HTML5 is gaining more popularity and starting to evolutionise the entire web interface. Even some web developers quoted that HTM5 elements and visual effects are comparable to Flash. The new scripting style is easy to understand and capabilities to enhance the web interface is limitless. So how interesting is this HTML5 anyway?

This article is intended to give readers an insight on what you should know about the HTML5 and most importantly some tips & tricks on creating lightweight, attractive, and interactive HTML5 pages.

1. Basic in HTML5

Before we begin any further of this topic in HTML5, it will be good to check your current browser first. As many of the browsers are still in the development mode (enhancement to accomodate the HTML5), some features mentioned here may not be supportable.

Here’s a quick tips to check your browser compatibility.

To understand further the limitation of certain browser, you may refer to here.

2. Text Effects – Adding shadow and advance text effect in HTML5

Basic shadow effect on text

This is the simplest one string code that transform your ordinary headline into a cool-looking text. Never underestimate the shadow effect. To create this similar looking effect requires web designer to go through multiple steps of image editing in Photoshop. And now all it takes is just one line of code. The shadow distance, color can be changed to your heart content.

Coding sample

#shadow h1 {
text-shadow: 0px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,.2);
}

Text on advance fire-like effect

The next tip is to show you on how the HTML5 coding can be tweaked into a even cooler-looking text. If you experiment enough, or find other examples, the possibilities of customizing the effects are endless. Note: this example is not created by any image editing software. Just plain codes in HTML5.

Coding sample

#fire h1 {
text-align: center;
margin: 200px auto;
font-family: "League-Gothic", Courier;
font-size: 200px; text-transform: uppercase;
color: #fff;
text-shadow: 0 0 20px #fefcc9, 10px -10px 30px #feec85, -20px -20px 40px #ffae34, 20px -40px 50px #ec760c, -20px -60px 60px #cd4606, 0 -80px 70px #973716, 10px -90px 80px #451b0e;
}

Other great example: http://mudcu.be/labs/HTML5Rocks/Text-Effects.html#spaceage

3. Rounded corner in HTML5

Styling the webpage layout in HTML5 has never been so easy since the introduction of css. And now you can even have a rounded corners of your layout elements! Imagine this; no more slicing background image, no more messy picture fragments. This will bring many cheers to the web designers out there.

Coding sample

div {
border: 2px solid #434343;
padding: 10px;
background: #e3e3e3;
-moz-border-radius: 10px;
-webkit-border-radius: 10px;
width: 500px;
}

Note: Moz means Mozilla, and webkit is for Safari and Chrome.

Other great example: http://fjd1.com/roundcorner.html

4. Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) in HTML5

Scalable Vector Graphic or commonly known as (SVG) is a 2-Dimension vector graphics which is defined in XML text files. In another words, because their DNA is based on XML text file, they can be created or editable on the web platform. Which also means, there can be scale easily, and search engines are able to read and understand the image.

Sample code

<svg id="svg-area" width="838" height="140" viewBox="0 0 2000 380">
<rect x="100" y="20" rx="25" width="100" height="335" fill="#FAEBD7" stroke="purple" stroke-width="2" />
<rect x="-50" y="300" width="300" height="75" fill="none" stroke="#4B0082" stro ke-width="4" transform="rotate(-30)" />

<path d="M 950,200 h -150 a 150,150 0 1,0 150,-150 z" fill="red" stroke="blue" stroke-width="5" />
<path d="M 925,175 v -150 a 150,150 0 0,0 -150,150 z" fill="yellow" stroke="blue" stroke-width="5" />
<path d="M 1450,350 l 50,-25
a 25,25 -30 0,1 50,-25 l 50,-25
a 25,50 -30 0,1 50,-25 l 50,-25
a 25,75 -30 0,1 50,-25 l 50,-25
a 25,100 -30 0,1 50,-25 l 50,-25"
fill="none" stroke="red" stroke-width="5" />
</svg>

Other great examples:

• http://codinginparadise.org/projects/svgweb/samples/demo.html?name=photos&svg.render.forceflash=false
• http://playground.html5rocks.com/#inline_svg

5. Embedding movie file in HTML5

Here’s another interesting part to showcase the capabilities of HTML5. Many of the video online are usually presented to webuser in the form of Flash. Until recently, embedding video in HTML5 slowly gaining momentum (YouTube is good example) and Flash is slowly losing its attractiveness. Why is that so? Mobile users. If you want your video to be able to play in both iPhone and Android phones, HTML5 is the way to move forward.

To embed the video, you’ll need to know there currently 3 formats supported by different browsers; .mp4 (H.264+AAC), .ogg (Theora + Vorbis), .webm (VP8 + Vorbis)

Sample code

<video width="560" height="340" controls>
<source src="path/to/myvideo.mp4" type=’video/mp4; codecs="avc1.42E01E, mp4a.40.2"’>
<source src="path/to/myvideo.ogv" type=’video/ogg; codecs="theora, vorbis"’>
</video>

Other great example : http://studio.html5rocks.com/#PiP

6. Slide Presentation in HTML5

Powerpoint has been a synonym name associate with slide presentation. But why confine yourself with a offline presentation where you can create slides meant for web audience? HTML5 has come to the rescue in creating much powerful presentation slides, complete with transition and navigation menu. The best part is, you can even apply 3D transform to your presentation.

Sample code

pre {
transition: all 1s ease-inout;
}

pre:hover {
background-color: #F2F5FE;
border-color: black;
}

div {
transform: rotate3d(1,1,0, 45deg);
}

Other great examples:

• http://www.script-tutorials.com/creating-an-attractive-presentation-with-html5/
• http://www.html5rocks.com/en/features/presentation

7. Editable Content in HTML5

Static text is so old-school in the age where flexibility and dynamic rule the world. In HTML5, you can define a text area made it editable by the web user without text editor.

Sampel code

<p contenteditable="true">This content is editable!</p>

Other great example: http://html5demos.com/contenteditable

8. Interactive Web Canvas in HTML5

Besides SVG in HTML5, canvas is the next best thing that ever happened to the web. Canvas allows rendering of 2 dimension shapes that bring interactivity to a whole level without the help from Flash.

Nevertheless, the simple coding in HTML5 that creates amazing animation interaction is worth to mentioned in here.

Other great examples:

• http://www.bestfreewebresources.com/2010/09/10-best-html5-canvas-applications.html
• http://addyosmani.com/blog/13-incredibly-fresh-new-canvas-demos/

9. Drag and Drop in HTML5

Drag and drop (sometimes known as DnD) is another cool feature that available to HTML5. A great example would be implementation by Google in their Gmail. If you’re using any of the HTML5 supportable browsers, you can simply drag a file from your computer and drop onto the compose message window. It will be automatically add in as an attachment. How cool is that?

Sample code (native DnD)

document.addEventListener(‘dragstart’, function(event) {
event.dataTransfer.setData(‘text’, ‘Customized text’);
event.dataTransfer.effectAllowed = ‘copy’;
}, false);

Other great example: http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/dnd/basics/

10. Pure CSS Data Chart in HTML5

Before HTML5, it is also impossible to create a presentable chart by just using coding in HTML. Furthermore, changing the data value and to reflect in the chart is no simple task. Again, HTML5 to the rescue. Together with CSS, you can create an absolutely beautiful chart which put Microsoft Excel to shame. The codes are simple, and all you need to do is spending time to customize the perfect color and effect for your chart.

Other great example : http://cssglobe.com/post/1272/pure-css-data-chart

Tutorial on creating the HTML5 chart using jQuery plugin, go to: http://www.catswhocode.com/blog/how-to-easily-create-charts-using-jquery-and-html5

More Learning Resources On HTML5

Just got started in HTML5 and need some newbie crash course? Well, Udemy has the best in it. Taught by Robin Nixon, author of Learning PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript, the course covers pretty much everything a newbie need to know in HTML5, including basic HTML coding, HTML5 canvas for drawing, geolocation, local storage, as well as HTML5 audio and video.

 Check out Udemy’s HTML5 Beginners Crash Course

1. Slide Down Box Menu

Slide Down Box Menu: Navigation is something all of your visitors will notice. In this tutorial learn how to create a unique sliding box navigation.

2. Elegant Accordion with jQuery and CSS3

Elegant Accordion with jQuery and CSS3: Codrops developed another great tutorial outlining how to use jQuery to create vertical accordion tabs that slide out when hovering and CSS3 to enhance the looks.

3. Minimalistic Navigation

Minimalistic Navigation: A very simplistic take at navigation with a very easy how-to.

4. Making a Photobooth Web App

Making a Photobooth Web App: Learn how to build a photobooth that allows your website visitors to take a snapshot with their web camera and upload it from a neat CSS3 interface.

