Episode 16 - Layout Theft, Price Drop in Web Hosting

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DATE : Mon, 06 Jun 2005 00:48:00 -0500
Entered in Database : 2005-06-06 01:48:00
length : 6260977
Link to the Show / Show Notes

I am Mitch Keeler and welcome to episode 16 of the Web Hosting Show, the voice of the Web hosting world. On today's show we are going to cover layout theft, price drops in Web hosting, a new way to get your legal papers for your Web hosting business, and so much more. Before we go any further though, I have to mention that this show is sponsored by the fine folks over at Web Hosting Chat. Web Hosting Chat is your number one place on the Web to discuss the world of Web hosting. All the links, stories and everything else mentioned on this episode of the Web Hosting Show can be found on the show notes. Where are the show notes? You can find them along with past interview and episodes atwww.webhostingshow.com.

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Now as everybody knows I have taken some time off to get the back end production of this show a little more organized. A few things have been changed for various reasons, and I'll go a little deeper into that a little later in the show as well. The important thing is that you are here, you are listening and hopefully you will walk away from this knowing a little more about the Web hosting world.

That is what we do here, and I think we do it pretty damn well. I'm not in this for the money, the fame, or the fortune. I am in this to help as many folks out there as I can with the wild and wacky world of Web hosting. No aspect of technology is perfect, and Web hosting is no exception. It is confusing for both Web hosts and Web hosting clients. Hopefully with all of us discussing and thinking about these topics though things will get easier for all of us in the long run. I want this show to be something that Web hosts can listen to and then turn around and tell their Web hosting clients to check it out as well. I am here to help everybody from the new guy down the street all the way down to the Web hosting expert that just wants to get his voice known.

So how about we get this party started?

Web Hosting Headlines

The Web hosting news and headlines are brought to you byThe Web Host Industry Review. The Web Host Industry Review is the place to go to get all the latest Web hosting news from around the globe.

Hosting.com to Host Trump Venture

Managed hosting provider Hosting.com announced on Thursday it has been chosen to provide managed hosting services for Donald Trump's latest venture, Trump University. The new business education company strives to provide lifelong learning programs for business professionals, small business owners, entrepreneurs, investors and other career-focused professionals.

Read More at the WHIR!

NetFronts Launches New Web Site

Web hosting provider NetFronts announced last week it has launched a new Web site and support site. The sites provide easy navigation and comprehensive information about its Web hosting plans, and about Web hosting in general.

Read More at the WHIR!

Apache Widens Lead, Netcraft Says

The gap between Apache and Microsoft's share of the Web server market widened again last month, according to research and analysis firm Netcraft's June 2005 Web server survey.

Read More at the WHIR!

Do you have some Web hosting news? Make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Hosting Tip of the Week

Every so often you just need a quick nugget of knowledge. The Web hosting tip of the week is brought to you byMitchelaneous. Mitchelaneous is my own personal writing space where I go one on one with you everyday with some of my Web hosting articles, random postings and updates on my current projects.

How many times do you buy something for no reason at all? Most of the time you have done some thinking before making a purchase of any kind. You have decided where it should go in your house or what you want to use it for. Now I want you to start having the same mindset for the purchasing of a Web hosting account. For anybody out there who just wants to buy a hosting account, good for you. The first question I want to ask you though is what do you plan on doing with it?

Always make sure you have a good plan ahead of time before you get started with any big production. If you want to start a blog, make your the Web host you are at can handle that. If you want to start a photo gallery, make sure your Web host can give you what you need to get it going.

For the Web hosts out there, start asking your clients what they are doing with the Web hosting account. Try to sound interested in what the customer is doing if nothing else. Try to hold their hand if they need it and walk them through some of the decisions there are out there to make.

You see, that is what separates a good Web host from a bad Web host. A good Web host will go that extra mile to make sure a client is happy and comfortable with the Web hosting account they purchased.

Do you have a Web hosting tip? Make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Hosting Thoughts, Views and Ideas

All of my Web hosting thoughts, views and ideas are sponsored byData Center Talk. Data Center Talk is the best set of forums on the Earth about the world of Web hosting data centers.

HostingCon 2005

HostingCon is coming soon! The event will take place June 6 to June 7 at the Hyatt Regency O' Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. Over the past few weeks my friends and fellow workers in the Web hosting industry have asked me two questions.

"Why are you not going?"

"Are you going?"

I am not going to be able to make the festivities this year, but hopefully by the time that the 2006 HostingCon rolls around the corner I'll be able to rub shoulders with the Web hosting elite out there. At one time I thought that the Web hosting industry was filled with nothing more than a bunch of money hungry scum bags that just wanted to make a dollar or two. Over the past few months though, I am happy to say, I was wrong.

Read More on this at Mitchelaneous!

Price Drops in Web Hosting?

I recently linked to a post over at Host Search that discussed the dropping of Web hosting prices and how it is creating more competition in the Web hosting industry. It is no secret that if you drop the price in any business, you will lead to more competition inside that business.

I hate to say it, but more often than not, the lowest price hosting provider seems to get the most business. I would rather see folks worry more about support and services rather than just the price. On the other hand, with the growing popularity in Web hosting, it brings in more and more people everyday and that is good for those of us who make a living from the Web hosting world. So is the growth in Web hosting a good thing or a bad thing? I know some companies have lowered the prices they have so much they aren't making a real profit anymore. They have to keep dropping the prices though to stay competitive. How are they going to make that money back? Well, if they are lucky they will make it back by having more sign ups.

