One of my websites is doing ecommerce transactions and I needed a new SSL certificate ordered and installed. Since the website is hosted at Hostgator I opened a ticked through the helpdesk and inquired about what they would need from me. Shortly after I had submitted the ticket I received an email with some basic instructions – including the explanation about needing a dedicated IP address. I also was offered the option to order an SSL certificate directly from Hostgator or from a 3rd party.

Since I have wholesale access to domain names and SSL Certificates I opted to buy my own. My website was already sitting on a dedicated IP address. All I had to do was click on the link that took me to a page where I would submit my CSR request for the certificate. This portion is created on the web server. With this code you can buy a matching SSL certificate. It’s like a challenge/response key that assures security. If the keys don’t match when the certificate is installed, it cannot be installed and the website visitor cannot be tricked into a presumable safe web connection.

Overall the entire process was fairly easy and streamlined. I’d say even a less experienced webmaster can easily accomplish this without asking for too much help. Hostgator apparently has looked at this process very well and worked out a way to reduce errors dramatically. The only gotcha I found was the missing information about what Web Server / SSL combination (Apache + ModeSSL) was in use. I had to update the ticket just to be safe.

So, if you need ecommerce strength web hosting that includes an SSL certificate, Hostgator should definitely be on your list of web hosts to be considered.

Hostgator Homepage

How often does it happen to you that you receive different recommendations and when you compare them it is just too difficult to make a decision?! A friend approached me with the question which host would be the better choice: IX Web Hosting or BlueHost?

In my opinion, IX Web Hosting and Bluehost web hosting are both very solid web hosting companies. Both web hosts fall into the category “great web hosting company” and I would recommend them both. But this would still not answer the question which one of the 2 to choose. We wanted to compare both web hosts, but the different web hosting packages on each side made it a little difficult to do this for all packages and to come to 1 conclusion. However, 2 packages seemed to be a good fit for a comparison and below you will find this high level comparison of features and pricing for the Business Web Hosting packages for each Web Host.

Bluehost Web hosting is a professional web hosting provider. Bluehost promotes a business web hosting package with unlimited storage, unlimited transfer and unlimited domain hosting. To compare Bbluehost with ixwebhosting, we picked the ixwebhosting business package. This Business Web Hosting Package is not only aimed at businesses, but also at webmasters who require a little more from a shared web hosting account. The Ixwebhosting business plan comes with unlimited storage and unlimited data transfer as well as unlimited domain hosting.

In addition to above hosting features, ix web hosting is offering two free domain names when you sign up + multiple dedicated IP addresses. IX Web Hosting also comes with free merchant account access for ecommerce website hosting. This ixwebhosting business hosting package is currently selling at a low $6.45 per month, while the Bluehost business web hosting package is selling a notch higher – at $6.95 per month.

Conclusion: IX web hosting is offering more hosting features for less money compared to Bluehost! The price difference is insignificant and either choice will be good for you. Let us know which one you picked and what  you like about your new web host (or dislike for that matter).

Visit IX Web Hosting to review all Features

Visit BlueHost to review all Features

Many web hosts offer their hosting accounts with tons of features – including auto-installers for many popular Open Source software packages. One of the most popular software packages offerd with these automated installers is the blogging software “Wordpress”. Wordpress is a very popular blogging  software and can be used for blogging, but is also frequently used as a content management system (CMS). With the high popularity of this software come more risks as well. Worpdress has been targeted by many hackers over the years and while the software is quite secure, there is always a risk.

For one, outdated installations of Wordpress can be easily hacked and second the available plugins might also be a backdoor for a hacker. I recently came across this new firewall plugin for Wordpress and decided to install it on one of my Wordpress driven websites for testing. It turned out to be a great success. I had the plugin configured to email me upon attack. The plugin stopped several SQL injection attacks based out of China last night while I was sleeping. While I was dreaming about more affiliate success (just kidding) the Wordpress firewall plugin protected my website and did let the attacker run into this virtual roadblock.

The firewall plugin is free to use and therefore should be a standard plugin for you to install on your Wordpress installation at your web host of choice. The firewall plugin is extremely easy to configure as you can see on the pictures below. It comes completely pre-configured (you might want to add your email address of choice) so that you do not have to do anything other than activating the plugin.

My recommendation for you would be to install it as soon as possible. I have several websites running on Wordpress and are pushing the plugin out to all of them. The Firewall Plugin for Wordpress is available from here.

If you do need a web host where you can run Wordpress, check out IX Web Hosting and Hostgator – both are excellent choices when it comes to cheap webhosting.

Who is JaguarPC? JaguarPC Web Hosting is operated by Jaguar Technologies, LLC. JaguarPC Web Hosting provides high-quality Internet Web hosting solutions to small and medium-sized businesses, government agencies, as well as some prominent individuals and several non-profit organizations worldwide. JaguarPC has been in the hosting business since 1998 and has grown organically as well as by acquisition of some smaller web hosting providers.