5. Image Gallery

Image Gallery: This tutorial shows you how to create a stunning image gallery in CSS3 that remains compatible with browsers that are not quite up-to-date.

6. Music Player Menu

CSS3 Music Player Menu: This tutorial will show you how to create a Music Player Menu using only CSS3 properties instead of using images.

7. Typography

CSS3 Typography: You’d swear this text was created using Photoshop, but no, it’s all CSS3!

8. Drop Down Menu with Integrated Forms

Drop Down Menu with Integrated Forms: This tutorial will show you how to couple jQuery and CSS3 to integrate forms with a dropdown menu.

9. Animated Vignette Buttons

Animated Vignette Buttons: Using multiple backgrounds in CSS3, this tutorial shows you how to create a unique hover effect.

10. Dynamic Stack of Cards

Dynamic Stack of Cards: This tutorial will help you dive into CSS3 transformations and transitions.

11. My Notes

My Notes: This is a a handy little tool that allows you to add and edit notes.

12. Contextual Slideout Tutorial

Contextual Slideout Tutorial: This tutorial will walk you through how to create easily configurable contextual slideouts.

13. Cufonized Fly Out Menu

Cufonized Fly Out Menu: This unique take on menu adds a little extra flavor to the navigation.

14. Bottom Slide Out Menu

Bottom Slide Out Menu: This tutorial offers another unique way to set your navigation apart from normal.

15. Slidebox

Slicebox: This is a great new image slider that has a built in fallback for browsers that don’t support the code yet.

16. Multi-Step Signup Form

Multi-Step Signup Form: A simple tutorial to create a multi-step form, including a progress bar!

17. Slide Out Boxes

Slide Out Boxes: This tutorial will help you make a widget to help your related blogs stand out.

18. Interactive Photo Desk

Interactive Photo Desk: This is a fun, interactive way to display pictures to your website viewers.

19. Simple Toolbar

Simple Toolbar: Toolbars have become very popular on websites and this tutorial will show you how to easily create one.

20. Content Slider

Content Slider: This tutorial outlines an easy way to rotate the background at the same time the heading and descriptions are sliding in and out.

Below are 30 cool examples of websites using HTML5.

1. Green House

The Green Houses uses the <nav> and <hgroup> HTML5 tags to create this beautiful looking website. The website also includes information on turning your house into a greenhouse to help save the environment.

Take a look at what you can do to help the planet.

2. Vlog.it

Vlog uses the <nav> HTML5 along with a lot of JavaScript to make this site truly stand out. This site is definitely worth taking a look at if you have some extra time.

Take a look at Vlog.it

3. Overlapps

Overlapps is a headquarters for mobile device applications. This site uses the <section> HTML5 tag and JavaScript to bring the page to life.

Take a look at some Apps for your phone.

4. The Elder Scrolls Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim is a site dedicated to Elder Scrolls Fans. This site only has a couple HTML5 tags in it but combined with JavaScript the developers were able to make a beautiful site for the fans of this game. If you are a gamer this site is definitely worth taking a look at.

Take a look around The Elder Scrolls Skyrim

5. Banner Inspiration

Banner Inspiration did a great job developing a website that is interactive with the viewers. The site only uses a couple elements new to HTML5 but they did a great job mixing it up with JavaScript and CSS.

Take a look at Banner Inspiration

6. HTML5 Awesome

The name says it all here; HTML5 Awesome uses many different elements exclusive to HTML5 to bring their site to life. Some of the major tags used include <selection>, <nav>, <header>, <figure>, <aside>, the meta charset element, and many others. This site is truly HTML5Awsome.

Take a look at HTML5 awesome for yourself.

7. Cibgraphics

Cibgraphics is a design studio that provides printed materials and web design to their clients. Their site uses the <section> and <footer> HTML5 tags nicely to bring you a clean yet powerful website.

Take a look at Cibgraphics website.

8. Keyzo

Keyzo is an IT solutions company that provides a range of services to meet their client’s needs. It is clear that Keyzo’s website was developed around HTML5 because the <section>, <header>, and <footer> elements were used frequently.

Stop by and take a look at Keyzo.co.uk

9. CSS Winner

CSSWINNER is a website show case for developers to show off their work. The site was built using only a couple HTML5 elements and a lot of JavaScript and CSS.

Take a look at some of the sites being featured at CSSWINNER.

10. Catcubed

Catcubed is a site about art, code, and design. The site has a unique look and is loaded with HTML5 elements. Some of the elements being used include <nav>, <article>, <header>, and <footer>.

Take a look at Catcubed’s unique website.

11. CSS Religion

CSS Religion is a site all about religion and is presented in a clean and efficient manner. The site does not use much HTML5 native elements but it is loaded with CSS that works with HTML5.

Take a look at the layout of CSS Religion.

12. An Event Apart

An Event Apart is a website that offers training for web developers all over the country. The site is built to attract the attention of web developers and it uses a lot of different features to do this.

Take a look at An Event Apart.

13. CSS Menu Samples

CSS Menu Samples is another site designed to show off work. It was built around the <header> and <footer> HTML5 native elements and is an attractive website.

Take a look at CSS Menu Samples’ showcase.

14. MW Template

MW Template is designed to show off websites that have gone the extra mile and created an impressive mobile website. MW Templates is another site that only uses the basic HTML5 tags and a whole lot of JavaScript and CSS. This site is very interesting if you are into mobile devices.

View some of the best mobile websites at MW Templates.

15. HTML Email Gallery

HTML Email Gallery is dedicated to emails that are HTML based. The sire offers enough content to keep you busy for a while. HTML Email Gallery is loaded with native HTML5 tags including <section>, <nav>, <header>, and <footer>.

Take a look at some HTML based emails.

16. The Inspiration Grid

The Inspiration Grid is a site designed to provide inspiration to the viewers with a gorgeous website. This site uses the <section> tag nicely and is designed for user interaction.

Get inspired at The Inspiration Grid.

17. Landing Page Gallery

The Landing Page Gallery is another site designed to showcase website. This site focuses on displaying the landing page of impressive websites. Like most other gallery sites this site was built using a lot of HTML5 tags. Some of the tags used include <header>, <section>, and <footer>.

Take a look at some cool landing pages.

18. Rockstar Working

Rockstar Working is a web site designing company with a unique website of their own. This site was designed to draw in the users attention and was built using the <header>, <section>, and <footer> HTML5 commands.

Checkout Rockstar Working’s website.

19. Teespiration

Teespiration is a website that sells unique tee shirts. This website is loaded with JavaScript, CSS, and some HTML5 elements. This site is worth taking a look at even if you are not in the mood to buy a new tee.

Check out some tee shirts at Teespiration.

20. Garbage.ro

Garbage.ro has a very unique website that uses blocks for navigation and content display. This site was designed primarily on JavaScript while still using some HTML5 elements. I have to say I have not seen many sites with this type of design.

Take a look at Garbage.ro’s truly unique site.

21. JQM Gallery

JQM Gallery is a gallery of cool and unique mobile websites. This site was built using mainly on JavaScript and CSS but it does use some HTML5 functions. If you are looking for ideas for a mobile website this is a good starting point.

Check out some mobile websites at JQM Gallery.

22. Theme Design Gallery

Theme Design Gallery is a website dedicated to showing off and selling cool and unique websites. This site was built using a mix of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML5 to give the viewer the best experience.

Get some website ideas from Theme Design Gallery.

23. Will Work for Art

Will Work for Art is a site that is designed to show case different types of art. This site was not designed like a typical gallery giving it some extra points in my book. This site release heavily on the <article> HTML5 tag and without it the site would not be able to function.

View some cool art at Will Work for Art.

24. Web Banner Galler

Web Banner Gallery is a banner display site that offers a user rating section. This site was built using a mix of HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. Web Banner Gallery offers an easy way to view highly ranked web banners for webmasters to view and get ideas from.

Check out some banners at Web Banner Gallery.

25. Codedread

Codedread is a site that offers code for games and other projects. It is setup in a completely different way than most other sits of this type. The site was designed using mainly only tags found in HTML5.

Get some code for your next project from Codedread.

26. Empire State Recordings

Empire State Recordings is a site all about music. This site was designed to be unique and stand out. Empire State Recordings was built using CSS, JavaScript, and of course HTML5.

Listen to some music and Empire State Recordings.

27. Editorial Template

Editorial Template is a WordPress template that is designed to meet the publishing requirements of digital magazines. This site is one of the few sites that I have seen to actually use the <canvas> tag.

Take a look at Editorial Template’s website

28. CSS3 Designer

CSS3 Designer is a site that makes cool CSS3 buttons for webmasters. This site has a great layout ad was built using the <article>, <section>, <header>, and <footer> HTML5 tags.

