Web hosting providers come a dime a dozen but landing a good one isn’t always easy.  There are many choices out there and some overwhelm you with so much glamor that it becomes pretty easy to get dazzled by their marketing techniques.  This article will discuss several crucial web hosting traps that you need to look out for.

Amazingly Low Price

It’s true – web hosting is very affordable, so much that “cheap hosting” has become one of the most highly sought after offerings on the market.  Unfortunately, some providers have to make substantial sacrifices in order to drop the price of their service.  Whether it’s overloading the server with customers or cutting back on support, it all affects the overall quality of service and could leave you with major issues.  Not all cheap web hosting packages are of poor quality but because several are, you need to be very weary of an amazingly low price.

Limitations

Whether it’s for personal or business matters, your website is almost certain to expand.  Over time, you will need to upload more files, possibly add new software and hopefully receive more traffic.  Don’t go after the first web hosting deal you run across or one that only offers enough to support you for the first couple of months.  Instead, check out a variety of hosts and focus on those with features that allow your site to grow.  Sometimes, a provider’s one-size-fits all hosting package isn’t the solution you need.

Unprofessional Site

A web host that comes with all the bells and whistles may warrant the red flag but so should a company with an underdeveloped website.  It doesn’t have to be glamorous, but a respectable web hosting provider must look the part.  They should have a professional appearance with a site that is simple to navigate, making all the essentials easy accessible.  You should have no trouble locating the FAQ page and especially an email address or phone number.

Incredible Claims

Most web hosting companies advertise a 99.9% up time guarantee, which is to ensure that your website is up at least 99.9% of the time over a given month.  Sadly, many hosts are just advertising this percentage instead of upholding it.  A host that really lives up to its up time guarantee will offer money back, credit or similar items if they are not able to deliver as promised.  This is actually a rarity and if you don’t know you’re supposed to be compensated, your site will just be down until the issues are worked out behind the scenes.  This could be hours or days.

Questionable Business Practices

You should strongly consider avoiding any provider with complex pricing schemes and other questionable methods.   For example, the price might be advertised as $3.95 per month but you may have to lock into a three-year contract in order to get that price.  Although this is a common practice, you need to make yourself aware of situations where promises turn out to be tricks.

Non-existent Support

A web hosting provider’s approach towards support can tell you a lot about their approach to the overall service.   When you call or email with questions, they should be more than happy to help, or at least act like it.  Don’t just fall for their 24/7 support claim.  Put them to the test to get an idea of how they will react when you really need help.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/03/25/avoiding-common-web-hosting-traps/

Cheap hosting has become a very popular niche, but there is another side to the service which the average customer may not be aware of.  Some web hosting companies employ a wide variety of tricks in order to sell their cheap service, many of which could hinder your ability to be successful with a website.  Learning about these practices will help you know what to expect and hopefully elude the hosts behind them.

Lack of Experience and Track Record

The web hosting market is filled with thousands of companies who are just waiting to provide you with service.  One should also beware that some of these providers have not been in business very long.  Even worse, some do not have the manpower, knowledge and experience it takes to run a web hosting business.  Signing up with a host that is just hitting the scene and riding the learning curve might leave you with a lot of heartache when things to start to go wrong.  While everyone has to start somewhere, it is best to find a company that has a proven track record.  This is one that is most likely to provide you with the best service.

Lousy Support

There are many web hosting providers that will cut back on every aspect they can in order to save money.  One of the most vital areas they sacrifice is support.  These are companies who make it next to impossible to get the help you need.  They may offer limited support by allowing you to only contact the staff via email.  Some will even advertise 24/7 support but fall short by taking forever to respond to your inquiries or simply not answering the phone.  This is why it is so important to make sure you sign up with a host that can provide quality support.  It is a good rule of thumb to test the company with an email or call during late night hours or over the weekend.  Whenever you need help, they should be able to step up and deliver.

Shady SLA

The Service Level Agreement or SLA, is often overlooked but you should never disregard it.

The SLA is to entail how problems that the web host encounters will directly influence the customers experience.  This agreement needs to be read thoroughly before signing up with any web host.  If the company doesn’t offer one, move onto the next.  If the SLA does not clearly outline the level of service you are to receive and what will happen if is not upheld, you should probably find a company that offers something more comprehensive.

Beware of the Middleman

When running across a cheap hosting plan, there may be a chance that you are not dealing with a web hosting company at all, yet an agent selling packages on their behalf.  This is known as reseller hosting, a practice that allows entrepreneurs and small businesses to profit from web hosting.  Although reseller hosting isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you should keep in mind that you will have no direct contact with the web host, the company who is doing all the work and actually housing your data.

Conclusion

There is nothing wrong with cheap hosting as it can be a viable option in many situations.  With that said, it helps to be informed on these questionable practices so you can stay away from the companies sacrificing quality for a cheap service.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/03/23/heed-the-tricks-of-cheap-hosting/

How Do I Get a Domain Indexed?

John asks:

I have some unused domains that I added to Google Adsense for Domains for parking, but I’m wondering how one gets indexed when all you have is a park page like that. For small sites is it better to put a custom park page with some content to get indexed?

First of all making sure that your unused domains get indexed by Google is a good idea indeed. Why? Because indexed domains are like wine, they get better as they get older. Basically the longer your domain has been included in Google’s index (without getting penalized obviously), the higher the trust that Google will have on it.

Should you decide to create a website on that domain in the future, it will be easier to get good search rankings. Similarly, if you decide to sell the domain in the future, you will probably be able to charge a bonus for the age of the domain.

Now back to the central question: how do I get a domain indexed?

It is very simple: you just need to 1) put some content there, and 2) let Google know about it.

You don’t need any special type of content to get your domain indexed. Even a simple message stating that your domain is for sale would be enough.

The second part is about letting Google know about your domain (which is now practically a website). How does Google discovers websites? By crawling the links on the web. If you want to get your site discovered and subsequently indexed, therefore, all you need is a backlink from a site that is routinely crawled by Google.

Here are some ideas to get that backlink:

• link to it from your established website
• post a comment on a do-follow blog
• use forum signatures
• submit an article to a directory
• get the domain listed on a marketplace

That is it. Once you are done, wait a couple of days and search in Google for your domain name with its extension (e.g., yourdomain.org). You should be able to find it in the first page of results.

Source: http://www.dailyblogtips.com/how-do-i-get-a-domain-indexed/