Posted by Average Joe on January 31, 2009 under Hosting | 
Knowing how many people are visiting your website is a really key factor to knowing if your site is working or not. Esentially if you put your website online and do not have statistics to check, then you effectively have nothing to tell if you anyone is visiting it or not, except maybe the odd person who comments about it. Especially if you have spent money getting a site developed, then you will want to know that it is working.
You have a few options, any host that offers, cpanel as their control panel should also be offering AW Stats, this is usually the easiest method for most people to see a number that means something. Although often an artbitary number, it is still a case of the higher the number the better. This number is the number of unique visitors. Along with this important stat, there is a lot of other information that is also included here that can be very useful in telling you where, and how your visitor’s got to your site.
Another option if for some reason your web host does not offer website statistics, is Google analytics. To make use of Google Analytics you need to add a small piece of code that they provide you to the bottom of each page that you want to track. However this is a small thing, really when you consider how valueable knowing some of the information that can be provided by site statistics can be to knowing what you may want to change on your website.
Posted by Average Joe on under Hosting |
Having a decent online file management utility with your hosting account can be an absolute great benefit. The file management option in Cpanel(what many hosts use) is possibly the best option.
I have found that i do not need to use an FTP program anywhere near as much since i discovered this little gem. It gives you all the same functions as you would expect in an FTP program, and even one or two extra’s. You can upload and download any file with in your site, you can also use an online code editor with syntax highlighting and line numbers to edit any of your files. This editing feature alone actually saves half of the need for an FTP program in that you can edit the files on the server without ever having to download them.
Some of the other features include letting you upload zip files and extract them directly online. I can tell you it is much easier to upload 1 zip file then 400 individual php, jpg and other files for a script. Finally it is often also quicker to load the directory structure then many FTP programs, this also saves you a lot of time, along with no need to connect to the server via FTP, and a explorer like interface so it look just like looking at files on your computer.
While you may not use this feature if you are not overally into moving things around within your website, it is always a good idea to look for it, just as in future just in case type of thing.
Posted by Average Joe on under Hosting |
The true usefulness of sub domains is still something that is being discussed a lot. For somethings they can be a good option, however unless you really believe that you are going to be able to effectively use them they may not really be something you will miss.
There are some things that they can be good for, maybe something like a membership site, you can create a sub domain like members.yourdomain.com. Another option is if you have some information that you want to be part of your site but in a really different way for example a wholesale and a retail website, they are both parts of your business website but you want to be able to split them up. Maybe resellers.yourbusiness.com & retail.yourbusiness.com while doing this will not stop one type of customer from visiting either site without the proper website, it will mean that you can divert different customers to different websites.
While sub domains are an option that are offered by many hosts, often you will gain just as much benefit by using something like www.yourbusiness.com/retail and www.yourbusiness.com/resellers. But then really it is something you need to decide.
Posted by Average Joe on under Hosting |
While for many people in business downloading email is the normal thing, being able to view your email online is also a really good option. You need to be sure that webmail is an option with your hosting to be able to view your email online without having to download it.
While it is more then likely possible to install a script to be able to view your mail online if your host does not support this, it really does make things that much more difficult. Especially for anyone that is not use to doing some more advanced things with their web hosting.
This option is more to give you the option to quickly check your mail when you are on the road at an internet cafe, or the library or something, where you do not have the time or really the ability to set up the computer to download your email. But you really want to stay on top of what is going on. The other benefit this gives you is not having to enter your details into software that may store the details and then downloading email that you may have wanted to keep private.
Posted by Average Joe on under Hosting |
One of the most difficult things about setting up a website is often installing the scripts, or files that will run your website. For example this website is run by a script, and so are many many other sites.
For me to manually install this site i would probably need to put aside the best part of an hour to go to the site of the company offering the script, download the script, read the instructions on installing it. Then i would need to upload the files by FTP, which can take a while sometimes. Before then going through the couple of steps to set some default settings and such. I would also need to go and setup a database and a database user and have that information ready for this process.
