So I am going to start a hot debate, and I know every webmaster uses either Sitemeter or Google Analytics to track what people do on their website. I guess it would be like asking people if they like Mac or PC. You are going to get the diehard Mac fans (thats me) or the PC lovers. (got another idea for a blog post now

But anyways this subject is on Sitemeter Vs Google Analytics so I guess I will just have to stick to the point. I am not going to reveal my pick until the end of this blog post, so maybe that will give you an incentive to keep reading (or maybe just skip to the bottom.)

Sitemeter

Really, really, simple to use. It is free unless you want to upgrade to their paid service. Which unless you got heaps and heaps of traffic I would just recommend going with there free version. Then in the other hand if you are big ballin than maybe you can afford the $6 a month or whatever it is running these days. You do have to sign up for one account for each website, though.
You do have to display a little seal for their service unless you pay for it though. Unless you figure out a way to mask it. There are ways to do it, though. You can view exactly where all your traffic is coming from which only seems to be delayed by a minute or less, which is really neat. So have fun sitting by the computer hammering the refresh button every couple minutes. Also, you can have the results sent your email every day, week, or month.

Google Analytics

This is a little more advanced than Sitemeter. It does not cost a dime though. So I guess that is one advantage of Google Analytics. However, you do NOT have to sign up for every account like you do for Sitemeter. You can easily sign up for a google account, and have the results sent to you whenever you would like.
As far as features there seems to be a lot more than you can do with Google Analytics. You are just provided with a lot more stats than you can ever imagine. I am talking about visits, impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, RPC, ROI, Margin, bounce rate, ect.

Sitemeter Vs Google Analytics

So which one do I prefer? Well, the truth is I have used them both on a number of occasions. My opinion is kind of biased because I use Sitemeter on all of my sites, however on my clients sites I tend to use Google Analytics. Honestly, before writing this blog post, I was kind of set in stone on Sitemeter as being better because it is a little easier to use. Then again, I use it more, so maybe that is why it is easier to use for me.

At this point in time I prefer Sitemeter though, although I do just use their free service. However, in the next couple months I might try experimenting with Google Analytics a bit more and see if I still feel Sitemeter is the best for me.

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Today I wanted to talk about my favorite Wordpress plugins.  Lets face it plugins make our life easier, and there a number of them that I simply can not live without.  For instance any kind of blog that you are running there is one plugin that is essential to your Wordpress blog.  It is a spam plugin.

People love to spam; it seems everyone out there is trying to promote something or gain exposure to their products.  Do you know what I mean?  Maybe you are tired of getting the fifty million “Buy Viagra” comments on your blog.  Maybe you used to do it to in hopes of getting some good traffic from it.  Chances are it didn’t work and you wasted a lot of you hard earned time.  I will be honest with you, when I first started learning affiliate marketing I spammed a lot.  Not really knowing what I was doing.  I just went to various blogs and wrote I agree or something like that.  Wow, did I learn that I wasted my time and A LOT of it.   It’s all right though we all make mistakes.  Here are the best Wordpress blog plugins that I use.

SpamKarma 2

This plugin is awesome, it catches spam comments automatically.  Really, I love it.  I actually have it installed on this blog.  It will show a little script in your footer and actually show how many comments have been caught in the spam filter.  It actually states that your blog is protected to…neat!  I do wish they would add a little shield or some kind of graphic, but thats just me.

SexyBookmarks

Again, another one that is used on this site.  Funny because a lot of the ones I am going to talk about are on this site…lol.   This is a pretty cool plugin that makes it easier for people to share your blog post on social bookmarker sites.  However, you can list a million of them like I have seen some like sociable, but honestly I think that looks tacky as hell.  I try to just stick with the main ones.  Again, other people probably argue with me on that.

Digg Digg

This is another one that is similar to SexyBookmarks, however it looks a bit different and actually has the little buttons that view how many people have clicked.  Kind of cool for you, because you can actually see what people are clicking on with your blog.  I have always been interested in stats because it allows me to track what my viewers are doing….but that is just me.

FD Feedburner Plugin

Well, what can I say about feeds that hasn’t already been said before.  Feedburner in my opinion is the cream of the crop.  This will basically redirect your feeds to Feedburner where you can than track all kinds of crazy stuff.  Also, what I really like about this is you can display how many subscribers you got.  Then again, probably not too important to some but for me I love it.

