Knowledge Base
Contact Us
Chat Live
You might have guessed from our Star Wars promotion on dedicated server hosting plans that many of us at WestHost are big Star Wars fanatics. Since today is Star Wars Day we decided to take part in the celebration by creating a couple memes. Enjoy!
Launch video services with the .TV domain on professional hosting platforms
Since Westhost not only offers professional hosting services but a straightforward domain registration service, we sometimes like to focus readers’ attention on existing and new domain extensions which may suit their online or offline business.
Since YouTube and video are simultaneously consider two of the biggest marketing drivers on the web today, its worthwhile considering the .TV domain as a possible home for your website, especially if it has a PLAY button!
According to Verisign, operator for .TV domain, online video has become a mass-market phenomenon and .tv is the address for online video and dynamic content on the Web.
“It’s the preferred top-level domain (TLD) for video, film, animation, user-generated content and more. Traditional registrars as well as hosting companies, social networking sites, and other organizations benefit by offering .tv registrations as a new revenue stream.”
The domain, which is offered via the Westhost domain registration service, allows a business to:
- Tell people to expect online video before they even go to your web site.
- Provide customers direct navigation to a video-enhanced experience.
- Create your own multimedia channel on the Web.
There are a number of big-name sites that have leveraged the .TV domain to highlight their multimedia and video services. These include WordPress.tv, Beet.tv and Blip.tv.
WordPress, for instance, is using the extension to offer video tutorials, sessions from latest WordCamps and interviews with developers and designers.
Meanwhile, Blip.tv offers a free video-blogging platform and video sharing service for an international audience.
“Many companies have invested a lot of time and effort into branding their .com’s or .net’s – a .tv domain name lives in support of these existing websites,” said Verisign.
“Having site users search in different places for video content, some on the blog, some in the product categories, others sprinkled elsewhere, makes for a frustrating experience – an experience that might quickly push them to a competitor. Consolidating all of a websites video under the .tv domain creates an easy, intuitive and organized user experience, which means a happy user experience.”
And, according to Verisign, these are the venues you spend most of your time watching online video:
- 64% YouTube
- 14% Facebook
- 0% Hulu
- 14% Vimeo
- 7% Other
Four WordPress Tips To Manage Your Blogging Platform Effectively
As the world’s most popular blogging platform (and some might say Content Management Systems), WordPress is now loaded with useful features that help structure content (and boost SEO) on professional web hosting platforms.
Here are four technical tips that you may help you in your daily blogging activities on all platforms offered by Westhost.
Can I install WordPress through a wizard?
Yes! It’s called Softaculous and it works great, automating the creation of your MySQL database and the corresponding administrative files. Begin by logging into your cPanel and selecting the Softaculous option from the Software & Services section.
Then, simply follow the prompts to complete your install, which takes less than a minute.
My account has been hacked – what can I do?
Security is crucial when it comes to protecting your files, including WordPress. Westhost engineers patrol your website 24/7. It is always a good idea to back up your data on a regular basis. It is also recommended that you keep your WordPress installation up to date and your passwords secure.
Finally, one of the best ways to keep your WordPress instance safe is to update all your plugins — even unused themes.
How do I update my WordPress URL in MySQL?
This simply requires a single edit in MySQL after you have installed your database. Locate the PHPMyAdmin tool and select your database name from the pick list. Upon choosing your DB click on the table called “WP Options”.
From here you will need to locate the Pencil icon and update the Domain.
Can I reset my WordPress password?
The best way to do this is to use PHPMyAdmin available via your cPanel. Click on the wp_users table and browse the table until you see the Pencil icon. Delete the current password and enter your desired password.
For more information or tips on managing your account or keeping your WordPress platform running smoothly visit our knowledgebase.
Posted in Tips & Tutorials, Web Hosting, WordPress Tagged knowledgebase, MySQL, PHP MyAdmin, Security, Wordpress Leave a comment
Migration Tips For Popular Web Applications
They say that the move into a new home is second only to divorce in terms of stress. Working with online applications can sometimes be just as demanding. However, WestHost has put together a comprehensive Knowledgebase to help take some of the sting out of this process. Plus, you can always fall back on a 24/7 customer support team.
Here are few helpful tips to ensure you get the most out of your hosting platform.
