Archive for Free Hosting
Choosing the Best Web Hosting Solution for Your Blog
Posted by: | CommentsBlogging has become a common way to publish content and express yourself online. This popularity is reflected in the countless number of new blogs that go up each day. No longer do you have to be restricted on who you to run your blog with because you can easily host it yourself on a variety of platforms. Before creating your blog site and throwing up your first post, there are some important factors that deserve careful consideration.
What Blog Software Will You Use?
There are many blogging applications available to you, with WordPress, Blogger and b2evolution being among the most widely used. This is all a matter of preference, but it should help to know that WordPress is the most popular of the bunch. Supported by a large community of developers and users, WordPress is highly customizable through a vast selection themes, widgets and endless plugins. Regardless of the platform, you may want to put an emphasis on ease of use as some blogging applications are more complex than others.
Free or Paid Blog Hosting?
When making the decision to set up a blog site, you also need to determine if you want a free or paid hosting service. Free services are abundant and usually do not force you to litter your pages with third-party advertisements like free web hosting offerings. However, there are some disadvantages you should know about. Opting for free blog hosting restricts you in terms of features and control, factors that could possibly limit your potential. If you want to make the most of your blogging experience, it would be best to purchase an affordable web hosting plan that comes with free blog support. Being that blogging has become such a phenomenon, rest assured that these services are plentiful on today’s competitive market.
Finding a Host
If you decide that paid hosting is the best move for you, the next thing you need to consider is the company that will be hosting your blog site. In the past, finding a good web host was a rather tedious process that often left prospective customers worn and frustrated. Things have changed as more resources are now available to aid in your search. There are numerous sites online that provide side-by-side comparisons of companies offering blog hosting services. These sites generally tell you the price you will need to pay for the service and the type of blog supported along with other specifications such as the amount of disk space and bandwidth included in the package. Review sites also make a good source of information, particularly the ones that offer both expert opinions and feedback from real users.
Technology just keeps moving along but it is hard to imagine an internet and World Wide Web without the blog. This medium is here to stay and will likely evolve with improvements that make the experience even more worthwhile. If you can find a web hosting solution that provides adequate support for your specific needs, a blog can give you a viable and near flawless connection to the rest of the world.
Free Hosting Is Not Always The Best Choice
Posted by: | CommentsWith the economy hitting not only the individual but also businesses, many are looking toward free web hosting services to house their online site. For monetary reasons, this looks great on the surface. But going free is not always the best choice and may, in fact, cost your business money in the long run.
Ads
While a company may offer hosting at no cost, they are by no means not making money off of your site. Nearly all free hosting offers will involve advertising placed on your pages. These will be completely out of your control. Some companies try to gear ads toward being relevant to the site topic but this isn’t always guaranteed. Add in the very real fact that your competition may be placed on your web site and this can equal a loss of revenue for you.
No control
Another downside to hosting for free is a severe lack of control. Most free hosting companies do not offer a control panel or an ftp access account to allow administration of a web site. This means you cannot make page changes on the fly or add in programs that may be needed by your business. If you are a retail business, this means no ability to add in a shopping cart or software that helps you control your inventory. Putting a bit of tracking coding is not an option unless you can have access to the page coding. Even attempting to change the look of your web site can be an issue. Some free hosting sites will give you access to templates and a few will even allow some minor changes made to backgrounds. But, all said, you are very limited to what you can do within your own site.
Support
Support is another problem with free web hosting. You’ll be limited to perhaps some online forum areas to ask your questions but you won’t have numbers to call, ticket support systems or one of many options offered by paid hosting. If your business site isn’t working, this can end up costing you a lot of money.
Affordable solutions
Paid hosting these days really doesn’t put a huge dent in your pocketbook. Some hosting companies run specials on a regular basis and you’re sure to find one that will fit your budget. You can find hosting from as low as $3-$5 a month, depending on what your business web site requires. Many of these companies also give a lot of great features for your money – including unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth and a huge assortment of easy to install programs to get your site up and running quickly.