Make yourself a new button at CSS3 Designer.

29. AX Visual

AX Visual Design Studio offers design services to meet the needs of their clients. This site has outstanding images on it and was built using the <header>, <footer>, and <section> HTML5 tags.

Take a look at Ax Visual’s website.

30. Film Review Friday

Film Review Friday is a film review site that is designed for smaller, or Tweet sized, film reviews. This site is loaded with HTML5 tags and has a unique look to it. The site uses many tags only available in HTML5 like the <header>, <footer>, <article>, and <section> tags.

Take a look at some of Film Review Friday’s film reviews.

Side note: In case you are new to HTML 5 and wish to learn more, also check out Jerry’s post on Learn HTML 5: 10 Must Read Lessons.

Sound interesting? Well then you gotta check out this interview. Terry Myers, our guest from VPS Net today, has done a termendous job answering my questions and I am sure you guys will learn a lot from this interview.

So, without wasting anytime, here goes…

Q&A With Terry Myers, Chief Evangelist of VPS Net

Hello Terry. I am grateful to have you as my guest at WebHostingSecretRevealed. Without wasting any time, let’s get some introduction done for start! Please tell us more about yourself and your role at VPS Net.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk to your visitors. We’re very proud that you’ve chosen to speak to us, and have allowed us to be featured on your site, and we’re very glad to give your visitors a 30% off coupon code (WHSR). I’m the Chief Evangelist at VPS.NET; I’ve worked for VPS.NET since early 2010, in a few different roles.  My primary job function is to work with our customers to develop a customized solution unique to their needs that allows their site to be online and fast, no matter what the circumstances. You’ll also find me playing on Twitter, which is especially fun.

The company, VPS Net, has been around for quite some time, how did you guys first get started? And, what kind of hosting services does VPS Net provide?

VPS.NET has been around since 2009. The original idea was just be your everyday VPS host, and then we got creative and started working on what we call a ‘cloud vps’ now.

Basically what a cloud VPS is, is instead of your VPS being constricted to one server, it can be hosted on multiple servers. We often see that if a traditional VPS host has a hardware problem with the server, they’ll be down until the hardware is replaced. That’s not the case with a cloud VPS. Additionally, there’s no reboots required or anything like that if you need to add additional resources to your VPS. Just choose how many you want, and it’s done!

That’s cool! Besides cloud VPS, VPS Net also provides Content Delivery Network (CDN) service at a very attractive price. We all knew CDN reduces a site’s load time greatly but many have no idea on how it works. Please tell us more about CDN services at VPS Net.

The CDN is an awesome product – I like to say that it can turbocharge a website. It really expands upon our cloud VPS. So, instead of your website being hosted in just one location, it’s hosted in several; in our case, over 30, throughout the world.

And, would it be very troublesome for an existing site to transfer its statics file to CDN?

Every file is automatically downloaded to each CDN location, so there’s really no additional work needed on your end.

Can you explain, in detail, how VPS Net Reseller Program works?

Our reseller program is geared towards providing smaller webhosts that don’t have the desire or capital to invest in their own infrastructure, to start offering their own clients cloud servers. While as I said, it’s geared towards web hosts, anyone can actually signup for the reseller program. Essentially each reseller is given an upfront discount, which allows them to mark up the cost of the VPS product, and make a profit. There’s no fixed monthly costs or bulk purchase commitments required, so it’s a very quick and easy way to get started selling your own cloud VPS servers, without have any expenses added.

Kindly tell us more about the hardware behind VPS Net hosting operations?

I can share some information. Our servers that power the cloud are Dual Xeons, with lots of RAM. Exact figures and SAN information are proprietary information though. I can assure you we use nothing but the best – running enterprise hardware saves us a lot of headaches.

VPS Net has won the trust of some very popular websites, including WooThemes. How does this affect the company’s business?

We love Adii, and his company, WooThemes.

They’ve been a great client to work with, and we look forward to continuing to grow with them. Being a cloud provider, we see situations requiring instant scalability for many fortune 500 companies and other large websites. Just recently we had a client who hosts a popular fan site for a TV show, and at the season finale the visitor count went from 100 online users to close to 1,000. Our team was able to optimize the server and add the necessary amount of resources to keep their site online. It was very exciting, but just part of everyday business as a web host.

Great, this leads us to my next question. ‘Overselling ‘ is pretty much the norm nowadays in hosting industry – I see ultra-cheap unlimited hosting deals everywhere online.

However, this practice does not apply to VPS Net – especially when you are handling big clients who need to handly massive web traffics. Do you think this policy (of no-overselling) is hurting the company’s profit; and, what’s your opinion in this?

No, I don’t think it hurts out profitability.

Overselling isn’t a bad thing – it has helped pricing for hosting come down considerably, however there is a certain opportunity cost still associated to it on the hosts end. Our clients are much more demanding than a typical shared hosting client, and much more likely to use their resources assigned to them, especially without any defined intervals. Therefore, for the sake of customer satisfaction, and stability of our infrastructure, overselling is something we will not participate in.

"I wish to switch to VPS Net but it seems too complicated/ I am not good with tech/ I am unfamiliar with cloud hosting/ etc etc". What would you say to these not-so-geek but potential VPS Net customers?

There is definitely a higher level of technical skill required for our cloud server product, and we acknowledge that, which is why we have developed our newly launched cloud hosting product. It works just like a normal shared hosting account, however it’s based off our cloud infrastructure, so you still get the benefits like the added redundancy and scalability the cloud provides.

Terry, what’s the next big step you think the cloud hosting industry is going to take in near future? Where do you see VPS Net in the next 3 – 5 years?

As one of the original cloud hosts in the market, we’ve really seen the market come quite far; it’s been exciting to see! In order for the cloud hosting industry to continue to mature, we as hosts are going to continue to develop our product so that the everyday consumer is capable of taking advantage of what it offers, because it is beneficial for everyone. It can save money in multiple ways, help you grow and so on. That’s what we’re going to aim for.

One last question, please tell us more about VPS Net after-sales service. What kind of support can we expect from VPS Net?

Our cloud servers are an unmanaged product but we do have the option to add managed services for an additional fee though. With that said, we’re not cruel people, and leave you out in the cold when you need help. Our management team participates on the @VPSNET Twitter account on a daily basis, while also being contactable at mgmt@vps.net at all times, and we encourage clients to interact. It makes the day go by faster. Our support staff is also available 24/7, and willing to provide any help they can.

That’s all for our interview Terry. Thank you very much for your time and I wish all the best to you and VPS Net.

I have always wanted to write a practical guide for those who are searching for cheap web hosting. Reason? One, you don’t see many articles (that actually help) on this topic so it makes perfect sense for me to tackle on it; two, it’s simply because I hate seeing uninformed webmasters being overcharged year after year.

I was a real dumb when I first started my Internet business – I stuck in not one, but two, extremely overpriced hosting deals. First it was with Network Eleven, where I kept paying $34.99 monthly for a reseller hosting account that I don’t need – it took me a while to cancel it because they refused to accept my cancellation (can you believe that?); then comes Gate Hosting, where I was charged on a very high price tag for a hosting account that allows me to host just one domain with awfully limited features.

Those experiences suck. And I do not want it to happen on you.

Alright, enough history. This article is not about me, it’s about you. I am here to teach you how to take advantage of cheap web hosting services and how to get a good web host without breaking your wallet.

First thing first, define "Cheap Web Hosting"

How cheap a hosting plan needs to be in order to fall into the ‘cheap web hosting’ category?

Quick answer: Below $5/mo, with adequate features.

By adequate features, I mean web hosting plans that come with hosting features that match current market standard. In brief, these hosting plans should (at least) cover features of hosting unlimited domains, basic web statistics, unlimited email and web mail accounts, auto script installations, updated PHP and MySQL, basic after-sale technical support, 99.5% server uptime and a stable server network.

Cheap web host (under $5/mo) I reviewed

Here is the list of hosting services I reviewed that cost under $5 per month. Some of them are good, some are bad; and they are all listed here because of the cheap price tag (under $5/mo subscription fees).

Cheap Web Host	Features	Price/mo	Details
iPage	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$4.50	iPage Review Visit Online
FatCow	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$3.67	FatCow Review Visit Online
JustHost	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$4.95	JustHost Review Visit Online
HostPapa	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$3.95	HostPapa Review Visit Online
Pow Web	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$3.88	PowWeb Review Visit Online
Web Hosting Pad	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$1.99	W.H.Pad Review Visit Online
LunarPages	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$4.95	Lunarpages Review Visit Online
Dot 5 Hosting	Bandwidth: Unlimited Disk Space: Unlimited Addon Domain: Unlimited	$3.95	Dot5 Review Visit Online

Reviews and opinions are all written based on my own experience (yes, I tested most of them by myself) and personal reference. I always try to write from an unbiased angle but it should be clear to you that I receive compensation from most of these hosting companies.

