The Best Web Hosting List

The best web hosting providers will offer easy website scripts that you can install with one-click. For example, if your web hosting provider uses cPanel, one of the forerunners in web hosting control panels, then you also get Fantastico, which allows the kind of easy website script installs I mentioned earlier. But if you don’t have an easy tool to install scripts, you can do them yourself without any HTML or programming experience! Here are a few popular script ideas you may want to use.

Counters & Web Stats

Having a website counter or web statistics program on your web hosting plan allows you to see who is on your website, at what time, how long they stay, where they came from, and even how many times they came back.

* Perfect for business web hosting to keep track of potential customers or personal web hosting to see the popularity of your blog, church website, or hobby website!

Advertisements

Owning your own website means you can put your own advertisements on it if you wish! This is fun because you can actually make money off online advertisements, and it won’t cost you a dime to install them. Make sure the ads are relevant to your website, find a good application or script, and install it. It’s that easy.

* Perfect for ecommerce web hosting to gain additional income from your website or blog web hosting where you can easily capitalize on your readership.

Photo Galleries

Do you want to have a professional art or photo gallery for your family, church, vacation, business products, digital or traditional art, and more? Then installing a photo gallery script will help your best web hosting look phenomenal! With photo gallery scripts, you can have any many ‘galleries’ as you want and can add unlimited photos or images instantly, all from your main hosting control panel!

* Perfect for mothers and families, churches, blog web hosting, vacation photos, business products, digital or traditional artists, and more.

So you think you’re ready to buy web hosting? That’s great! Like the first time I purchased web hosting, you must be very excited! It’s a little bit scary, a little thrilling, and a great deal nerve-wracking. To help ease your web hosting anxiety, here are some presales questions you may want to answer yourself before you buy from the best web hosting provider of your choice.

What kind of website do I want to host?

Are you ready for business hosting? Ecommerce? Personal? Family? Narrow it down as much as possible to a specific niche. Here are some further examples:

* Blog hosting / WordPress web hosting
* Joomla hosting
* Web 2.0 hosting
* Dedicated Server Hosting
* Adult hosting
* Music hosting
* Email hosting
* Reseller hosting
* Photo hosting / Artist hosting
* Church hosting

What kind of features do I need?

Consider the kind of website you are looking to create. If you are starting a church website, odds are you are not going to need very much storage space, whereas you might need a website template and an average amount of bandwidth. On the other hand, if you are running a photography website, you are going to need a good deal of storage space and bandwidth, but may be less concerned with website templates or the amount of email addresses you can use.

How many webpages and/or websites will I create?

You may not know this ahead of time, but think in generic terms – do you plan to add other websites to your hosting account in the future? Would you like to be able to have that option?

Do I need advanced web hosting features?

Do you plan to add scripting or programming to your website? If so, make sure the kind of scripts you want to run are supported by your web hosting provider. If you’re unsure, odds are you don’t need them.

Can I build the website myself?

If yes, don’t choose a web hosting provider who offers free site building tools over one that doesn’t just because it looks like they offer more. If you’re unsure about building your own website, make sure that you put a website builder as a priority on your web hosting checklist! Or get a web design template.

Here’s a quick list for you of 5 website design tips. Once you’ve got your best web hosting picked out, you’ll need them to start actually designing the look of your new website!

1. Simplicity is Key

When people first started designing websites back in the 90s, websites were ugly and overcrowded with a bunch of images, text, and worst of all links. These days, web hosting and web design are better when they are created with simplicity in mind. Keeping this thought close, after you purchase your website hosting and start to design your website, don’t overcrowd your site with pictures and links. Let your content do most of the talking but keep that below 500 words for the index page. Take a look at thebestwebhostinglist.com, for example. The most important thing to remember is: don’t use flashy animations or blinking text, etc. These things are not effective or professional.

2. White Space is Good

These days, a clean website is a beautiful website. In the old days, clutter was best, but having nice white space or blank space between words, images, links, and everything else, means your website will look cleaner and neater. It will also look modern, which is good for any new web hosting customer to consider!

3. Be Appropriate

Personally, I love anime girls, but I’m not going to have a template with anime girls on it if I’m running a business, because that is not professional. If you are running a business, make sure your photos, music, videos, and overall theme is tasteful and effectively portrays your image. As state above, clean and simple is better than messy and crowded for website design.

4. Organize, Organize, Organize!!!

The most important part of a website’s design is how effectively you can lead your customers or audience exactly where you want them. For example, if you want them to buy your product, make sure your product’s price, details, and images or screenshots are easily accessible from the homepage and from all other pages on the website. Likewise, if you have important information, display it prominently. The most important thing to remember is to include a link back to the homepage of your website on EVERY page, preferably in the header or top of your website’s menu.

5. Make it Pretty

That sounds silly, but honestly, a beautiful website sells better than an ugly one. By make it pretty, though, I really mean to check for broken links, make sure your website works on all browsers, double check that your message is clear, and get comments from your community. Ask them to take a survey or comment on a blog about how your website looks.

