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Web Hosting - How To Select A Web Host
As with many purchases, our first impulse when selecting a web hosting company is to go with the cheapest. Hey, they're all alike, why pay more? Au contraire.
There are a number of objective criteria that separates one web hosting company from another and money is only one of them. And not the most important one. Selecting a company based on price alone is equivalent to selecting an auto mechanic on price alone. Sure, he may maintain or fix your car cheaper. But will the car spend all the time in the shop and none on the road?
The first consideration is 'horsepower'. Do they have the capacity to carry your load and deliver decent performance? Most hosting companies will advertise that they have huge bandwidth and hundreds of servers. They're usually telling the truth.
But there's a difference between existing capacity and usable capacity. If they also have thousands of sites with millions of visitors per day the available or free capacity will be much lower. A big pickup truck may be able to tow 5,000 lbs. But not if it's already carrying 4,999.
Be sure to ask about available capacity, and have the prospective company back it up with reliable numbers. If you can't interpret the information they provide, find someone to help you do so.
Next, and a very close second, is reliability. A lot of power is worthless if it's cut often. Outages are a normal part of business. Even Google and Microsoft go down from time to time. The difference is, it happens rarely and they have failover plans. That means, if their site/system does go down it's either up again in a flash, or you never see the outage because a backup system kicks in automatically and seamlessly.
Be sure to grill the company closely about their up time. They'll often tout 99.6%, or some such figure. But, like the on-time figures of the airlines, those numbers can be shaded by adjusting the definition of 'up time'. What matters to you is whether your visitors will be able to reach your site at any time of the day or night they might want to.
Find out what systems, both technical and human, they have in place to deal with failures of all sorts. Servers can go down, networks can fail, hard disks can become defective and lose data even when the other components continue to work fine. The result is YOUR site is unavailable, which is all that matters to you. The web hosting company should be able to deal with all of that and have you up again very quickly.
Last, but not least, is security. With the continuing prevalence of viruses and spam, you need to know that the web hosting company you select has an array of methods for dealing with them. That means a good technical plan and staff who are knowledgeable in dealing with those issues. The old saying: 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' is more true here than anywhere else.
All these issues are central to finding a web hosting company that can deliver the services you need. After those criteria are satisfied by a number of candidates, then you can start narrowing them down by price.
Proctor and Gamble Great at the Freebie Thing Do you have a favorite manufacturer that you like to tap into for free product samples and coupons? For those in the know, the Proctor and Gamble Corporation is one of the best companies for getting your share of freebies. This popular manufacturer is well known as the creator of many fine household products. For freebie hunters, the Proctor and Gamble Corporation are known as one of the most reliable sources for awesome freebie deals and promotions. Here are some hints and tips at become at an ace at getting freebies from your favorite manufacturer. Get to Know the Proctor and Gamble Corporation for the Best Shot at Great Freebies If you want the best shot at getting the best freebies from Proctor and Gamble, you will find that they are very generous with their free samples and coupon freebies. But you will have to take the time to know the company. Peruse their website and get to know their promotion schedule. The Proctor and Gamble Corporation is a favorite with many freebie hunters because it provides consumers with a wide range of products and they even maintain a special webpage dedicated exclusively to their current promotions and offers. Once you have located this page on their official website, go ahead and bookmark it for future reference. Check with the site periodically to see what offers and promotions are currently on the table. Enable Flash to Get the Most Out of the Proctor and Gamble Page Recently, the Proctor and Gamble Corporation, along with many other streamlined websites, has added a Flash based scrolling design to display their current offers and promotions. In order to view these promotions, you will have to make sure that you have Flash enabled on your web browser. These scrolling offers are shown at the bottom of the page. Check these often and carefully as new offers are added periodically. Read the scrolling items carefully. Some of them will link you to official sweepstakes offers, while others will lead you straight to freebie offers and coupons. Selecting the Proctor and Gamble Offers that Most Interest You In order to get the best deals, visit the promotions page on the official Proctor and Gamble website. From there, you can select all the free offers that most interest you. The Proctor and Gamble webpage usually comes loaded with a healthy selection of free samples, sweepstakes and coupon offers. Another thing you can do to make sure that you always have access to great Proctor and Gamble promotions is to get on their mailing list. Make sure you select the products you are most interested in so that you will get pertinent mailers and coupons. Read the Fine Print on Proctor and Gamble Offers and Promotions When it comes to manufacturer promotions, time is of the essence. Most great deals and offers will not last forever. Make a note of the expiration date of the deals you are interested in. Read the fine print on the promotions. Most will only be available to United States residents. However, international customers do not have to despair. Simply look for the global link on the main page. This will connect you to other pages that offer you pertinent promotions for your country of residence. For the most part, Proctor and Gamble has established itself as a worthy generator of freebies, coupons and sweepstakes offers. Chances are that you will find your freebies in the mail within a few short weeks of making your initial request. Are There Any Risks Associated with Getting Proctor and Gamble Promotions? Some people are wary about handing over their personal contact information to a company. If this is a concern with you, make sure that you read the company's own privacy policy. As a general rule, you should avoid making requests and giving personal information to companies that do not offer you easy access to their privacy policy. A Top Notch Cover Letter Can Get your Foot in the Door If you have ever looked for a job, then you know that it is tough out there. Competition is always fierce, especially for those ?dream job? type of positions ? great company, great benefits, and great pay. If you want your resume to rise to the top of the pile in the Human Resources department and you want to get that call for an interview, then you need something to make your resume stand out from the rest. The best way to draw attention to everything you have to offer is to have a cover letter that jumps right off the page and grabs the attention of the reader. The cover letter is your first chance to make an impression, so make sure your cover letter makes you the one potential hire that is definitely going to be getting a call. Before you can get into the content of your cover letter, you have to cover your basics. You should never, ever have a ?form? cover letter that you use with every resume you send. Tailor your cover letter specifically to each individual employer, mentioning their company and the position for which you want to be considered. Address the letter to the correct person ? if you?re not sure who will be doing the hiring, call the company and ask. Don?t assume you can address your letter to the HR department and have that be close enough. Taking the time to write a personal cover letter to each company lets your potential employer know you pay attention to detail right off the bat. Of course, you should also make sure that your cover letter is grammatically correct and free of typos. A sloppy cover letter is a one way ticket to the trash can for your resume. Once you have your basics in order, you can turn your attention to what you are actually going to write in the cover letter. Your cover letter is your sales pitch to the company; you need to let them know why they should bet on your when they hire for the position. One great way to sell yourself is to show off how much you already know about the company. Let them know why you want to work there by specifically mentioning projects the company has been involved in that you admire or talking about the position of the company within the field. As you show off how much you know about the company, draw attention to the ways you can actively help the company grow and succeed by drawing parallels between your experience and their work. After you have shown that you have done your homework and know about the company, go into some detail about the unique aspects of your work history. Draw attention to any special achievements or awards and any educational background you have that makes you a good candidate for the job. Remember, your resume will be attached to the cover letter, so you don?t have to go into great detail. Just pick out the highlights that will make the reader want to turn the page and delve into your resume. How you close your cover letter makes as much difference has how you open it. State again exactly what job you want to be considered for, and suggest that you come in for an interview. You can also suggest a few dates and time for an interview to show that you are eager to move on to the next step. You should also give a time and date that you will call to follow up on your resume. A pleasant closing and your signature seal the deal on your winning cover letter. |