I won’t lie to you, web hosts do some pretty annoying things sometimes to get your business.

I hate it when… the “Live Chat” link hovers over the web site content!

Dear web hosts, if I wanted to chat with your sales representative I would be more than happy to click the link on the side. I do not need the option hovering in front of my face like I am a moron who couldn’t find it located in a static spot. If your live chat link reminds me of a “punch the monkey to win an iPod” ad your not making a good first impression.

I hate it when… the words free, unlimited, or little green check marks in every single comparison chart box!

Any sort of comparison chart usually tends to make me angry just because if you have looked at enough web hosts they are nearly all the same. The top two or three comparisons (with things like disk space and bandwidth) are useful. The fact that you offer WordPress on every single plan or FTP access is not. If it is a comparison chart, give me some differences between the things you are offering.

I hate it when… web hosts list meaningless “services” they offer that make no sense or that are overly obvious!

This goes back to the idea that the web host thinks you are a total idiot so the sell you services that you know you are getting. Think of this as a shoe salesman selling you on the fact that your new pair of sneakers also come with shoe laces! Need some web hosting examples? Here are some obvious hosting features you’ll get that I have seen advertised:

• Support! - “Yes, every web host supports their customers”
• Hosting with a Domain! - “You need something to point people at, right?”
• A Real E-mail Address! - “Not like those ‘fake’ ones you get with other web hosts?”

I hate it when… meaningless flash covers the top 1/4th of the web host’s web site and does nothing at all!

Oh this one grinds my gears the most, because there is no reason to have that huge flashing flash logo on the top of the page. Does it do anything for you? No! It is useless eye candy that somebody told the web host would “look pretty”. Give me the basics - don’t give me a flashing picture of servers with a sunset behind them.

What annoys you about web hosting or web hosts?

I know what your thinking, what does a hot girl and web hosting have to do with one another? Well if you have no shame, and your looking for a marketing tool - having a hot girl talk about your hosting services might not be that bad of an idea.

This video to date has over 200,000 views and counting and is about as obvious of a commercial as you can get. It is simple, gets your attention and apparently keeps somebody coming back for more with that many views. If somebody was to get more creative with this idea I think you could really double the views even this video has.

Got a little ‘bit of something for everybody on today’s show. From a recap of RegisterFly’s mess to the price you pay for really cheap web hosting the shock and awe Web Hosting Show campaign starts right now. No caucus needed, but plenty of topics that should stir debate.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 136!
Running Time: 15 minutes | File Size: 6.80 MB

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

• How can RegisterFly keep registering domain names?
• Tip on how to use Google Calender to organize your hosting mess!
• Mitch’s web hosting new year resolutions!
• Learn how to create a static web site using WordPress!
• What is the price you pay for your cheap hosting plan?
• No midgets and/or fairies were harmed in the production of this podcast!

From coast to coast and over the seven seas the Web Hosting Show is back to broadcasting the feel good web hosting talk, tips and so much more. Little known fact - but in 2007 the show you are listening to right now was downloaded by people in 160 different countries!

Web design is a mysterious art that some can do and not many have mastered. When it comes to a Web hosting web site - people expect to see certain things as customers and if your lacking in these areas it could hurt you down the road. Sure fancy flash and really hot pictures of server racks are nice, but they won’t win you any clients.

Keep it Simple

Some web hosts out there like to fit as much content, flashing banners and overdone graphics on the front page as they can fit. This is not the best way to go. Personally, I like it when web hosts keep it simple.

Give me the Basics

I do not need to know every single detail about every single plan. Here is a basic forumula for what I want to see on your front page:

• Company Name
• Little Information About You
• Plans (Disk Space/Bandwidth at Least)
• Links to Other Pages for More Information

Finding the right balance between hype and helpful details is hard to do. Once you have done it though, I promise your current and potential clients will really thank you.

Sell Yourself in a Few Words

If you doing something great it shouldn’t take that long to convey the message to others. As much as having paragraph after paragraph about how good plan number one is or how great you are in general might look, keeping things short and sweet will go a long way.

Here are a few examples of web hosts who do follow all my rules:

Hostgator.com | Lunarpages.com | HostMonster.com | StartLogic.com

It might take a while before you find the layout or design that is just right for your particular business. The basics you need to remember though are to make sure you are different from the rest, touch base with everything that you cover and don’t be afraid to try something a little different.

Want to get yourself 10 terabytes of disk space and bandwidth? If you believe that is even possible - you have some web hosting homework to do. FXTS.net are the ones offering the plan in question, and I really hope this is a fake web site or joke by the people behind it.

Lets let this be a time to review Mitch’s golden rules when it comes to shopping for a new or replacement web hosting account. Feel free to copy this - share it with others, bookmark it for a reminder or write it on the back of your hand. Whatever will help you remember not to be a sucker when it comes to “too good to be true” web hosting deals.

• There is NO SUCH THING as “unlimited” in web hosting. Everything has a limit and there is no magical servers that can hold unmeasurable amounts of data.
• If the web site looks like it designed by a paraplegic cross-eyed homeless man… stay away.
• 99.9% uptime is meaningless. It might sound nice, but 99.9% of the time it is sales jargon and nothing else.
• Always make sure you have multiple ways of contacting the web host in question, just in case they decide to shut down shop in a month and take your money and run.

Have any other golden rules to share for those people out there who might be looking for a new web host? Leave a comment and lets all help educate the general public on this issue.

Related Reading:

+ WebHostingTalk.com Thread on the 10 Terabyte Web Host

Backing up your web site is never fun, but it is something that we all must do. Thankfully, cPanel makes the process easy - but I could see where more than a few folks might be scared about the process.

To help those who are unsure how to get cPanel to backup their web sites I thought I would go through the process step by step.

How Can I Get Started Backing Up With cPanel?

First thing you must do is login into your account’s cPanel and click on the Backup icon. Backing up is a very crucial thing to do because you never know when the worst might happen, and having a good backup could be the difference between being down for a few hours or for a few days.

Now once you have made it to cPanel’s backup page you should see several options available. “Generate/Download Full Backup” (under Full Backups) will allow you to do what you need. It might take a while depending on the size of your web site to generate but once it does - download that and you are almost done.

From this same screen you can download the latest backup created, download your MySQL databases and also depending on your web host you might be able to download your mail settings too.

Now after clicking on “Generate/Download a Full Backup” link you will be given a few more choices. For most users you will back the backup destination to be your home directory. Make sure you have enough disk space to host the backup file. There are other options, but we will ignore them for now. Under e-mail address you can tell the server where to send the log of the backup status. Once everything is as it should be click on the “Generate Backup” buttons and away you go.

How Can I Get That Backup Now?

Now you should be told that once the server finishes generating the backup for you - you will receive an e-mail at the address you gave it. Now if you click “Go back” or just navigate yourself back to the first screen of the backup page you can see that the backup is still “in progress”. After a few minutes or once you get that e-mail back from the server, you can download you backup from here.

Now you should have a full backup of your web site ready to restore if the worst case scenario might happen.

One of the many frequently asked question when it comes to web site creation is how can I get that web site running faster? Well, if you have a lot of images and video - you might want to look at optimizing both for use on the Web. Plain text travels fast, but once you get into some of the extra goodies that add flavor to your web site you might be running into trouble.

How Can I Optimize Images for the Web?

Images are probably the easiest to optimize for the Web. Not many people do it correctly though. Most image formats are compacted enough as it is - but you need to use a few of the best formats for the best performance. Use .png, .jpg, .gif and please oh please stay away from .bmp. The .png format would be my absolute favorite to get the smallest file size and be best looking picture once the compression of the image has been said and done. Read more »