Web Hosting blog from Just Host

Many people often confuse the similarities and differences surrounding both web hosting and cloud computing. In a tech savvy society, most people have familiarized themselves with the concept of web hosting companies and how they assist budding webmasters in making their websites available over the Internet. The web hosting company will permit the webmaster to store their web site files and data on their server, when a specific code is requested online the server will then forward the data over the World Wide Web.

There are several distinct differences between web hosting and cloud computing. In a clouded environment the hosting provider maintains greater control, but given the elasticity of a virtualized environment the server is much more capable of meeting rapid influxes in traffic than it would be in a regular hosting scenario. That elasticity amounts for one of the most advantageous benefits of a clustered hosting environment. Previously a rapid influx in traffic had the potential to crowd a server to the point of failure, making it a distinct possibility that the website would crash.

Cloud computing, or cluster hosting as it is more commonly being referred to enables a single server to be virtually divided into a multitude of individual virtual servers. Data or information stored on each clouded server can be backed up with greater CPU power than would have been available by conventional means.

Cluster hosting works by taking advantage of the virtually connected servers to meet the fluctuating demands of the websites housed on the server.  Overcrowding is unlikely to become a problem in a clouded environment, since there is little chance that each website on the server will experience high traffic simultaneously.

Some of the most common problems associated with web hosting can be mitigated by electing to deploy a cluster hosting solution. Not only does it provide the confidence that comes with knowing that a website will receive optimal uptime and resiliency it also enables webmasters to take advantage of the power, space and security of the websites of their peers since everyone shares the process and features virtually – while still having their own personal server allocation.

For webmasters electing to host an e-commerce based website, selecting the most appropriate web hosting company is bound to prove daunting without a well thought out road map and some basic understanding of the complex requirements in the e-commerce hosting world.

Simply put, e-commerce web hosting refers to the ‘technology of storing and maintaining file for one or more websites dedicated to selling products or services online.; the webmasters of e-commerce websites often procure services from a web hosting company so that they may upload their website content to the hosts server. It is the responsibility of the chosen web hosting company to ensure that the server is in optimal condition and provides fast and continuous connectivity. In an e-commerce environment, webmasters demand security, flexibility and high quality of service from their chosen providers. Since e-commerce websites not only contain but also store sensitive and often confidential information security is of utmost concern.

The principle of e-commerce hosting can be broken down into two main elements; the site and the web hosting company. Web hosting companies provide servers that house storage space and aid in Internet connectivity. In the case of online businesses it is essential that the website receives optimum uptime availability in order for potential consumers to be able to purchase goods or services from the webmasters website.

Any web hosting company chosen to host an e-commerce website must be capable of supporting the tools and features necessary in business environments. The most notable web hosting companies will provide webmasters with software and tools necessary for supporting online transactions and payment processing.  It is important to remember, however, that there are situations where the webmaster may be responsible for purchasing their own e-commerce software and the licenses required to use the product. The most common e-commerce hosting tools are items like shopping carts, business services, secure socket layers, transaction tools and marketing tools.

Prior to selecting a web hosting company to support a business based website, it is recommended that webmasters first determine how much storage they will require along with their estimate data transfer rate. Since the web hosting company will provide the physical location for the website, the webmaster must be entirely confident in the security measures provided on the server. Paying attention to reviews and case studies will provide a stable estimate into the capabilities of the web hosting company. It is essential that the web host provides a backup system so that the website’s information can be rapidly rerouted in the event of a critical failure.  A solid disaster recovery plan should also be drafted and tested.

Disaster recovery and security measures are essential components of e-commerce hosting. Private information and financial records must be protected from unauthorized viewing. Secure socket layer encryption is beneficial and therefore web hosting companies providing this technology should be examined further.  When selecting a web hosting company for an e-commerce website it is

There is something to be said about webmasters who view their chosen web hosting company as a limited business partner. For the majority of webmasters a website is, after all, a business. Every successful business begins with a business plan. Creating a solid business plan for a website should be viewed as an essential element to serve as a guideline for the project in its entirety. A successful website business plan will include the following criteria; the objective of the web hosting company; the websites targeted audience; the business methodology; and lastly the company’s profile and financial statement.

