All Entries Tagged With: "web hosting"
What Kind Of Server Should Your Blog Be On?
When it comes to blogging, you can’t be too safe. The type of server you put your blog on can go a long way to your success. It helps to know what can kind of servers are available. Generally, you’ll run into one of the following types of servers, but which one is right for you?
I won’t get into the different types of broad category servers such as chat, application, and server platforms. This post is concerned with the types of servers you’ll find through web hosting companies. The kinds of servers you’ll use for storing your blog information.
I’m not an IT guy so if I get the technical defnitions wrong, please forgive me. But in general you’ll find shared hosting, dedicated servers, cloud computing, and colocation services, aka root servers.
Shared hosting is the most popular type of server environment. It’s usually cheap and that’s why many companies opt for this type of server, but it does have its risks. There are security risks as well as SEO risks associated with hosting on a shared server. If another occupant of the web server fails to update their blog or CMS software, it could pose a security risk to you. A hacker could gain access to that server through another company’s out of date software and your blog could spend a few days out of commission as your host scrambles to fix the problem. That’s why a dedicated server is usually your better option.
A dedicated server is just as its name implies. You have the server all to yourself. It is more expensive, but you know who your neighbors are. You don’t have any. You and you alone are hosted on that server. This is ideal because you can control what happens on that server by not engaging in risky behavior that could pose a security or SEO risk.
Cloud computing, like shared hosting, poses security risks. It essentially uses the Internet to disperse your information across multiple servers and possibly even providers. However, generally your blog will be hosted on one server while other web properties may be hosted on another server. This could have SEO benefits if your blog is on one server and the website it hosts is on another. But you’d still want both your blog and your website to exist on dedicated servers. Most cloud computing systems use a shared hosting format for all its servers.
Root servers, also called colocation services, provide managed server space for your servers. This can exist in a shared or dedicated format, but the idea is that another company manages your server at a location they provide. Another version of colocation is for a company to rent server space from the company that owns it.
When it comes to hosting your company blog you want to minimize your risks. That means ensuring that you don’t end up in a bad neighborhood or associated with companies and individuals that engage in risky behavior. To learn more about SEO hosting for blogs, visit SEOHostingProvider.com.
Why Is Your Blog Hosted By The Same Company As Your Main Website?
You decided to start a blog and buy a separate domain name so you can build links from your blog to your website. Good. Your knowledge of link popularity is beginning to show. But why are you hosting your blog with the same hosting company that also hosts your website? That’s not good.
The reason you want your blog hosted by a different company than your website’s host is to ensure that they sit on separate IP blocks. You can request that your web host put your blog on a different server, but that doesn’t mean they will do it. Some will tell you that they will then not do it. But if you are using the shared hosting plan that many hosts offer, most hosts will tell you that they can’t guarantee a separate box for your blog unless you pay for the dedicated hosting plan. It is just safer and more secure to go with a different host to begin with.
You might also register your site with a different registrar. The reason is because your registrar’s contact information shows up in your Whois data. That could be a clue to Google that both your website and blog are owned by the same company, especially if they have similar domain names (i.e. mywebsite.com and mywebsiteblog.com). Be sure that you register your blog under a different name; that way your name is not associated both with your website and your blog.
These are just precautions. There is no proof that Google uses Whois data to connect ownership of sites. But there is no proof that it doesn’t either. If you want the links from your blog to your website to count, it would behoove you to take these suggestions under consideration.
How To Ruin Good Blogging Advice
I found a great article about blogging online. I agreed with every word. Up until the last paragraph. It really was a beautiful article. Clear, sound advice. Then, the author made one huge mistake. I mean, HUGE. Here’s the article minus the mistake:
Blogging For Small Business – How to Build Your Reputation
By Barry Deen
Blogs have taken the internet by storm. More and more people are setting up blogs, and in the most part they die off within their first year, before they pick up any momentum. Most people set up blogs to build their reputation, sell products and get traffic to sell ads.
Although blogs have been around for a while, many small businesses are still not taking advantage of all the benefits a small business blog can provide to your bottom line.
