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What Is the Fastest Web Hosting

The post What Is the Fastest Web Hosting appeared first on HostGator Blog . If you have a slow loading website, you’re killing your site before it’s even had a chance to succeed.  Today, having a fast web host is no longer an option. It’s a necessity. With a slow loading site you’ll be negatively influencing your search engine rankings, impairing your user experience, and likely losing a lot of potential sales.  But all the onsite optimization in the world won’t matter if your web host is slow.  While on-page improvements like image optimization will make a huge difference, your web host sets the stage for your site speed. You can think of your hosting company as either making it easier or harder to achieve blazing fast loading speeds.  Below we not only examine why having a fast loading website is so important, but we also show you what to look for in fast web hosting services .  Why You Need a Fast Web Host If you didn’t hear the news, attention spans are down . You can’t expect your users to sit around and wait for your site to load. In fact, if your site takes longer than 2 seconds, then they’ll click the back button and head over to one of your competitors. Your web host can either greatly enhance your site speed or make it very difficult to achieve even subpar loading speeds. Here are some of the biggest reasons you’ll want fast web hosting services behind you: 1. Rank Higher in the Search Engine Rankings Google loves websites that load fast. Think about it, Google’s mission is to provide search engine users with the most relevant and highest quality search results.  When your site loads slowly, your visitors are immediately put off. They start moving their mouse (or trackpad) towards the back button as fast as possible.  Site loading speed is a Google ranking factor . Keep in mind that it’s not a big one, but everything adds up when it comes to SEO. Plus, if your site takes too long to load, then Google will send crawlers to your website less often. So, they won’t know if you’ve published that new blog post you’ve spent hours on. Beyond the ranking factor impact, having a slow loading website will also influence user experience factors like your bounce rate . Having a very high bounce rate will signal to Google that your site is low-quality, so you can say goodbye to those hard-earned rankings.  2. Offer a Positive User Experience If you want your site to succeed in the long-term, then you need to be creating a positive experience for your visitors.  Face it, the web is a crowded place, so if you’re looking to stand out, a great way to do that is with your user experience. Create a super enjoyable experience for your visitors and you’ll be having visitors come back to your site again and again (and maybe tell their friends about it too!). As you’ve already seen, today’s internet users are impatient. We all are. We all expect things to happen instantly. So, if your site fails to achieve this expectation you’re going to have a lot of disappointed visitors on your hands.  Also, as we mentioned above, when you create a great user experience you’ll improve key website stats like your bounce rate and dwell time, which suggest a positive user experience . This will have a compounding effect of ensuring it’s easier for your site to rank, and helping turn visitors into customers, subscribers, and more.  3. Create a Stellar First Impression The moment a visitor lands on your website they’re judging you. This doesn’t mean you need to feel self-conscious. It’s something we all do.  Visitors are immediately making judgments about your site. Should they trust you? Is this site worth their time? Are you a professional? These judgments happen instantly. One of the best ways to help bring visitors over to your side is to have a fast loading website.  Sure, there are important elements of your site that need to be in place too. But, users tend to view fast loading sites as more trustworthy. On the other hand, when your site loads slowly, it does the exact opposite of inspiring confidence. In fact, if your site loads too slowly, your visitors may never return again.  4. Improve Your Conversions Most people will leave your site and never return again if it loads slowly. According to some experts , 40% of people will abandon your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.  So, let’s say your site gets 10,000 visitors per month. With a slow loading site, 4,000 of those visitors will leave your site! That’s 4,000 visitors who could have become customers.  If your site is generating revenue, then any lost visitor is a potentially lost customer. Of course, not every website visitor will buy something from you. But, losing 40% of your visitors due to a fixable problem with site loading isn’t something you’ll want to experience. The more traffic your site gets the more tragic this figure becomes.  5. Make Speed Optimization Easier Finally, when you choose a fast hosting services you’re making your life as a webmaster so much easier. No matter what kind of hosting plan you’re on there are steps you can take to help get the highest performance out of your site. But, if you’re on a slow loading web host, even big changes will only lead to very small improvements. It’ll be near impossible to overcome the slow loading baseline that’s set by your host.  Some web hosts are so blazing fast that they deliver incredible loading speeds without any onsite speed optimization. In an ideal world you’ll have a host that values speed, along with having proper onsite optimization to truly get the highest levels of performance out of your site.  What to Look for in a Fast Web Host Now that you understand the importance of having a fast loading website let’s look at the things you should look for in a web host . Note that some of the factors are actual features of a hosting company while others are more dependant on the needs of your site.  