Internet marketing has seen drastic changes in the last several years. Rand Fishkin from Moz explains the level of content you should shoot for to achieve positive SEO results. ‘Good’ doesn’t get you very far anymore. A ‘good’ candidate for a job will always be outdone be a ‘great’ one. A ‘good’ baseball player may […]

Registering a domain name is the first step to getting online, but what is a domain name? And why do you need one? If you or your business have a website, or if you have plans to set one up at any time in the future, you need a domain name. With so many websites […]

One of the fastest growing social media platforms is often overlooked when it comes to business. So, is Instagram actually a necessary tool to grow your business? As the home of #selfies and #dogsofinstagram, the basic idea of Instagram may not initially appeal to you and your business. An app that only allows you to […]

Depending on the time of day, your creativity will peak and fall. We’re exploring what causes this and how you can maximize your creativity. There is an ongoing debate on whether or not creativity is affected by the time of day. Some people say that expressing creativity in the morning is optimal because your mind […]

In today’s world of web development, it isn’t enough to just know how to code or just know how to design. But how much do you need to know about another’s field of expertise? In the past people have said that finding someone who can design a website and then code it is akin to […]

The cloud has become the norm within the tech industry. Why all the hype, and in what direction is it headed? Cloud computing has become one of the most discussed topics when it comes to web hosting, SaaS (Software as a Service) or any other tech-related discussion. You hear it in marketing, you hear it […]

What was once a neglected key on your keyboard has now been commandeered as a powerful tool to increase engagement on social media. Are you using hashtags correctly? Over the last several years we’ve all seen the hashtag take life. Before the days of Twitter, only developers used the hashtag (referred to as the ‘pound’ […]

Google’s new mobile-friendly update has caused commotion around the web. In this post we answer some of the frequently asked questions about Google’s newest update. On April 21 Google put their latest mobile-friendly update into effect. It has now been a couple of weeks since the changes came into effect and many people are concerned […]

Does metadata actually matter when it comes to SEO? In this post, we take a look at using meta tags to improve your search engine results and customer engagement. There is an ongoing debate on whether or not meta tags actually improve SEO. Some argue that websites are ranked based on an effective use of […]

Are you considering the different search engines when building your website? Learn about some of the basics of SEO and how you can begin to improve the search rankings of your site. Even if you’ve reached the point of having your “perfect” website, what good does it do if no one can find it? How […]

Are you utilizing LinkedIn for your business? Read some of the facts and reasons why you should be using LinkedIn for your business and professional career. LinkedIn is one of the few social networks that has stood the test of time and technology. Officially launched in 2003 by optimistic entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, the initial growth […]

Last week we wrote an article about how crucial it is that your site is optimized for mobile and tablet use. With Google’s newest update you have even more of a reason to make your site responsive. In order to keep everyone on their toes, Google is constantly making changes to its algorithm. The second […]

Thanks to the website tiii.me you can see exactly how long it will take to binge-watch the next complete TV series on your must-watch list. You’ve once again reached the end of a rewarding work week. You’ve climbed the email mountain and now you’re ready to kick back and enjoy a couple of days off. […]

Consumers accessing websites via mobile is increasing at an astonishing rate. Is your site fully optimized to meet the demand? Cisco recently released a report showing mobile network growth in the year 2014. Although the increase in mobile data usage is nothing new, the rate at which it’s growing is surprising. In only one year: […]

What separates a generic logo from a great one? Read on to find out how to create the perfect logo for your business. Every day we are surrounded by logos. Some of these logos are generic, leaving almost no impression on us. Others are much too busy and unattractive. However, there are a few logos […]

You’ve been convinced that your business needs a website, but are you making the absolute most of your investment? There are many obvious reasons why you may have decided to budget for a website. Your business is now open 24/7 thanks to your website, and it gives customers a place to get to know your […]

Read about Stew Morrill’s journey as the head coach of the Utah State Aggies and everything he has done for Cache Valley. SSSTTTEEEEEWWWW!!!!! 10,270 faithful Utah State Aggie fans point to the scoreboard one last time to pay respect to the beloved coach. Pointing up to the jumbotron as the camera shows Stew Morrill is nothing new, […]

The FCC has approved strict new rules for net neutrality. How will this affect your site in the future? On February 26, the FCC approved a new set of rules to maintain net neutrality. The FCC, or Federal Communications Commision, regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 […]

You’re able to attract visitors to your website, but why don’t your customers follow through and click your “Purchase Now” button? Your online business is set up for success. You have a well-designed site that is interactive and contains all the information your potential client needs in order to sign up for your services. Your […]

Sometimes we need a little bit of inspiration to get past failure. Take a look at how a few entrepreneurs found success after they initially found failure. Starting a business is tough. In fact, the odds of starting a successful business are around 20-30%. That means if you try and start 20 businesses, odds are […]

Millions of lovebirds are looking forward to Valentine’s Day, but what do you do if you’re single as ever? Valentine’s day is right around the corner. For some, it’s an excuse to turn off the TV and do something fun with their significant other. Millions of Americans go out and drop a pretty penny. According […]

Security should always be a high concern for your website, but do you need an SSL certificate? Many people wonder if the information that they’re sending through the web is actually secure. With so many cyber attacks and hackers floating around the internet, it’s easy to think that your site (or the sites that you […]

Cloud, Shared, Dedicated…which of these hosting options will work best for your business? Read on to find out the details behind each choice. The world of web hosting can be intimidating. You’re told that you need to purchase web hosting for your new site, but then you run into multiple different options. Terms like “cloud” […]

Come one, come all! Announcing the winners of our Net Promoter Score Survey. People are talking about WestHost. How do we know? Because we asked them! In October 2014 we asked all WestHost clients what they think about us as a part of our net promoter score (NPS) survey and giveaway. We use NPS as […]

Kelly Kirkham serves up a quick-fire guide to podcasting, including equipment, software, and style tips… Looking for an inexpensive way to reach out to your customers and maybe attract more? Posting podcasts from your blog is an easy and efficient way to engage with your audience and promote some traffic. Anyway, who doesn’t want to […]

