10 Cheap Web Hosting

10 Under-The-Radar Webmaster Tools That You Don't Want To Miss!

James — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:40:44 +0000

You have probably heard of those popular webmaster tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, or maybe even Windows Live Writer and FileZilla FTP. But there are still plenty of great webmaster tools out there that is hidden under the radar. Today I will show you 10 powerful webmaster tools where chances are high that you might not even heard of them before. Most important, they are all available for FREE! Enjoy!

#1 - PhotoScape

This is my favorite. PhotoScape is a photo editor software tailor made for webmaster! You can easily resize a photo, crop it and most importantly, add a beautiful frame to it! There are hundreds of different frames that you can use. The photos of Angela Baby below have been cropped, resized and framed with only a few clicks!

The editor is only the tip of the iceberg. PhotoScape other key features include photo viewer, batch editor, photos combiner, photo splitter, animated GIF maker, screen capture, color picker, batch rename, etc. All of these are given to you FREE!

Download PhotoScape Now!

#2 - IE Tester

Windows doesn't allow us to install multiple version of Internet Explorer at the same time. But as a webmaster, we need to know how our website looks in IE 5.5, IE 6, IE 7 and IE 8! A website that looks great under IE7 might looks horrible in IE6. Before I found this tool, I have to install a virtual machine to run Windows XP and by doing that I can only see my website in IE6. No more the hassles. Now you can preview your website in any version of IE you want with this neat little tool.

By the way, the above screen capture is done painlessly using PhotoScape!

Download IETester Now!

#3 - ScreenGrab

Ever wonder how you can capture a complete webpage into an image? ScreenGrab is the answer. ScreenGrab is a small add-on for Firefox that allows you to capture the webpage into a PNG of JPG file. You can capture with 4 different options - complete web page, only visible portion, the entire window or your custom selection.

ScreenGrab captured my entire homepage into a long image file. Again, I have used PhotoScape splitter function to slit it into 3 equal parts and used the combine function to combine them side by side. I have also added a frame to each part with just a few clicks. Now you know the power of PhotoScape!

Download ScreenGrab Now!

#4 - JR Screen Ruler

Don't laugh. I used to measure something on the screen using a physical ruler! Or if accuracy is really not that important, I will just use my fingers. But that doesn't give me accurate reading until I found this virtual screen ruler. This screen ruler allows you to measure your screen in pixel, mm or inch. It will "float" on top of your application so you can measure anything on screen. You can make it shorter or longer at will (I mean the ruler, not...) and you can rotate it horizontally or vertically (again, the ruler). If you want to measure diagonally, use your fingers! Rotate your finger as a compass to the ruler. :)

Download JR Ruler Now!

#5 - JavaScript Packer/Compressor

What to speed up your website? Then you will need to compress your JavaScript files. I believe most of us don't write lengthy JavaScripts ourselves but when we use third party out-of-the-box scripts and plug-ins, there will be a lot of bytes in JavaScripts to save! For example, the ThickBox script that needs to be loaded on every page in my website is 15KB and after it is compressed, it became 10KB. It is a script that needs to be loaded on every page.

Again this image is captured using ScreenGrab and then cropped, resized and framed with PhotoScape.

Access JavaScript Packer Now!

#6 - User Agent Switcher

When someone requests a webpage from your server, they will inform the server what browser they are using as "user agent", be it Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari. Search engine spiders also identify themselves using "user agent".

What the hackers do are they will show the hacked page that contains many spammy links when the user agents identify themselves as search engine such as GoogleBot and Yahoo Slurp but show you the normal clean page when it is a normal browser!

Some hacker will also redirect your website to theirs when GoogleBot fetch the page, making Google thinks that your site is actually their site. So all ranking credits given to you are now given to them. Again, they are showing you the normal clean page so you really don't know why your ranking drops in Google.

By having the ability to switch your user agent to GoogleBot in your browser, you can now check for anything suspicious in your website. Your website will display the way it is shown to GoogleBot. [Tip: You can also check Google Cache]

If you are exchanging links or advertising at your partner sites, checking their website using GoogleBot might give you some unpleasant surprises where they have tagged your link as "nofollow"!

Ok, this time the above screen capture is not done with ScreenGrab but ACDSee. This is because I need to capture the active menu and the mouse cursor. [Tip: You can also capture the screen using the Print Screen key on your keyboard and paste it to PhotoScape]

Download User Agent Switcher Now!

#7 - Xenu's Link Sleuth

I have been making websites since 1997 and have been using this tool since that time! This tool and its website do look like a stone-age production but its usefulness remains as powerful as it is today. [Don't worry it is still being updated, just that it looks ugly, look at the icons!]

Xenu's Link Sleuth is a time tested software where its power comes from simplicity, speed and ease of use. Type in your website URL and click the OK button and this neat little tool will crawl your entire website and inform you on broken links.

It fetched and followed 596 URLs in 1 minute and 24 seconds. Pretty amazing.

Download Xenu's Link Sleuth Now!

#8 - Web Developer Toolbar

I believe this is not really "under the radar" as it is quite a popular tool. However, there are so many features packed in this tool that I believe you have not discovered many of them. One of them is the ability to edit cookies! You can easily change a cookie name, value and even its expiration time. This comes in handy when you are developing cookie related functions. For websites that will log you out after you close the browser, you may simply extend the cookie to some days later so you don't need to login again and again.

Other interesting features include easy resizing of browser windows, disable JavaScripts, find broken images, display document size and many many more. There are hundreds of menu items for you to choose! I am still able to discover new useful features from it time to time. You just got to explore it more.

Download Web Developer Toolbar Now!

#9 - PureText

This is a funny little tool that I am using everyday. We do a lot of copy and paste in Windows. Most of the time when we copy text from the web, we just want the text and not its style (bold, font type, font size, javascript, blue link ...). But Windows forces us to paste with full style. PureText allows us to paste just text. You can do that by clicking on its icon in the system tray or you can simply press Windows Key + V.

Before I found PureText, I need to open notepad, paste to it, select all and do another copy!

Download PureText Now!

#10 - FireBug

FireBug is more a BEAST than a bug. It is a very advanced tool but for ordinary users, its power comes from real-time editing of a webpage's HTML and CSS. So it makes customizing your blog and website easier. You can modify the HTML and CSS on the spot and see its effect in real time.

To demonstrate its power, let's look at the screen capture below. What I did was click on the "Inspect" button and select the "Google Search" button. Firebug will immediately highlight the respective HTML and CSS codes. I changed the HTML button to "GAGA Search", modified the CSS font size to 30px and we have a bigger GAGA button INSTANTLY. This makes fine tuning your website design easier, especially when you are customizing the free themes that you have downloaded for your blogs and websites.

If you stumbled upon a website with great design and you wonder how they do it, "inspect" it with FireBug and let it bring you to the exact coding of that element.

For advanced user, FireBug can even debug JavaScripts, analyze network usage and much much more. But honestly I really don't know how to do these high-end stunts.

Download FireBug Now!

Ok, that's all I can deliver today. If you have any cool tools to suggest, simply write me a comment and I will give it a try.

Disclaimer: No tools were harmed in the making of this blog post.

BlueHost vs HostGator - Who is BIGGER?

James — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:56:37 +0000

While HostGator will release their stats every month in their newsletter, BlueHost has been very secretive about their "numbers". But recently, Matt Heaton, CEO and president of BlueHost and HostMonster disclose their magic numbers for the first time, so we can now compare both side by side.

So who is bigger? Who is growing faster? Let's find out.

At first let us look at the stats for HostGator collected from their monthly newsletter.

