How to Start a Web Hosting Company

With the advent of the internet into all our lives and the growth of e-commerce all over the world, entrepreneurs do look for web hosting companies that provide cost-effective, managed services that allows them a higher internet presence and thereby a vast audience.

Steps

1
Start by deciding what are the types of hosting you are going to provide. This can vary from shared hosting to dedicated server hosting to colocation facilities. Categorize the products that you have knowledge about and then decide on the range of products you can handle.

2
Decide on plans and pricing for your hosting services. Research your competitors to figure out what services they offer at what prices. Choose prices and plans that will be competitive in the market, but keep your prices fair for both your company and your consumers.

3
Plan out your client handling mechanism. This can be a WHMCS panel through which all your website orders and client handling can be optimized, or something similar.

4
Get your hosting business rolling by tying down a cost effective ISP for your leased line. Bandwidth is a major constraint that all hosting providers have to look at since it is at the core of any hosting business. For this reason, it's crucial to tie down an ISP who can provide you with a bandwidth at a reasonable price with service level agreements of 99.99% uptime with IP pools.

5
Plan your bandwidth purchases. Buying bandwidth is one of the most important aspects of your business strategy, as this well enable you to decide on your sales techniques as this is the most important resource in the web hosting business. To start off, a purchase of Bandwidth of about 10Mbps will allow you around 1000 VPS accounts, so decide on your whole budgeting based on the bandwidth.

6
Consider investing in power. Your hosting accounts will have to be online 24/7, and therefore will be in the higher ranges of power consumption. Think about how you'll keep these accounts live, even in the case of emergencies. With these considerations in mind, power should be an important chunk of your investment.

7
Think about hardware purchases. Getting hardware as per you clients' requirements and balancing various accounts on them will be critical for Dedicated, VPS and Shared hosting businesses, since most of the providers do not charge any installation cost for them. If you can get the best deals for hardware purchases then you can save a major sum from your investment.

8
Consider licensing purchases. A provider will have to decide on the product line that he is getting into, for example : clients require cPanel with their Linux VPS accounts for which the license cost is variable from one provider to another depending on deals with cPanel.net, so having a pricing range for all such license purchases in sync with the bandwidth calculations (shall provide you a cost per client) and strategy of deciding product share (Dedicated vs VPS vs Shared Hosting) in your business will provide you with a complete overview of pricing ranges.

9
Know about support team costs. Managing 10 accounts, starting off, will not be an issue for you. But once your business grows and there are hundreds of tickets that need resolution, you will need a strong support team. Since support is one thing that clients look at in the most minutest of details, and most of them going for monthly contracts will keep you on your toes with respect to longevity of accounts that provide you recurring incomes. So, keeping aside a small amount to get in system administrators as and when your client base increases is a sound strategy to have for sustaining your business.

10
Make your presence felt among web hosting business and competing. Once you have streamlined and decided on your business strategy comes the most exciting part, competing. You will need to be a competitive provider, keeping your existing clients happy, getting in new clients and making your presence felt in web hosting communities and forum.

11
Always be a part of existing discussions on various forums. Use web hosting talk or web cosmo forums, etc. to make your online presence felt. Always have something constructive to say, since these forums are a powerful marketing tool for your business and say a lot about your business.

12
Deciding on various online marketing strategies such as SEOptimisation, SEMarketing, running a Google AdWords campaign can also provide you with an option of creating a larger client base.

13
These are a few major aspects of any web hosting business. One thing you must note, that all these constraints are really important from a customers point of view, since in hosting, stability and support along with guaranteed uptimes are the most crucial parameters.

How to Pick a Good Domain Name for Your Website

Choosing the perfect domain name is crucial to the survival of your website no matter what type of site you want to build. A lot of times people get so caught up in the design process that they forget that their domain name will usually be the first thing people see (and remember). Whether you want to build a blog / forum or e-commerce website, there are several things you should remember when going through the process of picking the right domain name.

Steps

1
Understand what a domain name is. A domain name is the unique URL or address of a particular website that defines itself from every other website on the World Wide Web. For example, this site is WikiHow, but its domain name is www.wikihow.com.

2
Learn about domain name and site association. When choosing the right domain name you should always keep it and your website's name as close to each other as possible. You do not want to confuse visitors because your domain name seems to be totally different from your website name, especially if you are running an e-commerce website.

3
Don't get fancy with it. Choose a name that is not too long and is not too confusing so that visitors have a hard time remembering it. In most situations, the shorter your domain name is, the better off you will be. This is because people will remember the URL and they will continue to visit your site in the future. Also always try to avoid using acronyms, dashes or other symbols as they may also confuse potential visitors for the first time.

4
Think about your visitors/customers. When dealing with most websites and finding the perfect domain name you should always keep in mind that it’s not what you like, but what you have researched and know that your visitors/customers will like. Just because you like the name or think it sounds good does not mean everyone else is going to like it.

5
Always have a couple of back ups. When you start to register your domain name it would be wise to have a few different names written down just in-case your first choice is already taken. A lot of times they usually are, so the more unique your domain name is, the better chance you will have. Also keep in mind there are other domain designations than just (.com). Depending on what type of website you have or are looking to build there are other domain designations that you might want to consider such as .org, .net, .co, or .mobi(for cell phones and PDAs).

6
Short and Sweet - Domain names can be really long or really short (1 - 67 characters). In general, it is far better to choose a domain name that is short in length. The shorter your domain name, the easier it will be for people remember. Remembering a domain name is very important from a marketability perspective. As visitors reach your site and enjoy using it, they will likely tell people about it. And those people may tell others, etc. As with any business, word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool to drive traffic to your site (and it's free too!). If your site is long and difficult to pronounce, people will not remember the name of the site and unless they bookmark the link, they may never return.