What is influencer marketing and how do you get it right? When you start your own business, marketing isn’t always at the top of your to-do list. In fact, it’s often buried underneath setting up the legal side of things, finding suppliers, and sorting out your finances. Then, as time goes by, other priorities fill […]

Have you been there? That awkward moment when you realize a spammer has sent emails to everyone you know encouraging them to buy the latest male enhancement drug. Yep, it happens, and it’s super embarrassing. But there are ways to avoid the intrusion and actions you can take to rectify the situation if it happens […]

What exactly is SQL Injection and how does it affect you? Over the past 24 hours, the techie media has been alive with talk of what is being dubbed ‘the biggest data breach ever’, affecting nearly a billion passwords and half as many email addresses. This news largely stems from the Milwaukee-based Hold Security, whose […]

A leaked internal Google manual has finally shed a little bit of light on the search engine’s SEO policies, reveals Kelly Kirkham… On March 31 2014, Google’s Quality Rater’s Manual 5.0 was created. On June 11 2014, it was leaked to the World Wide Web. The 160-page manual reveals that Google ranks websites based on […]

“Dear valued customer, Recently your account has been noted as causing a high load on the shared server.” If you’ve ever received a message such as this one, you’re probably familiar with the panic they may cause. Web hosting from a shared server is an excellent way to manage your web content at a low […]

This week, the world of web addresses hit a milestone. One million of the newly-released web endings, aka gTLDs, have now been sold. Here’s why… Pull a party popper, this week is a big week in Internet history. In the past few days, sales of the new web address endings, which have been put on […]

Hayden Smith reveals what happens behind the scenes of a web address… Despite domain names and DNS being something that everyone online uses every day, a large quantity of people don’t understand what the terms really mean. To most, DNS is just part of the background magic that keeps the Internet working. So, for this […]

According to Google, a website is deemed ‘admirable’ if the content can load in 1.5 seconds or less. This can be a struggle if your site is loaded with content, text, videos, and flash drives. A survey taken by Gomez.com says that nearly half of all web users expect a page to load in two […]

Finding a domain can be stressful, we’ve created this flowchart to guide you through the process. ?

Happy Star Wars Day! To celebrate, a group of our employees has carefully watched the original trilogy and calculated the often mocked accuracy of Stormtroopers. Why do you think Stormtroopers are such terrible shots? Embed Code

Have you noticed your site getting bogged down or notice your hitting resource limits and not sure why? While there could be many causes, our support teams do occasionally find that a site has been compromised by spammers. Often, hackers will infect your site and use your server to send spam. Preventing your server from […]

More and more websites are being built using content management systems (CMS), but which one is right for you? We’ve put together this infographic to give you an overview of the big 3; WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Embed Code:

We all know we should backup our personal computer files, especially pictures, but what about backing-up your website?

A study by the AV-TEST Institute, a German antivirus security firm, revealed that despite the best efforts of search engine operators such as Google and Bing to prevent delivering malware sites, some infected websites are still able to avoid these search bots. The AV-TEST study showed that Bing supposedly returns five times more malware sites […]

Over the past 48 hours, the HeartBleed bug has lived up to its name and made hearts across America beat faster. The reason? HeartBleed is the name for a vulnerability that’s been found on certain versions of OpenSSL – a software that’s used by web servers world wide. Generally speaking, the software is used by […]

We already described the unique bracket filling website coded up by one of our programming geniuses. Today we thought we’d speak with several employees to learn their methods for bracket greatness. We start with Cameron, the developer behind the bracket predictor. Here is what he says about his program and its success: “My program basically […]

If you have ever owned a car, you know that regular maintenance is required to keep things running smoothly. Much like your vehicle, your WordPress site also requires tweaking and adjustments to remain in top shape. Keep Applications and Content Up to Date Like taking your car in for an oil change, you need to […]

In Back to the Future 2, bad-guy Biff uses a sports almanac from the future to place sure-thing bets on sporting games in his present. At WestHost, we might not have an almanac, but we do have the next best thing… The NCAA March Madness Predictor is an example of the power of programming. Created […]

You can’t wrap your website up in cotton wool, but you can protect it in other ways, especially if you use WordPress. Just like your car, your handbag, and your house, your website can be a target for criminals. Make sure the welcome mat isn’t rolled out for them when they come around, by following […]

Have you ever come up with the perfect URL only to find that .COM is taken? 2014 is bringing the release of over 700 new domain extensions. With these new domains, anyone can find the right URL for their online brand. The internet is about to change forever and here is why | Create Infographics

By now you are familiar with .com, .org, and .net. You may even have heard of .info or .mobi. But how about .guru, .photographer, .sexy, and .lol? This year marks a dramatic increase in the number of domains available. With over 700 new additions, you have more options than ever for branding your site. New […]

Jason Stevens has a nosy-in on who’s using Joomla and discovers it doesn’t take much snooping to get results.  Joomla doesn’t keep secrets when it comes to its users. The content management system declares on its website that it’s used by giants like ebay and Ikea. But now they’ve gone one step further. Joomlagov.info is […]

Barak Obama’s is 99 and Justin Bieber’s is 92. Pretty much anyone who’s active online can have a Klout score. But why would you want one? According to the online marketing agency Maccabee, as many as 40 million photos are shared on Instagram every day, and Twitter clocks up an average of 500 million tweets […]

When the word ‘supercomputer’ is uttered, it’s easy to envision a gigantic, alien device, composed of back to the future-style technology. After all, these devices are used in the fields of quantum mechanics, climate research, and oil exploration. But there are a few things you might not know about these specialized appliances. While modern supercomputers […]

Hypertext Access, commonly known as htaccess, is a configuration file that controls the directory it is placed in, and all the subdirectories underneath it. It is a powerful tool for manipulating and configuring sites. A webmaster can use it to redirect pages and password protect directories. Here are some of the techniques to protect your […]

It’s time to take your business further! Now through the end of November, any web hosting plan you buy will get 50% more time added to your term for free. Available on any new annual hosting package using the coupon code 50FURTHER, this deal can get you up to 18 free months of free web […]

It’s time to take your business further! Now through the end of November, any web hosting plan you buy will get 50% more time added to your term for free. Available on any new annual hosting package using the coupon code 50FURTHER, this deal can get you up to 18 free months of free web […]

Too many website owners are trying to beat Google at its own game when it comes to WordPress SEO. The problem with that approach is that Google is constantly tweaking, updating and testing its ranking algorithms. The truth is, trying to trick Google is rarely going to be successful. Instead, follow a few simple guidelines, […]

Too many website owners are trying to beat Google at its own game when it comes to WordPress SEO. The problem with that approach is that Google is constantly tweaking, updating and testing its ranking algorithms. The truth is, trying to trick Google is rarely going to be successful. Instead, follow a few simple guidelines,...

