Colocation web hosting is most expensive web hosting available, therefore most people don’t consider it while shopping for potential hosting plan. Most people even don’t know about colocation hosting plan or the term “colocation” means. Colocation hosting plan allows user to store privately owned web server in a state of art data center that is stabilized and secured at all times. It is way to save money from regular storage unit. Colocation facility provides constant airflow, ideal climate and specialized server racks that are configured specifically to accommodate web server hardware needs. Following are the reasons why colocation hosting is more expensive than conventional web hosting:-

Futuristic Data Centers

A “colocation facility” is a data center actually which is large building that house hundreds of web servers in future environment controlled rooms. Datacenter contains millions dollars of equipment and multiple high-speed internet connections are maintained by them with various Internet service providers simultaneously. Multiple connections are provided to colocation hosting providers which can offer redundancy so that web server will be online at all times. Data centers are connected with professionally trained in-house internet technology specialists, fire extinguishing systems and air filtration systems that cost as much as $10,000 in each room. To provide server care and service stability to customers, colocation hosting providers charge more expensive monthly fee.

State-Of-The-Art Surveillance

It defines second reason why colocation hosting is more expensive than conventional web hosting. Reason is amount of effort and monetary investments that hosting provider devotes to keep web server secure. This technology not only monitor the facilities but insured all of equipment, so no risk is there having damaged hardware without being it restored. Datacenter of colocation provides facilities which are guarded by several tall watch posts and height of 8 feet is exceeded barbed wire around entire perimeter.

As colocation hosting provider has many expenses regarding employee payroll and equipment overhead, to make business profitable additional expenses have to be passed to customer.

Additional Value of Web Server Performance Optimization:

With colocation facility user is gaining access from various Internet service providers to multiple high-speed internet connection. Therefore, user has an advantage to maintain optimal connection to Internet for web server regardless of local circumstances affecting Internet and other hosting providers. If anybody choose to store his owned web server within home or office then this assurance is not possible because all tasks of current server is lost, if it loses internet connection.

1) Description of professional and free web hosting

Online presence is must when establishing a business and for its growth. For creating website, web hosting is required. It is vital for their perfect growth. But one thing needs to be understand here is that web hosting is also of two types. One professional web hosting in which you paid to hosting provider for availing their web hosting services and second free web hosting, in which you avail or experience the hosting services at free of cost.

As there are so many Web hosting providers in online market and among them who offer their hosting services at free of cost to their clients are considered as free web hosting providers and who charges fees from their clients for offering their hosting services are considered as professional web hosting providers.

2) Type of clientele for these two hosting providers

As we have discussed here about two types of web hosting, so clients or customers who avail services of these hosting are also of two types;

As money matters a lot in business and everyone needs it at every stage to run the business smoothly. But everyone can not afford same, so some web hosting companies decided to offer their hosting services at free of cost. Clients who avail services of these companies are mostly beginners or start-ups who don’t have enough money in their hand in starting for investment, for them this is the good option. Same is with business owners who started their business on small scale and for budding entrepreneurs also it is an attractive option as cost associated with hosting is eliminated here.

On other hand, multinational companies and persons who are operating their business on large scale and individuals having sound financial position are mostly clients or customers of professional web hosting providers.

3) Points that differentiate two hosting providers

The major differences between professional web hosting providers and free web hosting providers are as follow:

