http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/ Learn more about web hosting, domain names,  seo, webmaster tools, and other general web development. Wed, 16 May 2012 05:44:25 -0700 HostCMS http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/use-wordpress-to-build-a-site-the-big-issue/ If you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss is about concerning WordPress, or are right now considering using it to power your site, you’ve come to the right place. Give us your confused, give us your wondering, as we’ll be dishing out all of the dirt from the ground-up. We like to talk an awful lot about how to develop a site of your very own, where to host, and even how to optimize it to meet your business’s or your own personal needs. And during all of this we keep casually mentioning something called WordPress. Yes, we’ve spent more than our fair share of time dancing around the issue, dodging any exact methods of how to use the content management system to construct a working site, much less one that’s been optimized for any and all media. However, we’ll be putting a stop to all of that today!   If you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss is about concerning WordPress, or are right now considering using it to power your site, you’ve come to the right place. Give us your confused, give us your wondering, as we’ll be dishing out all of the dirt from the ground-up. We’ll be explaining the technology and systems underneath WordPress, but most importantly, we’ll be giving you a functioning step-by-step guide that you can use to construct your very own, WordPress-enabled site. So if that sounds like a good time coming, then step right on up, Solider! We’ve got all the dirt and more just waiting for you below:   What is WordPress?   If you’re completely unfamiliar with what WordPress is, but have heard it mentioned around town, then buckle up: Here’s the most basic rundown of what the software is, as well as what it can do for you and your site!   Essentially, WordPress is a content management system. Actually, we should’t say “essentially” as that’s exactly what WordPress is: It’s a content management system! However, that phrase in and of itself probably deserves a little more explanation. With that in mind, here’s our best shot at it.   Back in the early days of being a web master, we had to do what’s called an “hard coding” for each and every page that we built for our websites. This meant we had to add bits of code line by line to define what our site would look like, how it would behave, and exactly what it would do. This got very arduous very quickly, especially if we were running a website like a blog that needed a whole lot of pages for one heck of a lot of content. Thankfully, though, we now have things called content management systems that streamline the whole thing for us.   A content management system is like an additional platform that you can install on your chunk of the web-server. This piece of software foundation allows you to add basic elements like themes, content, and posts, but without adding anything via code. All you have to do is fill-in the forms and fields that WordPress provides, add a custom theme of your choosing, and away your site runs: It’s really that simple to get an entire site up in the space of an afternoon! This means we never again have to hard code the same page fifteen times to accommodate fifteen blog posts. Content management systems like WordPress have greatly improved the quality of our Web-based life, and we could’t be happier about it.   Why Should I Use WordPress and not Drupal/Concrete5/Other?   At this point, we have a very basic definition of what WordPress is, as well as what sort of ease-of-life it can offer you. However, you’re very likely aware of the fact that WordPress is not the only name on the block. There are quite a few other content management systems all vying for attention on the global market, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. As it stands, it’s our opinion that WordPress is simply the best and strongest of them all. However, we’re not just throwing that out there because we feel like it! We have very specific reasons for thinking so, and they all look a bit like this:   1.  Plugins Galore: One of the greatest things about a content management system as opposed to an hard coded site is the fact that one can very quickly and easily add new features simply by installing a fresh plugin. These are small coded bits produced by other WordPress users that can be installed within the platform. These snippets than add a new feature, like a new photo gallery viewer, or even a counter for the website. It’s simple, efficient, and almost without fail, it’s also free. Which in turn leads us to our next point: 2.  Free as in WordPress: If you’re looking to setup a website using WordPress, you can largely expect to spend the most of your budget on the web hosting: Don’t worry about needing to shell out huge amounts of money to promote or develop your site, as most of that is already taken care of within WordPress. What do we mean? Well, look at it this way: WordPress itself is a free and open source software, which means you’ll never have to pay for it. Additionally, there are easily thousands upon thousands of free themes running around for you to choose from. On top of all that, most of the plugins we talked about int he previous point will cost you nothing to add. So essentially, you can create, skin, and flesh out your website with no money down, allowing you to save your budget for other, more important areas. 3.  It’s Bloody Simple: And lastly, WordPress is by and far one of the simplest content management systems that we have ever played around with. It’s not the most powerful by a long shot (for that, take a look at Concrete5) but it’s by and large the easiest to use if you have little to no prior coding experience. This means that, if you’re a newbie looking to get an online presence—but don’t want to take the time to learn a coding language or some basic software skills—even you can have a website in a number of hours. And to us, that’s true value personified!   How to Build a Site Using WordPress (and for Cheap/Free, Too!)   Okay! So at this point we’ve talked at length about what WordPress is, what it’s based on, and why you should even use it to run your site. If you’re still not convinced, at least we can say we tried our best. However, if at this point you’re ready to roll on your new website, you’ve come to the right place. From this point onward we’ll be explaining some of the best and quickest ways in which you an use WordPress to setup your very first site on the Net. It’s a lot simpler than you think, but just in case it gets confusing, we’ll break everything down into simple step-by-step instructions to ease the process. So without further ado, here’s how you can build a top-shelf website using nothing but WordPress and a spare afternoon!   1.  Get Hosting   First out of the box, you’re going to want to find a really good web hosting provider to house all of your WordPress data, as well as anything else that you plan to put up on your site. This is an extremely important step, as the web hosting provider you choose is like the apartment out of which you’ll found your very first business—if you don’t get a good location, you’re not likely to be going anywhere.   As such, when looking for a web hosting company to meet your needs, keep in mind that not all companies are created equally. There are very specific things you should be looking for in each and every option, and thankfully, they aren’t too hard to pin down. Here’s the basic rub on what you need in a quality web hosting provider to house your very own (and very first) WordPress-based site:   a.   Unlimited Features: Firstly, you’re going to want unlimited disk space and bandwidth to use with your site. You simply don’t want to be tied down by a metered amount of traffic or storage, otherwise you’ll very quickly find yourself butting your digital head up against a restraining wall. Softwares like WordPress use a lot of media and data, which can quickly add up to an headache if you’re trying to work within restrictions. As such, simply avoid the problem all together from the get-go! b.  Loads of MySQL Databases: On that note, one thing that you’ll need specifically for WordPress use is a whole lot of MySQL databases. You see, as a content management system, WordPress uses MySQL databases to house all of the data that you put on the site. This means text, photos, videos, you name it! All of it gets chucked into the database, where it remains for ever and ever. You’re very likely to accumulate quite a lot of “junk” in your WordPress database, which means you want unlimited disk space, as well as the option to introduce a few new databases should WordPress require it. This is easily the most important aspect of your hosting search, so keep a keen eye on it! Without a MySQL database to call your own, you won’t be using WordPress: It’s really that simple. c.   Easy Installation: And lastly, you’ll want a web hosting provider that helps you install WordPress quickly and easily. Typically this means a “one-click” installation, which really is as self-explanatory as it sounds. With a single click, you should be able to add the latest and greatest version of WordPress to your site. There are a whole boatload of services out there that give you this kind of support, and if your web host is simply too lazy to find one for you, then they’re very likely not worth your time. You should also never have to pay extra for this kind of service. This is a complimentary item that all quality web hosts will provide. As such, look for it and demand it in the host you sign!   That’s really it! So with all of these points in mind, go out and find a web hosting provider that meets your needs and that you feel comfortable hosting with. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to move onto Step 2 of the WordPress Site Creation Process!   2.  Install WordPress   Yes, yes, we know we already talked about installing WordPress using a one-click installer! However, we still need to cover a few basic points before we can continue. So, with that in mind, just stick around for a bit:   Firstly, to install WordPress you’re going to want to figure out how your web host goes about doing so. If you’ve got a one-click installer on hand, you should be able to find it within your cPanel, Plesk panel, etc. Typically a web hosting provider will advertise this as a selling point, so it just should’t be too hard to find. Once you’ve located the bugger, go ahead and click that button!   Keep in mind that you may yet need to install a MySQL database of your own, first. Some web hosting providers won’t do this automatically for you, which is a tremendous drag: However, it isn’t too hard to work around. Once you’ve got the database christened and ready to go, install WordPress. Somewhere during the installation, you’ll get a warning message asking for the database to use. Point it to the one you like most, and the rest is easy as pie.   Another option that you may have to consider is a manual installation. We sincerely hope that you don’t have to pursue this route, but if you do (for instance if your web hosting doesn’t offer some kind of one-click installation utility) then don’t feel too terribly! It’s not the hardest process in the world, and every inch of it has been described in detail on the WordPress site itself. Essentially, you’ll just need to download the latest software, add it via FTP to your server space, run a quick installer from your cPanel, and then answer a few installation wizard questions to round out the whole affair. This should’t take more than five minutes, which means you’ll very quickly be ready for Step Three!   3.  Theme the Thing   This is where the process of owning and operating a WordPress site becomes really engaging and quite a lot of fun. From this point onward you should’t have to worry too much with complex, twist, or technical coding knowledge. Most of what we’ll be doing will happen right from the WordPress dashboard or menu. So, in other words, kick back and relax a bit! The hard stuff is done, and though you’ll still have to work, your creativity is what we’re going to be highlighting from here on out. Starting with the theme:   a.   Get a Theme: The very first thing you’ll want to do is locate a theme that matches what you hope to do with your site. Now, WordPress itself comes with quite a few of these themes, but if you’re hoping to stand out from the pack, you’ll very quickly want to abandon these, as thousands of other sites on the Net currently use them. Instead, just do a quick Google search for WordPress themes. There are thousands of sites out there that offer them, most of which will give you a rock-solid theme for free. If you’d like to pay for a custom-designed one, though, you can expect to pay no more than $50. Most themes that we’ve bought over the years have clocked in at about $25-35. In other words, you’re not looking at a massive expenditure here, so feel free to poke around and find the exact theme that meets each and every one of your needs to the letter. Once that’s done, head on to the next point! b.  Install the Theme: Unlike installing WordPress itself, installing the theme of your choosing could not be simpler! Just go to the appearance panel within your WordPress dashboard and click on the theme menu. Once inside, you should see a list of currently installed themes. Along the top you’ll find a button that allows you to install a new theme. Click this, and then locate the theme files that you’ve recently downloaded to your computer. Click that puppy, and WordPress will do the rest! It will even ask you if you’d like to change your current theme to the one you’ve just installed. Hit yes, and then watch the magic happen! You’ve now just installed a custom theme for your fresh-faced WordPress site! That wasn’t that hard, now was it? c.   Customize the Menus: At this point, you’re going to want to start to clean out all of the excess stuff that came with your theme. Now, some themes come with a whole lot of menus and categories, while others may be entirely bare bones. Most won’t require too much tinkering to get up and off the ground, but either way you should go ahead and check your menus. There’s a tab under the appearances panel that will let you do so. Once there, look over these points. These are the breadcrumb style links that will appear at the top of each and every page that you create—unless you tell WordPress to only add them to certain pages, but that’s a different matter. If you see any items that you do not want on your site, or do not ever need, go ahead and delete theme! You want to trim the fat here, so rearrange things as you want them too look on your site, and don’t be shy about it. This is your domain and your space, and you are not tied down by what the theme has installed from the get-go. Once you’ve done that, head on to the posts and categories. d.  