Web Concepts

A Splog is a blog created expressly to propagate spam. We’ve all seem them. They are 99.9% Adsense and .1% reprinted content. It’s purely coincidental if you get any useful information out of them. Blogger had me verify that the blog had been setup and was being operated by an actual human being. Then I had to wait about a day for another human being to look at the blog and verify that it was not full of spam before they released it back into my control.

I puzzled over this for a few days wondering what triggered the shut down. After speaking with other bloggers, I’ve determined that it was the fact that I had added a lot of links within a short period of time. I had put up about 30 links to various blogging resources (templates, web forums) within a twenty four hour period of time. Other bloggers reported doing the same thing and the common denominator is that we were all locked out of our blogs.

Blogger takes spam blogging seriously. Perhaps a little too seriously. I was one of the lucky ones in that I was only locked out of my blog. Other bloggers report having their blogs deleted with no warning whatsoever. Kevin Kennedy of Health Hack spent about four months building one of his blogs only to log on, one day, and find it completely gone. Luckily, he was able to rebuild and relaunch the site on its own domain and recoup some of his losses.

Everywhere you turn a new blog host is popping up offering server space for your blog, under their domain of course. Should you take up their offer or are you better off striking out on your own?

Well that all depends on what you plan to do with your blog. Is it a personal blog for casual posting or a professional blog to promote your business? Will you be talking about “safe” topics or risqué ones? Some hosts do not allow family unfriendly material and will delete your blog if you include such. How much traffic are you expecting or want to have? To keep server costs down, some hosts limit the number of visitors you can have per month. What I’m getting at is that if you host your blog on someone else’s server, you have to play by their rules.

But there are benefits to having a hosted blog. First and foremost they’re free which is a good thing with gas prices being what they are nowadays. Secondly, setting up a blog and getting started is usually as easy as making pie. Well at least for those who know how to make pie. Then there is the fact that you are usually apart of a community, who, out of curiosity, will visit the newbie and some blog communities have an internal marketing system that you can tap into for marketing your blog.

But all of these benefits can be outweighed by a few consequences. You can lose your blog for no reason and with no explanation. With Blogger, once your blog is gone, someone else can register the domain name. With other hosts, such as WordPress.com, once deleted the domain is no longer available even to you. Another draw back is if the host has server issues, you have server issues and worse if the host’s business goes under, well, there goes your blog.

Hosting a blog on your own domain, while eliminating many of these issues, comes with its own set of challenges. There is the cost of the server space and monthly traffic. Then you must install and configure the blog software which, for a newbie to computing, could prove to be a challenge. There is the upkeep and maintenance of the blog and you have work twice as hard at marketing yourself.

However, the major benefit to having your own space on the net is similar to buying a house versus renting. It’s yours to do with whatever you want. You have complete control. If your blogging takes off and you start getting more visitors than you know what to do with, you can open a web store and sell items. You can add a forum. If you hate your web host, you can change to a different one without changing web addresses. If you have the know-how, you can become a blog host yourself. The possibilities are endless.

So before you jump onto the free blog bandwagon, think long and hard about whether or not it will take you where you want to go. With free blog hosts, you may just find yourself heading towards a dead end.

What exactly is free hosting?
In exchange for free hosting, the company can place ads your website. The ads can be placed on the top of the main page, the top of every page, or on the sides. The ads are usually not targeted. It is possible that they won’t match the demographics of your web visitors. In addition, they are not customized to match the content on your web page.

This is a very expensive exchange program if your goal is to build up an online business. The area above the fold, everything that is visible without scrolling, is the most effective advertising area on the entire site. This is the area you should use for your affiliate links, Google Adsense, paid links and expanded site navigation.

Some free web hosting contracts go a step further and ask for your participation in their email marketing campaigns. You will receive emails that require a click through to a merchant site, and/or fill out endless surveys. This can be very time consuming and annoying.

Before you sign any free hosting contract ask to see sample sites. You want to get a feel for the types of ads that are being shown on other website. What do you want to look for?
1. Do you see pop-up ads? What about banners?
2. How large are the ads?
3. Are they just off topic or are they inappropriate?
4. Where are the ads? Are they on every single page or on selected pages?

Even if the ads are not on every page, watch out. It could mean that the hosting service has figured out which pages bring in the most revenue and they can afford to ignore everything else. Guess what? If it brings in lots of revenue for them, it could probably bring in lots of revenue for you.

There’s free and then there’s FREE
If the space is free, what about the domain name?

If your new site will look like http://yoursite.freewebhost.com you’re getting a subdomain for your site. It’s not really your unique domain name. They are simply loaning you a space for your stuff.

