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Archive for March 24, 2009

Getting the most out of Gossimer Web Hosting!

Those of us in Gossimer’s Support Team want to reach out to the public by sharing some descriptions of what websites could be missing out on without using our web hosting service. So we’ve brought together the following information:

Gossimer’s Windows Only Hosting has a lot of features, but Tandem Server stands out from the rest. It is an easy-to-use Content Management System, but it produces very professional looking websites. You are not required to use it and with Gossimer’s Linux Hosting, there are other special features that aren’t always available with other hosts, like Auto Correct URL Spelling (limiting the amount of HTTP error pages shown), Unlimited Web Forwarding Rules (for any local folder, sub-folder, file), Direct Download Manager (making the transfer of server-to-server data seamless), and Website Speed Booster (where websites can be delivered twenty times or more faster!). All of these greatly reduce the amount of time in back-office work because they do not require website coding nor separate software. What’s more, customers can make use of their space efficiently because they can control their raw log files, creating rotations, deleting or even disabling them completely.

Gossimer is really unique because it offers private folders in every web hosting package, and private in this case means that they are not included in the web directory and they are only accessed by FTP (in other words, they are not accessible via HTTP). Customers don’t have to learn PHP or programming to have access to their web statistics. They don’t have to set-up a separate account with an external service to get information on the visitors of their website, the number of which are unique, the number of hits, the average duration spent during each visit, the most viewed pages, which search engines brought them there, and which keywords were used. Not only that, Gossimer offers a back-up manager that can have custom adjustments for different directories and when changes are being made or there is a redirect error for any reason, customers can have their own message in the HTTP error pages too!

In comparison to the thousands of other web hosting companies found on the internet today, Gossimer is perhaps the most customizable. It has quality options while offering the lowest price. Obviously, we have a bias as Gossimer’s Support Team, but who better to give details on the in’s and out’s of webhosting than those of us who are on the inside? We know that other webhosts use bad techniques to get their customers; some web hosts offer unlimited webspace but the fine print might say otherwise. Other companies offer a very low price per month, but customers have to pay at least one year in advance! Let’s not even mention a free domain name, where prepayments have to be made for at least twice that amount of time. Gossimer offers 5 free domain name aliases with each hosting package and we will never charge a set-up fee. Add to that a minimum term of six months starting at $1.89 a month, and it’s a steal! Potential customers can get a lot more just by trying out the service rather than paying more than two or three times that amount for only one month with other hosts!

Spreading Links Around!

Searching the Gossimer Blog archives, our team noticed that there wasn’t a post specifically on links.  This was great on our end because our team wants to continuously provide information that is in the best interest of our friends, clients and customers. And now that Gossimer has some new features, we would like to start spreading our links around!

Most people know that sharing interesting information is best done online with links.  A lot of people send posts to their friends with a link embedded in the content.  These are what you would call one way links.  Links embedded between websites are mostly two way links because one way embedded links are mostly posted through advertisements.  But what if there were a method of leaving a one-way link without having to pay an advertising fee?

Gossimer host some websites that do just that!  Traffic.VG allows you to:

Post your ad links, get free traffic from unique IP address immediately!

NO registry,  Absolute free, So easy!

It is split into two parts: Area V (Visit) and Area G (Generate).  Unlike Pengs’ Reciprocal Links you can submit it without registering.  Once you do, you get an automatic ID number for your ad.  You can use this number to check who visited and also to earn points for visiting other links posted.  It seems that the more points earned for your ID, the higher up your ad will appear on the link list.

This is a great way for spreading links around.  Osman Trellit, on Chang Siu dot Com, describes one way links as the toughest to accomplish because “you are not returning any link to the site that links to you.”  He goes on to say that a big SEO strategy involves popular links, researching keywords and special marketing for websites.  I wonder if sites like Traffic.VG will change that?  Submitting a link on such a website is one way (since the submitter doesn’t have to link to Traffic.VG) and yet, it is reciprocal in that the link becomes more popular the more links the submitter visits.  It would be interesting to see this become a part of NoFollow Reciprocity.

If enough people were to submit one-way links or were to join the NoFollow Reciprocity movement, perhaps bigger websites would change their method of linking.  If you don’t know much about the NoFollow Monstrosity click on these embedded links.  If you do know about it, enlighten us and leave your opinion on Traffic.VG in a comment below.  Thanks!

FeatureCentric Email and Web Hosting

I’d like to introduce you to our Hosting Plans - some of the most reliable and feature packed packages available in the industry (with a 99.9% uptime!). Our plans can serve virtually all of your online needs – whether you are looking at developing a personal website or even looking at setting up a business presence, we can offer you the best solutions! We have, in fact, always guaranteed 100% Customer Satisfaction and intend to give you nothing less than that.

