Don’t Panic!

I know it’s super-stressful when your site crashes during business hours or when you get a monthly statement filled with mysterious charges. Trust me, I know. But if you call your host’s customer service line just to vent, you’re wasting everyone’s time. So first, take a deep breath. Count to ten. Close your eyes and go to your happy place. Whatever you need to do to calm down, do it.

When you’re ready to handle things calmly, start gathering information: If you’re having computer issues, take screenshots of any error messages. Then, make sure the problem isn’t your Internet connection. Try rebooting your computer. If the problem is a billing or hosting plan issue, go back and re-read your statement. Grab your calculator and double check the math. Review your contract. Once you’ve calmed down and once you’re reasonably sure that the problem is on their end, then – and ONLY then – you should contact customer support.

But wait! Should you call the 1-800 number? Is it better to send an email? Should you try the live chat? What happens now?

Let’s take a look at some of the ins and outs of tech support.

Got a Minor Problem? Open a Ticket

A service ticket is a good option for non-emergencies or issues that can wait for a couple hours. All you have to do is go to your web host’s website and fill out a short service ticket form. It only takes a couple seconds, and you don’t have to stay on hold for 45 minutes.

The drawback? A service ticket is basically just an email, so you don’t know when it will be answered. Also, if your web host doesn’t have 24/7 support for tickets and they’re in another time zone, it could be an entire day before your problem is fixed!

Bottom line: If you’ve got a non-emergency (and you don’t mind waiting), a service ticket might be a good option for you.

Is Phoning the Fastest?

Time is money, as the saying goes. And that’s definitely true if your business’ website is down during peak hours. What if you don’t have the time to just sit and wait for someone to reply to a service ticket? Get on the phone! And don’t forget to grab a piece of paper and a pen — you’ll need to write down information such as the technician’s name, instructions, and any confirmation numbers you receive.

Calling customer service is usually faster than opening a service ticket – but keep in mind there are exceptions. In some cases – for example, if your web host’s server is down and many websites are affected — you might end up on hold indefinitely while tech support deals with hundreds of other frantic customers.

So what do you do if you can’t get through by phone? Stay on hold, but open a service ticket at the same time. If the phone lines are flooded, you might actually get through by email first!

My Favorite: The Live Chat

Live chat is, hands down, my favorite way to contact tech support. Unfortunately, not all web hosts have this great feature (this is something to look for if you’re thinking about switching hosts!). But if your web host does have live chat, I highly recommend it.

What’s so great about live chat? First of all, if something goes wrong with the server, most customers will reach for the phone before going to the host’s website to log on to live chat. That means long hold times for the phone, so contacting customer service will be faster online. Second, when the chat is over, you’ll have the entire conversation there in written form. No pen and paper required for notes!

Make Your Web Host Accountable

You should expect customer service to fix your problem right away. Of course, this isn’t always possible if there’s something wrong with the server, and customer service might have to “look into” your problem and contact you at a later date. But don’t get off the phone just yet – if tech support tells you that they can’t fix the problem right away, make sure you get a confirmation number. That way you’ll have proof that you called in case they don’t fix your problem within a day. And if you’re inconvenienced for that long, you might be able to get a discount on future service, or even a refund. And this is when reading the Term of Service is necessary!

Remember, your web host is required to provide you with the service in your contract. So they must fix your problem! But you can help speed the process along by providing them with important information and contacting them in the most efficient way possible.

Here’s a quick reference table for when you need help in a hurry!

A dedicated hosting plan gives you a lot more flexibility for the size, content, and software customization for your website. But all of those benefits will cost you: A dedicated hosting plan can cost up to 10 times more than shared hosting!

So how do you know if dedicated hosting is worth the price? Well, you can decide how important the following features of dedicated hosting are for running your website, and then you can decide if you want to spend your hard-earned dollars on a dedicated server.