Why should you consider JaguarPC as your new web host? JaguarPC is one of the world’s most trusted and experienced hosting companies. JaguarPC delivers superior web hosting services to clients through its cost-effective, high-value services model. But JaguarPC is not only web hosting. Did you know that JaguarPC’s core portfolio comprises information technology and business hosting services, as well as world-class programming services? I was surprised myself when I heard that the first time.

JaguarPC has 3 sub-divisions that help them to spread out risk and income. JaguarPC’s three complementary, subsidiary businesses are Aletia Hosting, one of the world’s leading high-value low-cost hosting companies, Devpond software, a web software company, and Dedicatedspace.com, a innovative new brand to expand the JaguarPC line of services.

I was a JaguarPC customer many many years ago for a very short time – before directly moving to my own dedicated web server at that time. Service and pricing were already outstanding. Since January 2009 I am a JaguarPC customer again. So far I think I made a really good move. Tech support is excellent. My Support control panel shows an average response time to tickets of about 58 minutes. Most of my support tickets were submitted as low priority (mainly restoring cpanel backups to my new reseller account) and in general I am very happy with the outcome so far.

Uptime is great, too. I pointed my monitoring service account towards a website I host on JaguarPC and the results seem extremely stable (had to wait a little bit until the DNS changes ran through all the systems to make sure I am hitting the new server location). So, no complaints here.

Conclusion: JaguarPC is a great web host for shared web hosting and for reseller accounts. I have not tested any other services yet, but if they are the same quality as what I have been testing, you can’t go wrong. Pricing and hosting features and allowances for disk space and bandwidth are very solid.

JaguarPC Homepage

Hostgator web hosting reviews can be found here and there. Some are good and honest, while others are just lies to trick people into signing up through a specific link. Overall however, Hostgator is known for good web hosting and good service. Just the other day I ran into an issue on their website and I decided to post a comment on their CEO’s blog. The guys seems pretty open and if you the Hostgator review on our website, you know that we mentioned how easy it is to get in touch with him.

So, I posted a comment onto their blog with a link back to a blog post I wrote about them and the issue. You would think large company, small blogger complaining – no big deal, he will be ignored. You are wrong with that assumption and so was I. Hostgator really cares and I was contacted 12 hours later (I had posted late at night). I was very surprised in a good way. Not many companies follow up on issues, but Hostgator did. It was good communication and the issue was resolved in no-time.

Not prove a point, but I personally can honestly say that my impression is that Hostgator really cares about having your business. The way how they approached me was very professional and they were there to solve the problem and not to hide it. Now translate that into customer service with their clients and you would be able to see that Hostgator really cares about their customers and they are willing to walk the talk and go the extra mile, too. So, in my opinion if you are in the market for web hosting it is definetely not wrong to try Hostgator web hosting. Visit Hostgator and check them out.

Hostgator is a very solid webhost and web host of choice for many websites. If you are considering HostGator as your webhost, you should read this report card to have all the necessary facts together to make an informed decision about hosting your website with Hostgator or not.

Basic Stuff
Host Gator was established in the year 2002. Hostgator has grown from a single server web hosting business to become a large web host hosting over 400,000 websites and domains for their customers. They started using shared data center space and have grown so fast that they now own their data center locations in Dallas, Texas – USA. Hostgator’s web hosting packages are extremely feature-rich and very affordably priced. Concerns or problems the Hostgator CEO should know about? You can request your support ticket to be assigned directly to him. Host Gator wants you to be satisfied with their services and products – no doubt about it.
 
How about reliability?
Is HostGator a reliable web host? Host Gator Web Hosting provides powerful and reliable web hosting solutions since the very beginning. High quality hardware is standard and they also only work with vendors that are known to be of high quality. The Hostgator support team is very well trained and experienced. Hostgator Support is available 24/7 and their support is known to exceed expectations very easily. Server uptime is at or above the promised levels across the board. Support Chat statistics and other useful information showing the service level is often made public on the Hostgator company blog. Host Gator wants you to know that reliable service is not an accident, but standard.
 
 
How are their prices compared to other hosts?
Host Gator provides cheap web hosting. Just be aware that they aim to lock customers into long-term commitments. This is purely done to keep the administrative cost low and not to keep you from leaving for the rare case if one is not satisfied with the service. Overall this means less administrative work on their side for billing and less credit card processing fees which results in lower prices. Did you know that other web hosts are often trying to match pricing, features, and service, but can do so only on paper? But when the going gets tough and it comes to live up to those promises only Host Gator seems to be able to meet or exceed their own promises. Let’s keep it short and sweet: Host Gator’s web hosting prices are low and extremely affordable even for the smallest wallet. Check out current pricing here.
 
 
Do they have a Web Control Panel?
Host Gator (as many other web host) offers the well-known CPanel web control panel interface for all their web hosting accounts. Each account also has access to the Fantastico collection of self-installing scripts at no extra cost. Even less experienced webmasters have no problems managing their accounts with these great tools at hand. Tutorials are available as well. Cpanel has shown great reliability and the software is frequently improved and updated so that are not stuck with the existing feature set.
 
 
Now, let’s talk about their Customer Support
Host Gator offers once more again outstanding customer service and tech support to all customers. Several support options are available at no extra charge – it just depends on you which one to use. You can choose from Phone support, an online ticket system, an online forums community or even use their online chat for your support needs. In addition to that a large knowledge base and up to date flash-based tutorials provide additional support resources for their customers.
 
