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Top 10 Web Hosting Lists

View Comments / April 13, 2007 - All Posts, Beginner Help, Commentary, Segments

CouponNow I often get asked which top 10 list is better than the best, and honestly it is pretty hard to tell these days. Inside of the Web hosting industry it seems like everybody and their grandmother has a top 10 list of Web hosts.

How can you tell which ones are just there to reap the rewards of affiliate links and which ones really do some work to figure out which host is best?

Well the first tip that I can share with you when it comes to learning how to read these lists is to look for a good explanation about how they figure out who is the best. If it is not on the Web site somewhere, E-mail them and ask how they figure out the rankings. One good example of this in action is over at WebHostingUnleashed.com. Here is how they explain the top hosts list they have.

“These hosts have more than 15 positive reviews and are recommended by at least 90% of the reviewers.”

That sounds like a reasonable and fair explanation. Now the kind of explanation you want to stay away from would be like this.

“We have a secret lab where we hire midgets to pull lottery balls out of a bucket with the Web hosts’ names on them, and then sort those by the midget’s height.”

Who are some of the other good top 10 lists that I trust? Well, I tend to like the comparison shopping engines a little better than the top 10 lists personally. My favorites there would be:

There are others out there as well that give you good results. So what do you think is the most important thing to watch out for with these top 10 lists? Do you think they are all crooked or are some of them honest?

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 102!

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Free Hosting Design Templates

View Comments / April 12, 2007 - All Posts, Segments, Web Design

It has been a while since I found any hosting freebies, but this one deserves the attention.

The folks over at ResellerGuide.com have got you covered if you are looking for a free design to get your hosting business off the ground. Just this past week they lanunched 12 free layouts for Web hosting companies. Some of them have multiple pages included and PSD files so that you can edit it and make it your own.

This could be a great helping hand for any small hosting company trying to get off the ground.

Free Templates
First impressions are everything, so having a good Web site layout is a nice start to building that relationship with your future clients as they browse through your links.

What is the only thing that they are asking for in return?

All that we ask is that you leave a review of the hosting company you are using and help the community with advice. Plus maybe you can link to us or email me with an article or idea for an article from time to time.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Check out all 12 designs and when they ask you who sent you to them, make sure that you let them know that the Web Hosting Show sent you there.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 102!

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What is VPS Hosting?

View Comments / April 11, 2007 - All Posts, Beginner Help, Segments

VPS HostingWhen you browse through some of the hosting types that your Web host offers you might stumble upon a listing for VPS hosting.

What is it?

Well, I am sure I will not cover every inch of what a VPS hosting account is, but let me go through the basics so we don’t need a degree to understand what it will and will not give you.
VPS stands for virtual private server. It is sometimes also referred to as a virtual server or a virtual dedicated server. It takes one big server and partitions it off into several smaller servers. Each VPS hosting account can have its own operating system and can be rebooted without effecting the other accounts on the machine.

Now that you know what it is, what is it good for?

These types of hosting accounts are usually used as a stepping stone between your basic shared hosting accounts and dedicated hosting accounts. You get all of the benefits of having your own dedicated machine, but you still have some limitation as to what you can do with it. If shared hosting is a light snack, and dedicated hosting is a three course meal, you can consider VPS hosting a regular sized dinner.

Now where with a dedicated machine, your RAM and CPU usage would be a little less limited, with VPS hosting you are more in the boat with shared hosting. You will be limited by your Web host in disk space, bandwidth, CPU and RAM usage. Now where a VPS is helpful is when you need the benefits of dedicated hosting such as certain types of script setups and account access.

So as I said before, this is a much needed plan in between your shared and dedicated hosting. It allows you a little more flexibility than a shared hosting account, but limits you more than a dedicated account would.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 102!

To read user reviews and find a linux or Windows VPS host we highly recommend the VPS Hosting section at Web Hosting Unleashed!

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Web Dev Q and A

View Comments / April 10, 2007 - All Posts, Segments, Web Hosting Tutorials

QuestionOn to week three of answering some of your most frequently asked questions. Web development can be a pretty hard business to get into – so hopefully I am helping to guide you in the right direction to learn.

Remember if you have any questions of your own that you would like to ask you can always drop me an E-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.

What is an addon domain name?

This would be an additional domain name that you could host on your Web hosting account.