Moving MySQL Databases
The “M” in “LAMP” (or Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) is one of the most popular database engines on the web. But, every now and then you need to move it from one platform or plan to another. We suggest a tool called PHPMyAdmin that offers powerful export abilities.
Filezilla for moving website files
This great, free open-source FTP tool offers a quick, easy way to migrate website files from your Site Manager to a new cPanel account which is shaking up the way users manage websites online.
Migrate PHP Customizations
The “P” in “LAMP”, this friendly, scripting language is used for all sorts of tasks including customizing a WordPress installation to building exciting photo gallery apps. Seek out your local custom php.ini file in your new cPanel account, to complete a migration of PHP code customizations from Site Manager to cPanel.
From AWStats 6.95 to cPanel
AWStats is a popular reporting tool that is available within cPanel. If you need to move large amounts of data from AWStats, you need to access /var/lib/awstats which are present as .txt files. Your target folder will be home/cpaneluser/tmp/awstats
By the way, you probably noticed that cPanel features prominently in most of the migration tips offered above. In the last few years cPanel has emerged as one of the most powerful control panel offerings in the web hosting industry.
Here are four reasons why cPanel is proving popular, especially for hosting and domain resellers.
- Eliminate legacy hardware and software by switching to cPanel!
- Increase functionality of your automation platform
- Reduce customer churn by increasing stability
- Introduce new features and functionality to your customers
Posted in Technical Support, Tips & Tutorials, Web Hosting Tagged AWStats, cPanel, Filezilla, FTP, MySQL, PHP MyAdmin Leave a comment
Think strategically: Bundle a domain name purchase with a web hosting package!
Many small businesses are sometimes unaware that leading shared, cloud and dedicated hosting providers also sometimes provide bundled domain services which when utilized can bring down annual costs and allow a SMB to centralize activities under one umbrella.
Purchasing, maintaining and extending a business domain presence are becoming critical as competition grows online and competitors seek to infiltrate your customer base.
Several years ago, maintaining a .com domain name would have been sufficient for a Small Business. However, in recent years new domain extensions have emerged which challenge the traditional dominance of a .com suffix in much the same way that Facebook is challenging Google with regards how people spend their time online or where they conduct their product search.
Earlier this year, WestHost launched a massive media campaign to raise awareness for new domain suffixes including the shortened .CO extension. WestHost has continued to double down on this approach the past few months and has made a concerted effort to market TLD’s (Top Level Domains).
The New York Times has suggested that more than 600,000 .CO domains have been sold across 200 countries. The domain originated as country suffix for Colombia but has been commercialized for use in the consumer sector, worldwide.
Industry stats suggest that by 2017 the number of .CO domains will exceed 5 million registrations. It thus behooves a website owner to secure this extension both as an online growth opportunity and to protect from unscrupulous competitors who may wish to park the domain and limit their opportunity to open up new e-commerce channels.
A quick WHOIS search can determine if your desired .CO domain is available for purchase on the WestHost platform
“Get a free domain for life with our Preferred and Business hosting plans. We give you total control of the domain, point it, park it, whatever, it’s your choice,” said Westhost.
Also consider making your domain private to maximize security and ensure your competition stays in the dark regarding your future plans.
Posted in Domain Registration, Tips & Tutorials, Web Hosting Tagged .CO, Domain Registration, TLD Leave a comment
Is Forbes right? Will Google Plus remain a niche community?
‘Simply put, Google Plus is a niche community, and it feels like it’s always going to remain that way.” ~ Paul Tassi, Forbes Magazine.
Well, the knives are out for the Google Plus as it plugs away at Facebook’s social networking lead. In recent weeks the tech behemoth has revamped it’s fledgling “+”, quite unexpectedly, and perhaps in lieu of Facebook’s purchase of Instragram.
Said Business Insider: “Google Plus’s new interface both overwhelmed and frightened me at first. However, when I adjusted to it, I realized that I kind of like where the list of trending topics ends up. I also like how simple this new navigation is, and I kind of love the whole simple design. But I don’t love that it is the first thing I see when I sign in. When I’m just quickly trying to check my email, this is distracting!”
Now approaching 170 million users many are starting to doubt whether it can in fact catch up to Facebook. And, Forbes Magazine is one of them. Paul Tassi, a writer for Forbes, bases this negative viewpoint on the fact that none of his friends from Facebook have joined him on Google Plus.
