What would the perfect web host offer?

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi folks

 

I'm currently in the process of setting up a new business offering web site hosting, and other related internet marketing services.

 

Now, as far as hosting and programming are concerned there is virtually nothing I couldn't integrate into the service other than actual web design services, I'd contract that out if it were required.

 

So my burning question would be

 

What would you want from a web host that you're not getting now.

 

I certainly know a ton of hosts that just give you a ton of web space and you're expected to just get on with it.

 

My intention would be to offer a complete package including consulting for search engine optimisation, key word concept brainstorming, web site critiques etc.

 

What else would you want to see a hosting company offer.

 

Once it's up and running, I'll be posting here with permission of course with some DJ forum only special offers.

 

A few chosen folks might even get some free services in exchanges for a letter of reference if you get good service.

 

Cheers.

 

Darren

[Eskie 0]

I currently have 2 hosting plans with www.me2uweb.com (I think you were using them a few years ago weren't you Darren?). I have a windows hosting plan for my Streetlife site and a unix hosting plan for the Euan Anthony site.

They're pretty good and they have a great support team who usually answer questions within a few hours, but they're a few features they do not offer and they're a few features they do have which I haven't got a clue how to use and the help section isn't great at explaining how to implement them. Here's what's included on the windows plan

 

100 WINDOWS

 

Web Space 100MB

Host Unlimited Domains

Unlimited Email Addresses

Unlimited POP3 Mailboxes

Unlimited Auto Responders

Unlimited Multi Recipient Addresses

Control Panel

Microsoft FrontPage Extensions

CGI Scripting in Perl

Server Side Includes

Active Server Pages

MSXML Scripting

Graphical Web Site Statistics

24/7 FTP Access

Search Engine Submission Tool

SPAM Filtering

Email Virus Protection

Email Technical Support

2GB Monthly Data Transfer

Microsoft Access Databases

7 Day Money Back Guarantee

Free Transfer To Another ISP

Annual cost excl. VAT £50.00

 

and this is the Unix plan

 

ULTRA Bronze

Web Space 150 MB

Monthly Transfer (Bandwidth) 5 GB

Control Panel

Domains

Parked / Mirrored Domains Unlimited

Subdomains 6

Web Forwarding

Email

Email Accounts (POP3 / IMAP) Unlimited

Email Forwarding Unlimited

Autoresponders Unlimited

Email Filtering

Email Virus Protection

Anti-SPAM blacklist checking

Spam Assassin

SMTP (Outgoing) Server

Webmail

Modify DNS MX Record

Management

FTP Accounts unlimited

Web Based File Manager

Download / Restore Backups

Custom Error Pages

Cron Job Scheduling

Security

Index Manager

Deny Access by IP

Directory Password Protection

Hot Link Protection

128 Bit SSL Secure Server

Development

FrontPage Extensions

PHP Scripting

Perl 5 CGI Scripting

Private cgi-bin

Server Side Includes (SSI)

MySQL Databases 3

phpMyAdmin

Statistics & Logs

Webalizer Stats

Awstats Stats

Error Log

Raw Access Log

Auto-install Scripts

phpBB

Invision Board

PHP-Nuke

osCommerce

Miscellaneous

Email Technical Support

7 Day Money Back Guarantee

Free Transfer To Another ISP

Annual cost excl. VAT £30.00

 

Personally I'll never use a lot of these features and have no idea what some of them even are http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif I would like to implement stuff such as the "Error pages" but haven't been able to work out how to do it.

One feature that me2uweb used to include which has now been removed is automatic search engine submission to the leading search engines, which is a real shame as that was a useful feature.

 

I'd definitely be interested in a host that would offer consulting for search engine optimisation, key word concept brainstorming, web site critiques etc.

Other features I'd like would be assistance with building Flash pages and/or Flash features such as creating Flash images. Help with databases may be useful to be able to have a searchable music database on my site such as the one I have on DJ Intelligence and some of the other features that DJ Intelligence & DJ Webmin offer like the planning forms etc.

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi

 

Cheers, some great feedback here.

 

To be honest, I love the DJ Intelligence system, I think it's worth every penny, but looking under the hood of it, it's not as sophisticated as they make it sound.

