Hosts, Website Design And Trust

Business or buying decisions based on the beauty of the website are not unheard of. I've even read statistics indicating that website design is one of the most important reasons for which people choose one host over another.

That may have something to do with the fact that many of those searching for hosting take things for face value. Most consider that complicated, beautiful, expensive web design is a mark of seriousness and success

Unfortunately, web design beauty has very little to do with the quality of the hosting service. A nice design basically signals two things: the hosting company knows how a great website looks like and - maybe - was so concerned about it that it did what had to be done to have a great looking site.

Also, what some may regard as exquisite web design others might perceive as pure ugliness. It all comes down to each person's taste, background and experience, which, needless to say, vary enormously among individuals.

What you see is not necessarily what you get (WYSINNWYG)
Nicely designed websites are not necessarily expensive because they're not necessarily unique. For instance, most web hosting companies start small, often being a one man show with a reseller account or a cheap dedicated server. While some thought is certainly given to the appearance of the website, the budget for web design is minimal because most of money are allocated for things directly related to hosting.

A cheap website template is the solution found by most new hosts. Now, you'd think that a cheap template must be screaming "cheap" and be ugly too, but that's not the case. A cheap template, even under $30, can be quite nice actually.

One odd thing has to be noted: most hosts go for a web design that also has a flash presentation. That supposedly makes the site seem more professional and although this might've been true sometime ago, it has become now somewhat of a kitsch, which is also true about those pictures of servers taken from all kinds of angles.

Anyway, those are things that a trained eye can see, but the average customer has no idea that behind a what looks like a carefully designed website that lavishly makes use of flash and color and speaks of data centers and backbone connections, can be just a single man trying to make a buck.

Many new hosts buy website templates from places like TemplateMonster.com. I'd suggest to pay that site a visit and take a look at those templates. Get a feel of what those templates look like and maybe try use that to your advantage - if you can.

Flexing the financial muscle
Some hosts realized that web design plays a very important role in driving sales, establishing trust, projecting an image of success, branding and other things. That's why many hosts choose to pay for a breathtaking original website design as soon as they can afford it.

One company that hosts seem to prefer for advanced web design is Ceonex, which may very well be because Ceonex can do more than just simple website design; they can optimize websites to produce a maximum number of sales and other things. Or at least that's what Ceonex claims...

Some people noticed that the websites made by Ceonex are rather similar and, personally, for the hosting companies at least, I feel there's some truth to this observation. It's certainly easy to spot that some objects are identical in some of their sites and that can only mean that they "recycle" part of their work.

Nevertheless, a Ceonex made design (which includes marketing studies etc.) costs about $20,000-$30,000, so a hosting company is sure betting that this will set them apart. For you, as a customer, it also shows that hosts can go to great lengths just to project an image of success and gain an edge over the competition.

However, all those money are spend not for the benefit of the client or potential client, but for the benefit of the company. An expensive design basically says: look what we are able to do (just to maximize sales). But there's something else that can be read between the lines: we are here and we plan to be here for a while.

No company will spend tens of thousand of dollars to go out of business the next day. Also, if the company has a history of of a few years and is quite successful, it may very well be that the expensive web design was purchased because the company felt almost compelled to reveal its new status.

If you've got the money you almost have to move to a bigger house. You might think that's something only a snob would do, but it's not really true. Say you know someone who has a lot of money; you expect him/her to have a higher standard of living, otherwise you'd call him/her a cheapskate. It's just human nature.

No financial muscle to flex, but no eyes to see?
At the opposite pole are the hosts with no budget and basically no idea of how things work on the internet. However, they insist on having a web based business and not just any business - a hosting business! They decide to spend $0 on web design and build the website on their own or ask a good friend do it for them.

The resulted website is often not just amateurish, it's down right ugly. A decent person with a bit of Internet knowledge would definitely know better. It's generally easy to spot clear ugliness or outdated web design if you have a bit of 'net surfing experience.

