3 Killer Tips - How to Choose a Web Host

How to choose a web host should not be a hard task, it all depends on what kind of website you're going to host.

When I first begun to build websites I was relying more on the price of the hosting than its quality, that's why I decided to write these 3 tips to help you choose a web hosting that will not let you down.

How to choose a web host - Rule #1 - Liability

Choosing a web host should not be like choosing paper, they are not all alike, so the first tip here is to choose a web host which is responsible and haven't had too many complaints from old customers, it more often happens when the websites get offline because of a spike on its traffic, when it happens your website go offline and you need to contact your hosting company to make them fix it for you, but what if it is an affiliate website and every minute your website is offline you're losing customers?

Which lead us to the next tip.

How to choose a web host - Rule #2 - Support

You want to know how good it is their client support, how long do they generally take to reply to a question from you, if you they have an online chat service which can help you sane your doubts right always, because we all know how frustrating it is to have an issue and having to wait until the next day in order to solve this!

There are many web hosting providers that also provides you with a Toll Free phone number which can be really handful when they don't reply your messages and/or the chat is full and you are like the #20 on the line to talk to their support team.

How to choose a web host - Rule #3 - Additional's

There are 3 things that I find paramount when choosing a web hosting additional's:

1. Bandwidth: If your web hosting offers a low amount of bandwidth, prepare to get in trouble, once you have an increase of your traffic and let's say your bandwidth is only 2000 Mb, what is going to happen is that your website will get offline, and you won't know it, because they don't tell you your website is offline due to Exceeded Bandwidth. And you'll have to pay more for additional bandwidth. So keep it in mind before you choose a web hosting that is "cheap", in the end, you'll have to pay more anyway.
2. Databases: Unlimited Databases, if they don't offer it, I just skip.
3. Disk Space: Unlimited as well, is not like you're going to use all the space they offer, but you never know, I'd rather choosing a web hosting with loads of disk space than choosing one that is limited.

Now if you're still confused or don't know much web hosting providers, click on the link below and you'll be taken to a comparative chart which you'll find the top 10 web hosting providers [http://www.currentbizsolutions.com/top-10-web-hosting/], so you don't have to browse the web looking for the best web hosting company, we already did it for you. How to choose a web host now is a piece of cake since we already have done the research for you.

[http://www.currentbizsolutions.com/top-10-web-hosting/]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Thales_Prado/50249

Backup WordPress, Transfer To A New Web-Host and Change The URL

Backup Your Website To Your Computer

1. Download a copy of Filezilla, it's a rock solid open-source program for everyone to use for free.


2. Get your current web-hosting FTP information (usually found in the web-host's Control Panel information or your web-host's website information page).


3. Install Filezilla, when installed input your FTP login information in the "Site Manager".


4. Make sure that you can successfully connect to your hosting space and view the files contained within displayed on the right pane.


5. Find a suitable local backup location, preferably on a removable hard drive or on your own computer's file system on the left pane, example: C:UsersMeWebsiteBackup.


6. In Filezilla with example: C:UsersMeWebsiteBackup selected in the left side pane, right click on the root of your website directory in the right pane and choose to "download".


7. If Filezilla prompts for a duplicate file message, choose the "rename" option and just rename the files index1.HTML, index2.HTML and so forth. You can monitor the completed and errored downloads on the below tabs in Filezilla.

Change Your Database Name, User and Password in Wp-Config

1. Download with FileZilla the WP-Config file in the root of your WordPress installation or edit it by using the built in edit function in your web-host's Control Panel. Make a copy for safe keeping in case something goes wrong.

2. Change the following values DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD to reflect your new database name, username and password: <?php

// ** MySQL settings ** //

define('DB_NAME', 'Your Database Name');

define('DB_USER', 'Your Database Username');

define('DB_PASSWORD', 'Your Database Password')

Save your changes and upload the file back into your hosting space if needed, overwriting the original.

