Domain Names





You may have heard that it can be difficult to find available names. That was true a few years ago, when domain names were limited to only 22 characters, but since late 1999 the limit was raised to 63. So fear not, all the good domain names are not taken. Ideally, you want a name that conveys your product or service. Think of your domain name as your identity online. You want your name to be eye-catching, yet simple and easy to remember. As the first thing your visitor sees, your domain name gives them their first impressions about you. The last thing you want is your visitor to form a bad first impression. Here are some general Do's and Don'ts when deciding on a domain name:
Be Professional
The best domain names sound professional. People are impressed by quality and value, but above all else, they expect professionalism. You want your domain to project a high level of quality. The right domain name, coupled with a quality product at a genuine value, will not only prove you're a professional, you'll also earn your customer's loyalty and trust.
Get a .com extension
You should always try to obtain a .com extension rather than .net, .org, .biz, etc. The reason is most people will automatically add .com as the extension when they type an internet address. There is nothing wrong with owning other extensions, but if you own a domain with a .net extension without first owning the .com extension, you will lose visitors.
Use keywords
If your domain name contains common keywords, you're likely to get a higher listing in the search engines. Search engines list sites by sending out "spiders" to constantly crawl from website to website, going through every page looking for keywords and cataloging what they find for later listing. Once they decide to list your site, they consider the domain name as part of the ranking. If your domain contains keywords, it will usually get a higher ranking.
Don't use hyphens
Unless a word or phrase has a natural hyphen, such as "real-time" or "soda-pop" leave it out. They are harder to remember, and you will lose visitors who either forget, or don't know about the hyphen in the address.
Don't misspell
The spelling and structure of your name should be clear. If the visitor has heard of your site through word-of-mouth, they will most likely type in the incorrect address if you misspell your domain. For example, www.UltimateEntrepreneursGuide.com is obvious, while www.UltimateEntrepreneurzGuide.com is not. Replacing the "s" with a "z" at the end of a word is fine if you are a pop band, but if you do it in a domain name you'll only end up losing most of your visitors to your competition with the correct spelling.
Be memorable
This is crucial. If people can't easily remember your domain name, you won't get the kind of traffic you need to be really successful. Keep your potential visitors in mind, and try to put yourself in their shoes when choosing a domain. Write down as many names as you can think of, and one by one ask yourself, "Would I remember this domain name if I heard it on the street?" When you can answer "yes" you've found your domain name. Registering your domain name is quick and easy. The entire process usually only takes about 10 minutes once you've found an available name. Your name is your brand, so choose it wisely. The right domain name could mean the difference between success and failure. Copyright (c) 2002 eMoney Enterprises ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Dave Barrett is editor of the Internet marketing ezine eMoney Monthly. Subscribe now for free access to all the great resources that eMoney Monthly has to offer! mailto:subscribe@emoneymonthly.com Visit our website at
document.write('eMoneyMonthly.com');
eMoneyMonthly.com  ¶ 12:39 AM 1 Comments

  Web Hosting Glossary - Common Hosting Terms





Apache - A very popular open source web hosting software, available for numerous platforms.
Bandwidth - The amount of data traffic that can or is transported from one computer to another.
BIND - Berkeley Internet Name Domain is an implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) protocol.
Co-lo - Co-location, refers to an agreement that sees a client owned server hosted in an ISP's data center.
Daemon - An application or utility that runs in the background on the server.
DNS - Domain name system, turns domain names in to IP addresses.
Domain name - An alpha-numeric combination that can be used instead of IP addresses.
Enom - An ICAAN registered domain name registrar.
Fantastico - An integrated application that allows web hosting clients to automatically install popular scripts.
FrontPage - A Microsoft web development application.
FTP - File transfer protocol, allows users to transfer files from one computer to another.
HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language is a simple markup language used to design web pages.
HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol allows the transfer to web files over the Internet, viewable in a browser.
ISP - Internet Service Provider.
Linux - An open source version of the UNIX operating system that has gained popularity as a web hosting platform.
Managed Hosting - A web hosting service where the provider supports the daily upkeep of the server, including activities like updates and patches.
MySQL - An open source application of a SQL server that is quite popular with numerous web hosts.
NameServer - Converts domain names into appropriate IP addresses and vice versa.
NOC - Network Operations Center.
Overselling - When a web host sells more space, bandwidth or CPU cycles than they have at their disposal, with the belief that the customers won't actually use them all.
PERL - Practical Extraction and Reporting Language, is a programming language frequently used for creating CGI programs for web use.
PHP - An open-source, server-side scripting language used to create dynamic web pages.
phpMyAdmin - A web based application to manage MySQL databases.
RedHat - A commercial Linux distribution, popular amongst web hosts.
Reseller - A webhost who resells web space off of a shared server with other resellers.
SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
Squirrelmail - A web based e-mail program.
SSL - Secure Socket Layer is a protocol that transmits data in an encrypted form.
Terabyte - 1024 Gigbytes worth of storage or bandwidth.
TLD - Top Level Domain, like .com, .ca, .org
VLAN - Virtual Local Area Network.
VPS - Virtual Private Server is a software based private server hosted in a shared environment.
Whois - A universal database maintained by registries and registrars with domain contact information.
WWW - World Wide Web.  ¶ 12:37 AM 0 Comments

