Are you asking yourself “Is my website down?”

There are many, many different things that can cause a connection error between between you and your website. Just because you can’t load your website, it doesn’t mean that your web hosting server is actually down.

If your web browser is displaying a connection error, try these things before calling your web hosting company:

1) Try connecting to a different website, and refreshing the page.

If you can load the other website correctly, skip to step 2. If not, you have a general internet connection issue, and should contact your internet service provider.

2) Check your domain name registration: www.whois.net

If your WHOIS record shows that your domain name registration is expired, you simply need to renew your registration with your Domain Name registrar, and your website will be back up shortly. If your domain name registration is NOT expired, skip to step 3.

3) Try connecting using your website’s IP address.

If it works, something is wrong with the DNS for your website. You will need to contact your Web Host and let them know that your Domain Name is not resolving correctly.

If you still cannot connect to your website, even using the IP address, you might be blocked by your hosting company’s firewall, and you will need to contact them.

The best way to tell if your website is actually down, or if your issue is specific to your network, computer, or web browser, is to have someone that is connected to the internet from a different network attempt to visit your website. If no one is available, you can visit your website via a proxy server. Connecting to your website via a proxy website will simulate connecting from a network outside your own.

Here is a link to a popular free proxy site:
www.megaproxy.com

If someone from a different network can connect to your website, then your website is functional, but there is a connection issue caused by either your network, computer, or browser. Your hosting company’s firewall might be preventing your computer from accessing their servers as well, so you should give them a quick call and let them know what is going on.

You don’t need to be intimidated by the internet. It’s merely a collection of interconnected websites, and websites are actually very simple things. They are files that people can access through Internet Browsers such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. See? It’s not so scary when you break it down to its simplest elements.

You will need to do 3 things to make a website and publish it online: Create your Website Files, Purchase Web Hosting Space and Register a Domain Name, and Upload Your Files to a Web Server.

1) Create Your Website Files:

The website files are what visitors see when they visit your website. Basic websites are constructed with HTML code, but if you don’t know how to code HTML, there are programs that build websites in an environment similar to word processors (I.E Microsoft Word) and can generate your HTML files for you. Adobe Dreamweaver is a popular program, but if you’re looking for a free solution, Mozilla has a free HTML editor named SeaMonkey. (You can use any program you want, these are just recommendations).
Download and install the SeaMonkey program on your computer, then open the program.

In the SeaMonkey program, go to File > New > Composer Page.

Starting a New Web Page in SeaMonkey

This is where you can build your web page. Once you’re finished with a page, make sure to Save it. It will automatically save as an HTML document, with the file extension “.html”.

Great! You’ve now created your website files, and they’re saved on your computer. Now you need to find a company to host your files on the internet.

2) Purchase Web Hosting Space and Register a Domain Name:

A Domain Name is the name that will point to your website, such as “example.com” or “example.net”. Web hosting companies have servers that specialize in storing websites for people to access over the internet. Purchase some web hosting space from a company that offers the domain name as well, because it will greatly simplify the process. Some hosts even offer free domain name registration with the purchase of web hosting space. Example: Webii.net

Once you’ve purchased hosting space and a domain name, make sure to ask the company for your “FTP connection information” so that you can move onto step 3.

3) Upload Your Files to your Web Server:

In order to upload the website files that you created in step 1 to the web hosting server space that you purchased in step 2, we’re going to use something called an FTP program. There is a great, free program called Filezilla (made by the brains behind the Firefox web browser), and you can download it here: Download Filezilla

Download the the appropriate file depending on your operating system, install Filezilla on your computer, and open up the program.

In order to connect to your web server, you’ll need the following information, available from your web host: FTP Hostname, User Name, and Password. You can enter this information into the fields at the top of the Filezilla program and click “quick connect”. You should now be connected to your web server.

Connecting to your Web Server

Once you’ve connected, you can use the left window pane to navigate your computer’s files, and you can upload files from your computer to the web server. Ask your web host which directory contains your website files. You will upload the HTML files that you created on your computer onto the web server, into that specific directory.

Now, try visiting your domain name in a web browser. You’re on the web! You see? Publishing a web site onto the internet is easy. Making a web site that looks good? Now that is a different story.

When it comes time to provide photos of your product or service for a website, don’t make the mistake of skimping on quality.  A poor, low resolution, fuzzy photograph can kill the presentation of your business.  If you are trying to convey to your prospects that you offer a high-quality product that is of value, your imagery should reflect that.

For best results, we recommend hiring a professional photographer to capture your vision and compliment your web designer’s work.  If you make the investment for good professional photography, you will likely appreciate them for years to come, and use them in all of your marketing collateral.

If you truly don’t have the budget, consider a student photographer looking to expand his/her portfolio.  For some of the less important photos, you can opt for some high resolution digital camera shots or ask your web designer for royalty-free stock images.  Just remember that if your images are washed-out, low-resolution, or cluttered with awkward backgrounds, your audience may be less convinced to buy.

