Archive for online business
Shared Hosting – How Much Can You Afford to Share?
Posted by: | CommentsYour website is the focal point of your online business, as it represents your online identity and reputation on a continual basis. The performance, appearance and presence of your site directly affect the way your visitors perceive the professionalism of your online business. Every site operates on a web server, and this server ultimately dictates the full functionality and performance limitations of every web page on the site. Every time a page is loaded a small burden is placed on the web server, and if the load is too heavy the site performance begins to suffer, in the form of slow page loads, and even site down time. The likelihood of this decreased site performance occurring depends entirely upon the kind of web server being used, as some are more powerful than others. Shared web servers are perhaps the least beneficial, simply because all of the server resources are shared amongst various sites simultaneously.
How Much Is Shared?
Fortunately, sensitive site information (such as financial data) is not shared between unrelated sites in a shared hosting plan. However all of the server resources, such as bandwidth, data transfer, and even storage space are shared with other users that are renting a hosting plan with your web host. Your site’s IP address is also shared with these users as well, which means that their actions may reflect on both the legal credibility and search engine ranking of your site. Since you are sharing all of these attributes with sites that are not under your control, it is possible that unforeseen circumstances could arise, such as being de-indexed from search engines, or even having your site taken offline temporarily.
How Much Can You Save?
The main reason why anyone would purchase a shared hosting plan would be to save money. However, when you factor in the issues that could result from sharing all of your server resources with dozens of other sites, it becomes clear that you may not be saving anything at all. In fact, the percentage of people that will eventually upgrade from a shared hosting plan is rather high. Therefore if you’re inevitably going to upgrade in the future, then there may be little sense in paying for a plan which will soon be obsolete. The truth is you can save a lot of time and money by starting with a plan that is right for you.
When Would Shared Hosting Be Optimal?
If you are operating a personal blog, or a .info domain that is not of high importance to you, then a shared hosting plan could accommodate your needs. Shared hosting is only recommended for individuals, and is not an ideal solution for the online business owner. If you are currently using a shared hosting account for your online business, you may want to consider switching to a VPS or Dedicated hosting account instead. Dedicated and VPS hosting plans offer flexibility, privacy and capabilities that cannot be found in any shared hosting service.
Managed Web Hosting for Serious Online Businesses
Posted by: | CommentsThe success of your online business is directly derived from the amount of time, money, and hard work you pour into it. If you already own an offline business then you are certainly familiar with this concept. It is not foolish to want the best for your website, as this will be your virtual home, and a digital representation of your business. Price should not be an issue when constructing an online empire, as it is important to remember that quality produces success in any venue. However, the main problem people have with web hosting is that the best plans seem to require the most knowledge to operate. For example, dedicated hosting gives you access to a private server with an immense amount of resources at your disposal. However, an unmanaged dedicated hosting plan would be quite useless to most online business owners. The solution to this problem is managed dedicated hosting.
What is Managed Dedicated Hosting?
Having a dedicated web server is almost pointless if you don’t have the ability to use it to its full potential. Web servers require frequent maintenance in order to perform optimally, and unless you have the ability to perform such maintenance yourself you’ll be paying for a hosting plan that is of very little use to you. Managed dedicated hosting offers you complete technical assistance, which means your hosting provider will handle the server administration tasks for you, allowing you to focus on the more serious tasks.
Fully Managed Vs. Partially Managed
Before you rush into purchasing a managed web hosting plan, it is important that you realize the various types of managed hosting. Some web hosting providers advertise managed hosting plans, however many of these plans still require a great deal of maintenance. What some hosting companies consider fully managed may be partially managed in the eyes of other companies. A good rule of thumb is – the cheaper the plan, the less technical support and server administration assistance you’ll receive. If you want an automated server solution then your best bet would be to find a reputable hosting company and purchase their most expensive managed dedicated hosting plan.
The Boundaries of a Managed Hosting Plan
Although you should feel entitled to quality support and superior server administration, there are some tasks that your hosting company is simply not responsible for. It can be easy to blur the line between web hosting and other internet-based industries such as web design and programming. Many people get upset when they find out their web hosting company cannot help them with a certain problem. It can be extremely frustrating to find out that you’re paying for a top notch hosting plan and there is simply no department dedicated to helping you with your problem. To prevent this disappointment you need to understand the boundaries of your managed hosting plan before you purchase one. It may help to speak with a customer service representative to find out which parts of your online business are dealt with within your hosting plan.