November 2009 Stats:
Email sent: 574,475,391
Email Received: 1.04 Billion
Domains Hosted: 2,792,097
Size of Files hosted: 691 TB
Monthly Bandwidth: 3,473 TB
December 2009 Stats:
Email sent: 597,454,406
Email Received: 1.08 Billion
Domains Hosted: 2,985,686
Size of Files hosted: 729 TB
Monthly Bandwidth: 4,401 TB
January 2010 Stats:
Email Sent: 621,352,582
Email Received: 1.13 Billion
Domains Hosted: 3,105,228
Size of Files Hosted: 754 TB
Monthly Bandwidth: 4,710 TB

Next, let us look at BlueHost "secret numbers" for January 2010 released in Matt Heaton's blog post.

Total Domains Hosted: 1.9+ million domains
Total Paying Hosting Customers: More than 525,000
Total Servers: 850+ (ALWAYS rotating out older servers)
Total Sales/Billing/Support Requests Per Day: Approximately 5,000
Number of new customers (not domains) added each day (Mon-Fri): 800+
Number of new customers (not domains) added each day (Sat, Sun): 500+
Number of new domains added each month: 50,000 � 70,000
Total Bandwidth Capacity: 20 Gigabits/Second (100% ours, not shared in ANY way)
Average Hold Time For Support: 19 seconds
Number of Employees: 240+
Registrar For Domains: Fastdomain Inc (Sister company that �sells� domains to Bluehost/Hostmonster)
Outsourced services: NONE!!!!!!!
Revenue: _____ (Some things really do need to be kept private)
Profit: _____ (Some things really do need to be kept private)

* BlueHost numbers include HostMonster as both are the same company.

Now we know that in terms of size base on number of domains hosted, HostGator is bigger. HostGator number of domains hosted in January 2010 are 3.1 million while BlueHost are 1.9 million.

BlueHost is growing new domains hosted as much as 50,000 to 70,000 each month. HostGator is able to grow faster at 120,000 to 190,000 per month.

So does that means the winner is HostGator? NOT SO FAST!

The metric that we use for the comparison is the number of domains hosted which is not the best measure. The best measure would be the number of customers. Since a customer can host unlimited domains in their account, a customer that host 100 domains is still 1 customer. Unfortunately, HostGator doesn't disclose this information. BlueHost currently has 525,000 paying customers.

HostGator is a full service web hosting provider offering all kinds of hosting solutions such as shared hosting, windows hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated servers, etc. while BlueHost focus solely on Linux-based shared hosting. So the number of domains hosted are easily distorted for HostGator.

HostGator advertise their products everywhere including the offline world using BIG bill boards, magazines, radio air-time and even human skin!!! BlueHost focus their marketing effort solely online and most of their new customers come from word of mouth of their existing customers.

How Much Money Is BlueHost Making?

This will be very interesting! [It happens that my part time hobby is to analyst businesses]

Matt Heaton didn't disclose their business revenue but due to the simplicity of their business that offer only one product, we can do an accurate estimation!

Since hosting fee are recurring, and assume the average monthly price paid is $6.95, a year would be $83.40. Times the number of paying customers 525,000 will give us a revenue of $44 million a year!

They are able to increase domains by 50,000 to 70,000 each month so it would be like 720,000 a year. That would be around 37% increase a year.

So estimated revenue for BlueHost is $44 million per year and I expect this number will grow more than 30% each year for the next several years!

After I wrote this article, Matt Heaton shot me the following email.

Big problem with your evaluation. You said BlueHost does 4.4 million in revenue based on $6.95 * 525,000. That is very incorrect. $6.95 * 525,000 * 12 is more accurate (12 months in a year). That is $44.1 million in revenue per year, and actually we do MUCH HIGHER revenue than that each year.

HostGator as of January 2010 had less than 230,000 paying customers. At that time we had 525,000. They host more domains because they do reseller hosting, but they don't come close to BlueHost in revenue numbers, paid subscriber numbers, or profit. Its not even close. Please update your article to reflect this new information.

Thanks,
Matt Heaton / President Bluehost.com

So it looks like I made a very careless mistake (luckily this is not a school exam and analyzing businesses is only a hobby). The number above has been updated from 4.4 million to 44 million.

So who is BIGGER? Matt Heaton indicates that HostGator paying customers is only 230,000, which is less than half of BlueHost. If his information is correct, then BlueHost is twice larger than HostGator. So BlueHost is the winner here!

Even at half of BlueHost, HostGator will still be able to generate 22 million a year! A number that many businesses can only envy of.

I hope these figures give you more confidence on hosting with BlueHost and HostGator as you can see they are serious businesses.

For first time visitor, BlueHost is rated as the #1 host, HostMonster #2 and HostGator #3. All of them are highly recommended. Simply read my hosting reviews to find out more about them.

- BlueHost Review
- HostGator Review
- HostGator Plans Comparison - Compare HostGator shared hosting plans with BlueHost.

WebHostingPad SCAM

James — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:30:06 +0000

After I wrote my WebHostingPad review, I received many feedback from my visitors. While the reason I don't recommend them is because I don't think they are able to provide good service at $1.99/month, my visitors are telling me that they are actually a SCAM host!

This is a serious issue because we are not talking about poor customer support or poor server quality. We are talking about WebHostingPad keep charging the customer credit card even they have canceled their account. We are talking about WebHostingPad not honoring their money back guarantee. We are talking about MONEY being cheated. The worst web host we can have is a dishonest web host that want to steal our money.

Here is the email from Terry.

Beware of Web Hosting Pad. I signed up for their service because of the price and the promises that they make. Boy was that a huge mistake. So I ask for a refund per there policy in 3 days and was told in the email below that it was cancelled as well as refunded. Well its been 9 days and no refund. I disputed the charge with the Credit card company and then called them. Andrew told me that since I filed a dispute with the credit card company he was not going to issue a refund. The Credit Card company in turn told me that they would take care of it.

I am also filing a complaint with the BBB as well as the Attorney General. Until this all goes thru I just wanted to warn anyone who may be thinking about doing business to beware.

Here is a copy of the credit which they never gave!!!

Hello,

This is to inform you that your account has been canceled and that you have been issued a full refund. Please allow up to 5 business days for the refund to appear on your credit card account.

Andrew
Technical Support / Billing Manager
www.webhostingpad.com

Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: WUG-693508
Department: Cancellation
Priority: High

WebHostingPad Money Scamming Tricks

"Free" Add-ons And Trials That Will Be Billed

When you sign up, they will provide you free add-ons and trials for 30 days. These add-ons include something like spam filtering, advanced web stat, premium backup service, directory listing, SSH, etc.

But they make it difficult (or impossible) for you to cancel them so they can bill you after 30 days (for 1 whole year of service!). Many customers have canceled the "free" trial but WebHostingPad still charge them later.

Here is a reply from WebHostingPad when a customer asked for an explanation after he has canceled the free trials.

These were addon services that you checked at signup. They were free for the first 30 days and then you were to be billed if you didn't cancel the services.

Unfortunately there are no refunds on this addon packages, I can only cancel renewal for next year. If you would like us to cancel these packages please get back to us.

Please refer to our terms of service here : http://www.webhostingpad.com/billing_policy.html

Add-on Features and Services

The business directory listing is free for the first 30 days. After that, it is $12.00/year billed to your account unless canceled during the free trial period.

Advanced spam filtering and advanced website stat tracking are free for the first 30 days. After that, they are $12.00/year each billed to your account unless canceled during the free trial period.

Preferred restore service: All backup restrictions terms and conditions still apply. 30 minute restore guarantee applies to starting the backup restore. Actual time needed to complete restore will depend on size and content of the backup.

All Add-ons are non refundable once the 30 day free trial period has elapsed.