The internet if full of terms that can seem quite confusing.  Many sites use terms and abbreviations that they expect a person to know without even giving them a brief overview about what the terms mean.  Even when you search for the definitions of these terms some of the information you find can read like stereo instructions. Understanding all of these different terms and abbreviations may seem like a daunting task but your concern can easily be put to rest with a little information.

Click on any of the titles to read what the Webii FAQ has to say about these terms.

Bandwidth: The amount of data sent through a connection over a period of time. Also known as Data Transfer.

Catch-All Email Account: The catch-all email address is used in cases of an incorrect name or misspelling at your domain. For example, any email that is sent to someone who is not listed in the POP or forwarding sections will still be received, even if the name has a typo or is out of date (as long as the domain name on the email address was specified correctly).

Control Panel: An online collection of tools that permits easy site management.

Data Transfer: The amount of data that is transferred from an account as visitors view the pages of the web site. Using FTP to upload to files to your site  and checking emails does not apply in this case.

Dedicated Server: A computer that only runs one type of server software, and is usually constructed according to the user’s specifications. Dedicated servers are typically used for websites that have high traffic, and need many resources and much processing power.

Domain Name: The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Webii can register any available .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, or .us domain name through its registration division, SiteReserve.com.

E-Commerce: Electronic Commerce is a convenient and affordable way to sell products or services online. E-Commerce software (like SoftCart) and payment services (like ClearCommerce) enable individuals to maintain an online business while performing transactions right from the Web.

Email Forwarder: An email address in which all emails are automatically forwarded to an alternative existing email account. For instance, you may forward all email to info@youdomain.com to erika@aol.com. Also known as an Email Alias.

FrontPage: A commercial HTML editor for creating, editing, managing, and uploading web sites. Some of the special features of the program (such as a graphical counter, forms, database, etc.) require that the web site be uploaded to a server which supports Microsoft FrontPage extensions.

FrontPage Extensions: A set of server-side applications that allow you to incorporate many advanced features without having to write the complex server-side programs typically required.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): The process by which files are transferred to a web server. You have unlimited access to your web server via FTP 24-hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your web pages on your own computer and upload files to your web site at your leisure.

Host: When you hear the term “host” in the Internet world, it is referring to an Internet company that has the required servers and software to connect domain names to (IP) Internet Protocol numbers so that your site can be viewed by the public when they type your domain in their browser window. Basically this is where you house your site, and you usually have to pay a monthly or annual fee for this service.

IP Addresses (Internet Protocol): A unique number used to identifying machines that are connected to the Internet. Your IP Address is the series of numbers associated with your domain name.

MySQL: A lightweight database engine designed to provide fast access to stored data.

Name Server: A computer that has both the software and the data needed to resolve domain names to IP numbers. Most name servers have names like NS1.whatever.com.

POP (Post Office Protocol): A communication protocol that is used to retrieve electronic mail from a Mail Server.

Script: List of commands that can be executed without user interaction.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): A security protocol designed to create a secure connection to the server for the transmission of confidential data through the internet.

Support: Telephone or e-mail technical support provided to a web hosting company’s customers. When there’s a problem with your site or your e-mail, you want to be able to get an answer promptly by e-mail or on the phone.

Whois: A searchable database maintained by Registrars which contain information about the .com, .org, .net, and .edu top-level domains.

Are you getting good value for the money you spend on your web host?

If you have ever had a problem with your website, you probably found out.

When you have a problem you want to know that you can trust your web hosting company to treat it as importantly as you do. Many web hosting companies are very easy to deal with in the sales stage but suddenly disappear when it is time to provide support. At WEBii we use a proven approach to providing outstanding customer service.  Here are just a couple of examples of how we stand out.

High Quality Equipment

Our first step is in the preparations – using the highest quality server equipment and keeping it protected in a state-of-the-art data center. We equip all of our shared hosting servers with a second mirrored hard drive and perform daily and weekly network backups.  This ensures that problems are rare and that downtime is virtually unheard of on our watch.

Many of those low-budget hosts save money by building servers using miscellaneous cheap (and less reliable) hardware.  WEBii uses quality servers from companies you can trust like Sun and Dell. We also use  trusted Apache web server software to ensure maximum performance and uptime.

Responsive Customer Service

The next step is in our continual customer care.  We provide our top-notch email and telephone support for all customers, without charging extra.  When you call for technical support the last thing you want is for someone to read to you from a script or put you on hold forever.  The WEBii technical support team is not outsourced, will not read to you from the manual, and prides itself on being able to handle your problems when you call.   In fact, our average ticket time is less than one hour. We believe that every support issue is a chance to impress our customers.

Still not sure how important these issues are to you?