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array or ALMA Correlator is one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. It is built atop the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes, more than 16,500 feet above sea level. This high-altitude data center is a powerful system consisting of 66 radio antenna dishes, 50 of them measuring 12 […]

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array or ALMA Correlator is one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. It is built atop the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes, more than 16,500 feet above sea level. This high-altitude data center is a powerful system consisting of 66 radio antenna dishes, 50 of them measuring 12...

When it comes to Content Management Systems, Joomla and WordPress are two of the best. For the business that wants to manage their own website, either choice will deliver easy maintenance and an intuitive interface. Even the user that has only a little experience with technology can find their way around and have a functional […]

When it comes to Content Management Systems, Joomla and WordPress are two of the best. For the business that wants to manage their own website, either choice will deliver easy maintenance and an intuitive interface. Even the user that has only a little experience with technology can find their way around and have a functional...

ICANN has been putting a lot of attention on the effects of top level domains on brands. However, there is a new buzz about TLDs based on the literal geographic location of an online website. These are known as geo-TLDs. Nyc is one of the new TLDs getting ready to set sail in the market […]

ICANN has been putting a lot of attention on the effects of top level domains on brands. However, there is a new buzz about TLDs based on the literal geographic location of an online website. These are known as geo-TLDs. Nyc is one of the new TLDs getting ready to set sail in the market...

WordPress started in 2003 and for ten years it has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world. It is used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people everyday. WordPress and Google’s Blogger are among the top blogging platforms but WordPress is more used because of its […]

WordPress started in 2003 and for ten years it has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world. It is used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people everyday. WordPress and Google’s Blogger are among the top blogging platforms but WordPress is more used because of its...

Today is a momentous day, our new website builder is ready and available! We have never provided a more clear-cut way to build your own website and now building a professional website by yourself is not only a possibility, but a reality. In the past website builders produced websites that lacked features, customization, and had […]

Today is a momentous day, our new website builder is ready and available! We have never provided a more clear-cut way to build your own website and now building a professional website by yourself is not only a possibility, but a reality. In the past website builders produced websites that lacked features, customization, and had...

We like to reward our blog readers with an inside look at the way we do things at WestHost so between you and me, July and August is the best time to buy website hosting. 2013 is no exception. Throughout July and until the end of August we’ve discounted all new website hosting plans by […]

We like to reward our blog readers with an inside look at the way we do things at WestHost so between you and me, July and August is the best time to buy website hosting. 2013 is no exception. Throughout July and until the end of August we’ve discounted all new website hosting plans by...

Social media seems to be generating new superstar companies at the speed of light. One of the latest to garner attention is a real-time analytics “big data” company called Trendrr. Trendrr sifts social data on Twitter, Facebook and Viggle to help TV companies rate shows and work out just where advertisers should spend their money. […]

Social media seems to be generating new superstar companies at the speed of light. One of the latest to garner attention is a real-time analytics “big data” company called Trendrr. Trendrr sifts social data on Twitter, Facebook and Viggle to help TV companies rate shows and work out just where advertisers should spend their money....

One of the most powerful reasons to use a content management system like WordPress is the ability to easily create fresh and unique content. Your website can be an instantaneous publishing platform, allowing you to connect with your current client base as well as new and potential clients. Fresh content is a vital element to […]

One of the most powerful reasons to use a content management system like WordPress is the ability to easily create fresh and unique content. Your website can be an instantaneous publishing platform, allowing you to connect with your current client base as well as new and potential clients. Fresh content is a vital element to...

There is no doubt one of the reasons WordPress is so popular is the sheer number of themes available. No one wants to build a site that looks like a million others. While there is a vast repository of free themes available, you may be wondering whether or not a free theme can serve your...

Microsoft has now invested close to one billion dollars in constructing its new “Gen 4? data center in Boydton, Virginia. What does a billion dollars purchase in data centers? As it turns out, it’s all put into new technology, construction and forward thinking green business practices. Instead of creating the facility completely on-site, construction of...

Microsoft has now invested close to one billion dollars in constructing its new “Gen 4? data center in Boydton, Virginia. What does a billion dollars purchase in data centers? As it turns out, it’s all put into new technology, construction and forward thinking green business practices. Instead of creating the facility completely on-site, construction of...