Remove Excess Stuff: Like menus, sometimes a theme will come with a lot of example posts and categories that you simply don’t want. To analyze this, and remove any stragglers, go to your posts section and scan through both the posts and the categories. Remove anything that you do not want to modify, or anything that you will never need. These will only clog up the system, and will cause your site to run more slowly. Not to mention the fact that they might appear in your sidebars or elsewhere, confusing the flow of your site as well as the viewers that visit it. All in all, just get rid of things you don’t want or need. If you’re not sure about something, leave it there for a while as you flesh out the site. By the time you’re done, if you haven’t used it once, throw it away!   4.  Add Content   At long, long last we have finally reached the ending step! This is the last stop, but it’s also the step you’ll be repeating from here until Judgement Day. You see, the process of adding content to your WordPress site begins here, but it will almost certainly never end. You’ll always have new posts to add, new thoughts to scribble, and new items to adjunct to the site. With this in mind, we’ve created a few pointers below that will help to centralize and direct your creativity. Starting with:   a.   Create Stuff that Matters: If you’re looking to pull in a real audience, be sure to create content and posts that others will actually want to read. This is very important, so take the time to ask yourself what you would want to read on the Internet. b.  Discuss Often: If your theme uses a comments section, don’t just leave your user’s comments out on the dry dock! Talk to your readers and develop a personal relationship with them. This builds trust, and ensures your readers will return later. c.   Have Fun! Last but not least, be sure to have fun with the process! It’s your site after all, and you can write what you want. Enjoy that! Sun, 13 May 2012 21:54:52 -0700 General http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/use-wordpress-to-build-a-site-the-big-issue/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/hosting-news/intermedia-receives-cash-infusion/ Less than a month ago, one of the leading Cloud computing companies, Intermedia, announced that Dr. Prasad Akella would take the helm of the organization’s product management and marketing endeavors. The move sparked rumors that Intermedia was primed to grow its service lines. All the company lacked was a steady flow of capital for research and development projects. On April 25, Intermedia received an infusion of capital that will help it achieve its growth targets. Less than a month ago, one of the leading Cloud computing companies, Intermedia, announced that Dr. Prasad Akella would take the helm of the organization’s product management and marketing endeavors. The move sparked rumors that Intermedia was primed to grow its service lines. All the company lacked was a steady flow of capital for research and development projects. On April 25, Intermedia received an infusion of capital that will help it achieve its growth targets. The investment came from venture capital company, Nokia Growth Partners. Neither Intermedia nor Nokia has disclosed the terms of the investment agreement, but Intermedia CEO, Phil Koen, tied the investment to significant product launches. "We are delighted to welcome Nokia Growth Partners as our newest investor," said Koen. "Mobility and cloud computing are inextricably interwoven. We recently released two innovative mobile apps to make cloud management even easier for our customers' administrators and end users. Over 80 percent of our customer base uses Intermedia's mobility services, and that number grows monthly. Outside of hosted Exchange, mobility is our largest offering to customers. With Nokia Growth Partners we are excited to broaden our opportunities in the mobility space." More on Intermedia Intermedia is a worldwide leader in providing Cloud services to large corporations. The innovative technology company represents the largest Microsoft Exchange web host. Founded in 1995, the company has pioneered systems that offer secure business grade Cloud services that includes the partnership with Microsoft Exchange. The web-hosting component of Intermedia’s business model manages nearly 500,000 Microsoft Exchange email boxes. Intermedia utilizes over 10,000 global channel partners to distribute its myriad services to almost 50,000 business customers. While the company experienced erratic growth spurts during its first few years in business, investments such as the one made by Nokia Growth Partners have provided Intermedia with enough capital for sustained growth. In addition to its Microsoft Exchange partnership, Intermedia also provides back up, mobility, and collaboration services. The company’s trademarked Office in the Cloud software suite combines Microsoft Exchange 2010 email, Lync Secure Instant Messaging, and Sharepoint with its proprietary products and services. Customers can manage their mobile devices from one console using Intermedia’s proprietary technology. Intermedia has developed a highly reliable Cloud infrastructure that ensures client security. In May 2011, Oak Hill Capital Partners purchased Intermedia, providing the capital that allowed Intermedia to expand its Cloud computing offerings. The additional capital expanded Intermedia’s user base by over 40 percent during the course of one year. Because of its potential to integrate its services across multiple platforms and its certified support team, Intermedia attracted the deep pockets of Nokia Growth Partners.   Why Nokia Made the Investment   As a global venture capital firm, Nokia Growth Partners looks to invest in promising mobile communication companies that appear ready to launch new products and services. In addition to its vast financial resources, Nokia Growth Partners provides domain expertise in the mobility market. As Paul Asel, Managing Partner of the investment firm said, “Nokia Growth Partners invests in industry leading companies that are changing the face of mobility and whose businesses can benefit from a deeper relationship with Nokia. Intermedia is a leader in cloud based enterprise services, a rapidly changing market where mobile offerings will be important. We are excited to work with Intermedia to help them achieve their strategic goals and full potential in the area of global mobility."   Much of the funding provided by Nokia Growth Partners comes from parent company Nokia, one of the world’s largest and most successful manufacturers of mobile communication devices. Last year, Nokia forged a strategic alliance with Microsoft, launching four of its highly touted Lumia smart phone prototypes that integrate Microsoft’s Windows smart phone platform. Nokia Growth Partners seeks undervalued technology companies, such as Intermedia, that provide compatible services for Nokia’s vast product line. With a capital base of $350 million, Nokia Growth Partners can either concentrate its holdings on a few rising technology stars, or spread investments over a wider swath of companies that utilize Nokia’s proprietary technology. Nokia Growth Partners felt Intermedia fell into either investment scenarios.   The Future of the Nokia Growth Partners and Intermedia Partnership   The story behind this partnership story is how long the two firms will work together to realize mutually strong financial returns. Partnerships in the technology industry form and dissolve as a dizzying pace, as venture capital firms seek to find the next popular trend. However, as technology analysts have pointed out, the partnership between Nokia Growth Partners and Intermedia has real staying power.   The partnership’s staying power derives from the emergence of mobile communication devices, especially when it comes to how smart phone users search for local business information. A recent study concluded that 95% of smart phone users search for local information on their phones. That staggering number includes searches for local businesses. Intermedia’s mobility services should increase in demand, as users continue to move personal computing to mobile device communications.   Since the economic downturn that began late in 2007, the capital funds market has retracted from the record liquidity experienced during the stock market boom of the late 1990s and early part of the new millennium. The competition to find investors hurt Intermedia immediately after the housing and financial bubbles burst, but the company benefited from the deep pockets of new ownership to steady the rocky financial ship. Investments in new technologies enticed Nokia Growth Partners to form the new business relationship.   Mobile devices will dominate the communications market for the near future. Because of this, expect Nokia Growth Partners to continue funding new Intermedia technologies. As Asel recently said, “Nokia Growth Partners is in this for the long haul.” Thu, 10 May 2012 22:36:46 -0700 Hosting News http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/hosting-news/intermedia-receives-cash-infusion/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/what-is-cloud-computing-a-closer-look/ Cloud computing conjures up some obscure IT concepts hatched deep within the cavernous labyrinth of tunnels that run inside of Microsoft or Cisco. Cloud computing conjures up some obscure IT concepts hatched deep within the cavernous labyrinth of tunnels that run inside of Microsoft or Cisco. Investopedia.com tries to define what is Cloud computing as “A model for delivering information technology services in which resources are retrieved from the internet through web-based tools and applications, rather than a direct connection to a server.” Cloud computing refers to a general description of delivering myriad hosted services via the Internet. Traditional web hosting does not provide as much flexibility as a Cloud service. With a Cloud service, you can use as much of the service as you want, at any given time. Look at Cloud services as being similar to the Pay for View events on cable television. Moreover, all you need is high-speed Internet access and a personal computer. A Cloud service provider manages your account portfolio. Two general types of Clouds define Cloud computing. With a public cloud, you have companies that sell Cloud services to anyone who has Internet access. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all provide public Cloud services. On the other hand, a private Cloud works as a proprietary network that provides services to a limited number of people, typically workers within a department of a large corporation. Only the designated workers have access to a private Cloud network or data center. Regardless if a Cloud is private or public, the primary objective of any Cloud service provider is to give clients easy access to computing resources and recently introduced Internet technology tools. Cloud computing involves services that most Cloud experts divide into three categories The Three Cloud Service Categories Without burying you in technical jargon, let us look at the three basic Cloud service categories. Infrastructure-as-a-Service gives companies, mostly large corporations, the flexibility to pay for as much capacity as a company needs. This category has become popular, because it allows companies to budget their hosting services needs. Many IT professionals refer to this model as “utility,” since it reflects the same usage principle applied to home water, fuel, and electricity utility consumption. Companies that do not want to invest in proprietary IT platforms use the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Cloud computing model. PaaS allows companies to have access to the latest computer software and development tools hosted on a Cloud service provider’s own infrastructure. Portability is an issue with this model, as some PaaS providers do not permit client created software to move from the provider’s IT platform into the client’s IT platform The final service model, and one that has gained traction with companies, is called the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. As the name implies, this model entails the provider supplying the hardware infrastructure and software applications for the user to gain access via a front-end portal. Another reason why companies love this Cloud computing model is that it has a wide range of services, from creating Internet based email systems to establishing bookkeeping controls. Companies can use this service model from anywhere, since the service provider hosts everything a client needs. Personal Cloud Computing Cloud computing first appealed to businesses, especially small businesses that did not have the capital to invest in IT infrastructures. Eventually, larger corporations implemented one of the three Cloud service models to reduce IT costs. Now, the evolution of Cloud computing has returned to its origins, as individuals have increasingly used the concept from their personal computers. Personal Cloud computing carries the same meaning that is does for businesses. You have access to Internet applications and services to manage your personal obligations. In keeping up with ever changing Internet trends, Personal Cloud computing has recently evolved to conform to mobile device standards. This means you can access all of your data from any mobile communications device. This portable and interactive way to conduct your personal business allows you to share data among your IT devices. For instance, you can gain access to important home refinancing information stored on your personal computer from your Smart Phone. Your personal Cloud consists of myriad possibilities. You can transfer address book information from Microsoft Outlook stored on your PC to your Blackberry. You can download music from your IPod and send the files directly to your PC. Look at personal Cloud computing as a way for all of your IT devices to connect, when and how you want them to connect. Connectivity includes social networking websites, college curriculum, and contacts with friends and families. One of the advantages of a personal Cloud is that it provides more security for you than the privacy settings created on social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. How Personal Cloud Computing Affects You It took awhile, but the advent of Personal Cloud computing has morphed into the ideal way for consumers to assimilate business information. You know have the capability to mine data from your mobile phone, personal computer, even your work computer. Data mining has become easier to do since Microsoft launched Windows 7. You mine your own data, with the data provided by businesses that sell products and services that interest you. Personal Cloud computing allows you to receive a consistent consumer experience across every delivery platform. Cloud service providers, such as Grooveshark, Facebook, and Twitter, all provide services that are mobile device compatible.  