* All prices on this site are for a two-year sign-up.

Sorry for missing the last couple of months. No real excuse, so I won’t make one up.

April, oddly enough, looked a lot like December in terms of host popularity. Other than that, I’ll have to wait until next month to see what changes before I can hazard an analysis of what is going on in the hosting-verse.

Happy hosting.

* All prices on this site are for a two-year sign-up.

New years can mean new beginnings or at least changes, and January certainly had changes. JustHost, BlueHost, and ANHosting all soared to the top 5, while HostGator fell 6 places to positions 7. That is probably more change than we’ve seen in the last six months. That said, most of it is easily explained. BlueHost joined HostMonster, its sister company, in the top five, which makes sense given their basically identical offerings. JustHost and IX Web Hosting being at the to makes sense, as they have excellent prices and many people want savings after the holidays. ANHosting… I’m going to have to wave my hands on that one. While MochaHost slipped from the top 5, it didn’t fall far and remains a well kept secret worth a look. HostGator’s fall is an interesting indication of just how much their seasonal specials help their sales. Take about the specials and see what happens.

On the positive side, Punxatawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, so it will be an early spring. Or so they say. I think we could all use a little break from the cold and snow, so let’s hope the groundhog knows what he’s talking about. On the other hand, cold weather is perfect for staying inside and building new web sites. Win-win really.

Happy hosting.

* All prices on this site are for a two-year sign-up.

Last month, IX Web Hosting finally made it to the position, but it didn’t last long. The biggest reason for HostGator’s reclaiming the top is simple: black friday and cyber monday. Throughout that weekend, HostGator had a huge sale going on and as a result they sold a lot of hosting packages. It is hard to argue with a bargain, sometimes. Still, IX Web Hosting only dropped to third and they remain an excellent web host. HostMonster’s move up to number two is less easy to explain, but BlueHost and HostMonster are often in the top five, so it isn’t really a surprise.

What is a surprise is MochaHost. I’ve liked this host for a while, but they had never really managed to crack the top five until now. If you are looking for a new host and feel like you’ve tried all the big names, you might want to give MochaHost a try.

I don’t know how things are where you are, but Pittsburgh welcomed December with our first snowfall, although no accumulation to speak of. Still, temperatures are tanking, so it is a good time to stay inside, drink some hot cocoa or mulled cider, and… build new web sites!

Happy hosting.

• HostGator has a doozy of a Black Friday deal. From midnight until 5AM CST, everything is 50% off. Everything. And between 5AM and 9AM CST, everything is an awesome 80% off. After 9AM CST, things go back to the 50% off level until midnight Friday night, which is still a great deal. Easily the best deal I’ve seen this year.
• WestHost, part of the UK2 team alongside ANHosting and MidPhase, is doubling your hosting term for free. Buy one year and get two. Any plan.
• Cool Handle Hosting is offering a free year of Linux shared hosting. Yep, free (except for a $5.95 set-up fee, but six bucks for a year of hosting ain’t too shabby).
• If you are looking for a server, you are definitely in luck. Superb.net is offering up to 70% off all its servers to celebrate 15 years in the business. You will not see deals like this very often.
]]> http://www.hosting-comparison.com/black-friday-hosting-deals-for-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-october-2010/ http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-october-2010/#comments Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:35:44 +0000 jrrl http://www.hosting-comparison.com/?p=781 This
Month Last
Month Host Review Storage Transfer Price* 1 2 IX Web Hosting read review unlimited unlimited $3.95 2 4 DreamHost read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 3 1 HostGator read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 4 6 HostMonster read review unlimited unlimited $5.95 5 3 BlueHost read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 6 5 Just Host read review unlimited unlimited $4.95 7 7 MidPhase read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 8 10 ANHosting read review 625GB 6,250GB $6.95 9 9 StartLogic read review unlimited unlimited $5.95 10 8 MochaHost (review coming) unlimited unlimited $5.06

* All prices on this site are for a two-year sign-up.

Well, after many months of climbing IX Web Hosting finally managed to take top prize. Good for them. A solid host at a great price is hard to beat. DreamHost continued their yo-yo through the top 5, this time settling at number 2, and HostGator dropped down to third from their formal top slot. The Matt Heaton twins, HostMonster and BlueHost rounded out the top 5. As always, the bottom 5 shuffled a little, but it is hard to read much into it.

