Posts Tagged ‘control panel’

There are certain drawbacks of using free web hosts. This is because there are certain limitations regarding the services they provide. Moreover, a user is not provided with customer service, and is not provided uptime guarantee. The limitations on bandwidth, advertising and edit sites may hamper the growth plans of a company. Thus, it is advisable that you pay for the web hosting service.

However, a user should take into consideration his needs before selecting a web hosting service provider. Depending on users data transfer, disk space and other necessities, the service can cost him anything between $10 to $5000 per month according to his usage is extensive. Also, the payment can be done on monthly, annually or semi-annually basis.

In addition to your needs, web hosting reviews must also be taken into account before selecting a web hosting service provider. The reviews or ratings of the service providers are available on the Internet. Various service providers can be compared on the basis of price, traffic and space. One should also take into account the bonus or additional features provided by the web hosting providers. It is advisable that one should read the blogs regarding the web hosting service providers. They help you get a realistic feedback and thereby help you in selecting the best web hosting service provider.
Some of the other points that must be considered while choosing a top web hosting service are:
1. Bandwidth
2. Server Space
3. Control Panel
4. Support
5. Script access
The bandwidth capacity should be more than of 500 MB. However, it does not make sense to pay for capacity which you will not use. For people who run small businesses, bandwidth of one gigabyte is enough. The same holds true for server space. For personal use, 50 megabyte capacity is sufficient. Select the web hosting service provider that offers a user 24/7 customer service. This is because, in case of a problem, the customer centers will solve your problem. One can also visit their site and read the FAQ’s, since they add to the knowledge of a person.
The control panel provided by the service providers should be a simple version as will be easy to use. Make sure that the web hosting service providers facilitate you with script access. It may not be required at that moment but, may be useful for future purposes.
Since the best web hosting service adds efficiency and success to the business, due consideration must be given in selecting a service provider.
Mohammad Salay Naderi is the president of www.salaalive.com and is a well established internet entrepreneur. He teaches SEO Tools and Tips. His Web Hosting Directory and Web Hosting Reviews at www.salaalive.com are proven to be helpful for web hosting searchers. Salaalive helps its visitors find the most affordable and reliable web hosting services according to their personal or business web hosting needs.

Source: http://www.ezinearticles.com/

How To Select A Web Hosting Company

When starting out, it is easy to overlook some of the most important factors when selecting a web host while paying too much attention on great features which you may not need at the start.

For example, most new webmasters judge a web host by the amount of disk space they offer. The thinking is generally, the more the better. There are many other factors to take into consideration. Each factor can be weighed up according to the features each specific web hosting company offers. Each company may also offer several different plans. The features from plan to plan may also differ.

What factors do I weigh up?

Tech Support - I don’t know about you, but I like the feeling of knowing that support is available when I need it. Test different companies before you sign up by sending them an email with a question or two. If they respond quickly, this is a good sign.

Uptime - The more uptime they guarantee, the better. 99% uptime is the minimum acceptable standard. I look for 99% plus guaranteed uptime.

Disk Space - Decide how much disk space you will require. A web page with one logo does not take up much web space at all. Calculate how big your web site is in relation to the disk space alloted.

Bandwidth - This factor is usually overlooked until the bandwidth limit is reached. If you go over your alloted bandwidth, you will get a hefty bill. If you are running a site with lots of downloads, or a site with lots of images such at a photo post site, your bandwidth will be a lot higher than a site with mainly text.

CGI Bin - This is now standard with good hosting companies. If you do not have access to your own CGI Bin, you cannot install scripts and programs.

Perl - If you do not have Perl, you cannot run Perl Programs. Many good scripts that you buy or get for free are written in Perl. In my opinion, it would be a limitation not to have the latest version of Perl installed.

SSL - If you intend to accept credit cards orders directly from your website, you will need Secure Socket Layer included in your plan. This is one of those easily overlooked features. You might sign up for a plan that looks attractive for whatever reason, then down the track, you might discover that you need this feature. If it is not included in your plan, you might be gob-smacked if the extra monthly charge is $10.00. To use this feature you need a merchant account. There is no need to make this a priority if you have no merchant account because you can use a third party credit card processor.