Cloud and Your Career?  Another area that Cloud computing affects you is in your career. Have you ever wondered why there has been a rapid increase in work from home professionals? Cloud computing provides professionals with access to company networks and databases. There was a time when remote workers had to copy files into portable drives in order to access company information from home. Now, you can rise from bed, start percolating a pot of coffee, and turn on your PC to start your workday from home.  The interest in cloud computing has barely scratched the service in potential demand. Continued improved access to high-speed Internet, coupled with the weak economy, will fuel the increase in Cloud computing use. Virtualization innovations and the trend towards more distributed computing will also accelerate the demand for Cloud services. We are quickly moving towards a Cloud computing society, which makes it imperative that you stay abreast of every new trend that defines what is Cloud computing.   Wed, 09 May 2012 07:00:04 -0700 General http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/what-is-cloud-computing-a-closer-look/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/how-to-make-money-from-owning-a-website-the-big-issue-edition/ Yes, we’ll be detailing all of the quick, long, dirty, and downright awesome ways you can be making money off your website during the course of this article. If you’re reading this, then we can likely assume one or two things about you. Firstly, we can already assume that you either already own a website, or perhaps you’re considering founding one. Secondly, we can also safely assume that you intend to make a lot of cold, hard cash out of the website you either own or will own. And thirdly, because you’re reading this, you have a real desire to maximize your profits while minimizing your costs. All in all, from our deductions it’s also a safe guess that you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. And you’re also in good hands.   Yes, we’ll be detailing all of the quick, long, dirty, and downright awesome ways you can be making money off your website during the course of this article. We’ll be covering everything from advert revenues to affiliate programs and back again. Oh, and we will—of course—be giving you some hosting tips to ensure that your costs are kept at a minimum, and returns maximized. So if all of that sounds like a really good time, then strap in, Soldier: The wild ride is about to start! Beginning with:   Can You Really Make Money Off a Website?   To get to the short, straight and skinny of the issue, yes! It’s entirely possible to make quite a lot of money off simply owning and managing a website. The site you’re reading now is a good example of success in the field. Actually, consider just about any blog you’ve read recently. The owner’s income is, at least partially, based on the revenue of that site. However, we do feel we should give you fair warning.   Website revenue is slow to start in almost every case. What we mean by this is simple: Don’t expect to be paying all of your bills using nothing but the income from your website or website, at least not initially. These things take time, and above all, you’ll need to be gaining traction to see any real results. That being said, it’s nowhere near an impossible task to make money off your website. We’ll be showing you how, but do keep in mind that the process is long, hard, and occasionally quite technical. So with that warning out of the way, let’s go ahead and dive into some of the nitty gritty details that make money-driving on the Internet possible!   Save on the Overhead   Right out of the box we’ve got some money saving ideas that will get you well on your way to making bank from the Web. Most of which, incidentally, have to do with our area of speciality: Web hosting. You see, there are a lot of ways in which a web hosting provider will try to gip you out of a few dollars. If you know what to look for to avoid this, you can potentially save a lot of money that can be better spent elsewhere—or saved and stockpiled, if you’d prefer. Here are a few of the basics:   1.  Look for Cheap and Limitless A lot of web hosting providers out there claim that they will give you unlimited access to both bandwidth and disk space. We like these claims. In fact, we like them a lot, and in most cases, they are in fact true. As such, when looking for a web host to found your website with, try to pick one that clocks in cheap and offers a lot of unlimited features. This doesn’t just have to be memory space and server load: Email accounts, sub-domains, domains, IP addresses, databases, you name it! You want as bloody much as you can stand, and with good reason. Here’s the reason: When you’re main goal is to make a lot of money off your website, you don’t want to be tied down in any sense. Absolutely none. The reason for this has to do with scalability. New opportunities to turn a profit appear all of the time. This might be a new software, or a new advertisement agency. Or, it could simply be a new trick that brings more traffic to your site. However, all of this bobs and whistles come with space and bandwidth requirements. Not to mention software support that must be included. All in all, if you’re limited in what you can or cannot do with your server space, you’re selling yourself short within a very brief period. We guarantee you’ll find ways to grow, so be sure you have the attic space to do it.   To summarize, look for a web host that’s cheap (Under $5 a month) and comes with as much software support as possible, as well as the most limitless features for your bank. Get this, and you’re already on your way to paying the bills with the Net.   2.  Make the Most of Free Stuff   Believe it or not, free items do exist out there on the Internet. Driven by a zeal to create free software, or promote their designing name, a lot of developers are putting out really incredible stuff that won’t cost you a single dime to use. Take WordPress for instance.   WordPress itself is a content management system that’s available for free by the company that uses it. This means that any old webmaster like you and I can go, download the software, and install it for free. Oh, and we get to use it for free! That’s the tricky part. So now we have the backbone of our website, something with which we can add content, modify the items we’ve already got, and instigate the advertising and revenue driving procedures that will make us thousands of dollars. But, the fun doesn’t stop there!   As stated, a lot of designers are eager to get their names out there, hoping to earn more clients. As such, they will often produce one or two quality (these are professionals, after all) WordPress themes that you can have for free. You may need to leave their name in the address at the bottom of the page, but hey, it’s a free high-definition face for your site! And once you’ve got this custom theme installed and managed, you can move onto the next point: Plugins. Want to add a nifty feature to your WordPress powered site? Not a problem! Boot up the plugins gallery and create a quick search query. We guarantee you’ll find half-a-dozen unique plugins that add the items you need for free. It’s a powerful thing, this WordPress, and it’s easily worth a recap. So here goes:   Using WordPress and free stuff we have managed to set up, arrange, manage, and flesh-out a website that looks professional and suave without spending a single penny, minus the web hosting and domain name. And that’s just using WordPress! There are hundreds of other software platforms out there, all of which are guaranteed to come with a whole menagerie of free items to help you work with them. In other words, don’t spend a pence until you’ve had a good look about for alternatives.   Ways to Make Money With Your Site   Okay, so right off the bat we’ve now managed to host and create our site with very little overhead. All in all, you shouldn’t have spent more than about $100 to get everything going, and even that might be too high: This is all assuming the largest expenditure was in fact the web hosting, which can often be closer to $85 or so. Either way, you’re now primed and ready to start making money from your site! So, how does one do this? Quite simply, actually. And we’ve got all the methods and tricks lined out below:   1.  Sell Something As pointed out in the heading, the idea is relatively simple. Do you already own a business? Do you sell some sort of product that you could just as easily put up on the Internet? If so, then sell it! For pete’s sake, there are a million and two different eCommerce softwares out there that will help you set-up, run, and certify your online business. It’s quick, nearly painless, and serves as a great addition to your existing business.   But what if you don’t have a business of your own? That’s fine, too! Do you create something that you could sell, or invest in items that will sell well on the Internet? Either way you can just as easily create an eCommerce site to drive your profits. In addition, the process of setting up such a site isn’t nearly as complicated or as troublesome as you might be thinking. Let’s illustrate the steps:   a.   Get a Business: We’ve already been over this, but the idea needs to be said again. First, you need something of value to sell. This could be services, a product, or even items that you’re reselling for a profit. All in all, just have something you can catalog and sell via eCommerce. b.  Get Hosting: We’ve already been over this in full, so we’ll spare the details. However, be sure the host you pick offers eCommerce Software. These are items like Volusion, or CubeCart: Platforms designed to help you sell your products and sell it easily. These things behave a lot like WordPress does in the simplicity department, so you’re really going to want and need them. c.   Create the Site: Now for the tricky part. We’re going to, for the sake of argument, assume that you’re already using Volusion, one of the more popular eCommerce sites. If you’re using another platform, don’t fret: The same principles will apply here. But let’s assume you have the site up and running, and Volusion is installed. From here, you’re gong to want to make the most of the free stuff argument we made earlier. Volusion, like WordPress, comes with a lot of free opportunities, starting with your theme. Find a good one, and even if you have to pay $35 or so to purchase the rights to a really knock-out offering, don’t feel bad. Ensuring that your eCommerce site looks incredible is a good thing, and will drive traffic. Once all of that has been done, start adding high-definition photos of whatever it is that you sell. Make sure that these photos are the absolute best that they can be, that way your consumers know what they’re buying. And once that’s completed, move on to the next point: d.  Enjoy the Sales! Your work here is done, Gaucho. You’ve set up the site, so now just kick back and let the orders pileup. Sure, there are about a thousand other things you should do to ensure the growth of your business (SEO, traffic plugging, advertisements, etc.) but we’ll be cutting those out for now. In the in-between, just enjoy the fact that you’re now the proud owner of a revenue producing site!   2.  Advertise Like Nobody’s Business   eCommerce is great, but to be honest, not as many people pursue it as a main source of revenue as you might expect. It’s a bit odd, but a lot of the blogs out there that make a load of money (or at least enough to keep the lights on) use advertisements to fund their overheads. How do they do this? Well, in a number of ways, actually. But before we can get into the details of all that, you first need to understand how adverts placed on websites work in the first place. And at the core of it, the tune goes something like this:   Think about a magazine. A lot of the issue will be content that you’ll be interested in reading, presumably the vast majority. However, every other page or so you’ll run into an advert. This is the way things work, as sponsors purchase the rights to that space within the magazine and place their face there. In much the same way, Internet advertisers are just itching to put their label on your web space. However, things are a bit different on the Web than they are in the world of print.   For the most part, adverts that are placed on your site will not be paid for outright—more on this in a second. Instead, they will pay you for the number of clicks or views you generate. So in a lot of ways, the world of Internet advertising is significantly different than the world of print media. You can’t (most of the time) simply kick back and let your space out to a sponsor. Instead, you need to focus on putting in the work to draw traffic, raking in those precious clicks and impressions that will make you serious bank. There are a lot of ways to do that (again with the SEO and traffic drawing methods) but we’ll leave those out for now. Instead, here’s a more in-depth look at some of the processes you can use to make money through advertising on your site. Starting with:   a.  PPC Advertising   It’s important to remember that not all Internet advertising methods are the same. They come in very distinct varieties, and you’ll need to know exactly what you’re signing up for if you’re going to be making a living off your site’s income. So first out of the box, let’s consider Pays-per-Click advertising.   In all honesty, this technology really is quite self-explanatory. If you sing up for PPC program, the program will put adverts on your site where you specify them to be. Once in place, you will receive a weekly or monthly stipend according to the number of clicks through that the adverts received. In other words, when a user reads your site and clicks on an advert, you’re getting a very, very small kickback as a reward. Typically this is only half a penny (or much less) but if you have a thousand readers clicking on your adverts daily, this can really add up—no pun intended.   