and find the options that best suit your preferences.

Not all Colocation Web Hosts are Created Equal

Research collocation providers before making a final decision. It may sound like it takes a lot to get started, but if you find a good company to work with, they’ll walk you through the tough stuff. That’s their job, after all.

Colocation web hosting is a great investment for your company. It will help ensure a constant web presence for your business and a greater chance for increased revenue. For mid-sized to large companies, it’s really a great way to go. You get the greater flexibility in the what goes into your server and for a company that needs a lot of space, you get much more with colocation hosts than you do with dedicated servers and some of the other options out there. Colocation hosting could be the best investment you make for your company in the long-run.

While there are many options for website building and hosting, reseller web hosting could be the solution you’re looking for. Why opt for reseller web hosting? I’m glad you asked! Here’s the top five reasons why reseller web hosting really is the cream of the crop.

Save Yourself Some Green.

Reseller hosting packages will cost you a fraction of what the other guys charge. You pay a small fee to get started and will easily recoup that investment as customers sign up. Your monthly fee for hosting is minimal. Your customers will save even more. The package they purchase from you will most likely cost less than what you initially paid and their monthly fees will be reasonable, as well, depending on how much you choose to charge.

Oh, the potential! Income potential, that is.

Reseller web hosting provides you with the opportunity to make quick profits from both your own business services and your activity as a reseller. Once you have acquired several customers, your home free! You can count on residual income from your clients’ fees for some time to come with very little effort on your part.

Freedom of Choice

Face it, many of the hosting packages on the market today tell you what you’re going to get. They typically offer you a couple of options and that’s that. You just have to live with what you’re given. With reseller web hosting, you’re given more options and the freedom to choose what best fits your needs. Furthermore, when it comes to the reselling side of things, you get to decide which parts of your package to resell, how to present it and the prices you set. No one will be standing behind you, dictating how you run your business!

Room to Grow

You get a vast amount of space for a small price. That’s ingenious! For those of you needing a lot of bandwidth, reseller web hosting is the affordable solution. So wave goodbye to all those hosting plans that inform you of how you have apparently exceeded your bandwidth limit when you have barely used any and still have tons to add to your site. If you don’t use all your allotted bandwidth, you simply have another way to diversify your income, as you can sale the resources that you’re not using.

How Does Free Hosting Sound?

Free. Everyone loves that word. If it means you can keep your money in your pocket, then it’s got to be great. With several customers on your roster, you could eventually have your site hosted for free. The fee will still have to be paid, but it no longer has to come straight from your pocket and your regular income. Your profits from the reselling alone will easily pay your fees and you’ll still have plenty of green leftover!

Now that you know the reasons why reseller web hosting is so great, don’t miss the opportunity to have your own affordable web presence and a chunk of the unlimited revenue stream!

If you want your website to flourish then you’ll need to take the appearance of your website seriously. The following tips will help you find programmers that are reliable and capable of building your website.

Always Check the Background

Hiring a worker without knowing their background information is a great way to drain your time and money. Therefore it is important to never employ the services of a programmer or website designer  who’s background cannot be thoroughly scrutinized. Instead of hiring a service through a personal website, you may want to visit a freelancing site or forum. The sites have feedback systems that you can use to view the work history of your potential employees. This information will aid you in establishing the deserved pay rate, and you’ll also know what to expect form your workers.

Work Experience is More Important than Educational Credentials

Many programmers and developers possess skills that are self taught. In fact, some of the most highly skilled workers are those that took the initiative to learn their craft through experience. Many of the people who have degrees in web design are not as skilled as these self taught entrepreneurs, because instead of learning through experience, they simply sat through a class and passed a test once every week. Therefore, instead of judging a worker by their academic credentials, you should first consider the experience they possess.

Always Use Contracts

Make sure you have your employees sign an agreement that thoroughly outlines what is expected of them. You’ll want to make sure your workers understand the task at hand, and know exactly what they are expected to do. Many conflicts result from a dispute between the employee and employer based on the lack of a work statement. All jobs should be completed under contract, and all contracts should contain a work statement. Work statements, at minimum, should outline the overall workload and the scheduled deliver date for the task at hand.

