What do you try to find in a web host? A small price? Reliability and excellent support I think. If you’re anything like today’s grand webmaster, you’re looking for the most excellent features. There are many programs and management tools available to make your site standout but I bet there are a few features you don’t think about at all. A lot ignored but one should never fail to remember about important security features as they will help to keep your web hosting environment protected from a range of fear. Security features are plentiful but here are some you just can’t do without:

SFTP: Short for Secure File Transfer Protocol, SFTP is more efficient and secure variation of FTP. In its purest form, FTP only has the facility to transfer files, leaving them open to a range of security breaches for example eavesdropping, tampering and even interception of the entire file. A web hosting company offering SFTP provides you with the ability to secure your files in transfer with SSH (Secure Shell Host), a procedure that protects data with government recommended 128-bit encryption.

SSL: Secure Sockets Layer or SSL, must be integrated on any website that sells products or services. SSL is a standard encryption protocol designed to keep internet communications secure. If a web hosting company doesn’t support a shared or private SSL certificate, you have to turn in the opposite direction and search for another provider.

Data Backups: Data backup and restoration is not only somewhat that must be practiced with the files on your hard drive, but those on the web host’s server also. All it takes is one technical difficulty or demolisher for the web hosting company to lose a server and all of your website data. The good thing is that nearly all providers perform surplus backups to make sure that your data can be restored in the event of a failure. To be on the secure side, I advise looking into a web host that offers a utility that allows you to backup your own data.

Network Security: Apart from protecting your files and website transactions, you also need to keep an eye out for security features that protect the web hosting company’s network. Do some research to learn how the web host is protecting their infrastructure, keeping in mind that intrusion detection systems, firewalls, DDoS protection, virus and spam filtering are general features. Servers are main targets of hackers and malicious code writers so if the hardware is breached or goes down, your website will suffer right along with it.

These are just some of numerous security features a web hosting company must offer to ensure the security of your website data. Hackers are continually trying to crack into web servers whereas malware writers are releasing new infectious strains day by day. A web host that doesn’t take this into mind is basically leaving you unprotected for exploitation.

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cPanel is synchronized for Control Panel and a graphical user interface or GUI that is web-based and designed to give webmasters and web designers easy access to various aspects of the web hosting system.

It used to be tough, if not possible, for nearly everyone to discover what to do with their hosting once they paid on behalf of it.

cPanel is an crossing point that allows web hosting companies to offer a graphical interface to people looking for set up and run websites on a number of RPM-based Linux platforms.

cPanel is generally interfaced with the end user via ports 2082 and 2083 with authentication accomplished through surfing to a specific web page and logging in. Because cPanel is graphically based, it is very easy to use and extremely sensitive for beginner as well as expert users to work with.

If you wish to set up a blog, mailing list, php link directory or basic content management system, cPanel is the way to go.

By clicking on the happy face icon used by Fantastico, a user is taken a list of software that is grouped into different topics and offered as an simple setup and tracking system for just about everything the customer may wish to add to the Internet community.

Accordingly, a webmaster can focus on the content and quality of what’s offered from the website and not the technical aspects of getting the site up and running.

By using cPanel, organizing your MySQL databases are a breeze to manage, releasing hosting companies from never-ending help requirements from confused people. cPanel manages setup and maintenance of email accounts using three different web interfaces for retrieval via the web of email coming into the account.

Raising and lowering email quotas, adding up and manipulating databases, organizing PGP keys, setting up and doing crontab tasks, email and FTP tasks plus much more.

Via Fantastico, several add-on scripts automate the installation and upgrade of many of the popular applications like SMF, WordPress, Joomla, TikiWiki and phpBB to name a few. There are over 50 other scripts to choose from and it is constantly updated.

There are several pros and cons for using cPanel webhosting. One of the major cons is still increasing truth that cPanel is a hackers vision.

With identity theft being a general and rising fact, the ease of creating sub-domains segment and ease of using cPanel has been and continues to be exploited.

Observation is essential to avoid having the account suspended due to phishing. A hacker will set up a sub-domain called aol.YOURDOMAIN.com or bankofamerica.YOURDOMAIN.com and point unsuspecting victims to the sub-domain on your site via bulk email.

After a few days, your site will fade away and you will get an email where the web hosting company will close you down because of phishing. If you get this email, go back into cPanel and click on the sub-domains button.

It will give you the sub-domain in trouble, and you can try to get free of it. Get rid of the contents via FTP and delete (or attempt to delete) it via cPanel. If you can’t get free from it, get in touch with your web hosting company. They will be glad to assist you. Be sure and modify your password because it’s passed around like chocolate in a school yard.

What makes cPanel so simple is what makes it so easy to use. Until lately, most of these scripts ran through a cPanel that was set to either X or X2 layout. Currently, the scripts can run under any layout.