The following factors will help you find a host with the fastest web hosting:  1. Choosing the Right Plan  One of the biggest influences on the performance of your site is choosing the right type of hosting and plan for your needs. For example, if you’re on a basic shared hosting plan, but your site gets a large volume of monthly traffic, then this will probably lead to poor performance. There’s no way around it.  It’s important to choose a host that can actually support your website needs. For most hosting plans there are limits, and when you hit these your site performance is going to suffer.  First, ensure that you choose a hosting plan that can support your existing traffic and storage levels while giving you space to grow or upgrade your plan. Second, consider choosing a type of hosting that’s best suited to your site. For example, if you run a WordPress site whose traffic levels are increasing, then you might want to consider moving to WordPress hosting .  2. Server Location One thing that’s typically overlooked is the actual physical location of the servers. If you primarily get traffic from the UK, but your servers are based in Los Angeles, then your loading times won’t be as fast as they could be. If you have the opportunity to select the location of your servers, then choose a location that’s the closest to your website visitors and not your physical location.  If you can’t select this, then at least make sure there’s a bundled CDN, or you have the opportunity to utilize one.  3. Quality Server Hardware The server hardware will also influence your site’s performance. Look for a host that uses the latest web server hardware technology, not simply a host that’s trying to get by with older server hardware.  Typically, the higher the level of your plan the better web server hardware you’ll have access to. This includes things like the quality of the processors, integrated caching, unlimited bandwidth, along with support for faster software or program updates, like PHP 7.  4. Type of Drives When you purchase hosting services you’re basically buying a place to store your site’s files. If possible, try to find a host that uses Solid State Drives (SSDs) . This is an upgrade from the traditional HDD drives. SSDs have a much higher level of performance and can execute server commands at a much faster rate.  5. Bundled CDN Using a CDN will help your site load faster across the board. With a CDN behind you, cached versions of your site will be stored on different servers across the globe. Whenever a visitor accesses your site, they’ll be served a version of your site from a server that’s in the closest physical proximity.  Choosing the Fastest Web Host for Your Needs Even though speed is important, there’s a lot more that goes into choosing a web host than just evaluating speed. Here are a few factors you’ll want to look for along with fast performance:  1. Fits Your Budget Even if you’ve found the fastest web host in the world, it won’t matter if you can’t afford it. Usually, a VPS or dedicated server plan will be faster than a shared hosting plan.  You’ll need to find the fastest form of hosting available within your budget. In time, as the size of your site and traffic levels grow you can upgrade to more expensive forms of hosting that will also offer upgrades in performance.  2. Quality of Support A rock-solid customer support team should be mandatory when deciding between different web hosting providers. The chances are high that you’ll need to reach out to support at some time to help you resolve an issue regarding your hosting or your website. You’ll want to look for a support team that offers customer support in your preferred channel, along with actually being responsive and helpful. When an issue arises with your website you’ll want to be confident you can get it resolved as quickly as possible.  3. Ability to Grow With You Chances are your site will grow in time and so will your hosting needs. Even if you’re building out your first site you’ll want to choose a hosting company that can grow with you. This means you should be on the lookout for hosts that offer multiple plans, as well as, multiple forms of hosting services.  4. Bundled Tools and Features When looking for a host make sure they can meet all of your needs, not just your need for speed.  For example, maybe you want a host that allows you to manage and send email, or you know you want to use cPanel to manage your web server, or you want a host that has a website builder . Take stock of your additional needs before you begin researching and exploring different web hosting services..  5. High Level of Reliability Site uptime is incredibly important. Even if your site loads in 10ms, this won’t matter if it’s offline all the time. Look for a host that offers an uptime guarantee of 99.99%.  This uptime percentage refers to the percentage of time that your site will be online. This might not seem crucially important, but think about it from the perspective of a visitor who comes to your site while it’s offline.  Or, a visitor who came to your site with the intention of making a purchase, but all they see is an offline site.  Look for a host that offers a high level of uptime, and even an uptime guarantee if the time your site is offline drops below their baseline percentage. Choose a Fast Web Host for Your Website Hopefully, you have a better understanding of why having the fastest web hosting is very important. With a low loading host behind you, you’re going to have an uphill battle from the very beginning.  By using the information above you’ll be on your way towards finding the best blazing-fast web hosting package for your website. Whether you go for shared hosting, dedicated server hosting , or any of our other web hosting packages, our team at HostGator will help you find the best service for you and your website. If you’re looking for a web host that values load time speed and also checks all the boxes above, then explore HostGator’s hosting plans today. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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How to Create a Membership Site with WordPress (Step by Step)