To sign-up for a PPC service, you will first need to locate a good advertisement placement company. Thankfully, they aren’t that hard to find, and all of them are rock-solid and trusted. For instance, Google AdWords is one of the biggest names in the game, and comes with such a reputation that it’s really hard to miss. Other names in the business are Yahoo! Publishers Network, BidVertiser, Clicksor, and Chitika. These sites working by taking the web slices you indicate on your site, and then filling them with adverts. These adverts will often even be catered to the specific category or keyword your site is associated with. However, PPC isn’t the only name on the block.   b.  CPM Advertising   There is another (and another, but we’ll get there in a second) way to advertise with the space on your website. It’s called Clicks-per-Mille, and it offers a slightly different approach to things. You see, the services that offer this kind of advertising revenue behave in almost the same way as a business like Google AdWords. They take a portion of your site, fill it with adverts, and then wait to see how well those adverts perform. However, the payment schedule is slightly different.   Rather than paying you when a consumer clicks on an advert, a CPM advertiser pays you for impressions. This is, more or less, every time a viewer even looks at your website. In this way, you could potentially make a lot more money, but the rates are typically lower per million views. For instance, you may get paid as little as $0.10 for every 1.000 views, or even as much as $10. So let’s take a site that gets 100.000 page views per month. That’s quite a lot, but with a $1 CPM, you’re only getting $100 monthly.   All in all, CPM advertising is a solid way to go, but you’ll really need to ensure you drive traffic to your site. That being said, getting a solid, steady readership is a great way to dip your toe into the next way of making money from advertising:   c.  Direct Banner Advertising   And at long last, we’re now at the Big Daddy of all Internet based revenues! Yes, we’re talking about direct banner advertising. Remember when we mentioned how a magazine can sell portions of itself to display advertisements placed by large sponsors? Well, the idea behind direct banner adverts is almost exactly the same, just kept within a browser, rather than a print media.   Essentially, you create a banner space, and then lease it out to companies that are willing to pay for it, just like you’re creating a billboard. This space can be tucked into the header or footer of your site, or it may be along the side. Really, this all depends on you. Larger sites (especially gaming oriented ones) will often sell out the entire background of their home page, giving an advertiser the whole space to promote their product. Obviously, this can earn quite a lot of money.   However, there are some real problems with banking on direct banner adverts. Firstly, like a magazine, you’ll actually need to have sponsors that are interested in promoting themselves on your site. The only way to do this is to develop a name for yourself and get some seriously high daily page views. Otherwise, you’re not likely to get clients in a queue, at least not the kind that will make selling a portion of your site out a worth investment. So with all of this in mind, if you’re planning to use banner adverts you’re going to need to pull all the stops: Optimize your site for search engines, fill it with incredible content, and above all get people to read the bloody thing. Invent new media items and reasons for your users to return, and only when business is really booming can you begin to make money from this killer method. Thu, 03 May 2012 21:19:57 -0700 General http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/how-to-make-money-from-owning-a-website-the-big-issue-edition/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/seo/seo-the-bootcamp-article/ May we present to you now the only guide to search engine optimization you will ever need. We consider it our sworn duty to keep you informed about all the various aspects of web hosting. We’ve covered everything from getting your site hosted to actually developing and designing it. We’ve even made it our calling in life to bring to light the issues our users have experienced with all the various hosting providers out there. However, there’s one important topic we have yet to cover in detail. A topic so often discussed that’s it about time we corrected that oversight. As such, may we present to you now the only guide to search engine optimization you will ever need.   Yes, we’ll be hitting all the important points about the technology, the methods and the flavors of search engine optimization. We’ll be detailing just how the idea behind this mechanic works, as well as how you can integrate some of the finer points directly into your site. In fact, we’ll even give you a few pointers on how you can boost the efficiency of your content management system-based website. All in all, it looks to be one hell of a ride, so if you’ve ever been curious about search engine optimization (what it is, who uses it, if you even need to fool with it) then stick around! We’ll be shoveling over all of the details we’ve got and then some. Starting with:   What is Search Engine Optimization? Before we can get into the nitty gritty details of exactly how you can use search engine optimization to increase the traffic headed toward your site, we feel we at least you owe you a brief explanation of what the SEO concept even is. If you’re new to the realm of being a web master, or have simply never bothered to learn about search engine optimization before, now is your time to shine. We’ll be explaining the ideas at work here in detail, beginning with:   Firstly, search engine optimization is exactly what the name suggest. It’s the idea that, through various methods and tools, you can increase the page rank of your website so that it appears sooner and more often within popular search engines. This could be a service like Google, Bing, or Yahoo!, but it could also be any other smaller search engine that tends to be left out. All of the pointers that we talk about today will work for the majority of search engines, so don’t worry about customizing your site entirely for Google. You’ll be covering all the bases if you stick to our suggestions, and stick with them to the letter.   So that’s a decent definition of what search engine optimization is, but exactly how does it work? What’s the underlying “trick” to getting your site a little more traction with places like Google? To be honest, it’s actually not an hard concept to grasp. In fact, it’s really as simple as this:   How does Search Engine Optimization Work Exactly?   To explain how one can use search engine optimization to improve their site, we first need to talk a bit about how a site like Google operates. We’ll illustrate it this way.   Let’s use a metaphor in which Google is like a telephone operator. You can call up the operator (then again, who has done that in recent memory?) and request to be connected to a business, a person, etc. It’s quick, it’s simple, and it all relies on the operator’s knowledge or database of names and numbers. Google, in a lot of ways, is exactly the same as this.   You see, when you perform a search using a site like Google, the search engine combs through all the various websites, pages, and content pieces it has logged away on its servers. These entries are summarized editions that have been tagged with specific keywords. For instance, Google has a million and two different sites logged for the keyword “steak.” When you search using that keyword, Google produces a sorted list of all the entries it knows on the subject of “steak.” But where does Google get all of that information?   To gather the sheer amounts of data, keywords, and content Google needs, it uses a technology called spidering. The root at the core of this is the spider bot. This is a tiny piece of software that does one thing, and does it very well. You see, a spider bot spends its time combing through the internet, scanning all the webpages it looks at for information. It looks for words that are mentioned often, links that are included, headers, footers, etc. It then turns all of this collected into a single category or set of categories that it reports back to Google. For instance, a spider looking at a site about steak will see the word repeated a lot. It will also see a lot of links and additional resources on the subject. The spider bot interprets this to mean that the site is about steak, and will give this information back to the main Google database.   In other words, Google uses small bits of software to catalog the entire Internet based on its content. Then, when you “call” Google up, the search engine directs you to the entries it thinks you’ll like most. This is extremely important for search engine optimization, and here’s why.   The whole idea behind search engine optimization relies on the fact that, as software, these spider bots behave in very specific ways. They look for certain things—like keywords and links—and use this to create page rankings back at Google. If you know the tricks you can use, then you can improve your chances of scoring highly with these spider bots. In other words, it’s like advertising your content and website in such a way that it’s more accessible, more easily read, and more easily understood by search engines like Google. How is this done? We’re so glad you asked! Here are some of the general ways in which spider bots work, and web masters use those tips to improve their page rank:   1.  Links   One of the primary ways in which a spider bot works is through links. Think about it this way: If your readers link to your blog post about steak a lot, the spider bots will see this. They’ll count up the total number of links, relate that back the central keyword (steak) and then determine that, because your site is being linked to so much, it must be a pretty good reference on the point of steaks. To summarize, having a lot of links at locations other than your site that point back to your content is one of the best ways to improve your standing with Google. This is why so many web masters work so hard to get their sites linked back to on other venues. This kind of link is called a back link or a one-way link.   Sadly, this idea has gotten a lot harder as the software Google uses has improved. Web masters used to be able to post their links to just about anywhere and still get the points for it. However, this is certainly spamming, and Google has worked hard to counteract it. Now, if your link is posted at a location that’s actively involved with your category (in this case steak) you’ll find the gains from that link are minimal. Remember that at the core of all this Google is trying to get an accurate picture of what real people are using and talking about the most. In other words, links are a great way to search engine optimize your site, but you can’t rely on them. Which leads us to:   2.  Keyword Density   One of the other primary ways in which a web master can improve their search engine optimization is through keyword density. As we’ve already mentioned, all those little spider bots use words that are repeated often to figure out exactly what a site is about. For instance, within your post about steak we’re willing to bet that keyword will take up roughly 3-5% of the total text. Remember that percentage, as we’re going to need it later.   If you’re being very careful, you can try to word your content in such a way that it is more easily categorized by Google. This is technically cheating, but you still have to play along with the rules Google has in place. For instance, if you post an article that uses the word “steak” 100 percent of the time, Google will in turn interpret that to mean your article is rubbish. And it would be. So how does one actually get the proper keyword density? This, my friends, goes back to that percent.   You see, the golden number for a typical article written by someone genuinely covering a topic will use the same keyword at about 3-5%. This means that a mere 3 to five percent of the words on the page will be the content identifier. So, when crafting your content to meet Google’s expectations, you should try to get that keyword density right in the 3-5 percent ballpark. With this in place, the search engines looking at your site are most likely to correctly identify what in the heck your post is about.   However, like links, this is not a full-proof way to get your site noticed by places like Google. In fact, just because every single page on your site uses the Golden Density Rule does not in the slightest mean your site will be ranked at the first page. That being said, it’s another step along the search engine optimization road, and if you’re doing everything you can to improve the SEO quality of your site, you can’t leave it out.   3.  Word Count   One of the last ways in which the spider bots working for Google behave has to do with word count. You see, the golden rule of Internet writing is that no Internet reader actually reads. This is laughable (and mostly true) but it does not mean that you should skimp on content. In fact, your posts need to be a certain length for them to be noticed by sites like Google. What is that length? Good question!   For Google to “take your site seriously,” you’re going to need posts that are at least 250 words long. This is sort of a bare minimum. Anything less, and Google will not treat you as a source of credibility, much less an expert on the topic. You’ll need to give the spider bots a lot of text to deal with before they’ll accurately place your content. So what are the numbers? Well, something like this.   Never write less than 250 words. Shoot for around 600 to 800, and know that anything longer than that and Google will start to look down its nose at you. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write longer entries (it’s far less detrimental than writing short ones) but it does mean you should keep an eye on what you’re saying. And, as always, keep a steady thumb on the keyword density of your post itself. Are you overusing your category? If so, scale things back a bit.   4.  Site Indexing   This last point is by and far the simplest to understand, and is actually one of the most effective ways to improve your site’s search engine optimization. The idea is simple: When Google combs through your site, it follows links between your pages. In this way, it creates a map of your site which it then uses to determine importance and content. So, what if you could provide this map yourself? We’re glad you asked, because you can!   