A host is supposed to know how the Internet works intimately and at the surface, so they should have an eye for web design. Rather than having an ugly but original website design, a free template that looks acceptably should be preferred in my opinion.

Blatant unprofessional web design shows a lack of professionalism, thoroughness and thoughtfulness in general. If they care so little about their website do you think they care much about server security and other things? I don't. I'd rather say pass to a good host with an ugly website than give him the benefit of a doubt and get burned later. Why? Because there are lots of other hosts out there. As long as there are plenty of hosts to choose from I see no reason to take risks.

They can't they spell either?
It appears that some don't know how/don't care to do this either. (I'm not a native english speaker so I have a small excuse if this happens on this website from time to time. )

Mistakes can happen to the best of us, but unreasonably repeated grammar and/or spelling mistakes signal lack of professionalism and even more than that. They're a sign of carelessness and lack of respect towards potential customers, both of which I find very dangerous. More often than not, poor web design is complemented (not complimented ) by spelling mistakes, which makes it even easier to spot businesses that you wouldn't want to deal with. We're so lucky, aren't we?

So? What to do then?
My opinion is that generally website design is just a marketing related thing. There's no direct relation between it and the quality of the service. Quality hosting, trustworthiness and quality website design don't always go hand in hand.

Thus, website design is not a reliable measure of service quality. In fact, I think one should try very hard to not take this factor into account at all, with a big exception: when the design is obviously unprofessional. I expect quality web design because I think it's a form of respect towards potential customers and a sign of thoughtfulness, which I like in a host. But that's it!

To make a hosting decision search for facts instead: Do they deliver what they promise? Are their customers happy? Those are the important things!

Introduction To Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of data (files located on your domain that are viewed by visitors, email, ftp) that can be send/received by your web server. You can understand how important this factor is when buying a web hosting plan or leasing a web server. Generally speaking, the more bandwidth you have, the more visitors can visit your web site.

Determining how much bandwidth is needed
To determine how much bandwidth you need per month, you will need to have a look at your web site statistics. Visitors per month times avg. data transferred per month per user = Amount of Bandwidth used per month. Bandwidth is usually measured in MB or GB. It is not very important to get the exact number of visitors. An approximate number will be sufficient for calculating the monthly bandwidth usage.

Whereas the accuracy of the numbers in the first part of the calculation was a rather unimportant factor it plays a big role in the second part of the calculation.

Finding the average files transferred can be difficult if your web site is very large, since it has to be done for every single page. To find the size, add up the size of every image on the page and the size of the page of every single page on your web site. To make life a little easier for you it is recommended to use the following loading time test tool. Once you've obtained that number add 25%-33% to that number to give your web site room and allow it to grow.

Here is an example calculation:

Page 1: 15.000 visitors per mo. x 125KB of data = 1875000KB = ~1875 MB = ~1,875GB / mo.
Page 2: 15.000 visitors per mo. x 100KB of data = 1500000KB = ~1500 MB = ~1,500GB / mo.
Page 3: 10.000 visitors per mo. x 85KB of data = 850000KB = ~850 MB = ~0,850GB / mo.

Total data transferred per month: ~1,875GB + ~1,500GB + ~0,850GB = ~4,225GB. Adding 25%-33% to that amount will give us a result of 5,28GB - 5,62GB. So it would be recommended getting a plan with 5.5GB or 6GB bandwidth per month.

Please note that: 1024 Bytes = 1 KB, 1024 KB = 1 MB and 1024 MB = 1 GB

How can bandwidth be saved?
There are a number of ways to save bandwidth. A general advice is to keep all files on your web site as small as possible. (Sounds logic doesn't it?) To reduce the size of your pages you have to remove unnecessary tags from your code. WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) programs like Dreamweaver have a clean HTML function.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is also an effective way to save bandwidth. It is designed to reduce HTML file size by attributing values for any HTML element/command at the beginning of the document.