Hire Only Realistic Employees

Man freelancers try to sell you an all-inclusive package, and in doing so, stretch themselves to thin and are unable to complete the task as promised. Instead of hiring workers that promise grand results, hire many workers that promise to meet realistic goals. Doing this will ensure you are never let down by employees that fail to live up to false expectations. Make sure you have a chat with your employees and screen them thoroughly before hiring them. Test them to see if they are in the habit of saying yes to every request, even when the outcome is unrealistic.

Now that you have paid for your web hosting account, you’ll be able to use cPanel to access all of your site’s administrative functions. One such function is FTP setup.

What is FTP?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and it is essentially the method used to upload content to your site. Instead of uploading files individually, you’ll be able to upload hundreds of files to your website with ease using an FTP client.

How Does an FTP connection Work?

The FTP client establishes a connection between your website’s server and your hard drive, making it easy to update your site. In order to establish the connection with your site’s server, you need to create an FTP account in your web hosting account. Once the FTP account is created, you’ll be given a set of login credentials that you can use with your FTP client.

What is an FTP Client?

An FTP client is a local program that you download to your computer just like any other application. Once the FTP program has been downloaded to your computer, you can use the credentials given by your web host to connect to your web server and upload and download files form your website. If you are worried about the cost of an FTP client, don’t be. In fact, they are often free! Most people use a popular FTP client like FileZilla.

I have my FTP client and I know what it is. Now how do I set it up with my hosting account?

Go to your control panel (in this case cPanel). Now look for a section that says “Files.” This section will let you manage every aspect of your website’s files, including all FTP functionality. Click on the link that says “FTP Accounts.”  At the top of the interface you’ll see the option to create a new FTP account. In many cases your host will have already created on for you. You can view your existing FTP accounts by scrolling down and viewing the table of your existing FTP accounts. To create a new account simply fill out the forms with the required information (such as Username and Password) and then hit create FTP account. You’re done! Now just use the login information provided and login to your FTP account in your FTP client (in this case FileZilla).

Content Management Systems Replacing HTML Editors

Perhaps even more popular than the WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) HTML Editors like Dreamweaver, are the extremely user-friendly content manage systems such as WordPress. In fact the popularity of WordPress as a website management solution has exploded over the past couple of years and has easily surpassed all of it’s competitors. Unlike HTML editors, content management systems let even the most novice users set up professional websites with little to no experience in website design. Absolutely no coding skill is required and the user can even create custom pages using a graphical interface and preset designs called themes. These themes give you the ability to create a website in just minutes that appears to have taken hours.

Control Panel Applications

Another type of internet technology that is making Frontpage web hosting obsolete is the ever expanding selection of control panel applications that enhance the overall functionality and even search engine optimization of a website. Most control panels even include easy installation software that helps you install these applications with ease. The aforementioned WordPress content management system is often included for free with a web hosting account, and this may be one of the reasons why so many people take advantage of Wordpress.

How Long Will Frontpage Hosting Last?

After realizing just how much the popularity of Frontpage hosting has declined in the past couple of years, the question is not “Which is better – a CMS or Frontpage,” rather the question is “How long will Frontpage Hosting last?” At this rate, since Microsoft has stopped developing Frontpage, the service might as well already be extinct. This isn’t to say that some old school users won’t find it useful, however the software is now retired and does not have a use any more in the general public. In fact, it is even difficult to find a web hosting company that uses Frontpage compatibility as one of its selling points. Of course, you can still use Frontpage to create sites with whatever hosting company you’d like to, but the question is why would you want to?

What is the Future of Web Hosting and Site Creation?

As more people venture online to begin their business endeavors, we will undoubtedly see more people looking for simpler solutions to build their own websites. The fact is. Most website owners do not want to take the time to learn HTML or other site coding techniques, so they’d rather use a theme, learn a little bit of CSS and then make a few adjustments to it. This is the mentality that you should expect to see as the web becomes more user-friendly in the years to come.

Quick-Installation Utilities

For this reason, there applications included in your hosting account’s control panel that assist you in installing these web applications with the click of a mouse. The main quick-installation utilities are Fantastico and Simple Script.  Different web hosting companies offer different installation utilities, so you’ll want to choose wisely when considering which web hosting provider you’ll be hosting your site with. The following information should help you decide between the two main quick installation applications – Fantastico and Simple Script.