The way to do this is to create an XML file. This file acts as a sort of roadmap to every page currently on your side of the server. It’s a great launching point that Google can use to get an accurate look at all of your pages. It can then use this to follow through with each and every post. In this way, you guarantee that all your pages are looked at, and all of them are considered. So, just how in the heck does one do this? To answer that question, we think we’ll need a new section, as it’s just about time we started giving you specific ways in which you can improve your site’s search engine optimization! Starting with:   How to Improve Your Site’s Search Engine Optimization:   1.  The Index   We’ll start here, since that’s the last point about the spider bots we made. You see, there are a number of quick and effective ways to create a site map, none of which require a lot of effort on your part. In fact, Google itself provides a utility to create an XML file out of your site.   If you’d rather use something else, though, most popular desktop coding platforms include a quick function to get the job done. With a quick Google search (irony there, mates) you’ll find about half a dozen online utilities to do the work for you as well. Once you’ve got this file, simply throw it into your root directory, and Google will find it the next time it strolls through your neighborhood.   2.  Remember the Content!   It’s a real tragedy, but too often those who get their heads completely soaked in search engine optimization tend to forget what lies at the core of all this madness: The content itself! You see, Google’s spider bots are not malicious, Matrix-style robots hell-bent on making your life hard. In fact, if your site is widely used, is being talked about a lot, and is absolutely fantastic, these bots will be your best friends without you having to lift a finger! What do we mean?   Consider it this way: Search engine optimization is all about using the ways in which spider bots work to your advantage. However, you can do much the same by simply ensuring your content is great to begin with. Write posts that are informative, clear, funny, and useful to readers. Then, the readers you have will start to share them. Once this happens, Google will notice, and follow those links. If your content has been well-written, the keyword density should naturally be in just the right place. Google will also see this, and will use it to your best advantage. And lastly, if a lot of people are visiting the site from Google itself, the search engine will keep a tab on the traffic and remember it to boost your page rank.   All in all, we’re simply saying this: Doing everything you can to search engine optimize your site is a good idea, but if your content is rubbish, you’ll be getting nowhere. Be informative, be good, and get noticed. This is hard, but it will go a long way toward promoting your site.   3.  Link to Resources on the Same Topic   On that note, one of the other things you can do to improve search engine optimization while writing content is to include links to other sites that deal with the same topics you do. For instance, if you’re writing about cooking a steak, feel free to drop some names and links to other sites that have recipes, formulas, etc. This gives Google a much clearer picture of what you’re on about, and also provides a network of links and references for you to work with.   However, don’t overdo it! If you add too many links, Google will treat your article as a piece of spam. Obviously, this is quite bad. Be sure to get the density just right, and when in doubt, cut back on your links.   4.  Use Social Networking   Do you have a Twitter account for your site? How about Facebook? If you don’t you’re missing out on a brilliant search engine optimization utility. You see, if you’re constantly re-blogging the content you create, then you’re not only adding links, you’re also presenting yourself to the public. We’ll illustrate this with a direct example:   Let’s say you get your post about cooking a steak finished. Then, you immediately slap it onto your Twitter and Facebook page. Right there, you now have two fresh links with added text leading back to your content. Remember how important one-way links are? Additionally, you’ve also given your readers on those social networks the chance to repost those items, adding even more links and more traction. In other words, your search engine optimization success with social media largely depends on your readership, but if you have a readership at all, you shouldn’t leave out the importance of the old Facebook and Twitter accounts.   5.  Use Metatags:   This is a very basic point, but one that so many people tend to forget. A metatag is a simple line of code that’s kept in the HTML of your site. It isn’t seen by viewers, and it won’t be noticeable to you unless you look at the hard code. However, metatags act as keywords for sites like Google to look through. They’re completely separated from the other lines of code, and are used as direct identifiers for search engines to look through. You can also add whatever words you like in this box to describe your site. In other words, it’s free categorization that takes two seconds to do. So do it.   6.  The About Page   Our last point is also a simple one, one that you should not overlook or forget. To get to the point, how does your About page look right now? Is it as solid as it could be? If not, then get to hopping, Soldier! This page is very important to sites like Google, as it spells out directly who you are, what you do, etc. This means you should do your damndest to make the page shine like gold. Include those personal links, add those bullets, and polish it up big time!   Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:11:08 -0700 SEO http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/seo/seo-the-bootcamp-article/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/seo/should-i-use-a-web-directory-for-one-way-links/ Today, we’ll be taking a look at one of the oldest SEO tricks in the book: Web directories. We’ll be listing all the pros and cons, and we’ll also be giving into a fair amount of discussion about your specific needs. We consider it one of our prime joys in life to keep you informed about what’s happening within the world of web hosting. We do this by providing you with in-depth reviews of all the latest and most popular hosting companies, but we also try to keep you educated about the various technologies running around the Net. Today, we’ll be taking a look at one of the oldest SEO tricks in the book: Web directories. We’ll be listing all the pros and cons, and we’ll also be giving into a fair amount of discussion about your specific needs.   All in all, if that sounds like a rip-roaring good time, then stick around, Pilgrim! We’ll have all the juicy details coming right up. But before we can get into the meat and potatoes of the matter, we feel we at least owe you a brief explanation of what a web directory actually is. We’ll have all of that and more coming up, and you can find it all just below the break!   What is a Web Directory?   Before we can discuss if a web directory is beneficial or essential to your site’s SEO, we very likely need to first explain what in the heck a web directory is. The easiest way we know how to put it goes something like this:   Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing all behave in a very specific way. They use robots called “spiders” to comb through the Internet, logging away all those little codes and ticks that identify what a website is about. Furthermore, these spiders also use a technology called “page ranking” to organize the data they find into a comprehensible list. This list is what you get when you search for a keyword out at Google.com. Depending on a number of different variables, your website may be listed as the most important (taking that all-important first result spot) or it may be kept somewhere at the back of the line. Overall, though, this decision is left up to the spider bots, or automated software searchers.   A web directory on the other hand behaves quite a bit differently. Web directories have actually been around for far longer than any of the modern search engines. So much so that we remember a day when Yahoo! Directory was more popular than Google. This is because of the way these listings work.   If Google is one, big automated list of websites, a web directory is a more refined and humanly categorized repository. Yes, this means that an actual human combs through the Internet, logging away what a website or page is about on a single directory. In a lot of ways, it’s like creating the entire YellowPages, only for websites. Web masters can usually submit links to their websites or content to a web directory. The owner or worker at the directory then scans through the material. Once they’ve done this, they pigeon hole your media, and then file it away with other sites in this category. They also include a link back to your site, which is the important part for us.   So now that we have a basic understanding of what a web directory is, just why in the heck would we want to use one? The answer, my friends, is in one-way links.   Why Should I Submit my Site to Web Directories?   The simplest way to think about the pros behind submitting your content to a web directory is to keep in mind those spider bots from earlier. You know, the ones that basically run Google, Bing, and Yahoo! You see, these spider bots use a lot of different data to determine how “important” your website is. The more weighty the site is, the higher up the search results it goes. One of the variables used in these calculations is the number of available one-way links: These are links on other pages or sites that link back to either a portion of your site, or the home page itself. Obviously, if a lot of people are linking to your site, it’s quite likely that your site is important. Google then reads into this, and posts your site higher up in the search results.   If you’re a particularly careful web master, you can actually play this technology to your advantage. The basic idea is this: If you can create a whole load of one-way links ending at your site, then you’ve already gone the extra mile to ensure that your users can find you on Google. However, creating one-way links is hardly easy! In fact, as the idea is to assess just how much people are discussing your site, they can be downright tricky to introduce. However, web directories give us at least a small way out of the jam.   By submitting your site to a web directory (and having it sorted and categorized, of course) you have created a link back to your website. This is exactly what we need to climb the Google charts. However, there are a few other benefits to having your one-way links hosted by a web directory. They go something like this:   Pros to Having a Web Directory List Your Site:   1.  Keywords   Another element that Google looks for when it crawls your site is key wording. This means that all those little spiders comb through your data, metatags, and text, looking for identifying or repeated words that tip your cards. For instance, if you own a website that’s all about meat or meat products, we’re going to assume you used the word meat a lot. Google will notice this, and after enough repetitions, those little software hounds will label your site a “meat site.”   A web directory is like a ready-made ice cream sunday for this variable. What we mean is this: When a person at a web directory categorizes your site, they attach a lot of keywords to the entry. If you submitted your meat site to them, they’ll likely label it a meat site, just as Google would. However, being human, they’ll also notice a lot of other, more specific labels that can be applied. For instance, if you sell rare meats, that will be logged away. You may find your entry tagged with hundreds of these unique identifiers. Which, once that’s done, brings us back to Google.   Google, you see, has a bit of an hard time figuring out the finer points of your website. It’s good at picking out generalities, but it gets a bit confused with specifics like “exotic meats.” As such, having a one-way link supported by a web directory is perhaps one of the best possible ways to attach specific keyword entries to your links. Google will see the link, as well as the various tags, and will compile all of it into one, infinitely more precise entry. This means higher performance in the search results, and better recognition with the key words you want.   And if that doesn’t sound like a bargain, we don’t know what will!   2.  Increased Publicity   Let’s just go ahead and face it—no matter what you do, getting your name and website out into the public is a rough gig. You can advertise, you can promote, but if people cannot find you with a basic Internet search, you just aren’t likely to get anywhere. Which, as you might have guessed, brings us right back to the ye olden web directory.   Web directories are still used by consumers to find websites. Sure, most people will go to Google for a response, but there are still a few pioneers that like Yahoo! Directory more. The reason behind this is simple: With a web directory, users can look for whole categories of websites, rather than a single, specific entry. Want to find a whole slew of meat-based websites? Use a web directory to find an helping of many more than you can stomach. If you submit your site, you can use this to your advantage.   Firstly, merely having your name on a site that people use to look for new Internet homes is a plus. There’s always the off-chance that a user will simply stumble upon your website, and you’ll instantly gain their readership. However, much more likely is the second option: By being lumped into a category on a web directory (keep in mind that these can get rather specific) you’ve drastically increased your chances of being noticed by users who only have eyes for sites like yours. They’ll see the other posts, and by association, they’ll instantly have a better handle on who you are and what you do. And to us that’s a darn good reason to do anything!   3.  Cost is King   And lastly, depending on the web directory you choose, you may not have to pay a single dime to get your site listed in their stash. Yes, we really do mean that. With nothing on the front-end, you can enjoy all of the benefits we’ve talked about above, adding up to a lot of bang for absolutely no buck for all. This isn’t always the case, but if you hunt out the good ones, don’t be surprised to find a freebie tag attached!   