What it boils down to
When all is said and done, you need to ensure your business is hosted with a company that you can rely on for support and also one that gives you the needed tools to ensure your online site is a success. This is one time when you do not want to “tighten your belt” or “pinch pennies.” Do a bit of research and find a good, solid hosting company with a price you can afford.
Lunarpages September Newsletter – Back to Web Hosting School
Posted by: | Comments
Do you hear that?
The school bell is ringing, the class is about to start, and we have a new newsletter to do your learning from. What is on the proverbial black board this month? We have a plethora of announcements, news, tutorials and guides for you to use.
- LunarNews: September 2009 – What is the latest news for the month of September? We have lots of web hosting goodies for you!
- Affordable Website Design Packages from Lunarpages – Check out the latest on and about our new web design packages. Get both your design and hosting from Lunarpages.
- SEO Tips: Step Ten of Ten – Keeping it Up – In the last of the SEO-inspired series we will help guide you through how to keep up your good optimization practices.
- Easy Ecommerce with Miva Merchant – Looking for an affordable but powerful ecommerce and merchant solution to combine with your web hosting at Lunarpages? As usual, we have an exclusive partner offer that can help you attain all your ecommerce hosting goals!
- Lunarpages Wants to Hear From You – We want to hear from our customers and get to know what we can do better. Take this survey, and you might get up to one year of web hosting for free!
- 3 Ways to Make Your Business More Efficient – TremenDesk, the hosted help desk application, is much more than just a help desk – it is a tool you can use to make your online business more efficient.
- Video Guides and Tutorials for Google Analytics – Did you know that Google provides an entire video series on how to use Google Analytics? We’ll tell you where you can find it!
- Lunarpages Design Database Survey – We are starting a new web design tutorial database, and we need your help! Let us know what you want to see there, where you want to see it and how you want to see it presented.
- How to Deal with Online Content Theft – Ever had your content stolen from your web site? In this article we will share with you the lawful steps you should take to re-claim your digital copyright.
- Best of the Bookmark Resources – Fresh from the Lunarforums, we have a list of the greatest online bookmarking resources from around the Web.
- Hosting Backup and Restore from the LPCP – Backing up your content from the LPCP web hosting control panel has never been easier. Here is a guide to walk you through the steps to getting that task done.
Don’t make us have to hold you after class – be sure to give us your feedback! We always love to hear what you like and what you learned from the Lunarpages Web Hosting Newsletter. Drop an e-mail to affiliate@lunarpages.com or leave your comments directly on www.web-hosting-newsletter.com.
Related Hosting Newsletter Articles:
Free Hosting @ R-FH
Posted by: | CommentsEvery New Topic = 50 Points
Every Reply = 25 Points
Plan 1:
500mb Space
10GB Bandwith
1000 Points 1000 per month
Cpanel and FTP Access
Plan 2:
600mb Space
12GB Bandwith
3000 Points 2000 per Month
Cpanel and FTP Access
Plan 3:
700mb Space
14GB Bandwith
4000 Points & 2000 per Month
Cpanel and FTP Access
Plan 4:
800mb Space
16GB Bandwith
5000 Points & 2300 per Month
Cpanel and FTP Access
Plan 5:
1GB Space
18GB Bandwith
8000 Points & 2300 per Month
Cpanel and FTP Access
Free Reseller and Shared Hosting @ Post2HostIt
Posted by: | Commentshttp://forums.post2hostit.com/
FREE HOSTING PLANS
Plan 15P
Space: 50 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 5000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: 5
Postgresql Databases: 5
FTP Accounts: 5
Parked Domains: 5
Addon Domans: 5
Email Accounts: 5
Subdomains: 5
Posts Required: 15
Plan 30P
Space: 300 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 15000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: 15
Postgresql Databases: 15
FTP Accounts: 15
Parked Domains: 15
Addon Domans: 15
Email Accounts: 15
Subdomains: 15
Posts Required: 30
1+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 30 or more a month.)