Imagine going an entire day without access to your email or website.  When you get to the point where the frustration is setting in and you have no idea how to fix your problem, what kind of support do you want on the other end of the phone?  You don’t want to waste time dealing with outsourced tech support who can not properly resolve your issue.  You just want your site to work!  At WEBii these types of issues are rare, but if they do occur, the technical support staff at WEBii has the experience and training to help you – that way your website gets back to work and so can you.

Hello. I am a potential customer. I’d love to talk to you about your product. Heck, I’d even like to buy it. But I need one question answered. Can you help me?

Wait, I am on your website. I can just find your contact information and call you myself.

Hold on…… I can’t find out how to contact you. Email? Phone? I’d even fax it to you. But I cannot find it on your website. You left it off. Or I just don’t know how to find it because you buried it way too far below the sand.

Contact information… where are you? I am looking for you…

Oh well, I am leaving now. I don’t want to look any longer. We could have been such great friends. Maybe… there will be a next time…

ahh, forget it, I am gone and I am not coming back.

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Are you at risk of losing potential customers because they can’t find your contact information? It may seem simple, but you’d be surprised at how many people leave it off or hide it so deep in their site that visitors just can’t find it. Your contact information should be where every visitor can find it, and fast.

Put it in plain sight. Potential customers are not going to dig around for it. They are just going to move on to the next site that offers them the same thing(s) you do.

It’s so easy and simple. REMEMBER: Make your contact information visible and easy to find.

Just make sure you don’t forget it so you won’t lose any business over it.

Often customers ask us what the difference is between their web hosting service and their domain name. While these two are closely related, and work hand-in-hand, they are separate entities.

It can be helpful to house all of these services under one roof, so you deal with one company for all your websites needs. For example, you can order your web hosting at WEBii.net, and then register your domain at our sister company, SiteReserve.com.

Keep in mind though that your web hosting services and your domain name are all managed and billed separately. Your web host is not necessarily notified or responsible when your domain expires – even if all are housed through the same company.

So what is the difference between your domain and your web hosting. Registering a domain simply gives you control over that domain name. Only one party (individual or business) can have a specific name. The actual domain does not have anything to do with website content.

Your web hosting is what hosts your site. By hosting your site that means space is allotted on your web hosts’ servers. Web hosting is more than just space. Not only does you web host hold a place on their servers for you, you are also getting bandwidth, and many other features that allow you to manage your web site files online. Once you have established your host, your domain name will point to the specified servers and your site will be running.

Don’t forget though that neither one of these develops or designs your website content, so you will have to either find a designer to help you (custom design & development available at WEBii.net) OR if you are savvy enough, you can do it yourself!

Be on the look out for that renewal invoice from your domain name registration provider (registrar). Sure, we all miss a bill sometimes, but forgetting about your domain name could end up being more costly than you might realize.
These days, there are a growing number of companies that specialize in buying up domain names. Sometimes they provide a “back ordering” service to consumers, and sometimes they just purchase the domains as a broker and attempt to resell them to their previous owners or other interested parties. The common practice is that an automated program will peruse the Internet’s WHOIS records for soon-to-expire domain names, and as soon as a name is available for registration again, it is snapped up like an unsuspecting fish in a bear-ridden stream.

Remember, only one party in the entire World Wide Web can own a certain domain name. If you lose yours, and someone else gets it, you might be forced to rethink your name and register something completely different. That means changing your web site address, changing your email addresses, and reprinting business cards.

The best way to prevent this is to stay on top of your registration bill and know exactly when your domain name is due for renewal. Pay it up in advance, maybe even for several years at a time.

Also, know your registrar (for example, SiteReserve.com). Some registration providers have some sneaky marketing tactics that confuse domain owners into transferring services to them or signing up for new domains with different extensions. For example, one company sends out “official” looking letters with an urgent message about “securing” a domain that is conveniently similar to one you already own – but with a .us or .biz extension.

If you did forget and suddenly realize that your web site is offline because the domain name recently expired, don’t panic just yet. There is typically a grace period – usually about 20 to 30 days – where the domain is “on hold” for the current owner, giving you a chance to renew it at your usual rate.

But, be quick about that renewal! You really don’t want your domain name to go into the next phase: “redemption period”. This is the stage when your domain name has already been deleted out of your registrar’s database, and now it is out their in limbo-land. While you can still acquire it at this point, it is going to be expensive, often around $100 or more with the included “redemption fees”. This phase is typically about 40 days.

If you find yourself in a real pickle – maybe you went on an African Safari and forgot to come back to work for a few months – and your domain name was indeed snatched by a back ordering robot, there might still be hope.

Did you trademark your name? Is your domain name an obvious representation of your trademarked or copyrighted business? Try contacting the registrar responsible for the latest domain record (do a WHOIS search to find out the sponsoring registrar and their email address), and explain that you need to acquire your trademarked domain name back. Sometimes they are able to release the domain name and you can then register it in your name again. But there are most likely more than one domain brokerage waiting in the wings, so you may need to make 2 or 3 of these requests to different registrars before you have a chance to place the order.