This is not a unique domain name that you can use to brand your business. You can’t use it anywhere except with this particular web hosting company. Ditto if the new domain names is http://www.freewebhost.com/yoursite/.

So what if they offer a truly unique domain name?
How long will it take before you actually own the domain name? Even the cheap web hosting services will require that you stay with the company for thirty to sixty days before you can keep a free domain name.

What happens if you want to switch to another company before the period is up? Sometimes there’s a charge to keep the domain name or to transfer it. This should be clearly stated in their FAQ’s or in the text of the hosting contract before you agree to use their service.

Do you have enough bandwidth?
Many free web hosting services are providing their services in such a way that you will need to upgrade your hosting package if your site has any degree of minor success. The tipping point is usually bandwidth. That is a measure of how much text, pictures, ftps etc. you can send to your web customers every month.

The Bandwidth in your contract is measured on a monthly basis. Check the contract to see if there are any fees for going over your monthly amount, or if you will lose your free hosting privileges.

Free host today, no host tomorrow
There is a very high turnover for free web hosting services that heavily depend on advertising revenue. Even the most successful web companies will find that their advertising revenue varies on a monthly basis. Will the company suddenly go out business if they hit a three month slump?

There should be a written policy on what happens to your content if they site suddenly goes out of business. Can you still access your files? Is there an alternative URL or login site with your information? How much time do you have?

You are only as reliable as your hosting service
Check out the statistics on the uptime for their servers. This applies to any hosting service, whether you are paying or not. If their uptime is in the low 90’s and below, then try to find another hosting provider.

You are taking a big risk if you use a free web hosting services for your business site. The inability to control your advertising, high turnover rates among the free hosting providers, and variable contracts usually spells disaster for e-commerce sites.

To run a successful online venture, 24-hour live customer service, high uptimes ratios and control of your advertising space is a must. These features are also the major weaknesses of the average free hosting provider.

A better option for you company would be to sign up for an affordable or cheap web hosting provider. You will have many service options in this category and can usually avoid the limitations of the free hosting companies.

Syd Johnson is the Executive Editor of RapidLingo.com, a Financial Solutions Website. This article may be freely distributed as long as the author’s bio is included with an active link to http://www.rapidlingo.com

Are You Going To Have A Personal Home Page Or A Business Site Hosted?

The first thing you may want to consider with the web hosting service is the type of website you are going to have hosted. A small business may not need the options that come with larger hosting plans. On the other hand, if you are going to plan on having a large e-commerce site hosted, you may want all the bells and whistles that are provided from some web hosting services. When you have decided on what type of website you will have hosted, you can then figure how to compare the web hosting services and plans.

How Much Data Transfer And Disk Space Is Offered From The Web Hosting Plan

Some of the aspects you will want to compare are the disk space and bandwidth to see if the hosting plan can handle the data transfer from your business promotions that can cause large amounts of traffic. On the other hand, if you have a simple home page you will not need much disk space and bandwidth. Only you can decide on what you will really need from the web hosting service, options and plans that are offered.

Aspects To Consider For Your Web Hosting Needs

Some of the aspects of the web hosting service you may want to consider are, the cost and fees, customer support, control panel, POP email accounts, FTP transfer limits and if you have unlimited space transfer.

Web Hosting Costs And Possible Setup Fees?

When you compare the cost of the web hosting plan, be sure you understand what the costs are, before you sign up. Make sure you know what the setup fees might be, if any.

What About Customer Support From The Web Hosting Company?

Customer support is very important because you don’t want your site or sites down for long periods of time. Be sure to see if they offer 24 hours a day customer support and what experience they have with customers in the past. You can easily check with the BBB to see how the web hosting company rates with customer service. This simple consideration can help save you from hassles and lost revenue.

Is A Control Panel Available?

Some people do not have much experience with web hosting control panels. You may want to see what type of control panel the web hosting service offers to see if it is user friendly and that it will fit your needs. An experienced webmaster may not need a control panel, but a control panel is a must for the rest of us.

Are POP Email Accounts Available?

Another aspect of web hosting service plans you may want to consider are, the POP email accounts that may be offered. Most business plans will need email service from their web hosting plan. Check to see how many are available to you, if you think you will need access to email accounts.

What About FTP Transfer Limits?

Again, be sure to look into the FTP transfer limits with the web hosting services you are considering. You want to make sure the web hosting plan offers FTP transfer for your business needs. Most web hosts do not have limits on FTP use.

Check out the web hosting plan to see if they offer unlimited space transfer. Read the terms of service to see if you can upgrade, if you need more space in the future. You do not want to have a problem with the web hosting service if you use too much space on the server.

By taking the time to shop around and compare web hosting plans and services, you will know you have made a well informed decision.