GoDaddy’s “devastating” massive outage that shut down millions of websites left many business owners screaming in frustration. Customers of GoDaddy and other hosts may now be questioning their current host’s services, performance and susceptibility to crashing. RunningShoes.com CEO, Chad Weinman, told the United Press International (UPI) that the server crash cost his company nearly $50,000 in sales, which was “devastating,” Weinman said.
Monetary loss aside, the outage caused a lot of insecurity in customers worried about sensitive-information exposure and lost data. Information, files, photos and data that can’t be recovered can be more tragic to a business than losing money. For Web designers, storing, sharing and backing up files is paramount — and now GoDaddy has a lot to prove to keep their them as customers.
GoDaddy Snafu
As a GoDaddy customer, you may be asking yourself if the company’s apology, one-month compensation for services and promises a crash won’t happen in the future are enough for redemption. As a potential new customer who’s on the hunt for a first-rate host that won’t crash, you may be overlooking the company’s “world-class products” and “industry-best service.” In case you were too focused on your properly functioning, up-and-running website and in the dark about GoDaddy’s recent debacle, you should know that the popular domain registrar and Web host experienced a series of internal network problems that caused a massive service outage, leaving millions of websites to shut down for nearly six hours.
Small business’s websites and online retailers faced exasperating downtime, lost revenue and the inability to connect with customers or visitors. GoDaddy, one of the largest domain registrars and Web hosts in the world, and its recent outage is an example of why it’s important for designers to know about Web hosting.
Expert Services
19 Important Features to Look for in a Web Host
A highly reputable Web host provider offers the best-of-the-best services for cloud storage, top-of-the-line backup, reseller hosting and assured uptime. To have services and solutions that are going to deliver beyond promises, you as the designer have to know what you’re looking for. From showcasing a professional-design portfolio and expert technical skills to online file storage and backup, your Web-hosting provider should offer user-friendly management, cutting-edge features and unparalleled data protection.
Shop for a superior Web host that meets your needs by keeping the following in mind:
Reseller Hosting
Reseller hosting expands the services that Web designers and developers can offer clients. It guarantees that you have the hard-drive space and bandwidth to offer hosting for third parties. You’ll have permission to sell shared hosting services as an add-on for your customers. Renting a dedicated server or offering hosting services can broaden your client base and make your extensive services even more attractive to customers who need to build and market a website.
By becoming a hosting reseller, you’re not placing limitations on your services as a designer. You’re also avoiding the costly and timely hassle of migrating to a new, upgraded host as your client base grows. With more administrative freedom and customized control panels, you’re driving the wheel of your services. If you’re still in the growing stages of your business, you may want to start with shared hosting, which is less expensive and less consuming operationally; however, ask for package details from your Web host provider if you anticipate reselling in the future.
The hosting providers below are recommended by Outlaw Design’s Blog because they offer great reselling options:
- Host Nine
- Host Gator
- Eleven 2
- Site 5
Once you’ve established yourself as a Web host reseller, market and advertise your additional services. Branding and marketing yourself as a design company, or professional freelancer, that can offer a multitude of services displays your unparalleled expertise and gives you a competitive edge.
Cloud Storage
Do you need a large and reliable space for various design projects? Are you uncomfortable with where you currently store your images, digital art, high-end projects and other important files? Backing up your data using cloud storage ensures data is secured on multiple online servers. Whether it’s your personal portfolio, design blog or client’s website, cloud storage technology provides a secure and easily accessible digital space.
As you’re looking for top-notch storage capabilities, keep these cloud storage utilities in mind:
- Scalability
- Various redundancy levels
- Ability to serve several requests simultaneously during boosts in traffic
- Easily manageable from a desktop
- High performance with fast loading speeds
Along with the best deals, an informative cloud backup review should help you find a superior product that fits your specific storage needs. Cloud backup service companies should be judged on rates, storage options and components such as uptime, technical support and ease of use. Various recommended providers include JustCloud, ZipCloud and LiveDrive.
Digital Representation
Online Reputation Management Tips for 2012
To market yourself as an expert who can properly build and creatively design a website, your own site needs to exemplify those qualities. Your website, which is an extension of your brand that promotes your services, also needs top be an example of the type of work that you specialize in.
Your website should use a high-quality Web host that provides:
- Pages with fast loading times
- 99.9 percent uptime
- Sufficient bandwidth for reliable transfers
- Excellent features (e.g. polls, forums, mailing lists and shopping carts)
- Scripting language support, including relevant databases, and installation software
- Upgrades for growth and expansion
- Expert and fast customer support
- Control panel for easy, yet sophisticated management
- Dedicated secure sockets layer (SSL) support for third-party websites that sell products (look for a hosting package that includes a dedicated SSL certificate and a unique IP address)
As you start the host-hunting process, determine the type of platform you want to use, the number of domains you need and the amount of storage space and bandwidth you need. Keep in mind that as a freelance Web designer, you’ll want to attract potential clients with interactive and dynamic features. Therefore, your server needs to have enough gigabytes to support various types of data such as high-resolution images, a live video feed or any complex databases. Also, acquiring more than one domain name helps protect your brand as a Web designer. Domain-name variations can refer back to your primary site. Unlimited domain options provide the opportunity to offer resell hosting if you wish to do so in the future.
If you’ve evaluated your website and decided your current host no longer meets your needs, Mashable recommends the following for superior Web hosting:
- Bluehost: Specializes in shared, virtual private server (VPS) services and dedicated hosting, including optimization and public cloud- storage services
- Hover: Offers tools for bulk domain management, email and quick updates
- Namecheap: Features WhoisGuard protection, domain name services (DNS), optimal security, secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates and full domain control
- Yahoo! Small Business: Provides e-commerce solutions and marketing dashboard to analyze traffic and campaign performance
- Name.com: Includes .US web addresses, optimal VPS hosting and Whois Privacy safeguarding
Potential clients are looking for talented design specialists who have the most up-to-date knowledge on the latest Web applications and technological advancements. Whether you’re creating your own website or building sites for clients, your Web host plays an integral role in functionality. Just as your design skills need to be fresh, innovative and up-to-date, your Web-host services should be just as current to meet those ever-changing needs because change is good.