Confessions And Tips From A Top Web Hosting Salesman

Confessions and Tips from a Top Web Hosting

Salesman

by: Jamie Chantiles

Have you ever gone car shopping with a former car salesperson?

Their industry and sales knowledge is powerful information vital to

the average buyer. Gaining their street smarts and savvy gives the

buyer an edge. This "edge" can be the difference between getting

good value and being taken advantage of.

As a former top web hosting salesman, I have decided to come

forward and shed some light on the industry. The rapidly growing

world of web hosting, domain names, and basic web design is still

a mystery to many interested people. My intent is to help you

understand basic "do's and don'ts" in order to help you make a

better more-informed decision.

When I got into this business several years ago a close friend if

mine had paid $35 for a domain name and had monthly expenses of

$20 for simple hosting. By quickly checking the domain name I

discovered it was in the hosting company's name and not the actual

owner of the website! I also quickly realized that this $275 annual

expense was available at less than $100.

Not controlling your domain name can become a huge problem to

website owners even though it is the smallest annual expense. You

can be "held hostage" by hosting companies who control your

domain name. This is how they keep you paying more than you

should monthly, because you cannot leave! Make sure you are

dealing with a reputable reseller or actual Registrar when you buy

your domain name. Also consider buying the name for 5 or 10 years

for $40-$80. If your email address changes or the credit card

expiration changes, you can accidentally lose the name and have

fines of $200 to get it back. Be wary of free domains and free web

hosting, as you still get what you pay for. For more info on the

subject refer to DomainInformer.

Not having the username and passwords to access the web hosting

accounts is another huge mistake many buyers make. If your web

designer turns up missing, and you cannot gain access to the files

you bought and paid for, then you cannot leave that web host. This

is the most common problem I encountered in my selling names, sites, and design! By the time you realize you are over-paying, you

are frustrated because you are powerless. Do not trust anyone to

keep this information for you. The relationship may change and you

will be glad you are independent, informed, and in control of the

situation.

Finally you also need to keep a copy of the files on your hard drive

and/or backed up on a CD. This way if the web host loses the files

or your designer is MIA you have a backup plan. Be sure the

domain name is registered with you as the administrative contact, and that you have all username/password combinations for names

and hosting accounts.

When you are a prospect everyone acts professionally, but what

about after you are a customer? To be really comfortable with your

web host make sure they give a 30-day money back guarantee. Load

the files and see what kind of performance and customer service

you get for a few weeks. If they promised 24/7 customer care on the

3rd ring and you are getting voice mail or being on hold for 15

minutes... you will be free to leave!

Web hosting is simply space in a computer where your html

documents and jpeg. images are stored. Good web design allows

for easy navigation through the written words and the pictures you

want the world to view. What you need to be concerned with is the

speed with which your website loads and the amount of uptime your

host claims to give. When traffic is a heavy a slow loading website

will frustrate interested viewers, and cause them to leave. In

addition the host needs a backup plan for power and Internet

connectivity. Many top hosts claim 99+% uptime year round. Get

details about top hosts at HostReview.com.

Things to consider when buying web space are as follows: Will

you utilize a database for a dynamic searchable site? Are you going

to have a store, selling products online in a shopping cart? Are you

going to have Unix or Windows based hosting? Do you need a

secure site (static IP) needed to enter sensitive information like

social security or credit card numbers safely? How much space do

you need for large audio and video files, versus pictures and text

only? And what is the difference between shared and dedicated

hosting?

To answer all the above simply I will paint some broad stokes

below. More knowledge about technical info can be found

at TheDomainTycoons.com People are unclear on the differences

between shared and dedicated hosting. Most everyone starts with

shared hosting as it is more affordable and works fine. In a shared

hosting environment, the computer space is sliced up and "shared"

among many small sites. Shared hosting ranges from a few dollars a

month for a simple site to as much as $30-50/mo if you are selling

online. Dedicated hosting usually begins at $59 and can easily

reach $200/mo. and more.

If your site ever gets really popular and/or you have many

transactions happening you to will move to a dedicated server.

