SEO Hosting
How to Choose a Web Hosting Provider
Every website project needs web hosting to make it run and even if you've never done much on the internet before now, you know that it is true. You might be new to the hosting set up. You might just be tired of the host you've been using for a while and feel the need for a change. The reason for the change is not important; what is important is that your choice is an informed one. After all, this project is your newest “baby”. Your hosting company should meet all of your needs. Use these tips to make the process of choosing hosting a little bit easier.
Do lots of research. There are hundreds of web hosting companies out there that offer wide varieties of web hosting packages. Choose some of the companies that seem like they make good offers and learn all about those companies. You want to find out everything you can through both on and offline methods. Look for reviews. Research their business practice history. There is no such thing as knowing too much about a company. This is especially true for a company that will be charging you money on a regular basis and who might have access to private information like your physical address and banking account numbers.
Check out all of the ways that a company provides customer service.
A good company that is worth trusting will have a phone number that you can use to talk to live customer service operators. Call the number and evaluate your customer service experience. No matter what problem you present to them, the customer service agents should be able to help you figure out a solution. Good customer service does not consist of simply transferring you from agent to agent until you give up and hang up your phone. It is possible that an agent has a bad day so call back a couple of times to make sure that this was not the case on your first attempt if that call went badly. Some companies will give you an option to get service through live chat. If talking on the phone is not something you enjoy doing, look for hosting companies that offer this live chatting as a customer service option. It is not good to trust a hosting company that does not offer live people to talk to when you have problems.
{What kind of control panel do you feel most comfortable using? It's important that you know your way around the control panel so if you are new to website building, choose a provider with an easily understood control panel that will help you get on your way quickly. If you're an experienced web developer you'll be free to find hosting with control panels that aren't quite as “user proof.” Your control panel needs will dictate which hosting providers you choose. Control panels for newbies are usually more expensive because they include things like one click installation software, content management system installation, etc. There are web hosts who charge through the nose for extra services like these.|Could you potentially sell advertising? Have you thought about using your website to put up your own advertising? Have you thought about hosting ads for another web developer? When you answer these questions you can begin to narrow down your host company choices. There are a lot of free hosting providers out there who will give you space in exchange for your running ads for their company and clients-which works well if you do not care one way or the other about advertising. Paid hosting is also available for people who do not wish to showcase outside advertising or who want to sell their own advertising space for a profit. Most paid hosting plans don't have any rules about selling advertising on websites. Some hosts, unfortunately, will not allow you to sell advertising on your site. Be sure that your hosting provider meets your wants and needs before agreeing to pay for space.|All site owners want to ensure that visitors can easily access their sites whenever they want to. Some site owners spend lots of time worrying about this while others trust that their hosts will make it happen.
If your site is not big you might not care too much if it goes down every once in a while. If you hope to earn money through your site you need it to be up and running all day and all night. When the site is down it feels like the end of the world! In these cases you will want to ensure that you choose a hosting company that can give your site guaranteed accessibility.|Ask the web site owners you trust who they use. It is easy to fake a good review on a website so if you want to get information that you can trust, ask your site developer friends which hosting company they like best. Don't be afraid to ask for help; most website owners are happy to help new site builders decide which hosting options are best for them. {You might even be able to use some of the site owner's server space to give it a try while you figure out which hosting service is right for you.|Some site developers will even let you share their server space while you figure out which hosting options are best for your project.|You might even be offered server space on the site developer's account to help you get started with your project while you figure out which hosting company is best for you.|Some site builders are even generous enough to offer to host your project for you while you investigate other hosting avenues.|You might even be offered space on the site owner's server to help you start building your web project while you do your research on the hosting options that are available…Cheapest SEO Web Hosting
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PHPPHP is the language behind some of the most powerful and pervasive web applications around, including the ubiquitous FacebookFacebook and the unstoppable WordPressWordPress.
Learning a new language can be daunting, so we’ve tapped a few PHP experts for their advice for novice PHP coders (stay tuned for an intermediate/advanced selection of tips, coming up in a couple weeks).
If you’re a new PHP developer (or an old pro), be sure to leave a note in the comments and let us and other readers know what specific steps you’ve taken that’s made learning the language easier for you.