Hostgator Summary:
Host Gator is a great web host when looking for feature-rich and affordable web host. Host Gator offers well-designed products combined with low web hosting prices and awesome support. This is great value for web hosting customers looking for cheap web hosting. I really like the fact how easy going the Hostgator CEO is and that you can actually talk to him if you feel the need for his input and insight. This personal and hands-down approach separates Host Gator from most competitors.

Visit the Hostgator Website

HostMonster Cheap Web Hosting

Hostmonster web hosting is a great option when looking for cheap web hosting. HostMonster provides high quality 24/7 support. Waiting time for a ticket response is extremely reasonable. They don’t keep their customers waiting for too long – the average hold time for a support request never exceeds more than 2 minutes. One of HostMonster’s advantage is that there are no long-term contracts. Hostmonster offers cheap web hosting plans that include unlimited disk storage and bandwidth, forwarding email accounts, 100 MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. Visit Hostmonster now.

This Hostmonster Speed Review was brought to you by Cheap Web Host Information dot com

I have used liquidweb for a number of years for several websites of mine. Liquidweb has been around for a long time and are a super reliable host. I have used each package and I definitely think all are a great value for the price, especially considering what you get for them and the level of efficient customer service given by their excellent support team. Their service seriously has never ceased to amaze me, the support guys really know what they are doing and are experts in the field.

For me, my choice with LiquidWeb has really paid off; just by the help and guidance I’ve received through their staff. I have not had many problems with Liquid Web, but in the rare occurrence that I do I have found that someone on staff has been able to help me quickly and easily and in a calming manner. From what I understand from talking at length with the staff they own and operate their own data centers, they are a fully managed hosting provider.

I have run very heavy websites with them and the price is always totally affordable. In addition to the customer service the uptime has been great. I have gotten a ton of storage from these guys, all RAID protected and again at a very affordable cost. For me the Webmaster Package has proven to be the best deal with 1500MB and 100GB of bandwidth.

As I said, I have been with liquid web com  for years and have experience no down time! For what you get trust me, LiquidWeb.com is a fantastic deal. They are the most professional and efficient web host out there. I would definitely recommend Liquidweb to anyone, especially those like me with medium sized websites like myself.

Visit Liquidweb.com

When it came time with my personal business to start up websites and become a webmaster, I felt a bit in the dark. I am pretty technologically savvy but was working with a small budget and was unsure about what I could do and get with my money. Also I didn’t want to feel burdened, like I was going into this huge project alone. I knew I was going to need a web host, but I wasn’t sure where to go. I did a little research and started to feel a bit discouraged about the whole thing, that whole doing it on your own fear creeping back in.

So I asked a friend who is quite tech-oriented. He directed me to LiquidWeb, saying he had heard great thing about the company, that they had been around for quite some time and are very professional, etc. While I was browsing the website I was able to speak live over an internet chat box to a site operator. The person who I chatted with was very helpful and understanding of my situation. They gave me lots of advice and even helped me in reviewing what they offer as a web host to other companies I was looking at.

As I talked to the super nice representative it became clear I would use LiquidWeb. We ultimately decided that the best bet for me would be the LiquidWeb standard package. It is an extremely affordable package at only $14.95 per month and I would recommend it to anyone! It has proved to be perfect for my site and the staff has been very helpful. I no longer feel totally alone in my endeavour!

The tech people have reached out and been there through of my problems and have really helped me. Everyone answered all of my questions accurately and quickly, whether on t he chat or by calling customer service. My whole experience of their staff has been wonderful. I definitely think this is the best host and the best package for the cost, and would recommend it to anyone!

Review received January 2009. Visit Liquidweb.com to review their web hosting plans.

Moving a server from one web hosting provider is always painful. Not only is there a lot of work to be done, but you are also paying for 2 dedicated servers at the same time. But there are options available if you pick the right web hosting provider for your next decicated web server. Did you know that you can get a free month of web hosting for your new server when moving from another web host? ThePlanet.com has an ongoing special that will give you one free month of web hosting when you move to ThePlanet.com from a different web host. It is easy to get the credit applied to your account. All you need to do is to show your last invoice from the other web host and you instantly save money. You can do this through the “Orbit” control panel by opening a ticket to the Sales Department or you can talk to a sales rep while ordering your server.

This is a great way to save money as it gives you an entire month of time to fully customize your web server and then move all the websites over. The last time I moved a server over from Softlayer to ThePlanet.com I was actually able to time the entire thing in a way that I probably saved $150 or so in web hosting fees. It was quite some work as I had to move about 45 websites to the new server, but I did it all on one single weekend and was able to cancel the old server before a new billing period started. Good stuff. This special is actually going on for a while now as you can see from my own experience. I moved my business over to ThePlanet during the summer of 2007 and the server at ThePlanet.com has been good for me (and my websites). Great uptime and good support from the folks at ThePlanet.com.

So, get a great dedicated web server at ThePlanet.com and save money the moment your new server is up and running.