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Don't Make My
Mistakes!
What Is Web
Hosting
The URL & How It Works
Storage &
Transfer Explained
How to Choose a Hosting Plan
General Considerations
Linux vs Windows Hosting
Starting an Online Business
Getting Started: Keyword Research
Choosing Your Domain Name
Purchasing a Domain Name
Who Owns Your Domain Name?
Building Your Web Site
Track Your Website Traffic
Free
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Don't Make the Same Mistakes I Did!
By Vernon Sandel I had a very bad
experience with my first web host, Website Pros, and this web site was created to
spare others the same kind of experience. The secondary reason is to make
money, of course. But the reason I chose web hosting as my "niche"
was because of the bad experience. This is my story.
I patented a product for steadying a compound bow in a bow hunting
situation and wanted to put up a web site to market the product.
Being as green as grass in making a web site and finding hosting, I
responded to an advertisement by Website Pros offering a free domain name,
a custom web site optimized for the search engines, submit the site to
search engines, host the site, and drive traffic to the site all for
$80.00 per month. It sounded like an ideal solution to my needs.
I responded to the ad, chose a domain name (bowstabilizer.net), sent them pictures and
content for the web site, and an outline of the order of pages and
content. They prepared a web site using none of my content or
pictures. It was totally ridiculous! When I called to
complain, I was told that they only provide a "template" web site, and I
would have to use their web building program to alter the site to my
liking. To their credit they had a very good web building program,
but I spent two weeks full time learning it and building a site with my
pictures and content. I also found that the optimization
consisted of a program that allowed me to add a keyword meta tag to the
"head" area of my home page and a few guidelines. Their traffic
program consisted of a program allowing me to make a banners, but I was
never able to find out where the banners were displayed.
Everything was actually "do it yourself" with printed guidelines, much
like the free information that is available on the web.
Disappointed with what I was getting for my money, I signed up with An
Hosting at $6.95/month and asked my original host to transfer my web
site to the new host. I was told, "you can't transfer your
website, we have the copyright. You can use the content
only. Also, you do not own your domain name, it is registered in
our name. It will cost $99 to transfer it to your name, but it
cannot be done until 90 days after the registration date. Thus I
was stuck with my original host until the 90 days were up. I used
that time to prepare another web site using FrontPage (which I had to
learn). As soon as I could I paid the $99 for the domain,
transferred it to the new host, and put up my newly built site:
http://www.bowstabilizer.net.
I have been happy ever since with my new host and web site.
What were my mistakes?
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I did not investigate the original host before signing
up. There are many sites such as this one that recommend top
national hosts, any one of which will give excellent service at a
reasonable price. I should have checked the price of hosting and
other services before settling on the one I did.
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The "free" domain name was not in my name. I had
only "borrowed" it. The host could have charged any fee they
wanted to "sell" it to me. Maybe I was fortunate they charged me
only $99. Be sure that the domain name you choose is registered in
your name, not the name of the host. Many hosts choose to register
their free domain names in their own name. It becomes a deterrent
to changing hosts. This web site identifies in whose name the free
domain is registered for each host advertised.
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The web site was prepared on a proprietary program
which prevented me from transferring it to a new host. There are
free web building programs that do not require you to know html
and that produce web sites that are not copyrighted. See
Building Your Web Site. A Google
search may turn up others. It is best to obtain a web building
program that resides on your computer so that you have copies of the
site on your computer and can modify it while not online.
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I did not have control panel access to the server which
would have allowed me to control access to the files on the server.
I found at one point that someone made unwanted changes to my web site without my
permission. I strongly recommend that you choose hosting with
control panel access to the server and ftp access. This gives you
control over your web site without having to go through tech service.
All of the hosting plans advertised on this web site have this access.
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I relied on the advertised services of my first host to
provide search engine optimization and traffic without investigating
these topics myself. There are many things to consider before even
contacting a web host including choosing a domain name, keyword
research, etc. I have included this information in the articles of
this web site. You would be advised to learn all you can before
jumping into business on the web. The web is an uncontrolled
jungle. Beware, there is much hype
in the advertisements on the web and in emails. It is hard to know
who you can trust. Scams abound, I know because I have been a
victim more than once.
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