You Get All the Resources

Shared hosting means shared resources. This means that you have to share the bandwidth, memory, etc. with all the websites on the same server. If you just have a simple website or blog, then you don’t need to worry about running out of resources. But if you have a lot of multimedia elements like videos or chatrooms, your site will slow down in a hurry once your traffic increases.

When you purchase a dedicated hosting plan, you get all the resources. So, you can build a large portfolio website with tons of photo galleries, a complicated e-commerce website, or a video tutorial blog. And you’ll have all the storage space you need.

You Choose the Behind-the-Scenes Technical Stuff

When you have your own dedicated server, you have a lot more control than in a shared hosting plan. First of all, you can choose which operating system you want to use, as well as the software and control panel used on the server and website. So, if you want to run a Windows operating system and update the software every time something new comes out, you can do so without any trouble.

Choosing a shared hosting plan means using whatever operating system that the host chooses for the server. It also means waiting for them to update the software, if they ever do. If customization is a big issue for you, consider paying more for dedicated hosting.

You Can Host All Your Websites

You can buy as many shared hosting plans as you want. But once you have five or more sites with decent traffic, what’s the point in keeping them all on a shared server? At that point, you’ll probably end up paying about the same amount per month as a dedicated server plan. Might as well switch so you’ll have complete control over all their software and resource needs, right!?

Bottom Line? Switch When You Outgrow

Still not sure whether or not you need dedicated hosting? The easiest test is to surf your website during peak traffic hours. If every page loads in under 10 seconds, then shared hosting is probably still fine. On the other hand, if your site is slowing down, or you’re experiencing downtime, then it’s probably time to switch. Happy with your current web host, but want a dedicated server? No worries, most web hosts offer both kinds of plans and let you switch right away, for example Hostgator.

I know what you’re probably thinking: So what? Why does my IP address matter? Why should I care? Well, because you have choices! If you have a shared web hosting account, you share an IP address with all the websites on that server unless you pay an extra fee to have your own. It’s a lot cheaper to pay a little extra for an IP address than to switch to dedicated server hosting, but most of the time it’s not a big deal to share an IP address. Still, some websites might need a dedicated IP address all to themselves.

Not sure if you should get your own? You might want to think about it if you’re thinking of starting an e-business, or if you’re worried about SEO.

Run a Secure E-Business

If you have an e-commerce website, you probably need a dedicated IP address. Why? Because credit card transactions require an SSL certificate, which is an Internet protocol that provides the encryption needed for secure money transfers. An SSL certificate can only run on a dedicated IP address. So if you want your business to make money, then you should get your own IP address.

If you’re trying to save money, you can get around buying a dedicated IP address by using PayPal for your e-commerce site. Then your customers will be able to pay using PayPal’s secure site, instead of making the transaction on your site. But I don’t think PayPal should be your long-term solution: If you’re serious about your business, you should go ahead and get a dedicated IP address. Your customers might not appreciate being forced to register and create an account on a totally separate payment site – and they might decide to take their business somewhere else!

Protect Your SEO from a Bad Neighbor

Some people claim that sharing IP addresses can hurt your website’s SEO. You don’t usually know who shares your server, so you don’t know what kind of content shares your IP address. Search engines will flag a website for hosting malware or spam content, and punish them by lowering their SEO ranking. If you share a server with someone who is abusing the system, then your shared IP address might get blacklisted. And then your SEO will suffer with no warning and for no reason!

Then again, some experts say that this type of situation is very rare. But it’s still something to think about – do you want to risk sharing an IP address with a bad neighbor?

It’s All About Security!

As you can see, the decision to get a dedicated IP address really comes down to security. Do you need a secure way to run an e-business? Then you definitely need your own IP address. Are you worried that a shared IP address will hurt your SEO? Then it’s worth trying a dedicated IP address. On the other hand, if you just have a simple website and your SEO is just fine so far, then stick with your shared plan. To get a dedicated IP for your website, it usually costs a few bucks extra per month. For example Hostgator.com is charging $2/month extra for a dedicated IP.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you already know that website uptime is crucial — it can make or break your website! And you also know that you need a web host that guarantees 99% uptime.