I'd really like to see a study or something done looking in at which model is more reliable. Should Web hosts have higher prices and sell fewer accounts or cheaper prices and sell more accounts? Right now I am looking at it more as a question like, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" but what do you think? Give me some feedback on this hot topic and I'll go a little deeper in a future episode of the Web Hosting Show.

Read More on this at Mitchelaneous!

TopHosts.com Names Top Web Hosting Company

Sure there are dozens of top Web hosting companies out there. There are a lot of folks who deserve that title. As long as your company is willing to put forth with great customer service, excellent servers and top-notch support, I don't know why you shouldn't be the number one Web hosting company out there today. Then again, I tend to be a little nicer than most.

TopHosts.com recently went through the challenge of naming the number one Web hosting company Online today. Who was the winner? Hostway walked away with the title, the crown and the guy singing, "there they are.. Mr. Greatest Web Hosting Company" in that Miss America type way. Okay, so maybe there wasn't a crown and a guy signing, but you get the picture.

Be sure to check out my article onMitchelaneousfor a little more information about this topic!

Read More on this at Mitchelaneous!

Get Your .xxx Domain Name!

Does anybody really think that giving porn it's own domain name is going to keep it categorized to it's own corner of the Internet? In my humble Web hosting opinion I'll go out on a limb and say this will just give a new domain name sales surge while folks pick up all the "good" .xxx domain names. Once they are all taken, things should get back to normal quick.

So the domain name registers just picked up one more quick way to make a buck. Wonder if anybody will try to buy MitchKeeler.xxx? Trust me, nobody wants to see that Web site.

Read More on this at Mitchelaneous!

Old Segments Gone

This show is always evolving and changing as the public asks for it to be changed. I have dropped both the "Questions and Answers" segment as well as the Web Hosting Minute. Why? Well the number of E-mails we get here has dropped over time. So if I have no questions to answer, it kind of makes it hard to get enough content there to make it worthy of being on the show. Now if you have a question, feel free to get ahold of me and I'll try to fit it into another segment of the show.

Right now there just aren't enough questions coming in for me to dedicate a whole segment to it. Now the Web Hosting Minute was more of an experiment if anything. I wanted to see if I could increase the number of listeners by keeping your ears focused at me for the entire week. As you can tell though, that idea didn't really work as well. Downloads for that segment were small at best, so I would rather focus my time and efforts on what is working rather than focusing on what is not working.

If you have any segment ideas you'd like to see make sure you let me know. I'm always willing to try something new if enough people want to see it happen. Keep telling your friends and family about the show as well. As the download numbers increase week after week, that just gives me more motivation to do a better and better show.

Do you have a Web hosting topic of discussion you'd like to hear me cover on The Web Hosting Show? Then make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Site Design Help

All of The Web Hosting Show's design help is sponsored byBrowseHosts. BrowseHosts is the most comprehensive Web hosting directory out there today.

I thought this week, instead of looking at a Web site and trying to decide how we could make it better I'd look at some a standard problem in the Web hosting world. Heck, this problem isn't limited to just Web hosting either. The other day a good friend of mine and listener of the show was telling me about somebody stealing his new design layout after he had shown him the layout while it was in "pre-production". The friend of a friend in this case turned around and used the HTML for himself.

Now I can't even start in with how dirty this really is. Folks like this should not be able to get away with such acts, but so is the way of the Internet. That is why it is important for everybody to follow a key rule when designing or having a team design a new Web site layout for you.

Keep Your Web Site Layout Secret!

That layout should not see eyes that you feel like you can not trust. Now I know this is a kind of hard net to throw over folks, so if you are super paranoid like I am, don't let anybody see it. When I'm working on a new design layout, I don't even like it when people walk behind me in the same room. Now I'm not afraid anybody here is going to steal my design, I just like to keep things to myself till I am ready for the public to see it.

If you have any more tips for folks out there, or if we have some other horror stories like these, let me know! Hopefully by sharing stories like these we will make everybody more aware that the problem is out there.

Do you need some help with your Web site design? Would you like me to just let you know what it is you could do to make your Web presence that much better? Make sure you send me an E-mail tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get your questions answered and your Web site reviewed on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Hosting Web Site of the Week

The Web hosting Web site of the week is brought to you by Banners World.Banners Worldis the number one place to visit to get all your Web site graphics, banners and designs done.

HostLegal.com

Any Web hosting owner will tell you that it is a pain to get together with a lawyer and draw up all the paperwork and contracts needed to put together your terms of service, acceptable use policy and all the other things that a Web hosting company needs to survive out there. Thanks to Host Legal though, these problems become a little less relevant.

Host Legal will provide you (for a price) with everything from frequently asked questions Web pages to terms of service. They explain on their own FAQ that the services they provide are not really a substitute for having a good lawyer handy, but instead are a helping hand when it comes to sorting through some of the legalities you might go through setting up or running a Web hosting company.

This is a really good idea, and I honestly don't know why nobody came up with it sooner. If you have any questions for them, they will be more than happy to answer you at sales@hostlegal.com. If you check them out, make sure you let them know that the Web Hosting Show sent you there.

Do you have a Web site that deserves to be the next Web hosting Web site of the week? Make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Final Web Hosting Thoughts

That is it for this week's show! Make sure you send me your feedback, thoughts, suggestions and ideas tomitch@mitchkeeler.comor stop by The Web Hosting ShowFan Forums. Next week we will be doing more of the same! I am Mitch Keeler and you have been listening to The Web Hosting Show, the voice of the Web hosting world.

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