7
Consider Alternatives - Unless a visitor reaches your site through a bookmark or a link from another site, they have typed in your domain name. Most people on the internet are terrible typists and misspell words constantly. If your domain name is easy to misspell, you should think about alternate domain names to purchase. For example, if your site will be called "MikesTools.com", you should also consider buying "MikeTools.com" and "MikeTool.com". You should also secure the different top level domain names besides the one you will use for marketing purposes ("MikesTools.net", "MikesTools.org", etc.) You should also check to see if there are existing sites based on the misspelled version of the domain name you are considering. "MikesTools.com" may be available, but "MikesTool.com" may be home to a graphic pornography site. You would hate for visitor to walk away thinking you were hosting something they did not expect.

8
Also consider domain names that may not include the name of your company, but rather what your company provides. For example, if the name of your company is Mike's Tools, you may want to consider domain names that target what you sell. For example: "buyhammers.com" or "hammer-and-nail.com". Even though these example alternative domain names do not include the name of your company, it provides an avenue for visitors from your target markets. Remember that you can own multiple domain names, all of which can point to a single domain. For example, you could register "buyhammers.com", "hammer-and-nail.com", and "mikestools.com" and have "buyhammers.com" and "hammer-and-nail.com" point to "mikestools.com".

9
Hyphens: Your Friend and Enemy - Domain name availability has become more and more scant over the years. Many single word domain names have been scooped up which it makes it more and more difficult to find a domain name that you like and is available. When selecting a domain name, you have the option of including hyphens as part of the name. Hyphens help because it allows you to clearly separate multiple words in a domain name, making it less likely that a person will accidentally misspell the name. For example, people are more likely to misspell "domainnamecenter.com" than they are "domain-name-center.com". Having words crunched together makes it hard on the eyes, increasing the likelihood of a misspelling. On the other hand, hyphens make your domain name longer. The longer the domain name, the easier it is for people to forget it altogether. Also, if someone recommends a site to someone else, they may forget to mention that each word in the domain name is separated by a hyphen. If do you choose to leverage hyphens, limit the number of words between the hyphens to three. Another advantage to using hyphens is that search engines are able to pick up each unique word in the domain name as key words, thus helping to make your site more visible in search engine results.

10
Dot What? - There are many top level domain names available today including .com, .net, .org, and .biz. In most cases, the more unusual the top level domain, the more available domain names are available. However, the .com top level domain is far and away the most commonly used domain on the internet, driven by the fact that it was the first domain extension put to use commercially and has received incredible media attention. If you cannot lay your hands on a .com domain name, look for a .net domain name, which is the second most commercially popular domain name extension.

11
Long Arm of the Law - Be very careful not to register domain names that include trademarked names. Although internet domain name law disputes are tricky and have few cases in existence, the risk of a legal battle is not a risk worth taking. Even if you believe your domain name is untouchable by a business that has trademarked a name, do not take the chance: the cost of litigation is extremely high and unless you have deep pockets you will not likely have the resources to defend yourself in a court of law. Even stay away from domain names in which part of the name is trademarked: the risks are the same.

12
Search Engines and Directories - All search engines and directories are different. Each has a unique process for being part of the results or directory listing and each has a different way of sorting and listing domain names. Search engines and directories are the most important on-line marketing channel, so consider how your domain name choice affects site placement before you register the domain. Most directories simply list links to home pages in alphabetical order. If possible, choose a domain name with a letter of the alphabet near the beginning ("a" or "b"). For example, "aardvark-pest-control.com" will come way above "joes-pest-control.com". However, check the directories before you choose a domain name. You may find that the directories you would like be in are already cluttered with domain names beginning with the letter "a". Search engines scan websites and sort results based on key words. Key words are words that a person visiting a search engine actually search on. Having key words as part of your domain name can help you get better results.

How to Transfer a Domain

Moving your website to a new host, and need to transfer your domain? Maybe you've found a better deal for domain registration. In any case, transferring your domain is a straightforward process, but will usually take several days to complete while you wait for all parties involved to approve the transfer. Most of the work is done behind the scenes; you'll just need to fill out a few forms.

Part One of Two:
Leaving Your Old Domain Registrar

1
Ensure that your contact information is up to date. During the transfer process, you will be contacted by both your old registrar and your new one. They will use the contact information that is registered to your domain. You can update your contact information from your current registrar's domain control panel.
If you don't remember who your current registrar is, you can look it up by performing a WHOIS search on your domain.

2
Set up an email with another service. Many people use an email service that is tied to their domain. During the domain transfer process, you will likely lose access to your email service for your domain name. Make sure that you have another email account, such as a Gmail or Yahoo account, that you can use as a secondary means of communication.
Make sure to set this email as your contact email in your domain registration information.

3
Request that your domain be unlocked. The process for this varies depending on the registrar you currently use, but you can typically unlock your domain from the Domain section of your domain control panel. Make this request to your current domain registrar.

4
Request the Authorization Code. Every domain must provide you with this code within five days of your request. Some registrars allow you to generate your code in the control panel, while others will send it to your via email. You can generally request the code from the same section of the control panel that you used to unlock your domain.
You will need this code in order to transfer your domain.