You can purchase plans on either the Linux or Windows platform, along with personalized email accounts (to work in conjunction with your domain name), thus giving you the 2 most important tools to establish a strong online presence!

Pick Your Plan:

Plan
A
Plan
B
Plan
C
Plan
D
Web
Space
1 GB
2 GB
7.5
GB
10
GB

Bandwidth
2 GB
5 GB
10
GB
15
GB

Database
-
1
10
20

Database Space
-
250
MB
500
MB
750
MB

Email Addresses


0~unlimited

0~unlimited

0~unlimited

0~unlimited
Full
Fledged Managed DNS
Free Free Free Free

Dedicated IP

Optional

Optional

Optional

Free

V.Imp:

  • Email Services are billed separately – and not included in the Web Hosting plans
  • Extra bandwidth can also be purchased for any of the above plans

We assure you that you will not find better value for your money anywhere else – we are reliable and our plans pack a punch! We can’t stress enough how helpful a 99.9% uptime is. Mentioned below are some of our features that might interest you:

Web Hosting Features

  • Functionality Packed Web-Based Control Panel: The Hosting Packages can be managed through our FREE web-based Control Panels, which have been developed keeping your needs in mind.  Our Control Panels enable uploading and managing of website content, SSL certificates, bandwidth theft protection, boosting your website speed, etc. – ALL in just a click!
  • FREE Image Gallery: We give you 4images - the most popular tool for you to manage all your photos online!
  • FREE Forum Tool: We also give you phpBB, which is another easy to use tool to setup a forum and manage it in the most convenient fashion possible.  You could also refer to the FAQ section at any point in time – you will not be left with any doubts!  Just in case, you’ll have customer service at hand if you need it.
  • FREE Content Management Systems: We offer you three of the most powerful content management systems to power your website – namely Joomla, phpNuke and Nucleus CMS.
  • FREE Shopping Cart: Converting your website into a shop, and enabling your customers to purchase your products, cannot get any simpler!  We provide you with Oscommerce which is an Online shopping cart tool that will allow you to setup, run, and maintain an online store with minimum effort and absolutely no costs, fees, or limitations involved.
  • FREE Blog: We also give you WordPress, which is a powerful personal publishing platform, and it comes with a great set of features designed to make your experience as a publisher on the Internet as easy, pleasant and appealing as possible.
  • FTP Features and File Manager: You get the ability to upload and download data 24×7, an unlimited number of times.  Adding to this, you get the ability to have up to 100 FTP users.  We also provide you with unique and advanced features like restricting access of a particular user to a folder, set disk quota limitations on a per FTP User Basis and a complete log of actions of each user. Moreover, we provide you with a web-based FTP tool within the Control Panel itself for managing your content.  This tool provides extensive features to update your website, in the event that you are unable to use any dedicated FTP software. With all of these (and much more!) you can upload and manage your website content with absolute ease.
  • Custom Error Pages: You can customize the HTTP errors on your website so that your site visitors are never lost if a page on your website does not exist, you can redirect the user to a local URL, a remote URL, or specify a text (or HTML) message on the occurrence of the HTTP error.
  • FREE Domain Aliases: You can add up to 5 domain aliases with each hosting package that you purchase.  This will enable you to protect your identity and brand image on multiple TLDs or provide a cover for misspellings of your domain name.  If you have more than one brand name then you could also point these to the same hosting package by specifying them as domain aliases.

Email Hosting Features

  • SMTP Access: Using our SMTP service, you can compose and send email using any desktop-based email software such as Mozilla ThunderBird, Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, Netscape Mail, etc.  Do not compromise on the way you manage all your emails!
  • Anti-Spam & Anti-Virus Protection: Our comprehensive in house anti-spam solution enables you to stay a step ahead of spammers and it is capable of blocking 93 to 94% of all spam, and all spam that is blocked is 100% guaranteed junk mail, i.e. genuine mails will never get blocked, ensuring that any of your genuine mails are never flagged as spam and you do not miss out on them.
  • 50 Mailing Lists: Along with every email hosting package, you get the ability to add up to 50 mailing lists with 500 members in each list.  You can configure these mailing lists for sending out newsletters, making announcements, having private or open discussions, etc.  You can also block certain users from posting to your list, restrict the size of messages sent to the mailing list, add and remove moderators, etc.