WordPress’ adoption numbers are quite high with over 145 million downloads and powering 16.7% of the entire Web! As a cornerstone of the blogging and CMS world, it is natural that it must eventually meet head on with another online platform that has met meteoric success, Facebook. The social media giant’s ubiquity is not particularly...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } WordPress and Tumblr can both work well for a business site. By looking at the advantages and drawbacks of each platform, you can decide which one is better for your particular business. In a comparison of WordPress vs. Tumblr, the key differences are in the areas of power and ease of use. Tumblr is a...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } There are a lot of free and premium website builders available today that offer proprietary software for their users. The longer-established WordPress is an open-source content management software that you can upload to your own web space. While each package has its advantages, there are significant differences between them that should be considered when choosing...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Originally launched by Pyra Labs in 1999, Blogger was one of the first free blogging solutions offered to the general public. Since then, their assets have changed hands many times, and the company has seen its share of the market dwindle to competitors. Since Google acquired the service, however, Blogger has added many features in...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } It is highly recommended that you ensure your WordPress login password is a secure password comprising of at least 8 characters and includes special characters (@#$%^&*), a variation of upper and lower case letters, and numbers. Common Password Example: secretword123 Secure Password Example: Z4Tn@V^oes Beginning on Tuesday, a large scale and very organized distributed attack...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } DropBox and Google Drive are two cloud-based services that enable users to store their files online. Documents, images, audio and video files can all be stored in this way. Users can customize the permissions associated with a file, allowing sharing and collaboration. Sellbox provides an extra layer of functionality to DropBox and Drive, enabling users...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } If you are using social media tools to help blog or website visitors share your content and/or have WordPress integrated for Facebook, you have taken one important step in driving traffic to your site. But if you are limiting your efforts to Facebook, you are ignoring an increasingly important social media platform – Google+. Although...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Choosing what to watch on TV has become a confusing ordeal thanks to an ever-increasing amount of content available in various platforms. To salvage the situation TweetTV has recently launched new “super responsive” HTML5 mobile apps that provide users with better information on what’s on. TweetTV is a twitter based social media TV guide and...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Apple provides the platform and tools needed to develop, test and submit an app to their app store. Getting an app approved to the Apple App Store is the Holy Grail for developers as it is highly lucrative. However, developers have been grappling about Apple’s App Store approval process being controversial and inconsistent since its...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } For several years the leading trends and hottest debates in the IT world have revolved around cloud computing and big data. However, recently the concept of Internet of Things has taken the crown. The concept of Internet of things, also referred to as machine-to-machine (M2M), entails equipping formerly mundane objects with sensors that automatically send...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Application markets are one of the first stops users make when outfitting a new smartphone. The markets play an important role in the success of the devices on which they run, and it is a factor in why the iOS and Android development platforms continue to dominate the market. 1. Number of Apps The amount...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } In January, Facebook launched a new service: Graph Search. Initially only available to a limited number of users, Graph Search makes it possible to search Facebook for users who share a particular set of characteristics. For example, it would be possible to find people in a particular location who have “liked” a page on foreign...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } One of the best ways to distribute information over Internet or by email is the use of compressed PDF. This file is often more popular than saving in MS Word format (.doc or .docx) for e-books, marketing reports, and other digital assets such as e-textbooks and magazines. “When you convert documents, forms, graphics, and web...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Even though websites are crucial to businesses and a major source of income, many website or blog owners don’t give much thought to website security, especially when it comes to WordPress websites. In most cases WordPress is secure; still some hackers target WordPress because many fail to update the application or plugins. To prevent this...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Following the ruling that Google was liable for damages for secretly intercepting and gathering public data from open Wi-Fi routers during its Street View project has literally opened a modern day Pandora box with numerous questions still remaining unanswered. FCC censured Google for eavesdropping on millions of unknowing people as the Street View cars drove...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Your WordPress database has every post, every banner ad, comment and link you have ever made. This could be years worth of work and you want to keep it as safe as possible. Generally, WordPress is a very stable CMS system and has a lot of helpful resources for your data. Still, you want to...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } WordPress is one of the easiest and most flexible publishing environments that bloggers use for content sharing and setting up e-commerce sites for small businesses. One of the reasons why it is so popular is the prevalence of plugins for site customization, including SEO. Here are five great plugins that help you move up the...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } The U.S Patent and Trademark Office in a preliminary ruling invalidated U.S patent number 7,844, 915. The patent was Apple Inc.’s “Pinch to Zoom” patent that was one of the key pieces, out of six, of its intellectual property lawsuit against Samsung. The agency ruled out all claims in Apple’s patent on the primary basis...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } The WordPress pingback vulnerability is a security issue that could affect any WordPress website where pingbacks and trackbacks are used to notify the site owner of links back to their posts. This vulnerability causes the site to be at risk of a denial-of-service attack (DDoS). Currently, all WordPress versions are vulnerable including version 3.5. The...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } The Internet has brought about significant changes in consumer shopping patterns. As more online retail platforms open up and buying online becomes easier, the landscape of e-commerce continues to shift; something we’re continued to develop in our business hosting plans. Here are five trends that experts say shaped the holiday season. Do you agree with...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Having a YouTube channel has become an important feature to attract, engage and retain web traffic. To enhance user experience and ease content creators tasks, YouTube has been developing and launching some new technical features. As of late, the attention of channel owners has shifted from the number of videos uploaded to the rate of...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } The Linux Foundation, in collaboration with Yeoman Technology Group, conducted an invitation-only survey of 1893 enterprises using Linux showing that Linux servers are well-loved at Fortune 500 companies. The data pool was compromised of the Linux Foundation End User Council, private companies and government institutions selected by the Linux Foundation and Yeoman Technology Group. Everyone...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } According to recent statistics released by YouTube, over 800 million unique users visit the site each month and that traffic from mobile devices had tripled since 2011. These statistics are quite endearing for most marketing executives, either big or small, as it offers a cheaper alternative to advertise to a global target audience. In addition,...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Yammer is a social media tool specifically designed to help businesses of all sizes increase productivity and connect employees with one another. It is a convenient, secure way for you and your team to communicate and share relevant experiences and knowledge. There are several ways Yammer can be a benefit to your business. Promote Collaboration...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Oracle’s acquisition of Sun systems – and MySQL – in 2010, left many web developers wary of the MySQL path. At the time Sun had major concerns with their hardware sector, but the MySQL application was becoming ever more popular. Currently, MySQL is a significant tool in the management of website database information, and is...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Facebook is an enormous company, and its success has made it a household name, even turned into a movie. Although large, they’re not exempt from failure; a quick look at the past will show that even a monolithic company may one day find itself at the bottom of the barrel. We’ve taken a quick look...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } YouTube is the world’s most popular video sharing site, but they have been increasingly hard on users for posting content. As such, you may be in search of other ways to market your videos. Luckily, there are a number of sites that are a viable alternative to YouTube. Vimeo While no site can compare to...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) with a market share of over 50%. Most online publishers and entrepreneurs prefer this blogging platform because of the well-known ability to extend features through a huge collection of cheap (mostly free) plugins. “WordPress is used by 17.2% of all the websites, that is...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Many web developers, especially new ones, are often faced with the choice of using either PHP or ASPX. While many reasons have been advanced in support of one or the other, here are the top five advantages of PHP. Low Cost PHP is free, and so are its upgrades. Another reason for PHP’s low cost...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Before building any product, designers first produce a prototype (or a wireframe, as some call it) of how the real thing will look. As a website designer, you should also build a prototype of your website before finalizing the code and releasing the actual site on WestHost servers. Check out these 5 wireframing tools for...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } If you own a website that runs in Joomla, you will be pleased to know that the company just released the first mobile optimized Content Management System (CMS) 3.0. “The Joomla 3.0 release opens the mobile door for all Joomla websites making them look, feel and operate equally well on all viewing devices (smartphone, tablets...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } iOS 6 has more than 200 features that have changed the last iOS experience. Apple keeps on enhancing their products, embracing the philosophy of the late Steve Jobs: “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” However, Apple Maps has disappointed users who were forced to look...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } It’s that time of year, when people spend a lot of money and retails stores make enough of it to propel them into the new year! Thanks to the wonder of the World Wide Web we’re also getting festive, even though our only window shoppers have wings and feathers! Starting now until the end of...