Author Archive

Cheap Web Design & Development: India, the Ukraine, Rumania

Friday, February 6th, 2009

elanceIf you have come to this site in search of web hosting, you are on your way to a proper presence on the web. But, in order to get a website set up there are two vital components left: web design and site development. Now, the most common problem isn’t to identify them, the problem for most of us is affording them. The hardship of getting a hold of a web designer and developer does not make things easier. If you know a friend or friend of a friend who can create and design your website, good for you! But if you lack sufficient networking skills and still require a cheaper alternative to expensive and blown up web agencies, listen up! I will give a personal recommendation of a web service through which you can get a professional website done for only a couple of hundred dollars.

I recently found myself having a, according to me, great idea for a website but not nearly enough fundings to hire a local web agency. Of course I requested proposals from a dozen of them and to little suprise got back figures that could buy entire countries. So I started looking for an alternative and cheaper web design and web development. After Googling till my fingers were bleeding, I found it. The cure to the thousands of lost souls who register hosting account only to realize they can’t afford to make their website dream come true.

The source for Cheap Web Design & Programming

A place where thousands of freelancing web designer and developers offer their services. An internaional dashboard for any skills that is connected to the web. Web design, programming, writing, distributing. You name it! The web service I am talking about is called Elance.com. Like myself, you will be able to create projects and invite providers that offer what you need. Within hours you will have proposals in your inbox, not exceeding more than couple of hundreds of dollars. I am currently using Elance to hire a team of Wordpress designers and developers in India, with excellent customer-ratings, that has agreed to mark-up my web design and implement it to the Wordpress CMS, for a mere $280 dollars. Any local agency would probably charge you $2000-$3000 for it.

The reason why these freelancers charge so little is the same reason multi-corporations outsource their factories. The cheapest online freelancing web designers and programmer can be found in India, the Ukraine and Rumania. And perhaps there is a moral dilemma here whether or not to use their services? But that is for another blog post. For know, visit Elance.com and you’ll find cheap web design and site development, finally being able to realize your website ambitions.

Steve Jobs – What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

steve-jobs I have a cousin who, during her short but intense musical career, wrote a song called Che – what have you done for me lately?. This musical piece was inspired by the fact that the legend revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevarra has become a popular fahion icon, printed on cloths and worn by hundreds of thousands of people.But the reason this deceased political activist has gotten such recognition is hardly for his actions and achievements. No, the silouette of a man in a beret is simply a nice looking graphic design. At most a cool symbol of past revolutionary days.

So when I read about Steve Jobs and the speculations surrounding his leave of absence, I couldn’t help but sing Steve Jobs - what have you done for me lately? in my head. If people were genuinely concerned about his health, I would perhaps be less cynical. However, the fact that analysts already are asking the question – Can Apple stay on high without Steve Jobs?, worries me greatly.

As head of innovation, Steve Jobs has obviously contributed to Apple’s leading role on the tech-market. Regardless, if all that we love and adore about Apple truly depends on one man and one man only, what does that say about the company?

Maybe it is infact Steve Jobs and not Apple that has done things for me lately. Maybe Apple will fall to the brink of bankruptcy yet again if Jobs is forced to step down due to his alledged “health issues”. If that is the future of Apple, the rise and fall of Jobs, I will only say ask this; Apple – what have you done for me lately?

4 Hi-Quality Free Wordpress Themes

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

wordpress-logoEver since WordPress stepped up and claimed the place as #1 CMS and website-building software, a gigantic market has been created around it. And since Wordpress always has been all about an open market, thousands of web agencies, development teams and web design freelancers have dedicated their full time on creating Wordpress extensions. Wordpress theme design for example is today an independent industry with thousands of competitors and even more themes. And based on the personal experience of spending hours online searching for the right theme for my website(s), I have decided to listen to the Samaritan within me and publish an extensive list of, in my humble opinion, most innovative and design inspirational FREE Wordpress Themes.