As you can see, our feature packed packages will enable you to not only launch your individual or business identity online but also give you an edge over your competitors in terms of web presence capabilities.  Further, we can assure you that such features and prices are unmatched in the industry today!  We hope to serve all your online needs in the most optimum way possible, with the least effort and money involved from your end.

Blogging : An effective way to “Brand” your thoughts globally!

Blogging is a chorological representation of one’s views, opinions and thoughts on any given topic. Blogs are created and maintained as web logs of information on any specific topic for both personal and professional purposes. Blogs serve as fantastic means of letting people know what you think and is used as an effective tool for advertising and internet marketing strategies. Once a blog is created it has to be regularly updated from time to syndicate content from different online sources.

A Blog is more or less like an online journal and is used intensively now-a-days for business purposes. Many people earn enormous amounts of money just by blogging and sharing their views with others. I would like to share with you the famous five tips for effective blogging especially for beginners in this venture:

  • Be Passionate about Blogging: If you are someone who really enjoys writing on a variety of topics and if you love to express your ideas in the most realistic fashion then you must be passionate about blogging. You must choose a topic which thrills you and which is close to your heart. Normally when you write on a topic that interests you a great deal, you tend to express more openly and naturally many viewers online will be drawn to read your blog because you put your soul into it.
  • Create your own domain name: Many blogs nowadays are available for free but it will help you establish your identity and create a brand image for your blog if you can manage to use your own domain name. This will help you in earning money while blogging.
  • Keep updating your blog: This is the most important cardinal rule of blogging. You have to update and review your blog regularly to keep at pace with the changing trends. A blog which is never updated is a dead blog and no one would like to read it. To attract steady and consistent flow of visitors to your blog you have to update your blog daily.
  • Make money while blogging: Blogging is a fantastic way to earn great deal of money in a short span of time. However you must ensure that you do not rely only on Google Ad sense as an advertising tool for your blog but invest some time in employing minimum 5 or more advertising strategies to promote your blog. You can earn phenomenally by delivering good and rich reading experience to the readers as well as planning and implementing advertising strategies like banner advertisements, SEO marketing and many other strategies that promote your blog.

Blogging: Can I depend on it?

Every day we hear about the tales of earning a six-figure income from blogs or of individuals selling off their blogs to some media house, and we get excited about it.  And the most impatient among us might start jumping with anticipation over the possible opportunity he or she found to earn a living, but the rest of us will wait.  And how long this wait-period will be depends upon two things: how much we are excited about this idea and how much resources we are willing to invest for it.

I am sure, after reading the word resources our most excited friend must have twitched, “Isn’t blogging free?”

We would respond with, “No.  It’s not.  My dear friend, it is not.”

And by resources we meant not only money; by resources we meant time and energy as well.  Money involved in starting a blog (or any online business) is pretty low compared to the same set up in the physical world, hence the reason why many people are jumping on the bandwagon (which raises the success-bar even higher).

The higher the success-bar goes up (with each new competitive blog), the more effort that will be required to reach for it.  Earning a living off a blog is not going to be easy; it takes lots of hard work and patience.  Like every other legitimate means of earning your living, this is also not a shortcut to make millions.

The question is then how do people earn money from blogs? Don’t get disheartened by what I wrote – it was written intentionally to bring things in right perspective – there are ways in which you can monetize your blog and to do so you need to put some serious work to it.

Our friend would once again pipe up, “Okay!  Sounds good.  But ‘some serious work’ to get what?”

Sometimes the excited ones also turn into skeptics, and the question is legitimate.  What is the one thing that our blogs should strive towards in order to be successful?  Well, it’s not one thing but two things that a blog should aspire to get, in order to make money for its owner: (1) trust; and (2) expertise, which in turn will build reputation.  Trust is found in the authenticity of the content, and expertise is delivered through the subject (reading niche) you are writing on.

We can’t repeat this enough; trust and expertise are the two things that will pull visitors to your blog and it will also force them to come back tomorrow!  Did we forget to tell you earlier that the game of blogging might be new, but the rules are still the same?

Banner advertising, e-mail marketing, viral videos, social bookmarking, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, etc. will at best get you a trial audience (or maybe work as a reminder to an already loyal reader of your blog), but nothing will stop a new user on your blog more if he or she just doesn’t trust your content or feels that you don’t have enough knowledge on the subject you are talking about.

Now, as you know what the target is, you can draw your map and reach it.  Let’s draw an analogy to finish this article.  We’ll leave you to consider the following:

“If the Internet is a market then your blog is a mall in the market, and as any mall requires footfalls to sell its goods, your blog requires click-falls to succeed.”