A few years ago, you had to watch web host sites almost daily to catch price changes and feature changes. The competition was that fierce. I can’t imagine it is less fierce now, but it is not longer a feature-based war, which makes it somewhat less fun to watch and harder to predict who will come out ahead.

I’m not sure how things are where you are, but in Pittsburgh it feels like we’ve passed through fall zipped right into winter. I’m hoping for things to heat up a bit, but not really expecting it. Stay warm, people.

Happy hosting.

]]> http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-october-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-september-2010/ http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-september-2010/#comments Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:58:07 +0000 jrrl http://www.hosting-comparison.com/?p=778 This
Month Last
Month Host Review Storage Transfer Price* 1 4 HostGator read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 2 2 IX Web Hosting read review unlimited unlimited $3.95 3 3 BlueHost read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 4 1 DreamHost read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 5 5 Just Host read review unlimited unlimited $4.95 6 6 HostMonster read review unlimited unlimited $5.95 7 7 MidPhase read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 8 10 MochaHost (review coming) unlimited unlimited $5.06 9 9 StartLogic read review unlimited unlimited $5.95 10 8 ANHosting read review 625GB 6,250GB $6.95

* All prices on this site are for a two-year sign-up.

Only one significant thing this month. HostGator swapped places with DreamHost, retaking the number one spot. The rest of the top five stayed the same: IX Web Hosting stayed as solid as their service at number two, BlueHost stuck to third, and JustHost provided a little discount color at number five. I was a little surprised that HostGator surged back to number one, but not shocked. While there have been some concerns lately, they have a good history. DreamHost’s position has always been a flaky, so its fall may just be part of that. The bottom half was uneventful. Some shuffling, but nothing noteworthy.

We’re heading into Fall now (technically in Fall already, but just starting to feel like it), and with the changing leaves often comes changes elsewhere. We’ll see. In the meantime, enjoy the pumpkins and don’t let anything scary happen with your hosting.

Happy hosting.

]]> http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-september-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.hosting-comparison.com/shut-up-when-you-can/ http://www.hosting-comparison.com/shut-up-when-you-can/#comments Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:13:28 +0000 jrrl http://www.hosting-comparison.com/?p=767 Far too few people realize it, but sometimes it is okay to just shut up. Let me illustrate.

I’m part of the technology committee at my sons’ school. The committee, made up of parents, teachers, and staff, helps make technology decisions for the school. This ranges from computer hardware upgrades and smartboards for the classrooms to online textbooks and, of course, the school’s web site. In one meeting, the question came up of whether to move the school’s web site to a new web host.

I had only just joined the technology committee and I tend to be fairly quiet in new situations. I like to watch and listen and understand the dynamics of the group before diving in. On the other hand, this question was practically tailored for me. So, after the group finished discussing the reasons for changing (the biggest being restrictive email quotas and a desire for something better than Fantastico for managing installations of common scripts), I was going to suggest a new host.

Before I could, however, another member of the team suggested BlueHost. As it happens, I was going to suggest BlueHost/HostMonster myself, so I could simply nod and agree with the suggestion.

Why BlueHost? Nevermind that it’s great host, BlueHost solves their immediate problems. No storage limits means that they can remove the quotas on their mailboxes. Simple Scripts gives them solid up-to-date script management.

(Why not HostMonster? It’s a Catholic school and I felt weird suggesting something with “monster” in the name to a nun.)

Some would argue that I should have spoken up right away. I definitely would have with a client, but this was a volunteer situation that was still new to me. Even so, I wouldn’t have let them pick a host like Globat without a lot of noise.

Did I miss out on a chance to look good by not being the one who suggested BlueHost? Maybe, (a) ego is overrated and (b) a volunteer committee situation isn’t really the place to look for glory.

In the end, I got what I wanted (the school using a good host) my being quiet. There was nothing to gain by being vocal and advocating strongly for one host over another. The host I wanted was the frontrunner from the beginning so why speak up.

