Don't Let This Webmaster's Nightmare Happen To You!

BWMagic's Web Marketing News!


Read This Newsletter Online:
http://www.bizwaremagic.blogspot.com






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Contents:

o The Perfect Internet Marketing Disaster

o Who Really Owns Your Site?

o Five Sure-Fire Ways To Protect Your Online Business

o How To Choose A Good Webhost

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o The Perfect Internet Marketing Disaster


Just imagine this scenario - you have a successful
site receiving around two thousands targeted
visitors each day... since it is the holiday season
you also have an extra couple of thousand dollars
in PPC advertising running and delivering eager
buyers to your site.

It's the busiest week of the year for online
shopping, sales are coming in and you're smiling
- then just a few days after Cyber Monday your site
goes down.

You don't panic, just monitor the situation, your
site usually is up and running in a few minutes,
a few hours at the most. Like it did on rare occasions
in the past when your site went down.

But not this time, you check to see if your webhost
site is online - it is nowhere to be found. You
quickly contact support by phone - you get a recorded
message and no live human voice of any kind can
be contacted.

Then you start searching online and find all the
sites on your hosting company are also down.
There are rumors the hosting company has gone
under...

You wait a day to see if your site comes back
online - it doesn't. You scramble to arrange
alternate hosting... no big deal, you have many
sites and many web hosts... just a matter of a
few days and your site will be up again.

Then you discover your domain has been transferred
to another Registrar by the hosting company that
has now disappeared. That's when the real panic
grabs you by the throat!

Now it really is time to panic.

A webmaster's nightmare if there ever was one...
and it all happened to me last week. It was, except
for the weeks following the death beloved
relatives, the most stressful time of my life.

The most frightening thing that has ever happened
to me in the 7 or 8 years I have been marketing
online.

Very tense moments while I struggled to get
control of my domain back... which I had
bought thru this same hosting company years
back.

Unfortunately, this very good hosting had
a change of owners and I still don't know
what exactly happened, except the company
is still off-line.

Fortunately, the new Registrar was very
professionally run and I was able to prove
ownership and get my domain back. I had
receipts and records of payments for my
domain renewal, plus my name is listed
in all those Google index returns.

I now have a new web host and my site was up
and running in less than a week. The only
thing I lost (besides the missed sales) was
a small database associated with a Wordpress
blog I had on my site. I always keep an
updated version of my site but overlooked
this database which was hosted my site's
server.

I never believed this could have happened
to me. But I learned a lot of valuable lessons
last week... keep reading to find out what
you can do to make sure the same disaster
doesn't happen to you or your site.

And if you think it can't happen to you -
you're dead wrong.




o Who Really Owns Your Site?

Ironically, the site mentioned above is the
only site I have where I purchased my domain
thru the hosting company. It was my first
site and at the time it was a very good web host
and it was and is a very common practice to also
buy your domain when you buy your hosting package.

Actually, until this hosting company changed
hands, it was one of my better webhosts - I
have around 8 sites... many on different hosting
companies as I like to try out different webhosts
and report my findings on my marketing sites.

After last week's experience, I would strongly
suggest you NEVER purchase your domain thru
any hosting company, unless that webhost also
is a Domain Registrar like Enom or GoDaddy.

You must make sure you have complete control
over your domain. You must make sure you actually
own it and not your hosting company.

Moreover, you must make sure you have administrative
control over your domain. You are the one who
decides where your site is hosted and not your
hosting company!

You can easily find this information in the
"Whois" data associated with your domain here
if you're unsure about your own site.
http://www.betterwhois.com


When you buy your domain directly from a
Domain registry, you have complete control
over all the information associated with
your domain. You can easily change webhosts
by placing in the DNS - namesavers yourself
and point your site to your new host.

Changes are you will never experience any
disputes over who owns and controls your site
but you never know... until last week I was
100% certain I would never have that ordeal.

Boy, was I ever proven wrong.

........



o Five Sure-Fire Ways To Protect Your Online Business


* First and foremost make sure you have complete control
over your domain. This means you are the administrative
contact as well as the domain registrant. Make sure
you own your domain and not your hosting company.

* Back Up, Back Up, Back Up - all your site's files and
content on your own computer and on a disc. Keep them updated.
Don't forget any online databases you may have on your site.

* Don't register your domain with any hosting company,
(unless that company is also a Domain Registrar) such as
Enom or GoDaddy.

* If you do buy your domain thru a hosting company, make
sure you get and keep any receipts connected with this
purchase. As well as any receipts for your domain renewals.

* Make sure your know your hosting company, more importantly,
make sure you know what is happening with the company and
watch out for any changes in ownership. Any company is only
is as good as the people running it.


........

o How to Choose A Good Web host


Last week I was scrambling to find a new
web host for my site.

Like I have said above, I already have quite
a few webhosts. I was all set to move my site
to Ken Evoy's SiteBuildIt system because this
is where I put my last site. And it is by far,
the best hosting/marketing system I have ever
seen online.

SBI is a superior hosting company and I wanted
my main site on them but I discovered to my
ever mounting frustration last week, that
SBI for SEO reasons only allows html extensions
for their files.

Since my site contains mostly htm files - a move
to SBI for my site was out of the question.

This left me with the option of finding another
good, reliable web host.

One of the most important factors in choosing
a good web host is support. How good is their
support system... if you should have trouble
can you reach an actual live person - 24/7?

You should check out how long the company has
been in business. Does it have a good reputation?
What are users saying about it in all the online
hosting forums?

Do some preliminary checks, find sites hosted
with the company you're considering - check
the download speeds. Check out the IP neighbors
and see how many sites are hosted on each
IP address. http://www.myipneighbors.com


Don't consider price when choosing a good
web host - the cheapest is not the best. More
chances than not, you get what you pay for.

The web host I finally decided on was BlueHost.

So far, this has been an excellent choice,
good support... fast speeds, and easy to use
cpanel.

Only time will time if I have made a wise
choice... hopefully my webmaster's nightmares
are over for a little while.








Kind Regards,

Titus Hoskins

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