Alex
Technical Support
www.webhostingpad.com
877-998-4678

Hidden Refund Charges

Their full money back guarantee is not full because they will charge you $25 to process your refund! So once you pay them and ask for a refund, they will deduct $25 from you!

What I don't understand is the hidden costs of the refund. They said I'd have to pay for the domain. So since I paid $61.59 and the domain costs $14.59$, I would have gotten a $47 refund, I thought.

Now they also state that there's a $25 charged for refunds, whether checks or credit cards were used and that it will take 7-10 days to complete a cancellation, while the purchase and set up took less than 1 day.

Suspend Your Account After 30 Days

Since money back guarantee last for 30 days, there are incidents where customer account are suspended after 30 days by accusing the customer of violation of their terms and conditions (usually using too many resources, ahem, "unlimited" hosting?). Since they intentionally do it after 30 days, there will be no refund.

Worst still, they will not notify you after they suspend your account and you will have to find it out yourself!

Charge Your Credit Card Again Even After You Have Canceled!

Shawn wrote me an email.

Webhostingpad.com is the worst web host scam in the world� Two years ago, I made the mistake of signing up for two years of hosting through Webhostingpad.com. Three months later, I cancelled my account (lost all of my money I paid for two years)� and I went to a much better web host.

Then, I just discovered Webhostingpad.com illegally billed my credit card again for another two years without my permission! I emailed Webhostingpad.com about this, and they responded in their typical fashion- rude and ugly. I reported this fraud to my credit card company and had the charge removed. I have filed a complaint with the IC3 and the FBI. I also filed a report with the Secret Service, and am working on a report with the Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.

Better Business Bureau Rate Them 'F'!

There are 79 complaints filed towards them and 27 of them are related to billing, 3 related to contract and 14 regarding refunds. That means half of the issues are regarding to money scams.

A grade of "F" is awarded to them on the scale of A+ to F (the lowest grade!).

Stick With Reputable Hosts!

I can forgive a web host with poor customer support. I can forgive a web host with slow server. But I cannot forgive a web host that is cheating our money. Stay away from them! Stick with the best web hosts, especially Blue Host and Host Gator. If you have some scary story to share, leave me a comment below.

Step By Step Guide On Signing Up With HostGator

James — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:39:41 +0000

While signing up with BlueHost can be done in 2 minutes (as seen in this bluehost video), signing up with HostGator may need at least 10 minutes! There are too many options and too many page loads. You may even make some mistake and need to start all over again.

In October, I have moved this site from LunarPages to HostGator. I took the chance to capture the order process so I can show you here what you will need to go through so you won't give up half way.

Step #1 - Enter Your Domain Name

You can either register a new domain name or use an existing name. HostGator doesn't offer free domain name and if you are registering a new domain name, you will need to pay $15/year for it. If you want a free domain name, choose Blue Host instead. In my case, I will be using my existing domain name 10cheapwebhosting.com. I planned to add my real domain name 10-cheapwebhosting.com (with dash) as an add-on domain later.

Step #2 - Select Your Hosting Plan

Select your hosting plan. It will be either Hatchling, Baby or Business. Baby is recommended and is also the most popular choice because it allows you to host unlimited domains. I've selected Baby.

Step #3 - Select Billing Cycle and Enter Coupon Code

The billing cycle is either monthly, 6-months, yearly, 24-months or 36-months. Remember to enter your coupon here if it has not been automatically entered for you. The 20% discount coupon is always published in their homepage. If you want to try them for $0.01 for 1 month, use the coupon code FREEMONTH. I have selected 24-months with a 20% discount coupon because it will be cheaper that way since I will be with them for a long time.

Step #4 - Confirm Pricing, New or Existing Customer?

In this page, you will be shown your final hosting fee after the coupon discount. You will also need to tell them if you are a new customer or an existing HostGator customer. If you are an existing customer, probably you won't need to read this tutorial. So I assume you are a new customer.

Step #5 - Enter Billing Information, Username and Password

Enter your personal information and your prefered payment options here. You can pay with credit card or PayPal. You can select your own username with HostGator which is a cool feature because most web hosts will simply assign you an ugly username automatically. My previous username from LunarPage is "n0-che2" which is not easy to type and remember!

Step #6 - Confirm Your Order

Review your information before you click the "Process My Order" button. This step is very important because if you make any mistake, you will have to repeat all the steps above again! So please double check your information especially your credit card information. If there is something wrong, hit the "Correct My Information" button.

Step #7 - Order Completed!

Congratulation! You are now hosted by HostGator. You make a wise choice.

Step #8 - Check Your Email

Unlike BlueHost which offer instant account activation (where you can use your account immediately after you pay), HostGator is activating account manually. They promised to setup your account within 20 minutes. But I have mine setup in less than 5 minutes. You will receive 2 emails. The first look like this

Thank you for choosing HostGator.com as your web hosting provider. This email confirms that we have received your order.

If you have already submitted payment, your account will be setup within 20 minutes. If you have yet to make payment, you may do so by going to https://secure.hostgator.com/billing and logging in with primary email address and password specified at time of signup.

Once your account is setup, you will receive an email notification with your account information. If you fail to receive this email, please check your spam and junk email folders. If you still can't find it, please contact sales@hostgator.com with an alternative email address we can use.

Thank you again for choosing HostGator. We are looking forward to serving you soon.

Best regards,
HostGator.com

The second email will inform you that your account has been created.

Thank you for your order and welcome to the HostGator Family!

Your Package: Baby
Your Domain: 10cheapwebhosting.com
Your Username: <snip>
Your Password: <snip>
Your sites IP address:
174.120.169.220

Your name servers:
ns2153.hostgator.com
ns2154.hostgator.com

----------------------
Until your DNS has been changed and resolves to our nameservers, you can access your cPanel at:
http://gator1077.hostgator.com/cpanel

You can view your site before the DNS has been resolved at:
http://gator1077.hostgator.com/~<snip>/

If you purchased your domain name with us, the above links will allow you to view your domain before it has resolved. Your domain may not be viewable for the first 24 to 48 hours depending on your location.

There is a file called default.html in your public_html folder. This page will give you basic links and information on how to get started. You're welcome to delete this file or upload an index.html file in the public_html folder. Once that is completed, the default.html file will not show by default.

Please be sure to read:
http://www.hostgator.com/gettingstarted.html for all the information needed to manage your DNS and account.

Please, sign up at https://secure.hostgator.com/sitebuilder.php if you would like to take advantage of our Sitebuilder tool.

You can find answers to your questions in our customer knowledge base. Please visit http://support.hostgator.com/ for helpful resources, and frequently asked questions.

Please note:
Any email sent by your account within the next 12 hours will not be delivered to the recipient. After 12 hours, and any applicable DNS propagation, mail should arrive as normal.

If you are in the U.S. or Canada, your account qualifies for $50 dollars in free credit for Google Adwords pay per click program. To redeem your coupon, please login to your control panel or https://gator1077.hostgator.com:2083/frontend/x3/hg/addons/adwords.php and login with your username and password. Just follow the instructions on that page to get started!

Best regards,
HostGator.com

After your account is created, you may need to update the DNS servers of your domain name if you are using an existing domain name. The steps varies depending on who is your domain registrar but it is usually a simple procedure. HostGator has many tutorials on how to do it here.

Potential Problem #1 - Invalid Credit Card

If you entered the wrong billing information (for example, wrong credit card number), your order will not go through. You will have to start all over again! And that actually happened to me. So please make sure you really check your input at Step #6.

Potential Problem #2 - Username or Password Not Accepted

While HostGator give you the freedom to choose your own username, there are many criterias that you need to follow.