5
Ensure that you have not recently transferred your domain. You cannot transfer your domain if it was created or transferred within the last 60 days. This is an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) requirement, which is the organization that manages addresses on the internet.[1]

Part Two of Two:
Transferring Your Domain

1
Read the support pages for your new registrar. The actual process for transferring your domain will vary depending on which service you are transferring to. Make sure that you read the instructions for transferring posted on the new registrar's support pages for exact instructions.

2
Visit the transfer page for the new registrar. You will likely need to create an account with the registrar before you can access this page. You can usually find the Transfer Domain section in the control panel for your new registrar, or you may be given the option to start the process when you create your account.
You may need to contact the registrar's support staff to initiate a transfer if there is no option available on the website.

3
Enter in the domain you are transferring. Make sure to include the TLD (.com, .net, .org, etc.). You may be able to transfer multiple domains at once. You do not need to include the www. part of the address.

4
Enter in your Authorization Code. When asked, enter in the code that you received from your old registrar. Make sure that you enter the code exactly, or else the transfer will not process properly.

5
Verify that you are authorizing the transfer. You will be contacted by your old registrar asking if you authorize the transfer. You will be either emailed or called, using the information you have provided to your old registrar.
This is where having the correct contact information is important. If you are not registered as the owner of the domain, you will not be able to be contacted about the transfer even if you are the actual owner.

6
Pay for the transfer. You usually will need to pay for your domain to be transferred. Some services require that you automatically renew for an additional year when you transfer. You may be able to get a free transfer for signing up with the new registrar.

7
Wait for your settings to transfer. Your new registrar will configure DNS and name servers for you once the transfer has been authorized. After the transfer has been set up by the new registrar, it can take up to a few days for your DNS changes to be recognized worldwide. Your website should still be available.
The actual process will vary depending on the registrar you choose. This may include an extra round of authentication from the new registrar. Check the support pages for the new registrar for details.

8
Decide if you want a private domain. Some domain registrars allow you to mask your domain registration information so that your contact information is not available to the general public when a WHOIS search is performed. Instead, the registrar's information will be displayed, hiding your name, phone number, address, and email. Usually, private registration costs extra.

9
Cancel your old service. Once the transfer is complete, you can cancel your service with your old registrar. Make sure that the transfer was completely successful before doing so, or your website may go down until the transfer goes into effect worldwide.[2]

Tips
Some web hosts allow you to purchase domain names separately from hosting plans. If your host does this, or if you registered the domain with a company that provides just registration and not hosting, you have the option of keeping the registration where it is and pointing it to the Domain Name Server (DNS) of the web host. The customer support section of the registrar's website can help you do this.

How to Upload a Website

A lot of people choose to design their own personal or business website themselves. After the website is designed, it needs to be uploaded to a server in order to be visible on the Internet. Use these steps to upload a website to a server.

Steps

1
Perform research on the Internet for the various options available for building a website and choose the one that is best for your experience level. Some are simple while others are geared more to experienced website creators.

2
Find a website hosting source. Many Internet providers provide free hosting space to their customers, but there are other free and inexpensive website hosts available.
Consider the amount of space the hosting source offers. Basic, non-flash enhanced websites can require up to 100 megabytes. Highly animated websites require much more.
Check out some of their hosted sites for loading speed.
Determine whether they offer 24/7 support for their clients.

3
Create your website. It is not necessary to create the entire site before uploading. You can add pages or change them as your site grows.

4
Download a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) application. These programs are used to upload information to servers.
Check with your web host to make sure that they support FTP.

5
Install the FTP application. Follow the on-screen instructions.
You may need to get information from your web host, such as the FTP name needed. They may also have specifics as to where and how to save your website files.

6
Connect to your web server using your FTP application. Enter the user name and password and server information provided by your web host. If you are uncertain about this information, contact your web host.

7
Open the FTP client on your computer. Some FTP programs will display 2 windows, which is called FTP transfer. Some will require you to use an upload feature, which is called FTP upload.
For FTP transfer programs, select the files from your computer containing the website pages. Click and drag the files from the window containing your computer's files to a similar folder in the other window displaying the files on the web server.
For FTP upload programs, the left pane will contain the files on your computer. The right pane is a view of the server. Create a folder in the right pane for your website pages. Click on the appropriate files in the left pane and click the upload button. If the program does not have an upload button, right click on the file and click upload.

8
Check to ensure that all files have loaded properly through your web browser. If not, you may need to repeat FTP transfer or upload process.

Tips
Be sure to download your website creation tool and the FTP application from a reputable source. There are various sites that rate these applications on the Internet.

How to Publish a Website on Your Own Domain

Ever wanted to make your own website, but just don't know how? With cheap domains proliferating on the internet, it's easier than ever to publish your own web site. Even if you're not big-time, it's a smart, safe bet.

Steps

1
Establish the basics. Your website will need two things:
A unique domain name. Each domain name is registered with a DNS (Domain Name Server), which identifies a domain name with a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address.
Space. Each website must have a web space allocated to it. This is provided by a web server, many of which are maintained by private companies.

2
Find out if the name you want is available. Many websites (such as domainsbot) will catalogue which domains are available. Or, you can always try typing the domain you want into the URL field of your browser.

3
Find a website that can show you similar domain names that are available. Searching a taken domain will turn up similar domains that are still open. For example, if you want to register the domain name “domainhostingcompany.com” you'd see that “domainhostingcompany.co” is available but “domainhostingcompany.com” is already registered.

4
Register your domain. Find a domain name registrar and sign up your domain. (To find a registrar, simply search "domain name registrar.") You'll probably have to pay a start-up fee, as well as a yearly fee to keep the domain registered in your name. Afterward, the registrar will provide you with access to a control panel for your website.