Rules for Choosing a Great Domain Name
Posted by: | CommentsDomain name selection is particularly important when starting an online business. This is the website address that is going to represent the company and convey the content of the site. There are many areas to consider when choosing a name and its best to thoroughly deliberate the following rules.
Primary Rules
There are nine main rules for choosing an effective domain name. These include:
- The domain name should be the website name
- The domain name should be the brand name
- Shorter domain names are beneficial
- Select a name not easily confused with others
- Avoid hyphenated names
- Avoid plurals
- Avoid copyright infringement
- Don’t follow the latest trends
- Use an Ajax domain selection tool
Naming the domain name after the website is an effective idea so when visitors think of a website, they think of it by name. This allows them to instantly know where to go for a specific product or service. Also, the domain name should be the name of the brand being sold since that is generally what the public will first type into their browser.
A common debate is shorter versus longer domain names. Shorter domain names have the advantage of being easier to remember and easier to type with less of a chance of misspelling a word. Similarly, it’s good practice to select a domain name that cannot be easily confused with others. Slightly changing a word or adding letters, punctuation and short words confuse customers which deplete the site’s brand image.
Other rules include avoiding hyphenated names and avoiding plurals. Hyphenated names are easy to forget when typing and when sites are verbally recommended, there’s more room for error with saying “hyphen” or adding an ‘s’ to the end of the site than without. Additionally, it’s a typing annoyance to constantly have to hyphenate words, especially in a browser.
Along the same lines, copyright infringement was established so customers do not get confused by similar sounding websites. Any copyright infringement will undoubtedly add complications to the website’s success. It’s best to first check the US Patent and Trademark Database or copyright.gov to verify.
There are many website naming trends that have come and gone. It’s best not to become wrapped up in this since the trend will change as fast as it came. The most recent trends are found with Web 2.0 naming conventions that oddly misspell regular words. Also, utilizing a domain selection tool such as AjaxWhois will help identify those names that are available for use.
These are the most important rules for initially selecting a domain name. As more names are chosen, naming conventions will change to allow new website owners to stand out over the competition. These basic rules will remain consistent for domain name choices.
Hosting Multiple eCommerce Domains
Posted by: | CommentsRunning just one online business can be a hassle, as there are many administrative tasks that need to be dealt with on a daily basis. When you try to add several more businesses on top of that, things can become disorganized quickly and it is easy to get disheartened when things do not go your way in the beginning. Nonetheless, it would be foolish not to expand your business by diversifying your revenue streams with multiple websites. Therefore it is almost imperative to host multiple eCommerce domains if you are trying to steadily progress in the world of online business.
One Business vs Multiple Businesses
Of course, you could concentrate on building one business only, but just imagine how many opportunities you are letting go by taking this approach! Focusing on one business endeavor will never be as profitable as focusing on two, or three, and in the online business world, having a business means having a website for that business. While it is most definitely the the preferable course of action, hosting multiple eCommerce websites is not always an easy task, and there some things you’ll need to know to minimize the difficulties you’ll encounter.
Choosing a Hosting Plan
Perhaps the most important aspect of building and managing a website would be your hosting account. Your hosting account is what will show your site to the world, and it is also what lets you control every aspect of your site through an administrative interface in your control panel. Since your hosting account will come preloaded with many of the tools that will let you manage your site, you’ll need to know what these tools are, and you’ll need to know how to pick the best ones. One of the most important tools you’ll be using is the control panel, so make sure you choose an eCommerce hosting plan that includes a simple control panel like cPanel.
SSL Certificates
Another extremely important aspect of running several online websites, is the SSL certificate. SSL(Secure Socket Layer) protocol is a secure data transfer protocol that is used to ensure the confidentiality of data sent from one computer to another. The SSL certificate is posted on your site to let your customers know that their financial data is safe when shopping with you. Without this certificate you will lose the trust of many potential customers, as many of them will elsewhere thinking your site is not secure. If you’re going to have many eCommerce sites, often defined as more than ten, then you may want to consider purchasing a wild card SSL certificate which can be used on all of your websites.
Multiple Hosting Accounts
Keeping your site’s performance optimal is also very important, as many people will not shop on a site that has pages that are slow to load. This means you’ll need adequate server resources for each of your sites. Don’t be fooled by the hosting plans that claim to offer unlimited disk space and bandwidth, as this is often not the case. It may be wise to have multiple hosting accounts (one for each website), since you may be using plenty of server resources for each site.