But do you know who warns you when your website goes down? Are you assuming that your web host will alert you?

A monitoring company can alert you when your host drops the ball. (Photo source: Docklandsboy)

Think again…

Your web host isn’t going to let you know when your website goes down. They might alert you to scheduled server maintenance, but otherwise they keep you in the dark when they drop the ball on your service.

Luckily, you can enlist the services of a website monitoring company. These companies will monitor your website and alert you when something goes wrong. Usually these services work by sending test protocols to your servers, network services, routers, and anything else that affects your uptime. Then they alert you if something is wrong.

The best part? Most of these services are free!

Sounds too easy, right? Well, website monitoring services, just like any company, can vary a lot in value and effectiveness. So, it’s important to check out your options before signing up.

Here are a couple things to look for in a website monitoring service:

• Cost, of course. Most services offer several options, ranging from free to about $40 a month. The free options are usually for one website only; the companies that charge typically offer a range of options for additional websites.
• How often do they check your site? There’s a huge range here—some services check every minute, some every hour.
• How do they alert you when the site is down? Email notification is good, but SMS is even better – especially if you don’t plan to be near your computer all the time.
• Do they provide reporting services that track website trends and statistics? Some services will provide handy charts that show how often your site is down.

Interested in website monitoring? I did a little research to get you started (All links open in new windows):

In my opinion, Pingdom is the gold standard for website monitoring simply because even the free option will check your site every minute. Host Tracker will check your site every minute, but you have to pay or they’ll only check every 30 minutes and you only get email alerts. But, if you have a big budget and a lot of websites to monitor, Host Tracker can really help you out. If you’d rather pay as you go, BasicState is the only service without a monthly plan.

Have you experienced any downtime on your website? How did you find out about it? Tell us more in the comments. If you think your website might be experiencing some unnecessary downtime, sign up for a free plan and watch every move on your server! You will be surprised how quality/ lousy your web host is!

Well, like everything else, the website building tools included in hosting plans have pros and cons. We’ll discuss both in this two-part series. Let’s start with the good stuff!

Pro #1: Save Time with a Website Template

Coding a website yourself (or paying someone else to do it) can take months, even if you use software designed to help you out. Site builders, on the other hand, can take as little as ten minutes. You choose a template, add your content, pick out a few colors, and – bam! – you’ve got your very own website.

And most site builders have thousands of templates for any kind of website! You can choose a fun, casual design for a personal blog, or a sleek, professional look for your e-business. Some site builders even include specific templates for things like photography, restaurants, real estate, travel, and fashion. Then you can choose a color scheme and details like menu navigation buttons, social media, and e-commerce tools.

When you use a site builder, you don’t have to wait months for your website design to be complete. And since you don’t have to worry about design, you can focus on your content. Site builders make it very easy to insert your content into the correct areas within the design. You can just copy and paste from a Word document!

* Website Templates from a Site Builder

Pro #2: Edit from Anywhere – And Publish Instantly!

Your site doesn’t need to be a huge construction project.

When you use a site builder, all of your website files are stored online, and they’re accessible through your control panel. And that means you can edit your website from any computer with Internet access. On the other hand, if you use a stand-alone website building program like Dreamweaver, that program is installed on one computer. And that means – you guessed it – you’ve got to do all of your editing on one computer, then upload your new files to your website. But when you use a site builder, getting your website online is as quick and easy as designing it – since your site builder is connected to your web host, all you have to do is hit “publish.” No uploading required!

Pro #3: A Whole Gallery to Choose Your Photo From!

It can take a long time to take photos for your website, or to find free, unlicensed content online. But most web hosts will include an image gallery in the site builder stocked with photos that you can use freely throughout your website. You can choose any photos you want and insert them into your chosen template without worrying about violating any copyrights. This is just another example of how quick and easy it is to use a site builder.