Or i can save a really big amount of that time and make use of the wonderful feature that many web hosts offer, called Fantastico. I suppose it would was called that because it truly is a fantastic tool, that you can use to make your life so much easier. At time of writing my webhost has 49 different scripts that you can install using fantastico, everything from blog scripts, to Content Management Systems, Shopping Carts and at least half a dozen different other type’s of scripts.
The best part of all of this is that the time it takes to install a script is greatly reduced, and simplfied. What may have taken you an hour before now takes as little as one or two minutes, no downloads, no FTP uploads, almost no setup options, database created automatically. Basically if you are not to sure about much to do with getting a website started this is the first option you should be looking for when looking for web hosting.
Posted by Average Joe on January 27, 2009 under Hosting |
At some point once you have gotten started with running a website on the internet, you are more then likely going to get to a point that you want to start another. At some point this will grow to three or four or even more sites. In reality their is no limit to the number of sites, that you can operate except for your imagination and your time.
The one thing that you need to begin to look at once you start growing your internet portfolio is how to host multiple sites without it costing a fortune in hosting. This can fortunately be found by ways of reseller hosting accounts and/or dedicated servers.
With a single hosting account you can pay as little as $3 or $4 for a basic option, and up depending on the options that you need.
When you move to a shared reseller hosting plan, you are going to be looking at minimum pricing around $20 – $30. For this you are pretty much given an allocation of the resources that make up hosting packages such as bandwidth, storage and mostly unlimited things like MYSQL databases, email accounts and such. You then have the ability to break this up in chucks of varying sizes depending on your needs for different sites. Generally you will find that you begin to save money from about 8 sites up. However this entirely depends upon your host and their fees.
After this you can move to a Dedicated server. Prices for dedicated servers start around $80-$100 a month and the sky is really the limit for price on these type of services. Again all dependent upon your needs. Basically a dedicated server is a single web server dedicated to your use. This gives you a lot more power and control over the way that you run your website. While at some point it will become a more economical means of hosting, especailly if you run a number of larger sites, it really does also take a fair amount of knowledge to operate to it’s full potential.
If you are looking for web hosting there are a number of different options available.
In Australia you can contact Joel Brown at Orion Networks for a hosting solution from a local company.
More options will be listed in the near future.
Posted by Average Joe on under Hosting |
A feature that is offered by almost all paid for hosting services is the ability to catch all email sent to your domain whether an email address for that name exists or not. Commonly referred to as a catch all account, this is one of the first things that you need to setup. In actual fact it could be the only thing that you setup and redirect all the email from a domain to one of your other email accounts.
You can find where to set this option by logging into your web host Cpanel, and it is included under the Email option called “Default Address”. The following screen will be shown.
Set Default Email Address
The first option is a drop down menu for the domain that you are changing, this should always stay the same unless you have other sub domains. Then you have two options, the first option is to just discard any email unless the email address exists.
You second option is to enter an email address that all the email will be forwarded to if there is no account for that email. In here you can enter an account you have created on this domain or you can enter another email account that you have registered somewhere else. Then click change to save the settings, and a confirmation page will be displayed.
Posted by Average Joe on January 26, 2009 under Advertising |
When you own your own website, you have the ability to offer advertising on this website. There are literally as many ways to this as there are advertisers just about. I just want to give you an idea of a few different options that you have available. All of these options i will look to give you some more details information about in other articles later on.
ADSENSE - Adsense is Google’s answering to advertising, and is possibly the most popular option for many people just getting started online. The reason being is that it is quite easy to implement, and can be blended into your website quite well, even to the point that people could click on links without even realizing. The income potential for adsense very much depends on your visitor’s as well as many other factor’s, however there are many ways to check and test your results to achieve better performance.
