Posts from — August 2009

If you’re operating a successful website through a shared hosting service, there will come a time when your site outgrows sharing. Shared hosting is fine for many website owners, but if you start to get a lot of traffic, you’ll want to consider other options. While a dedicated server might seem like your next logical choice, VPS web hosting might be an even better option.Dedicated servers provide exceptional performance, stability and security, but they’re also very expensive. VPS or virtual private server web hosting on the other hand is very affordable, and it offers many of the same features and benefits of dedicated servers.

VPS hosting involves one server being divided into multiple accounts that are totally separate from one another. Each VPS account has its own operating system, including its own web and mail server resources. This means VPS is much more secure and more stable than shared hosting.

Unlike shared web hosting, VPS hosting accounts usually provide high bandwidth allowances. Even very busy websites should run fine on a typical VPS bandwidth allowance of hundreds of gigabytes. You won’t have to worry about slow page loads or down time due to other users monopolizing shared server bandwidth with VPS.

VPS hosting is also more secure than shared web hosting. The fact that VPS servers are divided into completely separate, isolated accounts reduces the odds your site will be hacked and damaged. If a hacker accesses even one account on a shared server on the other hand, damage can be done to all websites on that server.

A big benefit of dedicated servers for many webmasters is the ability to access all configuration files. VPS provides you with the same capability, and you can install and run customized software on your VPS server. You can also back up, restore or reboot your VPS account yourself.

Perhaps one of the only drawbacks to VPS web hosting is that each account must be maintained by the owner. However if you’re not capable of maintaining your server or you don’t want to invest the time it will take, you can opt for managed VPS hosting. At a cost of as little as a fifty dollars a month, your account can be completely managed for you, including necessary updates and security maintenance.

VPS web hosting is a great solution for businesses that have outgrown shared hosting but don’t quite need a dedicated server. With VPS, you can have almost all of the benefits of a dedicated server for less than a third of the cost of dedicated web hosting.

HostSG provides affordable VPS Hosting service with Linux and Windows platform to choose from. Contact us today to for a suitable VPS Hosting solution for your business.

For many people using the world wide web is an every day task, whether it be for work or leisure, shopping or getting information. While many of these individuals are confident in how to use the internet, and what it can do for them, there are also many people who have no idea of how it works or what they would need to do to get their own website.Every single website on the world wide web, be it the one page site of an individual or a gigantic, multi-page site of a global business, has the same system behind them. In order for their site to be visible to the millions of internet users it must be viewed through the services of a internet hosting provider. Web hosting is basically the process of providing a service which enables your site to be viewed around the world. This can only be done by these service providers as it is only them who have the big computers, much like your own, which are directly connected to the internet. These machines are used solely to serve up websites onto the world wide web, lending them their official name of ’servers’.

The web host will generally host hundreds of web sites and as such they require a very fast connection to the world wide web. They have a set amount of access to the internet, which they rent out to individuals or businesses who want their own web site. As the world wide web has grown in popularity, the renting of space has turn out to be financially rewarding. As such, more companies are trying to get involved in it. You may find that you are dealing with the provider that owns that main server directly, or you may find you are renting your space from a provider who, in turn, is renting their space from a bigger web hosting provider. In this case, the server of the smaller provider is linked to the server of the bigger provider, so it is the bigger provider who actually enabling your site to be seen around the world. It is really inconsequential to the site owner whether they are dealing with the main provider directly or a smaller subsidiary as the outcome is the same.

This info is just the basics of how the world wide web and web sites work. In order to have your own web site you need to do more than just rent space from a web hosting provider. You will also need to build the website itself, either yourself or by hiring the services of a web designer. However, whatever you do to make your web website a vibrant, attractive or interesting place to visit online will be completely useless without ensuring you have paid a web hosting provider to put it on the internet for you.

For more than 10 years, HostSG provides highly reliable web hosting services to new startup , SMEs as well as large corporation in Singapore. From Budget Hosting , Business Hosting to Email Hosting, we have the right service custom to your requirement.

The times when online businesses only required a simple website and an email address are long gone. Too many countries have joined the World Wide Web and merchants all around the globe have put up shop in the world’s virtual shopping mall which emerged on the Internet.It goes without saying that, nowadays, every business needs a website. This may not be an easy task for small-business owners, who are trying to juggle their company’s start-up process, financial turmoil and everything else related to their new enterprise. For them, there is only one obvious solution; if they want to make virtual history they will have to hire a professional website designer.

As part of their consultation, website developers should feel obligated to mention SEO, or search engine optimisation, to their clients. Many of them do, others don’t. The reason why some website service providers ignore mentioning SEO services is because:

- They presume the clients know about SEO, when in fact they do not. - They assume the clients are not interested because they feel it is not a requirement to be successful on the Internet. - They want to bill the SEO applications as a separate service later on. Even if small-business owners, who are having their first website designed, knew about SEO, it is very unlikely they would ask for it. They may even assume it would automatically be included in their website order. This raises the question: should web designers discuss SEO up front, during initial consultations?