5
Manage your website. From the control panel, you can check your disk space and monthly bandwidth space. You can also upload and download the contents of the website, as well as updating the files and folders of the website using FTP server address.

6
Add themes. There are several applications that will apply themes (or designs) to your website.

Tips

Collect detailed information about web services provided by different Internet Service Provider for better services.

Getting Started with Web Hosting Business

Platform and Control Panel Choice
The platform on which you are going to base your first reseller hosting package or server is an important choice, since it can affect the final choice of prospective customers because of their needs; the control panel which you choose to provide your customers with can also affect your ability to gain customers - this is because some might be more familiar with one control panel which they have used in the past rather than the one that you have chosen to provide them with. In terms of the platform which you choose to base your web hosting packages on, you are limited to two options which are used by most of the main players within the website hosting industry - these are Windows and Linux; Windows is a commercial operating system which you can only use upon the purchase of a license from its manufacturer, Microsoft - Linux on the other hand is an open source operating system which requires no paid for license to allow you to run it, which means you are able to install it on as many computer as you want without the need to pay for any licenses what-so-ever. Platforms and operating systems you should check out include:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and 2008 - http://www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx
• CentOS Linux - http://www.centos.org/
• Ubuntu Linux - http://www.ubuntu.org/

There are many different web hosting control panels out there on the market for you to choose from, although your final choice normally boils down to what your web host is able to provide you with since their prices are normally a lot cheaper than if you were to buy a license for a piece of control panel software direct from the supplier; this means that although there may be many different control panels for you to choose from, you are in a sense limited by your web host since they will most likely be unable to provide you with every control panel. When choosing a control panel on which you are going to base your web hosting packages, you should check out all features of the control panels which you are testing - this means that you should always check out the client and reseller panels as well as the administration panel to ensure that you get a good idea of how easy the control panel will be for your customers to use, as well as for the customers of customers to use in terms of resellers; you should also get other people who aren’t so computer ’savvy’ to test out the same control panels as you, since this ensures that the control panel which you choose to base your web hosting packages on is usable for all people. In most cases, the control panel which you choose to base your web hosting packages upon is chosen in relation to the operating system on which you want to base your web hosting packages, since some control panels are only able to work with one operating system whereas others come in multiple versions so that they can be run on most well known operating systems; for example cPanel has been designed for use on Linux distributions only, although a version for Microsoft Windows 2008 is currently in development, and Plesk is a control panel that has been designed for use on both Microsoft Windows and Linux website hosting platforms - this means that you can use the control panel for either operating system. There are many different web hosting control panels on the market, although the main ones which you should take a look at include:

• cPanel - http://www.cpanel.net/
• Parallels (Formally SWSoft) Plesk - http://www.parallels.com/en/products/plesk/
• LXAdmin - http://lxlabs.com/software/lxadmin-sse/

The actual choice of operating system on which you are going to base your web hosting packages can be affected by the skills which you have to administrate a server, in the case that you have opted to go for either a virtual private server or a dedicated server; this is because administering a server can be a complicated task at the best of times, which means that if you don’t have the necessary skills to administrate the server which you have purchased, you might not be able to provide your customers with good service, since it means that if a problem does occur with the server, you won’t be able to fix it. Although your web host might provide support for their virtual private server and dedicated server hosting packages, the support provided might not cover all issues - this might be because it is limited to upgrading third party software that is provided, and that the support staff are not obliged to fix any internal problems with the server; this means that you should try and get your server administration skills up to scratch before embarking on purchasing a hosting package which would provide you with a dedicated environment.
Billing Systems
One of the main components of a successful web hosting business is a web based billing and account management system, so that your customers are able to pay their web hosting bills online and so that you are able to manage and view your customers details as well as packages that they have purchased through a web interface with ease; this means that if you have a numerous amount of customers, you can easily manage them online and contact them quickly and easily as appropriate, if needs be.
Most web host billing systems are not just billing systems, for example some have help desk systems built into them, and as mentioned before, you can also use them to easily manage your customers - even if you happen to have millions of them; this means that you can have an all in one system where you can meet your customers needs in both the areas of support and management. A support help desk system within a billing system allows your customers to open ‘support tickets‘ which are then assigned a unique id so that you are able to manage them easily, and are able to refer to tickets quickly if a customer was to quote you the ticket’s unique id via some other method of communication, such as over the telephone. Most support ticket systems allow correspondence for any ticket via 2 methods - email and a web interface; most systems employ a technology known as ‘email piping‘ which collects the emails from a specified email inbox and them processes them to be displayed within the web interface which should be provided - ticket replies from staff members are emailed back to the email address of the person who opened the ticket and replies from the customer are piped through to the web interface, the web interface itself shows the correspondence between the two parties in order so that you can quickly read through the correspondence if you have the need to.
All good web host billing systems incorporate a large range of payment gateways, so that you can are able to use the payment gateway of your choice to receive payments from your customers for the web hosting services that they have purchased from you - this process is a lot quicker than having to process old fashioned types of payment such as personal cheque; when looking for billing systems, you might also discover API systems for third part fraud detection systems - these are in place to safe guard the security of both your business, and the potential victims - these systems normally mark certain orders as fraud if they are believed to be fraud.
If you are starting out in the web hosting market, then you should always consider buying a license for a piece of billing software that you are able to pay for on a monthly lease, since this means that you are not loosing any money on your billing system if your web hosting business was to fail for some reason or another - if funds do not allow for a monthly lease then you can easily consider a free alternative, although the features of these can be relatively limited when compared to those of their commercial counterparts. As is the case with control panels, you and others should always test both the client and administration side of any web host billing system before you purchase anything; this is because it will allow you to gain the feedback of others apart from yourself which you can then use to help you make your final decision about which web hosting billing system you are going to use for your new web hosting company. You should also consider the installation service for your chosen application which is most probably provided by the company from which you purchased the application; this is because you can ensure that a full and secure installation of the application concerned has been done, to give you peace of mind - it also means that you can have the application installed for you in the situation that you don’t have the necessary knowledge to carry out the task. Although there are many different web hosting billing systems, the main ones which one should have a look at include:

• WHMCS - http://www.whmcs.com/
• ModernBill - http://www.modernbill.com/
• PHPCoin - http://www.phpcoin.com/

Marketing Your Web Hosting Business
Once you have the basics of your new web hosting business laid out and operational, you need to start promoting it where possible so that you can start receiving new customer sign ups, which in turn will help boost your business’s income and customer base. There are many different ways in which you can market and promote your new business in the beginning - some of these options being ones which you have to pay for, and others which are free but require your hard work and will power to ensure that they produce the results that you want; an example of a paid for method which you could use to help promote and market your new web hosting business would be you buying an SEO package from either your web host or from another specialist to ensure that your business’s website gets listed and indexed by all the major search engines on the internet, an example of a free method would be you optimizing your own website so that search engines will give it a higher page rank, and in turn send more visitors to your website through the use of key word searches.
If you have the necessary funds to do so, then you can consider using certain PPC (pay per click) programs to help get adverts for your new business placed on participating publisher websites; most PPC programs deploy adverts on publisher websites based on keywords which you enter when creating the advert, as well as the category which the webmaster of the publishing site has decided to place their website in - this means that your advert will be targeted at people who are on websites most likely looking for web hosting, which ensures that the right people will be sent to your website and will hopefully in turn purchase a web hosting package off you. SEO can play a big roll in the amount of visitors which you receive to your website, this is because the more SEO friendly your website is, the higher the page rank search engines will give you. A higher page rank means in the terms of most search engines that your website will appear higher in the results for certain key word searches. Main different companies run PPC programs, although the main ones which are used by many include:

• Google Adwords - http://www.google.com/adwords/
• Yahoo Overture - http://www.overture.com/
• AdBrite - http://www.adbrite.com/

Basic SEO involves the editing of content on your website to ensure that it is as keyword rich as possible - the more common key words which you decide to use within your content, the more subjects and searches that search engines will link your website to; other basic SEO techniques including the building up of back links to your website from other websites of a similar subject - this will help since it will mean that people who are looking at web hosting related websites might actually be looking for web hosting - and when they see a link to your website, they will most likely click and if they like the look of your packages and prices, will buy their web hosting off you. In some cases you can also do link exchanging with websites of a similar subject to yours; this process involves the placing of a link to your website on that of another website, and then you will link back to the other website involved. Although you might be tempted to purchase a program or plan from another web host which claims to increase the amount of traffic to your website, you should always be cautious when looking at these plans and should never spend too much money on things such as this; this is because all these plans do in most cases is submit your website to other search engines which it might not already be in - although this may sound good at first, it might not give the increased amount in visitors which it claims to provide. If you don’t have the necessary knowledge for SEO, nor the funds to splash out on a special package then you could always hire a professional who might be able to do it for you at a cut rate.
Conclusion
In conclusion, with the use of the correct domain name you can help make your business’s name memorable for your customers; this in itself can help you out since it means that if your name is memorable, then it will be easier for your customers to refer their friends and colleagues who need web hosting to your business. You should also now know to consider the client side of a control panel when you are testing it and deciding whether to use as part of your web hosting business or not; by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and getting the opinions of others on certain things can help produce the best results for your business, and can make your customers happier with the service which they are receiving.
Even though you might be putting yourself in the customer’s shoes, you should still consider how usable the administration side of an application or control panel is for you; this is because you will be using the administration panels day in and day out if your business is to be successful, and it is because of this that you should ensure that you can easily familiarize yourself with the applications and control panels which you will be using. Marketing your web hosting business is one of the most important tasks that you will ever carry out; this is because the amount of customer which you receive to your business will depend on how well you market your website, and whether you carry out a good level of SEO - this will mean making sure that your content is keyword rich, and that you have a large amount of back links so that people can find your business from other websites, and so that search engines give you a higher page rank.

What Is CPanel?

CPanel is one of the most popular control panels in the world today. CPanel is used for the maintenance of the website and the web server. The CPanel has a very good graphical user interface (GUI) which makes it very easy to use for all its users.

Anyone who is new to this field of web hosting and website development can design and develop a professional website using this cPanel. By using the CPanel, you will have complete control over your website. It is one of the most reliable control panels in the world today. CPanel even supports PHP, Front Page, MySQL, Fantastico, and many more exciting web applications and features.

CPanel has a feature that gives you all the important statistics about your web server. For example, the bandwidth and disk space usage, web traffic details, domain and sub-domain details, the places from where your web traffic comes to your website and to which web pages, how long the web traffic stays on which web page, and much more.

CPanel also offers some of the most important add-ons and great web tools like Fantastico Deluxe, which contains easy installation of some of the most important applications like the content management system, Joomla that can be directly installed using this control panel.

Fantastico Deluxe allows you to install some very important web scripts with the help of just a few mouse clicks. Also, installing these web scripts is very easy even for the novices, and you do not need to have extensive knowledge about the process of installation these advanced web scripts and applications. Using the CPanel, you can perform many important tasks. CPanel also makes the web programming and the coding of the website much easier.