  Types of Web Hosting





There are various types of web hosting solutions. Depending on your needs, you could choose from one of several web hosting solutions and therefore it is important to research and evaluate the services to pick the correct one. Here are some of the most common type of web hosting services available, click on the links for detailed information
Shared Web Hosting
Shared or virtual hosting by far the most common form of webhosting.
[ More on shared web hosting ].
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
Want control over your hosting environment but don't need the resources of a dedicated server? VPS hosting might be right for you. [ More on Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting ].
Dedicated Web Hosting
Web sites that require all the server resources are best served by seeking a dedicated web hosting solution.[ More on dedicated web hosting ].
Managed Web Hosting
Managed web hosting takes the dedicated model of service to higher level by provding support services for the web servers. [ More on managed web hosting ].
Server Co-Location
When nothing but your own hardware located will do, you can find hosting companies that will host your server at their data center.[ More on server co-location ].
Reseller Web Hosting
If you have a network of websites or want to resell web hosting services to other, a reseller account can be a good start.[ More on reseller web hosting ].
Free Web Hosting
As the old saying goes, "There is no free lunch". The same goes for web hosting but if you can live with with limited web space, banners, popups, and other restrictions you can get certainly find "free" hosting. [ More on free web hosting ].  ¶ 12:00 AM 1 Comments

  Web Hosting Checklist





Once you have decided what web hosting services you require, it is then time to make a list of certain web hosting features and options you must consider. Here are some of the most important aspects of web hosting;
Storage space and bandwidth
You should have figured out how much data your website will generate, and also the amount of bandwidth you will need. If you envision that your site will continually grow, then allow some headroom in terms of storage and bandwidth. Also check how much your web host charges for extra hard drive space and bandwidth. Remember, there is no such thing as unlimited or unmetered bandwidth! Internet bandwidth and storage space are finite commodities, they are not available in infinite amounts and are capped at some point of based on hardware or service levels. Don't be fooled by the 'unlimited' or 'unmetered' monickers, there is no such animal.
Operating system and programming tools
Most web hosts run on a Unix based operating system, usually Linux or BSD. If you will be running an application that requires ASP/.NET/MS SQL Server/SBS/etc, you will need to find a Windows based web host; usually a little more expensive. Unix based hosts will provide PHP, Perl/CGI, Frontpage, and very limited ASP functionality. If you will be developing your own web applications, it would make sense to get a good idea of their operating system environment.
Look beyond the price
As the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". This certainly holds true in the realm of web hosting services. If you focus too much on the price, you are likely to end up with a sub-par web host that will provide you with a combination of overloaded servers, poor connections to the Internet backbones, frequent downtime or little or no support.
Support, guranteed uptime, and backups
Many web hosts provide telephone support - some even have 24/7 support through local or toll-free numbers. Other ways that web hosts provide support includes online trouble-ticket/helpdesk systems, web discussion forums, live chats with technicians and email support. With respect to uptime, this guarantee is usually a little harder to find and enforce. If you settle for 99% uptime, that means your website could be down for an average of 14.4 minutes a day. That is acutally quite a lot, especially considering the amount of potential revenue you might be losing. On the other hand 99.99% uptime makes a huge difference and leads to a average negligable down-time per day. So if you need reliable webhosting, make sure to check the support, uptime and backups.
Hosting features included
A plain vanilla HTML based website requires different resources compared to a PHP/CGI/ASP based site that uses a database, special image libraries, and custom programming. So if you are developing anything more than an HTML web site that will require custom programming work or uses any type of scripting language, make sure the web host supports these standards and needed features. Often, web hosting companies list everything they offer up front, but if you have questions, make sure you ask. Apart from programming languages, you might need special access to your website, say through FTP or Telnet. Just about every paid web host allows FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access to your website, but Telnet or SSH access is more rare or might cost more. Same with mail, just about every web host will provide SMTP/ POP3 and web based access to email. If you require IMAP or say a secure access protocol, check with the hosting provider.
Data centers, bandwidth quality, and security
Web hosting providers both big and small need a central location where they house their servers and equipment. It is important to have some idea as to where these systems are located. If you seek reliablity and high quality you may not really want your important web venture hosted in someone's basement off an xDSL connection. You might also want to check what type of data connections/providers are being used your web host. Just because someone says that they have a "10-MBit Internet backbone" does not mean high quality and reliability. One would rather see them accessing the Internet backbone through multiple, reliable providers that allow world wide traffic to be routed in the most efficient manner. Most web hosting companies will provide some detail on their data centers including the built-in redundancies, their use of UPS and/or diesel generators, the different bandwidth providers they use, and physical security of their premises. It is really worth looking into this aspect of web hosting.  ¶ 11:39 PM 1 Comments

