The Voice of the Web Hosting World
The Web Hosting Show is the number one web hosting and development podcast. Never miss an episode! Subscribe today to our RSS feed for free, or subscribe via iTunes.

Enter your e-mail address to get daily tips delivered to your inbox:

Squarespace is an All in One Hosting Package

I have heard about Squarespace from a number of different sources the past few weeks, so I thought I would give it a look.  For those of you who may be new to the service, it is a fully hosted, completely managed environment for creating and hosting a web site.

The service really does a great job a breaking down the parts of your web site down into bricks.  You kind shift and move the bricks around, make make your web site look the way you want.  The designs to choose from are great too, and you can customize them to suit your needs.

Along with hosting, and design – they also provide you with real time visitor analytics and stats about all of your pages.  That way you can work on marketing yourself better too.

Squarespace Tour Video from Squarespace on Vimeo.

At $8 a month, the service really has a lot going for it, if you are looking for a mix of hosting, plus a quality content management system.  Try them out for free, at Squarespace.com.

| More

Benefits of Cloud Storage – Episode 188

Podcast #188 There is a lot of talk these days in the various web hosting social circles about cloud-based products and services.  One big name that seems to be gaining a lot of traction in this area is The Planet, so I could think of no greater company to contact to discuss the issue.

On today’s show we have The Planet’s General Manager of Storage and Data Protection, Rob Walters, to discuss cloud storage.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 188!
Running Time:
8 minutes | File Size: 3.60 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 some of the topics we cover in today’s interview:

  • What is and what are the benefits of cloud storage?
  • How is The Planet’s cloud storage business different?
  • Why is creating the “shortest path” between clients and servers important?

There are five things customers should evaluate when choosing a cloud platform.

  • Performance – It is important that you match the platform with the performance needs for your application.  Many cloud storage platforms only provide 2-3 Mb/sec, which is fine for most backup and archiving use cases, but is likely not sufficient for production data.  It is also important to run multiple tests and measure the variability between tests, as cloud storage platform performance can be inconsistent.
  • Ease of integration – The ease of user access is critical to product adoption in web applications.  Most cloud storage products provide proprietary APIs for integration.  This means you will need to specifically develop for that cloud storage platform.  This makes integration more difficult and increases switching costs.  Check if the platform offers any standards-based integration software that allows access via CIFS, NFS, FTP or HTTP.
  • Where you want your data – Most cloud products do not offer specific locations for data to reside.  In fact, these companies offer the data “in the cloud” as if “the cloud” were a location rather than an access medium.  While in many cases the physical location of data is unimportant, there are occasions when being able to select a location is beneficial.  For instance, if you are building a disaster recovery plan; working to reduce download times for a specific customer; or attempting to pass strict security audits, then where data resides is critical.
  • Flexibility – One of the most appealing features of cloud storage is the flexibility of its on-demand design, which manifests itself in two primary traits: scalability and elasticity.  Most cloud storage products should free you from the task of capacity planning, hardware budgeting and upgrading.  Capacity is available on-demand, as required.  Watch out for commitments for minimum usage levels as these can negate this inherent benefit .  Cloud storage products should provide elasticity, with capacity that grows as your business requires, and scales back as soon as this excess capacity is no longer needed.
  • Usage-based billing – Paying only for what you use is certainly appealing.  The primary aspects on which to judge the pricing of a cloud storage product should simply be: how much storage capacity you used and how much bandwidth was used to access your data.  Keep a sharp eye out for “hidden” fees, because in many use cases they can add up quickly to be as much or more than the primary elements of your bill.  “Hidden” fees to watch out for include: connect fees, account maintenance charges, and “puts” and “gets” charges.  Cloud platforms should offer simple and predictable monthly bills.

More Interesting Links from The Planet:

For the second show in a row, we have the chance to talk with one of the big names in the web hosting game, so I hope you tune in to hear more about cloud storage and how The Planet is serving it up to you.  If you would like to come onto the show to talk to the entire hosting industry about what you do, how you host or anything else be sure to drop me a line at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.

| More

Fast Reseller Hosting – Episode 187

Podcast #187A leader in the world of reseller hosting services; Fasthosts is not only flexible, they are fast too. Joining us on the show today is Steve Holford, the Chief Marketing Officer for Fasthosts Internet Inc. So what separates Fasthosts from the other reseller hosting options you might have?  What can you learn from them? 

Those questions, and many more, will be answered for you on this week’s edition of the Web Hosting Show.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 187!
Running Time:
5 minutes | File Size: 2.14 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 some of the questions we will cover in today’s interview:

  • Why does Fasthosts centralize around reseller hosting?
  • What is the biggest misconceptions about reseller hosting?
  • What unique reseller hosting tools does Fasthosts provide?
  • What is the history behind Fasthosts?
  • Is reseller hosting a good way to make some money?

