At the end of December 2012, it was estimated that there were more than 630 million websites up and running, reports Royal Pingdom. Of these, there are thousands of hosting companies to choose from. Pick the wrong one for your business and you risk losing revenue, reducing your SEO ranking and becoming vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Use these tips to find the best website hosting solution for your business and reduce those risks.

Price Has Little to Do With Web Hosting Selection

Web hosting pricing can range from free to several hundred dollars each month. To some degree, the phrase “you get what you pay for” does apply. For instance, free or $1.99 web hosting will get you annoying pop up ads showing up on your site, limited bandwidth, and no guaranteed uptime. The web host may even be outsourcing all of their customers to other sites, often outside of the U.S.

It’s not necessarily true that a much higher price gets you much better service. A $10 per month hosting service may well provide great service that matches a $50 per month service. You must do a comparison of features to know what value you are getting from the service. Researching hosting companies will give you a good idea of what you’re going to be getting for your money. You may find the more expensive services have features that you may not even use. For instance, shopping carts and payment processors are not much value to you if you are running a blog.

Speed Is Critical

With so many websites to choose from, people don’t want to wait for a slow site to to load. They’ll simply leave for another site if it takes too long. Speed is one of the most important factors to look at when choosing web hosting, says Business 2 Community. Look for reviews and stats on a web hosting service’s load times and uptime.

Faster page loads keep visitors on your site and encourages them to stay to read your content or browse your products for purchase. Mashable says that for every two seconds that it takes your site to load, eight percent of your visitors will bail out and go to another site.

Uptime is important because it could affect your page ranking with the search engines. A small amount of downtime may be acceptable, but if the server is down when the search engine is crawling your site, your page ranking will be downgraded.

Two other ways to improve your performance:

• Have a dedicated IP address – This is an additional service from your web hosting company.
• Use a service with local servers – If you serve a market predominantly in the Northeast U.S., using a web hosting service that maintains its servers in the Northeast will give you a boost in speed.

Web Hosting Server Options

There are a multitude of hosting options that include shared hosting, dedicated hosting, or a virtual private server. Before becoming overwhelmed with the decision you have to make, you can look into various resource hubs such as Top10CloudStorage.com, which has some of the best cloud storage questions and answers in their FAQ page. Knowing the different ways a hosting service manages websites can help shed some light onto how you should manage yours, as the Huffington Post explains:

• Shared hosting – Your website is on the same platform as many other websites, and performance could be affected by what other websites do. This is usually the least expensive option.
• VPS hosting – You are still running along side other sites, but you get a dedicated space carved out just for you. This can increase performance slightly, but is more important if you have data security concerns.
• Dedicated hosting – This is the most expensive option, but it gives you your own platform on which to run. You won’t be impacted by other sites. This is often the fastest option available to you.

The post Finding the Right Web Hosting Service for Your Business appeared first on WebHostMap.com | Your Guide To Getting Online.

This post Sponsored by DC Design Marketing

When was the last time you updated your blog? And no, we don’t mean a new post — we mean a re-design. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut or to simply ignore the new templates, design updates or quick spruce-ups other bloggers are doing. But you worked hard to get your blog up and running, and it’s important to keep it relevant if you don’t want to get left in the dust. Here are some signs your blog is in dire need of a refresh.

You’re Embarrassed

If, when you read other blogs, you find yourself noticing how organized and tasteful they are, and how yours looks dated in comparison, that’s a problem. You should be proud of your work, and not cringe every time you pull up your site.

You’re Jealous, Too

You also notice all the cool updates others have done. How did they get their blog to look so streamlined and clean? When did they add search functionality? How did they choose that amazing color palate, and integrate all those cool bells and whistles? Suddenly the green-eyed monster appears — and even he is jealous of others’ blogs.

Your Site Lacks Branding

You want your content and your visual identity to be uniquely you. Hone in on the things that are important to you; maybe it’s a certain type of imagery, or beginning every post with a quote. Regardless, give your readers something by which to recognize you, and something you are proud to hang your hat on.

You’re Losing Traffic

If you have been doing everything else right (posting regularly, promoting your posts on social media, paying attention to your analytics, etc.), it simply might be time to breathe new life into the blog. Dig into reader comments and see if they provided any feedback that might help. Maybe they wish you did away with some of your widgets, or they find small type hard to read, which might deter them from visiting your site. Do what you can to cater to your readers’ wants while still staying true to your own.

Your Site’s Not You

You’ve changed and grown over the years — why hasn’t your blog? Don’t feel tied down to decisions you made years ago. Your blog should grow with you. Add categories, rethink your text vs. imagery ratio, heck, even reconsider the focus. It’s so much easier (and truer) to write when you are passionate. Make your blog reflect that passion.

Do these issues strike a chord? If so, don’t despair. A blog makeover can indeed be good and cheap, if you follow these tips:

Attend Workshops

There’s nothing like a good old brainstorm/learning session to get the creative juices flowing. Sign up for a local (or online) workshop to learn some tips and tricks from fellow bloggers, designers and more. They just might open your eyes to new possibilities that can take your blog from ho-hum to awesome.