  Determining Your Web-Hosting Needs





Once you decide to create an Internet presense that will require a web site and web hosting, it is key to figure out the types of resources you will need. This determination can make sure that you are not overpaying for service, paying for features you won't be using, or worse yet, paying extra for functionality that you required but failed to check on.
What type of web site are you building?This is a key question. Are you going to use the web site for an e-commerce business, as a hobby site writing about your interests, will the site be static or interactive, used as a blog or online forum, or a site that will provide information and generate revenuss? If you will be running an e-commerce site you will need to find an online payment system, you might need to have your web host support the secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption, and you should inquire whether they provide any shopping carts like MIVA merchant. If you will be developing custom e-commerce software, it is essential to make sure that you know the web hosting environment to ensure that your software will work on their systems. A blog or a online forums site will most likely require PHP or Perl/CGI scripting and in most cases access to a database system like MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft's SQL
How much storage space would you need?
If you are running a small, static website, you don't require a very large amount of storage space. On the other hand, an extensive information or e-commerce site with thousands of web pages and images or a large online forum would require much more data storage. In many cases, the databases are given their own seperate storage limit and could cause problems since 100mb of data capacity might not always equal 100mb of database capacity.
How much bandwidth would you need?
After storage capacity, bandwidth is the next most hyped web hosting feature. If your average webpage (html code + graphics) is 5KB, and you receive an average of 100 hits per day, you can easily see that you are using up (5 x 100) 500 KB of bandwidth a day. Multiply this number by 30 and you have an average monthly figure. It is essential that before you sign up for any web hosting service, you put some thought into how big your web site will be, how popular the category is, and what type of service you will be providing. For example, oneline discussion forums use up a lot more bandwidth than any other type of website because users usually stay on for longer time as they read posts or contribute, and there is a much higher rate of repeat visitors who come back to read new messages, etc. Therefore, your bandwidth needs should be considered prior to signing up for a hosting plan.
What hosting features will you need?
A plain vanilla HTML based website requires different resources compared to a PHP/CGI/ASP based site that uses a database, special image libraries, and custom programming. So if you are developing anything more than an HTML web site that will require custom programming work or uses any type of scripting language, make sure the web host supports these standards and needed features. Often, web hosting companies list everything they offer up front, but if you have questions, make sure you ask. Apart from programming languages, you might need special access to your website, say through FTP or Telnet. Just about every paid web host allows FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access to your website, but Telnet or SSH access is more rare or might cost more. Same with mail, just about every web host will provide SMTP/ POP3 and web based access to email. If you require IMAP or say a secure access protocol, check with the hosting provider.  ¶ 11:34 PM 0 Comments

  Web Hosting Advice and Tips





Web hosting :
is a key aspect of the Internet. Whether you wish to utilize the Internet for an online business, an information resource, a discussion forum, or sharing views on a hobby or interest, you must use a web hosting service that will allow everyone else to view your creation. It is web hosting that empowers you to share information, sell prodcuts and services, and interact with people through a web site. Therefore, it is essential that the process of selecting a web hosting provider for your Internet presence include some sort of research and review before jumping in.
In the heyday of the Internet giving things away for free was so fashionable that a lot of companies burned through millions of dollars giving things away, before they went under. If you wish to run an e-commerce site or would like to generate an income from your web site, it is recommended that you seek a good paid host. There will always be the desire to keep expenses down or to cut corners, but one must take the complete picture into account. On the Internet the first impression a visitor (potential customer) gets is everything. They can easily go to another web site to seek information or to make a purchase, so you have to keep your visitors on your site. You want them to see a professional business or information web site that they can trust, not one that is too cheap to pay for a professional service.
Your particular needs are crucial in determining the kind of hosting you need as web hosting comes in many different flavors and at equally numerous price points. There are many web hosts who try to justify charging higher than average prices by offering a vast assortment of extra features. Many people don't need all these bells and whistles and never end up taking advantage of them. But by offering tons of extras that almost no one will use, some web hosts can jack up their rates. So its important that you know what services you require, shop for them by scrutinizing and reviewing the web hosts you come across. It is important to keep in mind that like any other Internet business, web hosting has grown leaps and bounds over the last decade. In this time thousands of big and small companies have started offering various Internet services. But with the downturn of the early 2000s many of these companies have struggled and some have even gone under. Even with all of the consolidation in the web hosting industry, there are still tens of thousands of hosting companies providing various levels of hosting services. As technology evolves these web hosts are changing as well, providing various services in addition to plain vanilla web hosting. If you run an e-commerce site, a more comprehensive content web site or a large web forum community, there are many tools that could help in your ventures. Web hosting reviews, opinions and checklists can be helpful in finding the right webhosting service provider for your needs.  ¶ 11:24 PM 0 Comments