Also here are a few resources you might want to check out after listening to the interview:

Thanks to Steve for joining us on today’s show. If you would like to come onto the show to talk to the entire hosting industry about what you do, how you host or anything else be sure to drop me a line at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.

| More

Why Did Geocities Fail?

RIP Geocities The reasons as to why Yahoo! dropped the ball with Geocities will be a great debate over the next year or so.  However, I feel the main reason Geocities ended up fading off into the sunset is that Yahoo failed to evolve the product into what people needed.

Did Shared Hosting Kill Geocities?

In 2008, according to a survey by Compete.com, the domain geocities.com attracted at least 177 million visitors annually.  So with those numbers, how could they go wrong?  You can not argue the point that the lowering in price of shared hosting accounts made the Geocities hosting look less favorable.  Users could pay as low as $4 or $5 a month and get a lot more than they were getting from Geocities with a shared web hosting provider.  Free hosting might be totally obsolete these days.

Did MySpace or Facebook Kill Geocities?

Many are even saying that Geocities could have easily evolved into a Facebook or MySpace.  Looking back at the original Geocities, it was all about community and sharing your pages with others.  This is much like it is today, except badly designed free sites have been replaced with goofy zombie versus pirates or mafia wars games.

Did Yahoo! Kill Geocities?

In 2001, Yahoo decided to start offering a “premium” version of the Geocities product.  To give users something to pay for and upgrade to, they had to turn on the free hosting service.  This is when they started to limit the monthly data transfer or bandwidth to the free Geocities users.  Following that, Geocities was just another free hosting service.  Nothing more.

Yahoo!’s overall feeling towards the Geocities free users was distain and disgust.  They failed to realize or even try to turn the direction on the proverbial Titanic in front of them.  Could Yahoo! of saved Geocities?  Maybe they could have or possibly they could have killed it off sooner than now.  However, at least then we would be left with a general feeling they at least tried.

Be sure to catch the rest of our Geocities Tribute on Podcast 186 of the Web Hosting Show!

| More

Alternatives to Geocities

chickenexplode_e0 With the word that Geocities would be closing, “sometime in 2009” many of the Geocities users are looking for other places to host their content.  Even though Geocities is closing the door on it’s free hosting, there are still many free hosting alternatives to Geocities.

Free Hosting – Two free web site elders that might someday share the same fate as Geocities are still around.  Both Angelfire and Tripod are still around.  Here are a few more to choose from:

  • 50Megs.com – Offers users 50 MB of disk space to host their files.
  • Bravenet.com – Also offers 50 MB of disk space and 1.5 GB of bandwidth.
  • 110MB.com – You get 110 MB of disk space with them (who would have guessed?) and 10 GB of bandwidth for free.

Specialized Hosting – For those people wanting to host their own blog, you might look into wordpress.com and their free blog hosting service.  If you want to get started with a forum, check out freeforums.org.

Shared Hosting – For those people moving from Geocities to another location, it might also be time to look into shared hosting plans.  There are many low-cost web hosting plans out there to choose from, and they will give you much more disk space, bandwidth and resources to work with.

One more place to check out for free hosting suggestions would be TheFreeSite.com.  Hey have a lot of suggestions when it comes to free web site hosting.

Have a free favorite host you would like to plug?  Leave a comment!

BONUS! Here are a few other Geocities alternatives:

If you find any more, let me know!

Be sure to catch the rest of our Geocities Tribute on Podcast 186 of the Web Hosting Show!

| More

Saving Geocities for Future Generations

Archiving the Web the Way it Was... In an effort to save the content that was on Geocities, a group calling themselves the Archive Team is working hard to save the Web that way it once was.  Time to pack away the animated gifs, blinking text, and web rings into their own individual boxes, so that someday we can look back what was once considered, “cool” in web site design.

Why Should We Save Geocities?

The Archive Team’s goal is to save as much of Geocities as they can before Yahoo! pulls it down later this year.  Think of what they want to do as a time capsule of the Web from the mid 1990’s.  At the time, some of these web sites were the best the world had to offer, and some might have been the worst.  I have a feeling those who are against the idea of saving Geocities, probably have a web site dedicated to ALF somewhere in there they don’t want the world to see.

Save Our Gifs! When it comes to copyright concerns, the idea isn’t to take credit or resell the content.  At this time there are no plans for releasing the data, but in the future it might be rolled out for the world to look back upon.

How can you help?  Be sure to check out the Archive Team’s FAQ.

Is Geocities worth saving? Well, that is a point up for debate.  Sure, there might not be any real value to the content that is being archived, however others may argue that any and all historical content must be saved so we can learn from our past mistakes, or laugh at them.