The username must be 3 to 8 characters long. It can only contain alphabets and numbers. No hyphens and spaces are allowed. It must start with a lowercase letter! For simplicity sake, please choose a short username with all lowercase letters so you can remember and type it easily.

The password must be 3 to 15 characters long. It can contain hyphens (dashes) and underscores. It must start with a lowercase letter (that means no numbers for the first character!) and it also cannot contain any part of your username.

If you don't follow these rules carefully, you will be stuck at Step #5 and it can be very annoying.

Conclusion

Signing up with HostGator is indeed a lengthy process and if you don't do it right, you may need to repeat it again. Or you may get stuck with the username and password. However, they are an incredibly good host that is highly recommended. That's why I am willing to pay them 2 years in advance! Read my Host Gator review to know what it is highly recommended.

- Best Web Hosting Chart
- HostMonster Review

LunarPages vs HostGator - Why I Moved To Host Gator

James — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:57:01 +0000

After hosting this website with Lunar Pages for the last 7 years (November 2002 to November 2009), I decided to move my website to Host Gator.

Why would I want to do that?

Is it because LunarPages support goes down hill? Nope, it is as good as before.

Is it because LunarPages server becomes unreliable? Nope, it is still as good as it is.

Then why?

Some more, HostGator is actually more expensive than LunarPages! Why would I want to move my site hosted with LunarPages for 7 years with great support and great server reliability to a more expensive host?

It Is Because Of Their Control Panel (LPCP vs CPanel)

LunarPages used to be using CPanel that every great web host out there are using. However, LunarPages has developed their own control panel known as the LPCP (which basically is the abbreviation of LunarPages Control Panel). [Demo]

Cpanel is a third party licensed software developed by CPanel, Inc. All web hosts need to pay them license fees before they can install it on their servers. There are 2 reasons why LunarPages wants to develop their own LCPC instead of using Cpanel.

1. To save on license fees, thus business cost.

2. To have more control to their control panel. Since they write their own codes, they can easily add and remove whatever features they want to their control panel. They also claim to be able to integrate the control panel better to their servers, without "waiting" or being "limited" by CPanel.

(LunarPages new LPCP Control Panel)

They didn't migrate old users to their new LPCP. Only new users are being placed to LPCP servers or they will need to pay an extra $2/month to use CPanel. So I am still able to use Cpanel for "free".

If I am still on CPanel, why would I still want to move?

The problem is that they also stop upgrading their CPanel theme! Everybody, be it Blue Host or Just Host or even Web Hosting Pad are using the new CPanel theme known as Cpanel X 3. But LunarPages is still using the old and dumb CPanel X 2.5 theme!

[They do upgrade the CPanel core to the latest version but they didn't upgrade the theme.]

(LunarPages CPanel X 2.5.0 Theme)

(HostGator CPanel X3 Theme)

Comparing CPanel X3 with CPanel X 2.5

There are many new and improved features in the X3 theme. For example, you have a new powerful file manager to manage your files. This new file manager is AJAXed, which means you can manage your files faster and easier because the page doesn't need to be reloaded every time you delete or rename a file. Furthermore, the old file manager is so old and outdated that I have been using it since 7 years ago.

In X3, you also have a search box to quickly search for features. For example, you can type "email" in the search box and all the email features will appear to you such as creating new email account, forwarding your emails, etc. Or you can type in "domain" and all the domain related features such as domain add-on, alias, etc. will appear to you. Other than that, CPanel X3 also groups icons into relevant sub groups so you can easily look for them. Not only that it looks nicer, CPanel X 3 have just too many improvements as compared with X2.5.

(CPanel New AJAX File Manager)

(CPanel Legacy Poor File Manager)

After I find out that they have no plan to upgrade to CPanel X3 in the future, I think I have to move on and switch to another web host.

My Advice

For new potential LunarPages users, you can choose between LunarPages LPCP or CPanel. LPCP will be free but CPanel will cost you another $2/month. You can choose your preference when you sign up.

If you choose LPCP, you will need to make sure you like it because the new LPCP doesn't even have a file manager!

Even if you choose a CPanel server, please remember that it will still be the old CPanel X2.5 and not the new CPanel X3.

Remember to check out my best web hosting chart 2009.

- Host Gator Review

PayPal Sucks! PayPal Will Even Limit Verified Accounts!

James — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:59:23 +0000

It is very true that PayPal sucks! They are so disgusting that sometimes they will even block verified customers from sending money online! You have added your credit card verified it. You have added your bank account and verified it. You might have even faxed in your utility bill and ID card for verification! And yet they can still LIMIT your account one day without giving you a good reason!

The first time it happened, I was trying to make 2 PayPal payments. Both were subscription payments (recurring basis). You know, when the other party has completed their job for you according to the terms and it is time for you to pay, BAM, PayPal doesn't let you through!!!

After clicking on my vendor subscription link and logged in using my verified account, it shows

You have exceeded your per transaction limit. To lift this limit, click View Limits on you Account Overview page.

Every PayPal user knows it. The last thing you want from PayPal is called "LIMIT"! Knowing your PayPal account is limited is like knowing you car is being stolen! I jumped into my "Account Overview" page to look for the limit. But there is no such thing as limit in my account! There is nothing unordinary showing in my account!

So I ignored the error and clicked on the "Pay" button, hoping that the transaction will go through. But unfortunately, it didn't.

Your account information has changed. Either you clicked "Pay" more than once but the original transfer was already made, or you just received money. To check, please view your account History and make sure you want to perform this transaction.

The error message is way too wrong. I didn't click "Pay" more than once. A check on my transaction history also indicated that there was no transfer made. And hey, I really wished I have received money! But I didn't.

This is not fun. I have promised someone the payment. Imagine if you have won a bid in eBay and you want to pay but you can't? That will piss the seller off and guarantee you a negative feedback.

I tried to explain to my seller and at the same time, emailed support and "wish" for some help.

The first reply came in.

Hello, my name is Kelly, I am very sorry to hear about the situation, and understand your frustration and concern over this issue. I will be happy to assist you with your questions.

I understand you want to know why you could not use your credit card to make a payment at this moment.

Upon checking your account, we found that you tried to make payments out several times, but all of them failed.

Now please let me explain the reasons to you.

To ensure the integrity of our network, PayPal may take security measures, which may affect some accounts in good standing. We regret any inconvenience may have caused.

PayPal employs complex statistical models to identify patterns of behavior. This is similar to the way banks and credit card companies
identify patterns of behavior those are abnormal when verifying individual transactions. When our system rejects a certain funding source for a transaction, it is merely an indication that the individual transaction fits a pattern may cause a high risk of failure.

If your transaction has been denied, you may be able to complete the transaction with another funding source such as U.S. bank account or PayPal balance.

In addition, I would like to recommend you not to pay at this time. Please take another try after 3 to 4 days with your credit card.

You may contact your seller and explain the reason why you can not pay
him now. Hope he can understand your situation and let you pay him at a later time. If you need make this payment urgently, you can choose
another funding method.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused you.

If you need any other further assistance, please do not hesitate to
contact us.

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal.

Sincerely,
Kelly
PayPal, an eBay Company

The good news was that they reply fast. But the bad news was I still can't make a payment. The clue we have right now is "PayPal may take security measures, which may affect some accounts in good standing." which translates to "I can lock your money anytime I want."

But I was angry because I am trying to pay just $20 while my account is having 4 digits balance! And I am not trying to use my credit card as claimed in the reply! So I shot back an email telling them so. They replied.

Hello, my name is Susan. I will be happy to assist you with your question regarding your PayPal account.

I understand that you wonder why you could not make a payment from your PayPal balance.

I checked your PayPal account and find that there is sufficient balance for you to pay $20.00USD. Generally, if you have sufficient balance of certain currency, the payment will be first charged from your balance. But if our system decides the transaction contains higher than normal risk at the moment, you may try to make this payment later.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

If you need any other assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal.