Make sure to choose a reliable web hosting provider so that these tips are not wasted on a website that is down most of the time. To avoid this, check our Top 10 Web Hosting List for the best web hosting companies in the world.

If you’re anything like we were when we first starting building websites back in 1998 or so, the letters “HTML” scare you terribly. It’s one of the first things people think of when purchasing a website: “But…what if I don’t know HTML?” You wonder not only if HTML will be hard to learn but if you have the time and patience to work with it to design your website.

Well, the absolute truth is, these days HTML is not as important as it used to be, so don’t let it scare you. The best web hosting providers will offer you tools that will help you around HTML, but if you’re still sure you want to learn it, here’s a quick tutorial for two of the most basic and important HTML tags you’ll need to know to build your website.

LINKS

To link text, follow this easy method. Type:

< A HREF = “http://www.YourLink.com” >

Replace “YourLink” with the website you’re actually linking to. Then type:

Your Website Link Text < / a >

“Your Website Link Text” stands for whatever you want the link text to be. For example, if I wanted to link our website, http://www.thebestwebhostinglist.com, to the phrase “web hosting”, I would type the following:

< A HREF = “http://www.thebestwebhostinglist.com” > web hosting < / a>

Just be sure you remove ALL spaces before you’re done. Then it’ll show up like this:

web hosting

IMAGES

First, find the image you want to use, and make sure it is uploaded to your website. If you’re not sure how to upload, your web hosting provider should be able to help you out! Copy the URL that you can use to view that image online and keep that URL handy. Then, type:

< IMG SRC = “http://www.YourImageURL.com” > < / a >

Replace “YourImageURL” with your image’s URL and then delete ALL spaces. Then your image will show up instantly!

Many people have asked us what it takes to actually build a website from start to finish: i.e. How long does it take and how much does it cost?

Building a website can be extremely easy and can take you less than a few hours if you plan the building of it ahead of time! Here are some tips and tricks for getting your website online in under 5 hours!

1) Write your content and get your images ready first.

Yep, before you sit down to purchase web hosting, domain name, and start building, come up with your text, save your images, and even get your videos, music, and other production tools ready in advance. Having these at hand will speed up the process of creating your website.

2) Choose your website builder or templates.

This may require doing a little research and you might need to compare web hosts in the process, but find out which content management system, website builder, or web design template you’re going to use to actually put your site online and make it look good. Our biggest recommendations go to:

* WordPress Web Hosting – For this, we would recommend IX Web Hosting, ThinkHost, or HostMonster. They can all help you get WordPress up and running with no programming or design experience required. Plus there a gazillion Free WordPress Theme sites you can choose your design from. Easy, easy, easy.

* Joomla Web Hosting – For this, we recommend IX Web Hosting, DreamHost, or BlueHost, all of which have Joomla tools that help you install and get started without having to know a thing about technology! Plus, sites like iJoomla.com offer Joomla Extensions and design tools that help you make Joomla work for you and look good to boot.

* Web Design Templates from DreamTemplate. These guys know website design, and their templates are super cheap. You only have to pay one-time and they can help you install them. These templares are compatible with all of our Top 10 Web Hosting providers.

3) Pick the Best Web Host and Build!

Once you log in, you can start building your website immediately. That means less time spent worrying.

Now for the best part – you can design, build, and host your website for under $100 per year. This is around $6.95 or LESS per month! That’s less than 25 cents/day. You really cannot lose with these easy website hosting deals.

So, you’ve decided that your current web hosting provider just doesn’t cut it? Fly by night web hosting companies are all too common these days, which is part of the reason we created our Top 10 Web Hosting List, to guide you towards the best web hosting companies in the world. If you’re ready to move to new webhosting provider, we can help – here’s the best how to guide for moving from one web host to another.

Step 1: Purchase the Best Web Hosting

Take a look at our Top 10 Web Hosting List and choose the webhost that best suits your needs. We currently recommend IX Web Hosting, our most affordable and powerful web hosting company. Purchase a new account with IX Web Hosting for the best deal possible.

Step 2: Copy, Paste, & Upload

Copy all of your data (text content, videos, music, pictures, links, etc) from your old web hosting provider. DO NOT cancel your service with the old provider until you have done this or you will lose this information forever! You’ll need to upload the content using an FTP program or by logging in with your new host’s control panel. Once you have downloaded and copied and stored all your old information that you want to keep (including emails!), proceed to step 3.

Step 3: Verify & Review

Once all your content is uploaded, use a temporary URL (provided by your new web host) to view your website. If everything looks good, proceed to step 4.

Step 4: Change Your Domain NameServers

This is the part most people forget about or just don’t know they need to do, so pay close attention or your website will never be viewable online! You’ll need to find out who your domain name is registered with. Visit betterwhois.com and type in your domain name. Find where it states “domain registrar” and look up that company online – they are your domain registrar.