Once that is done you have to go to the next step, optimizing all graphics and pictures. It is important to know that graphics (vectors) have to be saved as .gif files and pictures as .jpeg files. If you don't own a picture program like Fireworks or PhotoShop then you can optimize your pictures for free at NetMechanic.com.

Your dial-up visitors will thank you for optimizing all your web pages.

Preventing bandwidth theft
Linking to images of another web site in your img src tag without permission is considered as bandwidth theft. As unethical as it may be, it is a reality many webmasters have to deal with on a daily basis.

The most effective and unfortunately also very time-consuming method of preventing bandwidth theft is scanning your web site logs. By analyzing your logs you can find out who is using your images without your permission. Once you have located the offending party, you can either contact them or replace the hotlinked file with a picture that says "Please Do NOT Hotlink Our Images", along with the URL of your web site. This way all their web site visitors will see the webmaster hotlinked your pictures.

Guide To Managed Hosting

Many businesses (especially SOHO's and SME's) are unable to meet the resource requirements required to manage their systems 24X7. In order to be successful, a company whose online presence is an integral part of its business must successfully implement and maintain the following:

Hiring an in-house staff to maintain all this is prohibitively expensive, so outsourcing these infrastructure needs to a third-party can be a very cost-effective option. However, as more and more organizations claim to offer "managed services" it becomes difficult to determine between a MSP (Managed Services Provider) and a managed host.

What Is A Managed Host?
Managed hosts monitor and maintain all of the infrastructure issues that are integral in hosting a site or application on the Internet. Unlike MSP's, which offer the applications themselves, a managed host procures, configures, installs, and maintains the necessary servers, firewalls, and other devices that the customer's architecture requires, including the operating system, and any backend database and server support required to make the site functional (such as Oracle and Apache for example).:

Once configured, the managed host connects the server to the Web via its own network, where it is monitored on a 24 hour basis. In essence, a managed host takes on the responsibility for maintaining your infrastructure: if a hard drive fails, the host replaces it; if a server dies, the host swaps it; if there's a spike in traffic, bandwidth is increased.

Do I Need A Managed Host?
That depends on the purpose of your site. Obviously, a simple "brochureware" site will not require all the bells-and-whistles that a managed host provides. If you are running a larger enterprise that supports a high and constant level of traffic, a managed host may be the best option for your web site. In general, consider the following questions when evaluating managed hosting for your business:

Is my web presence my primary source of revenue?
Are my Internet applications critical?
Do I need highly responsive 24x7 support, and guaranteed uptime?
Are my current resources adequate in providing support in a timely way, on all hardware, software, and network functionalities?
Can I focus on business issues and keep my servers up and running?
Can I afford to hire, train, and retain the technical staff required to maintain my web presence?

If you answered "yes" to the first three questions, and "no" to the last three - managed hosting may be the best way to maintain your Internet presence.

Why Is A Managed Host The Best Option For My Site?
Compared to handling infrastructure demands in-house, managed hosts allow the client to take full advantage of the hosts processes and experience to implement solutions in less time, at a lower cost, and with higher reliability than other hosting methods. For example, co-location and dedicated hosting plans provide just the physical space, power, and network connections for customer equipment. Anything else incurs an additional cost - which can quickly become prohibitive if you need to reconfigure your servers frequently, or have to add multiple applications. While many dedicated and co-located hosts claim to offer additional services, these are usually provided by a third-party organization or consultant, and are bolted onto the platform at an additional cost - often costing interruptions to performance. These solutions simply cannot offer the same level of reliability and adaptability that a managed host can provide.

Will I Still Have Control Over My Web Site Or Application?
Absolutely. Managed hosts typically provide the client with full root/administrative access, so changes can be made to your web site at any time. You will also have the ability to place custom code (CGI and Java), on your server at your discretion.