More control panels these days are coming with this feature and Web hosts are taking advantage of it.

I want to start up a Web hosting company, what is the most important thing to remember?

No matter if you have been in business one day or one thousands days you should always remember to respect your customers. Give them what they want and answer their every need and you should have no problems at all.

What is a good way to advertise my hosting business?

I would say your best bet would be to join some of the hosting forums out there like Web Hosting Talk and Web Hosting Chat. You might spend some cash on some advertising as well.

Where is a good place to comparison shop for Web hosting?

I have always liked FindMyHosting.com.

I want to start up an adult Web site, but I don’t know if the Web host I am interested in will allow it. How can I find out?

Well in most cases, as long as what you are producing is legal then you should have no problems. The best way to find out if they allow it or not is to ask their sales team. Most Web hosts are more than happy to let you know one way or the other.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 102!

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Top 10 Hosts, Fact or Fiction? – Episode 102

View Comments / April 9, 2007 - All Posts, Podcasts

We have all seen the top 10 lists out there for Web hosting providers. On today’s show I’ll teach you how to read between the lines and figure out which ones are honest and which ones are just in it for the money. Also we’ll cover a few more of your frequently asked questions, VPS hosting and bucket loads of Web hosting goodness.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 102!
Running Time: 13 minutes | File Size: 5.76 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 that we discussed on this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

  • What Exactly is Virtual Dedicated Hosting?
  • Get Some Free Web Hosting Company Layouts!
  • Your Most Asked Questions – and my Answers!
  • Who’s Top 10 Hosting List Should You Trust?
  • Are Domain Names About to Get More Expensive?

Nobody should have to stress themselves out when it comes to the Web hosting industry. Sure there are a lot of confusing topics, but that is where this podcast comes into play. I do my best to teach you the basics so that you can go into this area of the Web with a little more expertise under your belt.

Link of the Week: 5 Most Popular Hosting Podcasts!

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Inform, Then Pitch Your Goods

View Comments / April 6, 2007 - All Posts, Commentary, Segments

I always like the idea of teaching the public more about something they do not know about. That is the basic backbone of the Web, is it not? Ok, well maybe porn is the backbone – but if there was a leg to stand on it would be informing the masses about technology, ways of doing things, and services.

Define Your Confusing Way of Doing Things

There is a lot of room for explanation in the Web hosting business because so much of the terminology is down right confusing. Do you know your ASP from your HTML? Have you got a clue why you can backup but you can’t go forward? These are topics that need explaining and you could be the one to do it.

I would like to see Web hosts talking to the public, explain something they offer that is confusing and then tell me, “Hey, we are a great place to get this service!”. Think of it as the classic door to door salesman but there is no snake oils involved.

Excellent Marking in Action

If your not sure what I mean, take this latest post I found on the Lunarpages blog. Here Amy talks about JSP, what it is and how you use it. She writes up a very good explanation about it and, heck even I learned a few things from the post. Basically she explains JSP and how Lunarpages offers it and pitches it for folks what might want it but are not sure what it is. This is excellent marketing.

Information + Marking = Love for You

When push comes to shove, people don’t like to be confused. If you are telling them what it is they just signed up for or why they might need something and then toss in you are the place or person to make it happen, they will love you. If you try to talk over their heads and say, “Well, let us take care of the confusing stuff” that show little respect for your customers.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 101!

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Classic HTML vs CSS – Who Wins?

View Comments / April 5, 2007 - All Posts, Segments, Web Design

When it comes to Web design, there is one battle that seems to have gone on for ages. Which is better, using tables and classic code in your HTML code to design things or use cascading style sheets (otherwise known as CSS)?

Some people can get really fanatical when it comes to this topic but I am going to call it right down the middle and let you know why both can be good for you.

Why Should You Design With Tables and Classic Code in Mind?

Many people that got started coding Web pages when the Web was still young learned to do it with tables. For that reason alone, some people don’t want to change because designing with tables is what they know. Once you know the table basics, it is pretty easy to jot down some HTML and make a pretty basic layout.

The problem is that can be very limiting when you want to do certain things that tables just can not do. When you want things in an exact spot or you want to change around some font sizes or colors. Then we get in a little ‘bit of trouble.

Why Should You Design With CSS in Mind?