As stated earlier CPanel has graphical user interface. It helps the difficult tasks to become much easier. For example, deleting a whole table from your database, setting passwords to some parts of your website, changing the content of your website, and much more can be done quite easily. CPanel even allows you to change the interface of the control panel according to your needs.

As CPanel is one of the most popular control panel used, and the online marketers make use of CPanel web hosting, there are many advanced compatible software’s and applications or scripts available to be used along with the powerful CPanel. It provides advanced scalability of your website.

Many web hosting service providers even provide some very powerful custom-made web designing tools. Some control panels provide only some of the basic features like managing web files, creating email accounts, creating sub domain names, etc.

However, CPanel provides much more sophisticated features when compared to the other control panels. For example, cron jobs, MIME types, Apache handlers, add or remove email accounts, Auto-responders, and much more.

The CPanel also provides PHPMyAdmin for database management, can install Front Page extensions, redirect mail and URL, create FTP accounts, etc. All these exciting applications and tools are included with the CPanel for the benefit of the users.

If you have a personal website or even a small online business, then CPanel is the best control panel that you can choose for you website for its ease of use and its powerful features.

How to Host a Blog

Creating and starting a blog provides a great way to publish your writing, connect with others, or even promote a small business. If you already have a blog, you are likely paying a monthly fee to a web hosting service, or you are using a free service with limited functionality. If you want to enjoy unlimited control of your blog without paying a fee, there is another option: you can host your blog yourself. By using your own computer as a server to make your blog available online, you can take complete control of your website's configuration without paying anything. Learning how to host a blog can be a challenging process, and may not be suited for novice users. Follow the steps below to understand the process.

Steps

1
Check the terms of service agreement used by your Internet service provider. Some service providers will not allow you to host your own web content. Make sure hosting your blog does not violate your agreement before proceeding.

2
Plan to keep your computer online as much as possible. You will be hosting your blog from your own computer, so remember that when your computer is turned off or offline, your blog will be inaccessible over the Internet. Schedule Windows updates to occur at a time when most users will not be online (in the middle of the night, for example), because they will restart your computer. Also, make sure to set your virus scanning software to only scan once per day, instead of scanning in real time. This will free up your computer's resources for hosting the blog.

3
Disable any firewalls you have running. To host a website, your computer needs unrestricted communications access to the Internet. Open the firewall control panel in Windows, and click on the "Exceptions" tab. Click the "Add Port" button, and enable the following 3 ports: HTTP (80), HTTPS (443), and MYSQL (3306).

4
Assign a static IP address to your machine. For general web use, most computers will be set up to obtain an IP address automatically, which means the address may change. To run a web server, however, you need an IP address that doesn't change, so that you can point your domain name (your blog's URL) to that IP address.
Click on the "Start" button and click "Run." Type "cmd" into the text field and press Enter. In the command prompt that appears, type "ipconfig /all." This will display the network settings configured for your computer.
Under the heading "Local Area Connection," look for the entries marked "IP Address," "Subnet Mask," "Default Gateway," and all the IP addresses listed under "DNS Servers." Write all this information down and then close the window.
Open the Network Connections menu in the Control Panel. Right-click on the "Local Area Connection" icon and click "Properties." In the window that appears, select the "TCP/IP" option and click the "Properties" button.
The window that appears will have 2 options: "Obtain an IP address automatically," and "Use the following." Select "Use the following," and enter all the information you wrote down into the appropriate fields.
In the IP address field, however, you want to enter a different number. Enter the IP address you wrote down, but change the last set of digits (after the final decimal point) to something much higher than what you wrote down. For example, if you have written "67.168.129.10," then you could change the address to "67.168.129.250." Click the "OK" button to save the changes.
Open your web browser to make sure you're still connected to the Internet after making the changes.

5
Configure your router for port forwarding. Access your router's configuration screen; this is usually done by opening a web browser and navigating to the address "192.168.0.1." If that doesn't work, consult the manual or support website for your particular router. Find the menu for port forwarding in the configuration screen, and specify the static IP address that you chose above in the appropriate field. Then, enable TCP ports 80, 443, and 3306 to forward to IP address.

6
Register a domain name and sign up for a static DNS service. Your blog will need a domain name (for example, www.myblog.com) and a service for pointing that domain name to your IP address. DynDNS is a company that offers a free service to accomplish this; simply download their software and keep it running on your computer. When users type your blog's URL into the browser, DynDNS's service will point their browser to the website that you are hosting from your own computer.

7
Install the necessary software for hosting web content. You will need 3 things to host your blog at home: the Apache web server, the PHP scripting language, and the MySQL database server. You don't actually have to know how any of these work in depth, as you won't need to interface with them directly. The easiest way to install these components is by downloading a free application called XAMPP, which will install all of them with a few simple clicks.

8
Enable password protection in your XAMPP setup. The default installation for XAMPP doesn't enable any security features, so you will want to add them. Open your web browser, type in the address "http://localhost" and press Enter. This will take you to the XAMPP configuration screen. Click on the "Security" menu, and select the option to password protect your MySQL root and XAMPP settings. Choose a password to protect the settings.

9
Store your blog's files in the correct place. The only thing left to do is put all your web content where it needs to be. Navigate to the location where you installed XAMPP, and locate the "htdocs" folder inside the XAMPP folder. Store all of your blog's files (web pages, images, etc.) in this folder. If you are using software such as WordPress to build your blog, refer to their manual for hosting your content from home.