As you can see, almost anyone can build a website if they use a site builder! All you need is an idea, written content, and an Internet connection.

Ready to start building a website? Well, hang on a second – I’ve got some more information for you. Stay tuned for Part II to learn about the downside of site builders. Meanwhile check out these 3 hosting packages that come with free website builder!

Surprise! It’s a trick question. The answer is actually 99%. That’s because any website host that advertises 100% – unless they’re giving you some sort of triple backup redundancy solution – is probably fibbing. The fact is, web host server maintenance happens, so sometimes your website will be down. But how often is acceptable? And what can you do if your website crashes – bringing your online sales along with it?

Six Things to Ask Your Web Host About Downtime

Choosing a reliable web host is the #1 way to avoid unnecessary downtime. Here’s what to ask them before you sign:

1. Do you have a 99% uptime guarantee?
   There are many web hosts that guarantee 99% uptime, so why deal with one that doesn’t? And remember, be wary of hosts who offer 100%!
2. Will you notify me about server maintenance?
   What if you are making an important update to your website and it suddenly goes down for maintenance? A good web host will notify you about all scheduled downtime so that you know what to expect from your website during that time. If they don’t provide you with this courtesy, skip them and move on to the next.
3. How often do you perform scheduled maintenance?
   You’re basically asking them how often your website will be down—and how much your traffic will be affected. You can do a little math here to check their numbers: If your web host claims to have 99% uptime, it can still be down 87 hours a year. That’s why you should also ask..
4. What time of day does downtime usually occur?
   Your web host won’t be able to control every second of downtime, but hopefully they’ll schedule most maintenance during low traffic times.
5. Do you back up my website?
   A lot of web hosts don’t archive your files! You can always back up your own data, but if your web host has a copy they can restart your website from those files if something goes wrong. It’s much easier than doing it yourself, and it’s a nice service that many good web hosts provide.
6. Do you provide free, 24/7 technical support?
   Consider this: You run an e-commerce website and it crashes on Friday afternoon. You have no idea what happened, and when it will be fixed. Then you try calling technical support and they’re closed…for the weekend. How much money do you think you’ll lose if your website stays down until Monday?

Surviving Downtime When it Happens (and it Will Happen)

So you followed my advice, chose a seemingly reliable host, and you’re still having issues with unscheduled downtime. Now what?
First, step away from your computer for an hour. Your web host is probably having emergency maintenance.

Site still down? Take a screenshot of the error message, then contact your web host to make sure they’re aware of the issue. Send them the screenshot and information about any changes you were making to the website.

A good web host should be able to identify the issue and get your website back up, or at least give you a decent estimate of what time it will be back up.

If your website is still down, well… it might be time to shop for a new web host.

Well, sort of. But first you need to read the Terms of Service. No, really.

Before you sign up, you’ll probably see a little box like this:

When you see that box, usually one of three things happens:

Sound familiar?

If I had to guess, I’d say that most of us fall into the “blind acceptance” category: After all, who has a zillion hours to spend reading the fine print? All you want to do is get your website up and running.

Let’s say you sign up with Web Host X. You fill in all the forms, sign a contract, pay your deposit – and then you get to the little box. You check it – without reading a word of the Terms of Service. And then you get a huge charge on your credit card. You call sales support – and they tell you that there’s nothing they can do. It’s a charge included in the Terms of Service. By checking that little box, you’ve already agreed to pay additional setup charges. So what exactly should you look for in the Terms of Service? Here are a few good places to start:

Acceptable Use Policy

Most web hosts have policies about how you can use their service—for instance, some hosts might forbid certain types of sites or have specific rules about file sharing, spam, etc. Even if you think your website would pass all acceptable use policies, you should read this section carefully. Violating a host’s terms of service is a guaranteed way to get booted off the server.