Subscribe To “Double-Opt-In Comments”

Opt-in Button

Yeah I know that is long name for a plug-in.  It is a fancy name for a little checkmark at the end of your comment box that allows people to subscribe to your comments by email.  I don’t know how many times I have checked that box on other blogs just so I could see how the conversation went.  In fact, I didn’t even really know the name of it until recently.  I just called it little checky box.

There are millions upon millions of plugins and I am sure I left out or that people commonly use.  Like All in one SEO, Better RSS, Google XML Sitemaps, Meta SEO Pack, Quick Adsense, TagALLY, TweetMeme Retweet Button, Twitme.

What other plugins do you find that you are constantly using on a daily basics?

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There has been a lot of talk lately about Wordpress and whether it makes a good CMS (Content Management System).  The simple answer is are you kidding me it is great for a CMS.  Before get in all SEO on you I just want to say it is so very good for content management and above all other things is really easy to install on using, your cPanel.  For me, I use Hostgator which comes with “Fantastico De Luxe” or just Fantastico as most people call it.  However, Hostgator is not the only hosting provider that uses this; there are a lot of others that do, as well.

Sorry, didn’t mean to drift to far away from the subject but Wordpress is great for your content management system.  First of all you easily create a network of pages and link them together on the sidebar, header, or footer.  This helps because when you do have a lot of pages linked together that are on Google you will get extra love in the SERPS eyes.  So for me and a lot of other people I always use Wordpress for my sites.

Not to mention a successful site really does need a blog.  In my opinion (and I am sure many others will agree) Wordpress is simply the top dog.  Above and beyond all things this blog “Wordpress” does come with all kind of gadgets that you can install to make a good CMS.  What do I mean?  Well for starters there are so many widgets and plugins that you can install on Wordpress it is not even funny.  Two of my favorite plugins “All in one SEO” and “Meta SEO pack”.  I could go on and on about all the plugins.

What is even better is Wordpress is 100% free.  Also, you should install it on your site and not use their Wordpress.com site to host your blogs.  The reason you should host with your domain is because when you host them with one hosted by the company you do NOT own it.  You do want to own your blog right?  They could shut it down for no reason at all.

Searches Love Wordpress

I don’t know about you but I have found that it is so much easier to get pages ranked in Google with a blog.  This is because they are always being updated with fresh content.  Also Wordpress provides a platform for structured content, which Google loves.  As a side note you should alway adjust your Permalink Settings so that they show your post name rather than a generic blog entry 123.  If all this goes over your head I would recommend that you read this blog post on Content Managements Systems.  Also, one thing that is getting more popular in today’s world is cheap website templates that you can install on Wordpress.

So I am sure I left some stuff out on Wordpress and why it is great for CMS. What other elements do you feel help it with content management?  Also, what plugins do you guys/girls recommend to improve your CMS?

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Free Web Hosting Unlimited Bandwidth – Too Good To Be True?

I got an important topic I would like to cover today.  First and foremost, I get a million questions a day from people that are seeking a free web hosting provider with unlimited bandwidth. Well before I go crazy on you I just want to talk about about unlimited bandwidth and the fact that it doesn’t even really existence.  Seriously, lets say you purchased a shared hosting plan and they offered “unlimited bandwidth.”

Well, this is skewed because you are in fact sharing a server with a lot of other websites.  So how it the world could they possibly offer unlimited bandwidth?  I mean think about the word “unlimited” that basically means it will never run out.  Your site is on a server there is a point when it  can’t handle anymore so the words unlimited are really true.  See here for more information on unlimited bandwidth.

So back to the point free web hosting.  Honestly, you just get what you pay for when you get free hosting because they really do not offer that much space.  I have typically heard that they will provide you with about 20 GB, and if you get lucky maybe 100 GB.  However, unless you just want a website and are not running a business or anything I would really shy away from it.

Here is why I am against free web hosting.  Call me a hater if you want, but when you have an account with them your stuff can get shut down for no reason at all.  Think of it this way, you bust your ass working on a website and everything is going good.  Your business is booming and everything.  Well, you decide I got a lot of extra money in my bank account now, and go out and buy something really expensive.

Bam, your site is shut down the next day.  The reason is from your free web hosting with “unlimited bandwidth” has decided that you are hogging all your bandwidth with your videos and pictures.  It is like getting run over by a train when that happens, so I just don’t set myself up for failure.   Catch my drift.  Please someone explain to me what is the point of free web hosting if all your hard work can be shut down in an instant?