Are Managed Hosts Scalable?
Scalability is the main advantage to using a managed host - customers can increase their bandwidth usage and upgrade their server architecture at any time. Most managed hosts keep a large inventory of equipment on hand so that server scaling can occur seamlessly - the host makes the necessary adjustments and simply modifies the monthly service fee.

What Should A Managed Host Be Monitoring On My Server?
This is an important consideration. While most hosting providers boast "24x7x365" server monitoring, it's important that you find out what aspects of your box are actually being monitored, and how rapid the response time is in the event of failure. If your host is only monitoring your connectivity 24x7x365, and your load balance is only checked on once a day for example, a sudden spike in traffic will quickly cause your server to shut down. In general, a good managed host should monitor the following:

- Server reachability (ping)
- CPU usage/utilization
- Memory usage
- Storage usage
- Load average
- Virtual memory usage

Furthermore, you should be able to access or generate reports from the monitor logs, so you can personally evaluate your server's performance.

How Does A Managed Host Integrate And Deploy My Solution?
While every hosting organization has their own processes in place for getting you online, they follow a similar series of steps:

1. Initiation and production design phase: The managed host reviews your specific, requirements and proposes a solution to meet your needs.
2. Build phase: From this ideal solution, you pick the equipment you can afford to implement, and the managed host's team of engineers build your servers and network settings to your custom configuration.
3. Validation phase: The host's engineers put your solution through extensive validation processes to ensure that your server is functional, and precisely meets your needs.
4. Production phase: Your solution is staged and provided to you for acceptance testing and implementation approval. Once approved, a launch date is set to take your solution "live."
5. Live phase: A final round of quality-assurance tests are run to ensure the highest quality of reliability, security, and performance. Finally, end-users are given access to your Internet solution.

How Much Will A Managed Solution Cost?
Generally, a managed host will incur only 45-50% of the cost of an in-house solution, which gives them an obvious advantage over more traditional hosting packages. Furthermore, these cost advantages will be sustained through years of operations and upgrade cycles.

E-Commerce is the driving force in the global economy, and more now than ever, the strength of your service provider partner is critical in maintaining a competitive edge. Your partner must be able to give you seamless availability, keep up with technology, and maintain a highly skilled technical team.

How To Choose A Web Hosting Service

1. Support
Is there really anybody there? Send them a question by email and see how long they take to respond. You want to know if they'll be there when you need them. Some offer 24-hour support and a few will respond quickly. Speedy customer service is rare and indicates a superior service. I think that this is the single most important consideration. Also, check out the quality of their online documentation.

2. Server performance
You want a server that is reliable and fast. There is a free tool available that allows you to evaluate this before making a decision! NetMechanic.com will measure the speed of access for all facets of access (network speed, DNS lookup, connect time, download time, and absence of timeouts). The "download time" statistic is the most important single item to compare. Collect your list of candidate hosting services and run side-by-side tests of all the candidates. Sample duri

3. Are they familiar with the application you plan to use?
If you're planning to use a particular application that requires special setup parameters (such as Online Merchant, a popular online store), make sure your potential host is familiar with the application. Otherwise you may find yourself spending a great deal of time trying to figure out how to configure it - perhaps never succeeding!

4. Traffic allowance
Compare your traffic allowances. Some services give you a small limit on the amount of material that can be downloaded from your site each month and charge you large amounts when that limit is exceeded. Some offer huge traffic allowances (several thousand MB/month, where 1,000 MB = 1 GB) for the same price as others that limit you to a few hundred MB/month. Sure you probably need less than a hundred MB/month now, but why put yourself in a position where you have to move when your traffic takes off? Plan ahead and allow for growth.

5. Space
How much space do you expect to eventually want for your web site? Planning ahead can save you lots of money later. If you expect to grow, look for a place that offers sites of 100 MB or more. Some services offer 500 MB sites for less money than others that offer only 30 MB.