“I speculated that perhaps they’d come around as it evolved, but as it stands today, I can’t think of a single one of them who is now active on the site who wasn’t before,” said Tassi.
“But do you know what sites they have joined these past few months? There’s a whole stable of them that are now Pinterest and Instagram fiends, as they found a new sort of social site they enjoyed that was easy to use and understand, and different than their usual Facebook experience.”
And perhaps the key takeaway here relates to the astronomical sum of money Facebook paid for Instragram, $1 billion, which has a minute programming team and basically uses remote web hosting services and applications to power its infrastructure.
Yet the key to Instagram’s success appears to be its simplicity. It simply applies a bunch of retro Photoshop filters to your uploaded photos to give them a new, exciting dimension. The mobile site is easy to use and looks great. That’s it!
Yet Google Plus despite all its great features and intentions may smack a bit of confusion and complexity. Its genesis was in response to Facebook — not purely for the sake of innovation or to open up new doors into social media.
Thus, argues Tassi, it may be destined to remain a niche community site that will not die a quick death like Wave, but will never reach the heights that Facebook is approaching. The irony his article is that he ends off by asking readers to Follow Him on Google Plus.
Hence, one must ask: Is the article simply a clever SEO ploy to lure new followers to his plus-sized nest or does he really believe the experts are wrong when they say Google Plus may overtake Facebook within the year?
You decide!
Why choose a WestHost reseller hosting solution
In these tough economic times, your small business could benefit from extra revenue-generating activities offered by leading hosting companies, including reseller hosting which is built upon cloud hosting technology.
Here are five benefits attached to a reseller hosting account with WestHost:
The power of choice
You can choose between several packages, including a basic entry-level account that offers a wide range of options with regards to your server firepower including CPU, RAM and storage. Plans may range from $50 per month for basic packages up to $150 per month for more heavyweight configurations.
Free Setup
All plans available under the Reseller program include FREE setup. This means you minimize your entry costs and also gain the power of automation and white-label branding for all professional web hosting services.
Free Snapshots Backups
All three reseller hosting packages offer free snapshot backups for all VPS data pertaining to a website. This is done on a weekly and monthly basis.
Cloud Power
The infrastructure that you will be tapping into for reseller hosting is built upon the rock-solid WestHost cloud platforms. A cloud platform allows hosting companies (and you) to offer scalable resources with utility pricing models. This means a small business website can scale RAM, CPU and storage to fit their individual needs.
Rock-solid support
Round the clock IT and server support is not just desirable, it’s critical. WestHost Administrators patrol your servers on a 24/7/365 basis to ensure your data is safe and secure. This is offered FREE of charge on all Westhost server packages.
Take a look at these Reseller Basic, Reseller Plus, and Reseller Pro packages to see which configuration matches your business profile. A reseller hosting package is a great way to expand your list of services under a white-label service.
It’s easy to set up and manage; plus, it gives the power to earn extra cash and improve your credibility in a crowded marketplace.
Tap into the booming e-commerce sector for your small business website
One you have established your website on a professional hosting platform you will sooner or later consider e-commerce functionality to increase conversions and take advantage of busy shopping periods during Christmas and Easter.
Forrester Research suggests that by the year 2015, online retail sales will reach almost $300 billion. Consumers are now purchasing products and services from a wide array of devices including desktops, laptops, tablets and Smartphones.
Source: Forrester Research
To meet this demand, leading hosting companies are putting together a plethora of e-commerce products to help streamline, automate and fast track the online buying process for small business websites.
Magento, Zen Cart, osCommerce, Cube Cart, and Agora Cart are some of the leading shopping carts that allow a SMB or SME to quickly deploy shopping solutions for their customers online.
While the products above are generally available via point-and-click interfaces within easy to use cPanels, there are three succinct areas that make up the e-commerce package.
An online shopping cart with add to cart, buy now and complete purchase buttons allow a buyer to complete a transaction without ever needing to send an email or call a sales number.
A merchant account allows you to operate as a seller when receiving credit card information. The shopping cart transmits the information to the merchant account for automated, real-time verification. The money is then transferred from the customer account into your business bank account.
