Archive | January, 2009

Axsys Hosting – Episode 178

Jan/26 in All Posts, Interviews, Web Hosting Podcasts

Podcast #178What is going on today in the world of web hosting? Here on today’s show I will share with you my one on one chat with Ken Ramirez of Axsys Hosting. I like companies like Axsys Hosting because the go to show that if you have some hard work and dedication to the hosting business – you too can be a successful web enterprise. No need for a multi-million dollar budget, just hard work, dedication to the customers and a quality service.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 178!
Running Time: 12 minutes | File Size: 5.58 MB

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Axsys Hosting Services

Here are just a few of the questions we covered:

  • How long has Axsys hosting been around and what type of services do you provide?
  • What is your own history inside of the web hosting business?
  • What advice do you have for others looking to make a mark or maybe get started in the web hosting business?
  • Do you have any personal pet peeves when it comes to competing with the bigger names of the hosting world?
  • What other projects do you have other than Axsys Hosting right now?

If you want to learn more about Axsys Hosting, be sure to visit their web site at axsyshosting.com. Also, while you are in the browsing mood – be sure to check out these other sister sites:

Many thanks to Ken for being on today’s show. If you would like to come on and speak to the entire web hosting industry, feel free to contact me at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Making Money with Google AdSense

Jan/23 in All Posts, Beginner Help, Online Tools, Web Hosting Tutorials

Google AdSense Help There are a number of different ways to make money on your web site, however, Google AdSense might be the most popular choice of all.  Google has made it a brain-dead simple process to get up and running their their ads, so there is no question why they are number one at what they do.

How do you Sign Up and Use Google AdSense?

Signing up is a pretty easy process.  All you need to do is sign in with your Google login, and follow the on screen instructions.  Once that is done, you can create the ads you want to use, then grab the code for them to place them into your web site.  I have been using it for so long, I don’t see where this could be seen as a complicated process.  They make it all pretty easy.

You also have several different ways you can setup ads.

  • AdSense for Content – your run-of-the-mill ads you are used to seeing.
  • AdSense for Search – use Google to power your web site’s search and make money from it.
  • AdSense for Feeds – Place relevant ads in your RSS feeds.
  • AdSense for Domain Names – Park your un-used domains with Google.
  • Video Units – add YouTube partners’ video content to your site, and earn extra revenue.
  • AdSense for Mobile Content – create ads for special “mobile” pages.

What Are the Rewards of Using Google AdSense?

The good thing about Google AdSense is that it automatically crawls the content of your pages and delivers text and image ads that are relevant to your audience and your site content.  Relative ads are what you want in the long haul.

Now you will not become rich over night, so if you want to quit your day job – you had better set your goal a little lower.  However, aiming at small goals first (such as having the ads pay for your $5 a month hosting bill) is a good start.

Want to learn more?  Here are some Google AdSense resources worth checking out:

Overall, I would say it is definitely work checking into. If you are looking for a name you can trust, Google has won many people over in that aspect too.  Sometimes, I don’t want to sign up with some company I have never heard of, especially when I need to get or receive important information from them (thinking about tax related stuff).  So overall, I would say Google AdSense will not make you uber-rich but it is a trustworthy choice out there.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

3 FAQs about SSL

Jan/22 in All Posts, Beginner Help, Web Hosting Tutorials

SSL is like the cone of silence!I get a lot of similar questions sent into me about SSL certificates.  So, I thought it might be a good idea to tackle three of the SSL related questions that I get sent to me the most in order to help you all know a little more about the web hosting term.

What does SSL stand for and what does it do?

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, and it is a set of rules uses in exchanging information between two computers (or in web hosting, the visitor’s computer and the web hosting server).  Think of it as the Cone of Silence on the old Get Smart TV show.  You have a secure communication between the server and the client.

What is the job of the SSL certificate?

The best way I know how to describe it is to think of it as an electronic key that the web browser checks for that will encrypt transmissions between two computers, or in the world of web hosting – the connection between the web site visitor and the web hosting server.  The secondary job of the SSL certificate is to confirm that a message that you received actually came from the person identified.  In most cases, SSL certificates are used to protect person information such as passwords, credit card numbers and other personal data, when you are transmitting them over the Web.

What is the difference between the shared SSL certificate my web host provides, and the dedicated SSL certificate they are offering as an additional service?

Most web hosts give you two options when it comes to SSL certificates.  They are often referred to as shared SSL certificates and dedicated SSL certificates.

