6 down, 10 more to go

Just acquired myself a new reseller hosting account for the handful of personal domains i own and most of my clients’ websites @ www.web.com.ph. Great pricing and it’s a local Philippine company that can easily contact via live chat or SMS. At least it is now cost efficient to go crazy with hosting fees to go head-to-head with some local “web design” firms.

Already moved 6 domains to the new server, and I’ve got 10 more to go. I’m also thinking of transferring 4 more domains that I don’t own directly but was registered through my first hosting company based in Angeles City.

This blog should be last on the list of movers, expect some down time within the next few days.

Finding the right hosting company for your website

Finding the right web hosting company for your website may seem like child’s play for the inexperienced. With so many options out there, it is all too easy to pick the first one you see and entrust your website needs to them. From free hosting companies, to those that offer unlimited bandwidth at ridiculous low monthly fees, to those that offer on-the-fly-on-demand storage and bandwidth solutions - choosing seems as easy as putting a square piece into a square hole of a puzzle.

Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy - and Google doesn’t have the answers. Asking a search engine to find “the best web host” is like asking a monkey what its favorite banana is! It is easy to game search results for certain terms like the one I mentioned, and even easier for less than admirable companies to dupe unsuspecting customers. In this case, the “best web hosting company” advice from a search engine may not necessarily be the “right web hosting company” for your needs.

Here’s where WebHostingRating.com comes in - a website that reviews and rates webhosting companies based on reliability, pricing, and server features.

I myself is in the market for a new webhost that can fulfill my needs of reliable 24/7 uptime, storage isn’t much of an issue and flexible monthly rates is mandatory. Upon visiting WebHostingRating.com, you are immediately greeted with a “Top 10″ listing of highly-rated webhosting companies with a separate column for monthly pricing, bandwidth/storage provisions, and a thumbs-up review bar. And just from this list, I’ve already found 2 or 3 companies that I might consider taking my business to.

The site also offers a category listing of web hosting companies based on your needs, e.g.: Unix Hosting, Windows Hosting, VPN Services, Content Management System compatibility, etc. A highly informative and helpful Articles Section can also be found, and I personally recommend reading over the tips on Search Engine Optimization and E-Commerce guidelines. There is even a “Web Hosting Awards” that highlights a company’s specific service to help customers find, for example, the Best Ecommerce Hosting company.

So, overall, WebHostingRatings.com is a great find, a foolproof tool to helping us webmasters and site creators find the best webhosting company for our specific needs.

Oops! Internet Explorer fail on iBaguio.com fixed!

While playing around with various alternatives to Google AdSense at iBaguio.com, I inadvertedly broke the site’s compatibility with almost all flavors of Internet Explorer. I never bothered to check rendering issues with Microsoft’s maligned web browser after adding some of the html/js code required by Bidvertiser, ExitJunction, and AdBrite. Turns out all of the code had an amusing effect of crashing Internet Explorer instantly when site visitors open the website. I would have been quite content to leave the unintended effect on my hated browser intact, but I just couldn’t turn my back on 55% of iBaguio.com’s visitors who use this antiquated PoS. Firefox, Safari and Chrome seemed to do just fine with the site with all those JavaScript/js codes all over the XHTML.

After much trial and error, removing and debugging several scripts and code, it turns out it was the ad codes from ExitJunction that was causing the Internet Explorer crashes. The code has been removed and iBaguio.com is once again happily viewable by our technologically-challenged Windows users.

Hmmm, I think I’ll intentionally place some malevolent JS code up on the Baguio City website when the percentage of IE users drop to 25%.

Ditching Google AdSense: exploring alternatives

Google disabled my AdSense account for unknown reasons a couple of days ago. I’ve sent an appeal and have still heard nothing from them after 5 days. I’ll take this as a sign to move on and explore some alternatives - alternatives that are more transparent about profit sharing and actual ad costs. Transparency is something Google AdSense, and Google as whole, isn’t very good at.

Right now, after a few days of CPC/CPM/CTC research, I’ve narrowed down my field of choices to four services that offer the same thing (and a little extra):

1. Bidvertiser - Although their reporting system leaves much to be desired, and the template chooser isn’t too intuitive when it comes to multiple Ad layouts, I’m quite pleased with Bidvertiser. Cost-per-clicks are noticabley higher than Google AdSense. I’ve put this up on this blog and so far so good. I’ll do a follow-up post on Bidvertiser after a couple of months on their program. Another plus: no lengthy approval porcesses for sites, although I think they still check the sites you put the ads on.
2. Clicksor - I’ve read some raves from bloggers who love Clicksor and the ability to make some decent money from their ad system. I’ve put in a request for my Baguio website, still awaiting approval. I’d like to try out their inline-ad scheme.
3. ExitJunction - Now this is interesting, although I’m not quite sure if my site visitors will welcome this addition. ExitJunction uses your referral from a search engine to put up a full-page ad when the site visitor clicks the back button on the browser. The full-page ad, that masquerades as a search engine results page, bases the ad links on the search term used by your site visitors. Essentially, you’re trying to make as much money from your exit traffic. My Baguio City website has already been approved and I just put in the script to the page headers. I’ll be monitoring this quite closely, as I am not sure if visitors will be alright with the new ad scheme.
4. AdBrite - By all accounts, this seems to be #2 to AdSense in the world for pay-for-clicks advertising. So far, the ad zones don’t work properly on iBaguio.com so I had to remove them. Will revisit AdBrite for an upcoming web project to be lauched this summer.

Minus my disappointment in not receiving a couple hundred dollars in ad revenues that I probably will never see again, I believe this change in ad providers will prove to be a blessing-in-disguise. At least I don’t have to put up will Google AdSense’s cryptic reasoning and low payouts.