The final area is SSL security or Secure Socket Layer protocols, which are essentially a digital padlock for your website on all major browsers. The user will see https instead of http signaling that the ordering process is secure and all information is protected during the transaction. You get this SSL for free when you sign up for an e-commerce hosting package.
Implementing an e-commerce solution for your website is easier than you think. The tools are all available from your hosting account and you can be up and running within 48 hours or less.
Tips to help you manage your “unmanaged” dedicated server
How to Install an SSL on an unmanaged server?
You are probably aware that WestHost offers both managed and unmanaged dedicated servers to customers in the United States and abroad. Managed servers give you the power of a dedicated box but with reduced complexity and operational overhead. Unmanaged servers allow advanced IT admins to precisely control the software, hardware and network resources attached to the box. This may include installing a custom security certificate or SSL. Our Knowledge base outlines the steps involved including additional notes about dedicated IPs necessary for certificate completion.
How can I boost security on an unmanaged server?
This is complex subject but there are a few general recommendations WestHost can make:
- Update your malware / AV protection programs on computers using FTP or SSH.
- Change all your FTP account passwords using a combination of alphanumeric characters.
- Make sure that you allow_url_include, fopen, and register_globals are set to “off” within any customized php.ini files you have within your account.
- Ensure you have included insecure functions within the disable_functions list. This is only relevant if you are running PHP apps within your account instance.
- For a complete list visit our Knowledge base security tips page for unmanaged servers
Need an overview of Dedicated Server control panels?
No problem. After you have logged in via https://cp.westhost.com/ you will be able to review your dedicated server start icon and review your current plan and default settings. You can also review network utilization and bandwidth usage. Review this Knowledge base control panel overview for more information.
Posted in Server Hosting, Tips & Tutorials Tagged knowledgebase, SSL, unmanaged servers Leave a comment
Domain name registration is critical to your online success
A domain name is not simply a reflection of your business name; it has other direct bearings on your SMB success including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and serving as a buffer against competitors seeking to steal away your customers.
By now most online SMBs are aware that domain names are a key metric evaluated by Google’s search algorithm when determining a search ranking. The presence of a primary keyword in the domain name e.g. “Android” is one example of how your search engine ranking may be adjusted upwards if other sites link to yours using that domain name in the anchor text.
Yes, it is true that Google has been recalibrating its algorithm to give equal weight to domains that have NO keyword in the domain name but instead center on brandability. Twitter is an example of such a site. But, the key point being established here is that a failure to procure either a branded or keyword-centric domain for your offline business means you are losing a key opportunity to gain search engine traction that could mean more website visitors, and consequently lead conversions.
Further, if you are paying no attention to procuring domain names related to your industry you may be letting your online competitors siphon off your traditional customer base.
Tech savvy businesses carefully monitoring vacant domains and pouncing when they see their competitors have not procured a domain related to their industry or business product line. This allows your competition to set up shop online and gradually get their domain name higher up search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo. Your customers may eventually end up on their site without your knowledge; the upshot being you may never see them again in your dental practice, medical institution, and apparel business or car lot. Further, it can be quite embarrassing when you one day decide to build a website and find your competition owns a domain name relevant to your business. This happens all the time!
Further, cost and complexity should not be a deterrent in quickly procuring a key domain name relating to your business. Affordable web hosting packages offered by companies such as Westhost, allow you to establish an online presence for as little as $4 per month. The acquisition of a new domain name is relatively painless and can be acquired in a little as 5 minutes as long as the domain name is available.
Further, it also gives you an opportunity to see what your competitors have been up to. You may find after careful examination that they have built several websites on various domains relating to similar product lines. Or, they may simply be parking the domains to ensure you or other competitors have no access to them. They will keep these in the holding tank until they have the funds, desire or business goals to develop them into full-blown websites. You should be adopting similar strategies. You can go a bit further and make sure your domain is private, thereby restricting competitors from seeing who actually owns the domain. This gives you some breathing space until you are ready to launch a new product website without them knowing what you are up to.
In the final analysis, domain name registration is a great way to buffer your existing or future product lines from nefarious competitors and allow you to one-day boost your search engine rankings. A failure to act may mean losing customers online.
Posted in Domain Registration, Industry Trends, Tips & Tutorials Tagged Domain Registration Leave a comment