  • Shared SSL Certificates – These are the ones provided by the web host and their server setup.  The use of them is often limited, and when somebody check out the SSL certificate via the browser, they will see your web host’s information and not your own.  That may not seem very professional to people wishing to login to use your services or send their encrypted information to you.  Good thing is it is free with most web hosts.
  • Dedicated SSL Certificates – These are SSL certificates that are setup just for you.  Often sold with a dedicated IP address included (or for an extra fee), these will include your own business information, and will be able to be used with more services.  The dedicated SSL certificate is less limited that the shared SSL certificate.  You will need to pay for it though.

So you can used the shared SSL for your web site, if needed.  However, if you want a more professional look and feel, and want to do more with it – you might want to look into getting a dedicated SSL certificate.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Free File Sharing with 4Shared

Jan/21 in All Posts, Free Hosting, Web Hosting Tutorials

There is a new free file sharing and hosting service that recently caught my eye.  4Shared.com promises to give you free online storage, to upload, access and share your music, video and photos.  You can upload and share a single file or an entire folder!

Offering 5GB of space for free, this service sounds terrific.  4Shared also comes with a built in search engine, so you can browse around to see the other content people are uploading.

How long are the files hosted there?  Your free account and all your files will be removed from 4Shared only if you do not log in the account for 30 days.

4shared - free file hostingHere are the most popular types of files that may be shared:

  • document file (doc, txt, pdf, rtf, xls)
  • music file (mp3, ogg, wav, mid)
  • video file (avi, mpg, mpeg)
  • image file (jpg, gif, bmp, png)
  • zip file (zip, rar, arj)
  • any other types

If you like the free service, then you can also upload to the paid versions too.  A one year membership will remove some of the limits.  So if you out-grow the free version, the paid version is always there to give you a few more perks.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

What Can Web Hosting Learn from President Obama?

Jan/20 in All Posts, Commentary, Web Hosting Tutorials

barack Politics aside, left or right – makes on difference to me, Barack Obama has a lot to teach the web hosting industry.  Looking at three of his core movements and ideas, the web hosting world can take away a little insight of it’s own from the new President.

Hope

Alright, hope might be a kind of silly reference to start with.  Many of you might think, “I hope my web site will stay up!”.  On that notion, I would like for the web hosts out there to listen to the hopes that their clients and customers have.  Feedback is an important thing in web hosting, and you have learn to change the game plan depending on what the people want.

Change

Riding on the coattails of hope, we have change.  If a web host stays static and does not change a thing in lets say, four years, they will not do much movement in the growth department.  Web hosts have to learn to watch the trends out there and change to meet the demands of the public.

Inspiration

Last, but not least, the web hosts out there have to be able to inspire the web hosting public out there to do more.  For an example, let’s say Billy comes in wanting a web site, but has no clue how to do that.  A good web host has to be ready to listen to Billy’s needs and formulate the best type of web site he needs to build.  Billy says he wants to post an online diary but doesn’t know how to do that.  Give him a guide on how to install the popular blogging scripts out there.  Show him what he can do, and give him a firm push in the right direction.

If a web host can deliver in the departments of hope, change and inspiration – they too will have a very positive future ahead of them.  Now the only thing left to see is if the web hosts and our new President will deliver the proverbial goods.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Hope in Hosting – Episode 177

Jan/19 in All Posts, Web Hosting Podcasts

Podcast 177I have great hope in the world of web hosting, that in the new year we can all make it a ‘bit of a better place. On today’s show I’ll let you know how you can do your part – just like I have every week before. Oh, and what can President Obama teach us about the industry?

I’ll be sure to cover that too on this week’s edition of the Web Hosting Show.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 177!
Running Time: 13 minutes | File Size: 5.94 MB

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

  • How to Score 5GB of Free File Hosting!
  • How can Obama Inspire the Web Hosts Out There?
  • Three FAQs about SSL
  • Making Money with Google AdSense

Here are this week’s web hosting news headlines:

Please be sure to send any feedback, questions or comments about this week’s podcast to me directly at mitch@mitchkeeler.com or leave a comment! Would love to hear from you all!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Quick Web Site Uptime (or Downtime) Alerts

Jan/09 in All Posts, Online Tools, Web Hosting Tutorials

Uptime or Downtime Alerts

There is no doubt that uptime is one of the most important factors to running or owning a web site.  So if a web site goes down, common sense would tell you that you want to know about it, right?  A new service called Ding It’s Up! will help you keep track on your domain or any other domain you give it.

Here is how the service is described via the official web site:

Ding It’s Up is a free service that alerts you via text (SMS), twitter or email when a website goes down or when it comes back up. We will never send you a text/email unless it is to inform you about a website you requested information for – you can unsubscribe at any time.