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Search engine optimization or SEO refers to a collection of strategies and techniques that help push your website closer to the top of the search rankings. In order to deliver the kind of content their users want to see, search engine companies use software and people who can identify certain clues as to how useful...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Smartphones and tablets are becoming popular devices for consuming web content hosted on professional hosting platforms. Consequently, small businesses should consider deploying responsive WordPress website designs that display correctly on smaller devices and open up new avenues to acquire traffic, leads and customers. “Sales of consumer electronics on the web are growing smartly. Online sales...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Free and premium website themes, featuring professional designs and a number of useful plugins, add a lot of value to open-source content management systems like WordPress; and the market is growing rapidly! One particular premium theme directory worth mentioning is Envato, which sells a high number of premium WordPress templates priced between $20-100; some are...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } We are very excited to announce we’re moving our U.S. headquarters to a newer, bigger, and better office! Located close to our old location, the new office brings together a lot of work and effort by many of our team members. ________________________________________________________________________ Important Notice Due to the office move, our phone systems will be unavailable...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } One responsibility of both large and small businesses is the right acquisition software and hardware to organize employees’ tasks. Business leaders must consider the cost of software licenses. Maintaining software, hiring staff and boosting productivity are difficult goals to achieve by themselves, never mind collectively. Further, each of these resource ‘silos’ require money in some...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Did you ever wonder who invented the famous Linux operating system that has transformed services in the web hosting arena? The primary driver behind the open source operating system is a man named Linus Benedict Torvalds, a Finland native. He was the chief software architect behind Linux, and today is acting as the coordinator of...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } When you decide to launch a new website, you are faced with an age-old choice: Linux server hosting versus Windows hosting; which is better? The answer depends upon your needs and what you intend to do with the website, but there are some rough guidelines to follow. The first thing to keep in mind is...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Blogging is one of the most effective tools for communication and publishing personal content. Even corporate bloggers are starting up blogs using affordable web hosting platforms and one-click WordPress functionality to communicate to their audience and customers. Linux web hosting servers have come a long way; it’s widely used and more popular considering the price...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Linux, one of the most popular operating systems used by affordable hosting providers, is making its presence felt in the automotive industry. Linux is known for its exceptional services as an open source platform, and if it is high-powered enough to run web hosting servers, there’s no doubt it can generate high performance levels in...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } You have probably heard about the term Big Data, a gigantic movement underway in cloud computing, designed to analyze huge clusters of data sitting inside document folders, image banks, giant databases, email archives and other repositories, which many believe hold hidden pearls of wisdom and could make bigger companies more agile and competitive. Meanwhile, smaller...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Google says a central point of failure is at risk if it allows Acer hardware and Chinese technology giant, Alibaba, to continue their romance and launch the Aliyun operating system (OS), which Google says is engineered off the Android platform; but is not compatible with Android. Everyone is used to China pressuring smaller nations not...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } The iPad is a great tool for viewing content, interacting with productivity apps, and giving consumers and staff the ability to work from any location without lugging a bulky Windows or Mac laptop around. However, as designers, developers, and copywriters you may hit a brick wall when it comes to those handy features that are...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } You have probably noticed in the WestHost data specs that all managed and unmanaged dedicated servers are housed in Tier 3, SAS 70 Type II compliant data centers. But, why should this be important when you are shopping around for an affordable web hosting company? Since hosting providers are the keepers of your data, files,...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } One of the world’s most powerful and popular content management systems (CMS), Drupal, has released version 7.15 which cleans up a few bugs and tightens some security settings. These include the introduction of a ‘user_password_reset_timeout’ variable to allow the 24-hour expiration for user password reset links to be adjusted (API addition). Another bug that was...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } A recent survey, by Technorati of roughly 7,200 bloggers, indicates that at least 19% of self-employed professionals consider their blog to be their “company.” Other surprising facts emerged too, including demographic data confirming that 2/3 of all bloggers may be male and that at least 11% say blogging is their primary income. Blogging platforms are...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } “If someone can swipe a mobile phone faster themselves than handing a credit card to a cashier for the cashier to swipe it and hand it back, then [Starbucks] loves it.” ~ Los Angeles Times. Starbucks is injecting some caffeine into the world of mobile credit card processing, or is it the other way around?...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Over the last few years Google has pioneered a number of ways for users to conduct a search including Google Instant, speaking your queries, and by using an image search instead of a web search. They recently did something very clever; handwriting a web search on mobile phones and tablets. “Say you’re standing on a...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Since 1998 we’ve worked to build a strong company and uphold the growth of the Internet. As a founding member we’re proud to announce the formation of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coalition); a group committed to drive the “nuts and bolts” of the Internet. The i2Coalition consists of more than 40 industry leaders from various...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } According to the FCC, more than 17 million still-useable computers are prematurely retired from businesses in the U.S. each year. These computers could help millions of Americans get online and interacting with small business websites hosted on cheap hosting platforms, including e-commerce applications. This has prompted the FCC to kick-start “PC Pledge 100” requesting corporate...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } One way to track the progress of a social media company is to view changes in the corporate headquarters. We recently caught wind from Business Insider that Pinterest, the massively popular visual bookmarking site, has moved its base of operations from Palo Alto into a bigger space in San Francisco. The new warehouse spans over...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Google has just released Panda update 3.9 which apparently will affect about 1% of websites hosted on shared, dedicated and cloud platforms around the world. As usual Google is constantly tweaking its algorithm to favor high-quality sites, which publish original, useful and timely content relating to the core product or business offering. These quality guidelines...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } So what exactly is going on at Google Plus? On the one hand The Wall Street Journal reported in late February that that Google+ is nothing more than a virtual ghost town, reflected by a growing amount of users who sign up but then never go much further in engaging the platform. A large number...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } A new survey suggests that at least 56% of small businesses are now using an online CRM cloud to help manage their business operations.   This is 10% higher than last year and confirms a general trend towards increasing cloud utilization by SMBs as we approach 2016, considered a watermark year for cloud computing. Cloud hosting...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Symantec recently used Drupal to complete an enterprise portal called Symantec Connect for key products, offering users a platform to interact with another and employees in a community-orientated platform. Drupal is considered one of the most advanced and powerful content management systems (CMS) available to small business owners on professional web hosting infrastructure. “Connect enables...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } The latest updates from Joomla CMS indicate that this popular content management system has now reached the 30-million download mark and averages close to 1 million downloads per month. Joomla, along with Drupal and WordPress, is considered one of the top three user-friendliest pieces of software to build websites on professional hosting platforms in the...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Magento appears to be a runaway success in the online shopping cart and e-commerce arena, when viewed through search activity on Google Insights.  While osCommerce and Zen Cart fight for scraps in 2012, Magento is surging upwards with a notable peak in late 2009. All three packages have their fan base and are offered on...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } It had to happen: Facebook has announced it will allow users to plugin WordPress stories, social publishing and individual mentions. Facebook, along with a professionally hosted website is considered a key ingredient in helping generate new leads for small business owners in the United States. “The plugin was built by Facebook engineers in collaboration with...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Many Google users, including those using cloud services such as Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets, may be unaware that Google has put together an engineering team whose sole goal is to make it easier for users to move their data in and out of popular Google products stored in the cloud. Generally, there are two...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } E-commerce on cheap, affordable hosting platforms is taking off in a big way in the United States with a recent Oracle white paper declaring substantial year-over-year improvements in 2011 over 2010 results. What is even more promising, are the technical improvements in the buying experience as well as further enhancements to e-commerce channels that are...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } A recent infographic released by IBM indicates that 96% of cyber-attacks could have been prevented in seconds by taking some basic precautionary steps and complying with secure computing practices. It also warned that 33% of cyber attacks involved phishing, malware or viruses occur in the amount of time it takes to make a cup of...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } “I’ve had my domain name parked here for a couple of months now while I’ve been getting my online business ready, and one of the things I had to do was find a Web host that met my financial needs as well as offering a good reseller program that I could promote on my site....