The post How to Create a Membership Site with WordPress (Step by Step) appeared first on HostGator Blog . Are you considering creating a membership site for your courses, products, or services? If so, it can be a great way to cater to your target market and increase your business’ revenue among many other benefits. A membership allows you to build a list of loyal members, create an active email list , and position yourself as a leader in your industry if it gains enough traction. But what exactly is a membership site? Put simply, it’s gated content that’s only accessible to members and subscribers. Most of the time there is a fee or recurring payment involved, but sometimes it can be as simple as signing up for an email list. Why Create a Membership Site? A membership site means you can sell practically anything: online courses, ebooks, coaching, you name it. What makes it exciting is its exclusivity and the perks that come with an engaged subscription. Premium services tend to offer subscribers more value to the point where paying a monthly or yearly fee is worth their money. If you’re able to rack up a solid list of subscribers, your revenue will increase drastically. It’s also a great way to build a list of loyal subscribers who genuinely enjoy your content to the point that they’re willing to pay for it. Think of Youtube Premium or Spotify Premium. Sure, with their free options you get to enjoy their content, but you’re bombarded with ads and can’t enjoy the full, uninterrupted experience. What makes these services powerful is that they deliver an optimized UX and, therefore, have a customer base that consists of happier customers. Gating your content allows you to offer your target audience the products and services they want while your business expands its subscriber list and grows monetarily. Before getting started, you need the following: A domain name. This is your website’s URL and it’s crucial that it matches your brand and the products and services you’re selling. WordPress web hosting. HostGator provides quick and easy set up so that even beginners can create their own website. You can also register your domain name here at HostGator. A membership plugin. MemberPress is simple to install and requires no coding knowledge to set up a membership site you’re proud to call your own. What to Look for in a Membership Plugin There are many options to choose from when it comes to membership plugins , but what it really comes down to is what best suits your business and its customers. It’s essential to keep them in mind when creating your membership site. Here are a few questions to consider when choosing a plugin: What is your budget? What are your measurable goals? How well do you know how to code? How many membership levels will you need? What payment gateways do you want customers to be able to use? Are there extra features you want to be included, such as add-ons and integrations? If you want to create a fully functional, easy-to-use membership site with WordPress, here’s how to get started. Install and Set Up MemberPress The very first step to creating a membership site is to use a plugin. This is what’s going to turn your regular WordPress site into a members-only website. MemberPress allows you to sell physical and digital goods, downloads, subscriptions, and more. It’s easy to set up payment gateways, restrict access based on different subscriptions, and design beautiful pricing pages so you can create the look you want. First, you need to create an account with WordPress. Then, purchase a subscription with MemberPress that suits your budget, goals, and business needs. Consider what features are most important to you when choosing your pricing plan. Sometimes it’s worth it to pay a little extra to give your customers exactly what they want. Plus, your membership fee could end up giving back to your business with an increased ROI . Once you choose the plan that’s right for you, go to MemberPress and download the .zip file. From your WordPress dashboard, click on Plugins > Add New > Upload. Select the file and click Install Now. Then click Activate Plugin and your MemberPress plugin will be activated. You should now be able to see a MemberPress menu option in the sidebar on your dashboard. From the menu, click Options where you can configure the plugin’s settings to your liking. Your plugin is now fully installed and ready to be optimized for your business! Getting Started with MemberPress Creating a membership site is a way to target a specific audience and cater to their specific needs. It makes selling products and services easy and builds a list of happy customers who enjoy content that matches exactly what they’re looking for. MemberPress is a fully functional plugin that makes creating a membership site on WordPress an easy and pleasant experience. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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4 Ways to Make Money With Your Small Business Website

