Tag Archives: hostgator

What Is Windows Hosting?

Posted on May 28, 2019 by 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 →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost, vps | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What Is Windows Hosting?

What Is Wiki Hosting?

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Hosting

The post What Is Wiki Hosting? appeared first on HostGator Blog . When you’re seeking out information on a topic online and you head to Google, in most cases the top result you see will be from Wikipedia. The massive Wiki has become the go-to source for knowledge of all types online. But Wikipedia is just one example of a larger category of websites: wikis. What are wikis, and how can you host one of your own? We explain everything you need to know about wiki hosting plans below. What Is a Wiki? A wiki is a popular type of website  that enables open collaboration from users. The main thing that sets it apart from other websites is that anyone with an interest in the topic at hand and relevant knowledge can go in and add or change information on the page. In addition, the structure of wikis centers interlinking between related topics. This both encourages visitors of one page to move to related pages to gain additional knowledge, while also making it easier for people to learn contextual information that improves their understanding of the topic at hand. As many fans of Wikipedia, the most dominant of all online wikis, are well aware, the wiki format can inspire meandering and varied—but fruitful—explorations of knowledge. There’s even a term for this kind of exploratory knowledge gathering: the wiki rabbit hole , likening the experience to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland moving from one interesting experience to the next. Wikis are therefore great tools for sharing, organizing, and gaining knowledge through many types of resources. And for learning from the minds of many who can bring a diversity of experiences and knowledge to the format. Why Should You Start a Wiki? If you’re at the stage of trying to decide what kind of website to start, you should know that a wiki isn’t right for all possible websites. For example, if you’re building a business website, you want to keep control over what information goes on each page. And while providing helpful information may be part of your business website strategy, it wouldn’t be the central focus—getting people to buy your products or services is. Wikis aren’t for every use case, but for the particular situations where they do make sense, they can be a great choice. If you want a website that matches these four main attributes, then a wiki may be for you. 1. Wikis are collaborative. This could potentially be the main benefit or the biggest reason not to start a wiki, depending on the type of website you’re building. Whether you want strangers who share your passion to be able to add their knowledge of the subject your website is centered on, or if you want to allow employees or colleagues to weigh in on the business information provided, a wiki allows for that. If a colleague has a great idea for improving one of the business processes you describe on a wiki page, they can chime in in a format where everyone can see their contribution and build upon it. Or if a visitor that shares your love of your favorite TV show or author remembers a key point not initially included on a character’s page, they can add it to make the description more thorough. If your goal is a site that collects as much relevant knowledge as possible from multiple sources, then a wiki makes a lot of sense. 2. Wikis enable wide accessibility. A wiki can be easily accessed by anyone with internet access on any device they have. For businesses or organizations that want a centralized location where everyone can access all the company’s important information, a wiki provides that benefit. You can keep all your documentation, including the comments and responses other people have shared, in one place where anyone can get to it at the moment they need it. Wiki platforms provide accessibility both in terms of making it possible for everyone relevant to weigh in on the topics covered, and when it comes to where and how people can view the information included. 3. Wikis are an intuitive way to collect and organize information. Part of the success of sites like Wikipedia is that they organize information in a way that makes it easy to get the exact information you’re looking for. Wikis break information up into individual pages that each have a clear focus. Instead of packing all the information about a TV show into one page, for instance, you have separate pages about each character, each episode, each actor, and each of the main themes in the show. While the information is divided into one page for each topic, the related pages are also interlinked to make it easy to find additional relevant information as you go. As an example, if a character’s page mentions that they’ve married another character, it would include links to the spouse’s character page and the episode the marriage happens in. All of this makes it easy for anyone visiting the wiki to quickly find answers to the particular question they have, and any related information they decide to seek out as well. 4. Wikis are easy to set up. With the available wiki software, building out a wiki from scratch is fairly easy and intuitive, even for someone new to the whole process. And installing the wiki software on your web server is simple if you choose a Wiki hosting plan (more on that in a bit).  You will want to spend a little time planning out the kind of information you want your wiki to cover and how to organize it, but getting a wiki up and available to other users isn’t all that hard. 6 Main Types of Wiki Software Once you’ve decided to create a wiki for your website, you have two main choices to make: which wiki software to go with, and which wiki web hosting to choose. For the first question, you have a number of different options. These are the most popular wiki software solutions to consider. 