Best Blog Host FAQ

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is the act of renting space and bandwidth through a company so that you may publish your web site online. It is one of two important things you need to get your website online, with the other being a domain name.

What is a domain name?

A domain is in a way your online real estate. It is the address where everyone else on the web will be able to find you and your website.

There are two parts to a domain - the domain name itself, and the TLD (top level domain) extension. The most popular TLD is the .com extension. Although there is plenty more such as, .net, .org, .infp or local TLD's like .us, .co.uk and .com.au.

Having your own domain is an integral part of your business on the web. It sets you apart from everybody else, and gives you a brand to work with.

What is a blog?

A blog is a website that allows users to reflect, share opinions, and discuss various topics in the form of an online journal while readers can get involved and comment on posts. Blogs have many purposes and applications, from business to personal to unlimited topical information.

Blogs have very little limits and are incredible easy and functional to use, which is why they are a popular format for current online media.

What is the difference between blog hosting and web hosting?

There is no real difference in the actual hosting of the site, as the process is basically the same in all cases. However, with best blog host the difference is in the specific help you get with setting up and running your blog. Such as, blogging video tutorials, guides and a range of resources that you may not get with standard web hosting.

How do I register a domain name?

Registering a domain is an easy process, that really only requires you to fill in a couple of details. It does cost money, however if it is a new domain that you have found, it can commonly cost under $15US per year. To register a domain name you can visit sites like godaddy.com or enom.com.

What is disk space and bandwidth?

The disk space of your hosting plan is the limit of how much content you can store on the web. Very similar to how disk spaces works on your computer. The actual HTML pages of websites are usually very small, it is the extra images, scripts, and even databases that can take up large amounts of disk space. As a rough guide, 1MB can store about 10 standard pages with a number of average sized images.

Bandwidth can be compared similarly to your internet connection. Although picture your hosting server as your internet connection. It is basically the amount of information your hosting server will allow your site to send in a month. So for example if you have a standard sized webpage under 50kb in size, with 1,000MB of bandwidth your webpage will be able to be viewed over 20,000 times in a given month.

If you ever exceed your disk space or bandwidth limits, you are able to upgrade your limits for a fee proportional to your upgrade request.

How do I track how many views my website gets?

To track how many visits your website gets, you can either use what is provided within your hosting account or you can use external services like Google Analytics and Yahoo! Web Analytics. They will require adding a small script to the webpages you want to track, but are usually more comprehensive and accurate.

What are programming languages PHP, ASP, perl, etc?

Each programming language has its own benefits and uses. It is best that you research on your own to find one that best fits your needs.

What is MySQL, MS SQL, etc?

MySQL and MS SQL are database systems. They are used to manage and control data on some aspects of websites, and are very integral in the running of a blog. However, fortunately a good understanding of databases is not always required to run a blog.

Will there be forced advertising on my site?

Not at all. You are paying for web space that is only yours, you have complete control of it and no one may put ads on your site except you.

How can I pay for hosting?

For reliability and security, Best Blog Host only accepts payment via PayPal, however in the future the options for payment options will expand.

What is PayPal?

PayPal is an online payment gateway, it lets anyone with a PayPal approved email address send money to anyone else with a PayPal approved email address.

Each user signs up with PayPal and then enters their necessary banking and credit card information. Once registration is completed, your email address is all you need to send and receive money.

What are subdomains?

Subdomains are considered to be an extension of your domain. That can offer your domain name more versatility. For example, your site is www.example.com. A subdomain would be test.example.com, and another would be webhosting.example.com. They can basically be any word you want, and in many cases are usually treated as separate sites from the main domain site.

How do I upload my site online?

Uploading your site can be done in many ways, but the most popular is FTP.

When you host your account with us you will be provided with an FTP account. Using software such as FileZilla or CuteFTP, you can log into your host. Working similarly to how moving files on your computer works, you can then upload files to your website by dragging and dropping the files into your folder window. Once uploaded files are then available instantly online. Video tutorials on this are provided in our tutorial area.

With blogs when hosting with Best Blog Host though it is a lot simply, as files can be transferred all within your blogging platform. Video tutorials on this are provided within your accounts client area.

What is uptime guarantee?

Uptime is quite simply they the amount of time your site is guaranteed to be online throughout the entire month.

Why would I need a dedicated IP?

For most people, a dedicated IP is not required. But for people that want to provide anonymous FTP, a website using SSL or possible take advantage of some potential SEO benefits a dedicated IP can be used easier.

What is SEO?

SEO is abbreviated for Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of optimizing a website in order to achieve better rankings in the search engines and therefore more website traffic.