Sincerely,
Susan
PayPal, an eBay Company

So that's still being equal to, "I can LIMIT you anytime I want and you really can't do anything about it".

Frustrated, I shut down my PC and went to sleep. Waking up the morning, I tried the payment again and all the limits were gone!

So, is that just a "nightmare"? That's it? That's it? I hope it won't happen again. But You Wish! It happens again and again! The only way for me to handle that is whenever it happens, I can show them this post and hope that my seller can understand my situation!

PayPal Sucks!

- PayPal Web Hosting

BlueHost Promotions and Offers - Get $108 OFF & Over $215 Credits

James — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:37:11 +0000

The most important BlueHost promotion right now is the $3 OFF per month discount, which people like to call it BlueHost $3.95 promo. The price can be activated by clicking on any links to BlueHost from my website, including this one.

Order Type	Normal Price	You Pay!	You Save!
12 Month	$95.40 ($7.95/mo)	$59.40 ($4.95/mo)	$36
24 Month	$166.80 ($6.95/mo)	$94.80 ($3.95/mo)	$72
36 Month	$250.20 ($6.95/mo)	$142.20 ($3.95/mo)	$108

Other current BlueHost promotions and offers are discussed as follow.

Free $50 Google AdWords Credit

Google AdWords is the advertising product of Google. They offer Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, site targeted advertising and even banner advertising. The PPC model is the most popular where advertisers will bid for their ads base on different search terms. The higher you bid, the higher you rank. You pay when someone click on your ad, thus the name "Pay Per Click".

Paid results are shown as small boxes on the right side of the free results. Sometimes, the paid ads will even show above the free results in highlighted yellow box if you are willing to bid more (it's all about money)!

All BlueHost customers are entitled to $50 FREE Adwords credit. Please note that the credit is only available to customers who reside in the US or Canada and apply only to new AdWords customers only. Also, you must claim the credit within 15 days after your BlueHost account is activated.

Free $25 Yahoo Search Marketing Credit

Similar to Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing is the advertising arm of Yahoo. They are the second player in PPC market after Google.

Again, you get $25 FREE Yahoo Search Marketing Credit when you sign up with BlueHost.

Free $50 Miva Credit

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft take up over 90% of the PPC market and what remain are the small players. Miva is actually a very small player which you can safely ignore. I personally do not recommend you to take the credit even it is free because I don't think it is worth your time.

Free $50 Ask Sponsored Listing Credit

Ask.com is a small search engine and they also rely on PPC as their source of income. While it is a lot better than Miva, I still don't think you should invest too much time on it as I said earlier, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have taken up 90% of the PPC market.

Free $40 PR Web Credit

PRWeb involves in news release submission and distribution to build online visibility. PRWeb distribution encompasses the largest online news distribution network. From the smallest business to the Fortune 500, PRWeb news and press release distribution has helped more than 40,000 organizations maximize their online visibility and achieve worldwide media coverage.

5% Discount at Boxed Art

Boxed Art provides a large library of ready to use web templates and web graphics. You pay a fixed monthly membership fee and you gain unlimited access/downloads to the library. There are currently over 6,000 products under 40 different categories.

All BlueHost customers are entitled to 5% discount on the membership fee.

Other Promotions

Other promotions include partnerships that BlueHost has made with Simplicity (online payment solution), GlowTouch Technologies (web design company), Postini (premium anti-spam service), ShopSite (premium shopping cart), Alive Chat (web based chatting software), FaxPipe (online fax service), Mozy (online free backup), etc. either in the form of special discount prices or free trials.

Read my comprehensive Blue Hosting Review to know the pros can cons of hosting with BlueHost.

BlueHost vs HostMonster - Which One Is Better?

James — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:32:40 +0000

First of all, if you haven't know it yet, BlueHost and HostMonster is technically the same web hosting company that are owned and operated by Matts Heaton. Basically they share almost everything from pricing to office address to servers and to staffs, except the name. More discussions are in my Host Monster review.

Knowing that, some people will have the dilemma on which one to choose! And that's why in this post, I will explain why I am biased towards BlueHost.

Reason #1 - Age & Brand

If they are brothers, Blue Host is born in 2003 and Hostmonster in 2005. And because of the head start, Blue Host is a lot larger than Hostmonster in terms of customers. They are more well known and have a stronger brand. As of writing, Blue Host is hosting 915,000 domains while Hostmonster 600,000.

[Note: number of domains does not equal to number of customers because 1 customer can host unlimited domains]

Matt Heaton will always call himself the "CEO of BlueHost and HostMonster" but will never call himself the "CEO of HostMonster and BlueHost". BlueHost always comes first.

Because of the brand and size, BlueHost is worth a lot more than HostMonster and it will make business sense to take greater care of it.

Reason #2 - Forum Size

BlueHost customer forum is significantly larger than HostMonster's. There are more active customers and postings in BlueHost forum as compared to Host Monster. You can expect more discussions and replies if you are a BlueHost customer.

	Members	Threads	Posts
BlueHost	35,294	12,935	64,425
HostMonster	12,049	5,810	27,418

Reason #3 - Pricing & Promotion

While we are able to offer the same discounted price of $3.95 for both BlueHost and HostMonter, please remember that not everyone is getting the price! Those who don't come here and go directly to them will have to pay $6.95!

However, from time to time, Hostmonster will slash the price by $1 for everyone, selling it at only $5.95. They will never do that for BlueHost.

That means 3 things. One, when you purchase using our discount link of $3.95, you get bigger discount "psychologically". And two, because they make more money with BlueHost than HostMonster, the owner will love BlueHost more than HostMonster. And three, BlueHost is marketed as a "premium" hosting while HostMonster is marketed as a "low cost" hosting.

Why don't they stick to 1 brand and 1 name?

It is all marketing. As mentioned earlier, BlueHost is meant to be marketed as a "premium" host while HostMonster as a "low cost" host. But you may not know it, they even have the third brand known as FastDomain which I believe is meant to target customers looking for the lowest possible price! Unfortunately (or fortunately for simplicity sake), FastDomain is not able to make it big. Maybe they abandoned the plan and focus on marketing Bluehost and Hostmonster instead.

It is very common to have a company owning several brands of similar products. For example, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences are all owned by P&G. In hosting, iPowerWeb, iPage, FatCow, StartLogic, PowWeb are all under the Endurance Group! So the important thing for us is whether we are getting what we want, i.e. the quality of the service.

Conclusion

At the end, all parents love their children no matter what. Whether it is BlueHost or HostMonster, I believe Matt will take good care of them. And if the brand and forum really mean nothing to you, they are really not that different. Maybe it is just me that's more biased towards BlueHost because I have been using it for more than 4 years without any problem! (and maybe that's the reason why I try to make up these excuses here) :)

Read my BlueHost Review and HostMonster Review if you haven't do so yet!

Example of BlueHost Hosted Sites

James — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:58:18 +0000

Many are asking to see some examples of BlueHost customer hosted sites so they can experience first hand the speed quality of the servers. I do have 2 sites that are very suitable for this purpose. Because both sites are full of pictures in every page, you can easily test the loading speed of BlueHost and I am sure it will be a "lightning" fast experience for you.

Sample Site #1 - Natalie Portman .ws

Remember Star Wars Episode I, II and III? Natalie Portman is the beautiful princess in the movie. This site was launched on 13 August 2002 (almost 8 years ago). Nowadays we have many powerful free scripts such as Gallery 3, Zen Photos, etc. to create instant picture galleries with almost no effort! But this site is created manually by me when these scripts were still not available. A total of 150 pictures were selected, resized and arranged one by one by myself! I hope you will be having a lot of fun looking at her testing BlueHost server speed.