How to Make Money Online Without a Website

You don't need to have a website to make money on the Internet. Here is a proven strategy to make money online without a website.

1
Find Affiliate Product
Find a product to promote where you make good commission on each sale. Generally, you will get the biggest commissions on digital products. Digital products are defined as something that is downloaded directly to a customer's computer after purchasing, like electronic books or software. Since there is no extra cost per unit, no inventory and no shipping, the commissions are much greater than on regular "physical" goods. The most common commission on digital products is 50%.
Sign up for an affiliate membership site. This will allow you to build a residual income and the retention rate is much higher than just selling a product once and getting paid.
Sign up as a reseller (also called affiliate) for a product that looks the most appealing to you. After you sign up, you will get a unique affiliate link where you need to send people to purchase the product. Your affiliate link will have a special code that will tell the product owner that it's you who referred the customer. The affiliate link code will allow your commissions to be tracked correctly and assigned to you.

2
Get Domain Name
Get a domain name to redirect to your affiliate link. A domain name is a .COM. You can get it for under $9 at GoDaddy.com. GoDaddy.com will allow you to redirect your domain name to your affiliate link at no extra cost. It's important to note that unlike having your own website you don't have to pay for hosting which is usually more expensive than buying and registering a domain name. Domain forwarding allows you to have a legitimate presence in the world of online affiliate marketing for only a few dollars! Some affiliates offer mentoring and training to assist you in your pursuit of making money online.
So when someone types in your .COM domain in their browser, it will go to your affiliate link. The visitor will see the website with the product you promote, and the commissions will be tracked correctly.
The reason why you need a domain name is that it's memorable and it makes you look more trustworthy. Affiliate links tend to be too long and arouse suspicion. For example, most people would rather click on the link bestwidgets.com as opposed to abcwidgets.com?reseller=john
A domain name will make your affiliate link look like it's your own website. So basically, you will have a product to promote and a website to send people to and get commissions – without really having your own website.

3
Get Traffic
In order to make sales, you need to get visitors to your domain name (which will forward them to the website of the product that you resell). You can pay for advertising and hope that your profit will be greater than advertising cost, or you can use free ways to generate traffic.
The most effective way to get free targeted visitors to your domain name is by writing and submitting articles. You can write short articles on the topic related to the product that you promote. At the end of the article, you include your author bio and your domain name link.
You will then submit your articles to various websites, and allow them to publish your articles as long as your link is included. Your articles will get published in many places on the Internet, and will be advertising your affiliate link at no cost to you whatsoever. People will read your articles, like what you have to say and click on your domain name link ready to buy.
Once you start getting regular sales from your articles, you can go back to step 1 and find another product to promote using this strategy. After a while, you will build up a nice source of Internet income – without even having a website.

How to Register a Domain Name

Registering your domain name is the first step in establishing your online presence and reaching visitors. We'll show you how to create and register your domain, avoid some of the pitfalls that can arise, and choose the best domain name to make sure that your site reaches the most people. Read below if you want to get on your way to a successful website!

Part One of Three:

Registering a Domain

Method 1: With a Hosting Service
1 .Decide your preferred route.
 Your website will be made with a series of files, so you'll need a place to store those files. You can do it on your own computer (without a hosting service) or store them on another company's servers (with a hosting service). Most webhosting services will also be able to register a domain name for you. Choose which route you want to take and then follow the appropriate set of instructions.
Choose a hosting service. Choose a service to host your website, or go with the service that you already have (if you inherited a website). There are many reputable ones, and you will want to choose a reputable one, but they tend to have different customer service policies and prices. Choose what's best for you.
Reputable hosting services include Register.com, GoDaddy.com, OnlyDomains.com and eNom.com.
The hosting services all work with the ICANN database, which is in charge of keeping track of all domain names, so they should all turn up the same information.
2
Use the availability checker. These sites will all have an availability checker, where you type in the domain name you want and they tell you if it's available or suggest alternatives if it isn't. Some will even tell you if there is a cheaper domain with a slightly different name.
3
Select other services. Once you've found an available domain name, you'll want to select it and follow the instructions for that particular service. When you select your domain name, you will also have the opportunity to add on other services that the host also provides. Choose what's best for you.
4
Fill out their forms. They will then ask for a bunch of information from you. This is necessary to register with the WHOIS database, where the owners of websites are required to list their information. This information can be made public or you can choose to keep in private (usually for an added fee).
5
Pay them. Websites aren't free! Enter your payment information and make sure it's correct. This is why it's a good idea to choose a reputable site: because they will have your payment information.
6
Use their tools. Once you're registered with them and everything is good to go, you can start using their tools to upload stuff to your site. You can also set up uploading through software programs like Firefox or Dreamweaver.