Plan 50P
Space: 500 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 20000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: 20
Postgresql Databases: 20
FTP Accounts: 20
Parked Domains: 20
Addon Domans: 20
Email Accounts: 20
Subdomains: 20
Posts Required: 50
1+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 30 or more a month.)
Plan 100P
Space: 1000 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 25000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: 25
Postgresql Databases: 25
FTP Accounts: 25
Parked Domains: 25
Addon Domans: 25
Email Accounts: 25
Subdomains: 25
Posts Required: 100
1+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 30 or more a month.)
Plan 150P
Space: 2000 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 30000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: 30
Postgresql Databases: 30
FTP Accounts: 30
Parked Domains: 30
Addon Domans: 30
Email Accounts: 30
Subdomains: 30
Posts Required: 150
1+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 30 or more a month.)
Plan 175P blink.gif
Space: 2000 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 35000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: Unlimited
Postgresql Databases: Unlimited
FTP Accounts: Unlimited
Parked Domains: Unlimited
Addon Domans: Unlimited
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Subdomains: Unlimited
Posts Required: 175
1+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 30 or more a month.)
FREE RESELLER PLANS
Plan 300P blink.gif
Space: 3000 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 30000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: Unlimited
Postgresql Databases: Unlimited
FTP Accounts: Unlimited
Parked Domains: Unlimited
Addon Domans: Unlimited
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Subdomains: Unlimited
Posts Required: 300
3+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 90 or more a month.)
Plan 500P blink.gif
Space: 5000 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 50000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: Unlimited
Postgresql Databases: Unlimited
FTP Accounts: Unlimited
Parked Domains: Unlimited
Addon Domans: Unlimited
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Subdomains: Unlimited
Posts Required: 500
3+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 90 or more a month.)
Plan 750P blink.gif
Space: 7500 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 75000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: Unlimited
Postgresql Databases: Unlimited
FTP Accounts: Unlimited
Parked Domains: Unlimited
Addon Domans: Unlimited
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Subdomains: Unlimited
Posts Required: 750
3+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 90 or more a month.)
Plan 1000P blink.gif
Space: 10000 Megabytes
Bandwidth: 100000 Megabytes
MySQL Databases: Unlimited
Postgresql Databases: Unlimited
FTP Accounts: Unlimited
Parked Domains: Unlimited
Addon Domans: Unlimited
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Subdomains: Unlimited
Posts Required: 1000
3+ Posts are required daily to keep account open. (Averages to 90 or more a month.)
How to Turn a Complaint into a Feature
Posted by: admin | Comments Comments OffYou do not have to drastically change the way you do business though. If you are successful in one area of business, do not toss it aside to do something else that is more popular. I got a question submitted to me the other day from Matt, which touches on this very topic.
Here is what Matt had to say:
How can a free host become successful?
People are always skeptical when it comes to getting something for nothing, so as long as you give free services – you’ll always have somebody out there dismissing your claims of success because they think you’re a fraud. Thankfully, they might also think we never landed on the moon or one of the muppets assassinated JFK. The fact of the matter is there will always be somebody out there to complain.
My question is, do you have to pick one business plan, free hosting versus paid hosting, or can you have your cake and eat it too? I would suggest you keep your free hosting in place, it sounds successful, and you have happy customers – which is something many web hosts, free or not, can not claim. As a secondary service, roll out a paid hosting solution that offers a few perks over the free version. It could be in features, support or anything else you feel like you could offer a little more of to the people willing to pay for it. Then, once that is in place, start marketing your new paid hosting service to those customers you do have, and let them know that it is an option you are providing for them.
Some might bite at the proverbial worm you are tossing out there, and others may say no thanks. Past that point you can sell your new paid hosting option to the masses using the free service as a way to get your foot in the door, as far as seeing how great your hosting setup is. You might even sell it as you are so confident they will enjoy their hosting with you, you are willing to give it away for free.
Thanks to Matt for the question, and to check out his web site – or maybe send some more suggestions his way, be sure to check out ismywebsite.com.
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