Sample Site #2 - Alwiz Sarah Michelle Gellar

This is the oldest domain name and website that I ever had! It was created in 1997 when I were still an undergraduate. And I am proud to say that this site is even older than Google! Haha. It was first created with a 486 computer under Windows 3.1. Later it was redesigned with FrontPage 2000 and 2003. It has been hosted by BlueHost for 4 years now. Containing over 400 pictures of the pretty Sarah Michelle Gellar, I hope it is sufficient for you to test the quality of BlueHost.

How Are These Sites Hosted by BlueHost?

Since BlueHost allows you to host unlimited sites under the same account without any extra charges, both are hosted under the same account under addon domains. Welcome to the world of "multiple domain hosting" where you just need to pay for 1 account and host unlimited sites.

* Check out BlueHost $3.95 promotion now! Unlimited disk space! Unlimited domains!

Does BlueHost Really Offer "FREE" Unlimited Domains?

James — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:50:44 +0000

The answer for this questions is Yes and No. Confused? Let me explain.

BlueHost (and HostMonster and other web hosts) who claims to offer "FREE" unlimited domains means the ability to host unlimited domains without any extra charges. It does not include the domain registration fee which is around $10 depends on where you register it.

For example, if you own a condominium and the management provides you with "FREE" unlimited parkings means they won't charge you anything even if you park 2, 3 or 10 cars in their car parks. But you still have to pay for the cars!

Before the era of multiple domain hosting which is started by BlueHost and HostGator a few years ago, hosting companies only allow you to host 1 domain per hosting account. If you owns several domain names, you will have to buy a new hosting account for each, or pay an extra "parking fee" for each domain name!

In the condominium scenario, that would means you are only provided with 1 parking space and if you need more, you have to pay.

"Park as you like, but you still have to pay for the car dude."

Check out BlueHost $3.95 promotion now!

BlueHost Upgrades CentOS, Ruby on Rails, GCC and ImageMagick

James — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:25:45 +0000

I've been informed by BlueHost that they will be upgrading my server to the following in the next 72 hours.

CentOS 4.7 to CentOS 5.3.

Ruby on Rails (version unknown)

GCC 4.1.2

ImageMagick 6.2.8

BlueHost is great because they always keep their software up to date! They also put in the effort to develope SimpleScripts to replace Fantastico so that all their customers can enjoy new upgrades to their free scripts immediately after they are released. As I say, they are always the leader in the web hosting industry.

LunarPages Starter Plan ($2.95/month). Worth The Money?

James — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:17:49 +0000

LunarPages introduced a new plan known as the Starter Plan in July 2009, making the total of shared hosting plans to 3, i.e. Starter, Basic & Business. The plan is cheaply priced at only $2.95/month. While I have mentioned that the Business plan is overpriced and not required by most of us in my LunarPages review, what about the new Starter plan? Should one consider using it?

Monthly Pricing	Starter	Basic	Hatchling*
12 Month	$2.95	$8.95	$6.95
24 Month	$2.95	$6.95	$5.95
36 Month	-	-	$4.95

*Hatchling is a similar HostGator plan for comparison

If you compared the Starter plan with HostGator's Hatchling plan, you will notice that the Hatchling plan is indeed very expensive. HostGator is more like a premium hosting provider when you look at their pricing.

Features	Starter	Basic	Hatchling*
Domains/Websites Allowed	1	Unlimited	1
Disk Space/Storage	5 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited
Data Transfer/Bandwidth	50 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited
Domain Name	$19.95/year	Free	Free
MySQL Database	1	Unlimited	Unlimited
Phone Support	No	Yes	Yes

But if you look at the features, it tells a lot more. While there are "limits" to the disk space and bandwidth, I would say that 5GB and 50GB is really more than enough for 90% of us. But the real limitation is the domains allowed per account! This is a traditional 1 domain per account hosting which means you can't host more than 1 website with it! I will never recommend anyone to pick this kind of account anymore because this is something in the past. In "modern" hosting, we should always pick a multiple domain hosting account (with at least 5 websites per account if it is not unlimited).

What is even worst is the number of MySQL databases included! There is only 1! That would means all free scripts listed under "Free Web Scripts" such as WordPress, b2Evolution, SMF Forum, Joomla, Drupal, etc are simply bullshit because you can only install one of them! The installer of the Fantastico scripts library won't work with just 1 MySQL database. UNLESS you know how to install them manually so all of them shared the same database, you won't be able to install more than 1 script. But you will end up having a database so huge that it looks like an overloaded train in India.

It is ok not to have phone support because many international customers won't be calling in due to phone call charges and the language barrier. Since they are providing very good email support, it will be sufficient.

The domain name fee or $19.95/year is significantly overpriced! But that is not a big problem as well because you can simply register your domain name for less than $10 at GoDaddy. All you need to do is to change the DNS server setting at GoDaddy to point to LunarPages.

Conclusions

The pricing of $2.95 is very cheap. The "limited" bandwidth, "limited" disk space, pricey domain name and the lack of phone support is not a problem. The problem is that it allows only 1 website hosted. And the BIGGEST problem is it provides only 1 MySQL database! Unless these are upgraded, I won't be recommending them to you. So stick with their Basic Plan instead. Read my LunarPages review to learn more about it. Or you may want to learn more about BlueHost.

HostMonster Double Discount! Get An Extra $72 OFF From Their Already Discounted Price! No Coupon Required

James — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:41:14 +0000

HostMonster is currently running a $5.95 promotion! But do not sign up with them yet because that's not the cheapest price! The cheapest promotion price is $3.95/month! A further $2 discount per month (or up to $72 for 3 years)!

Do You Want To Pay $5.95/month?

Or Do You Want To Pay $3.95/month?

Which offer do you want? $5.95 or $3.95? :)

How Do You Activate The $3.95/month Pricing? Do You Need Any Coupon Code?

To activate the $3.95/month pricing, simply follow this link. That's it! No coupon codes required!

I do suggest you to read my HostMonster review before you sign up with them so I can tell you the "biggest secret" about them. You may want to choose BlueHost instead of HostMonster.

I Asked For A Refund From BlueHost! Do They Really Offer Money Back Guarantee?

James — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:16:27 +0000

All web host promise you a money back guarantee. But the question is how many of them really keep their promises? Some of them will make it very difficult for you to ask for a refund. Some will tell you that you are not qualify for a refund because of some funny reasons. Some will take weeks or months to process your refund. Some will only give you a partial refund.

How do BlueHost fare in their money back guarantee? Well, as a reviewer, this is an important thing for me to experience myself first hand so I can let you know.

Do They Make It Difficult For You To Ask For A Refund?

Well, it is just too easy. When you are in BlueHost helpdesk, all you need to do is open a ticket and you will see the "Cancelations" request available in the form! They are not hiding the cancelation form. They even show it to everyone using the ticket system.

There is nothing fancy in the form either. Unlike other host, they will usually ask you for a reason, ask you to reconsider staying with them or even lure you by giving you more offers and discounts. BlueHost is plain and simple, it is just a normal support ticket. You just need to enter 4 items - your email address, your full name, your domain name and a message.

What's Next After Submitting The Cancelation Form?

BlueHost cancelation request are processed by the billing department. They promise to process your your refund request in 1 working day. Billing department are not working 24/7 like the technical support department but they work long enough to serve you.

Monday - Friday 6 AM - 9 PM (MST)
Saturday 8 AM - 8 PM (MST)
Sunday Closed

So please don't expect someone to reply to you if it is Sunday or in the midnight!

I submited my request within working hours and so within half an hour, I received the following reply from Robin.