Method 2: Without a Hosting Service
1
Check with your ISP. Now, the trick with hosting your website on your own servers is that some ISPs (internet service providers) don't allow this. They will block the traffic. So, the first thing to do is check with your ISP to make sure this is allowed and if you need to do anything special. If they don't allow it, you'll have to either change ISPs or change your mind about hosting.
2
Choose a registrar. Choose either one of the major hosting services, or find a website that just does registration, like Domjax. You can simply register a domain name with most of the hosting companies; you don't have to also host with them. Just find a reputable and certified[1] domain registrar.
Keep in mind that some hosts and registrars are only allowed to register certain top-level domains (or TLDs), like .org and .xxx, and so on.
3
Get a server. You'll need a server to host your site on. You can repurpose an old computer or you can get a straight-up server...whichever suits your needs best. Just make sure that it can handle the needs of your website. If you think you're going to be getting a lot of traffic, you'll need a fast system. Your local computer store staff person should be able to advise you on the best option for your needs.
4
Get a static IP address. You'll need to set up your IP address to stay the same. Usually these change, but if yours changes people won't be able to get to your site! Think of the internet like a post office, and your IP address is like your address. It needs to stay the same if you want your mail to get to you!
5
Get the necessary software. You'll need software to run your server, so choose one that works for you and that you can learn to use. The most common is Apache.
6
Configure your router and firewall. Both your router and your firewall will need to be reconfigured to allow your website to work. Your router will need to correctly forward connections on port 80 and your firewall will need to allow the traffic to move through.[2]
7
Route your domain traffic to your computer. Make sure that everything is correctly set up at that your domain traffic is sent to the correct location: your server! Test once you are done, both on your own computer and one at another location (like, another house) to make sure it works.
8
Recognize the security risk. You need to understand that running your own server poses a serious security risk, as it is much easier to hack, and you will need to take the appropriate security precautions. Pay constant attention to your website and make sure that there are no signs of a security breach.

Part Two of Three:
Perfecting a Domain Name
1
Don't get stuck. Did you find out that the domain name you wanted was already taken? Are you wanting to be sure that your domain name is optimal for people to find your website? You'll want to practice a few simple steps to get the name just right, rather that getting stuck and giving up or taking a less than great name.
2
Keep it current. Choose a domain name that sounds current, and not like something out of the 90s or 00s. Avoid using numbers or letters for words (2, 4, U, etc), or other dated language.
3
Be professional. Choose a name that sounds professional and legitimate. Unless you want to be mistaken for a porn site or a scam, choose a name that sounds professional. For example, don't name your travel website Travel4U.biz and instead go with something like QualityTravel.net.
4
Make sure it's readable. The domain name should be easy to read. Avoid names that are made up of multiple words with the same letter or letters that look the same, such as wikihowworld or wikiliki. On many computers and print media, these will be difficult to read correctly.
5
Keep it short. Shorter domain names are better, as these are easier to read, type, and remember. However, if your website can be easier to remember or stand out more at wikiHow.com, rather than wHow.com, then don't worry about it.
6
Be memorable. If someone is going to learn about your website by word of mouth, you'll want it to be something that's easy to remember. This is why it's best to name it after your business or after yourself (if it's something like a portfolio site).
7
Choose something that's clearly you. Tie your domain name to your brand rather than your product. This will help people find you more easily and be easier to remember. It can also cut down on the price of your domain. For example, wikiHow.com is better than GoodInfo.com.
8
Use Google's tools. Maximize SEO (search engine optimization) by taking advantage of Google's tools, like Google Trends and Google Keywords. They can help you find easier searchable or more commonly searched alternatives, as well as provide expected search numbers.
9
Avoid copyright issues. Don't name your site in a way that could become a copyright issue. That's a whole nightmare that you don't want to deal with. Don't confuse the terms with common intellectual properties or make it something that might be abusive to someone's copyright. For example, naming your website DisneyMovies.com or PedoMickeyMouse.com is probably a terrible idea.

Part Three of Three:
Choosing a Top-Level Domain
1
Choose a common TLD. Top-level Domains (or TLDs) are the final part of your domain name, the letters following the dot. There are two TLDs that are commonly used regardless of the nature of the site and that is .com or .net. These are useful as people will assume it is one or the other if they can't remember or do not know your website address.
2
Indicate a business. There are a few domains that are used for businesses, beyond the normal two, and you may want to consider them. Using one of the unusual TLDs can help keep costs down, as these usually cost less money to register. Examples include .biz, .info, as well as the industry specific and qualification-requiring options.
3
Indicate an organization. While the .org TLD is now open to anyone, it is usually used to indicate an organization or non-profit entity. If you are such an entity, it would be a good idea to get one of these domains, as it will lend legitimacy to your organization.
4
Indicate a personal site. While the two most common TLDs are usually used in personal sites, you do have a wide variety of options available to you, if you would rather set yourself apart or save some money. Widely consider your options before settling.
5
Indicate your region. There are also TLDs for many of the different countries and regions. If you have a business that only operates within your country, it may be a good idea to choose one of these. They also serve to set your site apart and lower the cost, as the name will be in less demand.
6
Consider the final phrase. Make sure when you choose a name and TLD that you read out loud how the whole thing sounds together. Look for ways in which the spelling or pronunciation might change if the dot was removed. People will accidentally create awkward or offensive phrases, especially if choosing one of the non-standard TLDs. You can also use this to your advantage and make your web address a phrase, like "noneofyour.biz" or "weare.us".
7
Keep limits in mind. Some TLDs require certain credentials to get. These include TLDs like .aero, .int, .museum, or .pro. If you have the credentials necessary to get one of these domains, you may want to consider it. Otherwise, don't worry about these, as you will be unable to get them.

Tips
Registering a domain name will get a new website halfway to the Internet. You must also find a company to host the website. This means paying a company to use their server, or computer space, to “park” a web site. Web hosting companies keep their servers live, or always on and connected to the Internet, so that people can always access the web sites. Many companies will host web sites. WordPress is a popular example. Shop around. Read forums and look for user feedback, because prices vary, as does quality.

TLD's on different servers may hold different pricing, functions or capacity. For example, Wordpress sites under dot-com TLD's are cheaper, yet have more limitations than dot-org TLD's.
warning :
Beware of websites promising free domain names. These sites may offer you a domain name in exchange for allowing them to host the website. However, many of these sites will retain ownership of the domain name if you choose to switch hosts.