• First major difference between two providers is domain address they offered to their clients. Free web hosting providers offer a domain address which include their company’s name in the URL and by this professional image of business or company also gets affected. And professional web hosting providers offer a personalised domain address which creates a different or unique identity for online businesses.
• Professional web hosting companies are more reliable than free web hosting companies. Former one offers great uptime (99.9 percent uptime) as compared to the latter one which offers more downtime which leads to loss of revenues, profit, clients and thus businesses.
• Unprofessional links and unnecessary ads display more on free web hosting platform which leads to frustration. This platform is mainly used by spammers so as to build dummy websites. On the contrary, professional web hosting platform do not display irrelevant ads and links and thus leads to higher ranking in search engine and better online accessibility.
• Bandwidth and disk space matters a lot while choosing any web hosting plan. Professional web hosting providers allow their clients to select their best web hosting package containing required amount of bandwidth and disk space among all available plans which allows them to upload images, graphics, text, maps and many more content on site and also transfer them easily. Whereas free web hosting providers offer bandwidth and disk space in a limited quantity. Which sometimes make businesses wait to modify content of their website for longer period. Such kind of issues is not experienced while using professional hosting services.
• Free web hosting platforms do not offer great level of customer service and technical support. Complicated websites which rely on Perl scripts, Myself Databases and PHP faces severe issues. On the contrary, paid web hosting companies offers 24 hrs customer service and excellent technical support via live chat, e-mail or phone. This leads to peace of mind at the difficult time also.

4) Name of web hosting companies providing these two services

Now if you wants to know the name of the companies which offer professional hosting services and which offer free hosting services, so here comes a list for you.

Some of best providers which offers professional hosting services;

Some of the best providers which offers free hosting services;

For web maintenance cPanel interface is easy to use. cPanel is primary control panel available nowadays. Even when user is completely new to web hosting he can easily handle his website. With CPanel Hosting interface, user will have complete control over website. Looking for good hosting package, CPanel can be better indicator of reliability of hosting provider. Most reliable web hosts provide web hosting plans powered by cPanel control panel. CPanel hosting plans support MySQL and PHP, Fantastico, FrontPage and RVSkins.

With cPanel, user will access many useful stats such as disk space and usage, sub domains through cPanel, bandwidth usage. Current version of cPanel is cPanel 11 or cPanel X, provides full control of each point of account. Another useful program Fantastico can be managed directly with cPanel. cPanel generally compress many commands required to complete one task by single mouse click. cPanel is responsible to handle complicated tasks such as modify webpage content, password protection sections of websites or deleting table from databases. These can be done easily by little inputs from end users. Webmasters require web building assistance, some hosting companies will provide cPanel with wide range of online tools. These tools can be used to create, launch and configure their website.

Another control panels are available which restricts ability of webmaster to mange his website for basic functions such as managing files, creating email addresses and adding sub domain names. CPanel offers more tasks allows access of more advanced functions such as MIME types, OpenPGP keys, con jobs, addon domains, Apache handlers, password protected directories and more. CPanel provide regular program like add or remove email accounts, install different PHP/mySql scripts, view website statistics, access online Web Mail and more. Other functions of CPanel are auto-responder, subdomain, custom error pages, POP or default email account. MySQL database is created by users, PHPMyAdmin is used to manage databases, redirect a URL, install FrontPage extensions, redirect a URL, create an add-on domain, to password-protect directory and FTP account is created. These arrays of programs will come with tutorials to provide assistance to users especially new customers to use CPanel to be easy.

CPanel is an incorporated program used to combine basic requirements to advanced users in user-friendly platform. It will save much time and trouble to complete tasks manually. CPanel is linked directly to Fantastico enabling users to access multitude of programs which are extremely useful to manage websites.

Joomla has gained immense popularity with programmers all around world as a very effective content management system (cms). It offers great Plugins, modules and templates and is surely best option if you are designing a website that has a lot of content or a multimedia website or other advanced websites. New Joomla offers more enhance features and functions which will help you to develop and maintain website of your dreams.

Superior Compatibility

Joomla 1.0 did have some bugs. But they have been removed in new version , that is Joomla 3.1. If your server has Apache or MySQL or PHP, Joomla will definitely be compatible with it.

Enhanced and Consistent Look

Using latest version of Joomla will help you develop a website that is superbly professional looking, a website that will announce that you mean business. A number of templates can be added and one can rest assured that administration will no longer be a headache.

Mobile Ready Websites

In today’s times when number of smart phone users is increasing at an explosive rate, it will rally be a very sad scene if your website is not mobile friendly. With Joomla this problem is resolved. You can develop a very responsive and mobile friendly website. Your website will be available to everyone, all time and on all sort of devices. That is a major benefit of Joomla hosting.