The post 4 Ways to Make Money With Your Small Business Website appeared first on HostGator Blog . You’ve finally got a website for your business , because you know it’s the key to getting found by new customers who start most of their searches online. But your website can do more than raise your visibility in search results. It can also provide another revenue stream for your business. Whether you sell physical goods in a brick-and-mortar location, provide in-person services to a local market, run a restaurant, or offer your freelance expertise online, there are ways you can make your website work harder for you. One or more of these options may be just right for your small business site. 1. Build an Online Store If you have a brick-and-mortar retail shop, selling your products online is an obvious choice to expand your market, but other businesses can benefit from having an online store, too. Own a coffee shop or bakery? You can offer your branded merch (t-shirts, mugs) online along with special coffee blends or cakes and gift baskets. And any type of business can offer gift certificates online. No physical products? No problem. If what you sell is expertise, consider putting some of it into e-books on topics that matter to your clientele, and sell them in your online shop. (We’ll talk more about expertise in a moment.) Setting up an online store is easier than you may think. Gator Website Builder’s eCommerce plan gives you the templates and drag-and-drop tools you need to set up shop online fast. The eCommerce plan supports HD video and audio so you can create compelling product videos, and you get tools to manage your inventory, calculate shipping and sales tax, and offer coupons to your customers. 2. Let Customers Book Appointments Online Worldwide access to global knowledge is great, but I think the real benefit of the internet is being able to book appointments without a phone conversation between two harried people who toss out days and times until one works. Setting up appointments online is easier for everyone—your receptionist can focus on other tasks, and your customers don’t get stuck on hold. Online booking also lets customers reserve a spot whenever they’re ready, instead of having to wait for office hours to make a call. When you make people wait, they sometimes forget—or find a competitor who lets them book online, so you lose out. You can add booking capability to your WordPress website with a plugin. One of the most popular is Booking Calendar , which lets you customize the fields customers will fill in, notifies you of new booking requests, and stores all your booking information in a single database so you don’t have to toggle back and forth to manage your client list and appointments. 3. Share Your Knowledge Online Once you’ve been running your business successfully for a while, you’ll probably have insights other people will pay to learn. Writing, design, and coaching businesses are a natural fit for online one-on-one entrepreneur mentorship programs and group courses aimed people in the same field who want to learn more about some aspect of the business. Other businesses can use this approach, too. Maybe you grew your landscaping business from zero to six figures in under two years. Other new landscapers will want your advice on marketing and customer retention. Does your HVAC repair company have the lowest employee-turnover rate and the best customer reviews in town? Other contractors will want to know how you retain top talent. There’s one big difference between selling this type of expertise online and setting up an online store or booking tool: You’ll need to reach a different audience from your regular customer base. That requires some research to see if there’s a demand for your knowledge, and to find out where your potential customers hang out online so you can start connecting with them. You’ll also need to establish yourself as an expert, with a blog, podcast, or videos that gives away some of your knowledge for free. You can set up a blog fast with the Gator Website Builder and its blogging templates. You’ll want to make sure your business website’s hosting plan can handle more traffic and load audio and video content fast. It may be time to upgrade to cloud hosting if you expect spikes in traffic when you open new course registrations, or if you need faster load times for your instructional videos and podcasts. Building up this type of revenue stream takes some time, but it can be lucrative if there’s enough demand and you put in the marketing work. And if your main line of business is seasonal, like landscaping or air-conditioner repair, an online sideline can help smooth out income peaks and valleys. 4. Add Ads and Affiliate Links to Your Small Business Website With a decent amount of traffic, your site can also generate revenue through affiliate links and ads. Affiliate marketing is big business, and just about anyone with a website can take part. Simply defined, affiliate marketing lets you earn commissions on sales of other people’s products that you promote on your site. Let’s say you own a cupcake shop, and your shop’s website has a popular blog that features tips on decorating cupcakes. You might sign up for the affiliate program offered by your favorite decorating tools company, include links to their products in your posts (along with an FTC-required disclosure that they’re affiliate links), and earn a commission on each sale that comes from your links. You can also run ads on your website. Google AdSense is the most popular option, because it’s easy to integrate with your site, it gives you control over which ads appear, and it tailors ads to your content and audience. It can take a while for your AdSense ads to bear fruit—you need to reach a $100 threshold before you receive your first payment. But as far as revenue streams go, it’s a low-effort, low-maintenance way to start monetizing your site. Want more ideas for making the most of your small business website? There’s always something new and useful on the HostGator blog . Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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What Is Windows Hosting?