Catch-22 behind the low price tags. And, how to counter these problems and take advantage of cheap hosting deals?

Before you draw your old conclusion that all cheap hosting suck, you need to understand that these hosting companies are in business for money as well. There will be drawbacks and pitfalls when you go cheap – No doubt about it.

But hey, that’s the norm in every industry around the globe! So what do you do then? Sit back, rant all day, and do nothing? No! Our task here is not to complain, but to tackle these unavoidable drawbacks and save some bucks.

Given below are some "standard catch-22" and my solutions.

Problem: Unnecessary software charges

[Solution]: Cheap hosting companies make money by recommending additional add-ons and software to their customers. Some will find these add-ons useful; while some will find them wastes of money. The solution to this is pretty simple: Be sceptical with every emails and suggestions you receive from your hosting companies. Avoid clicking blindly and do your research before signing up for any add-ons in your account. In short, be a smart Internet shopper, problem fixed.

Problem: Rushed Servers, Overselling

[Solution]: Check server uptime and read meaningful hosting reviews before signing up a cheap web host. If a hosting company keep receiving complains on server outage and slow network speeds, chances are the web host has some rushed server blocks and it’s best to avoid them.

*A little extra on server uptime: No one wants to host their website with a faulty web host. Go search for uptime record and experts’ comment on the shortlisted web hosts. There are various free services available online for this purpose and BestHostRating.com for example, runs a huge database of web host uptime record (see examples below). Personally, I also use Pingdom and Uptime Robot for uptime tracking – these tools are easy to use and completely free.

InMotion	Hostgator	FatCow
Bluehost	WebHostingPad	PowWeb

Problem: Bad neighbourhood in the shared server

[Solution]: These days hosting companies have quite strict policy against spammers and hackers; thus I don’t worry too much about bad neighbourhood. The only way to deal with a bad neighbour is to request your host to suspend his/her account.

Problem: Black-Holed IP

[Solution]: Cheap web hosts are often exploited by spammers to send out junk mails. It’s recommended to check your web host IP on SpamHaus Block List as soon as you got your account. If unfortunately your server IP is on the list, request a relocation. If your web host refuse to do so, the only other solution is to switch host.

Problem: Poor technical support

[Solution]: Not much we can do to a host with poor support. For newbies, the best thing to do is to avoid those with bad after-sales support. Talk with the support department before you place your order, ask related technical questions (such as inodes limits, CPU cycles, Ruby on Rails, etc) and judge their quality based on the responses. For the experienced one, well, you can always make use of WebmasterWorld.com and WebHostingTalk.com for technical issues – Why bother too much, right?

Problem: Hidden cancellation fees

[Solution]: Avoid, I repeat, avoid any cheap web host that charges unreasonable cancellation fees. Read TOS (quick tip: go to the host’s TOS page, press Ctrl + F, search for keyword like ‘cancellation’ and ‘refund’) clearly and make sure how cancellation is done. Do not go with those with fishy cancellation policy no matter how cheap they are.

Problem: Limited MySQL databases

[Solution]: Some web hosts will limit the usage of MySQL databases to cut cost on CPU power. Before you order, make sure that the web hosts support sufficient number of databases. Skip those with too little (100 is the minimum acceptable number) as there are plenty of cheap hosts come with unlimited MySQL.  

Problem: Expensive renewal fees

[Solution]: Renewal price for cheap hosting plans are normally higher than signup price (for example, iPage promotion price is $2.95/mo during signup; and for renewal, it’s $6.95/mo) – that’s how hosting companies lure customers to switch host. In case the web host (that you wish to go with) support ‘Anytime Money Back Guarantee’, it’s better to sign up for a longer subscription period to enjoy the low price. For renewals, the only way to keep prices low is to do ‘web host hoping’ (meaning, keep switching host every time when the contract expires).

Problem: Lengthy subscription period for the cheap price tag

[Solution]: Some web hosts will request their customers to subscribe for a very lengthy period in exchange of the low price tags. Lunarpages $4.95/mo hosting deal, for example, is only available for customers who are willing to pay 5 years up front. Unless you are allowed to cancel and ask for a refund anytime during the subscription period; else such deal is a big no-go.

Problem: Limited allowable inodes

[Solution]: Your site shouldn’t be running on too many inodes in the first place. Understand that unlimited hosting is not limited. To solve this issue, try not to keep any duplicated files in your account, delete unnecessary files, delete emails regularly (empty inbox and download emails to your local PC instead), and optimize your databases.

My site is different, I should go with something more expensive

People always have the idea of cheap web host is only for crap websites. But fact is, a lot can be done with a cheap, shared hosting plans. Question is are you brave enough to take up the challenge to pick the right apple and also, be smart enough to fully utilize the resources from a cheap web host.

It does not makes your site ‘cooler’ or better simply because you opt for a more expensive hosting service. Some webmasters and bloggers subscribed to VPS or dedicated hosting simply because of their ego (with the kind of mindset where they think they are different and better).

Question: Cheap web hosting with free domain. Should I take it?

Never register your domain name with your web host, even though it’s free. 

Remember my rule #1 in How Not To Get Screwed By Your Web Host? Just because your web host offer a free domain doesn’t mean that you should let the hosting company controls your domain registration. Personally, I prefer keeping my domain names with a large registrar (in my case, GoDaddy) and separate them from the web host. By doing so, I can change my domain DNS anytime I want and avoid myself from being locked with a particular web host.

Final piece of advice: Try not to draw wrong conclusion about cheap hosting

Many webmasters misunderstood that cheap hosting services are generally bad because: 1. Negative reviews are easier to be accepted and passed along in forums; 2. Webmasters made unrealistic expectation (believe it or not, I received complaints on Hostgator because the user wants real-time web analytics data!); 3. Like it or not, there are more haters than you think in this world and haters gonna hate (seriously!).

Fact is, you are always recommended to start small with an affordable (cheap) shared hosting plan.

Founded by Aaron Brazell and Jason Cohen, WP Engine offers premium WordPress hosting with tons of valuable WordPress optimization (security, load speed, updates, as well as plugin recommendations).

In case you are unaware, I did an interview with WP Engine Co-Founder, Jason Cohen, recently. This is my review of WP Engine. I am not a WP Engine customer BUT, I have spent hours of reading and researching before I publish this post – I’m sure some of you guys will find this piece useful.  

WP Engine: Premier Built-for-WordPress Hosting

As much as the fact that WordPress is world #1 blogging platform, it’s hard to find web host that focuses solely on WordPress. It’s even harder to get good WordPress hosting company that is "serious" with their business.

This makes WP Engine a special gem in the market.

WP Engine is one of the very, very few companies that focus only on WordPress hosting; and what’s more, the folks at WP Engine are dead serious about their business.
You can visit WP Engine online here: http://www.wpengine.com. The company has recently renovate the website and it has a total new outlook now.

Why WordPress-Only Hosting?

"Why do we need a web host that focuses solely on WordPress? Other hosting companies can do the same job and host my WP blogs!", you may ask. Jason, co-founder of WP Engine, gave the perfect answer in our recent interview session.

When asked "How has the strategy of solely focusing on WordPress users affected the business?"

Jason answered: "Focusing only on WordPress means we can do a fantastic job. For example we hire WordPress experts only, so everyone at the company is helpful and knowledgeable when you call into tech support.
Lots of hosting companies answer the phone on the first ring and call that “good service.” Of course if the person on the other end can’t debug the WordPress problem, at the end of the day it’s not helpful. We know what we’re good at — and what we’re NOT good at! — and we do only the former."

"That’s how it affects you — the customer. How it affects the back-end business is that we can be more profitable because we don’t have to diversify technology or talent. American Airlines can’t make money because they service 20 kinds of planes; Southwest and JetBlue are profitable and run only a few models. We’re like the latter; most hosting companies are the former."

What I like about WP Engine Hosting

As a big-time WordPress fans, there are plenty to like about WP Engine. But here are some of the important advantages with the WordPress host.

Backed by WordPress expert

The best reason to like WP Engine is because of its people. WP Engine is founded and run by WordPress experts. I mean, *REAL* WordPress experts.

Co-founder Jason Cohen is the maker of Code Collaborator; Aaron Brazel, co-founder, has been an active WordPress developer since 2004 and he wrote WordPress Bible (Wiley); and we have Advisor, Ben Metcalfe, who is involve with WordPress development since the very early days.

WordPress Security

WordPress sites hosted on WP Engine is protected in several levels. WP Engine utilizes hardware-base intrusion detection appliances from DDos attack and rogue scanning. On the inside, hosting accounts are isolated with limited user access.