Many newcomers to e-commerce know little about search engines and how they operate. They believe that all they need is a website, and that in no time, their URL will spread like a wildfire by simple offline advertising and word-of-mouth. How little do they know, until months later when they abruptly wake up to realize their online business is in shambles!

Web crawlers are attracted to search engine friendly websites. Web designers know that quite well, and if they want to offer their clients impeccable services they should reveal that information up front. For convenience, they could even include SEO in their basic web design packages, or offer it as an affordable add-on option. By explaining the importance of SEO tools, they would not only help their customers, but also enhance their own reputation. Believe it or not, most people still respect honesty and appreciate all-around services.

Clients, who do not feel the immediate need for SEO, should be informed that the longer they wait, the longer they will be invisible to search engines. These clients should also be told that their costs may be substantially more if they want their website optimized later on. One of the reasons the fee could increase is because some of the original page lay-outs may be unsuitable for a user and search engine friendly design. For example: unattractive content may have to be rewritten, pages may need rearranging and slow-loading flash videos removed.

There is no doubt about it! Marketing strategies have changed and today, no business will reach top search engine rankings without SEO. Be it Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN or Ask, they are all hungry for keywords, link building, proper page structures, HTML, or anything else that will feed their everlasting appetite for information. So, why not give it to them?!

Web site hosting business has seen a tremendous growth over the years. However, there are many factors that determine the quality of service and reasonable accessibility for the users.Since many web applications require the use of secure socket layer (SSL) protocol, it is prudent to offer the certification cover to the client. This will ensure their confidence in the system. SSL VPN (virtual private network) authentication is necessary to prevent identity theft, confidentiality, user authentication and so on. This ensures security of data across remotely accessed infrastructure. SL VPN allows for control over the website’s security protocols. It is essential for e-commerce sites to maintain the privacy and integrity of the users, who purchase products online. SSL ensures encryption and authentication of data that is sent across networks and maintains security of the data.

The latest developments in web hosting are the rapid growth of virtualization and cloud hosting. The use of innumerable servers can provide virtually unlimited storage space and data transfer processing ability for users. However, the hosts must watch out for the loss of data integrity, when stored on multiple servers. Also, any failure of the servers must not lead to a loss in data. Clients must be able to register using the main domain and not a sub-domain. Adequate backup of data, as well as a buffer against slowdown of the network should be ensured. Virtualization requires strategic location of the servers and a constant monitoring of traffic during peak hours or shut down of certain servers. The web host must provide sufficient accessibility to a specified number of databases. The most common ones being MySql and SQL Server, and others include Access and Oracle.

The layout of the host server architecture is important, especially when free space is provided for the client to introduce their own tools. For example, if the client uses the ASP web software, only Windows servers would support it. Alternatively a Unix system supporting Apache software, would be cheaper, reliable and enables management of error pages, block unwanted traffic, prevent identity threat, and so on.

The host must have individual control over the servers, instead of conducting a resale of web space. Reselling decreases the confidence of users regarding integrity of data and assurances of server uptime. The host must be capable of delivering data through a higher end like OC-12 to OC-48. The host should be accessible through minimum number of router hops. This is essential for an efficient transfer of data and website performance. Hence, web masters within a restricted geographical location would be served better, if they choose the best among the local hosts. It is observed that the best offers from overseas web hosts turn sour, when it comes to actual performance. Besides, it would not make any sense for a webmaster in Australia to serve users located locally by utilizing the service of hosts in Singapore or America. Customer service and identification of connectivity issues is best possible, when the host is based locally.

The host should be capable to maintain a high bandwidth on an average. These may vary during peak hours, but should not lead to unusually slow transfer of even smaller files. A web host simplifies the procedures for customers to upload files, manage email accounts, review site statistics, and manage FTP accounts. The control panel should be handy to manage incoming traffic. In case of server shut down, the host must still be accessible through alternative methods like phone or chat.

The web hosts must include a statistics program, as part of the service provided. The control panel should be well connected to the program. The programs must give an idea about the most popular web page on the site, number of visits and keywords used by the visitor.

Make your website easy to read after all a website is about sharing information. If you want to keep your visitors on your website then there are some principles that you should use.

Good website design tip 1 - Websites are read by people so they should be written for people. You maybe optimizing your page for search engines, but in principle it is your human visitors that you are trying to attract. Making your text easy to read, written so that a person can easily understand what message you are trying to get across.

Good website design tip 2 - Using an easy to read font is important. Website designers are finding it easier and easier to create web pages using any font they desire. Using the right font that is easy to read is good practice.

Good website design tip 3 - Size is important too. The text too small and your readers will be straining their eyes, too large and decorative can put your reader off too.

Good website design tip 4 - Notice that newspapers put text in columns rather than across the page. This is because it is easier on the eye, and makes for faster reading as the eye does not need to move too far across the page. This makes it easy for people to quickly scan what your message is.

Good website design tip 5 - The use of colours is vitally important too. Putting a dark colored text on a dark background can make text almost unreadable. Too many bright colours can be off putting. Again make the web page easy to read.

In essence an easy to read, uncluttered website that gets your message is exactly what you are aiming for. Keeping your visitors on your website is essential to improving your sales - an informative, easy to read website will do just that!