Mad Host Reviewer

A domain is a name that identifies IP addresses on the internet. The domain name Yahoo.com represents about fifteen (15) IP addresses. Domain names are used to identify Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.gohome.com/index.html, the domain name is gohome.com.

You register a domain name by registering with a domain name services registrar. The domain name industry is regulated and overseen by ICANN, which is an organization responsible for providing standards and procedures for certifying companies as domain name registrars.

Domain name registration has grown over the years. Network Solutions was the first domain name registrar to ever provide such a service. That was over ten years ago but today there are many accredited registrars. Only a domain name registrar is permitted to access and modify the master database domains that are on InterNIC servers. The fee is determined by the registrar as far as getting a domain name and some registers have special domain name packages.

Do You Really Need a Domain Name?
You use a domain name to create an identity on the world wide web and domain names can also be used for branding purposes, such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc. In picking a domain name, the title shouldn’t stray far from what your company is all about. This will allow you to market your web site as a subsidiary of your business and put your domain name on business cards and advertisements.

Once you select a domain name, you must register it with a domain name registrar. This is a task you can do easily. Many ISPs offer a complete package that includes hosting and the registering of the domain name for you. Fees probably will include a one time setup fee for all of the backend technical work that needs to be accomplished. Then pay your service provider a monthly, semi-annual or annual fee for web site hosting services.

Many domain registrar services have competent online tools to help you get your domain name and hosting site up and running.

How do you choose a hosting provider when there are thousands of hosting companies available online? It’s like going through the yellow pages trying to find burger restaurants. There are lots of them. Hopefully these tips will steer you in the right direction. Important factors in selecting a web hosting company include the percentage of server uptime. 98 to 99% uptime is the dream standard for server uptime, 65% is unacceptable. The higher the downtime of a server, the lower the potential for traffic at your web site. Another consideration is how much space is provided for the files that will make up your web site. How much bandwidth is in your package? Monthly bandwidth is the amount of data transfer allowed for visitors to view and use your web site.

With today’s changing trends in web hosting services, it is important to get as much server space and bandwidth as you can. This will allow for necessary updates and increased traffic to your site as it becomes more popular.

It is equally important when purchasing business web hosting that CGI access is provided; along with features such as MySQL, Real Audio, Real Video, and Cold Fusion (which some companies sell as an add on component). A crucial feature necessary for doing ecommerce is SSL, or Secure Socket Layer. This encrypts all order and credit card information until it reaches you. An SSL certificate can be purchased from most web hosting providers. Displaying it on your ecommerce web site verifies that your site transactions are safe and secure.

We’ve talked about this before in other articles. You will need a domain name that reflects the nature of your business. For instance, a sports business might have a URL that is www.coloradosports.com. To get your own unique domain name, you must first check the availability of the name with a domain name search, offered by domain registrars such as Network Solutions.

There are many service providers to choose from. If you do your homework, you’ll find some good deals that will fit your budget.

A web hosting company provides a service that allows individuals and businesses to post web pages to the internet. A web host sells (or for free with advertisements on the page) the platform of servers and technologies to view web sites on the internet.

Web hosts offer services that customers can utilize after they have purchased monthly dial-up, broadband, DSL, etc. services that allow them access to the internet. Web hosting services use hosting and client architecture to load content to the server so web pages and information can be viewed on the internet in its original HTML format.

A web hosting company will offer clients access to a server that will provide the content to individuals on the internet after they make a URL or domain name request. To view pages on the web, you must have a web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox to request the web page from the server after you have purchased internet access.

Web sites are pages that are stored on a computer called a server. The server is a part of a network of computers on the internet (or World Wide Web) that allows users of the internet to reach your site anywhere in the world at anytime. The internet is open 24 hours, seven days a week around the clock.

Host computers are configured so that when your URL or domain name is typed in, the address will use a pointer routine (look for the address from terminal to terminal) until it reaches the computer that hosts your web site. Then, if all is okay, your web site should display itself on the users’ screen.

Hosting companies require that you buy your URL or domain name first before you purchase hosting services. Most hosting companies have a package that will allow you to buy the domain name and hosting at the same time.

Looking for professional web design, dedicated cloud, or managed hosting? Get affordable hosting from a dependable company that has earned the trust of more than 600,000 businesses since 1998.

Hostway’s plans are packed with great features that you can use to make your site stand out. Register a domain name and get a 3-page starter Web site, get the search engines to see you, get ttraffic and increase sales, see what’s hot and what’s not with their analytics and even get them to do all the design work — including CMS!

Get 50% off for 3months of web hosting with no setup fees — starting at just $13.95 $6.98/month

Starter web hosting gives you:
• no long term contract
• 30-day money back guarantee
• 24/7/365 phone and email support
• 99.99% uptime
• 100GB disk space
• Unlimited traffic

Their four hosting packages start at $13.95 for the Starter, $19.95 for Standard, $26.95 for Advanced and $44.95 for the Ecommerce package. All give you a bunch of email accounts and as a bonus, some online advertising credits to get you visible.

Looks good to me! mhr

SiteGround.com should be on your shortlist. They’ve been offering superior web hosting for over 5 years, employ 70 dedicated pro’s and host 250,000 websites. Quite impressive!

web hosting benefits
• friendly and experinced staff
• 24/7 customer care
• 99.9% server uptime
• FREE domain name
• FREE sitebuilding tools
• Unlimited traffic web space and email accounts

today’s special (13-Jul-2010) for fast, reliable & secure web hosting was $3.95 — which is a giveaway for all the above and should be your next move for cheap web hosting. For extra bells & whistles… SiteGround.com has a nice interface, offers control panels and seo tools; they’ll do the search engine submission and weekly backups, offer WP/Drupal/Joomla/etc. templates, articles and tutorials — Joomla and WordPress, Drupal Tutorial,, PhpMyAdmin, FileZilla. functionality-wise SG offers Joomla, CMS, shopping carts and valuable seo & Google tools.

So go ahead and give SiteGround.com a try!