Server Scalabilty

The standard Touring Package allows 250,000 pageviews per month. But that doesn’t mean you have to limit your traffics at that level. According to statistics, WP Engine moves 50 million hits per day through their system. In other words, this means WP Engine is highly scalable.

As claimed by WP Engine, their customers have hit huge media sites like Huffington Post, TechCrunch from time to time and "never skipped a beat".

Fully Managed Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Heard about CDN? Long story short, CDN is an effective way to stores and delivers your content frpm different servers and this allows your site to load faster. WP Engine is the ONLY WordPress host that includes a fully managed CDN service where your site’s static content (images, videos, static pdf files, etc) are served from servers all around the world. Furthermore, WP Engine also employs proxy servers, data bases, disk caching, file minification, as well as image compression to speed up customer sites load time.

Things you might don’t like about WP Engine

No 24×7 Customer Support

I know, most shared hosting companies offer 24×7 customer supports via live chat and telephone. But that’s not the case for WP Engine. The company’s customer support team does seem very dedicated (they call it ‘Customer Happiness Department’) but newbies who need hand-to-hand spoonfeed support might want to think twice.

Expensive Web Host

WP Engine offers 3 different stand plans; namely Sport ($49/mo), Touring ($99/mo), and Luxury Package (custom pricing). I know, WP Engine’s high price tag is a big turn-off. But hey, be realistic, how much do you expect them to charge? $9.99/mo for a premium hosting service?

Short Trial Period – 15 Days Only

WP Engine offers only 15 days of free trial period. But hey that’s not a big deal since WP Engine is charging its customer on per-month basis. This means it’s easy to leave WP Engine.

WP Engine Customer Reviews

They are pros! "It’s nice to pay someone to handle all the hosting BS that we’re no good at. They’re WordPress Pros." – Ash Maurya, Author of Running Lean.

WP Engine has been running well! "All in all WP Engine has been running well for a week.  Now that I’m using their services I’ll probably stay with them for the foreseeable future.  As I always try to remind you guys, when you are determining what you are willing to pay for a solution always include the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).  $50 per month for a site may seem expensive, but I don’t have to worry about maintenance, backups, server hacking and such. I do believe that their overall system needs to be streamlined and made to be more user friendly, but if you have a decent knowledge of Web Server Administration WP Engine may be a good option for you." – Eli of EverymanIT.com, full WP Engine review here.

WP Engine Hosting Plans At A Glance

Here’s a quick screen cap on WP Engine price and plan details. For more details, visit: http://www.wpengine.com

WP Engine Hosting Review:Should you go with WP Engine?

Any WordPress user who are serious about their blog should consider using WP Engine.

The reason why I am not switching to WP Engine is because I am very happy with Hostgator and I had recently bought/installed PressVault. If price is not a problem, then why suffer another sleepless night worrying about your site cracked due to hackers or heavy traffic loads? Just go with WP Engine!

To visit (opens in new window): http://www.wpengine.com

WP Engine Discount, Promo Code: WPROCKS

Oh hey, I almost forgot about this. In case you are making your order, do use ‘WPROCKS‘ as the promo code – it’ll cut 10% off from your first time bill.

It requires rigorous search and diligence to find the right theme for your blog. To avoid all the hassle and save time, most people resort to getting premium themes to make sure that they can get a unique theme for their blog without wasting hours of their time searching. The truth is if you know where to look, you can find free themes that are akin to the premium ones.

To help you start off with the right foot on your search, here are 10 of my favorite sites where you can find the most promising WordPress themes.

1. Templatic

Templatic claims that by dealing with them, you will get rid of hassles, save time and money, create websites faster using their tried and tested code and design and, get top-notch theme support whenever you need.

Visit Online: http://templatic.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/templatic

2. Best WP Themes

The name of the site speaks for itself. Best WordPress Themes claims to be sorting wheat from chaff since 2007. They have both free and premium themes which are further subdivided based on the number of columns (one to three columns) and styles including magazine, photo gallery, specialized, video, portfolio, and business.

Visit Online: http://www.bestwpthemes.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/bestwpthemes

3. WP Styles

The objective of WP Styles is to help WordPress users in finding a suitable WordPress theme for their specific purpose. Besides running its own WP theme gallery/collection, WP Styles also review and list the best wp designers out there according to the average theme price, functionality, support and design quality.

To be honest, WP Styles is not the best theme site you can get out there but the site smooth design and navigation make it worth the visit.

Visit Online: http://wpstyles.org/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/wpstyles

4. WP Explorer

WPExplorer claims to be the home of the best free and premium WordPress themes. They have a wide variety of theme categories including blogging, business, business card and resume, community, directory, e-commerce, environmental, gaming, magazine, minimal, mobile and app, multipurpose, music, news, photography, portfolio, real estate, religious and church, restaurant, website hosting, and video.

They feature the latest premium themes in their homepage and their currently featured themes include the Platform Pro Drag & Drop WordPress Theme, the Thesis SEO Friendly & Customizable WordPress Theme, and the Vendor Premium WordPress Business Theme among others.

Visit Online: http://www.wpexplorer.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/wpexplorer

5. Woo Themes

Woo Themes also offers premium and free themes. Just like the previous two sites, they offer a wide variety of themes. Woo Themes does well in variety but falls short in quantity. More themes can be found in the top one and top two sites. Woo Themes made up for it by making a very nice offer. If you cannot choose one theme from their collections, you can have all the themes for only $125. That may not be practical for some— especially because not all the themes you will get are good— but others would surely dive in head first to make the deal.

Visit Online: http://www.woothemes.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/woothemes

6. Natty WP

Natty WP also offers free and premium themes. They usually have sales and currently they have a huge sale wherein they offer two themes for $25 instead of $45. They require membership but once you become a member you can have access to everything.

Visit Online: http://www.nattywp.com/

7. Top WP Themes

Top WP Themes offers only free themes. It’s good because they provide good quality themes for free but the downside is their customers are limited to free themes and are not exposed to the wonders of premium themes. Thus, this site is for WordPress fellows who have decided not to spend any dough for themes.

Visit Online: http://topwpthemes.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/twptcom

8. WP Zoom

WPZOOM marks the start of all-premium themes sites in this list. They offer impressive professional WordPress Themes which also come with professional support and documentation, advanced themes options panel, and flexible and optimized SEO codes. They offer monthly subscription so you will get all the themes you want as long as you are subscribed.

Visit Online: http://www.wpzoom.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/wpzoom

9. WP Now

WPNOW takes pride in their features and services. So, if you buy themes from them you will get support and documentation, theme options panel, well-crafted CSS and XHTML, free themes for every purchase, access to their membership club, and many others.

Visit Online: http://www.wpnow.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/wpnow

10. Smashing Magazine

Smashing magazine, unlike the aforementioned sites, is not dedicated to making themes. It is a site that gives innovative and useful information to Web developers and designers. True enough, they have delivered one very useful entry when they featured the “100 WordPress Themes 2010”.

Apparently, everyone is looking for a good, free, and unique theme. Smashing Magazine made it to this top list because they made it easier for people to find beautiful, unique and free themes.

Visit Online: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ | Twitter: http://twitter.com/smashingmag

I would have saved my time for all these problems and worries and readings and works if WP Engine (http://wpengine.com/) existed earlier.

A little intro on WP Engine Hosting

Founded by Aaron Brazell and Jason Cohen, WP Engine offers premium WordPress hosting with tons of valuable WordPress optimization (security, load speed, updates, as well as plugin recommendations).

In case you are unaware, Aaron Brazell has been an (very) active member in the WordPress developer community. He is one of the frequent speaker in WordCamps United States and is the author of WordPress Bible (published early 2010). Jason Cohen, on the other hand, is a serial-entrepreneur who has founded quite a few successful startups including Smart Bear Software and IT Watch Dogs. Jason is also the author of Best Kept Secrets of Peer Code Review as well as this awesome blog about startups/marketing.

In this interview, we are going to learn about WP Engine firsthand from the co-founder Jason Cohen. This great Q&A session is a must-read for those who are looking for a reliable WordPress web hosting. So, here goes.

Q&A With Jason Cohen, WP Engine Co-Founder

Hello Jason, it’s an honor to have you here with us today. For start, let’s talk about yourself and your company WP Engine. How would you describe your role as a leader at WP Engine; and, what can we know more about WP Engine?

“I must leave, for there go my followers and I am their leader.”

To me, a leader leads by example, meaning actually doing work and playing backstop for everyone else, like the pitcher in baseball. Also I’m a terrible manager, which means I’m forced to hire talented, self-directed people whom I implicitly trust and who don’t need “management.” A better title for me might be “tie-breaker,” or perhaps “flogger-slash-visionary” if you’re feeling generous.