The post What Is Windows Hosting? appeared first on HostGator Blog . When figuring out which web hosting plan is the right choice for your business, you have two main server options: Windows hosting and Linux hosting. If you don’t know anything about what they are and how they’re different, you could risk making the wrong decision out of the gate, and face trouble down the line getting your website working the way you’d like. To help you make the best decision for your business, we’ve put together this guide on what Windows hosting is, who it’s for, and what to look for in a Windows hosting provider. What Is Windows Hosting? Windows hosting is website hosting that uses a Windows operating system. Because the most common web hosting plan options operate on Linux, you can usually assume that anytime a web hosting company doesn’t specify a plan is Windows hosting, it’s Linux hosting. But for a certain subset of website owners, Windows server hosting is the better choice and it’s important to seek out a plan that provides the particular features that come with it. 3 Pros of Windows Hosting Windows hosting isn’t for everyone, but it offers some unique benefits for the businesses that it’s a good fit for. 1. It runs on the familiar Windows operating system (OS). Windows is the most popular operating system in the world. The current OS version alone has over 400 million users , and some estimates put the total user base at more than 1 billion. The Windows system is familiar, and using it is straightforward for millions of people around the world. That said, when it comes to web hosting, most website owners don’t access the web server’s operating system directly. With Linux hosting, you typically use the cPanel, and with Windows server hosting you have the option of the Plesk control panel . But for anyone who plans to use the server user interface directly, Windows hosting provides a much more intuitive user experience than the Linux user interface. 2. It provides compatibility with other Windows tools. For a lot of business, this is the main reason to choose Windows hosting. If your business depends on a number of other Windows tools, then choosing a web hosting platform that plays nice with the various other software products and solutions you depend on will make your life easier. If your website was built using ASP.NET web hosting , then you’ll need to use a Windows server.. Companies that use a Microsoft structured query language (SQL) server for their website and databases will also need to stick with Windows server hosting. Same thing goes if your business uses Microsoft Exchange for your company’s email server and Microsoft Sharepoint for your project management and team collaboration. Basically, the more your business depends on Windows programs, the more likely you are to need Windows server hosting. You can always trust that your web hosting platform will be compatible with all your other legacy programs. And notably, you can trust that whenever your OS and related programs have an update, you don’t have to worry about losing functionality of other programs that depend on them since everything comes from the same company.   Another point worth considering is that most businesses that use a number of Windows-based tools will already employ a lot of tech support professionals that are experts on using, maintaining, and updating Windows programs. The people that already know how to manage your Windows products will have no problem also using your Windows server hosting. 3. It comes with the easy-to-use Plesk control panel. Where Linux web hosting has the cPanel, Windows hosting has the Plesk control panel (although it should be noted that Plesk is also an option available with Linux hosting, just not as commonly used with it as cPanel).  While many users that are already familiar with the OS can directly use the Windows server hosting interface, those that want something a little more user friendly can count on the Plesk control panel to make it easier to make updates and changes to your website. Plesk provides an intuitive user interface that lets you create and manage multiple websites and domains, set up email accounts, and manage reseller accounts. Unlike cPanel, it’s more specifically focused on the needs of commercial website and app owners. It’s compatible with content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. And Plesk offers a number of different extensions companies can use to add more functionality to the control panel, including many that increase the website’s security , improve website performance, or add new applications to the website. 3 Cons of Windows Hosting While the benefits of Windows server hosting are significant, there’s a reason that Linux is the default for web hosting solutions.. Windows hosting is great for what it does, but it has a few notable downsides as well. 1. It’s not as secure as Linux hosting. Websites that run on Windows have been the victims of ransomware attacks in recent years with more frequency than Linux ones have. For that reason, Linux hosting is widely considered to be the more secure option for websites. For business websites, security is an important consideration, especially if you sell products through the site and thus collect sensitive financial information from your customers. But even if you don’t have an eCommerce website, if hackers take your website down for hours or days, it’s bad for business and for your overall reputation. While Linux web hosting beats Windows hosting in the security category, which of the two you pick is just one of many factors that influence website security. Even going with Windows hosting, you can do a lot to keep your website protected from hackers by making sure the web hosting company you choose invests in basic precautions, adding additional security software or extensions to your website, keeping all the website software you use up to date, and being careful about the levels of access you provide different people working on the site. 2. It’s more expensive. Windows hosting does cost a bit more than Linux hosting, but the difference is fairly minimal. For instance, HostGator’s Linux-based plans start at $2.75 a month, and our Windows hosting plans start at $4.76. For both types of web hosting plans, the costs do go up as the website’s needs increase, but even for an