 

all their interactive pages are generated in Frontpage, which just requite some kind of database system, which is what MySQL is designed for.

 

I could certainly look at contracting a programmer to give you some of the DJ Intelligence functionality.

 

Especially the music database.

 

Other features I'd be looking at offering as part of a package would be...

 

Free Web Site builder

Access to free clipart, banners, flash templates, web templates etc.

Shopping cart software

Weblog software

content management system (especially useful if you know a little html but don't want the hassel of organising information

 

Ok back over to you guys.

 

Darren

 

Ps I'd certainly have a better help ssystem than me2uweb, that's a plug and play system they've just rented from the host provider I suspect.

 

[McCardle 1]

speaking from the viewpoint of somebody who knows nothing about building a website my interest would be to find a host which offers some basic form of point and click method to build one

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi

 

Yes, can do that easily.

 

Can either plug in a free version that does the job but is fairly basic.

 

A version that I would have to purchased a yearly licence for that is still pish easy but with a lot more customisation and functionality.

 

Or on the higher end packes, a CMS, Content management System that has a Website builder included and handles all your link structures and lay out etc. I'm just looking into that now and the system I'm trying out appears outstanding.

 

I'll keep you updated...

 

I'd be building an online help system that will be pretty comprehensive and will offer email support in respect of hosting package matters. How interested are you in paying a monthly subscription in respect of support for marketing, search engines etc.

 

We're not talking massive amounts, maybe £25 to £30 a year, dependant on popularity and time available.

 

Cheers

Darren

 

 

[Eskie 0]

QUOTE (Hugmaster @ Aug 4 2006, 09:48 AM)

Or on the higher end packes, a CMS, Content management System that has a Website builder included and handles all your link structures and lay out etc. I'm just looking into that now and the system I'm trying out appears outstanding.

Hi Darren, excuse my ignorance, what exactly would this CMS do/be used for?

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi

 

Ok let's go through the different systems available...

 

Free Web Builder...

 

Fairly basic but gets the job done. Write in your text, select your layout template and colour scheme and publish. virtually nothing in terms of customisation.

 

Licenced version: Same as free but contains much more in the way of variety and design features, still dead simple point and click though.

 

CMS:

CMS has a bit of a learnign curve involved, but once you have the principles clear, it's a much more flexible system. alows you to run news feeds, plug in subscription and membership features, has a very comprehensive WISIWYG web builder included and is basically the dog's danglies if you want something a bit more bells and whistles like.

 

The CMS is also fully customisable so you can plug your own templates in and edit and program to your heart's content.

 

I'll try putting up a demo site with the CMS so you can get a look.

 

Darren

[BigBen 0]

I've done a lot of this before Darren. I have sites hosted with 1and1 for sheer speed of setup and the ability to control the entire site from any web enabled PC in the world. Don't like them though!

 

I retain my ISP as host for the company official site. They offer no bells or whistles, but I don't need any for the main site.

 

However, I setup my own web hosting server with a great company called Clook. Their well spec'd servers run on the GNU/Linux platform and come with a huge amount of features including WHM, CPanel, Fantastico, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, WebMail, IMAP plus all the usual freebies. Take a look, I have the RS-3 package:

Clook RS-3

 

In answer to your original question, the perfect webhost would offer the typical stuff mentioned above but the single most important thing is support. Telephone is unusual nowadays, requires lots of staff, so quick email turnaround, decent knowledgebase, good articles/support documents, etc. are vital.

 

1&1's supporty is awful. Clook's is fantastic. My ISP is telephone support so we pay for it.

 

Get the support in place and you'll retain your customers.

[Tom 0]

Uhmm clook seem quite expensive, if you are looking for cheaper hosting look to America as the exchange rate is still good.

I get a resale account 10GB x 40GB for $100 a year. Its not the biggest package in the world but i only host sites i make and design for customers.

 

Something else which is quite important to remember an average user uses very little bandwidth and even less HD space, very surprised if an ordinary site comes any more over 5MB including everything even a DB.

 

My 2p!!

[HeadlineDJ 0]

Eskie, you need to create your own custom error pages and then edit your .htaccess file on the server so it knows that your custom error pages exist.

 

You can have custom error pages for almost any std web error page such as 404, 500 etc...

 

If you need further help you know how to contact me :)