Consider Doing It Yourself

Daunting as it might seem, it’s not! Check out online tutorials for Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, or just about any other blogging platform out there. Let others who have been there walk you through the customization process.

DIY Not an Option? Hire a Pro

There are lots of up-and-comers out there who are looking to build their portfolios, so put word out and ask around. You’ll want to be sure you are clear on the things you absolutely must have vs. where you welcome your designer’s input.  Spend some time going through blogs and magazines to get inspiration, and send over some sketches to help guide the process.

Enough tips — are you inspired to give your blog the makeover it needs? Happy blogging!

The post When You Know Your Blog Needs a Makeover appeared first on WebHostMap.com | Your Guide To Getting Online.

This post Sponsored by Empire Cat

In every business, there are competitors embattled in a constant rivalry to achieve the most sales, customers, or whatever variable is used to measure success. In blogging, that variable is a blog’s number of daily visitors. For a blog to achieve a constantly rising stream of visitors, it’s very important for that blog to stand apart from its competitors. How can a blog individualize itself? There are a few methodologies all bloggers should try, all being useful ways to separate from the pack:

Update Frequently and Consistently

The number one way to attract and keep visitors is to provide engaging content that is updated frequently and consistently. No matter your content type, design, or approach, the quantity of updates does matter. The top blog in your niche, no matter what that niche is, updates very frequently. You don’t want to fall behind. Quality must be upheld, obviously, but no blog will maintain a reader base with a skittish update schedule. Not every blog post has to win the Pulitzer. Turn in something fun and engaging; it’s better to turn in a so-so blog post than none at all.

Guest Post on Other Blogs

Guest posting on other blogs may seem counterintuitive since you’ll be sharing your content and voice with a potential competitor. In the long run, though, guest posts can provide very positive results for separating from competitors. Not only will placing a convenient link to your blog at the end of the guest post encourage others to read your blog, but it will also increase your blog’s SEO strength, since links in guest posts generally have a positive impact on the site being linked to.

Feature a Unique Design

Along with writing tone, design is one of the areas of your blog where you can be experimental. Readers are used to the conventional ‘Home’, ‘Archives’, ‘Contact’, series of links along the header, so try to spice up your various pages and their names. Also, seek out interesting widgets and plugins that will help immerse readers, such as a contact box on your blog’s sidebar or an easy way to connect with the blog on social media. Just make sure to keep the design looking clean. A messy home page will turn readers off immediately.

Host Contests on Social Media

A great way for your blog to gain followers, and in result gain a leg up on competitors, is by hosting contests on social media. When hosting giveaways and requiring entrants to follow your blog on Facebook or Twitter, both parties win. Readers get a chance at winning something cool and your blog gains followers – likely permanently since, if they are entering the contest, they are interested in your blog’s niche in the first place. The newly available Scheduled Tweets function on Twitter makes hosting a contest on social media easier than ever.

Show Personality in Your Writing

Whether you’re humorous, sarcastic, smug, or energetic, make sure that your writing style shows. Bloggers have full poetic license to write any way they’d like, whether it’s witty and humorous or very straight-to-the-point and technical. Most major blogs in their niche have a great layout, consistent updates, and a SEO presence, so separating from competitors is often reliant on quality content, originality, and voice.

Network with Tactfulness and Precision

Networking isn’t simply connecting to bloggers on LinkedIn that you never even spoke to before. Develop actual relationships with bloggers in your niche, not simply by adding them on social media. Instead, send them an e-mail, engage in smart conversation on a mutually interested topic, or compliment their blog without asking for any favors in return. Network without any desperation, and after months of chit-chatting it won’t be out of the question to swap links.

Offer Readers Every Possible Way to Be Updated

Whether it’s via Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, or a mailing list, it’s wise to give your blog’s readers every possible method to receive updates from your blog. Everyone has a unique preference for how they’d like blogs to update them, so it’s best to accommodate every available platform. Place RSS, mailing list, and social media widgets visibly on your site’s sidebar, and new readers may gradually become loyal readers.

The post How to Stand Out From Competitors on Your Blog appeared first on WebHostMap.com | Your Guide To Getting Online.

This post Sponsored by 12 Keys Rehab

Blogging is not for the faint of heart. It requires spunk, creativity, dedication and, most of all, talent. Most often, people thrive at blogging when they are writing in a niche that they are accustomed and interested in writing about.

However, even the most engaging content can use a slight bit of tweaking in order to generate conversation. Comments from users make any blog more engaging and can cause debates and controversy that is necessary for any blog.

So what can you do to make sure your blog is going to generate the most activity and engage readers to comment?

1. Make Your Content Engaging

While this might seem like a no-brainer, engaging content will be the top generator for invoking commentary from your readers. No one wants to read boring content. Create a post that will push boundaries and, quite possibly, startle your readers (in a good way).

Those who agree with your train of thought will be your largest support. These commentators will give an opinion on much of your content and can cause a very interesting debate with the opposition.

Keep in mind that writing your content engagingly also entails keeping thing tactful. While boundary pushing is acceptable, make sure you do not do it in a disrespectful manner. Readers who disagree with your blog post will still follow and comment you if you ensure not to blatantly disrespect their way of thinking.