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Well, it’s finally happening albeit in dribs and drabs: E-commerce is now not only swallowing up mobile devices — it’s about to spread to television sets! In the last few years, cloud computing and Smartphone adoption have been accelerating at dramatic rates, often fuelling each other in terms of both consumer and business requirements.    Website...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } If the World Wide Web was ever in love with a scripting language, JavaScript must be it.  This mainstay pseudo programming language allows both web designers and developers to inject bells and whistles into static HTML sites (powered by professional hosting platforms) often turning them into ‘dynamic’ wonders. Its fan base has always been large...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } A new WordPress plugin is drawing interest from a number of web designers and web developers tasked with launching new websites on professional hosting platforms. It’s called SlideDeck for WordPress and has been downloaded 250,000 times according to a recent TechCrunch article. The WordPress plugin allows users to create SlideDecks using images, video, text and...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Less than 10% of websites hosted today on professional hosting platforms are optimized for mobile devices said Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs at CTIA.  He also admitted that web browser manufacturers had been slow in adapting their technology to Smartphones. However, he said a bigger issue and pivot point for the industry was the emergence of...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Two things Mozilla Firefox does very well: Build a great browser AND deploy clever content marketing strategies. One of the more imaginative ways it creates a buzz around its famous browser (and integrates social media) is the foundation of an annual film contest called Firefox Flicks that is open to a global audience. The contest...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Don’t you ever wish you could centralize web analytics data rather than using separate systems for your website or paid advertising? So did the famous booking site, Lastminute.com who wanted to use online data to make more informed decisions rather than relying on intuition. “We really needed to understand what made some customers make a...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } 52% of SMBs using the cloud say cloud services enable them to add new products and services quickly and securely on professional hosting platforms. This statistic comes out of a recent Microsoft survey conducted via Comscore for companies that deploy between 100 and 250 personal computers in-house. The broad conclusions drawn by Microsoft and Comscore...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } A recent Forrester Research report concludes that 96 out of the 100 top advertisers currently use Facebook to promote their business or their clients’ business. Roughly 66% of US online adults visit Facebook on a monthly basis, with an unknown quantity then accessing company websites on professional hosting packages via posted content or directly from...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } In the last several years,  interruption advertising has been ‘interrupted’ by a new more elegant way to reach customers called content marketing. And, one of the leaders in this field is SlideShare, which has just been acquired by LinkedIn. SlideShare has made a name for itself by offering an online hub to share presentations, documents...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Imagine a situation where you could take several physical servers and consolidate them into one powerful server, without sacrificing any features, functionality or speed. And, imagine if you could scale your resources up or down, including CPU, RAM and Disk Space through an easy-to-use control panel. Finally, wrap this up in a utility pricing model...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Perhaps it’s time to leave your shared platform and consider a dedicated server that belongs entirely to your small business or SME. If you find yourself at a cross-roads on your shared platform where you need more juice in the form of RAM, CPU and disk space, then a dedicated server may just what you...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } You might have guessed from our Star Wars promotion on dedicated server hosting plans that many of us at WestHost are big Star Wars fanatics. Since today is Star Wars Day we decided to take part in the celebration by creating a couple memes. Enjoy! Embed Code: Embed Code: If you haven’t checked out our...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Since Westhost not only offers professional hosting services but a straightforward domain registration service, we sometimes like to focus readers’ attention on existing and new domain extensions which may suit their online or offline business. Since YouTube and video are simultaneously consider two of the biggest marketing drivers on the web today, its worthwhile considering...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } As the world’s most popular blogging platform (and some might say Content Management Systems), WordPress is now loaded with useful features that help structure content (and boost SEO) on professional web hosting platforms. Here are four technical tips that you may help you in your daily blogging activities on all platforms offered by Westhost. Can...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } They say that the move into a new home is second only to divorce in terms of stress. Working with online applications can sometimes be just as demanding. However, WestHost has put together a comprehensive Knowledgebase to help take some of the sting out of this process. Plus, you can always fall back on a...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Many small businesses are sometimes unaware that leading shared, cloud and dedicated hosting providers also sometimes provide bundled domain services which when utilized can bring down annual costs and allow a SMB to centralize activities under one umbrella. Purchasing, maintaining and extending a business domain presence are becoming critical as competition grows online and competitors...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } ‘Simply put, Google Plus is a niche community, and it feels like it’s always going to remain that way.” ~ Paul Tassi, Forbes Magazine. Well, the knives are out for the Google Plus as it plugs away at Facebook’s social networking lead. In recent weeks the tech behemoth has revamped it’s fledgling “+”, quite unexpectedly,...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } In these tough economic times, your small business could benefit from extra revenue-generating activities offered by leading hosting companies, including reseller hosting which is built upon cloud hosting technology. Here are five benefits attached to a reseller hosting account with WestHost: The power of choice You can choose between several packages, including a basic entry-level...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } One you have established your website on a professional hosting platform you will sooner or later consider e-commerce functionality to increase conversions and take advantage of busy shopping periods during Christmas and Easter. Forrester Research suggests that by the year 2015, online retail sales will reach almost $300 billion. Consumers are now purchasing products and...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } How to Install an SSL on an unmanaged server? You are probably aware that WestHost offers both managed and unmanaged dedicated servers to customers in the United States and abroad. Managed servers give you the power of a dedicated box but with reduced complexity and operational overhead.  Unmanaged servers allow advanced IT admins to precisely...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } A domain name is not simply a reflection of your business name; it has other direct bearings on your SMB success including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and serving as a buffer against competitors seeking to steal away your customers. By now most online SMBs are aware that domain names are a key metric evaluated by...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } There is almost universal agreement that the future of the United State’s economic recovery hinges on small businesses growth, a large part of which is dependent on SMBs’ ability to produce new eCommerce sales via websites deployed on affordable hosting packages. Currently the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates that 23 million small businesses in...