There is no secret that CSS does have its advantages. For one, it makes changing between layouts a breeze. All you need to do is edit one external CSS file, and you can go from having a blue background to a red one without touching any other file on your server.

You have much more control as well over the layout. Just change a few lines here or there and you have your navigation bar move from the left to the right.

Who Wins This Battle of Designing Ways?

I might make a few people mad, but in my mind CSS wins hands down. It allows you to write much cleaner looking code for your Web sites and is just more efficient in the long run. For those of you scared to make the transition over you can mix some old school elements with CSS as well.

I have several Web sites that have a basic table backbone and then everything else is designed with CSS. Which side of the fence are you on? If you have an argument for or against either side – leave it in the comments because I’d love to hear it.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 101!

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Getting Paid for Image Hosting

View Comments / April 4, 2007 - All Posts, Online Tools, Segments

Image hosting is like the fast food division of the Web hosting industry. From Flickr to Photobucket there are a lot of companies that all pretty much do the same thing. How would you like to get paid for using a service though? Well I have to admit it does sound a little too good to be true.

That is what the folks over at ImageReward.com are promising. Host your pictures with them and get some cash to stick back in your pocket for doing so.

Now before you start making plans for all that extra cash, there is a catch. You get 2 points every time your photo is reviewed by somebody and 20 points for referring a friend to the service. $10 is the smallest amount you can redeem and you’ll have to have earned 20,000 points to get it. So as you can see it might take you a while to make a fortune with ImageReward.com.

On the positive side though it is nice to see there are some companies out there still trying to come up with new and different ways to make this same old boring area of the hosting business a little more exciting. You can also turn your points in for Amazon.com gift certificates as well. I use Amazon.com a lot so that would be helpful for me.

So give ImageReward a shot and when you do make sure you let them know that the Web Hosting Show sent you there.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 101!

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More Often Ask Hosting Questions

View Comments / April 3, 2007 - All Posts, Segments, Web Hosting Tutorials

After getting a lot of happy folks E-mailing me back and thanking me for addressing some of their frequently asked questions, I figured we would do it again. This time around we have different questions, because answering the same questions each week would just get a little dull.

Why will my host not let me backup my personal backup files to my Web hosting account?

Some Web hosts might but most will not let you store personal backups of your photos or documents. This is because they just are not in that sort of business. There are plenty of places that are though and I would recommend going with them.

What are some Online hosting backup solutions?

My favorite from all the ones I have personally reviewed would be Box.net. Another popular choice out there is Carbonite.

I am a Web host and I keep getting bad press and reviews. What should I do?

I say turn that negative press into inspiration to make yourself better. Peoples’ opinions count and you should listen to as many as you can – then do your best with the most popular requests and thoughts you get.

I would like to find somebody to back my Online project. How do I find a Web host who would do that for free?

Find somebody out there (or maybe a few) and just ask them if they can help. You might get a few Web hosts laugh at you and your idea – but eventually you’ll run into that Web hosting business that will want to help you out.

When was the date of your very first Web hosting podcast and where can I find it?

The very first Web Hosting Show podcast as recorded February 14th, 2005. You can find it by searching WebHostingShow.com or by clicking the “All Archives” link on any of the Web Hosting Show’s Web pages.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 101!

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Hostology – Episode 101

View Comments / April 2, 2007 - All Posts, Podcasts

On what other podcast could you hear about excellent marketing, a battle between geeky styles of Web page coding and frequently asked questions about the industry we all know and love? Well put your suggestions down, because I don’t really want to know. You’ve already found the best of the best – so why don’t we just forget all the rest, the Web Hosting Show is now on the air.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 101!
Running Time: 15 minutes | File Size: 7.05 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 that we discussed on this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

  • More Hosting FAQs From You to Me!
  • Can You Get Paid for Hosting Your Images Somewhere?
  • Classic HTML vs CSS – Who Suplexes Who?
  • Teach, Then Sell (Marking Tip From The Field)

Don’t change that dial, don’t pick up that remote – you have stumbled upon the most entertaining thing in the Web hosting world since that one system admin in Georgia found a cooked rat in the server rack, the Web Hosting Show.

Grilling rodents with our dedicated servers isn’t the only topic we cover here though.

From Web development to Web hosting, we got it all. I will teach you the insides and outside of hostology so you can make it work for you and not against you.

Link of the Week: Hosting Hoopla News Section

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