Dedicated meaning that all of that computer's resources are

allocated to you alone. If you do not know how to configure the

server then you will need technical assistance in the form of an IT

employee.

This technical expert will monitor the data center operations; of

your hosting company to make sure data is backed up and protected

by firewalls. Firewalls protect your computer from being "hacked"

into unauthorized people. Another option you may consider is an

emerging trend known as "managed dedicated servers". The host

helps to manage the servers daily operation, in order to help the

novice operator.

Both shared and dedicated hosting requires a decision between

Unix and Windows. This has been compared with people's

preference to Ford or Chevrolet. Some people grow up and get

used to one and prefer it for some reason. Others know both and

utilize what will be best in each situation.

From the viewer's perspective, both Unix and Windows look the

same. If you are going to use ASP (Active Server Pages) you will

need Windows. Unix utilizes PHP instead of ASP, and is generally

more stable and affordable. This is because the license fees paid to

Microsoft increase the hosting company's overhead and they pass

that on to the consumer.

Many PC users have Front Page design software from Microsoft

included as a gift in their original purchase. Unix hosting now

includes front-page support for well under $10/mo. So you can

utilize design software you already have, and host for under $100

per year.

Dreamweaver is the other popular design software program you

should investigate if you are thinking about doing website design.

Be wary of friends or relatives who will do the design for free. If

they are gainfully employed, the tasks that they are paid for will

take priority, which places unnecessary strains on the relationship.

More info on web design and search engine optimization can be

found at PromotionWorld.com http://www.promotionworld.com/.

We also need to understand the relationship between the static IP

address, using a database, and using eCommerce features to sell

products online. IP addresses help identify where the actual end

user is located physically. This is important if we need to locate to

the original sender of a message or a live user creating havoc on the

Internet.

Many of us have bought an airline ticket online by now. You may

have noticed the screen that alerts you to the fact your connection is

secure. This secure certificate assures a computer user that it is safe

to enter credit card info and buy without fear of someone

intercepting your sensitive data.

The static IP allows authorities and credit card processors to track

storeowners and their computers to insure 100% honesty. Most

shared web hosting sites share IP addresses as well. This is fine for

a simple informational website with just pictures and text.

Dynamic sites are capable of storing your name and user profiles at

an initial visit. This allows the site to "recognize" you on a

subsequent visit and quickly load the profile for instant access.

Dynamic sites also search for products or names in the company's

stored database. Searching for different items quickly and the site

saving all your personal information, is a direct benefit of a

database.

Most initial sites will not use static IPs or databases unless you are

going to be selling online. These stores are referred to as

eCommerce web hosting and are the most expensive of all. Monthly

charges can easily exceed $50/mo when you consider all expenses

of the static IP, payment gateway, merchant account, and shopping

cart.

Buyers add items to their "shopping cart"; it totals shipping and

taxes and charges your card. Merchant account banks process your

buyer's online purchase, charging 2-3% fee total to send money to

your bank. You are then free to ship the product they bought.

My personal website has lots of pictures and text, yet is barely over

50 MB in size. 1 GB (1000MB) of storage, now is available for

$10/mo, and has 20 times the storage I need. Large video files such

as streaming video and audio are the largest users of space. 200MB

and 10 email addresses are going to be as much as many small sites

will ever need. Often of you prepay the year you can get a free

month or the setup fees waived. Also find a host who pays you to

refer friends, and you can get free months that way.

I hope this information helps you better understand the power of the

Internet. We are all connected through this World Wide Web, and it

is your right to benefit in every way possible. Come on, jump in, the

water's fine...

About The Author

Jamie Chantiles is Director of Sales for DevStart. He has been

featured in magazines and on TV as an expert in peak

performance. His speciality is in increasing productivity and

attaining peak performance by harnessing the power of your own

brain. Jamie has worked in the web hosting industry, selling and

training for the last 2 years. Read more stimulating, probing and

revealing articles on HostReview (www.hostreview.com).

jamie@devstart.com