The Cons to Submitting Your Site to a Web Directory   However, having your site listed and categorized on a web directory isn’t always sunshine, peaches and smiles. In fact, if you aren’t being careful, you may very quickly find yourself in a world of hurt because of your loose listing style. What exactly are the downsides to using a web directory? Why, we’re glad you asked! We’ve got the full scoop made up below, starting with:   1.  Cost . . . Again   You see, as we mentioned earlier, there are free web directories floating around the Net. However, these are sometimes few and far between, and what remains isn’t always pretty. Depending on the web directory you choose, you may be looking at a listing fee in the neighborhood of $200—or possibly more! And all of this simply goes to having your entry looked at, categorized, listed and labeled. That seems like a mighty high price to us, and unless you’re a mega-millions corporation with bank to spare, the benefits are far outweighed by the cost.   2.  Nofollow Links   Another element to look out for are the nofollow links. These can be very sneaky, and if you submit your site to a web directory that uses these, you’ll not only find yourself without a gain: You’ll also see the web directory benefit from your listing with no profit to you! We’ll explain.   Within HTML, there’s a code called a “nofollow” that tells sites like Google, Bing and Yahoo to simply not follow the proceeding link. Yes, that means that if your web directory hosted link is marked with a nofollow, places like Google will not use any of the data attached to that link. That means no increase in the search rankings, no added keywords, no gain, and simply no benefit. This is a dastardly trick that was originally used to block comment spammers, but has since created quite a fuss within the realm of web directories.   The worst part about all of this is that the web directory will still continue to turn a dollar from your listing. You see, most web directories make money from adverts placed inside the pages. So, if someone were to find your site on the directory—and were to click on a few advertisements, too—the directory would be making some chump change off a listing you gained nothing from. This is a terrible situation, and obviously you’ll want to avoid it everywhere that you can.   3.  Time Investment   And lastly, the sheer time investment it takes to get your site listed on a plethora of web directories can be downright stifling. To begin with, most directories will take upwards of several weeks just to get your link categorized and listed. This means that you’ll need to constantly check back to look for results. Not to mention the fact that merely submitting a listing can often be a real work of effort. And when one has several hundred of these sites in mind, the number of hours spent plugging in links and keywords can be awfully maddening.   However, this point is obviously most determined by you, the web master. If you don’t want to invest so much time into web directories, you simply don’t have to. So in this sense, our number three and final con for web directories isn’t so much a deal breaker as a word of warning to all those with a time-sensitive budget.   Do I Really Need to use a Web Directory?   Up until this point, we’ve been talking an awful lot about what a web directory is, as well as what it can do for your website, your search engine optimization, and your publicity. However, we have yet to cash in on the title of this article and explain exactly when and when not to use a web directory to promote your site. We’ll be rectifying that now, however! Below, you’ll find a few choice considerations to give a looking over before committing a lot of money or time to web directory listings. If you’re feeling confused, or simply don’t know if you need the added boost, below you’ll find the answers you need.   So without further ado, let’s dive right into our first point! Starting with:   1.  What Kind of Site Are You Running?   The very first thing we’d like to ask has a lot to do with the practicality of your goals and dreams where your website is concerned. You see, it’s very important to know what you’re sitting on. What we mean is, what do you actually want to do with your website? Are you running a detailed eCommerce front-end for a brick and mortar store? If so, would you like to move as much of your product over the Internet as you possibly can, or are you more just trying to give your Internet-enabled shoppers a Web-ready portal. On the flip side, are you thinking about promoting your own blog? If so, what are the reasons? Do you intend to make a lot of money out of your blog, or would you merely like to keep it a solipsistic and private matter for your dedicated readers? All of these are important aspects to consider, and with one, main reason: Traffic costs money, but traffic earns money after the investment. Think about it this way. If you’re setting up a complex eCommerce site that you would love to make a living off of, you’re going to want to do everything you can to promote said site. As such, spending a few hundred on web directory listings sounds like a solid investment. In fact, it’s a good idea, if nothing else. The added exposure and back-links may just be the difference between success and being marginalized.   However, if you’re running an amateur WordPress blog with no intention of going national (or making a tidy sum of money off the advertisements) then what would be the point in going the extra mile? Sure, you might rake in a few more readers, but if you don’t have the drive on the front-end to make a lot of money with your new traffic, then why bother getting the new traffic?   In other words, use some common sense. If you need the boost to your site, then go for it. At the very least, you can use some free listings to tide you over. However, if you care nothing about SEO or traffic, then save yourself some added pain and headaches.   2.  Are You Already Search Engine Optimizing? For some reason, a lot of the firms we work with that increase the search engine optimization of a client’s website tend to leave out the option to post to several web directories. What we mean is, they downright forget it. Why this is we’ll never be certain, but if you’re already in the process of optimizing your site for search engines, why not submit your site to a few directories? All of this goes back to that one-way link principle we talked about earlier. If your main drive is to increase your standings with Google, then you’re going to need all the help you can get. As such, spending a few additional hundred dollars on several listings isn’t just a sound investment—it’s the complete package! You’re already doing the rest of the work, so why not get the entire painting? It makes sense to us, anyway.   3.  Are You Afraid of Budgets?   Lastly, you’re going to want to consider what kind of budget you can put into a web directory project. What we mean is this: You don’t have to have several hundred dollars laying around to submit your site to a web directory. In fact, you could use nothing but free listings. If you’re scared of spending a little money to advance the search engine ranking of your site, then don’t—spend any money that is! Free web directories exist in the tens of thousands range. If you don’t believe us, then do a quick search on Google for “free web directories.” You won’t be disappointed. Either way, our point is this. If you really want the traffic, and really don’t have the cash, using a web directory chain can be one of the cheapest and most effective methods of getting your search engine rating up. We can’t promise any results, but if you desperately need the exposure on a shoe-string budget, there’s no better way to go about gaining traffic. But don’t take our word for it! Get to posting now, and then let us know how the traffic flow goes in the comments box below! Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:02:42 -0700 SEO http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/seo/should-i-use-a-web-directory-for-one-way-links/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/reseller-web-hosting/top-ways-to-design-a-better-reseller-website-part-2/ In a recent article we discussed the many ways to design a better resellers website. We discussed what your reseller website should have, and broke this down point by point. Now we are ready to delve deeper, starting with: In a recent article we discussed the many ways to design a better resellers website. We discussed what your reseller website should have, and broke this down point by point. Now we are ready to delve deeper, starting with:   Improve the Actual Design of Your Site   Okay, so up until this point we’ve talked a lot about what reseller hosting is, as well as what you should physically include to make your site a worthy opponent to your competitors. However, we have yet to follow up on the title of the entire article: If you’re looking for our top ways in which to improve the efficiency and design of your reseller hosting website, you’re now at the right place. We’ve got all those choice pointers lined up and ready to roll just below the break, so without further ado, it’s time to wax-on-wax-off, Grasshopper.   1.  Find a Niche:   The very first thing we tell any new hosting reseller to do is to find their niche within the market. No, this doesn’t mean you should go out and find the most obscure set of web users out there, and then cater exclusively to them—though we have seen this work for some of our friends. On the other hand, you should also shy away from being a simple general web host, with no special incentives or market bents. No, your absolute best method to hook clients is to instead find a core group of users that may have specific needs, and then pander as much as you can to those needs.   This sounds more complicated than it really is, and we promise it’s within the realm of possibility. Here are some quick examples to help you along:   Think about bloggers for a second, specifically first-time bloggers who have no real experience other than using a free Tumblr account to post their data. They’re now looking for a richer, more complex, and more personable way to get their name out and on the Internet. As a web hosting provider, it’s your job to cater to those needs. To do so with this target group, you could provide easy installations of popular blogging softwares like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc. Furthermore, you should also make the process of establishing a domain name, setting up the website, and accessing data through FTP as simple and as idiot-proof as possible. If your target market isn’t very well-versed with computers, it only makes sense to ease their pain. This will win you more of a market share within the group, and will help to establish that all important niche that we’re talking about.   There are literally hundreds of different markets and people groups that you could cater to. Consider the elderly who may want to try hosting a website, or the graphic designer who wants a quick, personable, and creative web hosting company to manage his data. The possibilities are just about endless, and it’s up to you to decide who you want to work with, how you want to work with them, and what services you’re willing to offer.  2.  Brand it Hard, Cowboy:   On a similar note, the very next thing you’re going to need to do—and we seriously mean need to do—is to establish your own brand. This means coming up with a name, a logo and a tagline that sets you apart from the herd. This is much harder than you might think it is, and if your name sucks, so will the revenue stream. You have got to hit this on the head, which is why we’re going to explain how:   We have a lot of experience within the realm of graphic design, and we’ve helped more than one lonely business create a new image for themselves. As such, we like to think our tips are just about the best. And the very first tip that we pass along to a new client that’s in this position is simple—What kind of tone do you want to set? Are you strictly business, or do you have a creative side that might work best with your target audience? Who is your target audience? What sort of adjectives would you use to describe them, and how might those also apply to you, as the business they’ll be interfacing with? Keep these in mind, and then move onto the next paragraph.   The best thing you can do to arrive at a solid brand is to simply come up with a few brainstormed ideas. Then, sift through them with that list of adjectives from above. Which ones fit the best? Which ones fit the least? Can you improve your thoughts any more? Once all of that is out of the way, head onto the next point before tying a ribbon on the whole thing.   Once you have a solid idea of how you want to present yourself, simply do it! Use the branding options you’ve created as much as possible, especially the logo you’ve created, or a mascot if you have one. What sets sites like HostGator and GoDaddy apart? It’s the brand! It’s the gator, and the racy commercials. Use this to your advantage, and become a unique, quirky (or professional) brand.   3.  Flow the Whole Thing Like a Hawaiian:   We’ve spent a lot of time in the Hawaiian islands, and one of the things we like most about the state is the fact that all the roads on an island flow towards a destination. There are no excess options, nor any avenues that don’t lead you somewhere. We talk about this with reseller web hosting design, because it’s a vital concept to have down.   When designing your website, be sure to have everything (all the pages, posts, and links) flow towards a single, end point. Typically this will be the sing-up for services page, but then again, it doesn’t have to be. Either way, direct the flow of traffic from the landing page to where you would ultimately like your customers to end up. In this way, the user feels guided through your company’s statistics, and lead directly to the point they’re presumably after. It’s not rocket science, and when in doubt, just imagine a smooth, graceful road. It works for us.   4.  Simplify the Checkout:   We talked a bit about this earlier, but we really can’t harp on it enough. One of the first points you should strive for is a competent and capable checkout system. After all, if it’s nearly impossible for your clients to signup for your services, they aren’t very likely to do so. It’s all well and good for us to say that, though, but what does it actually mean? It means this.   Firstly, your prices should be spelled out in the clear without any excess room for interpretation. In no way should the customer feel like they haven’t got a good handle on how much this will cost them. Secondly, you want to reassure from the get-go that your site is secure, encrypted, and will not accidentally bankrupt your new clients. This is extremely important, as we’re sure you’re aware of: Assuming you’ve ever shopped online.   