1. Elizabeth Naramore: Start with OOP
Naramore is a SourceForge employee and founded PHPWomen.org. For total beginners, she recommends getting a thorough background in object-oriented programming (OO) before diving straight into PHP.
“If you’re coming from a non-tech industry, take the time to learn solid principles of software development. Things like object-oriented programming, test driven development, version control, debugging, design patterns, etc.
“If you’ve tried and can’t solve your problem, don’t be afraid to ask. The PHP community in general is very helpful and friendly, and there are countless resources for the beginner available online. Entrench yourself in a community, whether it be a local user group, an open source project community, or an IRC channel like #phpc on freenode.”
2. Keith Casey: Google It
Casey founded a software shop and does a lot of work in the unconference circuit.
His advice centers around finding your place in the PHP community and following an increasingly important dictum: GoogleGoogle before you ask.
“Connect with a Users’ Group right now. There are PHP Groups all over the world where smart people gather to chat, explore ideas, and help one another.
“Remember to try a Google search before asking questions. No one likes lazy.”
3. Eamon Leonard: Join Open Source Projects
Leonard runs Ireland-based software company echolibre and co-founded CloudSplit, a real-time analytics service for cloud computing. Like many of his peers, he recommends trying your hand at open-source projects, even as a beginner.
“Get involved in open source as soon as you come to grips with the basics… This gives one access to source code and a chance to learn from industry veterans.
“Finding and documenting reproducible bugs is a time consuming task, and one that would be greatly appreciated by any open source team… When it comes to hiring developers to work with us, we would value someone’s potential contribution to our company a lot more if they have worked on an OSS project.”
4. Lorna Jane Mitchell: Just Do It
“Lornajane,” as Mitchell is more commonly known online, is a PHP consultant, developer, writer and speaker.
She gives a word of advice quite commonly heard in hacking circles: Just do it.
“Jump in! PHP is a really accessible language and fast to develop in. The best way to find out if something can be done that way is to try.
“Anyone can program PHP. The low entry barrier means that there is a lot of bad PHP in the world. But bad PHP that works is useful even if it isn’t pretty. Personally I think that if you can solve your problems with PHP, then you should get on and do it, even if it isn’t perfect.”
5. Chris Cornutt: Avoid Coding Burnout
Cornutt runs PHPDeveloper.org and Joind.in and has been using PHP since 1998. In his advice to baby PHP devs, he cautions against coding fatigue and burnout.
“I think new developers get overwhelmed too easily… Beginners like the language and they hack away with the ‘just make it work’ mentality, but I dare say more than half stop there.
“Try to find a mentor that can guide you through some of these early steps. It makes worlds of difference when you have someone real to talk to. IRC is a good option, but a go-to person is so much better.
“Thankfully, they also have the entire web at their disposal with loads of PHP sites and examples to help them through the tough spots. Some of the examples are good, some not so much, but they’ll come to learn those over time. PHP development, like anything else, is a skill that has to be honed — you can’t just jump into the middle and be an expert overnight.”
6. Abraham Williams: Try Drupal
Williams is a developer and self-styled “hacker advocate.” He, too, advises new PHP coders to jump into a coding project, giving preference to open source work.
”Find a quality project or community (preferably open source oriented) to contribute to. Get to know the code, the people and the customs. Not only will you learn from experienced developers, but the maintainers have a vested interest in quality code and a friendly community. They will be more than willing to recommend code improvements in patches and even how to be a better community member.
“I suggest the DrupalDrupal project as a good starting point. It is mature, has a epic community, a great growth rate and lots of jobs for good Drupal developers.”
7. Demian Turner: Study Seasoned Coders
Turner has been working with web and open source projects since 1996. He runs PHPKitchen.com and was a recent Seedcamp finalist.
He gave us a ton of great advice for new PHP developers, advice that can save time, make for better code and help sustain your interest in coding.
“Read the code of seasoned devs; there’s always a better, cleaner way to do things. Don’t reinvent any wheels; you will always have more than enough to program; use reputable libraries whenever you can avoid writing the code yourself.
“Ensure your code is human readable; if you can’t understand it six months later, how will it be for other devs?
