My Hosting Compare Blog

On Small Businesses Choosing a Web Host…

Smitha — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:58:01 +0000

With many businesses building websites to promote their products, the most crucial factor to consider for a business to succeed is to have a dependable web host. An amazing website is of little use if it experiences frequent downtimes or if the business fails to satisfy customer expectations because of shortcomings on the part of the web host. Studies also show that customers will take a business seriously only if they are sure that the web host behind it is 100% professional and efficient. For this reason, there should be absolutely no compromises when choosing a web host.

A good hosting provider should be able to provide adequate flexibility in the choice of a package for your small business, be it a 2-page website or a 100-page one. They should have been in business for quite a while, with reassurance that they will provide you with service in future as well. An unlimited amount of storage is important if you are planning to put in more content down the road. Ensure that your host provides you with an anti-virus software – one that offers web site vulnerability scanning, performance monitoring and a certification seal. Last but not the least, check if your web host is providing you with 24/7 free customer support.

Expanding your online presence

Joe — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:00:34 +0000

Internet has revolutionized the way of doing business in the 21^st century. Barring the 2000 dotcom burst, Internet has thrived a lot from its premature form. Companies embraced new-technologies that stimulated the businesses and as a result, the growth of internet was at staggering pace. Today whatever products or services are rendered, Internet plays a pivotal role from design to Post-sales support. No company can overlook the importance of Internet and become successful. Let see some of the key facets of expanding the online presence of a business.

Ø A SEO friendly website

Ø Post blogs on helping the customers of product/service

Ø Affiliate Programs

Ø Infuse some good AD programs

Ø Add videos related to the product/service(perhaps a video guide)

Ø Product/service podcasts

Regular updating of all holds the key. If the updating is not done, then the site ranking will go down and the website will not caught in the web, when the user ‘googles’. If your online presence is not good, the products and services won’t get the attention of the targeted customers and will ruin the business.

Search Engine Optimizers - How to Use Them

Smitha — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:50:23 +0000

Search engine optimization improves the volume or quality of traffic to your website by making it search engine friendly and visible.

While designing your website, it is vital that you keep in mind some basic guidelines to make your website attractive to search engines:

•    Search engines generally do not index images, but only text, although they are now more capable of indexing graphic file captions and PDF’s as well as text in a Flash file.
•    Optimize the home page for the most relevant content, as well as other pages that can be optimized for the given product with relevant keywords. Pages such as “privacy policy” and “Contact us”, that do not have public content can be exempted from optimization.
•    Owning the right domain name is important – it should ‘define’ your business using the right terms. Check out the domain names of similar businesses.
•    Invest in a reliable hosting company.
•    Integrate secondary keywords to optimize your website even more. Keyword stemming or words that have the same stem can be useful.
•    The number of quality backlinks plays a very important role in search engine rankings.

Does Your Web Hosting Company Provide Online Marketing Services As Well?

Smitha — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:44:42 +0000

More and more people are checking out the Internet before they visit a store. Prospective customers make use of keywords to search and find information on the products they require. Studies have added tangible evidence that top ranked search results are those that get the most attention from users. 86% of these business searches are often followed by visits to the store. So it is imperative that your business be found in the top results through effective use of internet marketing.

Online Marketing helps promote your products and services at a lower cost than traditional advertising methods. This helps your business grow because it provides qualified leads from potential customers. Proper online marketing strategies improves your natural search engine results, gets you in front of customers, nurtures your existing customers and helps your business succeed.

Check out if your web hosting company can provide you with good online marketing services as well for the promotion of your website. A reliable company that provides domain registration and web hosting together with online marketing services can do wonders for your business.

Make the Most of Your Domain Name

Smitha — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:56:46 +0000

It is not enough just to have purchased a good domain name, and a hosting package to go with it. Using the domain effectively is the key to the success of your business. Keep in mind the following points to make the most of your domain name.

Registration Period: Register your domain name for an extended period of time to avoid it falling into redemption. It is safer to go for reliable registrars who charge reasonably rather than cheap registrars who offer you the earth. There is only so much that a cheap registrar can offer. You also earn the trust of your visitors when you register for a long period with a reliable registrar.

Website: Kick start your online presence by setting up a website. Find a reliable hosting provider who can help you set it up using an easy-to-use interface. Exploit everything that they have to offer and watch your business take off.