Free Web Hosting – The Reality!

Free Hosing – Are You Serious?

There are some really good points in the video above.  As a business owner I would have to ask you; how serious are you about your business if you are are hosting you account on a free hosting platform?  Would you really feel safe doing business with a company that didn’t even invest any money into their site?

This takes the trust factor out of the equation and your customers will simply respond negatively.  In order for an online company to succeed it needs three things, an online presence (the search engines ignore these sites typically), you need to provide value to customers (what reasons do they have to do business with you, and most importantly you have to have trust, which free hosting simply kills.

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Talk about how time consuming or expensive it can be to design a website.  Not to mention outsourcing someone out to create you a webpage.  The bill can easily be in the 1000’s very quickly.  Trust me I know, I am a designer and it does cost a lot to build or develop a website.  However, there is an alternative that you can take verses outsourcing someone to do the work for you.  You could choose to take advantage of cheap website templates and save yourself a huge hassle.

Free Templates

First, let me start by saying that free templates; you usually get what you pay for.  Half of the time their templates do not function correctly or the divs are not aligned correctly.  Another thing that bugs me about free templates is that they are not very dynamic at all.  Sometimes you need to make a lot of changes to a website, and the free route can cause you to bang your head up against the wall from the frustration of dealing with it.  Whatever the case may be they are free and you get what you pay for in this case.

Website Template Tips

However, when you are seeking cheap website templates there are a couple things that you do need to bear in mind.  For starters you don’t want to get too caught up on the colors, because these can be interchanged. You want to look at the overall structure and can it be used for what you are desiring.

Does it look cheesy or just plain amateur.  A lot of times people are going for really novice looking designs because they do not want to have to spend an arm and a leg.  However, if you are running a business online you do need to have a look that is professional and unique to your market.

Can the template be used with an effective content management system?  If you are new to CMS (content management systems I would check out this post on content management systems.)

So please do bear in mind there are some good templates out there that can really benefit you, but outsourcing someone to develop a site for you can be quite pricy at times.

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Windows Virtual Private Servers – Benefits?

It’s understandable that you look for less expensive Windows Virtual Private Servers; but it’s also equally vital that you get a worthwhile deal that does not sacrifice the quality of VPS features that you are going to utilize on your website or blog. Remember, you have to live with – and use – what you pay for. So in the long haul, it may be wiser not to focus on just the price. The more important consideration is what you get in return for parting with your money. Here are some great features that you ought to look for in the best VPS packages.

Limitless number of websites.

Many Internet folks with entrepreneurial minds make a stable income by having not just one website but tons of them. Think of it as a family of income-generating websites that you can cash in to establish or augment a lavish lifestyle that’s basically founded on the attention and business that your niche markets bring. Want to know the secret of their success? They got the best Windows Virtual Private Server environment that efficiently accommodates these websites under a super-efficient, super-dependable server umbrella, with unquestionable capacity to manage and maintain your site or blogs 24/7.

No Hassle Access.

Nothing beats the frustration of not being able to have your own nook of the web just because you don’t know the first thing about it. It certainly feels like walking in a vast sea of vagueness and uncertainty. Fortunately, servers with excellent reputations for providing your every need and get you started in no time at all are readily available, whether you are thinking of pursuing business or for personal purposes; and whether you require one website or dozens of them. You can completely put your trust on these highly regarded VPS providers and not worry a single thing about coding or programming languages. As a matter of fact, there are numerous Virtual Private Servers with VPS packages that offer a single-click installation for your website needs, blogging needs, forums, scripts and every vital factor you can think of.

Technical and Maintenance Support.

You need round the clock support from your VPS package for when you run into trouble and at a loss on what to do. A server that keeps a banker’s hours and is not available when you needed them most is the last thing you need. These days, a growing number of VPS packages offer 24/7 support. That means they don’t sleep on the job. They are on call so that when you encounter problems with functionality, display or simple maintenance, they are available to assist you. And you are assured that you don’t get a recording that makes you wait forever, or an automated response that purports to “walk you through” but has no real response to the real-time problem at hand. You get real-life representatives ready and trained to diagnose whatever issues you have and guide you step by step towards a resolution. Support is indeed vital, especially if you have no experience in site-building and programming. It is absolutely worth every penny you put up and gives the kind of value that pays for itself in just 24 hours or even less.