To cancel your account and have a refund issued, please verify you are the account's owner by replying with the password on the account or the last four digits of the credit card -- this is for security purposes.

When a cancellation is processed, we delete all of the content from the account. This includes all emails, files and databases, and once they have been deleted, there is no possibility of restoration. I know you probably haven't had time to upload anything, but we do need you to please confirm you have backed up all necessary files before we process the cancellation.

Thank you,
Robin
Billing
888-401-4678

This email is interesting because it is not a canned reply. Robin wrote, "I know you probably haven't had time to upload anything..." which means he did notice that I asked for a refund within 24 hours without uploading anything! I felt guilty to sign up just to ask for a refund!

So I replied with the last 4 digits of my credit card number. The next email didn't come back in 30 minutes but in 2 hours. The email is titled "BLUEHOST.COM CREDIT COMPLETE".

So that's it? That's it? Yeah, that's it. Everything's done. Cancelation completed and money refunded. This is really an exceptional experience. BlueHost is really keeping their promise on their money back guarantee.

Waiting For My Money Back In My Credit Card Statement

While credit card purchases appear in our statement only 1 to 3 days after the transaction, so as with refunds. And for my case, both my purchase transaction and cancelation transaction actually appeared in the same day! LOL.

My purchase and cancelation was done on 20 June (Saturday) and the transactions was reflected in my credit card on 22 June (Monday), which is pretty fast seeing Sunday is a holiday.

If you eyes are sharp enough, you may notice that I have another transaction of $142.20 from BlueHost again on 24 June. Why? Because feeling guilty, I went back to repurchase a new account after my cancelation request! I will use the new account to show you more about BlueHost later.

Summary and Conclusion

If you haven't know it yet, BlueHost offer a 30 day money back guarantee in which within 30 days after you account is opened, you are qualify for a full refund. If you are taking their free domain name offer and registered a new domain when you sign up, then a $10 domain registration fee might be deducted from the refund depending on which day you ask for a refund.

If you asked for a refund within 3 days (72 hours), the $10 domain fee will not be deducted because the domain registrar allows you to release a domain name back to the registry in 3 days. But after that, you will have to pay the $10 fee but you will still own the domain name for the rest of the year. You can even host it with another web host such as HostGator. All you need to do is just to change the DNS configuration of your domain name in BlueHost control panel all by yourself.

EVEN if you cancel your account after 30 days, you will still receive a pro-rated refund! That means if you sign up for 24 months and cancel after using the service for 10 months, you will STILL receive 14 months worth of the hosting fee in your refund! This is really a good business practice.

As you can see, BlueHost money back guarantee is not an empty promise.

- Have you read my detail BlueHost Hosting Review?
- Have you watch my video on signing up with BlueHost (3 min)?

Which HostGator Plan Should You Choose? Hatchling or Baby or Business Plan?

James — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:57:20 +0000

While BlueHost and HostMonster offer 1 plan for 1 price for everyone, HostGator is actually offering 3 plans with different specifications and pricing for you to choose from. I will try to explain the differences to you and even compare it to BlueHost so you can make a wise decision on which plan to choose.

Let's look at the comparison chart below. Only differences are compared. Other than that, everything else is either the same or very similar.

Monthly Pricing	Hatchling	Baby	Business	BlueHost
1 Month	$8.95	$9.95	$14.95	-
12 Month	$6.95	$9.95	$14.95	$4.95
24 Month	$5.95	$8.95	$13.95	$3.95
36 Month	$4.95	$7.95	$12.95	$3.95

Features	Hatchling	Baby	Business	BlueHost
Domains Allowed	1	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Your Own Toll Free Number	-	-	Yes	-
Free Dedicated IP	-	-	Yes	-
Free Private SSL	-	-	Yes	-
Anonymous FTP	-	-	Yes	Yes
MySQL Databases	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	100
Chilisoft ASP	-	-	Yes	-

Huge Pricing Differences

First you will notice that the biggest difference is the pricing! HostGator pricing seems to be at the high side. However, as explain in my long HostGator Review (read it if you haven't), the way HostGator does business is very different because they always put their customer first. They allow their customer to pay month to month without charging them any extra setup fee. They even give you a discount coupon code (freemonth) to try their hosting for only 1 cent for the first month! But seriously speaking, I still think the price is rather expensive when you compare it with other web hosts.

Assuming that you want to host with HostGator, which plan should you choose? Let's look deep into their features and see what are the real differences between the Hatchling, Baby and the Business plan.

1. Host 1 Website or Host Multiple Websites?

The first major difference is the ability to host multiple domains/sites within the same account. Hatchling is the traditional (obsolete!) 1 domain per account type of hosting. You can only host 1 site with it. With domain names being so cheap today, you will have a very high chances of owning more than 1 domain. That's why 1 domain per account is really very limited!

That's why I would highly recommend you to pick at least the Baby plan because you are allowed to host unlimited websites under the same account. Trust me, as long as you stay long enough with the internet, you will always have more domains later, especially when you can own a new domain for less than $10 a year.

So the main question should be, do you need the Business plan? Is Baby plan enough for you? The answer is quite simple. Are you trying to sell something online? Are you going to take credit card payments by yourself? If the answer is NO, you don't need the Business plan at all.

If you answer YES to the above questions, then you will need to know if you need those extra features.

2. Do you need a Toll Free number?

With a toll-free number, your customers in the US and Canada can call you without any long distance charges. The calls will be forwarded to your existing phone number, so you don't need any new phone lines or equipment. The service is provided by Voipo, which is a HostGator associated company.

You will have 100 initial minutes for free. After that, you will need to pay 4.9 cents/minute for US callers and 6.9 cents/minute for Canada callers. This service is offered to you for 'free' if you are picking the Business plan but for anyone else, they are selling this service for $4.95/month of $36/year (averaged $3/month).

That means you will get better deal if you signup just the Baby plan and then go to Voipo to subscribe the toll free service for $36/year, given that you don't need the other services discussed below.

3. Do you need a Dedicated IP Address and Private SSL Certificate?

SSL certificate is needed when you need to make secured connections. When a secure connection is made, you will see in your browser address bar, the connection protocol will change to https:// instead of http://. The 's' refer to secured HTTP connection.

In this type of connection, all data are encrypted for security purposes and this is important when you are trying to transfer sensitive information. They are most widely used in transferring credit card information.

There are 2 types of SSL certificate - the private and the public. Public certificate are also known as shared certificate because it is shared among all other HostGator customers. It is available free to all plans (Hatchling, Baby, Business and BlueHost).

Both private and public certificate are fully encrypted and secured. However, public certificate are hosted under HostGator domain and it will pop up a warning message to your customer. Even it is secure, you customer will feel very uncomfortable submitting their credit card information to you so you will be guaranteed to lose some sales!

Thus, you will need a private SSL certificate that is stored in your own domain (i.e. https://www.yourdomain.com) so it won't popup any warning message and make you more trustworthy to your customer.

A dedicated IP address (also knows as static IP address or unique IP address) is required when you need to use your own private SSL certificate. This is a technical requirement so I won't go deep into it as you probably don't need to know.

It it important to note that many ecommerce website are not using SSL certificate at all! I have been selling online for many years and I don't use it. The reason is simple, if you are charging your customer using a 3rd party checkout system such as PayPal and 2checkout, you don't need your own SSL certificate because the transaction is processed by PayPal and 2checkout and they will maitain their own SSL certificate. Almost all top eBay sellers are using PayPal to collect payments and they don't need any SSL certificate or dedicated IP address either. So, there is a high chance that you don't need it as well.