That’s the only con to this large piece of software. It takes constant monitoring; though, it is not somewhat that happens that frequently. Hacking cPanel is just something that most webmasters need to understand. If you wish to avoid it totally, just set up your site with 0 sub-domains or the exact amount of sub-domains you require for your needs.

If you have 100 sub-domains with your package, ask the administrator to reduce it to 5 until you require additional. Thus, you can benefit from the extraordinary feature-rich cPanel interface and won’t need to deal with the crap that comes all along with it.

There is so much helpful advancements in using this interface, that the sub-domain problem shouldn’t be a deterrent to using it. It is certainly the most excellent system on the market.

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One of the most ordinary ways in generating backlinks for a website is by submitting articles to directories. Each successful submission assures a author of a reliable link back to the promoted website. Yet, submitting an article increases links what an author targets is the traffic that visitors of the article directory might go to the website and the reference they can make to the website. Link from the directory is not enough to promote a website, but the traffic generated from the directory will positively raise the status of the website.

To reach the target of article submission, articles must be submitted to the correct directory under the correct category. What good is an article if not submitted under the correct category? It do not end there. Writings must be published on a appropriate directory. There are thousands of directories existing, but only some can give the correct and steady traffic you want for your website.

There are two types of directories, paid and free article directories and an writer must be aware of this prior to submitting an article. Paid directories suggest author’s quick approval and simple access of articles. Ordinary submission can take at least four (4) days to a maximum of two (2) weeks prior to getting an article approved. However free article directories are just right choice. An writer does not require to spend a single cent and there is an guarantee that more authors are accessing it since it’s free.

Directories are managed by different organizations contributing the similar service. It is understood that they will positively apply different set of rules. They have their own authors who will review each entry to the directory. This is to make sure that entries submitted are in consistency with the rules and will protect the honesty of the site. For quick approval of articles, punctuation, grammar, and spelling mistakes must be avoided.

Content of the article should be weighed before submitting it to any directory. Factors such as keyword density, choice of words, reputation of the topic, and accurateness of information provided are key components to the success of a submitted entry. Directories do not permit entries with too much keyword causing it to lose the most important point of the article. An article containing 1-3 percent keyword will most possibly make it to the directory rather than an entry with 5-6 percent keyword though loaded with information.

For articles that need to be submitted to various directories, it is very essential to recognize the importance of the author’s name and bio-box. Articles submitted to many directories must have identical author’s name. Using a different author’s name on different directories may effect to issues that could direct to deletion of account. Publishing an article under a different author’s name may break the anti-plagiarism rule an article directory implements.

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Search Engine Optimization currently has a lot to do with building inbound links to your website. Building inbound links is a manageable tasks and webmasters have always been looking for shortcuts to do this. Webmasters buy links (as advertising as an example) or contact other webmasters to exchange links with them. The need for inbound links has shaped a new business opening in the search engine optimization industry. The outsourcing of link building emerged from the reality that many inbound links mean a high search engine ranking and/or a high Google PageRank.

There are various ways of building inbound links. Outsourcing this job can save webmasters valuable time however it comes with a price tag. Businesses offering to capture the link building method frequently maintain and control a large network of domains and websites and just add ‘your’ link to their sites. These sites are often referred to as link farms.

Others purchase links on 3rd party websites for you. They often have build up a group of websites/webmasters they work with. The worth of these links is often doubtful and a long-term profit does not exist. It either continues to cost the webmaster funds to keep the links active or his website might get punished by Google and other search engines if the linking websites are known as part of commercial search engine spamming. Punished means that either the link to a site does not have any worth at all or depending on the condition the site linked to gets removed from the search engine index (worse case scenario) if other factors are concerned that lead to the conclusion that search engine spamming is going on.

Outsourcing of link building also takes away the control of who is linking to a website from the webmaster. The webmaster typically just pays for X number of links but there is no choice to have industry associated websites link to his site (= increased value of a link). It is also complicated to verify how many links to a website have truly been recognized from the service provider. One more trouble is to confirm how long the established links are staying in place. The risk of being over-charged is extremely high.

While link building has turn into a money-making business opportunity search engines are aware of what is going on and are putting countermeasures in place. These are not things visible to the webmaster or explained on the search engines website. These are factors that are worked into the algorithm. Search engines use the human control factor more and more often to increase the value of the search index. Chances are that if a webmaster uses an outsourced link building strategy that at one point the campaign value goes south (turns sour).

Inbound link building must be an organic technique that shows a slowly growing number of links pointing to a certain website. Getting a high amount of inbound links within a very short time will lift a warning flag at search engines. Sincere webmasters will stay away from these tactics to avoid putting the success of a website at risk when there are superior ways of building inbound links.