1. MediaWiki MediaWiki is the most popular and well known of the wiki software options, as it’s the software behind Wikipedia. It’s a free and open source software that’s powerful enough to host a wiki of virtually any size. It’s relatively easy to use and extremely scalable, with hundreds of configurations and extensions available. Mediawiki is best for wikis that you intend to make publically available to anyone interested. It doesn’t provide good features for restricting access to a particular group of people. If you’re building a wiki for business purposes or to enable collaboration between members of a specific organization and you want your wiki to have a level of privacy, then Mediawiki probably isn’t the best choice for you. For any publically available wikis though, it’s a popular choice. 2. Tiki Tiki is another open source, free wiki software that’s been downloaded over a million times. It’s primarily developed for businesses to help enable collaboration between employees and departments. Tiki’s wiki features make it possible to create and edit a virtually unlimited number of pages, but unlike MediaWiki, it lets the wiki creator set permissions for specific pages and lock pages to keep others from editing. It also tracks the version history for each page and allows you to restore a page to a past version. For businesses or organizations wanting a wiki they can control access to, Tiki is a good choice. 3. PmWiki PmWiki is another popular wiki software that provides useful features for businesses, while remaining free to use. It’s a fairly basic version of wiki software, providing the most essential functions you need for a business wiki. You can easily change the appearance of your PmWiki site using skins—either ones you design yourself, or pre-made options that are available. As with Tiki, PmWiki lets you control which users have editing access to specific pages of your wiki site using password protection. If you’re looking for a good software to build a simple business wiki, PmWiki is a solid option. 4. WikkaWiki WikkaWiki is a lightweight wiki software that provides similar functionality to many of the other wiki engines mentioned on this list. WikkaWiki makes editing wiki pages simple for a variety of users, and like the other business-friendly wiki options, allows the wiki creator and administrators to control which users have access to specific pages both for viewing and editing. It also allows you to track and view a page’s revision history and restore prior versions as needed. 5. Dokuwiki Dokuwiki is a free and open source wiki software that boasts a simple design. The core features are basic and intuitive, but the software is also extensively customizable using available configurations and plugins. Dokuwiki is a popular choice for business use cases, including collaborative corporate workspaces and project management. As with many of the other options, Dokuwiki has access control features that allow wiki creators to limit who can view and edit particular pages, as well as specific sections of pages. And they provide revision tracking and management. 6. Matterwiki Matterwiki is a simple, easy-to-use wiki software made specifically for small businesses. All wiki articles are stored under a specific topic for intuitive organization. The software also tracks revisions, as well as who made each change. The editor is easy for employees at all levels of knowledge to use, so for small teams that want a simple interface for their wiki, Matterwiki is a good option to consider. What are Wiki Hosting Services? Wiki hosting is any web hosting plan that has the specific features and compatibility to work with wiki software. All websites need web hosting in order to be published to the web and accessible to visitors, and there are a wide range of web hosting options available when it comes to choosing a plan for your website. Application web hosting plans are specifically designed to work effectively with the particular type of application you used to build or run on your website. Wiki hosting is a type of application web hosting that promises support for wiki websites, whatever type of wiki software you choose to go with. What to Look for in a Wiki Hosting Plan If you’ve picked out your wiki software and are ready to choose a wiki hosting plan to launch your website, there are a few specific features to look out for: Easy installation One of the benefits of going with wiki hosting services, rather than a more general web hosting plan is that adding your wiki software to your web hosting account will be a breeze. Look for wiki hosting plans that provide one-click installation for your wiki software. Specific compatibility Most wiki hosting plans should work with any of the top wiki software options, but to be safe, check and make sure that the web hosting plan you consider works with the specific wiki software you’ve selected. HostGator wiki hosting supports many of the wikis we mentioned above, including MediaWiki hosting, Tiki hosting, PmWiki hosting, and WikkaWiki hosting Proper bandwidth This is especially important if your wiki will be publically available on the entire web, but also matters for private business wikis as well. Bandwidth will affect how much information (especially media and images) you can include on your wiki, and how many visitors the wiki can handle. If you expect a lot of people to access and use your wiki, then select a web hosting plan that can handle a lot of traffic. 99% uptime Whether your wiki will be for the broader public or just for a select few, you want it to be reliably accessible. Uptime is the term that describes how much time a web hosting provider keeps its websites up and available. The best web hosting companies promise at least 99% uptime, but a select few go further and offer 99.9% uptime with a money-back guarantee.   Customer support While building a wiki is relatively easy, with any type of website there’s always the chance you’ll face occasional technical snafus or issues you need help with. Find a wiki hosting company that provides 24/7 customer support so you can always trust there will be help available at the moment you need it. Find the Right Wiki Hosting Plan for You Building a wiki can offer a range of great benefits. It helps you connect and collaborate with other people, and enables a number of people to build upon each other’s knowledge. Whether your wiki provides information about a hobby or piece of culture you love, or helps your company manage projects and organize documents more effectively, it’s the right tool for a number of jobs. To make sure your wiki site is available to everyone that needs it, reliably and consistently, make sure you choose a wiki hosting plan that’s up to the task. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What Is Wiki Hosting?

