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cPanel – Fresh, Bold and Fun Control Panel
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If you ask just about anybody what control panel their web hosting account is using, nine times out of ten you are going to get cPanel as the response. While cPanel has always seemed to be the proverbial, “big daddy” when it comes to controlling hosting accounts – I do have to say the company has done a great job at sort of remaking its image to seem more up to date and awesome.
It was not too long ago that people picked cPanel because it was pretty much the standard when it comes to web hosting control panels. It might not have been the prettiest or the best, but it got the job done. For Pete’s sake, it has been around since 1997 – so I would be willing to bet it is one of the oldest control panels out there too.
What is New with cPanel?
Over the past couple of years though, cPanel has gone beyond being the ugly old reliable control panel we have to use to the flexible and pretty control panel we want to use. The cPanel website also offers much more when it comes to teaching you more about the company and the product. Here are just a few of the more recent innovations you might not have seen yet:
- Webinars
Join the technical marketing team and learn about product roadmaps, new features and topics you suggest. Hosted by David Grega and Mario Rodriguez - Dev Blog
Are you integrating your application with cPanel? Read tips, discussions, and how to’s related to integration, API’s, and tools by cPanel developers! - News
Catch the latest happening at cPanel ranging from software updates, press releases and general talk about the industry in the news section. - Podcast
Listen to cPanel technical writer Lindsey White as she discusses web hosting and interviews industry superstars. - Social Media
Follow cPanel on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or the forums and become part of the 1000′s of followers that engage in these communities. - Events
Find out where the cPanel team will be at next. This include various conventions, events and seminars across the globe.
So if you haven’t spent some time on the cPanel website in a while, I recommend you go check it out today. Both the “Interact” and “Support” areas are well worth your time.
What is your favorite memory of cPanel? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
How to Handle Website Content Theft
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How should you handle somebody else out there stealing content from your website? This happens a lot with blogs, because the content is so easily ripped from one source so it can be reproduced somewhere else. Most of the time, it is best to content the copyright thief first before going to the web host of the thief. So here is a better way to stop copyright theft of your website’s content.
The first thing you will want to do is find some contact information for the person who is stealing your content. This can often be done by looking at their about page, the contact page, in the footer of the website, or even in the meta tags or source code. Once you have a name or e-mail address, you can take the next step.
Note: A Whois search on their domain name could be used to, but it is not recommended since it could be privatized or providing false details about the person.
Now, you are ready to contact the thief. Remember, your main goal is to inform them of the theft, open discussions about it, gather information and save everything you do – just in case you need to turn the conversation over to the webhost of the thief. Also, keep the conversation professional and to the point. Do not go out of your way to be mean or rude, because then chance are you will be even less likely to get a response.
Remember, you want to:
- Ask them to remove the plagiarized material as soon as possible (give them a 4 to 5 day window of time to get this done)
- Show them the source of their copyright theft, and your proof it came from you and it is your content
- Maybe let them keep the content up if they link back to you or by some other deal you could negotiate between the two of you
Now if this route does not work, and you do not hear anything back in a week or two it might be time to move into sending a cease and desist and also contacting the web host for the offending website to start discussing the DMCA violations at play in your situation.
For more information, I would suggest checking out this great guide that Lorelle on WordPress has put together.
This should at least help you get started (and take care of about 75% of the content theft you deal with) when it comes to protecting your unique content online.
Want More? – Check out the rest of the DMCA conversation in Podcast 210!
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
7 Questions to Ask a SEO Company
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Now, anybody who has been following my websites over the years should know by now that I like to go down the, do it yourself route most of the time. However, if you are a company with a budget to spare, hiring a search engine optimization expert or firm might be a worthy investment.
However, before you sign on the dotted line and hand them over your hard earned cash, I would suggest you go over these seven important factors when it comes to the search engine optimization business.
- Don’t Fall for Getting Listed
If a company simply says they will get you listed in X number of search engines, run away. You can simply do that yourself for free at each search engine’s website. - Know What You Are Paying For
Be sure they you get it in writing, each service that they are doing to be doing for you, and get details on each as far as how exactly it will be helping you become more optimized for the search engines out there. - Beware Link Exchanges
Stay away from any company that says they will do link exchanges for you. Most of the time you will just become a part of a large network of websites that link to other websites, and the search engines don’t like the whole link farming idea. - Stay Within Your Budget
Do not get talked into spending more money than you have put aside for search engine optimization. Stick to your budget, and find an SEO firm that will work with you and you financial status. - Ask for References and Results
Always be sure to ask for a list of clients websites they have done work for in the past, and where they were able to help. This is another way they can prove to you they are a legitimate operation. - Stay Away from Guarantees
Do not do business with people who guarantee things that sound too good to be true. Nobody can promise the number one spot in Google for your favorite keyword. If they do offer a guarantee, ask for proof and examples. - Read Customer Reviews
Make sure you read all the reviews you can from the company and from other resources around the Web about the company to see if they have ever had any complaints about them. Now you have to take each review with a grain of salt, but overall you should be able to get a good idea of if they are a good or bad SEO company.
Last but not least, expect to pay a hefty price when it comes to hiring an SEO expert or buying into a SEO business’s services. They don’t come cheap, and that is why most of the time I personally like to go down the “do it yourself” route when it comes to optimizing my own websites for the search engines out there.
