Archive for December, 2009

Top 5 Features to look for in Free Web Hosting

December 10th, 2009

Looking for a free web host today is a lot different then it was just a few years back. Make sure to look at all of your choices and to compare the web hosting plans. Below are the top 5 features to look for when choosing the perfect free web host.

Unlimited Space & Bandwidth
In most cases you are getting a free web account to avoid paying for hosting. The last thing you want to happen is for you to have a free page up for a few days and then be hit with an “out of space – please pay to upgrade”. Free web hosts usually place ads on your pages and make more money the more space and bandwidth you use. Thus, they shouldn’t have a problem with offering unlimited space & bandwidth for free (without using that to force you to upgrade).



Limited Non-Intrusive Ads
These days most free web hosts can get by from very limited ads either on the 404 pages or on the footers of your pages. You shouldn’t need to have your entire site covered by your hosts banner ads and pop-ups to get a decent hosting account. You should also stay away from hosts that have absolutely no ads. These hosts are obviously not generating any revenue and won’t be able to stay in business and pay for their expenses for long.

An Established Company
It’s become so easy to start a free web host that companies can easily seem great one day and then disappear the next. This is especially the case since the service being offered is “free” and requires very limited expertise to get started. Make sure your web host is well established and has been around offering free web hosting for a while. Several companies like, T35 Hosting, have been offering free web hosting services for over 12 years.

Uploading Your Site
The most important feature you will use from any free web host is the uploading feature. This is how you will upload your initial site and make any future changes. Make sure your host has several options to upload and edit your files like FTP and an online file manager (when you are away from home and don’t have an ftp application installed).

Reliable Support
The last thing you expect from your new web host is for things to break or not work, but unfortunately that is sometimes the case. When this happens, the only one there to help you is the host’s support team. Compare web hosts and make sure you use one that offers a comprehensive support system. Features to look for include a helpdesk, support forum, and a live chat. If the host has a forum make sure to visit it to see how active it is and how quickly requests are answered.

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What is Bulk SMS?

December 9th, 2009

Bulk SMS (Short Messaging Service) or Bulk text is when one unique message is sent to multiple recipients regardless of their location. This is an ideal broadcasting technology to communicate via mobile phones since it is one of the fastest growing means of global wireless information exchange. Nowadays, mobile phones (or cell phones) have become an inseparable thing, particular for young people. Many practical applications were developed to make Bulk SMS the least cost but the most effective communication. Since then many services were deployed to earn profit from Bulk SMS.

Bulk SMS is instantly sent from an Internet connected computer to a targeted group of people. Users use computer software to send that unique set of text to multiple mobile devices at once. They used to send a group message to friends, or send an event notification, promotion news to determined recipients. Businesses use Bulk SMS to communicate or process marketing to their customers. Some software allows user schedules their Bulk text. An interesting and exciting content message and an up-to-date directory are the needs users have to acquire for using of Bulk SMS. There is no hidden cost for Bulk SMS, it is reliable and provides huge sending capacity.

Bulk SMS is the advantage use of applied technology in various fields to cross out capacity limit, destination of mobile phones communication. One unique message, multiple recipients is a great benefit solution that Bulk SMS encourages widespread using its services to promote business.

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Understand The Difference Between Dedicated and Colocation Server Hosting.

December 9th, 2009

Dedicated server hosting and Colocation Server are two of the common terms frequently used by webmasters. Here is a explanation of the difference between the two.

A dedicated server hosting is one of the very well known type of web hosting service. Dedicated servers are used by large organizations and enterprises as they have to manage large amount of data. This service is further distinguished as Linux Dedicated Server Hosting and Windows Dedicated server hosting, depending on the platform a customer chooses.

Dedicated Server

A customer leases an entire server from a web hosting provider, it is as good as owning a server yourself. The customer has the privileges of using the server as per their own choice. One can opt for Managed Dedicated Server Hosting solutions, in this the hosting provider takes care of the maintenance, data back-up, security etc. A dedicated server provides an assurance of better security and speed.

With a dedicated hosting solution, one has the complete freedom to modify the server settings of sever hardware components and operating system as per business requirements. Depending on the web hosting service provider, one can get the dedicated server customized as per requirements. A control panel alongwith the server can add to the ease of managing the web hosting accounts. With a dedicated server, one gets complete administrative access to the server, enabling customers to install, uninstall, modify, delete, upload, download anything of their choice.

Colocation Servers

Colocation which is also referred as “Colo”, is a Web server hosting service offered by Web hosting providers. In this type of hosting solution, a customer can place his own server hardware in the data center of a third party. The customer is required to have their own server hardware and software licenses to place in the data center. In this type of service, the customer has the flexibility to manage, secure and take care of maintenance of their servers. In this, the data center provides only the space, security, redundancy etc. Colocation service is one of the most expensive type of web hosting service. Only people with good experience in server administration opt for such a service. Also, the maintenance, upgrades of the server needs to be taken care by the customer themselves (Some of the web hosting providers do offer managed collocation services too.).