Now I would not rely on just using this tool to keep tabs on your web site, but it does make a nice accessory to other tools you could use.

To learn more about or to use this service, go check out dingitsup.com.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Learn to Please the Niche Markets

Jan/08 in All Posts, Beginner Help, Web Hosting Tutorials

When it comes to web hosting you can serve everybody you see, or you might look into hosting just a few.   A niche is a special area of demand for a product or service.   As far as the web goes, that could be web sites based around a certain topic, style or idea.

For an example, webhostingshow.com is a podcast – that is a niche.  Some web hosts out there are doing specialized hosting just for people who podcast.

The premise of this argument can be understood with one simple idea, they need hosting too.  No matter what the niche is out there; any group of people would be happy to have a web host that looks out for just their needs.

Focus on the Features

You want to offer your customers a few special perks they will not get by going elsewhere.  These could be:

  • More Expertise in that Area of Interest – Going back to the podcast metaphor, let us say I started up a web hosting company just for podcasters.  The perk here is that I have done podcasting before, so I know a thing or two to help you with your podcast hosting.
  • Tools to Help that Specific Niche Topic – You could offer special tools that would help that specific type of niche web site grow and prosper even more.  An example of that would be if you are a blog host, and you distribute free blogging software to your clients to make publishing on the web easier.
  • Special Deals on Services that Might Be Needed More – Some web sites use more of one resource than others do.  If you were running a photo gallery hosting service, you could give that niche more disk space so they have plenty of room to store all of their photos.

All you have to do is ask yourself, what I can do for them to make their lives easier?

Not a Web Host?  Grab a Reseller Hosting Account!

For those who are not web hosts, but would like to host for a specific niche of people a reseller account might be a good way to start.  Having a reseller hosting plan is already like running your own mini web hosting company.  So that proves the point that this is something anybody can do – not just your high dollar hosting companies.

The last benifit of hosting to please the niche markets out there is that you will also be building a community of like-minded web sites.  Encourage your customers or clients to talk to one another, share ideas and give each other help and feedback.  The social aspect to the Web is the hot topic right now, and you can build a hotspot of your very own.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

The WHIR Gets Redesigned

Jan/07 in All Posts, Hosting News, Web Hosting Tutorials

I just noticed that the WHIR has a totally redesigned web site.

The New WHIR?

Overall, I like the new look and feel of the layout.  It surely beats the old design, that looks like it was pulled right out of 1995.  However there are a few things that nag me.  Here are both the good and the bad about the new look for one of the more popular web hosting web sites out there.

The Positives

  • Lots more attention paid to the WHIR TV project and RSS.  Two things I am happy to see them highlighting.
  • No more black and white!  The colors they picked are a nice update to the old look without seeming like the entire thing is boring.
  • The membership feature is cool and a welcomed addition.

The Negatives

  • It is a little ad crazy.  Now I realize people have to make money as much as the next guy (that is why I have ads on my own web sites) however it seems a little like they were just tossed everywhere without much organization.
  • Some of the pages (jumping from section to section) change layouts so quickly, it is a little easy to get lost.  Maybe the inclusion of a breadcrumb trail at the top could help this.  Something like: (Front Page > Features > The Story Headline)

Overall, I would have to say they have done a fine job at the new paint job.  How do you feel about it?  Do you miss the old layout at all?  When was the last time you visited?  You can check it all out at theWHIR.com.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

WebLog Expert Lite

Jan/06 in All Posts, Downloads, Web Hosting Tutorials

Good web site analyzer programs for Windows are hard to find.  I have yet to find the perfect one myself that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.  However, the next best thing is WebLog Expoert Lite.  This is the free little brother of WebLog Expert – but I think has enough features to keep you happy.

Web Log Expert in Action

After installing, all you have to do is grab your log files from your hosting account in question.  WebLog Expert Lite supports IIS and Apache logs, can automatically detect the log format and can read GZ and ZIP compressed logs.  It will then crunch away at the numbers and export an HTML page for you to view to see how your web page is doing stats-wise.  You get numbers, links, stats and graphs.  It is a beautiful thing.

The free version however should be sufficient for most personal web sites and provides a nice overview of general traffic activity.

If you want to see what you are missing out on, you can see a comparison list of the professional, standard and lite versions of the program here:

http://www.weblogexpert.com/comparison.htm

It might not have all the bells and whistles down, but WebLog Expert Lite has enough to keep me happy.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }
← Older posts