Better Database Support

Keeping in mind concerns of users regarding security and utilities, new version of Joomla has been loaded with more database. Earlier it use to be difficult to run a number of database modules as it could result in information breach. But now this concern has been taken care of and Joomla has become much more safer and functional.

Fabulous Support

Joomla has a very vibrant and powerful community associated with it which will help you in every step that you do. You can rest assured that you will get prompt and easy and effective solutions to whatever problem comes your way.

Joomla is Here to Stay

Looking at amazingly large number of websites that are currently using Joomla as their CMS stand as testimony to fact that Joomla is here to stay and has a long way to go.

It is Almost Free!

Joomla is an open source software and can be downloaded for free. Also it can be upgraded without paying any fee, which is a big advantage. You will need to pay money only if you decide to buy templates or plugins which are commercial and not free.

Extension is Easy

If you are using Joomla it becomes very easy to add more functionality and extensions to your website. There are any number of extensions accessible like galleries, e-comm, classified ads or forums.

Scheduled Content

Sometimes requirement of your website is such that you need to post some content on a specific date or time. This becomes difficult if you are not available to do so. But do not worry, with Joomla this is possible. You can actually schedule posting of some specific content at some specific time.

Editing is easy

With Joomla, editing your website is easy and effortless. This is so because Joomla has powerful editors, locating a specific data is easy in Joomla and also Joomla offers the feature of locking the data when it is being edited by a specific user.

There are plenty of reasons why one must be looking forward to Joomla. So go ahead and enjoy benefits of Joomla hosting!

As E-Commerce is very popular these days and almost every organization is moving to online business for their growth and success.

But those who are planning to move to this platform, don’t know various aspects of e-commerce portal and due to this, they are unable to take right decision of choosing a correct portal.

So, here this article may help you in this regard.

1. Choosing a platform

When choosing an e-commerce platform for online business, following factors need to be considered:

Own website or their portal

Next you need to decide, whether you wish to host your online store on your site or on e-commerce platform. If you chosen your site, you need to take care of everything from beginning to end, which is quite difficult as everyone is not technical expertise.

That’s why max companies used e-commerce platform for hosting their stores. But before selecting the one, go through all the features offered by e-commerce platform.

Options for Design

Some of the E-Commerce platforms offered pre-built themes to design your online store to give a good look. You can choose one of them or if you have some specific needs for your online business, then to meet some platforms offered designers or developers who can design your store accordingly.

What your business is selling

Before choosing a platform, first your product options must be defined, as what you are selling, determines which e-commerce platform can be used by you. All E-Commerce platforms does not support every kind of product. Some platforms built to handle only physical product, some to handle digital product and some both or one. Some platforms support unlimited products and some charge according to their qty.

So, before selecting the one, read its terms and conditions carefully, whether platform supports your product or not.
Tools for Integration

Many E-Commerce platforms offers tools meant for integration with various services such as marketing, finance, reporting, inventory and others. So, try to choose the platform which offers you those tools which you are already using.

Pricing and Features

Different E-Commerce platforms offered different features and thus their price also varies. So, choose the one which satisfy you in terms of features and fits in your budget.

Payment Gateways

Various payment gateways are available such as Strip, PayPal, Authorize but choose the platform which is using your ones.

Extra Fees

Read the terms and conditions carefully to know if platform is charging any additional fees in the name of setup fees, processing fees, themes fees etc.

2. Most popular e-commerce platform

There are various e-commerce platforms but the best ones are as follow:

1. Magento – Small businesses who are hosting storefronts so that their customers can be enterprised, for them, this is a good option. It offers community edition for free. For 100 SKU’s, pricing begins at $15 per month. Price for Enterprise edition is not in the list.
2. BigCommerce – This platform is meant for both small to big businesses. For supporting unlimited products, pricing starts at $34.95 per month.
3. Shopify – Shopify is a very popular and best ecommerce platform which permits their clients to have good storefronts. They provide various themes and apps integrated with famous services. For physical storage, it has POS. For unlimited products, it costs starts at $29 per month.
4. InfusionSoft – This is having an option of e-commerce and it is especially meant for automation of sales, automation of marketing and for customer relationship management. Its pricing starts at $299 per month.
5. Selz – It is an ecommerce platform which is recently introduced and allows you to have embeddable widgets and storefront, hosted on Selz. Like others, it does not charge on monthly basis. They only charge a commission of 5% + $0.25 for the transaction occurred.