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The community of webmaster for all time prefer manual directory submission than automated submitting. In addition it is very much favorable. A directory anticipates all main information of your website for resourceful inclusion.

To acquire top search engine positions in result pages and to get a bunch of one-way quality links most of the seo experts submit their site to web directories. Lots of directories considered the automated submission as a spam. For this reason it is very much suitable to opt the manual directory submission.

In current times many of the directories use image conformation to avoid the spamming ways of directory submission. Capctha code consist an image with numeric and alphabets that have to be entered by hand. Thus automated directory submitters experience difficulties to handle such situation.

Editors of the web directories have their own policy to accept or refuse the websites.

Some of the reasons for rejecting sites are given below-

• Ad sense scrapper sites
• Sites that redirect to a new website
• Broken links in the sites
• Needless ads and pop ups
• Each page of the website unwrap in a new window
• Takes time to load
• Having unsound description

The manual directory submission has additional returns over the automated submissions. Automated submission just posts a set of predefined data that may lead to incomplete submission and to end with elimination of your site. In manual directory submission process, you will be able to advise the site to many directories according to the particular input schemes. Even though submitting manually, if the site submission is not through or directory is down, you can submit your site later than never during software submission.

An additional bonus point of manual submission is that an e-mail confirmation is necessary and also image authentication is made instantly however such things never happen with automatic submission. Numerous famous directories do entails registering as member prior to select for submission. Such directories reject semi automated and automated styles of submissions. Such information will help you to opt for manual one.

If you are submitting to directories to the most important search engines like google and yahoo then manual submission is the only way to submit. Sure, it will take more of your time but it is important because you can get optimum traffic from these sites once you are approved. Apart from this, many websites are discarded by these sites mostly because their content is not good and sufficient or their topic is unrelated.

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If you run out of disk space, your site is going to have problems either with email, your website or both. Here are the main causes:

1. Inbox is filled. This happens when you don’t delete old mail or you deleted old mail online AND didn’t purge the trash folder.
2. You have spam filtering enabled and your spam goes to a folder (usually called SPAM) that has accumulated. If this mail is not deleted, it can have the same impact as a filled inbox, even though you have no mail waiting for you.

3. You (or someone) uploaded too many files to your website. This happens most often when an image gallery is installed and you allow others to upload to your site.
4. Your log files are configured to never delete. (Log files are usually configured to “roll-over” every month so this doesn’t happen.)

Here are a few areas where you might want to look for the above

TIP
At the top of cPanel there is a line that looks like this:

First, make sure you have this configured!
Second, you should NOT put your normal domain-based email address** in this contact setting as that will do you little good if your email is down … and it sends the alert to your dead email.

Best advice:  Use a secondary email address that you monitor or even better, the address to your cell phone. e.g., 7345551212@vtext.com (this is what it might look like for a Verizon phone) That way when something goes wrong, you’ll know about the moment the server knows.
** If your domain is contactdubai.com, do not put admin@ contactdubai.com here!

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Log in as admin

Go to Static Content Manager to list all items

Click on the item you want to update

Make your changes, then hit SAVE (never the BACK button!)

Logout… It’s done

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In a Joomla site, we should keep a standard regarding how things should look. Standards imply that someone has taken the time to write something like what you’re reading. Reason for this: Good looking stuff doesn’t just happen. It takes some planning and time.

Anatomy of a Joomla Story

First, all stories (same thing as what others call a “post”) have at least four elements.
1.) A descriptive title 2.) Some intro copy 3.) A thumbnail image and 4.) The rest of the story

The Thumbnail

All stories should have an intro thumbnail. Why? Because people relate to images, not text, and it looks better. So decide on a size and stick to it for all stories. Suggested size is something about 150 or less in width. You can vary the height based on the amount of intro text. (It’s more important to lock the width than trying to do both)

Intro Text

Every story should have about the same amount of intro text.You do this because at some point, you’re going to display multiple stories on the same page. This is especially important when you’re displaying in more than one column. Look at any newspaper. The front page is always the same. The story begins, but then has you flipping back to page 8 to read the rest. Same concept applies here.

Above is an example of how a 2 column layout might appear with similar sized thumbnails and intro text.

Read More vs Page Break

You use Read More when there’s just one more page to view. If however you have 10 pages that make up a story, it’s better to use the Page Break function so that readers can jump to any page within.

Uploading Images with Media Manager

You have two ways to do this. FTP or the Joomla Media Manager. As we have already written one of these for FTP, this time we’ll cover the Media Manager. Both Joomla 1.0.x and 1.5, to get to the Media Manager, log into the backend and look for the button:

Find The Image

For a story, you will need to upload two (or more) images. The thumbnail and the other one(s).