enterprise-level plan, Windows hosting only costs $14.36 a month. For most of the businesses making a decision—especially for enterprise businesses that already depend on a number of Windows products and systems—those numbers should be manageable, even as Windows hosting costs more. 3. It can be less stable. Linux servers are known for being extremely reliable. They rarely need to be rebooted and can smoothly handle many functions at a time. Windows servers, in contrast, tend to have a little more trouble consistently handling a large number of apps and tasks at a time without interruption. As with any technology on the web, Windows servers have improved in this area over time and can be expected to continue to do so, but they’re generally not quite as consistent in their performance as Linux servers. That said, this is another area where choosing the right web provider can make a big difference. A Windows hosting company that includes a 99.9% uptime guarantee is promising they’ve taken all the precautions to keep their Windows servers working as consistently as possible. With the right attention to maintenance and preparation, a good web hosting provider can help overcome the difference in server reliability between Windows and Linux hosting. Who Should Use Windows Hosting? For most new businesses starting out on the web, getting a shared hosting or cloud hosting plan based on a Linux server makes the most sense because of its affordability and reliability. Where Windows hosting really makes the most sense is for businesses—mostly enterprise or other large businesses that have been around for awhile—that have built their website and other systems on Windows programs. If a lot of your business’s tech relies on Windows, then Windows server hosting is the natural choice. It will work seamlessly with all the other programs you use, and won’t require you to rebuild or work on anything from scratch. And the tech professionals your company relies on to keep all your systems working properly will already know how to work with the Windows hosting OS. In short, if Windows hosting is the right choice for your company, your IT team will likely have strong feelings on the subject. Make sure you bring them into the conversation and let their input determine your web hosting choice. What to Look for in a Windows Hosting Provider If you’ve determined you do need Windows server hosting, then it’s important to find the right web hosting company and plan for your needs. When researching your options, here are a few good features to look for. Software Compatibility Any Windows hosting plan should provide the proper compatibility you need for all your Windows-based programs and software, including: ASP Classic ASP.NET MSSQL (Microsoft SQL Server) MS Access (Microsoft Access) Visual Basic Development C# Remote Desktop Microsoft Exchange Microsoft SharePoint If your business is reliant on any of these though, it doesn’t hurt to double-check that the Windows web hosting plan you choose will work seamlessly with them. In addition, if you use a popular CMS , like WordPress, check that the web hosting plan is compatible with that as well. If you add website tools like Google Analytics and AWstats, or eCommerce software like Magento or Woocommerce for an online store , be sure to check those as well.. Often, web hosting companies will advertise compatibility with common software solutions on the website, but if you don’t find the information there, you can check with the sales team for more information. Stability While as previously mentioned, Windows hosting has a weaker reputation for stability than Linux, finding the right web hosting provider can make all the difference in ensuring your website works consistently. The thing to look for here is a promise of at least 99.9% uptime. That’s how often the company guarantees your website will be up and accessible to your visitors. Some companies, like HostGator, even back that promise up with a money-back guarantee, so you know they’re serious. Even if Windows servers aren’t quite as reliable as Linux ones, the right company that knows how to take proper care of them can help make up the difference. Security Every business has to prioritize website security. The stakes are too high not to. Windows hosting may have more vulnerabilities than Linux hosting, but by choosing a reputable provider with a strong reputation for security, you can avoid much of the risk. Look for a company that uses firewalls to protect their servers, and that provides SSL certificates as part of their offerings. And check if they provide additional security software or other options to help you further protect your website from hackers. Reputation Reviewing the different plans available from various web hosting companies and the promises they make is just one part of making an informed decision. Also look into their reputation in the larger industry. Check out websites with third-party reviews to gain an unbiased look at the company’s reputation and determine if it’s in line with what you’re looking for. Customer Service Even if you have a tech team full of Windows experts, you may occasionally need customer service help from your web hosting provider. Confirm that your web hosting choice offers 24/7 customer service. If your website ever fails, you need to be sure you can get it working again right away. And make sure they offer multiple ways to get in touch. You should be able to use the communication format of your choice, whether that’s phone, live chat , customer portal , or email. Find the Best Windows Hosting Plan for You If Windows hosting is the right choice for your company, make sure you find the particular Windows hosting plan and provider that offers what you need. HostGator’s Windows hosting solutions cover all the bases we’ve covered here, and you can choose between two levels based on whether you’re running a SMB business or have a larger enterprise company. Either way, you can count on the compatibility and features you need at a reasonable price. Whether you are looking to do Windows hosting, Virtual Private Server hosting , or dedicated server hosting , HostGator has got you covered. Contact our team of experts today to get started. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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What Is a Domain Name Registrar?