3. Selection web hosting

After following the above steps, choose the web hosting provider who may host your online store properly on your site or at chosen e-commerce platform.

4. Good Domain name

After selecting a hosting provider, assign a good domain name to your online platform, by which people know you. And then start conducting online business with your customers.

When Charles Darwin gave the world the theory of ” survival of the fittest” he probably was not aware that it would hold true for a very very long time in this ever so changing world and today in the era where internet has become a necessity of life and using digital media a way of life, the theory still fits!

If you need your business (even a small one) to survive and flourish in these times of cut throat competition, you need to go online and get a website for it. That will put you on the rack of “fittest”. Having a website will push your profit margins and the potential of your business to extents you surely do want to achieve.

refer to any sorts of statistics and you will realize that more and more people are turning towards the internet to research and to shop, for anything at all. You have to agree, it is convenient to sit in the comforts of your home and choose what you need from an umpteen number of products available. Just pay and it will be at your door step! How is anybody suppose to resist that? That is the wonder of online world and if you have a website for your business, you are sure to reap benefits of this wonder, some of which are:

(1) Let the World know you are there!

Even if your business is a local one, you can reach a potential customer sitting right across the globe or in the city itself. He can learn a lot about your business from you website like:

• What do you sell
• what are your specialties
• where are you located
• who else uses your product and approves of it
• why to chose you
• How to reach you for further enquiries or your email

That sets the pace! If the person on that side of the monitor likes what he reads about, he is sure to enquire and can be converted in to a potential customer. Just like that he reach of your business goes beyond geographical boundaries and the world knows about your business!

(2) It strengthens your marketing tools arsenal!

If you are running a business you definitely have been advertising in some form be print media or TV or radio. You are aware of the costs involved and the efficiency of these tools. How about an advertisement that runs 24X7 and tells everything about your business in a such a cool fashion that it surely impresses the customers’ mind. It has audio clips & videos that express the sentiment of your products and deliver a feel of your business. That is what a website does precisely for you. It is your websites ad and literature which can be modified any time and speaks volumes. And for free!

(3) Educate and impress your customers!

Today, the customer is smart and wants to make informed decisions about where to put in his money. Also everybody wants to deal with a pro who knows what he is doing. By having your own website, you can tell the curious customer all about your product and everything related to it in a very well designed manner and help them with their research. In this way, you clearly convey that you know exactly what you are doing and you are good at it! The first impression is crucial and with a professionally designed website, you can never go wrong on that front.

(4) Develop Customer’s trust in your brand!

It is always easier to trust a product if you have a background or a name related to it. You can further strengthen your customers’ trust in your product by having a website about it which gives data, names, geographical locations and probably pictures of real people who run the business. It not only enhances the authenticity and credibility of your business but also attracts new ones and helps you to build your brand.

(5) Use the power of Referrals!

A referral simply means that if someone likes your product and is ready to suggest it to others with a positive feedback then he can do so by sharing the link of your website on a social media platform or on their own website. This is a very powerful method of sending the good word around about your business. An increased number of referrals will indicate increased popularity for your business.

No doubt, going online will be a brilliant idea for scripting the success story of your business.

Marketing your small business website online

Now that you have created a website, you need to market it in the right way to maximize its popularity and to benefit from it. Here are some tips for doing the same:

• Always try and get your website listed in the local online directories. Also, if you belong to any trade organization, get yourself listed on their website too.
• Tap the potential of social media. Create your pages on websites like facebook, twitter, Google+ and so on.
• The content of your website is what will draw customers to it and will make them come back. It has to be very impressive and informative. Also this will help you to get noticed by search engines. Keep it simple and relevant and keep updating it.
• You can even consider having your own online newsletter.
• The design of the website should be appealing, what looks good will sell good!