A little later, we also decided to rebuild the website and there I did speak up. They had been using Exponent CMS which, while not dead, is certainly not an active project in the way other CMSs like WordPress or Drupal are. As the new web guy on the committee, I was able to push for switching to WordPress and redesigning the site (it needed it). I got what I wanted here as well (albeit along with the job of rebuilding the site) to a certain extent because I had been quiet before. Since I had held back during the hosting discussion, I didn’t look like I was trying to control too many decisions.

Something to consider next time you are in a committee situation: if things are going the right way, there is nothing wrong with just closing your mouth and leaving well enough alone.

By the way, the school web site project took a while to become a priority and things didn’t really start happening until August of this year. And on Monday, the school’s new web site, redesigned and built by me using WordPress, was launched. On BlueHost.

]]> http://www.hosting-comparison.com/shut-up-when-you-can/feed/ 0 http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-august-2010/ http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-august-2010/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:29:06 +0000 jrrl http://www.hosting-comparison.com/?p=759 This
Month Last
Month Host Review Storage Transfer Price* 1 1 DreamHost read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 2 2 IX Web Hosting read review unlimited unlimited $3.95 3 4 BlueHost read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 4 3 HostGator read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 5 5 Just Host read review unlimited unlimited $4.95 6 6 HostMonster read review unlimited unlimited $5.95 7 7 MidPhase read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 8 8 ANHosting read review 625GB 6,250GB $6.95 9 10 StartLogic read review unlimited unlimited $5.95 10 9 MochaHost (review coming) unlimited unlimited $5.06

* All prices on this site are for a two-year sign-up.

Wow. I thought July was stagnant. This month was even worse with most of the top ten not moving at all and those that did only moving by a single spot. Specifically, Startlogic swapped places with MochaHost and BlueHost swapped places with HostGator. Not much can be read into that, although it is HostGator’s second month straight of decline, which jibes with some discontent I’ve been hearing from some of their customers. We’ll have to see if it amounts to anything or if people are just grumpier in the heat.

That said, we are in September now. The kids are back at school and the geeks are back at work, so perhaps the hosting world will pick up and start moving again this month. One can hope.

Stay cool and happy hosting.

]]> http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-august-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-july-2010/ http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-july-2010/#comments Sun, 08 Aug 2010 04:00:30 +0000 jrrl http://www.hosting-comparison.com/?p=754 This
Month Last
Month Host Review Storage Transfer Price* 1 3 DreamHost read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 2 2 IX Web Hosting read review unlimited unlimited $3.95 3 1 HostGator read review unlimited unlimited $8.95 4 5 BlueHost read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 5 4 Just Host read review unlimited unlimited $4.95 6 6 HostMonster read review unlimited unlimited $5.95 7 7 MidPhase read review unlimited unlimited $6.95 8 8 ANHosting read review 625GB 6,250GB $6.95 9 10 MochaHost (review coming) unlimited unlimited $5.06 10 9 StartLogic read review unlimited unlimited $5.95

* All prices on this site are for a two-year sign-up.

Late, I know. Fatherly duties always take precedence, and I was off at Cub Scout camp with my son.

The summer doldrums continued in July, with little changing. Yeah, DreamHost swapped spots with HostGator, as did BlueHost with Just Host and StartLogic and MochaHost, but those are little blips. The only notable thing was that IX Web Hosting continues to hold strong at #2; not bad for a host that wasn’t even in the top ten a few months ago. Otherwise, things stayed the pretty much the same and will probably do the same again in August. Summer just isn’t a hot time for hosting.

Try to stay cool and, as always, happy hosting!

]]> http://www.hosting-comparison.com/most-popular-web-hosts-in-july-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.hosting-comparison.com/5-lessons-bloggers-should-almost-learn-from-farmville/ http://www.hosting-comparison.com/5-lessons-bloggers-should-almost-learn-from-farmville/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:56:23 +0000 jrrl http://www.hosting-comparison.com/?p=729

Whether you love it or hate it, Farmville is a phenomenon that is hard to dismiss. As with anything successful, it is worth looking for anything we can learn from it. As it happens, if you tilt your head the right way when you look at it, Farmville has a lot in common with blogging, but with a few key differences. Let’s take a look.

1. Always Be Planting

In Farmville, you need to plant and harvest crops on time. If you don’t plant crops, you don’t get experience points you need to advance in the game. If you don’t harvest on time, your crops wither and you don’t get paid. Harvest enough of a given crop and you develop “mastery” in it, which makes your future harvests worth more.