Edit Your Functions.php Temporarily

Note: To minimize excessive linking, "*example" will be used in place of you typing in your own website's address complete with the h.t.t.p:// <--- please leave out the periods when typing it in.

1. We will tell WordPress about your Domain Name change without actually logging in using the functions.php file. This file can be found in your Wp-contents/themes/ folder. If one is not present you can create one using notepad or a similar program and naming it functions.php.

2. Make a copy for safe keeping in case something goes wrong. Open functions.php up for editing, either locally or editing in your Control Panel.

Replace the *example with your new domain name:

<?php

update_option('siteurl','*example');

update_option('home','*example');

3. Save your changes and upload the file back into your hosting space if needed, overwriting the original or just choose save if editing within the Control Panel.

4. Access your WordPress site "*example" x3 times and then attempt to login "*example/ wp-admin". At this point you will be able to login or choose the password reset option to do so.

You can now remove the:

update_option('siteurl','*example');

update_option('home','*example');

From functions.php

Clean Up Any Traces of Your Old Domain (Optional)

Note: This is optional, use only if your website still appears to be broken.

1. We will use a small program called Search and Replace DB2, grab a copy of Search and Replace DB2 here.

2. Download, extract and rename the Search and Replace DB2.php to whatever you like just leaving the.php extension.

3. Upload the renamed Search and Replace DB2.php into the root directory of your WordPress installation directory.

4. Then in your web browser, go to *example/renamedfile.php

5. Just follow the onscreen instructions to replace all instances of your old domain to your new one. *Note: you may have to run this a couple of times.

6. When this has been completed, for security purposes, please delete the Search and Replace DB2 renamed file from your web-space.

For more information, please travel to:

https://GoodwinTek.com

Where we like fixing technology almost as much as we like helping people!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_T_Goodwin/1482381

How to Find the Right Web Host For Your Business

Everybody who have ever used any web hosting service probably knows how important it is to find the right web host for the business. Since is is not possible to mention single company and say that this one is better than others, online marketers need to understand what they exactly need to find the right web host. This article will explain what to look for if you need reliable business hosting.

First of all, contact your web designer and ask him which technologies will be needed to run the website. Small websites which contain 5 - 10 pages usually are coded using HTML (HTML = hypertext markup language). These websites can be run at any web hosting. However, if your web designer uses some CMS (CMS = custom management system) you will need a web host supporting the programming language in which the CMS is written. Most of these systems are written in PHP.

You will need PHP not only if your website uses CMS, but also if it has some dynamic part like contact form which sends messages to your email. PHP works very closely with MySQL. MySQL is a database where are stored the data. So if you run a PHP based website there is a big chance that you will also need MySQL support.

Especially if you run a business website it is very important that your domain can be reached most of the time. Since some web hosting companies has very poor uptime (uptime = the percentage of the time when your website is accessible to your visitors, in other words, the time when there is no problem with the servers) you should not go with the cheapest web host. Rather pay a little more and make sure that the hosting company has at least 99.5% uptime. Anything worse is not worth of your money.

You may also discover the ways how the customers can contact the technical support. Even if you are experienced webmaster you may need to contact them time from time. Every web host has its own specific PHP setting, control panel and security. It may sometimes cause problems with running your website. It may be very difficult to solve the problem alone, but with the help of the customer support it may be an easy task. Some companies offer phone support, online chat or ticketing system. The first two mentioned way can be very handy, however, it may happen that more clients use this way in the same time and you will need to wait. On the other hand, ticketing system is very easy to use and you do not need to wait for the response with phone in your hand.

To avoid situation when you buy a web hosting plan and later you will face to some problems with your website, it is highly recommended to read some reviews about the web hosting company where you are going to buy the hosting package. A lot of reviews can be found at webmaster forums. There are also specialized review websites where people can share their experience.

Example:

Visit Marble Host to see an example of web hosting services offering all features which are needed to run a business website.

You can check out their web hosting plans at http://www.marblehost.com/hosting-plans.php.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Bedrich_Omacka/16510