They say the culture of a company comes from the top. So if you want to know what WP Engine is like, follow the above philosophy to its logical conclusion. WP Engine is a culture of people who are thoughtful, respectful, and good at their jobs. And hopefully nice.

Wow that’s some great insights. Now, I’m a WordPress fan and I LOVE the idea of having a web host specially built for WordPress. But this (limiting your service to just one specified niche) is not what we see often in the hosting industry. How has the strategy of solely focusing on WordPress users affected the business?

Focusing only on WordPress means we can do a fantastic job. For example we hire WordPress experts only, so everyone at the company is helpful and knowledgeable when you call into tech support.

Lots of hosting companies answer the phone on the first ring and call that “good service.” Of course if the person on the other end can’t debug the WordPress problem, at the end of the day it’s not helpful.

We know what we’re good at — and what we’re NOT good at! — and we do only the former.

That’s how it affects you — the customer. How it affects the back-end business is that we can be more profitable because we don’t have to diversify technology or talent. American Airlines can’t make money because they service 20 kinds of planes; Southwest and JetBlue are profitable and run only a few models. We’re like the latter; most hosting companies are the former.

WordPress security is one of WP Engine’s main selling points. Can you elaborate in detail what kind of protections are available with WP Engine?

First, we have security appliances in front of our servers — DoS-protection and IDS (Intrusion Detection System). This alone prevents thousands of a attacks per day.

Next, we have a forward caching-and-load-balancing layer which further protects the sensitive stuff (like the database and filesystem), while also serving content really fast.

Next, on the back-end systems there’s a slew of stuff you have to do for security from file owners, file permissions, chroot-ing (“jail” for the filesystem), separate database credentials, and so on.

Finally, we keep you up-to-date on the latest WordPress security patches as well as black-listing plugins known to be insecure.

Security isn’t a game you can win, it’s an arms race that you need to constantly and incrementally improve.

That sounds superb. What’s more? On top of site security, what other unique features does WP Engine offer?

We’re super fast.  This is not only important for your end users (many hit the “back” button if your site takes more than 2 seconds to load), but also for your Google ranking now that they’re taking page-load-speed into account for search rankings.

We also protect you against traffic surges. We already serve 50 million hits per day, so even if you get on TechCrunch we’ve got you covered.

We’re also the only host to offer a CDN (Content Delivery Network) included in the base price.  That means your static content (images, CSS, Javascript) gets delivered from servers all around the world, served closest to the requestor, reducing latency in the browser (faster) and spreading out the effort of delivery (scalable).

We also added some features to WordPress itself. For example, we have a push-button staging area where you have a full copy of your blog to mess around with. Test a new plugin, play with CSS, etc., all without touching your main, live blog.

Jason, WP Engine is a pretty new host. How can customers trust you guys with their blogs? Please tell us more about the company cancellation policy.

The first thing is: It’s easy to leave us. That’s important for two reasons: So it’s easy to try, and so we have to earn your business every month. What does “easy” mean?

You get full filesystem and database exports, on demand. (Besides our nightly backups of the same.) Our contract is month-to-month, so you can just cancel any time. (Besides the 15-day free trial.) Finally, there’s tools on the market like http://23press.com which make it even easier to move a blog — either to us or away from us!

Then of course there’s the fact that we have hundreds of happy customers and we’re growing fast. We got profitable after just seven months of operation so we also have a sensible business model (unlike a lot of hosting companies who “suddenly” close up shop after losing money for dozens of quarters). All this adds up to: We have a sustainable business, so we’re not going anywhere.
Finally, though, in the end trust is earned over time, not bestowed immediately, and that means that yes, it will take time for us to earn trust. Nothing wrong with that.

"I wish to switch to WP Engine out but it seems too complicated/it’s too much hassles/ I am no good in tech/ etc etc". What would you tell these non-geek but potential customers?

First, we offer migration services for $150, completely hands-free. Second, see http://23press.com for a $10 system where you can move it yourself.

It’s not complicated — you just sign up with a credit card and a new WordPress site is available in 60 seconds.  You can migrate in another 15 minutes if you use a tool.  And if you don’t like it, switch away just as easily!

We also have a partnership with another consulting shop specifically designed for newbies who don’t know anything but want a white-glove experience. Let us know how much help you want!

Web hosting, without doubt, is a competitive industry. What are your long term plans for WP Engine to win the market? Where do you see the company in next 3 years?

WordPress is a massive market — I don’t feel the need to “win” it or “defeat” everyone else.

Rather, we’ve created an awesome option for WordPress hosting, and our goal is to thrill all our customers and continuously improve the service. There’s room for other awesome hosting companies too! But if your host isn’t “awesome,” then maybe we’re a good option.

Thanks again for your time. Do you have anything to add for this interview?

Thanks for having me!

Site Note

Well, that’s all for our interview. For your reference, here are the hosting packages offered by WP Engine at this time of writing. You can visit http://wpengine.com/ to learn more; alternatively, you can check out the helpful FAQ here, check it out.

Click here to visit and order WP Engine now!

In developing any business online one of the most overlooked areas in business management strategies is having a service oversee their website uptime. Many people assume that their web host is going to be responsible for alerting them when their website goes down. This is a big myth and in fact it runs entirely contrary to what a website hosting company would do. Think about it. Why would a web hosting company tell their clients there service is having troubles causing their site to be down temporarily? They are going to hope a client doesn’t spot it as it directly affects the claims that most web hosting companies say they can provide 99.9% uptime.

An online business is only as good as the amount of time that it’s up online. When I first got started running multiple websites online I heavily relied on my sites being up especially when I was running pay per click campaigns. Now if your just running a personal blog that doesn’t rely on being available for members, readers or advertising campaigns then you might not be too bothered by half an hour of down time but for companies who rely on their site being online every minute of the day. A 30 minute or longer down time can have devastating effects on their long term goals.

Why Website Uptime Monitoring Service Matters?

The truth is not all web hosting company can provide 99.9% uptime as many web hosting companies are packing servers with clients and multiple people are sharing servers even on reseller plans.  If you are seeking a stronger and more reliable solution they will need to look into dedicated plans that are either self or fully managed.  The challenge for many small based businesses is that going dedicated requires a huge investment of money each month when a shared or reseller plan would suffice at a fraction of the cost.  So what is the solution? Website monitoring services are, but which ones are the top services in their industry? Why are they the top? And what do you really need vs what they offer?

Key Things to Look For:

• What is the interval between each time they check your site?
• What methods do they provide to alert you to down time?
• What Reporting do they provide for tracking long term site performance?
• What are the price options?

Track Your Websites With These Uptime Tracking Services

Well, here goes the top 5 uptime website monitoring services.

Pingdom

Quoted directly from Pingdom: Pingdom is a company founded by Sam Nurmi. Sam Nurmi is also the founder and previous CEO of Sweden’s biggest web hosting company, Loopia, which he sold in 2005. Pingdom has a very strong and narrow focus. That focus lies on covering the uptime monitoring needs of 90% of the companies in the world. Instead of branching out into other areas, we will instead place all our efforts into maintaining the best uptime monitoring service available. The technology behind Pingdom is developed in house, which gives us an unparalleled ability to satisfy both the current and future needs of the market.

Also, note that Pingdom also offers its services via free apps on iPhone and Android phones. Take iPhone Apps for example, the Pingdom app allows you to get push alert of your website status as well as getting into Pingdom to view your website uptime and response time status.

In case you not know, Pingdom is actually my favorite tracking service. I’ve been using these guys to track all my test-site including WebHostingSecretRevealed.com. My recent Hostgator uptime review, for example, is built based on the server record tracked by Pingdom.

Website: http://pingdom.com/

Key Features

• Monitors every 1 min
• Packages prices: 0 (free), 9.95, or 39.95
• Alerts by SMS, Twitter and Email
• 20 SMS alerts are free as well as email
• Excellent reporting
• Reputable – Pingdom is used by companies with big brand name
• 30 Day free trial on the paid services

Mon.Itor.US

Mon.itor.us is a free, yet powerful website, server and traffic monitoring service. Mon.itor.us has established track records of robust execution, alerts delivery and helps many website owners to reach high uptime and availability at no cost. Mon.itor.us is a part of Monitis family, which provides professional, premium all-in-one monitoring service, integrating application performance with backend infrastructure with cloud monitoring.