A business plan relies heavily upon its key objectives to measure its success.  Clearly outlining these objectives will enable both the web hosting company and the webmaster to perceive a detailed analysis of the market strategies needed in order to remain competitive and successful in the business market. In addition, a solid understanding of the web hosting company’s main objectives allows potential webmasters to realize the differences between an established host and those that may be utilizing advertising tactics just to sway their business.

A distinct advantage of web hosting companies with a clearly outlined list of objectives comes from the complacency afforded to potential clients; they know from the beginning what to expect and what not to.

It is the responsibility of the webmaster to determine which target market group they wish to advertise their products or services to. The largest corporations have spent a great deal of time and money to conduct various market research studies, in hopes of determining what market areas will exhibit the greatest deal of interest.

The majority of the overall strategy and planning phase of a successful business plan will be outlined in the business methodology. The breadth and depth of a business methodology pertains mostly to the strategic plans to promote the products or services being offered by the web hosting company. It should be noted that web hosting business plans may vary greatly depending upon the nature of the website that the webmaster intends to produce.

Webmasters will also find information on how to correctly execute many significant factors pertaining to the actual web hosting service in the business methodology. These factors may include topics such as disk transfer speed, domain availability, FTP accounts, security and resiliency and so on. A common strategy amongst web hosting companies is to provide new consumers with a free trial of some of their most common features and services.

New webmasters must pay special attention to the company profile and financial statement of any web hosting company that they are considering service from. The company profile will provide information surrounding the location, reliability and experience of the web host. It will also provide a solid understanding of the fiscal capabilities and responsibilities of the web hosting company.

It may be surprising to some to learn that more often than not people will continue to do business with a web hosting company that provides excessively horrible service. Simply because they do not fully understand how to mitigate risks and efficiently transition from one hosted provider to another. There are several unattractive hazards associated with web site relocation, such as: Loss of consumer base due to lengthy downtime; Loss of improperly backed up content, and; A decreased professional image.

All of these pitfalls can easily be avoided by taking the time to research the availability of reputable web hosting companies and carefully implementing a strategic migration plan.

Before selecting an alternative hosting provider, it is important to make note of all of the features that are essential to the web sites operation. Cross reference the necessary features with the web hosts that are capable (and well known) for providing those features. Carefully research reviews about the providers that make your short list, and ask questions about each provider on web hosting forums. Once you are satisfied, and have narrowed your selection down to one or two web hosting companies, send each provider two emails; one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. Note the response time of each provider, as this will provide a good insight in to their customer service abilities.

After you have determined which host is the least likely to cause you any problems, initiate a service agreement. Upload your files and then test the site. Once all of the necessary coding has been adjusted you can then test each link, page and image file and begin to create your email accounts.

Once the above steps have been completed, you must next transfer the domain. Altering DNS server details is far less complicated than it sounds. After receiving both the Primary and Secondary name server details from the new web hosting company, simply go to the domain registrar’s web site and access your personal control panel. Once logged in, locate the DNS option and alter the name server details to match the new information. Domain transfer can take up to 24 hours, during this time leave access to your old site open to ensure that there is no loss of emails or other pertinent information.

Ever thought about starting a website, but decided not to just because the thought of web hosting seemed too scary? Justhost has got you covered! Our huge library of instructional videos and articles helps you get set up right away. We’ve even got one-click WordPress installs with tons of free templates. See why we’re one of the fastest growing web hosts by trying us out today.

Downtime can be frustrating enough for any webmaster let alone when the source of the problem is unknown. Hopefully your website won’t experience much downtime but in preparation of a worst case scenario, we have compiled a list of some of the most common error codes along with their meaning so you can find a solution to the problem and get your website back online in no time.

Client Error Codes:

400 Bad Request

The HTTP request was rejected due to a syntax error within the request.