AFFILIATE MARKETING – The basic premise here is that you become an affiliate of a company and place a coded link, banner, or other form of marketing that may be available on your website. When a visitor clicks on these ads, your code is sent through with their request and you can earn a set rate or % of any sale that eventuates from visitor’s from your site. Some of these programs have great potential, while others don’t, but by far the best results will come from as closely matching an advertiser to your own content. Eg advertising for a wedding supplier on a blog about weddings, but not on a site about mechanical repair.
DIY – Another option is to handle the advertising yourself. While this can potentially give you the greatest return,it can also be the more difficult to maintain. You have to find the advertisers, set a price that is acceptable to both you and the advertiser, collect the money and get the ad on the site. where was using most other methods, all you need to do is get the ad on the site. All the finding advertisers, collecting money etc, is done by the affiliate marketing company or other advertising network.
Really for advertising on your website, the only thing to do is trial a few different methods, you will find that some work and some don’t and you will have to do your research to find the right combination.
Posted by Average Joe on under Domains |
The question that many people wonder is where is the best place to register your domain. Well really it is a loaded question, all registers that are licensed to directly sell domains, are a good place. They need to follow a set of guidelines laid out by the companies that control the actual use of domains.
But still in saying this the question still is who is the best option. Really it comes down to personal opinion and that is what this brief article is just my opinion. While some people’s opinion may differ, i tend to only like to recommend companies that i have and currently deal with.
www.GoDaddy.com - Is my preferred register for .com, .net and .info, while these are the only domains types that i actually have registered with GoDaddy, they do also register a very large range of other extensions. Pricing is also quite competitive. The main reason why i use GoDaddy is that they seem to offer better service and a better interface for managing your domains than i have found at many other registers that do the same extensions, and i have used a few when buying domains from other people before.
Net Registry
– I have also used Net Registry for a number of years, primarily because living in Australia, there is only a certain group of registers that can offer .com.au (or any other .au) domains. While i have not used any other .au registers, i have found that Net Registry meets my needs, and have not had to consider trying others. Additionally Net Registry is my choice when registering domains for my clients.
For most of your needs in registering a domain, these two companies should be your first stop. In some cases, they may not cover every extension, as some other countries may still may have their own specific register’s, i am more then happy to add another to try and cover all countries, or please leave a comment below.
Posted by Average Joe on January 25, 2009 under Domains |
When getting ready to setup a website, one of the more important things that you need to do is register a domain name. Ordinarily this should be a fairly simple task of finding a name that is available and registering it. However you do happen to have some choices, on what should come after your name (eg www.yourname.***) Specifically the ‘***” in the example.
For the most part this is defined as the country code or what identifies the country the domain is registered in. However this is not always the case, for example a .com domain can be registered by anyone. Where as a .com.au domain can only be registered by a business in Australia. So choosing the correct domain can be important from a business stand point, however from a personal point of view maybe not so much.
.COM
.com is by far the most popular domain extension, as such there is getting an ever decreasing available range of name available, unless you like getting a long name. This is not to say that your name or business name is not available it is always worth checking. For personal or business sites, this can be a good option for their domain.
.NET
While not as popular as .com, it is another option, as long as you do your marketing right the difference between .com and .net should be negligible.
.COM.**
There are many country independent domain names such as .com.au, .co.uk, .co.nz, etc. These are designed often for business specific use within the country designated and as such often carry rules and such defining who and how they area used. If you are operating a business within one country then this could be your best option as it is often a way locals can differentiate a local or international business.
OTHERS
There are many other domain name extensions, all with varying degree’s of usability, some are specific to a type of content eg .mobi, for mobile content, or .tv for TV content. But at the end of the day most of these are not going to even in consideration for you at the start.
WHERE TO START
The best place for you to start is to see if your preferred domain is available in .com or .net it is usually the easiest and generally most affordable. On occasion you can find some of the less common domain extensions, like .info on sale for as little as $1 – $2 and this could also be a good way to get a taste for the world of creating your own website. Really it comes down to if you don’t try it you will never know what you could be missing out on.