You may need to email this domain registrar to gain access to manage your domain name. You’ll need to ask them for your domain name username and password so you can change your nameservers. Or, you can always call your old web host to find this information.

Either way, just login and edit your nameservers (which look like NS1.yourwebhost.com and NS2.yourwebhost.com) to the new nameservers your new web host gives you. Your new webhost can give these to you over the phone as well, so if you lose them, no worries. Once you have updated the domain name servers, your domain name will propagate, which means it won’t be viewable as an online website for around 24 hours.

Step 5: Preview and Cancel

Preview your new website and make sure you have everything you need. Then, cancel your old web hosting account, and you’re set! Your site will be online in no time!

If you are a work-at-home mom, just starting your home business, or perhaps looking to extend the reach of a local business to a broader online community, small business web hosting is definitely the way to go. But what exactly does a small business website need that’s different from what normal webhosting customers require?

For one thing, technical support. If you are running a simple blog and it goes down for a couple minutes, it’s no big deal. But if you are operating a business online, every minute of downtime means the possibility you are losing sales, money, and customers. Don’t be fooled by “99.9% uptime” though – every web host says they have that. What you need is valuable, trustworthy, knowledgeable technical support available as close to 24/7 as possible. Remember, live chat is great, but live phone support is better and a decent ticketing or email system is best.

Another difference is storage space and bandwidth. While shared web hosting providers can make up high numbers, you really need a web hosting provider who can stand behind those numbers and back you up if you reach them. Choose the best web hosting you can to assure you can run shopping carts, multiple websites and pages, hundreds of emails, and more. Remember to choose the features you need most and worry about pricing second – most webhosts will be affordable these days.

Make 100% sure your webhosting provider has the following features or that you are able to purchase these features at an additional cost:

* Dedicated IP Address
* SSL Certificate
* Shopping Carts
* Blogs (WordPress)
* CMS (Joomla)
* Multiple Parked Domains (redirecting domains)

Small business webhosting can be tough, but with the best web hosting list guiding you every step of the way, you can make sure you are making the right decision.

You’ve got the best web hosting. You’ve registered your domain name. You have even created email addresses, learned how to use the web host’s control panel, and have set up your first blog!

But what makes your website work? What makes it look good? What makes it do the things you need it to do?

In fact you’re wondering, how do I make my website work?

1) The first step is great web hosting. Choosing the best webhosting provider can be difficult, so take a look at our Top 10 Web Hosts for suggestions.

2) Find great website design. If you are working with WordPress Web Hosting, try finding free WordPress Themes. If you are working with a basic website, you’ll want to get reliable web design templates.

3) Learn scripting or hire a professional. If you want your website to do things, automate certain processes, or otherwise interact with your customers or audience, you’re going to need to learn coding like PHP and MySQL. There are many resources online to hire professionals also to help you out.

Writing great meta tags can offer some support in getting your website ranked in Google, Yahoo, and the other major search engines. With the help of best web hosting providers and search engine optimization, your website can be at the top of the list for any given search term. Meta tags aren’t as popular or important as they used to be, but they can still assist in getting your website recognized in the biggest search engines.

So using a new example domain name, “thebestwebhostinglist.com”, here’s some helpful tips on writing great meta tags for your website hosting!

1. Keywords

This part of the meta tag generator is the least important, actually, as it was really abused in the 1990s by webmasters trying to erroneously achieve top ranks by deceiving the search engines. But using the proper keywords, this gives a slight more importance to your website over another competitor who doesn’t have them.

So in the keywords field, you will want to enter around 5-10 keywords or search phrases that you would like to get ranked for. For example, TheBestWebHostingList.com wants to get ranked for people searching for “web hosting guide”, “best web hosting”, “top 10 web hosts”, and maybe even a specific kind of hosting service like “ASP hosting”. So in their meta tags, the keywords would be: “web hosting guide, best web hosting, top 10 web hosts, ASP hosting, thebestwebhostinglist.com”. Notice we added the actual domain name in the keywords. This is also important in case someone looks up “thebestwebhostinglist.com” in Google instead of just typing it into their browser.

Continue to Part III on writing great meta tags: Describing Your Website, brought to you by thebestwebhostinglist.com

Databases can really simplify your life when it comes to running your website. Website hosting can be tough, but if you choose the best web hosting provider and the best database hosting and management available, you’ll be set in no time.

Database web hosting is really just a way to keep all your information stored and accessed in a simple way. For example, if you bought an ecommerce web hosting plan and have 500 customers to attend to, you can store their information in a database. This database can hold information like the products you offer, your customers’ addresses, pricing, categories, past customer information, and really anything you want it to. By using these databases on your website, you can access information you have stored and recall it quickly and easily on forms, for accounts, and in any way necessary.

Database servers are dedicated servers used specifically for hosting a database. When you have a website too big to host both the website and databases on the same server, this is normally how you proceed.

There are several types of databases that you can use, the most popular of which are MySQL, MS SQL, and postgreSQL.

The best web hosting providers can offer all of these or different versions for different hosting plans.