403 Forbidden

The server was unable to serve the requested data.

404 Not Found

The page you are trying to access no longer exists or never has existed.

408 Request Timeout

Communications between the server and client were taking too long so the server closed the socket. This could be due to load or bandwidth issues with the server.

Server Error Codes:

500 Internal Server Error

The server has been misconfigured in some way that prevents it from responding correctly.

502 Bad Gateway

The page requested is stored on a third party server and has issued an error preventing the server from accessing it.

This is just a select few error codes that most webmasters will stumble upon in their life time. Error codes can be even more complicated and aren’t always easy to diagnose. If you are ever unsure as to what is the cause of the problem, our friendly 24/7 support team will be able to help in no time. Feel free to get in touch by phone, email or live chat.

For a more complete and detailed list, visit Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTTP_status_codes

Luke / Affiliate Manager

Backlinks are essential for your website if you are hoping to receive free visitors from search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing. A back link is counted when Website A links to Website B. Search engines recognize when one website links to another and therefore considers that website more worthy of appearing within your search results.

So to sum up, with the more back links you have pointing to your website, search engines will reward you with higher rankings.

How do I get back links?

Gathering back links (or link building as it is known) sounds complicated but there are many ways you can obtain links to your website with very little effort.

- Free Internet Directories

Before there were search engines the web was filled with directories, people browsed these directories to find the website they were looking for. This has left thousands of directories on the internet such as Dmoz and Jayde, many of these are still in business and accepting new links.

The majority of these directories all work in the same way, you choose the most relevant category that suits the nature of your web site then you suggest your URL to be included. Once your link has been approved your listing will go live and you will have just achieved your first back link. Use Google to search for free website directories, there are hundreds out there.

- Link Exchanges

A link exchange describe 2 websites linking to each other, so Website A links to Website B and Website B also links to Website A. This is a great way of quickly gaining back links, a free link exchange service is a good place to start.

- Article Directories

Article directories allow you to write articles and publish them within the website’s directory, in exchange for your hard work you can include links to your website within the article. Ezine Articles is the most popular of all but there are plenty more free article sites on Google.

- Link bait

Link bait is a term used to describe articles or pages on your website that are intended to attract back links from other websites. Controversial subjects, useful tools and free resources are just a few ideas, the art to bait link is about being creative – go in at an angle never thought of before.

Link bait is the most difficult form of link building but since the back links are 100% natural, the results are very rewarding.

These are just a few ways you can increase the number of incoming links to your website, there are literally hundreds more. SEOBook.com has compiled a list of 101 ways to build link popularity, the article offers some interesting ideas.

Luke Kendall / Affiliate Manager

Google is the most widely used search engine in the online world and took over 84% of online search queries in October this year leaving Yahoo with just 6.68% and Bing with only 3.49%. But we often forget that Google is not just a search engine, Google offer a handful of other services (mostly free) which can be extremely beneficial to webmasters.

So we talked before about the caffeine update from Google, changes to Google’s indexing infrastructure that should produce even more results per query, drastically faster with the inclusion of real time news headlines as and when they happen.

Matt Cutts today announced on his blog that the first stage of the caffeine update will be rolled out after the holidays starting with just one data center and as feedback is collected, Google will begin rolling out the update to other users. Google’s now closed the official sandbox tools so if you didn’t get a chance to try it you are going to have to wait until it goes live.

So why all the fuss? The big hype came when Google engineer Matt Cutts hinted at the possibility of some minor changes to Google’s algorithm. Their algorithm determines the importance of each website within Google’s index in relation to your search term. SEO experts worldwide face losing some big rankings with an update of this size. Initial trials of the Caffeine update through Google’s Sandbox tool revealed little changes just as Matt Cutts had suggested. That said, it isn’t too late for Google to through a few surprises at us as they roll out the entire update on their infrastructure.

Right now all can do is wait and see how the update affects each of our rankings.

Luke Kendall / Affiliate Manager