“Always try and simplify your interfaces; it’s much more difficult to write simpler code, but consistent refactoring will save you a lot of time and headaches when it comes to maintenance.
“Finally, read up on some of the great programmers and find out how they stayed passionate about the art of programming so many years later.”
8. Stuart Herbert: Know Test-Driven Development, Encapsulation and Source Control
Herbert has been coding PHP since 1999; he’s been writing about PHP for several years and has contributed greatly to Gentoo LinuxGentoo Linux.
For new PHP devs, he advises, “Learn about test-driven development and encapsulation. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll ship code quicker, and whoever inherits your code will thank you for it.
“Oh, and learn about source control; it’s never optional!”
He also says the language’s biggest strength is “the fantastic documentation available at PHP.net for free. With certain other languages, you need to go out and buy the docs as books, but not with PHP.”
9. Maggie Nelson: Read Up on Data Storage
Nelson is a PHP developer currently employed by FlickrFlickr.
She tells PHP newbies to start leanring about data storage early in their careers.
“In many cases, you’ll use PHP for web applications. Compelling web apps tend to be the ones that use data in unexpected ways or in ways that solve everyday problems. If you’re just starting with PHP and this is your first language ever, spend a day or two reading up on data storage and perhaps learn some SQL along the way as well. PHP is known for playing very well with databases. Check out MySQL, other relational databases and venture out to a few NoSQL data storage solutions.
“Write all the code ‘from scratch’ for at least one application. The PHP world offers many great frameworks that can easily abstract away data access, but always be sure that you really understand how the data is actually manipulated behind the scenes!”
10. Michael Maclean: Learn about Security
Maclean is a PHP and PythonPython developer based in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.
He says, “PHP’s pretty easy to get going with, which is why so many people use it, but I think it’s important to have a look at what people who’ve been using it for a while are doing. Rather than writing everything from scratch, check out a couple of frameworks, which will probably give you a bit of a head start.
“The other thing to do is learn about security. PHP’s got a bit of a bad rep for that in the past, which is a bit of a side-effect of its ease of use. There are many resources online and in print on how to avoid security problems. Check out the books by Chris Shiflett and Ilia Alshanetsky who also have information about that online.”
What Are Your Tips?
Got any words of wisdom for PHP noobs? We’d love to get your feedback in the comments.
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Let's hope that, if 10.7's logo is a lion, he'll be a very literary one. For too long Apple has focused almost exclusively on video and music. OS X's out-of-the-box support for text is virtually unchanged since 10.2. It's due for an overhaul. Here are a few examples of what Apple could do.
* More and more, we're using devices that need for text to reflow on small screens rather than remain fixed in a large paper size. That means epub export should be as easy as PDF export.
* Paperless is finally becoming a reality. I print less and send more things to be read to my iPhone, iPod touch, or Kindle. OS X should handle that more easily than it does now. Exporting to digital formats such as PDF and epub should get their own “Digital” slot on the File menu and not be relegated to second place status under File-Print.
* Closely related to that, digital integration with iTunes (for text apps on iOS devices) and third party products should be as easy as printing. I can already select what printer to use. Why can't I choose to send a document as epub to my iPhone or (assuming Amazon handles the drivers) Mobi to my Kindle?
* Exporting to epub and exchanging text between applications is hindered by an 1980s-era belief that what matters is the minutia of formatting. That's not so, particularly in our digital world. What matters is meaning. A first level heading in a document cannot look the same on a sheet of paper, 24-inch LCD screen and the 3.5-inch screen of an iPhone. But it should look like a first-level heading. That's why it is important that meaning be tagged in documents along with their actual appearance. And in practice that means that documents should be able to store paragraph (i.e. Header 1) and text styles (i.e. italic) as meaning and not formatting. Virtually all serious text applications (Word, InDesign, Quark, etc) used named styles. Apple should make them a part of OS X and every text application that wants to share in their benefits.
* GREP was a marvelous addition to InDesign. Apple should build GREP with a much improved UI into 10.7, opening up it's tremendous power up to any text app. Apple could get around GREP's geek factor by allowing powerful GREP scripts to be easily downloaded and shared between users as well as between apps.
Let's hope that OS X proves to be a very literate lion.
–Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien
