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Many a website security is compromised because of lack of proper monitoring systems in place.  Websites can be infected with all sorts of viruses, Trojans, iframe injections and a zillion other forms of attacks.

If your website has already been hacked, you need to take instant action in regaining control. The first thing that needs to be done is to check for problems on your computer. It could be happening from your computer itself.

Scan Your Computer

Towards this end, it is essential to first scan your PC with an anti-Malware program and an anti-Virus program.  After checking with the anti-virus program that is installed on your computer, you can double check with a variety of free online anti-virus programs available.

Some of the free programs available are:

• ABG Free anti-virus scanner
• AdAware Free anti-malware scanner
• Microsoft Windows Defender, which is a free anti-malware program
• Spybot Search and Destroy, a free anti-malware program

There are several others, but these are a few of the more popular scanners.

Take Your Website Offline

If your pages are infected with viruses, any visitor to your website will also be attacked. It is your duty to protect your visitors and this is the only way to ensure your reputation is intact.  The first thing that needs to be done is to take the website offline, which involves adding a few lines to your .htaccess.  If done right, a warning saying that the site may harm their computers will flash in Google and other search engine results.

If you think that this will harm your reputation, you must consider the fact that most visitors who find your site may not even notice this and there is a greater chance of them returning later; whereas, if they suffer from a virus attack because of your website, you would be losing them forever.

Another reason for taking it offline is because there may be a security hole that caused the site to be hacked in the first place.  You don’t want that to happen again until you fix all the issues and secure your website.  The hackers may also have installed a script to access the site.  Closing your site for a while will block them out and no script can help them get in.

Report To Your Web Host

Open a support ticket letting your web hosting company know what happened.  Try and explain clearly whatever you know.  There are many web hosts out there that will help you clean your site; of course not everybody does, but then it is always better to find out if they can help or give you some advice.  If you are using shared hosting, there is a possibility that the web host may know of other websites that are affected too.

Change Passwords

Once the PC is free of viruses, it is crucial to change the cPanel, email, FTP and database and all other passwords.  Make sure the new passwords are very strong and difficult for people to decipher. Try and use different passwords for each and everything.

Once you’ve repaired the damage done, it is time to make sure it doesn’t happen again.  You will have to manage your website properly keeping it safe and secure.

Here are a few tips:

• Install a good antivirus software program on your PC. You will need real-time continuous protection as scanning it once a day is not good enough. Malware has the ability to delete itself after causing the damage.

• Install all the latest security patches on Windows systems as well as all other internet-related software.

• Use strong passwords using upper and lower case letters, numeric as well as punctuations in the password.  Do not use the same password for everything.

• You must make sure it is safe before downloading anything from the internet; whether it is a script or something else.

You must give your website the same importance you would give the house you live in. Just as you would secure it properly to make sure nobody gets in, you must ensure your website is locked for all bad elements.

The word “catastrophic success” holds a lot of meaning here. It means an unusual surge in traffic that can bring a website to a complete halt. You have been successful at bringing traffic to your website but it proved to be catastrophic.

This happens due to unanticipated levels of interest when thousands of users visit the website, but the webmaster is unable to cope with them. Sometimes, the service may not go down but gets so slow that it becomes non-responsive. Such problems can be overcome.

Other causes of website failure include DoS attack (denial of service), which can also cause congestion and overload; poorly configured system components and out-of-date updates and patches on web servers.

The occasional outage is understandable and happens to all, but frequent downtime can cause delays in business. As we begin relying more on Web applications, Internet uptime is becoming more critical.

But there are things you can take care of to ensure you pave a smooth superhighway to your company’s website.

Content delivery networks (CDNs)

The public internet depends on content delivery networks to handle large amounts of media on huge sites like Amazon.com. Microsoft recently launched a free CDN to improve website performance. CDNs are made to route traffic onto private networks, thus removing the burden from the public website. In the absence of a CDN, sites with massive media files will be down immediately.

Better caching

One of the best and most popular ways of dealing with internet problems is to cache data that is frequently accessed. You can use Memcache or anything else and you will find several CMS packages that support this. But you must ensure you are careful with dynamic data.

Internet caching is similar to your computer memory caching, which holds the most popular content in a cached storage on the server to provide faster access. There are tier-caching products that help cache content within the website by making sure the content from the database is available even with there is a huge surge of traffic. This is one of the ways Twitter and Facebook deal with traffic surges.

Better programming

One of the new methods of dealing with traffic is to use better programming to withstand the sudden traffic spikes. Experts say that most websites cannot withstand any unanticipated traffic due to poor programming.

Using HTML5

Your website downtime is not always related to the hardware. HTML5 and other new standards have built-in mechanisms for increasing the reliability of websites. These involve advanced programming techniques. HTML5 is considered to be an important advance in browser capabilities.

Content optimization

You can optimize your static content by compressing images in order to make use of every kilobyte, but all the while making sure the visual quality does not get affected. You can also compress the content delivered by your web server. You can optimize your content management system by reducing the number of database calls you need to make for each page request. In Drupal, this is very simply done by disabling some of the modules. It is also advisable to separate the read and write databases.

Expires

One of the most important things is to add “expires” headers to content to ensure the same files are not downloaded continually as a user browses your website.

There is certainly no guarantee that your site will never go down. You will just have to find the right balance and implement what is necessary to ensure it has a high percentage of uptime.

You’ve learnt all you can about web hosts and finally chosen the one you think fits your needs perfectly.  You have even set the DNS for the website.  But wait before you heave a sigh of relief.  There is something else that needs to be taken care of.

You are now faced with the task of uploading your website to the web host.  Uploading means moving files from your hard drive or any local environment to the web server.

I can tell you from experience (initial days) that unless you know how to go about it, a lot of time can be wasted.

Although, there are several ways of uploading web pages to a host, the most common is by using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software.  But before uploading, once the web page creation is over, they need to be saved as .html or .htm.

Some web hosts now provide a control panel where these web pages can be uploaded. If this is not available, then an FTP program needs to be used or an HTML editor to upload files.   Whatever you decide to use, it is required to check if the hosting company supports the method. Most of the free web hosts do not provide these options.

FileZilla or WS_FTP are the free FTP clients that allow you to save your web pages to your web host or the remote server.

Download the FTP client of your choice, install it and create an FTP account.  After opening the FTP program, the FTP host address needs to be typed, which is usually “yourdomain.com” or sometimes “ftp.yourdomain.com.” You can check out both to see what works.  Sometimes only one may work and at others, both.  Next, you will have to enter the username and password that you used when you created an FTP account with your host, and finally click on the connect button to establish a connection with the web host.

In the FTP client, you will find a section for the local site with folders at the top and files at the bottom. The other section is for the remote host or the web host.

Web host help can be sought to find out where the files are to be uploaded.  They usually go into the root directory, into a folder called “www” or “public_html.”  All the website files need to go into this particular folder, so that they can be accessed by the public.  Files can be transferred individually or as complete directories.

While all other web pages can be given any name, the main page in all directories on the site should be index.htm/.html/.php.  This is the page that is displayed by default.

Files are moved with FTP in both binary and ASCII modes, and the FTP software may determine the method to use.  But at times, this may need to be specified manually.  The rule of the thumb is that all files that are opened with a text editor should be transferred as ASCII.  Graphics, media files and compiled programs are transferred in the binary mode.

We have discussed FTP at length here as it is the most popular method of transferring files from the local area to a remote host (web host.) There are other methods that can be used.  You will find that many website creation programs come with built-in transfer mode.  One of the most common is the Microsoft FrontPage. But before using it, make sure your web host supports it.  FrontPage takes care of uploads to the web host without any manual intervention.

There are also online site-builders that not only help create web pages, but also store them in the appropriate locations on the server.  These site builders are found on the control panel in the hosting account.

Happy uploading!

If you are looking to create or start your very first website for your small business, we can help you!  Creating your first website can actually be a lot easier than you may imagine and doing the work yourself could save your business a VERY large sum of money.

Every small business needs a presence on the world wide web; in fact, there is a lot of research that shows that many people are turning to the web for any and all purchases.  If your small business is going to survive and thrive during this poor economic period you must start your business website today!   It is very easy to do and can be done quickly and easily if you follow our step by step guide.

How to Create A Small Business Website:

Step 1: Brainstorm a domain name for your website (ie. www.AlreadyHosting.com), most basic domain names have already been taken so you may have to use come creativity during this step.  There is a cool website that will help you come up with a creative and available domain name, it is NameBoy.com.

Step 2: Register your domain name for FREE by signing up with one of our affordable web hosting recommendations.  If you want professional, reliable, and affordable web hosting I would suggest one of the three hosts below.. (Make sure you click on our link to receive a special discount).

• HostMonster – $3.95/month
• BlueHost – $3.95/month
• GreenGeeks – $6.95/Month

Step 3: Log into your new web hosting account CPANEL (you will receive an email with details).  After logging in scroll down and click the button named “SimpleScripts”.. Follow on screen directions and use SimpleScripts to install wordpress on your new web hosting server.

Step 4: You will receive another email with the user name and password of your wordpress account, use this information to log into your account.

Step 5: Google and find a FREE wordpress theme that is related to your niche and download it to your computer.  Upload the theme to your wordpress account… If you need help doing this there is a nice free guide to install wordpress here.

Step 6: Add content to your new wordpress website.  This is done VERY EASILY… But again if you need help, I found a useful guide to adding WordPress content.

Following these EASY 6 steps you can create a website for your small business… You will not have to pay anyone to create your website and the hosting will cost under $3.95 a month if you use our exclusive hosting links above.  I hope this step-by-step guide to creating a small business website will help your business succeed.

If you are considering building your first web page but confused about where to start this guide will tell you exactly what you will need.   A common misconception with beginners is that web design is expensive and VERY hard to do by your self.  Although some types of web design can be challenging, software provided by many popular web hosting providers make creating your first web site a breeze.

In this guide I will outline two different methods of building a professional web site with ease for only $3.95 a month!  If you follow these simple steps you will be on your way to building your first web page.

Method #1 – Using WordPress To Create Your Site – **Editor Suggested**

Wordpress is by far the easiest way to create a web page for the first time. In fact, this very blog is created in wordpress and is very easy to maintain.  Most web hosting providers make wordpress installations very easy all you have to do is follow these steps to create your first web site.

1. Register for web hosting at HostMonster.  Web hosting with Hostmonster typically cost $6.95 a month; however, we have worked out a deal with them and can offer you the same hosting for only $3.95 a month!  To get this special rate all you need to do is click on our exclusive link above.
2. After signing up for web hosting you will need to go to HostMonster.com and log in your account.  After logging into your account CPANEL you will see a button toward the bottom of the page called, “SimpleScripts”, simply click this button.
3. From this screen you can select WordPress and follow the on screen directions to install wordpress on your server FOR FREE.  HostMonster makes the Wordpress install super easy in comparrison to other hosting sites.
4. After installing wordpress you will be able to log into your new account (instructions will be emailed to you). Once logged in you can eaily install any free wordpress theme , AlreadyHosting.com offers a few free wordpress themes; however, if you Google wordpress themes you will find thousands more!
5. WordPress takes all of the design out of web design and all you have to do is sign up for web hosting at HostMonster and the rest is free, including your domain name.  There are custom wordpress themes for every type of website including: blogs, real estate, churches, schools, business, and so much more!
6. Congratulations you just built your first professional website in a matter of minutes and the best part is it will only cost you $3.95 a month!

Method #2 – Using SiteBuilder Programs

Many web hosting providers will include free sitebuilder software with the purchase of web hosting.  HostMonster, Bluehost, and JustHost all offer great and easy to use sitebuilder programs.

1. Register for a web hosting account at: Hostmonster, Bluehost, or Justhost (only $3.95 a month)
2. Login to your hosting account CPANEL (Instructions will be emailed to you after step 1)
3. Click the button that says sitebuilder
4. Follow on screen directions
5. Congrats, in only 4 steps and less that $4 a month you will have your very first professional web page.

Don’t let other companies fool you into spending hundreds of dollars on web design because in reality all you will need is a web hosting account (see above).  Follow the easy instructions in our guide to building your first web page above and you will be on your way to creating you first web site.

Two types of individuals look for web hosting on our site:

A – Those who are looking to host a site for the first time.
B – Those who are considering switching their web hosts.

There are many reasons for switching web hosts including pricing, reliability, and customer support issues.  Regardless of your reason for wanting to switch your web hosting provider the process is actually quite easy.   In this guide I am going to explain the simple 3 steps needed to switch web hosts.

Step 1:  Backup your old website files
This is actually an easy process because most of the time your website files are already stored somewhere on your computer.  If for some reason you store all of you file on the server all you will have to do is use a free FTP software program to pull the files from your current server and place them on your computer.

Step 2: Register for new web hosting
It is now time to register for your new web hosting account.  To ensure that you pick an affordable and reliable I would highly suggest that you check out our current top 10 web hosting list.   From my experience I have found that HostMonster, Bluehost, and Justhost are all great companies to switch to.  During your sign up process you will want to type your current domain name in the boxed titled “transfer domain”.  Complete the sign up process and get FTP username and password.

Step 3: Upload Files to new server
The last step is very easy.  All you have to do is take the files that you backed up to your computer earlier and use some type of FTP program to publish the files to your new server.  After you publish the files you website will be active again.

Switching web hosts is as easy as 1-2-3 and can save you a tun of money.  If you are currently paying more than $4 a month for web hosting I would highly suggest that you switch hosts, it only takes minutets but can save you a lot of money.  Be sure to check out our home page for a list of the current top 10 web hosting providers to make sure you get the best web hosting out there.

Easy Website Creation has found a new place!

Have you ever wondered how to setup your own blog, install forums to your site, add an ecommerce section or fancy webmail interface? Have you waited around for weeks until the most recent version of Wordpress or another script is available on your hosting platform? The peoples shouts for an installation system that can work on virtually any host and provide fast upgrades has been heard.

Now there is a way to manage your scripts and website tools in a very simple way. SimpleScripts is the fastest and easiest to use installation system available on the web. With over 35 free programs to choose from you can get your website started in no time. For a limited time you can sign up for a free trial account and enjoy 3 free installs. We highly recommend you take advantage of the super low $15/year licensing that is currently available as prices are sure to increase as the product becomes more popular. Hop on over for a quick testdrive!

Most web hosting companies require you to purchase at least 1-years worth of web hosting at a time.  If you do not purchase at least a year you will be force to pay super-high setup fees.  

HostGator.com is one of the only shared web hosting providers that offer no contract web hosting for only $4.95 a month!   With HostGator you can pay for hosting month by month with NO setup fees.   With this great web hosting company you will not be forced into any long contracts.

Visit HostGator.com or you can read our HostGator Review

2009 might be remembered as the year of “budget hosting” in the web hosting industry.  Why do I say this?  In 2009 multiple shared web hosting providers have drastically lowered their prices in order to remain competative in the industry.  Finding hosting within your budget is now easier than ever, I have listed just a few incredible web hosting deals:

• HostMonster for only $3.95
• BlueHost for only $3.95
• IxWebHosting for $3.95
• HostPapa for $4.95
• WebHostingPad for only $2.99

Searching for CPANEL hosting?  Today I would like to suggest three web hosting providers that have a user-friendly CPANEL.  

• HostMonster
• BlueHost
• IxWebHosting

HostMonster and Bluehost are owned by the same company and both of these web hosts are well known for their easy to use CPANEL.  Personally I have cpanel web hosting with HostMonster and I have been very pleased with them.

IxWebHosting also has a great CPANEL… Also very easy to use.  If you are looking for affordable ($3.95 /mo) cpanel hosting all you have to do is click on our links above and you can get the special discount.  Good luck!