Be sure to catch the rest of our Geocities Tribute on Podcast 186 of the Web Hosting Show!

| More

A Lesson in Geocities History

Geocities History You might have heard of Geocities in passing, however if you are new to the Web, or the way things once were – all this concern about a free hosting service might be a little confusing.  So I figured, what better way to pay tribute to the web host that once was, than to give you a history lesson in Geocities.

How Geocities Got Started

In late 1994, a small web hosting service was founded with the name Beverly Hills Internet.  Back then, users would select a virtual “city” where they wanted their web site to categorized under.  For example, you had Area 51 for science fiction web sites, or Baja for SUV and adventure travel web sites.

Changing the Name to Geocities

As they grew in size and popularity, they knew they had to change the name.  They were getting thousands of sign ups a day and getting over six million monthly page views.  So in December of 1995, they officially changed the name from Beverly Hills Internet to Geocities.

Geocities continued to grow, and by June of 1997 they were the fifth most popular web site on the Web.  Through 1997 and 1998 Geocities introduced advertising on hosting client’s pages to hopefully make the product more profitable.

The Watermark Heard Around the World

What will be remembered as a footnote in brand awareness and web hosting, in June of 1998 Geocities introduced a watermark on user web pages.  Users were upset, because they felt that the JavaScript powered logo interfered with their web site design.

Yahoo! Takes Over Geocities

The company went public in 1998, with a listing on the NASDAQ.  At the peak of the dot-com bubble, a deal was struck.  Yahoo purchased Geocities for $3.57 billion.  Many might say Yahoo!’s first move with this new project under their belt, might have been the worst.  In 1999, Yahoo! alienated many of the Geocities fan base by including in its terms of service that Yahoo owned all of the hosted content, including pictures and any other media uploaded.  Yahoo! did reverse the decision.

As far as innovation goes, Yahoo! didn’t do much with the Geocities brand after that point.  That leads us to April 2009, where Yahoo! announced Geocities would be closing later in 2009.

Be sure to catch the rest of our Geocities Tribute on Podcast 186 of the Web Hosting Show!

| More

Saying Goodbye to Geocities – Episode 186

Podcast #186Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, Yahoo! Geocities has kicked the bucket, has ceased to be, and is no more.  So what was Geocities, how did it fail, and what can be learned from Yahoo!’s past mistakes with this once popular free hosting brand name?  I tribute this week’s show to the free web host that once was, rest in peace Geocities, after this edition of the Web Hosting Show.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 186!
Running Time: 13 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.

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

  • A History Lesson in Geocities
  • Saving Geocities for Future Generations
  • Alternatives to Geocities
  • What Can Be Learned from Geocities

Trivia Question – How many years old is Geocities?(to find out the answer, be sure to download and listen to this week’s podcast!)

Feel free to share your favorite (or maybe not so favorite) Geocities memories in the comments!

| More

First Virtual Web Hosting Conference

logo Are you going to be a part of the Web Host Boot Camp?  This conference for those people out there interested in or apart of the web hosting industry looks to be a lot of fun, and very informative.  Where’s the twist?  No conference hall or long trip will be needed.  The boot camp will be all virtual.

Now how is this going to work?  From their press release:

Attendees will have access to vendors, sponsors, exhibit booths, and other web hosting enthusiasts through live chat.  There is no software to install.  Attendees log in from their computer and listen to the sessions directly, pick-up a chat, read about exhibitor’s product and services information and network – all through the live chat.  Representatives will be available via live chat to answer questions and provide further information.

If you are interested in reserving your spot, you can do so free here.  Now I haven’t been contacted by anybody involved yet, so that is pretty much all the details I know, however I do have to say it is nice to see people trying to something new out there, and the more we can all share and learn from each other the better the web hosting industry will be.

| More

Best Way to Find Web Hosting Coupons

Making MoneyHave you found the web hosting company you are interested in, however haven’t yet sealed the deal, because the price is still not within your budget?  I have a quick and easy tip for you that will get you the price you want.  All you have to do is know how and where to find the web hosting coupons.

Web Hosting + Coupon = Win for Everybody!

This is a secret I have been sharing for a number of years, and now I want to let you know.  Search for them.  That’s right, any web host worth his disk space will have coupons and rebates out there on the Web.  All you have to do is search for the web hosting in question, plus the word “coupon” or “rebate”.

For example, let say I search for Random Fake Web Hosting Company #5 and coupon.  Via Google, I find a page that says I can get $50 off if I sign up with the coupon code “50OFF”.  Now, all I need to do is go to Random Fake Web Hosting Company #5’s web site and try the coupon out.  If it works, I just saved $50, if not – then I’ll go back out to the search results to find the next best deal.

Ok, so I am sure some of you might be a little disappointed with this tip, however you would be amazed by how overlooked it really is.

| More

Mitch Keeler © 2009 - Sitemap | Privacy Policy
Dedicated Server Hosting provided by Layered Tech

Go to Top of Page