Benefits of Magento Hosting

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Hosting

The post Benefits of Magento Hosting appeared first on HostGator Blog . Your eCommerce business is starting to come together. You have your business plan and an idea  of what the design of your eCommerce website will look like. But you still need to figure out the right eCommerce software and web hosting plan to get your eCommerce website working and ready for business. When considering your web hosting options, you may come across an option that addresses both needs in its focus: Magento hosting . What Is Magento? Before you can know if Magento hosting is right for you, you need to decide whether you’ll use Magento for your website. Magento is the third most popular eCommerce platform on the market (falling only behind WooCommerce and Shopify). It supplies the main functionality you need to run an eCommerce site, namely: A shopping cart Check out functionality Account creation and guest check out options Integration with payment processing apps to accept payment Ability to list your products and track availability Those are the basics you need, but Magento has a vast array of features that go beyond the basics. Between the core functionality of the platform itself and the extensions you can add to it , the software packs a lot of power into the framework it provides for your eCommerce store.   Why You Need eCommerce Software You know now that Magento is a type of eCommerce software, but maybe you’re wondering if you can get by without an eCommerce platform to begin with. eCommerce websites have unique needs that won’t be served by a web hosting plan or content management system alone. If you want to make sales through your website, then you need a way to list your products, track inventory, provide a secure checkout, and accept payments. If you think about the online stores you buy from the most often, they probably have additional eCommerce features like the ability to set up a wishlist, mark your favorites, set up subscriptions, or take advantage of coupons. For all of that, you need the right software. If you’re building an online store, consider eCommerce software a necessary part of the process. 12 Reasons to Use Magento for Your eCommerce Website Magento isn’t your only option, but it’s one of the most popular CMSes for eCommerce websites for a number of reasons. 1. Magento is free. Few things in life are free, and it’s even rarer for something with as much usefulness as Magento to be free. But the Magento core is freely available for anyone to use. You may incur some costs for extensions you add on, or for developers you hire to help you use Magento. But the platform itself won’t cost you a thing. 2. It’s open source. Magento is open source software which means that anyone with the skills to develop a new module or extension can do so. Magento boasts a community of over 300,000 developers. They have an active forum with thousands of contributors, all working to make Magento do as much as business owners need and want it to. One of the nice things about using an open source solution is that you can count on it to improve in quality and functionality over time as people work to make it better for the benefit of all users. 3. Magento’s advanced security is ideal for eCommerce. Website security is important for all website owners, but when you run an online store that regularly takes sensitive financial and personal information from customers, security takes on an extra level of necessity. In the eCommerce community, Magento is widely considered a strong choice for security. And while the core software provides security against hackers, you can make your Magento website more secure with any of the hundreds of security extensions available. In addition, Magento lets you control how much access you allow each person who updates your website to have. Security permissions help you limit the risk of an angry employee making malicious updates to your website, or someone accidentally breaking something on the site due to ignorance. 4. Magento supports huge eCommerce product catalogs and order volume It’s understandable to wonder just how much a free product can actually do, especially if you have big goals and expect to see significant traffic numbers or list a high number of products. Magento really can handle a lot. You can add up to 500,000 products to your store on one Magento site. And the platform can handle over 80,000 orders every hour (as long as your web hosting plan is also up to the task). Plus, Magento’s reporting dashboard shows you at-a-glance how those sales are translating to your bottom line: That means it should work for you in the early stages of building your business, and allow you tons of room to grow as your sales and customer numbers increase. 