On today’s special edition of the Web Hosting Show we have in the studio Emory Rowland of Clickfire.com. Emory has been an insider in both the web hosting and web development worlds for a long time - so there are many topics I would like to pick his brain about. Today though we will be cover from head to toe the world of web hosting reviews.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 152!
Running Time: 11 minutes | File Size: 5.00 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

• The Background Story Behind Clickfire.com!
• What Gives a Web Host “Staying Power” These Days?
• How to Stay Honest with Your Hosting Reviews!
• What Happens When the Web Host Bites Back?
• The Most Important Factors of Web Host Reviewing?

Some web host reviewers are shady or down right scammy, but Emory is a guy I know and trust so when he says a web host is good or bad - I know I can believe him. What should and should not come into play though when seeking out and shopping for your next web host?

There are often odd terms thrown about in the web hosting and web development worlds that just don’t make any sense the the common man on the street.  Phil drops me in an e-mail asking…

“What is domain kiting?  I have heard it is related somewhat with domain deletion and AdSense from Google.  Do you know anything else about the process?”

What is Domain Kiting All About?

Domain Kiting is one of those terms that seems a ‘bit odd when your first hear it, but I promise it does make a little ‘bit of sense.  Think of it as you trying to fly a kite, it says up for a while then falls.  Then you put it back up in the air, fly it some more and you do this till you get bored.  In the domain name world kiting is the process of deleting a domain name during the 5 day grace period and then re-registering it for another 5 day grace period, and so on and so forth.  Then you just wash, rinse, repeat. 

How Does it Happen?

The reason for the 5 day grace period on domain registrations is to cover the customer just in case they misspell it, or decide they don’t want it.  As you can see though, this makes it very easy for scammers to play the system to their advantage.  Now these days domain name registers like GoDaddy and the like are becoming smarter to the process.  This process doesn’t really take advantage or hurt the honest users out there, it just cheats the proverbial domain name “man”.

How Do They Make Money? 

Now I noticed you also mentioned something about Google.  Here recently Google has said their AdSense program will be looking for domains that are “kiting” and drop these domains from being able to put AdSense ads up on those domains.  Hopefully by ending the chance to earn a buck - they hope to curb the bad guys from trying the domain kiting all together.

Don’t get me wrong, I love WordPress - and use it in a lot of places but there are a lot of nice alternatives to WordPress too when you start looking around at scripts and services others are developing.  Marie writes in with this CMS controversy.

“I am looking to setup another web site but I want to stay away from WordPress.  Do you have any suggestions for other content management system or blogging scripts to try?  Thanks!”

Just in case WordPress rubs you the wrong way or your just not happy with it - here are some of my favorite content management systems that are not WordPress.

• Drupal - found at Drupal.org, this is like WordPress on steroids. Lots of goodies and better membership system in place too.
• b2evolution - found at B2evolution.net is an old one, but still a good one - with tons of options.
• Joomla - found at Joomla.org might be too feature rich for the casual blogging fan - but a good engine for in depth web sites or basic blogs.

I used to suggest MovableType to people but over the past few years it just hasn’t been able to keep up with WordPress.  Plus it is a ‘bit resource hungry and their license agreements are way too confusing for normal users.

To check and more and to get some demos of both the output and admin interfaces be sure to check out OpenSourceCMS.com.  They have tons of examples from every corner of the blogging, CMS and forum world.  One of the best database out there if you are looking for a better alternative to WordPress.

It is not easy being green, but the fast rising trend in the hosting world is to claim that you are a “green” web host.

That means that you are environmentally friendly and you fall under what is a scam in my opinion with the whole carbon offset project. Bob writes in with this related question…

“I have seen several web hosting companies claim they are ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘green web hosts’. Is this a marketing ploy or something I should be happy to see?”

To be honest there are a lot of people still “on the fence” with how good or not so good being “carbon neutral” is. On the positive side of things, before being taken over by the nutty people the idea of being carbon neutral was a good idea. It means you are releasing no carbon into the atmosphere. One of the first places that claimed to be totally carbon neutral was Vatican City, so you know if the Pope does it, it can’t be all that bad.

Then came in these special interests and people looking to make a buck on the deal. Web hosts go to a firm and buy a number of carbon credits to equal the amount of waste they are putting out. If they buy enough to cover their rear ends then they can claim to be carbon neutral. Think off it as a fat person who wants to get skinny, but instead of eating right and doing exercise they by “skinny credits” from Richard Simmons and they can claim to be skinny and health even though they haven’t changed a thing.

If your really interested in seeing how green your web host really is, try asking them what they are actually doing that could be seen as being economically friendly rather than how many carbon credits have they purchased.

How come the web hosting world doesn’t have more Online networks where we can meet and greet each other?  Here is another question from well, the best podcast audience ever.  Speaking of groups of people who gather in one place, Mark asks:

“How come there hasn’t been a web hosting social network yet?  Something like MySpace or Facebook for hosting people is what we need!”

Personally, I could not agree more and it looks like it maybe happening before you think.  Web Hosting Talk, one of if not the most popular set of hosting forums is getting ready to take this leap.  You can check out a demonstration of what it may look like here:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/memberprofiles

These “enhanced” member profiles have all kinds of ways to connect with your forum friends via the various social networks already out there.  

Another one worth mentioning where I have seen a lot of hosting professionals gather is LinkedIn.  Now there are not just hosting people, but out of all the networking sites out there there are more hosting people at LinkedIn than anywhere else.  I’m even there:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchkeeler

So if you need a friend to start with, feel free to use me.  One more link I really love is HostingBookmarks.com.  This site allows you to share your hosting news and bookmarks with the rest of the hosting industry.

That is the best that the hosting world has thus far - which social network is your favorite for hanging out or meeting web hosting professionals?

Time to open that proverbial mailbag to see what type of questions you have been sending me. Now I do my best to answer any and all questions sent my way but here today I have picked some of the frequently asked ones to help one and all, any and everybody who might also find themself stuck at a brick wall. The Web Hosting Show is on the air.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 151!
Running Time: 15 minutes | File Size: 6.73 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

• Are There Social Networks in the Hosting World?
• What Are My Thoughts About Those “Green” Web Hosts?
• Do I Know of Any Blogging Alternatives to WordPress?
• What is Domain Name Kiting and Will it Hurt Me?

Here we are again. You, me and this make-pretend bag of mail I have. Ok, technically I don’t have a real physical mail or real letters, but I do have e-mails from a lot of you and as you know I do my best to tackle each and every question you send my way. That is one reason I got into the web hosting business. Getting to help others with their problems is something I just really enjoy to do.

Just don’t think I would have gotten the same thrill out of being a circus clown, a fireman or that guy who tosses midgets at the fair.

The Peer 1 people sent this one my way to share with you, and I promise you it is well worth sharing. Remember the Growing Pains video they released a while back? They have now done a sequel that is just as good as the first.

Cheers to Peer 1 for an entertaining post. Also don’t forget about their related contest too:

Upload your short video now and share your web hosting growing pains, funny dealings in running your online business or troubles in getting it off the ground. If your video is selected, you will win the $10,000 Grand Prize! Plus, your video will be used as online advertising for PEER 1. So what are you waiting for? Wow us with your creativity and originality.

Have you entered yet?