Fantastico

Fantastico is by far the widely used and well known quick-installation utilities available, as it is included with the popular cPanel control panel. Fantastico lets you install popular web applications and CMS like WordPress and others. With a few clicks of the mouse, an installation that would have otherwise taken at least 10 minutes, can be performed in seconds. Fantastico is renowned for it’s user-friendliness and extreme simplicity. However, Fantastico has stopped offering support for WordPress and a number of other applications, and therefore the versions of WordPress that it installs are  outdated. If you install WordPress with Fantastico, you’ll be using an outdated copy with no navigation bar on the left side. This alone has caused many people to switch over to Simple Scripts.

Simple Scripts

Simple scripts is very similar to Fantastico, in that it automatically installs web applications with just a few clicks of the mouse. However, Simple Script seems to have picked up where Fantastico left off, as it now offers support for all of the web applications that Fantastico stopped supporting. For this reason, many of you will not have a choice other than to use Simple Scripts during the installation process. For example, if you want to install Wordpress on your site, you really cannot do this with Fantastico anymore, unless you’d prefer an outdated version.

Conclusion

I don’t know anybody that would prefer an outdated version of any software, so it would seem logical that you may prefer to use Simple Scripts. WordPress is not the only web application that Simple Scripts installs with ease, in fact it offer more installation assistance than Fantastico ever did! The user interface is also much more visually appealing in Simple Scripts, and the navigation is very simple. Overall, Simple Scripts is the new standard and Fantastico has a rival worthy of contention.

The Importance of Password Security

Protecting yourself from this kind of threat is absolutely imperative, as it poses a very real risk to the safety and continuity of your online business, and maybe even your life as you know it! The previous statement is not an exaggeration; there have been cases in which business owners have lost everything because they were sued for the actions of someone who stole their login credentials and committed fraud with their accounts. If you can’t prove someone stole your login credentials, then you’re going to be the prime suspect regardless of whether you actually committed a crime or not. This is why it is absolutely essential to protect all of your login credentials.

Brute Force

In the distant past, passwords were somewhat safe regardless of how many digits they had or how abstract they were. The only methods a hacker had was to guess the password manually or by using a relatively slow program to guess the password. These programs are called Brute Force programs and they are still in use today by many hackers, however the current versions of these programs are much more complex, and much faster at completing the task of hacking into your accounts.

Keyloggers

However, now thee are programs which let hackers spy on your browsing habits, and even log the exact keys you press on your keyboard! This means passwords are no longer safe simply by creating a secure password! Instead you’ll need competent antivirus technology in combination with secure passwords. If a hacker can manage to get your login credentials, there is no limit to what they can do with it. They may even try to log in to some of your other accounts such as your email, your bank account, or some of your other websites. This is why it is absolutely imperative to never use the same password for all of your accounts. Make sure all of your passwords are random and make sure each one is unique and contains a healthy mixture of numbers and letters.

Conclusion

The risks associated with login credential theft are great and should not be overlooked by any online business owner. Even if you do not own a business, you should consider all of the personal information that you may store in your various online accounts such as your home address and your phone number which could be used to spam you. If you use online banking at all then you’ll most definitely need to make sure you take the proper precautions when protecting your passwords. Using a combination of antivirus technology and proper password creation, you should be able to keep all of your finances and personal information secure indefinitely.

What is Reseller Hosting?

Reselling hosting is quickly becoming one of the most popular types of web hosting plans on the market. The reason why is actually quite simple- profit and benefits. A reseller plan lets you allocate your server resources however you see fit, creating custom plans that you can resell at whatever price you would like. Resellers also receive a variety of extra benefits as well. Most people choose reseller web hosting simply because it offers a vast amount of server space at a low price. Even if you cannot currently utilize all of the bandwidth, you should still consider reseller hosting, as you may be able to sell whatever server resources you don’t currently need, and use the revenue form the plan sales to pay for your own web hosting plan each month! Free web hosting is just one of the many reasons why users choose reseller web hosting.

Making Profits With Reseller Hosting

Making money with reseller web hosting is similar to making money as an affiliate marketer. Your job is to sell another companies product, without ever having any responsibility over the management or maintenance of that product. You buy server space from another company, split it up into optimal packages for various purposes, give each package a nice name, and market each package towards a select group of webmasters.

Targeting Audiences and Understanding Reselling

By targeting specific audiences, you’ll be able to sell reseller packages at exuberant prices based on the naive needs of your customers. As a reseller you’re basically the middle man, or the sales broker. It can also be seen as a retail business in a sense, as you’re receiving the server resources from the web hosting company at whole sale prices and then reselling them for a nominal profit.