Want More? – Check out the rest of the SEO conversation in Podcast 209!
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
How to Fix a Server Resource Site Suspension
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Nobody likes having their web hosting account suspended for any reason. Going through a server resource usage suspension though can be on of the more stressful combination of web site hosting problems because of the many factors that come into play. Let me see if I can help you, to make your next server resource suspension at least go a little smoother, or at least let you know what you can expect.
Notification of the System Resource Usage Problem
Now the situation starts with getting some sort of notification via e-mail about the problem at hand. Often, web hosts will give you details on where the script is hosted on your site that is causing the problem. It is often up to you to decide what that script is though.
Next, you have to figure out a way to disable that script or disable the part of the script that is causing the problems. For example, if you were using WordPress to manage your web site, turn off all the plugins. I wouldn’t disable WordPress all together, but switching off the plugins or changing to the default theme might help find the cause of the problem.
Fixing a Server Resource Usage Problem
The truth of the issue is you will have to turn things on and off, disable this, delete that and more. It will take some detective work to find the root of the issue that is causing the shared server’s RAM and CPU to go up so much.
Your web host will often review your account status ever 24 hours or so, to see if your changes are having any real impact in reducing your server resource usage.
Although it sounds like a way to get more money from you, upgrading to a VPS or dedicated hosting plan are a reasonable fix for the problem too. Your web site might have grown in popularity and usage so much, it is time to look for a hosting plan that will give you more proverbial “elbow room” when it comes to RAM or CPU usage.
I hope that helps with fixing your own server resource issues or, at least, lets you know what you can expect if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. Feel free to post your own tips or questions in the comments, would love to hear what you have to say about this debatable topic.
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
Earn Cash on Web Hosting Referrals
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There are hundreds of web hosting providers out there that provide affiliate programs for you to join. The questions now are, what is an affiliate program? Why would I want to join one? What can I do to make my affiliate links more successful? Well, I hope to bring you up to speed as I discuss the benefits of affiliate programs for your average webmaster.
The simplest way to define an affiliate program is to say that you get paid for bringing a web host more customers. For example, say your friend needs web hosting space and asks you for a suggestion. You, in turn, give them your affiliate program link to click through. When they sign up, you get the credit for bringing them in, and the web host gets a new customer. It is a winning situation for everybody involved.
Affiliate Ad Placement
Once you have signed up in a web host’s affiliate program, you will be given a way to bring new customers in. This is most often done though a link that is unique to your affiliate account with them. You can then use this link to put up either text link advertisements on your web site or banner links. Some people love these types of systems because they get paid more when/if somebody signs up for the service in question than they do when they run the more traditional web site advertisements.
When placing you advertisements, you should follow the general rules:
- Make sure you put it above the scroll line (so people don’t have to scroll down to see it).
- Put it in close with your web site’s content, so it blends in well and will more likely be seen.
- Only use one or two banners per web page, because using any more than that tends to look tacky.
Who’s affiliate program is the best? There are too many out there to rank them all. Usually when somebody asks me this question, I would say check with your current web host first, to see it they offer one. If not, you might search Google for, “Web Hosting Affiliate Programs” and do some research. Just because there is a high payout per sign up does not mean they are the best. You will want to look at the quality of the hosting experience too. By advertising that web host, you put your “seal of approval” on it. So if you do not want your name tarnished, make sure you team up with a respectable web host.
So what affiliate program questions do you have? Leave your thoughts, questions and comments and we will all be here to help you out.
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!
Truth About Search Engine Optimization
Posted by: admin | Comments Comments OffSearch engine optimization (SEO) is an often talked about, yet rarely mastered trait that gets brought up in web hosting discussions. Most people usually come down on SEO tips and tricks one of two ways. They think it is legit and the business works, and others think it is all nothing but snake oil.
The truth of this age old debate is that search engine optimization is a legitimate business and way to get more traffic to your website. However, there are SEO snake oil salesmen out there that have given the business a bad name.
Search engine optimization is the art of maximizing the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via regular or unpaid search results. The higher your webpage is in the results, the more traffic your website will get.
Is it Wise to Invest in Search Engine Optimization?
Now there is no secret voodoo at work with this. Any one of you out there right now could do the same thing that any SEO expert could do. Then again, you could also all build your own house brink by brick too. The point is, SEO as a business is there to do the work for you, that you don’t have the time to do. You may not have the desire or knowledge on how to build a house, so you go buy one instead. The same could be said for buying the services of an SEO expert to make your website rank higher on the search engines out there. So yes, you can pay somebody to optimize your website for the search engines. It is just like hiring the kid down the block to mow your lawn.
The big search engines out there have also come to realize that this business, in the most part, is there to help them and have provided webmasters with information on how to get a higher search engine ranking. They all try to nail the fact that you need quality content to succeed too.
I would suggest that any small business out there that does not have the budget for an SEO expert to learn more about what you can do to optimize your website yourself. This is just one more hat out of the many that you or somebody inside your business or website will have to wear to be successful. Focus on the positive things you can do to increase your website rank – and you should have noticeable success. Speaking as an example, I have learned a lot by reading up on articles and blogs about the SEO topic enough that my websites do fairly well. Am I an SEO expert?
No, I am just the sort of guy who would rather build his house himself – brick by brick.
Want More? – Check out the rest of the SEO conversation in Podcast 209!
Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!