The post What Is a Domain Name Registrar? appeared first on HostGator Blog . Every website you visit online has a domain name, which means that every website owner went through the process of buying and registering that domain name. It’s one of the first necessary steps involved in starting a new website, along with getting web hosting and building out your site . And it’s a step that requires working with a domain registrar .   What Is a Domain Registrar? A domain registrar, sometimes called a DNS registrar (short for domain name server), is a business that sells domain names and handles the business of registering them. Domain names are the main address a website uses on the web—they’re the thing that usually starts with www and most often ends with .com. While technically, computers identify websites with a different sort of address—an IP address that’s a long string of numbers separated by periods (e.g. 111.111.111.111)—humans wouldn’t be much good at remembering and using that kind of address. So for us, websites also have an address made up of alphanumeric letters, that usually spell out a word or brand name. And there’s a specific type of process behind how people claim domain names. There are registries that manage the different top-level domain s. The registries are large, centralized databases with information about which domain names have been claimed and by who. But the registries don’t sell the names directly, they delegate that job to DNS registrars. Registrars must be accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Then, each time they sell a domain to a customer, they’re expected to register it with the appropriate registry by updating a record with your information.   Domain Registration FAQs For the most part, this process happens behind the scenes for website owners. Part of the service a good domain name registrar provides is making the process of finding, buying , and managing a domain (or multiple) simple and intuitive. You don’t have to know how the sausage is made, but if you’re curious to learn more, we’ve got the answers to the most common questions about domain name registrars. What is the role of a domain name registrar? The domain name registrar handles the process of updating the registry when a customer purchases a new domain name. As part of that, they keep track of which domain names are available and typically provide customers with an intuitive search tool to find out what options they have. They handle the financial transaction with the customer, and provide the tools needed to maintain the domain name subscription over time. You can’t buy a domain name outright, you can only rent it for up to ten years at a time. DNS registrars usually provide the option of annual renewals or multi-year subscriptions, sometimes offering a discount for registering the name for a longer period of time upfront. Domain registrars will often provide a user account where you can keep up with your domain registration status, and features like automatic renewal or email reminders. What is a domain registrant? That’s you! Well, assuming that you, the person reading this, is planning to buy a domain name or already has one. Once you take the step of selecting and purchasing a domain name from a domain registrar, you become the domain registrant. And the title will continue to apply for as long as you keep up your domain subscription. In most contexts though, people are more likely to call a “domain registrant” a domain owner , or a website owner once their site is up. What is a domain registry? A domain registry is the database that includes all the information about a specific top-level domain (TLD). The term is also sometimes used to refer to the organization that manages the database, as well as the database itself.    Domain registries have relationships with domain registrars, who submit domain name registration requests and record updates to them on behalf of customers. One of the biggest examples of a domain registry is Verisign , which manages the databases for several of the most common TLDs, including .com, .net, .gov, and .edu. What is private domain name registration? Part of the domain registration process includes providing the registrant’s information to the database of domain owners. In addition to the domain registries, the WHOIS directory tracks information on every website domain that’s registered, who owns it, and their main contact information. That’s because someone needs to be able to identify website owners who use their site for illegal purposes. But in our age of high-profile data breaches and growing concern around internet privacy issues, not every website owner wants to put their name and contact information out on the open web. And it shouldn’t be a requirement for running a website. Thanks to the private domain name registration options now offered by many DNS registrants, it’s not. Domain registrars usually charge a little more in order to shield you from having your own name and information included in the directory. They provide enough contact information to the WHOIS to keep you on the right side of the law, typically an email address associated with the registrant’s company, and keep the rest of it private. What is a domain name server? We talked earlier about how computers don’t use domain names to recognize website addresses, they use IP addresses. Domain name servers are the technology that translates between the two. The domain name system is the protocol established to ensure machines exchange the right data for the average internet viewer to see the correct webpage when they type a domain name into their browser or click on a link. Domain name servers play an important role in that system, storing all the information required to connect a specific domain name address to the correct IP address. Each time a computer queries a domain name server for a particular domain name, it finds the appropriate IP address to serve up. How do I register a new domain name? Now that we’ve covered much of the back-end technical stuff, you’re probably wondering how this all translates into what you, a would-be website owner, need to do to get the domain name that you want for your site. Luckily, the process for you is pretty easy. Start by finding a domain registrant you want to work with (more on how to do that in a bit). Most of them make it easy to search for available names, see the different top-level domain options you can consider, and go through the purchasing process. Provide your name, contact, and payment information through a secure form on the registrar’s