5. Magento’s flexible extensions make it easy to customize your online store. Magento is extremely customizable, especially when it comes to the changes you can make using the large library of extensions. You have a lot of power to make the backend of your website look the way you want it, as well as making the website itself intuitive for your visitors. And Magento has a lot of different features you can choose to incorporate if you so desire, such as using categories to better group your different products, allowing different payment options, and letting you manage orders through the platform. With Magento, you can configure your website to have the features you want it to, both on your end and the user end. 6. Magento’s shopping cart functionality is responsive. With over half of all web use now happening on mobile devices, it’s integral that all online stores make their website mobile friendly . Magento’s shopping cart functionality is fully responsive, which means it works just as well on tablets and smartphones as it does on desktop computers. The last thing you want is for half of your visitors to bounce because they find your website difficult to use on their particular device—or worse, bounce right before a sale because the checkout process is a pain on the small screen. Magento will help you avoid that fate. 7. Magento’s powerful product search helps customers quickly find what they need. Nothing else about your eCommerce site will matter if customers find using it more difficult than it’s worth. Your website has to provide an experience that’s intuitive and pleasant from the moment they first land on the site, to when they complete their purchase. Magento helps you realize that by letting you organize your products in user-friendly ways, so visitors can browse and filter results based on their particular preferences. You can enable features like auto-suggestion for search terms or display popular search term clouds that can further help customers find what they need. And you can load multiple high-resolution images for each product to help customers make a better decision. 8. Built-in features are designed to boost your conversion rate. Magento also has a number of options you can use to increase conversions and upsells. You can offer free shipping and discounts to incentivize sales. You can also add in areas for customers to add their own promo codes at checkout: You can enable one-click purchases (just like Amazon!) with their Instant Purchase feature: You can set up your website to display recently viewed products, so customers are more likely to go back and buy items they’d considered. You can have your website show related products , or items commonly bought together, to encourage customers to buy more products at once. Finally, you can make it easy for customers to share items they like on social or with friends. 9. Magento follows SEO best practices. The minds behind Magento knew the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) for a website and built a platform that made optimizing your pages for search simple. You can easily customize your URLs, fill in the relevant meta information on each page, and create an auto-generated sitemap to submit to the search engines. 10. Magento enables personalization. Personalization is an eCommerce tactic gaining steam and showing significant results. Magento’s core platform provides some personalization options, but you can go even further with tailoring the way customers experience your website with extensions that offer additional personalization features. With the Magento core, customers can create unique accounts so you can better track their behavior over time and show them products and ads based on past purchases or views. You can automate the process of serving up personalized recommendations for each visitor. With extensions, you can generate automated recommendation and reminder emails based on their past behavior and deliver personalized ads across other sites to help get past visitors back on your site. 11. Magento works with third-party applications. Magento helps power a lot of useful features and functionality on your own website, but what happens on your own website is only part of running an online store. You also need to think about marketing your store in various channels around the web to get customers to your website to begin with. Not to mention all the work you have to do to keep up with your business’s finances. Magento is compatible with a wide range of third-party applications that help with those parts, including email marketing software, Google analytics, accounting software products, and payment processing apps. Easy integration with the various apps you need to run your business make all the extra business tasks you have to take care of easier. 