Православни икониикониI was talking my friends who spend their summers up in Canada about a good anti virus software. From the obvious choices like Norton or McAffee we also talked about Bullguard Anti Virus Software. I had not really heard about Bullguard before, but apparently Bullguard Internet Security is a very popular anti virus software in Canada (well, not just in Canada, but many other countries, too). I am probably biased a bit as I live in the United States and apparently Bullguard is not that much promoted here.

Discovering a promising internet hosting company for your internet based company is an important piece to the puzzle. This is the company that has control of your server space, internet services and file maintenance, so you would like to make certain you’re protected and have access to services and features that you need to succeed. Here are 5 issues to look for in a promising internet web host. Before you continue, please make sure you do proper research and expand this list to your needs.

1. Reliability
There’s nothing more essential than reliability when it comes to selecting a internet hosting company. You will find a number of things that can go wrong within an internet based business and it’s assuring to know that your web host is there for you. Prior to choosing a business, take the time to look at the percentage of time their server is working correctly. If the server tends to be down 15% of the time or more, this kills valuable time that you could be working.

2. Contact info
Part of a web hosting company being reliable is also them being available. If your server goes down, you would like to know that you can get a hold of the company as soon as feasible. The best method to check on the support personnel would be to call them up prior to agreeing to anything to test them out.

3. Domain name
With thousands of internet based businesses on the web and millions of internet addresses already taken, it could be difficult coming up with an original domain name. Nevertheless, each web host should be able to supply you with one for a reasonable price. Check into the support they give you for discovering a quality domain name and also the costs each company charges for a domain name.

4. POP account
Having access to a POP account is vital for your company because of the protection and service that it offers. A POP account gives you password-protected access to email that’s sent to via your website’s email address. Most email clients use POP for email retrieval.

5. CGI access
Depending on the kind of web based company you have, you might wish to or need to run your own programs. To be able to do this, you should have CGI access. Not every internet host provides this, and not each business provides the exact same capabilities for their CGI access. When researching into a web hosting business, check to make certain they offer CGI access that permits you to read, write, and execute on your server.

You will find several things you want to look into prior to choosing a internet hosting company. The much more questions you are able to come up with to ask the business and also the more study you put into your choice, the better off you will be. Maintain in mind that if internet hosts use the same platform (example: cPanel) several of the questions will result within the exact same answers. Be sure to ask questions which are specific to your scenario and that apply to the potential web host.

Web Hosts that I found to be very reliable and trustworthy are IX Web Hosting and LiquidWeb. LiquidWeb even offers greatly priced dedicated web servers that are fully managed.

The costs of domain name registration and internet hosting have dropped to the point that it’s possible to own multiple websites with out going broke. In the event you plan to operate multiple websites, here is some information on the different choices available to you. The first thing to think about when setting up multiple websites is whether or not to host them all with the exact same internet hosting business. Numerous internet hosts provide packages that let you set up multiple websites on a single account and almost all will let you set up multiple accounts, 1 for every site.

If you’re happy with the hosting company you’re utilizing for your existing website(s), 1 benefit of using them for an additional website is the reality that you know they provide good service and support.

They may also offer discounts for multiple sites, so your costs might be lower if you stay with them again.

On the other hand, if you choose a various host you’ll be able to compare the quality of an additional business with whomever you’re currently using. In the event you ever run into problems with them, you’ll have an alternative. It’s wise not to “put all your eggs in 1 basket” as the saying goes.

An additional advantage of utilizing a various host is that you’ll get a different IP address for every of your sites. If your sites are related to 1 an additional and you want to link them together, having different IP addresses can occasionally help your website rank higher in the search engines.

Links from other websites are one of probably the most essential factors in getting your website ranked extremely. If those links come from websites on the exact same IP address, it is a signal to the search engines that they’re fairly likely all owned by the exact same person, and they might discount the value of those links.

In the event you do select to host all your sites with 1 company, you will find essentially three choices – separate accounts for each site, a reseller account where they are all hosted or a dedicated server, once more where they are all hosted.

Separate accounts are self-explanatory, so let’s take a look at reseller accounts. As a reseller, you’re essentially acting as an agent for the hosting company – a middleman between them and the end user.

The idea is that you can set up your own company offering web hosting that’s ultimately hosted by the business. You do not need to resell this hosting however – you can use the hosting services for your own websites, essentially “reselling” the hosting to yourself.

A reseller account is nice because all your websites are “under 1 roof” and you have a single point of contact for any technical issues.

Hosting on a dedicated server gives you complete control of the computer that’s the internet server. You can install any software you want, any operating system you would like and you are able to allocate resources like memory and hard disk space however you want to divide it up between your websites.

The disadvantage of a dedicated server is that you’re responsible for maintaining the server and sometimes even for the technical side of issues. If you aren’t familiar with the technical side of running a web server, you might require to select a managed dedicated server, where the hosting company looks after these problems.

Dedicated servers are, of course, more expensive than the other choices, so unless your websites are well established, with a lot of traffic, they might not fit within your spending budget. But if you know and are sure that your website will gain traction very quick, this investment might be well worth it. I highly recommend Liquidweb with their fully managed dedicated server solutions.

IX Web Hosting is a solid option when looking for a WordPress Web Hosting provider. Easy, scripted installer allows fast installation of WordPress as a blog or CMS. I use WordPress on many of my websites with great success. WordPress is easy to be installed and it is easy to be customized, too. I use about 6-8 different plugins and I usually fall back to my favorite WordPress Theme Thesis.

Thesis is not a free Theme, but in return for the price tag it a) comes with great support and b) is frequently updated. It also has a great benefit of being very SEO-friendly. You will not need the All in One SEO plugin (even though that is a great plugin) because Thesis has many or most of the options built-in already. This reduces the need for an additional WordPress plugin on your site = less maintenance.

IX Web Hosting offers a huge traffic allowance with each of their accounts. They market it as “unlimited”, but if you read the ToS (Terms of Service) you can see that there are other ways how this is limited (think CPU and memory on the server). However – read this – it is important to know – the overall web hosting package still offers huge amounts of bandwidth and most users will fail to come even close to those limits. So, the unlimited is a marketing gimmick, but the cheap web hosting behind it is very good (one reason why I like IX Web Hosting for WordPress hosting).

Check out IX Web Hosting here.

Check out Thesis here.

How do I pick a web host when I have the need for web hosting? I ask myself this question in one way or the other quite often when having an idea for a new website (I am a website addict so to speak). For one I often go back to the web hosts I know, but I also try new ones depending on my needs. As an example not too long ago I was starting a project targeting users in the Eurpean Union and so I was looking for a web host in Germany. I found a good host by leaving the established path.

So, how do I find and pick a new web host? I browse the internet and visit web hosting forums, webmaster forums, hosting blogs and web hosting related resource websites. I look at forum discussions where other people were searching for a new host and then research the recommendations other people make. I always pick a host that offers a money back guarantee and I always have a plan B in mind when trying a new web host. I also contact sales or support to see how fast they respond and even more important – how they respond. This often gives you a good indicator of what to expect from a web host in general.

I do not do complicated speed tests or performance testing. I follow my own look and feel and decide then if I like this web host or not. I know how fast my websites have to load and how long it takes to upload files to a host (I have many websites as you can tell). Only when I see a problem I test ping times or use an external tool to verify the performance.

Always do research and spend some time doing so before signing up with a web host. I always maintain a list of 2-3 web hosts in case one goes belly up and I need to switch my site over to a new provider. This happened to me about 8 years ago and I felt being hostage of a web host and learned/prepared from that incident. So, this is never going to happen again to me (knock on wood).