Cancellation Policy and Refund Policy

You might think, “Well, the host advertised a money-back guarantee, so I don’t need to read this.” Wrong. Your web host may only give you 30 days to change your mind – or they may only give you a partial refund. And what happens if you cancel early? Do you have to pay a fee? If you read the Terms of Service, you won’t have any unpleasant surprises if you decide to cancel your service.

Billing and Payment

This is where your web hosting hides their additional fees! Read this section carefully: Do you have to pay for technical support? Does the web hosting company automatically renew your service at the end of the term and charge your credit card? What happens if you make a late payment? Some web hosts will shut down your account, then charge you all over again to restart it!

Resource Usage

Did your web host advertise “unlimited” diskspace, emails, etc.? Well, you need to read this section anyway — it’s where they explain what they really mean by “unlimited.” Usually it means that they will give you as much as they can without affecting others on the server, although some web hosting companies will provide you with an actual number in this section. Also some host measure usage by using inodes (Yes they measure “unlimited”.)

Back-up Policy

Does your web host back up your website files for you? Do they charge for this service? This is important to know because if they don’t backup your files, then you need to do it yourself in case of emergency!

Of course, you really should read the entire Terms of Service, but if you’re one of those people who find legal documents boring (and who doesn’t?), you should at least focus on the most important sections. If you ignore the Terms, you might end up with an accidental violation of your host’s policy. Or you might end up paying unexpected fees!

Most web hosts offer email services, but some are much better than others. Some even cater to customers who use hosting only for email. Read on and I’ll let you know what features to look for in a good email host.

Economical Efficient – Email-only Or Full Hosting?

A good hosting company should have a separate pricing plan for email hosting. Because you only want to host email accounts and buy a domain name, you shouldn’t have to pay the same price as someone who also hosts a website and uses more server space than you. However, if you take a closer look to any email-only hosting you will realize the price is rather close to a full hosting plan. Ironically for most of the time the full hosting plan offers a more competent features for its stiff competitions in the industry. This has caused buying a email-only hosting not economic-efficient. Bottom line: price is an issue but when the email-only hosting is priced closer to a full hosting plan, you’d better not miss the conveniences of putting up a simple business page on top of your email address, do you?

Security Is A Must!

Another sign of a good email host? Tight security. Your email host should include some sort of antivirus protection, as well as a spam shield to help cut down on annoying, unsolicited sales emails (aka SPAM!). And if you regularly handle sensitive information – like proprietary documents, client lists, or financial information – you may want to consider a host that offers encryption and IP anonymity. Encryption services ensure that only your intended recipient can read your email. IP anonymity will remove any headers on emails that contain private information like your name and IP address, which is often automatically included in emails.

Webmail or Email Client – It’s Always Better To Have Both

Some email hosts will include an email client, such as Windows Outlook. This is a nice feature, but if you already use a certain email client and want to stick with it, you should choose a host that supports that client. As with web hosts of any kind, technical support should be available to help you configure that email client with their server.

Hosts should also offer you the option to use webmail or an email client. Many web hosts that do not have specific email hosting plans only offer webmail. Webmail is nice because you don’t have to configure it and you can access it from any server. However, it does not support emails with large attachments and it can be slower than an email client. You can weigh the pros and cons yourself, but make sure your web host gives you the option.

Additional features to look for:

1. Backup recovery — does your host backup your emails somewhere for a certain period of time?
2. Synchronizing with a smartphone — this is a nice feature for users who want to check their email on the go.
3. Email forwarding — great for companies that have departments. For example, you can configure the email sales@company.com to automatically forward to mary@company.com.
4. Ability to upgrade to a full hosting account if you want to add a website later.

Companies that buy email hosting don’t have to worry about using their own server to host all their email accounts, so the right web host can lighten the load of a company’s IT department — just make sure you check for the features above. Do share with me your opinions and experiences on email hosting below.