* Creates awareness about your service / product
Many businesses have great, innovative products – especially in the technology sector. A major problem small businesses run into is getting the word out about their product on a small marketing budget. Creating a blog will create awareness about your product and ultimately drive sales.
* Builds your reputation as a subject matter expert
If you are an expert in your field, it is very beneficial to write about what you do and how you do it. The quality of your content is key. It may seem counter-intuitive to give away your “secrets” – however most people will find your articles because they are not the experts and are looking to learn.
* Strengthens your Search Engine Optimization strategy
The better quality articles you write, the more likely it is that other people will link to your articles. Link popularity is one of the most important aspects of SEO. Additionally, with correct code structure, you can create an internal cross linking strategy that will drive your PageRank higher.
This is all great advice. I don’t disagree with a single word. A blog is perhaps the most powerful marketing tool any small business owner can employ. If you can write then it’s a great free tool. If you can’t write and you need to hire a ghostwriter then it’s a low-cost tool that you can work to your advantage.
But the writer of this great article then went on to give some very poor advice. What was that? Here it is in all its pristine glory:
These are some of the benefits of blogging for small business. Setting up a blog is very cheap, often times free (www.blogspot.com or www.wordpress.com) and all you have to risk is your time.
Folks, I would not set up a business blog on a free host. You lose all control of your content that way. I have seen people set up 10 blogs at WordPress.com and lose it all overnight because one person made a spam report. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s spam. If WordPress or Blogger executives think it is spam then they can, and will, take it down. You lose it all.
Instead, spend $10 to buy a domain name that you have control over. Set up a WordPress blog on your domain name and write to it every day. That is the best SEO you will ever have and it will only cost you $10 plus the cost of hosting, which is usually no more than $60 per year.
The above article was written by:
Barry Deen is President & CEO of Web Strategy Canada and one of the top affiliate marketing specialists in Canada. For information on how to make money online, checkout http://www.makemillionsathome.ca For information on Barry Deen and his company, Web Strategy Canada, visit http://www.web-strategy.ca
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barry_Deen
To learn more about business blogging contact a qualified blog consultant today.
Web Hosts For Bloggers: Does Your Choice Matter?
We’ve grown increasingly frustrated with GoDaddy here at BCP. We tried to work with them, but their service just isn’t real conducive to blogging. I think it might have something to do with the fact that GoDaddy has been around long enough that they didn’t consider blogging platforms and the needs of bloggers before building their service offerings. How could they have known we’d need certain features?
The problem with GoDaddy as a web host is that their system is not friendly toward WordPress, our preferred blogging platform. WordPress is open source. You would think that it would be compatible with any host. Not true.
When it comes to web hosting, there are a ton of features that vary from host to host. Some offer dedicated servers and some only use shared servers. Some have rotating IP blocks, which is an irritating nuisance if you are trying to write a blog because you never know where you’re going to be in cyberspace from one day to the next. Some support MySQL and others don’t. I could go on and on about the variations you’ll find, but I don’t want to bore you.
Suffice it to say that GoDaddy is not a good web host for setting up a WordPress blog. You need a host that offers dedicated servers. Ideally, you would have your own dedicated server for your blog. But if you can’t have a dedicated server then you at least want to share a server with other blogs of a similar type. By similar type, I mean business blogs. That’s an important distinction because you could just as well go to Blogspot and most of your neighbors will be personal blogs, or poetry blogs. Most likely, they’ll be spam blogs. Blogspot is, after all, the biggest neighborhood for spam on the Internet.
That’s why we always steer our customers away from Blogspot. From here on out, we’ll attempt to steer them away from GoDaddy as well. You might pay more for a dedicated server, but it’s worth it. You want a host that will protect your blog’s IP address and keep the riff raff out. You also want the added security that comes with certain types of hosts. Finally, if your web host makes it difficult for us to SEO your blog properly, and GoDaddy does, then the performance of your blog will be diminished. We’d hate for that to happen. We do, after all, pride ourselves in producing the best results online for commercial and small business blogs.