Website: http://mon.itor.us/index.jsp

Key Features

• Monitors every 30 mins
• Sends alerts via email and RSS
  Good reporting
• Packages prices: 0 (free), $9.98, $39.98 or Custom
• Offers 15 days free trial

Service Uptime

Established 2004, ServiceUptime provides website, port and server monitoring and alerting services. ServiceUptime’s monitoring servers are located around the world in reliable carrier-class data centers with nearly 0% downtime. What ServiceUptime does is deploying remote monitoring agents in strategically selected cities and on major backbone segments around the world to simulate the end-user experience of your web site and its key areas at any given moment. ServiceUptime.com instantly alerts you in case of problem detection and provides you with web-based access to real-time reports for performance and availability analysis.

Website: http://www.serviceuptime.com/

Key Features

• Monitors every 30 minutes
• Sends alerts by email and sms
• Free and Paid at  $4.95, $9.95 and $52.95
• No Free trial
• Detailed reports

Host-Tracker

Not to be confused with Microsoft’s prototype software HostTracker, Host-Tracker is another site monitoring service. The service has 91 nodes and multuple monitor points from all over the world. Host-Tracker is special as it comes in several different language package, including French, English, Spanish, and Greek.

Website: http://host-tracker.com/

Key Features

• Monitors every 30 mins
• Sends alerts by email, ICQ, Gtalk or SMS
• Free and paid service
• Uptime reporting
• 30 day free trial

BasicState

BasicState is another website monitoring service that make sure your homepage is running properly. The service is totally free for unlimited number of sites and users can get alert from BasicState via n email or text message.

Website: http://basicstate.com/

Key Features

• Monitors every 15 mins
• Sends alerts by email or sms
• Free service on unlimited Sites
• Reporting features are not as nice as other two above
• Have to use exactstate for paid pro version which monitors every 1 minute

What’s next if you found your site is down?

So your site is down, now what? In case you notice that your site is going down at odd hours of the day and for extended periods of time. There are a number of things that could be causing it and a few things you can do short term are:

• The scripts you are running on your site can add increased strain on servers and usually are responsible for down time
• Contact your web host and make them aware that you know this is going on as you have reports to show. See what they will do about it. Don’t leap to the assumption that they are aware of it, they may have 1 server and are piling too many people on that server causing added strain or one person on that server could be using a script that is affecting the server and in turn going to cause issues with other sites on that server.
• Visit DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com (awesome web tool) and check if your ISP is having connection problem with your name server. If so, contact your ISP to rectify the problem.

For long term solution, switching web host might be a good solution if your web host is the one causing the outage.

What can you do to avoid downtime?

• Be sure to use a website monitoring service that offers checking your site at least every 15 mins
• Do you homework, read at least a few web hosting reviews to know your choices before you get decided.
• If you plan on running a service, membership site or store, consider getting a dedicated server as that way you will be the only one on the server and there will be less strain placed on it.
• Have someone manage your dedicated server – many hosting companies, in fact, offer website monitoring as part of their hosting package (but then again, you gotta make sure that they are trustworthy).

In this article, I am going to show you 11 unusual uses of WordPress.

1. Sending Invoice and Billing statements

The plug-in for invoices and billing is one of the less often used, but very useful, in WordPress. 

Take WebInvoice for example, the plugin allows WordPress users to send itemized invoices to their clients. It’s an ideal for web developers, SEO consultants, general contractors, or anyone with a WordPress blog and clients to bill. The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of your clients and their information. Businessmen find it easy and convenient to send invoices online while recipient of your invoices can and may receive it fast and hassle-free and this is what I love most.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: WP-Invoice, WebInvoice.

2. Creating Job Boards in your WordPress

A successful and popular WordPress blog may also encounter readers who may want to advertise possible job openings in their company.  Or if you are running a professional site, then you can post jobs for your company and often, this is a plug-in that many businesses regularly use. 

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: JobRoller, Job Listing, Job Manager.

3. Building and Setting-Up Your Portfolio

Seriously, how can a web designer survive without having an online portfolio? In case you not know, WordPress is also a great tool to setup your personal gallery/portfolio. There are plenty of themes and plugins around to get the job done but for your reference, I have listed a few below.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: Graphix, Polaris, Discovery, ViewPort, Simple Portfolio, WP Portfolio.

4. Creating the Useful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) portion

As the name implies, it is where questions often asked by your clienteles are located and drafted in simple, easy to understand format of question and answer.  Building a WordPress blog with this feature will also enable you to receive questions from your clienteles while you also can post your answers in the FAQs corner. 

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: Q and A Plugin, FAQ Builder, FAQ Manager, Tribulant’s WP FAQ.

5. Building a Knowledge Base (Wiki)

Installing a Wiki in your WordPress is actually customizing plug-in for the FAQs. It can help you with SEO since you can regularly post articles or answer FAQs.  The good thing about having a Wiki-WordPress blog is that this enables the readers to link articles related to your posts, rate the contents, etc.    

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: Wiki Embed.

6. Building a Business Directory

This is another very useful feature for your business WordPress Web site.  You can invite your marketing affiliates, members of your site and basically anyone interested to submit interesting but short ads.  The ads can further help your blog establish itself in the online community; it could help attract more readers or followers.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: DirectoryPress, Business Directory Plugin.

7. Creating a Digital Business Card

Bump into someone and realized that you don’t have a business card with you? Well that’s where a digital business card kicks in. At times like now, where everything goes digital, I am not surprise to see more and more business people are starting to create digital business cards. You can simply write down your domain name on a napkin (or any sort of object) and there, your friends/business associates get your business card instantly.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: Digital Business Card WP Theme.

8. Emailing and Newsletter Features

Part of online marketing strategy is the use of emails or electronic newsletters.  Good thing, WordPress also has a plug-in that caters to this business need. 

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: ALO Easy Mail Newsletter, WP Auto Responder.

9. Building a Web site for Membership Subscription Only

Let’s say you are an online research company with a good pool of research papers, academic studies and researches. You can then transform WordPress into a subscription only Web site; readers can access full and complete researches and articles if they become members of your site. 

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: WP-Member, WordPress e-Member, Digital Access Pass, WishList Member.

10. Creating a Review Blog Site

Since you can do many things with WordPress, one use that could generate income opportunities is by turning your site into a review site.  You can also rate your blog reviews. 

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: WP Review Site.

11. WordPress For Social Networking Site

Since social networking is the brouhaha nowadays, it is no wonder that WordPress can also function as a site where bloggers may and can send social messages and enhance relationships. Surprise? Check out BuddyPress and you’ll see how WordPress can be transformed into a Digg-alike social networking site in just 6 minutes!

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: BuddyPress, P2P Social Networker.

Final Words: Get Started With WordPress Today!

As I confessed previously: I am a big fan of WordPress and I strongly believe WordPress is the best (and most popular) CMS/blogging platform for any beginners who wish to start a new website. In fact, I run all my websites in WordPress nowadays. “How do I start a website?” – This is the most common question I get from my friends and relatives. Back in old times, in order to answer the question, I need to explain about HTML, FTP, database,  WYSISYG software like Dreamweaver, and so on.

Not now anymore.

Want to start a website? “Go with WordPress.” – That’s my standard short-and-sweet answer for all. For those who need beginner guides, check out the long article about Getting Started With WordPress I wrote in June 2009. You might also want to check out some other related artciles such as: Best WordPress Hosting, 25 Most Wanted WordPress Hacks and Tricks, Top 10 Ways To Speed Up Your WordPress Blogs, and 40 Free Magazine Style WordPress Themes.

Disclaimer: Plugins and themes suggestions are solely for your references. I am not affiliated to (nor in any other type of relationships) with the owners of plugins/themes mentioned in this post.

To dig deeper, you can also check out my latest CoolHandle Review or contact the company directly at 866.200.2828.

Q&A with Ryan Morris, CoolHandle Marketing Director

1. Hello Ryan, thanks a lot for being with us today. Let’s do some introduction for start. How would you describe your role in the company and what can we know about CoolHandle?

Thanks for having me! My name is Ryan Morris, CoolHandle’s Director of Marketing. Formerly known as Pronet Hosting, CoolHandle has provided users with reliable, professional hosting solutions since 2001. We are also one of the fastest-growing companies within the web hosting industry – just last year, in fact, we doubled the size of our data center for higher capacity!

2. What is the size of CoolHandle’s business? Can we have some rough numbers on the domain names and customers the company is holding at this time of writing?

We are rapidly growing, so the exact numbers are always changing, but currently we host over 30,000 domains.

3. Who should consider signing up with CoolHandle? Please briefly describe the company’s target audience.

Our commitment to customer service is an important and distinguishing characteristic of our company. Our first and foremost objective as a company is to sustain long-lasting relationships with our partners and customers. We service a very broad audience, ranging from internet marketers to WordPress and Joomla enthusiasts, from casual users to business professionals.

4. What can we know more about CoolHandle’s data center at Los Angeles?

Located in the heart of Los Angeles, our data center is in the same building as 12 of the nation’s largest Internet providers’. Our data center boasts on-demand connectivity with all major upstream providers. Our redundant network infrastructure is connected to separate circuits, and the entire building is heavily monitored to ensure maximum security and uptime.

5. Let’s talk about customer support, what kind of after-sales services does CoolHandle provide? How many staffs do you have in the customer support department? 

Our dedicated team of employees provides prompt and reliable services. Our hosting customer support department offers 24/7/365 customer service assistance via phone, live chat, and support tickets. We also feature an industry-leading fully interactive help site on our site’s Troubleshooting area.

6. CoolHandle offers different VPS hosting plans. Can you tell us more about these offers?

We offer several tiers of customizable VPS hosting packages at an affordable rate. For customers, it’s a great way to start small with the ability to still scale up very quickly. With full root access, users are able to install advanced software and completely customize virtually anything. For easy administration, cPanel is available as well. Our basic package starts at $29.95/month with free domain privacy forever. For more information, visit http://www.coolhandle.com/vps/linux-vps/

7. There are more and more hosting providers going ‘cloud’ nowadays. Is cloud hosting part of CoolHandle’s plan in near future?

We don’t like to jump into new technology without testing it thoroughly, so while we are exploring the option of cloud hosting, we need to make sure that it’s something we can support and execute properly. We don’t have any specific roll-out dates for now, but we are definitely looking into it.

8. One last question, how does the merger with ProNetHosting.net impact CoolHandle’s business in overall? Where do you see CoolHandle in next 5 years?

The merger benefited both parties in several ways: 1) it improved the overall efficiency of our infrastructure, 2) it improved the quality of our customer service, and 3) the merger reduced overall costs, boosting efficiency. As for where I see CoolHandle in 5 years, what with the changing landscape of the hosting business and the rate we are growing, the opportunities for growth are simply boundless.   
9. That’s all for my questions. Thanks again for your time, is there anything you would like to add in this interview?

Thank you for your time as well. I’m glad you gave us the opportunity to give a bit more insight to users about CoolHandle.

Learn more, visit CoolHandle online.

Hello there, thanks for being with us today. For start, can you please briefly introduce yourself and your company HostColor?

I’m Martin and I’m a VP of Operations of  Host Color. The company has been created in 2000 in Europe, where we still operate a brand called HC Europe. In 2003 we moved to U.S. and Host Color LLC has entered into the hosting industry as provider of Shared Hosting, Reseller Accounts and Dedicated Servers.

In 2007 we have decided to enter the VPS Hosting market. Since then Virtual Private Server and Dedicated Hosting accounts are very important part of our business portfolio.

The competition in the web hosting industry is extremely steep. We see new hosting companies setup and go out of business every now and then; but yet Host Color stays as a strong player for a decade. What sets you guys apart from the rest?

It is really hard to speak about yourself! Because you might say something which is not true. So I will say that the real answer comes from customers of HostColor.com. Most of those who signed up with Host Color within 10 years ago are still with us. Some left because web hosting is a very competitive industry and there are many other very good hosting providers. We know that web hosting business is changing rapidly and do whatever it takes to implement the best possible standards, to invest in equipment, to improve our network, to adopt new software technologies.

When we were small company the only thing we could do better than larger providers was to the customer support. Now when we are a middle-sized hosting provider, we still bet on strong customer care. Most of Host Color’s customers say they are very satisfied of our customer support. Of course we take a critique and negative comments from time to time, but we always work to resolve any issue and to make the customer to feel good with our services.

The way any web host does customer support is the probably the second most important thing. The first one is the high, 99.9% uptime. Any web hosting provider must treat its customers with a great respect and not to impose any hidden terms on their contracts. Unfortunately most web hosting providers always try to impose any rules and fees, which make hard for the customers to leave, when they are unhappy with the service. Host Color offers fair treatment. When we have done anything wrong, we apologize and do our best to help the customer. All the cases are usually resolved in favor of our customers. All we ask them is to read and follow our TOS and SLA. 

What can we know more about HostColor data center? 

We operate from 3 different data centers. The HostColor.com newest IT Hosting center is located on 111 8th Avenue in Manhattan, New York. This is a major telecommunication facility, a key hub for Internet traffic and one of the world’s most wired buildings. It was bought by Google in December 2010. We offer 100% network uptime (SLA) there and the best possible connectivity thanks to Internap and a few other providers of high-quality IP bandwidth.

We also have facilities in 2 other data centers – in South Bend, Indiana and in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Our model is to invest in every aspect of the business, excluding the property, which means that we do not own data centers and at this time do not plan to build one. Data center management is a different business than web hosting and there are other companies that are good in this. 

Overselling seems like a norm nowadays –  I see cheap unlimited hosting offers everywhere online. Host Color, however, is not one of these unlimited hosting providers. What is the company’s policy when it comes to overselling – does HostColor provide any sort of guarantee when it comes to server CPU power? 

It is true! I think that Yahoo were the first to go "unlimited". Most Shared Hosting providers followed them. For some web hosts "Unlimited" is a way to compete by offering "quantity", instead of trying to create an unique IT hosting service which covers a certain niche market. Unfortunately it is not like that most Shared Hosting provider have a choice. If they do not spend a lot on hardware and if they do not claim "everything unlimited", they do not get customers. it is sad, but true!

Host Color has been resisting to "Unlimited" for a long time. When everyone went there, we began offering "Unlimited bandwidth" with two Shared plans called Multi Domain Hosting and ECommerce Hosting. We can afford to provide "virtually unlimited" bandwidth to our Shared customers, but the truth is that they can not use it. If they have a very high traffic websites they will need a lot of CPU and will realize that it is much better for them to get a VPS Hosting, a Dedicated server or a Cloud Hosting account. 

For readers who wish to start up their own web hosting business – how can HostColor Reseller Hosting Plans help? Why choose HostColor over others?

We offer stable, standardized cPanel/WHM based Reseller Hosting Accounts. We host Resellers on powerful, redundant hardware systems and provide them with 24/7 non-outsourced support! That’s it. We do not sell cheap Reseller Hosting and do not claim we are the best in this business! Host Color just works good for Resellers!

Many hosting service provides, including HostColor, have stepped in to the "Cloud world". Can you tell us, in general, what are the benefits of cloud hosting from the user’s point of view? And, who should go with HostColor’s cloud hosting services?

It is important for any web hosting provider to build its own Cloud computing based infrastructure, because an IT Cloud saves financial resources on hardware, data center space and on human resources. Plus it offer more scalability and high performance to site owners.

Our Cloud solution is based on a Blade hardware technology which allows host to use 10 to 14 servers in 7U space. But what is really important is the software technology HostColor is using for the Cloud. We are one of the very few web hosts which offer Shared Cloud Hosting. Host Color operates a High availability system, which runs cPanel/WHM on top of a cluster of servers. This allows us to host IP-based and name-based virtual hosting accounts in a high availability, load-balanced multi server environment.

HostColor Cloud Hosting Price List

Last question, let’s talk about customer support. Can you tell us what kind of after-sales support we can get from Host Color? What exactly is pZone Account Management?

We have always offered non-outsourced customer support. It is much easier and more cost-effective to outsource customer support, but this is not a good practice. We know our customers, we speak to them every day, and they know they can trust us. This does not work with outsourced customer support.

pZone is our proprietary CRM which we used between 2005 and 2009. Alongside with it we used to use our own proprietary web hosting control panel. We have invest a lot during the years in creating web hosting technologies and our proprietary software is good. However we have software solutions like cPanel/WHM control panel, WHMCS CRM and other applications, which have become a true standard in the web hosting industry. So Host Color has implemented them and now we moved account management to WHMCS.

* Editor’s sidenote: HostColor is one of the few hosting companies I know that provides so many different contact channels. You can call HostColor anytime on their U.S. toll-free line 1-888-222-1495; UK phone line: +44 871 731 1002 or directly to their Bulgarian call center at +359 2 489 10 70 without conforming with business hours or time zones. Moreover if you prefer to talk on Skype simply dial "HostColor"; and If you like ICQ, the number to ring is 295-989-860.

Well Martin, that’s all for my questions, thank you very much for your time. Do you have anything to add before we end this Q&A session?

Let me finish by saying that Host Color has become a traditional web hosting provider. We are not in web hosting business just to make money and to sell the company when we get a good offer. We do web hosting because we like this business! that’s why I’m quite optimistic about Host Color’s future. The whole web hosting industry will grow a lot within the next few years. Cloud computing is an exciting trend which is focused on high performance computing and on quality of the IT Hosting services. Those who used to say that "web hosting is becoming a commodity business" were wrong. Web hosting is going into a mainstream business!