However, this also means that the client should be guided through the entire process. They’ll have to input information like their PayPal accounts, credit card numbers, etc. Lead them into this with a brief text explanation of what’s going on, and then the fill-in forms for their perusal. Once that’s been completed, explain in no uncertain terms what they’ll need to do to activate their accounts. Always mention how long this will take, too. If there are any softwares they need to install, or processes they should go through, mention this and be clear about what kind of a commitment it will require. There’s nothing worse than putting down a large chunk of change, only to find that one now must put in a whole lot of unmentioned work. Avoid that as much as possible.   5.  Be Personable:   And lastly, our final tip is more of a general rule than anything else. What we mean by that subheading is this: Make the site as friendly as possible. You’re a small company, not a huge corporation. Use this to your advantage by appearing friendly, comfortable, and accessible. How ever you can do this—essentially lightening the mood—do it. Your customers will be happier, and so will you without the added stress.   Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:06:18 -0700 Reseller Web Hosting http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/reseller-web-hosting/top-ways-to-design-a-better-reseller-website-part-2/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/reseller-web-hosting/top-ways-to-design-a-better-reseller-website-part-1/ If you’re in the mood and have the curiosity, you can march on down below the break to view our whole rundown on how you can—right now—improve the look and design of your reseller hosting business’ website. Starting with, what is reseller hosting? So, you’ve finally done it! You’ve finally bit the bullet and committed to owning, operating, and otherwise purveying your very own reseller business. If that is indeed the case, the very first thing we’d like to do is simply congratulate you. This is a big step for any businessman, and with so much work ahead of you, you can rest assured that what you’ve accomplished is no small feat. However, as we’ve already said, owning your own reseller business is going to be anything but a picnic! From the ground-up, there are a thousand variables at work that will either bankrupt you or eventually turn you into the new HostGator. One of the most important choices you’re looking at? Web design.   In a previous post we talked an awful lot about web design. It’s an important aspect to any website, but nowhere is it more important than in reseller hosting. You see, where a normal web design seeks to sell a product, move viewers’ emotions, or just entertain, a reseller site must be a wicked combination of all of these. We’ll talk more about this in just a second, but if you’re in the mood and have the curiosity, you can march on down below the break to view our whole rundown on how you can—right now—improve the look and design of your reseller hosting business’ website. Starting with:   What is Reseller Hosting?   Before we go any further, we suppose we owe you at least a brief introduction to what reseller hosting is. As stated, we assume you’re already acquainted, but on the off chance that you’re new to the realm, let us explain.   Reseller hosting is a new form of business and hosting that’s only just sprung up in the last decade or so. The essential idea that you need to have down about it is this: Hosting companies, if they’re offering a reseller program, have excess server space that they would like to sell to you, a secondary consumer. In this scenario, you sign a year long lease for a chunk of their servers, and they more or less hand you the keys to the kingdom. You’re given a set amount of memory, disc space, and performance to work with. From there, it’s your job to divide up all this acquired space, and then resell it as individual units to your own customers. The hosting company you purchased the space from is not involved, save by offering the services to you.   This means that it’s up to you to establish a brand, market yourself to a niche, and move enough of your own units to turn a profit. This is no small feat, and will require an extensive amount of effort on your part. We’ll be covering these elements in just a second, but it is worth noting that reseller hosting is not all doom and gloom: It is entirely possible to turn a massive profit with the technology, and if you’re willing to put in the elbow grease using the tips we have stored below, we can guarantee that you’ll start to see real results quickly, and without too terribly much fuss. So what’s required to make a competent reseller hosting website? Find out below!   What Your Reseller Website Should Have   As we’ve already mentioned, a reseller hosting website is a fair bit more complicated than a typical website. It must encompass so many elements of a traditional site, acing each and every one of them to produce an experience that is fundamentally brilliant. For instance, you’ll want to leverage the eCommerce portion of a website to actually sell your product. However, you’ll also want to provide adequate information to your new customers so that they’ll firstly feel comfortable buying your services, and secondly feel informed about the decision to actually do so. And above all of that, the site must in turn actually look good. It’s no small task, but it’s a lot easier if you know what sort of elements you’ll need to create. To do that, you can use the handy-dandy list we’ve provided below. Starting with:   1.  Informational Pages: The very first section you’ll need to create—and worry about—is the home page. This is what the user will be presented with when logging into your site for the first time, and you’ll want to ensure that they acquire enough information about you right off the bat to want to hire you. Or, even just enough information to make them want to do some more research. This is essential, and if you’re going to take extra special care to make a page look good, this is the one you’ll want to work on. We’ll talk a bit more about aesthetics in a second, but for now, it’s onto the next important element!   2.  The About Page:   Let’s assume that you’ve hooked a reader enough for them to want to dig a bit deeper into your company, as well as your services. If this is true, you’re going to want to give them a quick and convenient place to go to find said information. What is this place? An about page. This is the treasure trove where you can mention who you are, where you’re located, and what kind of guarantees you’re willing to fork over. You’ll find a list of these guarantees later in the article, but it’s important to know that you don’t want to overwhelm your readers with text: If this section is too long, you can rest assured that it will go unread. Rather, try to stick to the bare, reassuring essentials. What would you like to know if you were signing up for a new web host? What did you look for in your reseller hosting account? All of these can give you some pretty good indications as to what information your users will need. With all of that in mind, simply put it on the page!   3.  A Service Page:   Now, this is a big one. You see, if the reader we’ve been talking about has stuck with you long enough to firstly want to look into your company more, and now research your services, you’re going to want to be sure you’ve brought the goods. What we mean is, you’re going to want to design a page that accurately, competently and without hesitation describes the services and pricing that you offer. The easier this is to read the better, and if this page is hard to get to, you can be sure that the reader simply won’t go there. Don’t fret over this too much. Just put something simple and efficient down, and then focus a lot harder on the next important element.   4.  The Sales Page:   If the user has a real interest in gaining your services and using you as their web host, they’re going to need a place to actually do this. This means creating some kind of checkout and eCommerce portion of your website. This is crucial, as the entire page or series of pages must be capable, easy on the eyes, and absolutely simple to understand. There’s nothing worse than signing up for a service when the checkout system is absolute rubbish. Not only will your customers not feel secure in handing over their money, the entire page will reflect poorly on the services they’re actually acquiring. In other words, spend a lot of time here, and be sure that this is the focus of your website’s flow: After all, you do want potential customers to end up here! 5.  A Log-In Panel:   Success! You’ve now secured a new set of customers, customers who are now quite eager to start cracking away at their fresh accounts. With this in mind, have you provided them with a place to go to actually do so? What we mean is, have you included some kind of management panel for your users to access their data, make personal changes, and otherwise customize the spaces that you have just leased? If not, you’re going to want to hop on that train, Soldier! Gone are the days where one could simply hand over a set of FTP passwords and let the customer loose. No, you’re going to need either cPanel or Plesk, as well as custom and protected accounts for each and every one of your new users. This isn’t just for them: Locking down their access to your servers and ensuring that they aren’t poking around under the bonnet means a safer, and more efficient server for you. In other words, now that you’ve got the people knocking at your door, give them access to what they want!   6.  A Support System - Contact Page:   This is the last element that you must have to be a successful hosting reseller, we promise. You see, invariably when it comes to shared web hosting, your users are going to experience problems. These problems aren’t necessarily your fault, but they will arise, and either way your customers are going to want to be able to get an hold on you. With that in mind, give them what they want! Create some kind of support network for your users to access you and your information with. This might be as simple as a contacts list with a phone number and some email addresses. If you’d like, there are several utilities out there that can create wholly complex support ticket systems that provide you with a professional way to answer questions. The breadth of this section is up to you, but we do want to caution you: Your users will be quite a bit more than miffed if they cannot get a speedy answer to a troubling problem. We’ve learned this the hard way, and we’d rather you were spared the agony. Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:26:36 -0700 Reseller Web Hosting http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/reseller-web-hosting/top-ways-to-design-a-better-reseller-website-part-1/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/top-wordpress-plugins-you-need-now/ Congratulations! If you’re reading this, that means you’ve created and managed a WordPress site of your very own. You’ve installed the beast, set it up with the barest of preferences and customized options, and released it screaming into the wild. However, don’t think for a second that you’re done with the process! No, creating an ideal WordPress site takes a bit more effort than that. There are so many things left to tweak, and to be frank, your WordPress experience has only just begun. Congratulations! If you’re reading this, that means you’ve created and managed a WordPress site of your very own. You’ve installed the beast, set it up with the barest of preferences and customized options, and released it screaming into the wild. However, don’t think for a second that you’re done with the process! No, creating an ideal WordPress site takes a bit more effort than that. There are so many things left to tweak, and to be frank, your WordPress experience has only just begun.   One of the primary ways in which we add functionality and features to WordPress are plugins. These tools allow for a nearly infinite amount of flexibility, and allow the average website owner to expand the possibilities of their domain to the skies. However, what plugins should you use? Do you know what features you’ll want now, or even a few months down the road? There are literally thousands upon thousands of these utilities floating around, and if you aren’t careful to pick the very best and brightest, you’ll almost certainly be selling yourself short.   To avoid this, we’ve created a list below of our top and choice WordPress plugins. All of these are designed to add much needed functionality and smoothness to the overall WordPress experience, especially for the novice. However, before we can dive into the specific plugins you should download, we feel we owe the less informed an explanation of what a plugin for WordPress actually does.   What are WordPress Plugins?   If you’re new to WordPress, or simply aren’t as hip to its total functionality, you may be a bit confused by all this talk of plugins. What are plugins, and what in the heck of things do they do? The best we way we know to describe them goes something like this:   Imagine your WordPress site as an house. You’ve bought the house, you’ve set up the utilities, and now you’re ready to begin fleshing things. The way you do this is buy purchasing furniture, appliances, wall hangings, etc. In other words, you take the framework of the house and then add your personal touches, creating an experience that’s vastly more comfortable. In this metaphor, your WordPress is exactly like that house. Your basic installation of the software lays down the framework, a framework you then expand using plugins. These are coded bits, or utilities, that add decoration, functionality, etc. to the site. If they’re the furniture, then they give your guests a place to sit, so to speak. To sum it up for good: A plugin is any piece of code that’s added to your WordPress installation that improves or expands the functionality.   You may want to add a utility for SEO optimization, for comment filtering, or for any number of different reasons. But what plugins do we recommend you download immediately? To find that, you’ll have to go below the break!   Top WordPress Plugins to Download Now   1.  Akismet: This one is a real no-brainer, so much so that it actually comes installed with new editions of WordPress. However, if for some reason you’ve lost it or are using a younger version of the software that didn’t come packaged with the plug-in, Akismet is the premier comment spam filter available on the Net. It’s powerful, simple, and above all, drastically reduces the amount of comment spam your site receives. And trust us, with the number of spam bots running around the Web, you’re going to want this protection. 