Both these types of server hostings have their own advantages and disadvantages. With a dedicated server hosting solution a customer gets all the services provided in a collocation hosting solution, except that the customer does not own the hardware. Whereas, in Colocation Hosting solution, the hardware is owned by the customer, therefore the customer needs to bear initial set-up costs and the charge of placing the hardware in the facility of a third party.

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Thinking Of Using Your Hosting Account For Backup? Think Again

December 9th, 2009

File StorageKeeping your data backups onsite can be risky. If there’s ever a fire or a robbery, you could lose both – your backup copy and your master copy. Of course, shipping your backup tapes or DVDs to an off-site location every day can also be inconvenient.

That’s why so many people today are choosing to send their backup data, over the internet, to an off-site storage facility.

Given that web hosting prices are so cheap, it can be tempting to use your web hosting account as an online file storage or backup device for your home computer. After all, you can now get unlimited disk space and bandwidth for as little as four dollars per month.

But before you start uploading the entire contents of your hard drive, there are a few things you need to keep in mind…

* Check the fine print in your hosting contract. Most web hosts have explicit clauses prohibiting the use of your web server as an online backup device.
* If you upload copyrighted materials to your web server, you face the risk of having your account suddenly terminated without notice.
* Is privacy important to you? Then you need to consider that files stored on your server can also be potentially accessed by nosy strangers online. This exposes you to the possibility of identity theft and privacy breaches.
* Because FTP doesn’t support block-level incremental uploads like an online backup service would, your backups will take forever to transmit. This could also slow down your internet connection and cause problems with your ISP.
* This method of backup only supports a single “point-in-time” file version. If you accidentally save over an important file or get a virus, you’ll have no way of recovering your data.

In recent years, a lot of new specialized online backup companies have appeared on the market. There’s such a wide range of price points and feature sets that you’re bound to find something that’s just right for your particular requirements.

In fact, many web hosts today also offer online backup solutions in addition to their regular hosting services. If you do a bit of research, you might even be able to get a special deal by bundling this software with your web hosting subscription.

This is a much better and safer alternative to the do-it-yourself approach.

Article Provided by Storagepipe Solutions. They provide email archiving and online backup software for businesses of all sizes. Storagepipe also offers reseller programs that allow web hosts to offer their own white-label online backup solutions.

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5 Domain Naming Mistakes

December 9th, 2009

We did a list more then 2 years ago titled the Top 10 websites that regret their unintentionally explicit name.

Even though the comedic value of that list was enormous considering the owners of Pen Island (PenisLand.net), Therapist Finder (TheRapistFinder.com), Via Grafix (ViagraFix.com) etc are kicking themselves over their naming choice, I believe the biggest domain naming mistakes lie elsewhere.

A lot of people turn to domain hacks, misspelling or even other extensions when they can’t find the right domain name in the .com extension. Heck, VERSionnext is a misspelling (we do own the right spelling though).

Depending on what niche you are in though and how large your venture is and will be, a hack, misspelling or different extension can cost you big bucks and will definitely be labeled a mistake in the long run.

# GoFishn.com – Recently made TechCrunch news as the owner of gofishn happens to “go fishn” with TechCrunch’s own Erick Schonfeld – literally.

However, both GoFishin.com and GoFishing.com are registered domain names – registered by someone else. GoFishin is even a proper, working website with an Alexa rank of less then 650k. A lot of traffic lost here in my opinion, especially if they get into offline advertising – think about advertising gofishn on radio.

# scribd.com – the website where tens of millions of people each month publish and discover original writings and documents. The properly spelled Scribed.com is a parked page – with a whopping 470k Alexa rank – huge for a parked page!

# corkd.com – A wine-connoisseur’s dream – very popular site… but they don’t own corked.com. Big mistake!

# StockVault.net – the free stock photo and images website features an article posted way back in 2006 describing how important it is to purchase the right domain name – yet they let Buy Domains get at stockvault.com. These guys have something in for .net names it seems, they also run TextureVault.net, TutorialVault.net, StyleVault.net etc.

# A friend of mine is about to launch a startup in the UK. Having decided on a name for their startup, they went and registered the company and the .co.uk domain name – and didn’t give the .com a second thought.

When I reminded them that in the long run they might find it beneficial to own the .com domain too, especially considering their long term aim is to expand and cover the globe with their services, they found that the .com is already taken.

Lessons to be learned:

It is fun to play with domain hacks and misspellings but if you are serious about your venture you better get your hands at the properly spelled domain name as you will lose a lot of traffic to it over the long run.

Obviously, ccTlds (country code top level domains) are great, but they really depend on what demographic you are after. If you are after the mainstream web surfer and your venture is not limited to the geographic region that the ccTld is intended for, you should consider the .com domain name too.

As for gTlds like .net, .org, .info, they are good for SEO experiments, affiliate sites and minisites, but a large venture where branding is important should definitely be aware of the impact a .com makes.

If you have examples of other domain naming mistakes or if you have an opinion on what was said above, comment away. I would love to hear your thoughts.

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