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } You may want to give your website a bit of extra juice. Here are five tips to help you get the most out of your online presence. Is there a way to quickly boost my rankings? Yes, maybe! Installing Google Plus may indirectly increase search engine rankings. How fast or how high is unclear, but...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } If you have not yet already done so an Lion OS upgrade from Snow Leopard offers a smoother, cloud-ready experience on your MacBook Pro or Mac Air. And, the use of gesture technology in tandem with trackpad hardware, help bring your laptop or desktop experience closer to that of an iPad. They have also added...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Data privacy protection is becoming one of the key issues in the first part of the 21st Century, affecting developments in web hosting companies and cloud computing that ultimately impact you as a user, designer or web developer. One area to watch out for is something called Safe Harbor, which is a piece of legalese...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } It seems voice-activated applications are becoming the hot new items of 2012, influencing everything from Apple iPhone’s Siri to Google’s new voice activated search. Just recently, Engadget reported that your mouth might soon get equipped with new Tongue Drives that allow you to communicate with machinery — and not just your iPhone or Android device!...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Here are a few great tips to help you optimize your WordPress installation delivered by Ben Metcalfe at WordCamp 2012 in Miami, which will help you push your site into the high-speed Autobahn! Keep your plug-in updated Duh! Okay, this is obvious considering the recent malware intrusions on web hosting servers around the world. But,...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } It seems both consumers and businesses are becoming increasingly dependent on Facebook these days to stay social and boost sales respectively. WestHost has joined this growing trend using Facebook to provide updates and special offers. Just about any new site development may entail building custom tabs and iframes for a Facebook business page that sucks...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } New data is emerging that Google Apps may be on the verge of breaking the $1 billion mark in annual revenue. The evidence is circumstantial collected by Backupify a Google ISV, who surveyed 8000 Google App domains representing nearly a million users. Interestingly, at least half the user base appears to be small business orientated...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } A wise man called Thomas Friedman remarked in a recent book that the world is flat, signaling the rise of the common man in  challenging industry professionals in areas such as web design, writing,  and video editing. It’s the last area mentioned above which seems to be getting an extra push from Apple, as it ...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } One of the world’s most popular Smartphone photo sharing apps on the iPhone is Instagram. With over 15 million downloads , this free app is highly addictive and is features even faster start-up times under Version 2.0.6. Since we offer highly affordable web hosting on Linux servers we are always interested in the behind-the-scenes engineering...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } As the headline suggests, SoundCloud has some lofty goals and by all accounts it may be succeeding. The Los Angeles Times reported recently that SoundCloud had reached 10 million users and 5 million downloads of its SoundCloud application.  This is fantastic achievement considering it only started life in 2008 as a music-sharing site but found...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } “Call us at 1-866-584-6757 and record an audio post for your blog” ~ Tumblr The above is just one piece of functionality indigenous to the Tumblr blogging site that is taking the web by storm.  PC Mag reports that that Tumblr now has over 40 million blogs worldwide. “Tumblr use has skyrocketed in the last...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Since divorcing itself from EBAY StumbleUpon has grown  from 6 million to 20 million users, signaling subtle shifts in how people are using search technology outside of Google and Bing. The idea behind StumbleUpon, started in 2001, is offering a way to discover sites you did not know existed. It is often compared to Digg...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Thank you for protecting Wikipedia. We’re not done yet~ Wikipedia Wikipedia showed all of us the monumental power of using the Internet to illustrate a philosophical (and political) position in the face of tremendous pressure from big government. By going dark for 24 hours, it sucked a vortex of users and media commentators into the...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Website customers have become spoiled. What we mean by this relates to the aftermath of web 2.0 applications built by tech giants like Amazon and Pandora who have taken user functionality to unheard of proportions. The ability to customize searches, wish lists and alter product screens according to your unique online behavior are key features...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Google recently added the (+) sign to its suite of products for both consumers and businesses in a bid to bury the failure of Google Buzz and create a platform to challenge Twitter and Facebook. In fact, while Mark Zuckerburg may conclude the sole purpose of Google Plus is to overtake Facebook, Google begs to...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } One of the indirect benefits of using a remote hosting provider is the ability to tap into ancillary services like Continuous Data Protection (CDP) that safeguards your data using the latest backup & restore technologies. Traditionally IT departments running their own on-premise solutions have considered backup and disaster recovery to be two separate functions often...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } In today’s market, a business of any size needs a website. Often, it is cheaper to outsource the hosting of that website to a third party rather than trying to do it in house. However, when determining the best hosting solution, price should not be the main factor because businesses have different needs which require...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Let’s say that you have a larger website that will get a lot of traffic. Sharing a server with other websites may not be the best approach for you—you may need your own dedicated server. In our last post, we mentioned how shared hosting is typically the best choice for a small venture. However, if...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } What do Circuit City, Hollywood Video, and Borders have in common? All of them lost their market share to direct competitors that successfully employed an online storefront, or eCommerce: Best Buy, Blockbuster, and Barnes & Noble. Clearly, the capability to sell your product online is essential. It lowers your overhead costs and provides greater convenience...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Now that you’ve registered your domain name and have a web hosting company in mind, selecting the right type of web hosting for your domain is up next. There are multiple types of hosting, but for beginning bloggers shared web hosting is recommended: Shared hosting is the most popular type of web hosting and most...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } So, you want to run a small business in the age of web commerce and need a website but have no experience in managing one. If you try to do it yourself, putting an effective website online poses a very high and costly logistical challenge to your business. Even after you get your site designed,...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Once you have registered your domain name and before you begin blogging, you are going to need a place to post. Enter web hosting. What is Web Hosting? The majority of people who create a website or blog underestimate the importance of domain name hosting, but they shouldn’t. Web hosting is a service that gives...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Taking your first step into the blogosphere is easy, but there are things to consider before you become a big blogger. If you have a brilliant blog theme and are ready for readers, your first priority is to secure your own personal website by choosing a domain name and registering it. Why do I need...