In blogging, you need to add new posts and, when appropriate, reply to comments. If you don’t add new posts, the search engines (and your visitors) may decide your site is abandoned. If you don’t respond to comments, your visitors may feel you don’t care. If you write a lot of quality posts on a given subject, search engines and visitors will associate that subject with your blog, which can help future posts on that subject.

For mastery on Farmville, however, you just need to rack up the numbers for each crop. In blogging, you need to actually produce solid posts that (a) people want to read and (b) helps people in some way (even if they just provide laughter).

You should: Add new posts and respond to comments regularly.
But: Don’t just crank out tons of posts without making them good.

2. Spread the, um, Wealth

Farmville involves a lot more cooperation than most games. For example, you can (and should) fertilize your neighbors’ crops regularly. Not only does it help your neighbors make more coins from their crops, but it gets you experience points and sometimes fuel (the truest currency in Farmville).

Successful blogging is similarly cooperative. In blogging, you can (and should) comment on your friends’ posts regularly. Not only does it help make your friends’ blogs seem more alive to casual visitors, but it also allows you to show off your own expertise and possibly gets links to your own posts (the truest for of currency in blogging).

That said, in Farmville fertilizing is just a matter of clicking on a certain number of crop squares. With blogging, you should actually have something to say or share, rather than just tossing a bunch of cow manure onto other people’s posts.

You should: Comment on your friends’ blogs regularly.
But: Your comments should be more than just a load of bullsh*t.

3. Pay Attention

The folks at Zynga keep Farmville fresh by introducing new “themes” of items. These include special crops, animals, buildings, and decorations. For example, the Swiss theme included Swiss chard, Simmental cows, Swiss cottages, and evergreen trees. These themes only last a little while, so you have to act quickly if you want the items.

In blogging, hot topics come and go. If you catch them at the right time, you can get a lot of traffic and a lot of new visitors. Wait too long, however, and you’re out of luck. If people in your field are talking about something, join the discussion. Throw out an opinion post, an analysis, or even just an overview. Don’t miss the boat.

In Farmville, you never know what the new themes will be, so you can’t plan ahead. In the real world, you can. If you have a sports blog, you should have know the World Cup was coming. A political blogger should be aware of the upcoming November elections. Even if you blog about less predictable things like the weather, you know when seasonal changes come and can have some idea of what is coming up from forecasts.

You should: strike while the iron is hot, because it cools off quickly.
But: Don’t just wait for opportunities to show up. Look for them and prepare for them.

4. Cultivate Good Neighbors (and Save)

In Farmville, a lot of tasks require either a lot of help or a lot of Farmville cash. These tasks are often things you really want to do, such as building stables and other buildings or expanding barns and chicken coops. Since Farmville cash costs real world money, getting help is a lot more appealing, so you’d better have a bunch of good neighbors.

In blogging, building up traffic and links requires either a lot of help from friends and visitors or a lot of advertising, link purchasing, and so on. Again, since advertising and purchased links cost actual money, getting help is a lot more appealing, so you want to have some good friends.

Of course, helping out in Farmville only takes a click or two, with no risk to the helper. With traffic and link building, your friends are risking their own reputations if they recommend poor links. They probably won’t share unless your content is worthwhile, so your site has to be good.

You should: Encourage your friends (and everyone) to spread the word about your site, because many other methods will cost you.
But: Don’t expect people to help unless your content is good.
f the goodness of their hearts; your content has to be worth it.

5. Expect the Unexpected

Even the most ardent lover of Farmville has been annoyed by some of the technical issues Zynga has had over the last year. Sometimes the site has been unavailable. Other times, harvests didn’t count towards masteries. The latest snafu involved construction supplies and animals randomly disappearing. It seems like it is something new every week. It can be frustrating, but such is Farmville.

In the blogging world, there is no single overlord like Zynga, but the unpredictability of the landscape is much the same. Google updates, changes to Digg’s algorithms, Twitter downtime, security updates. Bloggers need to stay on their toes and just because something is working today is no guarantee it will work tomorrow.

You should: Roll with the punches and be prepared to change strategies if necessary.
But: You can assume most of the changes are intentional in the real world, which may make it easier to adjust.

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