DNS setup: Ensure that your domain’s DNS is set up correctly to enable full use of features that come with the domain – your web hosting provider can assist you with this.

Many web hosting provider offer basic services with their hosting package, and as long as your domain is hosted with a reliable provider, making the most of your domain name shouldn’t be a problem.

The First Ever Registered Domain Name Changes Hands

Smitha — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:27:10 +0000

Since its original registration on March 15, 1985, Symbolics.com, the first ever registered domain name, has been purchased by the Missouri-based XF.com Investments, changing hands for the very first time. The historic domain name was purchased from Symbolics for an undisclosed price. The Symbolics company is still in operation, nearly 25 years after making history. XF.com Investments, a real estate and domain investment company, considers this purchase a special milestone worth celebrating.

ICANN Says Domain Name Front-Running Doesn’t Exist

Smitha — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:08:42 +0000

In a study recently commissioned by ICANN to evaluate the occurrence of domain name front-running, they have found no evidence to suggest that leading domain registration and domain availability checking sites are resorting to this practice. The study was carried out by Benjamin Edelman [PDF, 36K] at ICANN’s request. Three rounds of tests (more than 600 tests) were conducted over a ten-month period by Mr. Edelman. The study was undertaken after various members of the Internet community expressed concern over suspected occurrence of domain name front-running.

The Front Running Study: Testing Report [PDF, 120K] provides details of the methodological analysis and study findings.

Web Servers and 4xx ‘Client Error’ Messages

Smitha — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:07:35 +0000

From time to time, you will come across server error messages when trying to access a web page or website. They can be quite annoying especially if you can’t differentiate one error message from the other. The 4xx Client Error group of HTTP status codes includes errors where the request for a web page contains bad syntax or is incapable of filling, presumably by the fault of the client. These errors can be avoided, or overcome by using a few simple techniques. Here are some of the common Client Error messages that you might come across when surfing the Web, and what they mean.

400 - Bad File Request

The 400 error indicates that the server can’t figure out the URL you requested. It could be because the syntax in the URL is incorrect. Check for wrong punctuation marks, incorrect upper case or lower case letters, colons, and slashes.

401 - Unauthorized

The 401 error usually occurs when the server is not receiving the correct encryption key (ID or password) necessary for entry, from the client. Try again, typing the password correctly, as passwords are often case-sensitive.

403 - Forbidden/Access Denied

Similar to 401 errors, 403 errors usually occur either when you haven’t signed up with a site that requires registration, in which case try to register with the site first, or try your password again. The other reason could be because you may not have proper permissions to be able to access the site - contact the site’s administrator for a password in this case.

404 - File Not Found

The 404 error, ‘Not Found’ or ‘File Not Found’ occurs when the server cannot find the file you requested. You have either entered the wrong URL or document name, or the file has been moved or deleted. Check for a misspelled word in the URL, and try once again. If this is not working, backtrack by deleting information between each backslash, until you come to a page on that site that isn’t a 404. You might be able to get to the page that you are searching for from here.

408 - Request Timeout

The client sent a request to the server which took longer than the server was prepared to wait. So the Web Server has dropped the client’s connection, or in other words “timed out”. This could have happened because of large files or slow servers. The web page can be refreshed or reloaded, although trying the page again may not always be successful.

RSS and Your Website

Smitha — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:39:58 +0000

RSS or ‘Really Simple Syndication’ is an XML-based content format for distributing content, news, headlines, etc. Many popular news sites and blogs provide RSS feeds that visitors can subscribe to. By creating feeds for your own website, you are allowing vistors to subscribe to your latest updates. It is a great way of syndicating your content into other people’s websites. Adding content frequently and promoting the feed effectively can help drive steady traffic to your website. The links connecting back to your website is also great for search engine optimization purposes.

Why a Back Up Service is Important

Smitha — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:31:49 +0000

Servers fail. Hackers compromise your account and delete all your files. Regrettably, computers are vulnerable to hard drive crashes, thefts and virus attacks that could delete all your files. You could lose a lot of stuff like legal and financial documents, email,digital photos and more. This is when a back up service comes in handy.

When enabled, a back up service automatically backs up your files on a daily basis. So if your website or other files are accidentally deleted, you could always download your most recent backup. This backup file will help restore any file that you have deleted or misplaced.

Ideally, your web host shoud be able to provide you with a 24-hour back up facility.