When you’re done finding the image, then click …

Where are my images?

It’s important to remember where you upload your images. Therefore, this too should be included as part of your documented process. e.g., All images that you plan to use within stories, should be in the /stories directory. If you have lots of categories, then it’s a good idea to have category directories within. e.g., stories/cat1

If you don’t remember where you uploaded images, it will be tough to insert them into the actual stories later.

Inserting the Thumbnail

Remember where you put that image?

You must indicate the location of the image, usually starting with images.

Align Thumbnails LEFT

Thumbnails should be aligned left, generally speaking. (sometimes people like to align right)
If you are a lefty, then do this:

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Download and install a copy of FileZilla

Select the Site Manager to add a new site

Fill in the fields that pertain to your domain

Your website is in the public_html directory (but the backup is not)

If you’re running Joomla, this is what your Joomla directories look like

The backup files will be in the root directory (never in public_html)

When you finish downloading the backup file, delete it from the web server

REMEMBER THIS

Be very careful with FTP It’s very easy to delete an entire directory with a few clicks. Also, never leave the backup file only on your local hard drive. Burn it to a CD and tuck it away in a safe place in a location other than where your hard drive is. If the backup was for a client, mail them a copy of the CD.

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It rarely happens when they phone or send an email. Sometimes, late at night when they’re looking for information or help, they’ll drop by for a quick visit.

For sure, they’re not your grown-up kids. They are your web guests.

What disturbs is, in most cases, you won’t even know they’ve visited and “shopped” at your site, or whether you helped them find what they were looking or searching for.

And, if you’re like over 95% of North American businesses with traditionally
designed websites, your website isn’t really helping or impressing your web guests, which means you aren’t taking advantage of their visit.

It’s time to get your online visitors excited about your website! Whether new or existing, your site can be turned into an engine that improves the growth of your business. It can help you sell products and services, attract leads, widen your customer base and improve your bottom line. Here’s how.

Grab Their Attention Right Off the Top

First impressions are measured in milliseconds on the web. A boring home page means they have already moved on.

Your home page needs to hook and hold your customer. A strong marketing message and powerful imagery can make all the difference. Right away, they know who you are and what you have to offer them.

Compel Them To Take Action

Once they are in your website’s front door, motivate that customer to take
action. Give them something to do where they can feel the part of your site. Get them to sign up, register, take a quiz, or email you for a consultation.

Give them a website experience that engages them to interact, chat, and,
ultimately, to buy.

Show Them That You Know Them well

Are your customers affluent retired men or working women with small children? Figure it out, then target that customer very clearly. Speak their language. Show them you understand their needs and interests.

When they see themselves on your website, they will also see themselves as one of your customers.

Make It Personal

Include features that create personalized experiences for returning member customers. Every time they log on, ensure your website addresses them by name and shows them only what interests them.

A friendly website will put customers in the buying mood.

Do The Work For Them

Create an easy-to-use website. Be consistent from page to page and use clear navigation tools.

Be straightforward. Tell your customers what you want them to do; buy here, review this, or book now.

Be sure to show pictures, offer crisp descriptions, and list prices. If you deal with U.S. and Canadian customers offer both currency options. Make it easy for them to shop and buy.

Give Them More Than They Bargained For

Your website doesn’t just have to be a place to shop. Make it a useful resource for your customers. Offer them links to related websites. Share free advice, tips, inspiring stories, or e-cards. Send them a monthly newsletter.

Become their very own, personal expert.

Keep It Fresh

There is nothing worse than visiting a website that has not been updated in a decade. Keep your website alive and kicking. Add an article or new survey once a month. This gives your customers a reason to check in. It also let’s them know you are there, working for them, keeping your website relevant.

Make Them Believers

If your website builds trust, it builds business. Don’t hide behind fancy graphics. Let your customers know who you are by including pictures and biographies of your team.

Use testimonials, reviews, awards and media coverage of your company to
reinforce your credibility and expertise.

Make sure your website is professionally written. Nothing turns off a customer more than poor spelling and boring copy.

Create Great Experiences

Win your customers over, one at a time. Word of mouth from one satisfied
customer can travel far and wide on the web.

Do the little things that, surprisingly, not everyone does. Make it easy for your customers to contact you. Respond to their inquiries right away and deliver what you promise.

Ask Not What They Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Them

Creating a website that generates new sales and new leads is all about your customers. What matters is what happens when they step inside your online shop. Do they buy or not? You can create a website that ensures they do buy, and often!

Make sure your website grabs their attention, encourages them to take action, speaks their language, gets personal, keeps it simple, adds value, stays relevant, projects credibility and treats them right.

Utilize these tips to change your website into a money maker and flip that virtual sign from closed to open for business.

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