2. Give Your Readers Something to Ponder

Leaving a blog post with steady information, but keeping it open-ended will cause better engagement. Asking a question at the end of the blog can easily persuade readers to comment with their opinion. If you do this, ensure you tell them to comment underneath in the “Comment Section” of the blog post.

If questioning your readers seems too blunt for you, then leaving a debatable ending conclusion will be advisable. Often times, acknowledging the opposition and “walking a mile in my shoes” type of writing will be necessary.

Show your readers that, although you have your opinion, you can see the other side of the spectrum. Those who agreed with your opinion might better explain your point. Those in opposition will respect you for seeing their side and not acknowledging as flat our wrong.

For example, if you own a rehab center blog, acknowledging the reasons as to why a person would not seek treatment would help influence better conversation. Those who do not want to seek treatment will see you are not trying to force your views on them. In fact, you are giving them a choice and not saying one is wrong and one is right.

Whatever method you choose, give your readers something to think about by the end of the reading.

3. Comment Back

This is one area where bloggers tend to forget about and can easily ruin their credibility.

When your commenter says something such as, “I love your article and it is so inspiring.” take time out of your day to comment back to that commenter. Nothing infuriates a commenter more than not being acknowledged when they support you and your page.

Even more, promptness is a key factor. When a comment is being made, try your hardest to get back to that person in a timely fashion. Never seem “too busy” for your readers. Let them know that you are looking back at them for feedback.

When people see, you reply back, it gives them a greater opportunity of returning and commenting repeatedly. Likewise, when others see you commenting, they will be more inclined to engage as well.

Engagement begins by showing the same support to your following as they do for you.

Don’t Give Up

While these three tips might not seem adequate enough, know that they are here to assist you with your comment rate. However, they are not going to make results happen overnight either.

Dedication and patience will be key when it comes to your blog. When you continue your practices and continue to make content that is worth reading, you will notice the readership increasing as the months go by.

Forget about frustration – use that energy to make your blog thrive.

The post Blogging Tips: How To Get More Blog Comments appeared first on WebHostMap.com | Your Guide To Getting Online.

This post Sponsored by Maxwell Systems Software

Okay, okay, you own a yoga studio, or a cupcake shop, or you sell crafts out of your home. You know a thing or two about how to be successful in your niche. So why should you blog? Especially if you aren’t a digitally focused business, blogging might not be on your priority list. But, just like having a website is all but completely necessary, an online blog presence can bring your business to new levels. Here’s why:

1.) People Expect It.

To start, what is blogging? In laymen’s terms, according to Wikipedia, it’s a set of individual posts, listed in chronological order starting with the most recent. For businesses it can serve to either add depth to your business or keep people up-to-date on news.

But the bottom line is that people expect regular content online. If your site stays exactly the same day-in and day-out, then what’s the point in having visitors return? So even if it’s simply a rundown of your daily cupcake flavors, or a list of the day’s yoga schedule, at least it’s fresh content. After all, staying fresh is the name of the game when it comes to online engagement.

2.) Blogging Gives Your Business an Identity.

Most people tire of sales-speak and stuffy, business language. But sometimes that’s the only thing that works (as in fine print or “about us” pages). But, if you want people to hang out with you in the online sphere, you need a personality, a voice. And the best way to do it is to blog.

So, let’s go back to the cupcake shop example. You could update your blog a few times a week with topics that interest you. That might be a rundown of tips in the kitchen, or it might just be a household craft idea. It could even be a rundown of that family weekend trip you took. Anything that might be interesting to your friends would probably also be interesting to your customers. Give people a reason to like you, and they’ll seek you out the next time they need cupcakes. Notice how we didn’t even talk about how “good” your cupcakes are?

3.) It Gives Your More Content to Share.

Beyond brand voice, regular blogging can also establish a simple rise in volume of content, which gives people reasons to talk about you. You can’t post on Facebook everyday with a link to your company website if it keeps going straight to the home page. But, if you have a great new blog article about travel tips, or your favorite new music album, then it’s something you can post about.

An added bonus is that people will spend more time on your site. If they linger to read about your favorite fashion trends, then the link to your “Buy My Crafts” section has more time to catch their eye. More time on-site means more engagement, and more engagement probably means more customers.

4.) Google Loves Blogs.

There’s no silver bullet to getting more customers, but thankfully there are some tried-and-true techniques for getting more traffic. If your website uses keywords that potential customers search for on Google, then they’re more likely to land on your page. And, having blog articles just means more space for those keywords. It’s as simple as that.

5.) It’s Easy.

This is the best reason to start a blog. However long it took you to read this rundown— that’s how long it would take you to sign up for WordPress or Blogger. From there, you can choose a theme and layout and start writing immediately. If you have the abilities to update the website you made, then you’re more than capable of using the standard blog tool. So, now that you have no more excuses, go on and start blogging. It’s fun, too.

The post Blog All About It: 5 Reasons Your Business Should Be Blogging appeared first on WebHostMap.com | Your Guide To Getting Online.