2.  All in One SEO Pack: Over the years we’ve used any number of SEO plugins to handle the optimization of our WordPress site with other engines like Google or Yahoo. However, there’s only one that’s sitting on each and every one of our domains as I type this, and it’s the All in One SEO Pack. This little beauty gives you everything you need to make sure your site has been fully optimized for real search engine results. Better yet, with the way it rests within the WordPress framework so comfortably, you’ll never have to think twice about the complexity of the process underneath the code. To put that more simply, the All in One SEO Pack is so simple that you’ll be able to use it to its fullest without ever lifting a finger. And to us, that’s a real bargain. 3.  Contact Form 7: When it comes to WordPress sites that we manage, especially ones for our clients, we really tend to create a lot of forms. Why is this? Simple! If you’re trying to interface with the viewer proper, you have to give them some way to interact directly. The easiest way to do so is through a form. And no matter if we’re making a survey, a contact field, or some other variety of fill-in the blank, we make sure to use the Contact Form 7 plugin. It’s quick, secure, and can be easily integrated into nearly any WordPress page or article. We like the simplicity, but we’re also very fond of the security. Spam bots tend to wreak havoc with our contact forms, stealing our information and overloading our emails and phones with useless garbage. By putting Contact Form 7 between us and them, we’ve been able to drastically increase the security of the site. 4.  Google XML Sitemaps: If you’re unfamiliar with XML sitemaps, allow us to give you the barest introduction and rundown. You see, your site needs to be search engine optimized to appear anywhere in Google’s runnings. Same goes for Yahoo, MSN, Dogpile, you name it! One of the ways in which you can boost your site’s performance is to give these search engines something organized, compact, and efficient to crawl. In other words, give them a sitemap. This is more or less an easily recognizable map of all the content you’ve created on your site, saved into a single file. Search engines can crawl this, gather the information they need, and then take that concise information back to the servers. This means higher rankings for you, better performance for the site, and more customers. The easiest way to do this within WordPress? Google XML Sitemaps. It works in the background, allowing you to step back and take a breather. And as it updates itself regularly, you’ll never have to worry about an outdated sitemap. It’s pure WordPress gold, and we couldn’t live without it. 5.  Secure WordPress: Whether we’re optimizing a site of our own for security purposes, or if its a clients site we’re trying to lock down, we always want to ensure the information stored within our WordPress-powered domains remains where it should. We’ve tried a lot of different security plugins throughout the years, but if you’re extremely secured about the sanctity and security of your data, there’s really only one choice that we recommend—and it’s SiteSecurityMonitor’s Secure WordPress. The plugin comes with a mountain of features, all of which aim to lock your site down harder than Fort Knox during a crisis. We could summarize all the reasons we use the plugin in our day-to-day operations, but we have a feeling it might be best if we just gave you the list straight from the developers: Secure WordPress Features:   1. Removes error-information on login-page 2. Adds index.php plugin-directory (virtual) 3. Removes the wp-version, except in admin-area 4. Removes Really Simple Discovery 5. Removes Windows Live Writer 6. Removes core update information for non-admins 7. Removes plugin-update information for non-admins 8. Removes theme-update information for non-admins (only WP 2.8 and higher) 9. Hides WP-version in backend-dashboard for non-admins 10. Adds string for use WP Scanner 11. Blocks bad queries 12. Validates your site with a free malware and vulnerabilities scan   6.  SecureAdmin: However, we don’t even want to just stop with Secure WordPress. We’re what most people would call “paranoid”—we’d just say protective, though. Either way, we typically run a few more security plugins just to be safe. One of the ones we’re proudest of is SecureAdmit. This little beauty adds even more security functionality to the admin account of the WordPress site. For those not really familiar with the admin system, if you created the site, odds are you’re the admin. And, the odds are also pretty favorable that you’re going to want as much control over your site as you can possibly manage. As such, we highly recommend that you download SecureAdmin this seconds. It’s simple, powerful, and easily one of the most solid plugins we’ve seen yet for the platform. In other words, it comes recommended. 7.  WordPress Database Backup: We’re going to paint a picture for you, and it looks something like this: Imagine that you’ve worked extremely hard to optimize, create and otherwise manage your WordPress site. So much so that it now glitters like the solid Web gold you’ve always wanted. And then, out of the blue, a power failure occurs as you’re updating the firmware. Instantly, all of your information is gone in a puff of smoke, leaving you stranded. Do you know what could have been used to avoid all of this? WordPress Database Backup. It’s a quick utility that does everything you’re hope it does. It will automatically backup your WordPress site to a secure location, allowing you to retrieve it at any point in time, especially during a crisis. We use this plugin with all of our sites, namely because of the customization that we’re allowed with it. It’s simple, powerful, and is guaranteed to increase the sanctity of your page. 8.  WP Google Analytics: If you don’t know what Google Analytics is, we’re not exactly sure where you’ve been hiding out, but we might like to. You see, the platform offers us a powerful way to track the visits and traffic our sites receive. It’s an indispensable tool, especially if we’re trying to ramp up the amount of traffic for a customer’s site. As such, we always make sure to add Analytics to our sites, no matter what. The quickest way we’ve found yet to do this? WP Google Analytics. Sure, you could add the service manually, but that’s complicated, bloated, and not likely to move very quickly. Instead, we’d like to suggest you download a simple plugin that does all the heavy lifting for you. We’ve yet to have a problem with WP Google Analytics, though we have gained a lot by using it. And if that’s not a recommendation, we don’t know what is! 9.  WP No Category Base: This one is a little smaller, but it performs just as necessary an action as any of the other plugins we’ve mentioned. If you haven’t noticed, WordPress will typically put a category before the heading you’ve actually prescribed in the URL. With this plugin installed and activated, those headaches are over. Yes, that’s all it does. Yes, that’s also fantastic for your SEO, and will greatly improve the efficiency of your site. Yes, you’re also welcome. 10. Web Invoicing and Billing: This one is perhaps a bit more specialized than some of the other plugins we’ve mentioned, but if you’re running a business out of your WordPress site, it’s a nearly indispensable tool. The plugin allows you to create, manage, view and send invoices and billing statements directly from the admin panel of your account. This greatly simplifies our working lives, and it’s actually much better than any of the other invoicing softwares we’ve tried in the past. Even the dedicated ones.   So there you have it! Those are our top ten WordPress plugins for use with almost any WordPress site. However, the fun hardly stops there! If you’re looking for more options, there are thousands more waiting to be discovered within the plugins panel of your WordPress account. All you need to do is perform a quick search, and then watch the items pile up! We hope we’ve helped you out, and if you find any other golden nuggets, let us know below! Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:14:15 -0700 General http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/general/top-wordpress-plugins-you-need-now/ http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/security-issues/top-ways-to-improve-the-security-and-performance-of-your-wordpress-site/ If you’ve already installed WordPress and are now looking for ways to increase the security and stability (not to mention the performance) of your account, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll be handing out a few of our favorite methods, as well as some additional third-party avenues that will keep your site up and running longer. We’ve been talking a lot about WordPress lately, and we’re very aware of it, we promise. You see, we’ve seen a real surge in the number of our clients, readers, and users that have been swapping to the content management system, and with all due respect, we just feel like there are some serious gaps to be addressed in the way that y’all are running your systems. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll not find hope for the hopeless: In fact, you’ll find quite a few choice options below. Which brings us right back to the point of this little article.  If you’ve already installed WordPress and are now looking for ways to increase the security and stability (not to mention the performance) of your account, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll be handing out a few of our favorite methods, as well as some additional third-party avenues that will keep your site up and running longer. So without further ado, head on down below the break to start reading some of our top ways to make WordPress better. From the ground up!   Top Ways to Improve WordPress Security:   1.  Backups:   First thing is fist. If you aren’t backing up your site on a regular basis, you are absolutely selling yourself short. All it takes is a single power failure while the system is upgrading, and you’ll quickly find yourself without a working venue. This is a terrible fate, and one we’d like to help you avoid at all costs. So, here’s how we suggest you go about this.   Firstly, most competent web hosts will give you some way to back up your server-side information. This can be performed according to your wishes usually, and though it may cost you a little extra, we promise it’s easily worth every penny. It’s like having a safe deposit box which houses all of your valuable items. With this box in place, you’ve been safeguarded against malevolent attacks, accidents, and even the wrath of God—okay, so maybe not so much the latter, but you get the point.   You can also download some quick and easy plugins that do the same, though admittedly not quite as well.   2.  Pick a Better Password:   This one should be obvious, but it’s very surprising the number of people that don’t pursue it. When creating a password for your WordPress site, be sure it’s one that’s complex enough to not be easily cracked by hackers: And yes, they can easily crack it. Items like dictionary words, stuff that can be found on your blog, or even your birthdate are all terrible ideas. Don’t do them, and where possible, use a randomized password generator. If you’ve got multiple writers working for you, give them a set and random code to use, and do not let them change it. You never know where your weak points are, but if you open up your server to that kind of free customization, you’re begging for trouble.   3.  Keep the Code Up to Date:   Sadly this isn’t something you’ll be able to easily manage without involving your web host. However, with a little effort it can still be accomplished. You see, WordPress isn’t just a magical entity that exists on its own. It uses a million other components like MySQL, PHP, GDlib, and Apache. All of this access points, if not updated, can become doorways for hackers and the like. Just check with your host to be sure the server has been updated with the latest in the series for each of these. If not, raise a fuss. It’s your data that’s at risk.   Top Ways to Improve WordPress Performance:  1.  Add a Content Delivery Network:   One of the quickest add most efficient ways to speed up your website (any website, not just WordPress) is to add a content delivery network. What is a CDN? Essentially, it’s like an additional network that your data and information is allowed to draw from. It gets the information you want to your viewers faster, and with less latency. In other words, it’s quicker, more accurate, and not hard to implement into WordPress.   There are a few solid plugins that will add this to your site without fuss. One of our favorites, and the one we’ve made the most use of is W3 Total Cache. Just perform a search for it in the WordPress plugins gallery. It’s had a tonne of downloads, and should be relatively easy to spot. Add this little beauty, and then watch the latency disappear!   2.  Organize Those Plugins   This is sort of like cheating, but we don’t feel all that bad about it to tell the truth. You see, the way in which plugins are loaded within your site greatly determines the speed with which the page is rendered. If you reorder the pecking hierarchy of these plugins, you can decrease the visible latency of your site. Does this mean the site actually loads faster? Heck no! But it looks like it does, which is news to our ears.   Again, there are several plugins that will handle this, but by and large our favorite is Plugin Organizer. It’s quick, very visual, and will help you along in no time.   3.  Reduce the Clutter:   This one aught to be a no-brainer point, but we feel we should mention it anyway. If you’re concerned about the speed with which your WordPress account is cranking along, you should first ask yourself: Have I bloated the thing to a monstrous point? In other words, if you’ve added a tone of photos, videos, animations, and plugins, of course the thing is going to run more slowly! One of the fastest and easiest ways to speed up your WordPress account is to simply trim the fat. Cut out whatever you can live without, and try to reduce the server strain your site causes. This isn’t just practical, it’s also quite healthy for the site.   Sun, 08 Apr 2012 21:16:20 -0700 Security Issues http://webhostingrating.com/hosting-guide/security-issues/top-ways-to-improve-the-security-and-performance-of-your-wordpress-site/