Residual Income

The great thing about making money with reselling hosting is that once you have a few customers, all of the income is residual. Meaning each and every month you’ll receive money from your clients for doing absolutely nothing. Simply by pointing their domain servers to your server, you’ll be fulfilling your entire obligation and your job is done!

Conclusion

Every online business owner should consider purchasing a reseller hosting account, as it provides an opportunity to diversify your income stream and pay for your web hosting plan with absolutely no effort on your behalf. Once you have established a customer base, you can even start your own hosting business, and eventually it is possible to make a full time income with reseller hosting.

How many times has this happened to you? – Just when you think there are no good domain names left, you find out about this new megasite with a five letter domain name, that you only wish you would have thought of first!

The fact is, a domain name is only as good as the brand or business it represents. In fact many of the most popular domain names consist of terms that are not even real words, such as Sedo, Ebay, Yahoo, Bing, Digg etc etc. How much do you think each one of those sites is worth? Do you think the site is worth that much based solely on the name? Of course not, the site is worth that much because of it’s presence.

An Incentive to Buy

The truth that many domain speculation experts don’t want you to know is that the actual name of the domain has very little to do with the value of the domain in most instances. Granted, there are some instances in which a domain name by itself could go for thousands of dollars. However, even in those instance, the domain would undoubtedly be worth even more money if it had a significant web presence as well. A web presence is the overall popularity of your site. Clients that are in search of a website to buy want to know one thing only – will this website make me money? If it will not, then they have no incentive to invest. As in every other industry, in order to make the quick sale you need to give the customer a strong incentive to buy.

Building Your Web Presence

Creating a reputation for your site may not be an easy process, especially if your trying to do it manually. In fact, it will be nearly impossible to do it quickly without the right tools and methods. To build a site’s presence within a matter of weeks, you’ll need to have leverage. Leverage is key in all business. This means you’ll need connections, and software! There are tools available that will help you build your backlinks up in a very short period of time. Backlinks may just be one of the most important aspects of building a site’s reputation, as the search engines view it as a reliable way to gauge the popularity of a site.

Selling the Site

Once you have built a substantial web presence, which should take anywhere from several months to a year, depending on the tools you have in your arsenal, you can then sell the site in one of the many domain auction sites online. Some of the most popular sites are the aforementioned Ebay and Sedo. These sites have thousands of clients frequenting their auctions daily, so you’ll definitely get all of the exposure you’ll need by listing your site on one of these sites. Make sure you mention all of the positive attributes of your site including traffic numbers and backlinks. Remember – you have to give the customer incentive to buy.

What do you Need in the Beginning?

Many people have the mentality that they are going to start out slow and once they have learned the basics they’ll upgrade. They do this in an attempt to save money, however in the end it costs them more time and money than if they were to have properly assessed their situation initially.

You may feel as if you do not need any complex tools just yet, however you’ll soon find out the truth is – the less experience you have, the more you’ll need these tools. The tools I am referring to are broad in nature, ranging from site management software to hosting accounts. Every good website owner has an arsenal of tools at their disposal, and it is these tools that keeps their business functioning optimally.

Cost vs Effectiveness

One term we often hear in the online business industry is “cost-effectiveness.” It is often used to describe whether or not someone is “getting what they pay for.” However, cost and effectiveness do not go hand in hand. In general, you’ll get what you pay for, which means if you pay less you will get less. If you pay less for web hosting, then that lowered cost is almost undoubtedly going to result in lowered efficiency on your end. The fact is, web hosting companies make investments too, and when they do they spend lots of money to bring you the resources you need. These resources aren’t free, so it would be impossible for a web hosting company to give you a  cheap plan without sacrificing some of the quality of that plan.

The True Cost of Cheap Web Hosting

In the end, you’ll actually pay more for cheap web hosting, especially if your business begins to expand. After all, isn’t that the ultimate goal? Once your business does begin to expand, you’ll inevitably need to upgrade, at which time you will spend more money. If you would have started out with a plan that offered enough resources, then you would have actually saved money! Instead, you’ll be losing time and money trying to upgrade unnecessarily. If you decide not to upgrade in another attempt to “save” money, then your site’s performance will suffer, and therefore so will your profits.

Before you consider a “cheap” web hosting plan, you need to analyze what you;re trying to do with your online presence, and how much are you really willing to pay for the convenience of saving a few dollars temporarily.