SSI - Server Side Includes are great if you want to spend minimal time updating your site. Here’s how it works. My site contains SSI’s. The left and right nav menus and the little search engine in the left nav menu are “included” with an SSI command in the master page template. If I need to update one of the nav links, there is no need to edit all the pages that contain the menus. I just edit one file which contains the menu HTML and upload it to my site. It’s awsome.

MySQL - What scripts are you going to run? Some programs require a MySQL database to run. I had this problem with a particular web host. They wanted to charge me $10.00 per month for a MySQL database. WOW. I just took out a new plan with another hosting company for under 10 bucks a month and 5 MySQL Databases are included in the price. Say no more.

PHP - Many new scripts and programs require PHP support. Again, this feature can be a $10 extra but most good hosts offer it standard. Imagine if you do not have PHP support but the latest new free Toplist, Blogging script or Shopping Cart requires PHP. Again, this feature is almost standard these days.

Domain Name - What’s the point in buying web space if you cannot point your own domain name to the site? Some companies will help you register a domain name but you should compare prices and learn how to register your domain yourself. This way you are in control of your domain name if you ever change hosts.

FTP Access - Unlimited and unrestricted FTP access to your site is essential. You will need an FTP program to transfer files.

Control Panel - Not all control panels are the same. Some are easier to use than others. Some control panels the learning curve is steep while others are easy. If you select a plan where you cannot preview your control panel before you buy, you can always use the 30 day money back guarantee to get out if you are not happy. If they are not offering a working demo of the control panel, maybe they are not proud of it. In my experience, I have always been disappointed with the quality of the control panel when a demo was not available.

Statistics Program - A good stats program is handy if you want to keep an eye on how many visitors you are getting, where they are coming from, referrers, top entry and exit pages and so on. Some companies offer excellent stats programs as standard while others offer basic stats but you have to pay extra for advanced statistics. If you find a good hosting deal but the stats program is a bit basic, why not email the company and ask if they can install AWStats before you sign up.

Last but not least - Some deals may look good at first but if one feature that is important according to your needs is missing, then that deal may not be so good in your opinion. This does not cast a value judgment on any particular web host. The deal in and of itself may be good for me for example but not for you. So do your research and compare different companies and plans until you weigh up all the factors that are important to “your” needs.

Source: http://www.ezinearticles.com/

Every web hosting account comes equipped with a control panel which help the webmaster manage and control various aspects of their website including email accounts, managing their domains, viewing and analyzing their website statistics, access to marketing tools, data bases, design templates

and much more.

Consider your control panel as a cockpit of an aircraft and perhaps much more. A control panel offers an ultimate solutions to conveniently manage various aspects of your web hosting account and website with easy to use tools and features. Most of he control panels are designed with a use friendly interface and just requires a tad common sense thereby eliminating the need of related technical knowledge.

The primary purpose of a control panel is to enrich the web hosting experience by allowing the customer to control almost every aspect of their hosting account within a user-friendly interface. The most commonly used control panels include the cPanel and WHM which makes control and management o your website a breeze through an easy to use GUI. The control panel features various tools and features to control various aspects of your domains as well as storage space and access highly useful applications and tools that are required to optimize your website.

Over the years, the traditional features have received various upgrades in a bid to enrich web-hosting experience. Most of the control panels offered by the hosting providers include features and tools like site builders, ftp connection, video tutorials, backup wizards, advance statistics, MySQL management, image managers and much more. Some additional applications may however include additional costs.

When choosing a hosting plan, it is important to take into account the type of control panel offered and determine which control panel would best suit your website requirements. Consider the following aspects when choosing a control panel:

1. Interface Graphics: The structure and design of the control must be considered as it be highly user friendly and include all the essentials offered within an advanced control panel. This is because, it is from the control that you have manage various aspects of your website and hosting account.

2. Supported Operative Systems: You need to ensure that the operative system you’re using is supported and optimized for.

3. Features, applications and tools: The web master needs to ensure that the control is an all-inclusive gadget and includes everything that is required by the webmaster to efficiently and conveniently manage their web hosting account and website.

So before you select a web hosting company, it is important to lap up on all information and deals offered and study and analyze the various control panels offered by each company. Most of the hosting providers feature a tutorial of their control panels on their websites that you can view. This will help you get a better idea about the type of control panel offered and how each differs in terms of features, tools and applications. You can also go through the FAQ section or get involved in discussion forums so you can learn more about control panels and which would be best suited to fulfill your requirements.

Source: http://www.a1articles.com/