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } Web design has changed dramatically since Tim Berners-Lee created the first HTML website in 1991. Twenty years later, an online website builder makes the complicated process of building a website, simple and possible for anyone to have a strong presence on the web. Embed Code: Since the beginning designers have tweaked the way websites look...

Something has happened that’s never happened since we opened our doors almost 14 years ago… we designed a new logo! It was an eventful trip trip and we wanted to share a few things we learned along the way. Considerations for your next logo design 1 – Logos Aren’t Everything Obviously designing a new logo...

The PHP contest has officially closed and the winners have received their prizes; if you didn’t win or are just finding out the contest happened there is still great content and code created to view and use for inspiration on your own PHP projects. We loved contributing to the greater good of the PHP Web...

Position #1 compared to #2 on the Google results page isn’t that different is it? What about #10 and #11, can’t matter that much right? Wrong. An online research network, Chitika Insights, said the value of the #1 spot in Google over #2 is worth DOUBLE the traffic; that’s like one taco or two, $1K...

For the last few years we’ve enjoyed interacting and working with Joost De Valk, a 28 year old illustrious WordPress and PHP developer who publishes awesome content at yoast.com. I had the chance to interview him about what he does, how he got there and what he’s got up his sleeves. Tell us about something...

As a promoter and leader of the PHP Web hosting circle we decided to have a little fun in the community by announcing the start of our PHP code contest. If you know anything about PHP you’ll want to participate! We’ll be hooking up winners, mainly selected by vote from peers, with books and shirts...

It’s here, the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday. Equally as important for us is the largest e-commerce day of the year, Cyber Monday; the Monday following Thanksgiving. We’ve decided to join in the Black Friday deals this year by providing some huge deals for all our hosting products. We normally don’t leak...

I frequently cleaned cracked WestHost accounts, but sometimes they are not actually cracked or it’s a little hard to track down. Here is a guide for what to look for if you think that something might be compromised. Some of this information is for WestHost accounts purchased before Nov. 2009, but I’ve included things to...

Happy Halloween from our favorite employees… Starring Kirk as Luis “El Gaucho” Gonzalez Cameron as Chuck Bartowski Clint as… himself Cari as Amelia Earhart A little more from our team a the data center…

As always, we’re excited to announce last week’s USU Aggie football tailgate party winners. For most of you who didn’t come or simply can’t please stick around, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, etc. because more prize giving will come. And the winners… Free Web hosting for a year – D’Sean Hattoway Domain...

Thanks to our team (and the ladies and gents at Ksplice) we’ve deployed Ksplice on our shared hosting servers and will include it for free on our new line of dedicated servers coming later this week! What is Ksplice? Ksplice gives us the ability to apply important kernel security updates released by CentOS/Red Hat Linux...

If you’ve followed the blog lately you’ve seen we have been participating in the festivities at the Utah State University football games. Last week we enjoyed watching USU beat long-time rivals BYU (last time that happened was 17 years ago). We had the opportunity to mingle with fans during the game with a table on...

Last Saturday was enjoyed another Utah State University, Aggie football tailgate party with our famous WestHost give-a-way contest including an Apple iPad (given at end of football season), FREE website hosting for a year, and five $5 gift cards from our neighbor, Zeppe’s. And now the winners… FREE website hosting for one year* – Cody...

Have you ever wondered why you get so much SPAM (junk mail) in your email inbox? Where do they get your address from, and why do they send it? There are essentially two reasons. First is the same reason that Pepsi pays $25 million for a thirty second Super Bowl ad: exposure equals sales. Secondly,...

Last Saturday we enjoyed the opportunity to sponsor the Utah State University, Aggie football program during their pre-game tailgate party… and yes even geeks like us like/play football We kicked off the tailgate with a highly active give-a-way contest for an Apple iPad (given at end of football season), FREE website hosting for a year,...

Although ALL of you know what a website is and use the World Wide Web to find information there are still some who don’t think they have any reason to have any presence online. That said, I give you 5 reasons why you should be online: 80% of people search for local businesses online. If...