Unrestricted migration and control.

You may be unhappy with your current provider but you are hesitant to go to all the hassles of moving everything on your website and fixing format issues that goes with it. You also imagine the additional cost you will incur by such move and if it’s actually more efficient to just stay put despite your discontentment of the way your current provider is handling your website or blog needs. Virtual Private Server packages are designed to free you of these concerns and make migration as trouble-free as possible. This kind of fear that unhappy customers perceive when they want to switch over has been one of the major concerns that VPS packages try to address based on the principle that the companies who facilitate your transfer stand to benefit from the migration. Once you settle down, simple becomes the keyword. You can expand, trim down, or even create new and fascinating websites with user-friendly control panels that will have you feeling like a pro.

Given the knowledge you have now on what to look for in excellent Virtual Private Server packages, you can narrow down the competition using the above criteria. The more features you can avail of from the package you choose for the most reasonable price possible, the greater your chances are at making an untroubled and relaxed business relationship that is sure to bring you earnings in the years ahead.

Best Windows Virtual Private Servers

Lunarpages is one of the most respectable windows virtual private servers that we have found on the market today.  They do offer the power and control that you need for your business.  They use the Parallels® Plesk Panel and are very practical and affordable for the money.

Godaddy is another great web hosting, and because their service is great, and they do support Windows hosting we do recommend them.  There service is great for anyone that needs support with ASP and ASP.Net.  They do use their own cPanel, but you can easily learn it in about half an hour.

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RAID 5 40 GB: $39.95 per month + FREE setup
RAID 5 80 GB: $74.95 per month + FREE setup
RAID 5 160 GB: $149.95 per month + FREE setup

Multiple Data Centers Technology

InMotion Hosting, Inc. has been acknowledged by one of the most renowned names on the Internet, garnering 3 out of 3 stars from CNET. InMotion is a CNET Certified Service Provider, a prestigious position it has held since 2003.  They are simple the best vps hosting company.  We will explain why down below:
InMotion worked with SWSoft to provide Virtual Dedicated Server Platform based on SWSoft’s Virtuozzo, the leading software technology that allows web hosts to deliver fast and economical VPS Hosting. It’s also one of the first hosts to offer modern VPS hosting, making a vast difference with their knowledgeability and skills proficiency.

Here‘s why InMotion is considered top of the line:

•    You can get started with your website without delay and e-mail straight-away as it is preloaded with cPanel.
•    Quality is guaranteed with high specs at competitive prices
•    Service is assured with a responsive support based in the United States.
•    The “ready to go out box” feature of InMotion VPS Hosting is definitely appreciated by many people (though some super technical people might not).

http://inmotionhosting.com

Evaluating InMotion

Reliability

They have excellent uptime and we surmise this to be because of their really high end servers with redundant power supplies and RAID 5. This means that even with failed electronic components (like the hard drive, for instance) won’t make much of a difference; your VPS will continue running. InMotion also uses BGP4 bandwidth to help deal with routing problems on the Internet. To help keep the routes short and fast, they do a lot of “peering” with really big ISPs. Finally, InMotion allows for bursting of usage by your VPS, which means that your VPS stays up and does not shut your site down even when it gets a spike in traffic.

Performance

The three things that drive VPS Hosting performance are hardware, the number of virtual private servers on the hardware, and the resources each VPS gets. The high quality performance that you get from InMotion VPS Hosting stems from the utmost attention and precision they give to these details. InMotion uses Dell 2950 with 16GB or 32GB of RAM; 2 high end Quad Core Xeon Processors and most significantly, 15K SAS hard drives. The number of Virtual Private Servers has never been divulged, though. Possibly because they don’t want their competitors to get hold of the information. All they say is that it is actually tied up to actual performance of the individual VPS and the types of packages (they offer 3 so far) that are found on the hardware. If customer feedback is anything to go by, there have always been specific comments about how fast the service is; so go figure.

Ease of Use

The concept of a virtual private server is that basically, it is your own computer. While other hosts have limited set up and you will need to configure the VPS to support a particular website, InMotion hosting comes with all the software required to use your e-mail and run your website. The VPS you get has preloaded cPanel; it will set up your firewall; and configure your first account. It will even configure different versions of PHP and My SQL if you want. You simply upload your website, change your DNS and you’re good to go. This is exactly the kind of ease and convenience that someone who’s busy or who’s not into technical complexities is looking for.