website, and you should be set! How do I find an available domain name? This part can be trickier. With billions of websites already out there, all of them with a unique domain name, a lot of your options are already taken. Finding an available domain name that’s easy to remember and describes what your website does can take some work and creativity. Expect to spend some time using your domain registrar’s domain name search tool . Try out different variations on the names you have in mind. Consider synonyms and creative spellings. While a .com is usually the easiest option for visitors to remember, consider if you’re willing to go with another top-level domain like .website or .biz. The TLDs that aren’t as common will have more domain name options available. What is a top-level domain? A top-level domain is the last part of the domain that follows a period, such as .com or .net. ICANN controls which TLDs are available, and used to be pretty strict about opening up new ones. Early on, most specialty TLDs related to a specific industry, type of website, or geographic location. For example, .com was for commercial businesses, .gov for government websites, and .org for nonprofit websites. But as the internet has grown, the need for more available domain names has caused ICANN to lift the restrictions on how many TLDs are available, and who can use different ones. As such, when you do a domain name search on your chosen registrar’s website, you’ll see an array of TLD options at different price points. If the name you want isn’t available as a .com, you may be able to get it for cheaper at a .us or .site TLD address. How does domain name transfer work? When you choose a domain registrar to purchase your domain name with, you don’t have to make a long-term commitment to working with them. You have the option of switching over to a different registrar down the line, although you have to wait at least 60 days, due to an ICANN policy designed to reduce domain hijacking. If you’re past that sixty day point, you can transfer your domain name to a new provider by unlocking your domain name at your current registrar, disabling any other privacy protections such as WHOIS domain name privacy, and obtaining a domain authorization code from your current registrar. Once that’s done, follow the domain transfer steps provided by the new registrar you’re switching to. For HostGator, you can start the domain name transfer process here .    What to Look for in a Domain Registrar Now that you know all the ins and outs of what a domain registrar is and how domain registration works, you’re probably ready to find a good domain registrar and get started. You have a lot of different options. Some companies only provide domain registration services. Others, like HostGator, offer domain registration along with other services like web hosting, so you can take care of multiple basic website needs all under one account. With so many options to choose from, you need to know what to look for. Here are some of the most important factors to consider. 1. Pricing Some of the cost of registering a new domain name is related to the name you choose. In particular, different top-level domains come at different prices. But you’ll also see some variety in what different companies charge. When considering the pricing of different domain registrars, there are a couple of important things to keep in mind, First, the prices advertised are generally for a one-year time period, but you should check to be sure. A domain name isn’t a one-time purchase, you have to plan on continuing to pay for as long as you keep your website. You want to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, and not putting one company’s one-year price against the price another advertises for a longer period. Also, it’s fairly normal for companies to advertise an introductory price that you pay for year one that goes up in the second year. Don’t just consider what you’re paying right now, think about what you can afford on an ongoing basis. And as with most things, sometimes a cheaper price will mean you pay in other ways, as with weaker customer service or a worse customer experience. Don’t just jump at the first low price you see without researching the company to find out if they’re cheap for a reason. 2. Reputation While domain name management doesn’t involve that much interaction with the company, you still want to choose a domain registrar that will be easy to work with and reliable. Spend some time reading customer reviews and doing general research on the company. Are they well known as a legitimate domain registrar? Do they have a reputation for solid customer service? Do people find the registration and renewal processes intuitive? Your domain name is an important part of running your website and maintaining it over time. You can always transfer your domain later, but you’ll be better off picking the right DNS registrar from day one. 3. Extras Most domain name registrars provide services beyond just domain name registration. It’s very common for registrars to also be web hosting providers, and bundling the two services can increase your ease of use for managing each. Other good add-ons to look for are: Domain name privacy, which helps you avoid spam and any risk that comes with making your personal information more public. Auto-renewals, which allow you to put the renewal process on autopilot so you don’t have to worry about forgetting or doing any extra work to keep your domain name registration up to date. Email addresses that you can set up for yourself and people in your organization at the domain, making your communications look more official. A multi-year purchase option, so you can secure your domain name for longer without worrying about renewal. If any of these are features you know you want, find a domain registrar that provides them. Register Your Domain Today As you know by now, HostGator is a domain name registrar that provides an intuitive domain name search function and easy registration process.   We offer domain name privacy, automatic renewals, and the option to buy your domain for up to three years at a time. And on top of all that, we’re one of the most respected web hosting providers in the industry. If you want the convenience of managing your web hosting and domain name registration in one place, you can count on HostGator to be a reliable option for both. If you’re ready to move forward and buy a new domain name, get started searching . Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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