12. Magento tutorials abound online. Nothing is perfect, and one of the downsides of using Magento is that it has a learning curve. If you’re not a professional developer, or you don’t have the budget to hire one, learning the ropes of using Magento can take some time and work. But you can find a lot of useful information to help you get started online. Free tutorials are available on sites like TutorialsPoint . Or for a more thorough introduction, you can take one of the courses offered at Magento U for a fee. What is Magento Hosting? Magento hosting is a web hosting plan that provides compatibility with the eCommerce software Magento. While Magento is free and provides a lot of useful features for running an online store, one thing it notably doesn’t provide is web hosting. Magento hosting plans will often provide the additional important business features an eCommerce website needs such as an SSL certificate and compatibility with third-party solutions commonly used by businesses, such as email marketing and Google Analytics. While many web hosting plans that aren’t specifically Magento hosting may make it possible to use Magento, an application web hosting plan that provides specific functionality related to using Magento can often better meet the needs of eCommerce stores that depend on the shopping cart software. 5 Benefits of Magento Hosting When choosing the best web hosting option for your eCommerce store, you’ll benefit from prioritizing Magento compatibility upfront. There are five main reasons to specifically seek out an application hosting plan that works with Magento specifically. 1. Easy installation With a Magento hosting plan, you can trust that adding Magento to your web hosting account will be quick and easy. With HostGator’s Magento hosting, you can add the application in one click once you’re signed into your web hosting account. You can focus your time on building your website, rather than figuring out how to get your eCommerce software and web hosting service to work together. 2. Assured compatibility If you’ve already made the choice to power your eCommerce options with Magento—and especially if you’ve already put the work into using it in designing your website—you really don’t want to realize after you sign up for a web hosting plan that there are compatibility issues in getting Magento to work right with your plan. Save yourself the trouble of having to work to get the two programs to support each other, or worse, having to switch over to a new web hosting provider after you’re already eager to launch. Start with a plan you know will work seamlessly with Magento from the get go. 3. No performance issues One of the complaints you’ll occasionally see about Magento is that some sites face performance issues, such as slow loading times. In fact, the issue isn’t usually Magento when that occurs, it’s that the website owner went with a web hosting plan that wasn’t up to the task of running the Magento site. To avoid performance issues, find a Magento web hosting plan that provides the degree of power and bandwidth you need. 4. No hidden fees Some web hosting plans will advertise an upfront price, then hit you with unexpected fees when it comes time to add the apps you need to your account.  With Magento hosting, you not only know that your web hosting plan will be compatible with your Magento site, you can also trust that you won’t have to pay anything extra to use Magento with the plan you buy. 5. Proper security As we’ve already established, security is paramount when you’re running an online store. Choosing a secure web hosting provider like Magento is one step to making your eCommerce site secure. Finding a web hosting plan that also promises top-notch security is another. A good Magento hosting plan will have strong firewalls in place to protect your website from hackers and offer additional security features, like an SSL certificate and security software you can add to your website. Get Started with Magento Hosting Starting an eCommerce website is a big deal. If you make the right choices, it can put you on the path to big profits. Early on, two of the most important choices you can make are which eCommerce software to go with and which web hosting plan to choose. If you go with Magento, picking a Magento hosting plan to go along with your choice just makes sense.Get started with HostGator’s application hosting . Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost, vps | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Benefits of Magento Hosting