6. Features
Consider what features you want to simplify development of your web site.

Do you want access to a cgi-bin so that you can install your own scripts?
Do you want many scripts pre-installed and pre- configured?
Do you want to be able to use Microsoft's FrontPage?
Do you want autoresponders for email processing?
Do you want email aliases (automatic forwarding) so you don't need to check email in more than one place?

7. Guarantee
With so many hosting services to choose from, why not choose one that offers a guarantee? Services that offer a moneyback guarantee are confident that you'll be delighted with their service.

8. Cost
Look for hidden costs when comparing price.

Do they expect you to pay for a long term in advance to get a good price? Choose one that doesn't bait you with a low price that's only available if you make a long-term commitment. Will they handle the registration of your domain for free? If you're transferring an existing domain, will they submit the domain change to InterNIC for free?

Choosing an excellent service to host your web site doesn't have to require luck. Knowing what to look for makes selection simple.

Good luck with your marketing and God Bless

ng peak and non-peak times for optimal comparison.

What Is a Yahoo Domain?

The well-known Internet portal Yahoo! has joined the domain name business. The company now offers domain name registration services through its Yahoo! Small Business division. This sector of Yahoo is devoted to helping entrepreneurs get their businesses up and running by providing assistance like recruiting services, marketing tools and web hosting. The next reasonable step is to offer branded Yahoo domain registration. It’s another tool which will help business establish an online presence.

PC Magazine reviewed Yahoo Domains and gave it the highly-coveted Editor’s Choice Award. The published review states that “domain registration through Yahoo! Small Business is the easiest.” The statement reflects the level of service that one receives through a Yahoo Domain. It offers great features like domain forwarding, email forwarding, control panel with DNS management, and the most popular top-level domains. Knowledgeable customer service is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and the call is toll-free. In addition to this, one to five-year registration plans are available.

Yahoo! Domains also makes upgrading very easy for those who want to expand to other Yahoo! services. Customers may upgrade to receive a personal custom mailbox or business mail package which reflects the domain name. Users may also transfer their Yahoo! domain from another web host to Yahoo! Web Hosting. If the customer needs help creating an online store, they may summon the help of Merchant Solutions which is a program that will help them manage online sales.

PC Magazine said that a Yahoo Domain was the easiest. It is quite possible to claim that the service is one of the cheapest. It offers all of the aforementioned features for only $4.98 per year at the time of this writing. With so many wonderful features at such a low price, it is hard to overlook an offer like this one.

domain name

A domain name is an identification label to define a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS).

Domain names are used in various networking contexts and application-specific naming and addressing purposes. Domain names are organized in subordinate levels (subdomains) of the top-level Internet domains (TLDs), such as the prominent domains com, net and org. Below the top-level domains in the DNS hierarchy are the second-level and third-level domain names that are typically open for reservation by end-users that wish to connect local area networks to the Internet, run web sites, or create other publicly accessible Internet resources. The registration of these domain names is usually administered by domain name registrars who sell their services to the public.

Individual Internet host computers use domain names as host identifiers, or hostnames. Hostnames are the leaf labels in the domain name system usually without further subordinate domain name space. Hostnames appear as a component in Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for Internet resources such as web sites (e.g., en.wikipedia.org).

Domain names are also used as simple identification labels to indicate ownership or control of a resource. Such examples are the realm identifiers used in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), the DomainKeys used to verify DNS domains in e-mail systems, and in many other Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs).

An important purpose of domain names is to provide easily recognizable and memorizable names to numerically addressed Internet resources. This abstraction allows any resource (e.g., website) to be moved to a different physical location in the address topology of the network, globally or locally in an intranet. Such a move usually requires changing the IP address of a resource and the corresponding translation of this IP address to and from its domain name.

This article primarily discusses the group of domain names that are offered by domain name registrars for registration by the public. The Domain Name System article discusses the technical facilities and infrastructure of the domain name space and the hostname article deals with specific information about the use of domain names as identifiers of network hosts.