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What Should I Look For In A Hosting
Company?
So you want
to start your own website? GREAT!!
Every since I began my own website, I haven't
had this much fun since I learned about the online world 10 years ago. I,
personally, refuse to learn HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language -- the computer
programming
that goes behind the web pages to make them work). I wanted
something that allowed me to create a website without having to learn coding.
Instead, I use a design package called Microsoft FrontPage. I then
chose a hosting company, who stored the files that I create on a web server PC,
and "serves" them to people who want to access my website.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of hosting
companies out there. They come in all price ranges, and with all kinds of bells and
whistles. Here are some things you may want to look for in a hosting company,
especially if you are going to be teaching via your website. This is how my hosting
company describes the features they offer:
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Money Back Guarantee -
I put this first, because if you are unhappy with your hosting site, you'll want
assurances that you'll get your money back. |
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24/7 Customer Support
- "Computerspeak" for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week customer support.
CRITICAL, especially if you are like me and you do most of your design and uploading
during the weekends. And find out if 24/7 means that there is an answering machine
that will pick up messages 24/7, or if you will get a human being 24/7. |
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www.yourdomain.com - Having a URL such as "www.yourcompany.com"
is very reassuring to your clients. It lets them know that you are serious about what you
do. |
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Full Access Control-Panel
- The Control Panel is the nerve center
of your account. Through the Control Panel you can control all aspects of your account
such as your domain name, add/remove POP accounts, configure autoresponders and mailing
lists, and much more. |
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Complete Access Logs - Web sites are of little use if you
don't know who is visiting your site, what they are looking at, and when they are coming.
Your hosting company should keep track of all of this information for you, and
present it in an easy to read format, along with other useful data such as how much
traffic your site is generating. These statistics should be updated on a nightly
basis. Your hosting company should also make the raw log files available to you so
that you can run them through any third party tools available such as
WebTrends.
(Oh, don't get me STARTED on WebTrends! I love it!) |
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Custom CGI - CGI stands for the "Common Gateway
Interface". This is the protocol through which web pages interact with scripts on a
server, which is what really makes the web an exciting place. Your hosting company
should allow you to install and run CGI scripts from ANY directory in your account.
Your
hosting company should also give you the ability to install your own scripts to
any folder in your account. |
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Pre-Installed CGI - There are a number of pre-installed CGI scripts
which your hosting company can offer you to use in your account. If you don't know
much about setting up CGI scripts, don't worry. Most are ready to run scripts, very easy
to configure. |
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POP Email Accounts - A POP (Post Office Protocol) Email Account is an
email account hosted on our servers. Multiple POP accounts allow you to set up private
E-mail address for all of your needs - each with it's own password. For example,
clients requesting information about a workshop can send email to workshop@techtiger.com, while
clients can send
their homework to homework@techtiger.com.
Many email software packages will allow you to sort incoming mail into different
folders, based on the email address. |
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E-Mail Aliases - Email Aliases, or Email forwarders, allow you to
forward mail intended for one address to another. For instance, if you are
jon@anydomain.com and you want sales@anydomain.com to be sent to you - set up an alias. Or
if your webmaster is an offsite contractor, you can set up webmaster@anydomain.com to
forward to their email address. Every account also has a master email address that
gets all of the mail associated to that domain that has an unspecified address. this
prevents some email addresses with typos (jokn@anydomain.com) to arrive safely. |
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Autoresponders - Autoresponders are very handy. They allow you to
instantly respond to any message with a stock reply. For example: say you have an
email address at support@anydomain.com that your students contact you at when they have
trouble. If you add autoresponder functionality to that address, as soon as their message
is received they get a message from you confirming that it has been received, and you will
get back to them ASAP. |
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SSL Secure Server - SSL is the "Secure Socket Layer". This is
a protocol that allows for encrypted transmissions on the web. When you go to a site and
see the lock on your icon become solid, you know that you have connected to a secure
server and you can transmit confidential information with peace of mind. If you plan to
accept credit card numbers or other sensitive information through your website, you need
to offer that same piece of mind to your students. |
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Shopping Cart - If you plan on having a catalog on the web, like
selling your books or audio tapes, a shopping cart is a must. It lets people browse
through your wares, and pick the items that they plan on purchasing. When they are done
looking through your offerings, they proceed to the checkout, where everything that they
have asked for is presented in a very easy to read table. If shipping and handling charges
apply (as well as taxes) it is automatically displayed to the shopper during checkout. The
shopping cart should hook directly into the SSL secure server so that your customers will
feel safe in giving you their credit card information. |
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Password Protection - Your hosting company should provide you with
an easy way of setting up password protected areas in your account, and maintaining the
usernames and passwords of those who will have access to those areas. Uses for password
protected areas can range from having "members only" or "students
only" sections, or subscription services, to simply having a private area to place
your personal files so that you can access them from anywhere in the world, without giving
the rest of the world access. |
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FrontPage Extensions - Microsoft FrontPage is a web
development environment created by Microsoft. In order for this package to be completely
functional, it requires that there be special software installed on the server.
Your
hosting company's servers should be all fully Microsoft FrontPage compatible, and will
be able to completely support anything that you create with this software. This is
important if you are creating your website with Front Page, especially if you are using
any of the FrontPage special features, like email forms, message boards, surveys, or hit counters. |
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Mailing List Software
- Keep your users informed of site
changes, and let them communicate to the group with ease. |
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Chat Hosting - Do they have a chat server where you can host
your text chats? |
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RealAudio and RealVideo - Will they support RealAudio and/or RealVideo
streaming on your site? (Very important if you would like to add multimedia to your
site.) |
There Are So Many! How Do I
Choose A Hosting Company?
1. Check out who hosts some of your favorite sites, or some of the really large
sites that have a lot of traffic.
Go Daddy hosts the Taming The Technology Tiger website.
2. Ask friends who have their own sites, and what
experiences they have had.
3. Check out the comparisons of Hosting Companies
that you can find at:
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