With all this you will be able to squeeze out maximum benefits from your website.

Cost Effective marketing

You might be on a shoe string budget for your website marketing. No worries. Here are some tips for online marketing without burning a huge hole in your pocket:

• Put something catchy on your website. It could be a line, a video , a post; anything that will catch the attention of the targeted customers and they will feel like sharing it with others. This will automatically mean, your web address is being shared!
• You can offer deals and discount coupons on your website. This is sure to attract attention.
• There are a plenty of free marketing tools available which can help with content management. Use them to plan and create a good website.
• Write quality blog posts to make people aware of your business, achievements, awards, new schemes, any event anything at all related to your business.

Conclusion

By now it is clear that having a website is an essential part of the growth of a small business. So go ahead and go online. Experience the Midas touch of world wide web and reap benefits!

Small Businesses Can Be a Big Deal for Resellers in the Cloud Space

Small Businesses are private corporations, sole proprietorships and partnerships. The term “Small Business” defines by different organizations in the context of no. of employees but generally it is mentioned, businesses ranging from less than 10 employees to thousand employees are mainly categorised as small to mid- sized companies otherwise they are termed as SMBs. According to the other methods, Small businesses can also be categorised as assets, sales, liabilities, purchases, net profit and others. These companies range from a very small store to e-commerce businesses.

In 2006, more than 18,000 small businesses possessing more than 500 employees constitute half of the total employees engaged in all the small businesses. SMBs want to lead themselves so they are focusing on the ways of cutting the costs and expansion of their capabilities. There are various ways and among this, one way is that they are moving their important functions to the cloud. Recently a study was conducted which predicted and showed the value $32 billion of the U.S. SMB Market in 2016 which is almost 20% growth rate occurred on year to year basis and also showed increase of 25% in the adoption of the total global cloud services.

Use of Web hosting is becoming very popular among the large size businesses and so are small businesses. The small size companies are also having their websites in order to improve their competitive position and to host them; they are also using the hosting services of various web hosting companies.

Usage of the cloud services and products of the infrastructure by SMBs is expected to become almost double for the next few years and the reason behind this that these SMBs become more user friendly with the concept of cloud and do not face in using the same. Now SMBs are looking for the cloud service companies as now they are moving several applications of business to the cloud. SMBs are the small size companies thus they operate more efficiently and focus on their main business, outsource functions of technology and in this context they prefer the established organizations.

Resellers are having a great opportunity; they can open the new stream of revenue and expand their relationship with the existing customers. VARs, MSPs, SIs wants to expand their portfolio to use the cloud services and for the same they are required to increase their revenue and improve their relationships with SMBs. Demand is rising very fast within the SMB market for the different kinds of cloud services;

• (IAAS) Infrastructure as a service- From the study, it is known that safety, IaaS server backup and services related to database is used by 40% of the SMBs. Those are in the need of a robust database find the web hosting solutions which are flexible via a reasonable and convenient way so as to store the large amount of data in offsite without considering the issue of maintenance of server. In the SMBs market, there are some rapidly growing sectors such as Security services, anti- malware, anti-spyware, anti- virus and e-mail safety solutions.
• (SAAS) Software as a service Apps- Social media platform used by no. of SMBs as a tool of marketing and access productivity apps such as Dropbox on the regular basis. SMB’s feel more comfortable with the cloud services, they started to embrace platforms of CRM such as Salesforce.com and other solutions related to business intelligence. These tools are accessed via laptops and desktops in the office and also on the mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Cloud services are used by SMBs for increasing the capabilities of the communication and for consolidating the infrastructure for more efficiency and integration on one platform. E-mail and hosted private branch exchange (PBX) phone services are included in the applications but Unified Communications-as-a-Service solutions attract the market towards themselves. It delivers audio / video conferencing, telephone, messaging, presence technology, and email more over an IP network.