Technical Support

Despite the relative newness of VPS Technology, InMotion has been providing VPS hosting for more than 4 years now. They have outstanding technical support with an excellent understanding and knowledge of how virtual private servers work. Customer feedback shows positive views about InMotion’s technical support.

Price

Last but not least their price is amazing!  It is reasonably priced and you get your money’s value, especially with cPanel license inclusion. Unlike other hosts, InMotion does not collect any set up fee. On top of this, you also get a 30-day or 90-day money back guarantee.

For more information, visit http://inmotionhosting.com.

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Your website serves as a front to your clients or customers.  You improve it by making it visible to as many viewers as you can, including threats and hackers.  Some hackers exploit websites for purpose of destroying your business or getting their malicious wares to your viewers.  Thus, it is but imperative that you take action in securing your website.
What are the methods used by hackers in exploiting your site?  The following are the commonly used tricks/medthods that causes threats to your business websites:

SQL Injection Method

This method is done by sending false or malicious request to your machine’s database and manipulate the informations stored in it.  Upon access to your database, the hacker may then make changes, or erase information within your site.  If your website features shopping carts, search fields, and any web fields, this requires interaction from viewers and opens door to hackers, making your site susceptible to SQL injection.

Cross Site Scripting Method

Dynamic pages opens opportunities to hackers to input false codes, which visitors may trigger to run a harmful script on their computers.  This usually victimize the end users of your websites, allowing hackers penetrate their database stored in local pc.  Cross site initializes sequence through programs like Active X, Flash, and Javascript.

CLRF Injection Method

The CLRF Injection method posts high risks to websites and may disable it entirely.  This method manipulates the way Software is scripted or programmed. Here, during the first development stage of web design, the hacker inserts a statement into a web form together with code from Carriage Return (CR) and Line Feed (LF) characters.  This causes the error in web development.

With the three (3) mentioned method, your awareness of the risks posted on your web should not be set aside and should be given consideration.

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CMS stands for Content Management System, a program for websites that improves the performance of a web page.  So a good CMS (Content Management System) will be search engine friendly.   That is the sole purpose behind a good CMS.  Also, you should be able to change your link url without breaking the path between your website and Google.  In essence you should be able to manipulate these easily.  All to often I see webmasters that will create a site and then change everything around because they do not have a good CMS installed and lose all their natural traffic.  This is very bad.

Tags, Tags, Tags

Your tag management is also very important ant because and you should be able to make changes per page rather than just as a whole.  Along with being able to make changes when you need it is extremely important that you have your keywords in your tags.  You will get extra brownie points from the search engine this way.

Also, you hear all the time that meta tags are not that important anymore.  Well this certainly doesn’t mean they are useless.  However, you do need to have them on your site.  A good CMS will allow you to edit your meta keywords, meta description, ect.  It is really advised to still put meta tags in on your site.  The key is, just make sure they are relevant to your site.  If you do not use those words on your page then it could actually hurt you.

Last, but not lease and there are ton of more elements that a good CMS will have but it has to be dynamic.  It should have the capability to work with canonical issues.  In plain English, you should make sure that everything is in the same version, rather than having various versions.  Once free CMS I use everyday is Wordpress.  I would highly recommend you read this article on CMS and Wordpress.

Now I know you have probably ran across good CMS’s and not so good CMS’s.  I would like to hear your questions and comments on this subject.

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What is Reseller-Web-Hosting?  To simply define it, there are those main web hosts or servers who hosts the bandwidth and hard drive space to run a website.  The resellers are actually buyers (individual or another company) who resell or are authorized to sell a purchased web service from the host for a profit.

There is varied reseller web hosting.  Some provide website designing, system integration or creation of a web page.  They are usually specialists on mentioned field and maximize bought sites from hosts to earn from sold services.  The web hosting reseller also determines the services offered.  They can come out with different service plans and structure for pricing.  As to security of sites, server configuration, updates and hardware maintenance, the host or operator remains to be the responsible party.

Mostly, small enterprises or customers who doesn’t have the capability to develop their sites for marketing purposes employ reseller web host for their requirements.  The advantage on the part of the reseller means revenue that is frequent because there are many businesses that identify the Internet as an effective tool for marketing.

Reseller web hosts often purchase a large size of web hosting plan or dedicated server and distribute the large chunk to smaller plans for retailing.  Thus, resellers are also referred to as retailers of services for web hosting.

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