The only reason you need it is when you have your own merchant account. This is very costly to small businesses. Non US based customer will also have a hard time opening one. And if you still haven't have a merchant account, I will recommend you to simply stick with PayPal or 2CheckOut at the initial stage for cost savings and less hassle. I repeat, most of us don't need a merchant account, a private SSL certificate and a unique static IP address.

4. Do you need Anonymous FTP access?

NO, you don't need anonymous FTP access! Anonymous FTP is a silly feature. It allows anyone (ANYONE!) with an internet connection to connect to your account and upload/download files. Of course, they can only access a public folder in your account (they won't be able to touch your private files). But still, it is quite foolish to have this feature turn on because many losers out there will connect to your account and upload a bunch of files (maybe even porn and pirated software) so they can share it with others. It will cost you a lot of bandwidth and maybe even get your account suspended! So, NO, you don't want anonymous FTP access!

The Good News - FREE Upgrade Anytime

The good news is, HostGator allow you to upgrade your account anytime you want without paying any fee. You only need to pay the upgraded plan pricing on a pro-rated basis. That means at anytime, you are free to upgrade from Hatchling to Baby/Business or from Baby to Business. You can do this easily by filling up the upgrade form.

However, downgrading is not free. If you want to downgrade to a cheaper plan, you will have to pay a $10 conversion fee. This is to avoid frequent upgrade/downgrade.

Maybe because of this reason, you can even start with the traditional one-domain-per account Hatchling plan and upgrade it to Baby plan later when you want to host your second domain.

If you are paying month to month, maybe the savings from picking Hatchling plan instead of Baby plan is not significant ($1 month). But if you pay 12 month, the price difference is quite significant ($3/month!). So it might be a good strategy to initially use the Hatchling plan and then upgrade it later when needed.

Remember to use a coupon!

No matter which plan you choose to signup, make sure you use one of the many HostGator coupons available. Please read my complete HostGator Hosting Review if you haven't do so yet.

Website: http://www.hostgator.com/

LunarPages Coupon Code for Basic Hosting Plan (2009)

James — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:13:44 +0000

(Coupon Codes are updated until March 2010)

It is true that there used to be a lot of LunarPages coupons out there that we can use for the 'Basic Plan'. But unfortunately, most of them have been disabled a few months ago.

What is annoying is that most webmasters are not updating their website to reflect this and is giving false hope to a lot of people. However, 2 new valid coupons are released after that and they are

Lunar1Month	Get 1 Months FREE (Valid for 12 month plan only)
Lunar2Months	Get 2 Months FREE (Valid for 24 month plan only)

Click here to sign up now. There is no coupon for you to get discount price for basic hosting. If you are looking at discounted price, consider looking at BlueHost Hosting ($3.95).

Best Coupon Code for Windows Plan & Business Plan

If you are signing up for the Windows Plan or the Business Plan you can use the coupon code TAKEOFF25ADD2 to get $25 off your hosting and 2 extra months for free. Valid only for 12 month plan and above. This is the best coupon available. Let me know if you can find one that can beat this.

LunarPages Review

Please read our complete LunarPages Review if you haven't done so yet.

BlueHost Discount! Get Up To $108 OFF with No BlueHost Coupon Code!

James — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:39:57 +0000

Many people are searching for BlueHost coupon codes online but unfortunately, BlueHost doesn't provide any. (I can't even find a place to enter a coupon code at BlueHost!)

However, BlueHost is currently running a special $3.95/month promotion with an incredible $3 discount per month! That's equivalent to $36 OFF for 12 month order, $72 OFF for 24 month order and $108 OFF for 36 month order!

Not seeing the special $3.95 price on BlueHost.com?

BlueHost special price can only be activated via certain links! In order to see the special price, simply click on any link from my website to go to BlueHost, including this one here.

I have signed up a new account with them recently for 36 months! The normal price is $250.20 but now it is only $142.20 with a great savings of $108!

If you sign up for 24 months, your price is $94.80 instead of the normal price $166.80. If you sign up for 12 months, your price is just $47.40 instead of the normal price $95.40.

I have recorded a video for you where I will show you how to activate the $3.95 promotional price. I have even run through the order process to show you how easy the purchase was. It took less than 5 minutes and you can start to upload your files after that thanks to their "Instant Account Activation"!

Enjoy the video now. :)

10 Cheap Web Hosting

10 Under-The-Radar Webmaster Tools That You Don't Want To Miss!

#1 - PhotoScape

#2 - IE Tester

#3 - ScreenGrab

#4 - JR Screen Ruler

#5 - JavaScript Packer/Compressor

#6 - User Agent Switcher

#7 - Xenu's Link Sleuth

#8 - Web Developer Toolbar

#9 - PureText

#10 - FireBug

BlueHost vs HostGator - Who is BIGGER?

How Much Money Is BlueHost Making?

Related:

WebHostingPad SCAM

WebHostingPad Money Scamming Tricks

"Free" Add-ons And Trials That Will Be Billed

Hidden Refund Charges

Suspend Your Account After 30 Days

Charge Your Credit Card Again Even After You Have Canceled!

Better Business Bureau Rate Them 'F'!

Stick With Reputable Hosts!

Step By Step Guide On Signing Up With HostGator

Step #1 - Enter Your Domain Name

Step #2 - Select Your Hosting Plan

Step #3 - Select Billing Cycle and Enter Coupon Code

Step #4 - Confirm Pricing, New or Existing Customer?

Step #5 - Enter Billing Information, Username and Password

Step #6 - Confirm Your Order

Step #7 - Order Completed!

Step #8 - Check Your Email

Potential Problem #1 - Invalid Credit Card

Potential Problem #2 - Username or Password Not Accepted

Conclusion

Related:

LunarPages vs HostGator - Why I Moved To Host Gator

It Is Because Of Their Control Panel (LPCP vs CPanel)

Comparing CPanel X3 with CPanel X 2.5

My Advice

Related:

PayPal Sucks! PayPal Will Even Limit Verified Accounts!

Related:

BlueHost Promotions and Offers - Get $108 OFF & Over $215 Credits

Free $50 Google AdWords Credit

Free $25 Yahoo Search Marketing Credit

Free $50 Miva Credit

Free $50 Ask Sponsored Listing Credit

Free $40 PR Web Credit

5% Discount at Boxed Art

Other Promotions

BlueHost vs HostMonster - Which One Is Better?

Reason #1 - Age & Brand

Reason #2 - Forum Size

Reason #3 - Pricing & Promotion

Why don't they stick to 1 brand and 1 name?

Conclusion

Example of BlueHost Hosted Sites

Sample Site #1 - Natalie Portman .ws

Sample Site #2 - Alwiz Sarah Michelle Gellar

How Are These Sites Hosted by BlueHost?

Does BlueHost Really Offer "FREE" Unlimited Domains?

BlueHost Upgrades CentOS, Ruby on Rails, GCC and ImageMagick

LunarPages Starter Plan ($2.95/month). Worth The Money?

Conclusions

HostMonster Double Discount! Get An Extra $72 OFF From Their Already Discounted Price! No Coupon Required

Do You Want To Pay $5.95/month?

Or Do You Want To Pay $3.95/month?

How Do You Activate The $3.95/month Pricing? Do You Need Any Coupon Code?

I Asked For A Refund From BlueHost! Do They Really Offer Money Back Guarantee?

Do They Make It Difficult For You To Ask For A Refund?

What's Next After Submitting The Cancelation Form?

Waiting For My Money Back In My Credit Card Statement

Summary and Conclusion

Related:

Which HostGator Plan Should You Choose? Hatchling or Baby or Business Plan?

Huge Pricing Differences

1. Host 1 Website or Host Multiple Websites?

2. Do you need a Toll Free number?

3. Do you need a Dedicated IP Address and Private SSL Certificate?