Viewport Theme by Paul Bennett

Though strictly recommended by the author for the advanced user,Viewport theme was recently credited in one of Smashing Magazines listings, effectively categorizing it as an innovative yet simple FREE Wordpress theme. With a monstrous javascripted image slide, this theme definitely leaves a great impression and sense of unique web design.

ZinePress by WELLMEDICATED

For the same reason blogging has become so popular, Wordpress News/Magazine themes have in recent years turned out to be hot picks amongst Wordpress powered websites. People have an erge to communicate but also, now stronger than ever, have an erge to wash off the stamp as bloggers and dress their sites in more dynamic and feed-worthy designs. ZinePress is perhaps not the typical news/magazine wordpress theme, why I chose to include it. ZinePress reflects a mix of traditional blog and new magazine designs.

ColorPaper by DreamTemplate

A more colorful and sparkly wordpress theme, ColorPaper is a free wordpress theme with exceedingly unique web design. A personal look, for the personal blog, with attractive web design. ColorPaper has its own gravity, making it impossible for any visitor to pull away.

Humidor by Evan Eckard

Minimal web design elements for maximal content space. The bueaty of Hhumidor lies in the details. With a common simple, wordpress blog look, you’ll find web design exellence in fonts, banner andf footer. Its simplicity make Humidor and worth mentioning free wordpress theme. Simple as that.

The Compromising Truth & Why You Should Go Dedicated!

Friday, January 16th, 2009

As I was finishing an article on Dedicated Server hosting it dawned on me. Call it a revelation, only not the one that results in entire reforms, thesis break-down or fundemental caos. No, what I realized as I was tampering on my keyboards, formulating words, sentences, arguments and observations is this: The Web Hosting industry as is, has been built on a foundation of compromises. Not for the hosting provider of course but for the webmaster, the average little webmaster guy who simply wants his money’s worth.

Lacking any mentionable insights on other markets I cannot say that this is not a general term regarding the business world. However, whether or not the customer is aware of it or is affected by it, not being offered all the potentialtechnology holds is according to my values, wrong! Shared hosting is here a prime example. Although tailored for the customer who do not need a lot i.e small website owners, compromising is a vague business concept. Especially when diffuse marketing terms like “Unlimited” already have hosting clients think they are offered an uncompromising solution.

In final words, I guess I have to suggest dedicated server hosting; the least compromising hosting plan with most freedom and user-control. Now if you have a small website you want hosted, shared hosting isn’t all that bad. However, if you have any kind of hope, future plan or strategy to make it grow, in size and traffic, you might as well get yourself an entire server for yourself right away.

Dr. Steven Chu brings hope of a Green Internet reform!

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Hey everybody!

Just finished an article on Obama’s announcement of the new energy and environment team this Monday. Secreatry of Energy nominee Dr. Steven Chu brings hope of a DC powering reform of the datacenter market, including all major hosting providers. As active director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Dr. Chu has been involved in research of alternative energy for a long time. And as LBNL just released a report in March regarding the Demonstration Project of a new DC Powering solution for future datacenter.

This is exciting stuff as a new government is formed and new ways for a greener US is being explored. May more energy-efficient datacenters and a green Internet be one of these ways?

Read the full story.

What to look for in a web host?

Monday, December 15th, 2008

You’ve probably been pounded with this question by numerous hosting provider ads, bloggers and smart-asses already. So I’ll keep it honest, short and sweet.

Do not fall for the inviting and attractive price-tag on a hosting offer

You get what you pay for and in many cases in the hosting industry that isn’t a whole lot. WebHostingSearch.com knows this and makes sure that the “cheap hosting deals” that is listed actually has reliable and usefull hosting features to offer. Cheap, affordable and economy hosting often times equal a simple shared hosting.

And even though you might not have much of a website, in order for it to prosper and grow, the most basic hosting plan will only take you so far. Hosting is a vital part of any successful website – so don’t feel bad if you choose an hosting plan with a more costly price tag. Chances are you won’t regret it. Plus, the difference between bad and good in web hosting nomally isn’t more than a couple of bucks a month.