Managed Web Hosting For Novice Users
Posted by: | CommentsEstablishing your first website can be a difficult process, as there are many steps involved that novice users are unfamiliar with. Minimize the many things you have to learn initially will help you get started by removing a lot of the stress that is associated with trying any new endeavor. The faster you get started, the sooner you start learning the process of building and maintaining your website. The last thing you want to do is overload yourself with new information in a short amount of time.
Learning the online business world one step at a time is the best way to establish your web presence in a professional manner one step at a time. This means you’ll need to choose services that are specifically designed for novice users. The first service you’ll need t consider is a web hosting service. The easiest web hosting service to manage, is on that does not need any managing at all – managed web hosting.
Managed Web Hosting- Automated Maintenance
Even with all of the control panels, content management systems, and web applications available to help simplify site and server management, it can still be an overwhelming process of a new user that is completely inexperienced. Removing all sharp learning curves in the beginning is the best way to familiarize yourself with the web hosting industry and the art of server and site management. While users will have limited access to server functionality, and therefore less overall features and performance, they will also have less responsibility, and therefore less room for error.
Managed Hosting Security
Since the servers are being managed and administrated by professionals at all times, you can be assured that your website’s data is safe form all intruders and virus. You can also be sure that no down time will occur due to novice user errors and other unnecessary mishaps. The hosting management team will also make sure the servers are updated with the proper anti-virus and security software at all times. With the worry of security and server reliability gone, you’ll be able to enjoy better performance, increased security, and optimal site functionality without focusing on anything but the future of your new online business.
Managed Web Hosting Price
Although the price of managed web hosting is higher than that of shared web hosting, the features and support you’ll be receiving within the package make the added cost worth it to most users, especially those with limited experience in internet technology. The added cost brings you added bandwidth, server space, security, reliability and overall performance, which are all crucial towards your site’s development as a substantial online presence. Managed web hosting includes 24 hour support for all customers, which is another reason for novice website owners to use the service. Your first web hosting experience should be about one thing only – learning.
Healthy Website Security Practices
Posted by: | CommentsPerhaps the most important aspect of operating an online business is keeping your investments secure at all times. The internet is a very dangerous place, especially for business that conduct hundreds or thousands of dollars in eCommerce each and every day. Having a secure website not only prevents the loss of profits, but it also boosts sales as your customers will be more confident when shopping with you if they know that your site is safe.
Considering that most hackers spend hours every day trying to find new exploits, hacking into sites and looking for opportunities to steal cash form hard working business owners, you need to put forth the same effort to protect your website. Since most do not have the time to work around the clock in keeping their website secure, you need a web hosting company that offers state-of-the-art server security. There are however some things that you can do to protect your website from hacking attacks.
Firewalls
Many people overlook the importance of securing their operating system when dealing with their website’s security. Having a strong firewall is very important to the security of your operating system, and your website. When you upload information from your hard drive to your website, it can be intercepted if you do not have a solid firewall protecting you from the outside world. There are many firewalls available, and your web host will often have one setup on your server by default. However, it is best to have a high quality firewall set up on your server and your operating system for maximum security.
Securing Your Login Credentials
When security experts talk about keeping your website protected, they are actually referring to securing the control interface of your website, as this is the area that can be used to hijack or destroy your website if accessed. When a hacker gains access to your administrative interface they are capable of executing any task that you as an administrator could do. This means they can upload content, delete content, and even steal your entire domain by transferring it another host! Thus, the first line of defense is having a strong password. Make sure your password is at least 8 characters long, with two special symbols and two upper case letters. The best way to create a secure password is to use a password generating software. You can find these online for free, and they generate highly secure passwords at the click of a button.
Strong Antivirus Software
Having a solid password and firewall will do you no good if your system is vulnerable to viruses. Viruses like keyloggers can infiltrate your system and collect personal information, such as your passwords Even if your password is 20 characters long, it can still be hacked if your computer is infected with spyware and keyloggers. Keyloggers actually log everything that you type into your computer, which means that every time you enter your passwords, the info is sent to the hacker. To prevent something like this from happening, you’ll need a strong antivirus working to protect your computer at all times. Some antivirus suites come with a firewall and a password generator, so it is possible to handle all of the above precautions with a single powerful antivirus suite.