Search Engines Services

# Google
Google has increased in popularity tenfold the past several years. They have gone from beta testing, to becoming the Internet's largest index of web pages in a very short time.Their spider, affectionately named "Googlebot", crawls the web and provides updates to Google's index about once a month.
Google.com began as an academic search engine. Google, by far, has a very good algorithm of ranking pages returned from a result, probably one of the main reasons it has become so popular over the years. Google has several methods which determine page rank in returned searches.

# Yahoo

Yahoo! is one of the oldest web directories and portals on the Internet today, and the site went live in August of 1994. Yahoo! is a 100% human edited directory, and provides secondary search results using Google.
Yahoo! is also one of the largest traffic generators around, as far as web directories and search engines go.Unfortunately, however, it is also one of the most difficult to get listed in, unless of course you pay to submit your site. Even if you pay it doesn't guarantee you will get listed.
Either way, if you suggest a URL, it is "reviewed" by a Yahoo! editor, and if approved will appear in the next index update.

Web Hosting Comparison

Hosting services and companies vary from totally free, shared servers to large-scale dedicated machines. You’ll have to decide which is right for you and your business. To help you make that decision, study the following Hosting services comparison:

# Free Servers
Advantages:
* No Cost.
* You manage the server software and network.
Disadvantages:
* Search engines view free hosting services as inferior and sometimes do not include them in their index.
* Some free hosting services do not allow you to use a custom domain name.
* The bandwidth is restricted and may cause difficulty for visitors attempting to access your site.
* Because the service is free, some providers do not strive for 100% uptime which could result in your site being frequently inaccessible.
* Software availability is limited, and free hosts do not generally provide database options.
* Disk space is sometimes limited, ensure that you are getting all the room you need.
* Poor response time for support.
* Very limited support.

# Cheap Web Hosting
Advantages:
* Server, software and network is managed and supported for you.
* You can select a custom domain name.
* Search engines don’t view you as second class if you have your own domain name.
* Improved response time for support.
* Technical support is provided, generally 24 hours a day.
Disadvantages:
* Bandwidth restrictions.
* Shared processing power.
* Limited software.
* Potentially limited disk space.

# Mid-Priced Web Hosting—Shared Servers
Advantages:
* Server, software and network is managed and supported for you.
* You can select a custom domain name.
* Search engines don’t view you as second class if you have your own domain name.
* Improved response time for support.
* Uptime is improved and generally guaranteed.
* Technical support is provided, generally 24 hours a day.
* Generally offer a wide range of software options and configurable bundles.
* Improved bandwidth.
Disadvantages:
* Shared processing power.

# Expensive, Dedicated Servers
Advantages:
* Server, software and network is managed and supported for you.
* You can select a custom domain name.
* Search engines don’t view you as second class.
* Improved response time for support.
* Uptime is improved and generally guaranteed.
* Technical support is provided, generally 24 hours a day.
* Generally offer a wide range of software options and configurable bundles.
* Improved bandwidth.
* Processing power is not shared.
Disadvantages:
* The cost is higher than any other options.

Your choice of server will depend on how much money you have available at the beginning and how much you plan to grow in the future. In my opinion, for commercial sites, free hosting is a waste of time. Your users are going to get blasted with annoying pop-ups every time they surf to your page, it’s going to be impossible to get a decent position in a search engine, and you don’t even get a real business URL. But it is possible to choose a cheap host at the beginning and move up as your business begins to bring in money.

Web Hosting Services

This installment will deal with finding the right host for your site, from the free to the very expensive, we will discuss what your options are so that you can find your “perfect host”.

A host is a server which provides a home for your website on the World Wide Web. Just as your computer contains all your files, so a host contains all the files needed to run your website. Why can’t you just keep all those files on your own computer? Because that would mean users would have to connect directly to your computer to see your website. Not a good idea—it wouldn’t be secure and it would make your machine run like a tired snail. With a host, you can simply upload everything you need to the server and your users can then connect there to see your site. It lets the site run faster and allows it to have all the security and extras it needs.

Selecting a host is the first important step towards building your Internet business.

Domain Name Registrars

Domain names can be registered through many different companies (known as "Registrars"), a listing of these companies is available at ICANN: http://www.icann.org, such as:

* NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC: http://www.networksolutions.com

* DSTR ACQUISITION PA I, LLC DBA DOMAINBANK.COM: http://www.domainbank.com

* DOTSTER, Inc: http://www.dotster.com

You can register for 1 to 10 years - prices can vary anywhere from $10 to $35 per year. Most web hosting companies, as explained later, will handle the registration process for you, but make sure that you are properly listed as the owner of the domain when it is registered. If you have registered a domain name for a specific period, make sure you renew it in time. You can be surprised at the number of cases, where site owners have let a domain name slip by if they have not renewed in time.

Domain Name Service

In the Internet, however, it is an entirely different story altogether. Your domain name is the only clue to your online business. You do not have visual clues: no location, no look, and no store design. Instead, users have to type in a word or a set of words to reach your site. Your prospective visitor has no way of knowing what your site is all about until he/she finds it and reads its contents. Who can ever tell that Amazon.com sells books? Or that Excite is a search engine?

Your domain name can spell your success on the Internet. A good domain name is the best asset you can ever have. It can make your business stand out in the crowd, or just float aimlessly in space.

The need to provide immediate clues to an online business led to the prevalence of generic domain names. Generic names instantly provide the user with an idea of what a business is all about, what to expect and look for in a site. For instance, Etoys.com is a toy store.

The temptation of the generic name has been so powerful, that some companies even paid ridiculously high prices to get the name they want, such as:

* Loans.com and Wines.com were both bought for $3 million each.

* Telephone.com was acquired for $1.75 million.

* Bingo.com sold for $1.1 million.

However, generic names do not necessarily create the “buzz” that you’d like surrounding your website. Branding has always been about proper names:

* McDonald's did not name their store Hamburger.

* FedEx is not Mail Carrier.

* Microsoft is not Computer Software.

For better branding results, your domain name should be memorable and easy to remember. Remember the following tips when creating a domain name:

* Domain name should be short.

* Domain name should be simple.

* Domain should be suggestive of your business category.

* Domain should be unique.

* Domain should be easy to interpret and pronounce.

* Domain should be personalized.

* Domain should not be difficult to spell.

* Domain should not be difficult to remember.