For my personal favorite hosting providers send me an email to brian at webhostingsearch dot com andI’ll be more than happy to share some industry insights :-)

~Brian

Web Hosting SALE!!! Cyber Monday & Black Friday promotions

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Hey everyone!

Gotta just spread the word on a current/upcoming hosting promotion here at Web Hosting Search. Thanksgiving just celebrated, Black Friday shopping spree just last week and Cyber Monday this week, the team at WHS thought of nothing better than to launch a sales campaigns giving discount on any hosting plan offered by hosting provider Web Hosting Buzz.

You’ll get $5.99 off  if you paste the code blackfriday into the coupon box when signing up to any Web Hosting Buzz hosting plan and $6.99 off if you paste the code cybermonday. How about that?

To get all the info go to the official Cyber Monday deals page!

Enjoy your dollars saved :-) /Brian

How to avoid website crash or downtime?

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

Everyone have fears. Fear to let down our parents, fear of sweaty palms when holding hands, fear of awkward silences.  But common for any website owner (and hosting client) is the fear of downtime. Tapping the address to your wonderful and popular website for your daily routine visit, to be slapped in the face with a not found-404 message. Here are the thing that may cause your site some serious damage and hourly downtime.

CPU-usage exceeded

When a majority of today’s hosting customers do not have experience, money or common sense enough to stay away from quality-compromising and “unlimted bandwidth” hosting deals, a risk with shared hosting is exceeding your CPU-usage percentage. All is well and dandy, until one of your blog posts or articles hits the first page at Digg.com and your site is instantly flouded with traffic. What happened? Well, when signing up for that budget, minimum inclusive hosting account you clicked yes to the user agreement policy staing in small letters that if your website exceeds a certain percentage of the central processing unit’s capacity, the hosting provide has the right of temporarily offlining your site. That’s why?

If you have big plans for your site and are looking forward to thousands of daily visits – go big. Get a dedicated server or a virtual one at least. Otherwise the transition between small site to popular site will be painful and almost certainly not without some downtime.

True green web hosting – DC powered servers

Friday, November 21st, 2008

What does the hosting industry do in the global fight against current climate changes? How can a hosting provider cut costs, improve data center stability and still call themselve a green web host? Do you plant a tree for every new customer? Do you put a couple of solar panels on top of your roof? Or do you save up to 30 % on power supply to your servers using low wattage components?

The answer is the new DC power technology. With direct DC power to the servers or the option of applying a AC-to-DC converter solution, outrunning other AC powered dataventer solution, a company called Rackable Systems claims to have come up with a data center power solution that not only will increase system reliability but also decrease monthly power costs by up to 30%.

I just started reading about this and it seems that finally environmental thinking is beeing applied directly on datacenter systems. Full cargo centers of servers running 24/7, demanding loads of power supplies – it is in the datacenters that green web hosting really can be applied. Planting a tree or using some solar panels is just for show, to ride of the green hosting’s good name.

DC power is the future, as far as I can tell.

Funny Websites to visit at Office Hours

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Thanks to an expanding IT-industry, millions of us are spending our full working days online. And since staring at a screen all day isn’t exactly great fun all the time, I thought I would give you hard working guys/girls an online source of fun and relaxation. I can’t stand the idea of us not taking the only liberty Internet has given us; to surf around on office hours. I know most of you limit yourself to having a quick check at Facebook, your private email while stressfully looking over your shoulder. But from now on, you’ll have one site to explore on coffee breaks and when your boss is out of office.

The first time a stumbled upon this site, I couldn’t close it. Dedicated to list the top 10 things regarding any given topic, this site always makes me laugh and de-stress. Funny Top 10 lists – at TotallyTop10.com you’ll find top 10 lists dedicated to all kinds of different topics. Their listing of best Letterman Top 10 lists is priceless.

Check it out and tell me what you think. Other suggestions on funny site’s are very welcome and perhaps by the end of the month we’ll have enough tips that I can summon them into a great top 10 list myself :-)