WordPress Shared Hosting

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Hosting

Hi, I am looking for a new WordPress shared hosting provider. I’d rather have the option to pay monthly. I am currently with Hostgator but t… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1764980&goto=newpost Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, php, VodaHost | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on WordPress Shared Hosting

How to Create Services Pages that Showcase Your Work and Win You Clients

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Hosting

The post How to Create Services Pages that Showcase Your Work and Win You Clients appeared first on HostGator Blog . Every kind of service business has the same basic challenge: You need to let your target customers know what you offer, why you’re the right person for the job, and how to contact you. That’s why it’s so important to have a well-written, well-designed services page on your website. 5 Tips for Building a Service Page that Wins Clients Here are our top five tips for building a services page that works. 1. Know the ideal audience for your services. Who is your services page for? A good services page speaks directly to the needs of your best customers—or, if your business is brand-new, the customers you hope to have. Think about your customer personas, if you’ve developed them. If you haven’t yet developed customer personas for your marketing , do that before you create your services page. 2. Decide whether you want one services page or a page for each service. If you already know you’re going with a single-page website, then your services section will be part of that single page. Otherwise, you need to choose to have one or multiple service pages. When you should have one Services page Putting all your information on one page makes it easier for visitors to scroll through your offerings on a phone. Some SEO experts and theme developers also say putting all the information on one page moves visitors through the conversion funnel faster, so they’re more likely to subscribe or contact you. One services page may be best: Your business is new and you don’t have a big portfolio yet. You offer a small range of easy-to-understand services. Most of your customers find your site through mobile search. When you should have multiple Services pages You can also have a services overview page that links to individual pages for each service. This gives you more places to use focus keywords to boost your SEO. The trick here is to limit the number of subcategories, so your site remains easy to navigate. Multiple services pages may be your best bet if: You have portfolio examples and testimonials to show for each type of service. You offer a large range of services or services that require explanation. You’re in a competitive niche or location and want to raise your SEO game. 3. Create content for your services page Every service page needs your unique selling proposition, service descriptions, social proof, and calls to action. Your USP You don’t have to write a novel, but this is the place to brag on yourself. Do you have years of experience? Thousands of positive customer reviews? Case studies showing how your services helped clients reduce costs or increase revenue? Link to or embed that information here. Service descriptions Go into some depth on each service, because longer copy with relevant long-tail keywords can help your page rank better in search results. Does your premium dog grooming package include a canine massage? Do your birthday party packages include gluten-free cupcake options? People searching for this level of detail are often ready to buy. Help them find you! Social proof If you have them, include or link to portfolio samples, reviews, testimonials, or case studies somewhere on your services page—either in your USP at the top or in each service description. A call to action Put your call to action (“call us now” or “request a quote”) at the top and bottom of your page. Signup content To stay in contact with undecided visitors, offer free content in exchange for their email address. It can be general, like “A guide to choosing a home renovation contractor.” You can also create several pieces of content tied to individual services, like “How to decide between wood and vinyl siding” and “Which replacement windows are right for your home?” You can segment customers who sign up by the types of content they request and nurture those leads via email. 4. Make your services page easy to navigate. Now that you have the information you want to include on your services page, make that information easy for potential customers to use. Scan-friendly copy Organize your text so it’s easy to scan. Subheadings, short paragraphs, and bulleted lists are easier to read on small screens than long paragraphs. Consistent style Keep your headings consistent. On a single services page, use the same heading level (H1 or H2) for each service you offer, with descriptions underneath. This helps readers grasp your services at a glance, and it’s better for SEO, too. If you make separate pages for each service, keep descriptions, heading usage, and page formats consistent across those pages. Consider turning on breadcrumbs, so users can easily see where they are. Appealing design You can design your services page with the Gutenberg drag-and-drop editor when you choose one of HostGator’s managed WordPress hosting plans. These plans come with more than 100 free template options to help you design a great-looking site fast. You can also install other WordPress themes to get the look you want. Some of the free themes we like for small businesses and solopreneurs are Experon, Life Coach, Ryan Grid, Astra, and Schema Lite. Want to have a pro design your services page? You can save time and get great results with HostGator’s Website Design Services . In addition to a professionally designed site, you also get expert SEO guidance, individual training, and monthly marketing help. 5. Monitor your services page metrics. After you debut your services page, watch your metrics in Google Search Console. When you click the Performance tab, you’ll see a list of the search queries visitors have used to find your site, the click-through rate from search results, and the pages they visited. Over time, you’ll see whether your services page keywords match the keywords your visitors use to find your page. You’ll also see whether they’re sticking around, signing up for your free content, and more. You can adjust your keywords, calls to action, and other page elements if you need to, based on your Search Console data. Ready to get started? Check out the services pages for HostGator’s managed WordPress hosting plans and Website Design Services today. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How to Create Services Pages that Showcase Your Work and Win You Clients