Some web hosts have hidden, unadvertised fees. I’ll tell you what to look for on the bill, and what to do if you’re being charged unfairly.

Setup Fees Of You Hosting Account?

This is a one-time fee that you pay when you first set up your account. Usually you don’t find out about this fee until the checkout. This seems a little unfair–customers should definitely be notified of these fees sooner in the purchase process! Many hosting companies, such as iPage and Hostgator, don’t charge a setup fee. So if you get to the checkout and see that you’ve been charged, you might want to reconsider your choice of host.

What Is Add-On Domain Fees?

It’s great that your web host offers unlimited domains. But keep in mind that “unlimited” does not mean “free“. There’s usually a charge for each domain added onto your account. Unlike setup fees, domain fees are usually in the host’s terms of service or in the fine print at the bottom of the features page.

The Ultimate Misleading Service Fees!

This is one of the most misleading charges! You may think that because your web host has a “toll free phone line, open 24/7” that you can call for help at no charge. Well, just because the phone line is free doesn’t mean they won’t charge you for the time you spend on the phone with the service tech. You should ask your web hosting company about this before you call — you can usually send an email asking about service fees to the sales or billing support department.

Domain Ownership Fees

Some web hosting companies will register your domain name in their name when you purchase it. Then if you want to transfer to another company, they’ll charge you for your domain so that you “own” it. But you paid for it, so you should already own it! This is clearly an unfair charge. Make sure you check the domain name registration section of the terms of service.

3 Steps Dealing with Hidden Charges

Sometimes these charges are listed in a host’s terms of service page, but they can be hard to find. So what can you do to avoid hidden fees?

1. Ask in advance. Call the web hosting company and ask specific questions about the above fees.
2. Check your credit card statement. Do it early, because most web hosts have a 30-day refund policy. If you see hidden charges on your card, call and complain. You might be able to get out of the fee if they think you might leave.
3. Read web host reviews to see if anyone reports hidden charges — this is always a good idea before you buy.

Commonly Censored Topics

Unsurprisingly, web hosts can’t allow websites featuring illegal activities, such as child pornography, copyright violation, or selling illegal substances. This applies to all web hosts, even those who say they don’t censor.

Among the sites that do actively censor, commonly prohibited topics are pornography, selling of weapons, instructions on making weapons, information that can be used to harm animals or people, sites devoted to hate speech, and hacking. A few topics are more surprising. For example, the United States restricts certain types of organizations, such as possible terrorist groups, and also has restrictions on what countries can do business with U.S. customers. Even though these restrictions don’t apply to ordinary people, some web hosts won’t want to bother with the hassle of checking their customers again the long list of sanctioned organizations and people. Instead, many hosts simply deny websites with any connection to a sanctioned country.

Other censored content includes:

• Nudity (even artistic nudity)
• Any sexual content or services
• Defamatory or abusive language
• Profanity

For example, if you blog about celebrities and say something very negative about an actress, some web hosts might decide that you are using “defamatory language”. Some web hosts will even shut you down for swearing.

So where can you find out if a web host censors content? It’s in the terms of service, usually under the section called “Prohibited Uses“. You can also find out what happens if you post content that violates the terms—in most cases your account will be discontinued without refund. Check this section carefully before you post anything that could be considered obscene or profane.

Web Hosts that Don’t Censor

By now, most web hosts have some kind of censorship policy in place. Of course, some censor different content than others, so you have to check each web host’s terms of service individually. Also, consider the company behind the web host: For example, Christian-based web hosts, such as Faith Family Web Hosting, have more content guidelines than mainstream hosts.

Here’s a short list of web hosts that do not censor their websites:

• Crisis Host – supporter of free speech and the Ron Paul Revolution
• Hostgator – allows adult content but not child pornography

The bottom line is, if your website contains content like nude art, explicit language, or anything else in this post, you should do your homework before purchasing a web hosting plan. Read the host’s terms of service and make sure your content or language won’t get your site shut down for good.