I remember it happened to me when my webhost went down for about 4 hours at the same time I just launched a massive (and costly) marketing campaign. It's really frustrating to see it happen when I need it to be up and running.
As a webhosting reseller, I experienced one time how my server is advertised to be backed up daily but when the server got fried by surging electric current by accident, my hosting partner cannot recover even the backup harddisk!
Not only did I lose my websites hosted on that server, I also lost my customers who hated me for what had happened. It's a nightmare you wouldn't want to happen to you.
Today, many webmasters still disregard the value of backups especially those who are just starting online.
They rely solely on their hosts to backup their websites but little did they know that not many hosts are not backing up databases but only the website files, scripts, images and settings.
The MYSQL databases are not considered to be included in their backup service. Yet this is an important component of any website especially those used in business. Imagine a forum getting back to square one, a mailing list that has been wiped out or customers that cannot login because the system cannot find their data. These are just few examples of how you can lose your online business if you forget the backup task.
Most hosting control panel programs like CPanel, which is leading in the world today in terms of server dominance, has a backup utility that you can use anytime. This is a manual process where you have to login to Cpanel, click on the backup page and the download link to the backup files.
This backup activity, although time consuming will ensure that you have available website files to restore even when a server problem gets worse thereby decreasing downtimes and headaches on your part. Recreating website files and databases from scratch takes much much longer.
Believe me I know. "Been there, done that."
As a webmaster, you should at least backup your websites once a week and for your MYSQL databases at least thrice a week. You can also relate this backup procedure to the frequency with which you update your websites and databases..
For example, if you are changing your webpages daily or you have dynamically generated pages, then you should backup those changes daily. If you websites or databases change less frequently, then you can backup less frequently. In this case, weekly or monthly backups will do.
Backup procedures are not to be taken for granted. This should become part of your regular activities as a webmaster to make sure your site is safe and insured from any eventualities. You should treat backing up files
seriously.
Believe me, you will be thankful you did this when the times get rough.
If you care about your websites and all the things in it, backup regularly and completely. It's one webmaster task you should never miss.
Driven To Kill Online
The answer - or answers even - isn't difficult to fathom. There are quite a number of common mistakes that seal the fate on internet marketers and their dreams. Here are 6 of them, which hopefully, you'd try to avoid at all cost.
1. A slow loading website. There is nothing more irritating than a website that tales forever to load. Granted that most internet users these days have high speed connections, a great percentage are still hooked up to the World Wide Web via slower 56K access. This percentage should not be taken for granted. In building your website, try to stay away from the humongous graphic files. No, you don't need a high number of pixels. No, you don't need fancy movies or flash animation. No, you don't need catchy music. You need a website that will deliver the information it promises at an instantaneous rate, and for this reason, you have to choose functionality over design.
2. A navigation system that is very difficult to understand. If your menu bar is too complicated, you'll just end up driving away a lot of your visitors. You don't want your visitors to get stuck in just one page. You need to make it easy for them to explore your website. Your pages must be interlinked in a logical way, and this connection should be easily navigable through an intuitive interface that even a 7 year old will be able to understand. Again, this is a matter of functionality over design. Place your navigation links either at the top of the page right below the header, or at either side of the page in a separate column. This is where your visitors' eyes will wander once they want to discover the other pages in your website.
3. Low quality content. Content is king on the internet. People log online to find information they need, and information is conveyed through your content. If your content is poorly written, who will have the patience to read the same? If your content is not unique, why will people choose your website over others? Indeed, there are two requisites for good quality content: excellent presentation and originality. Minus either of this, your entire website will be in jeopardy.
4. Poor choice of keywords to focus on. Keywords drive traffic to your website. Keywords are the terms that people search for when they're looking for information. If you targeted the right keywords, quality visitors will come aplenty. If you targeted the wrong keywords, visitors will be scarce. So make sure you discover the right keywords even before you start building your website.
5. Cookie cutter websites. Again, this is a matter of originality - or the lack of it. Why would people choose your website over thousands of others sharing the same layout and boasting of the same content? What makes your website special? If these questions cannot be answered positively, then your online business is doomed. Worse, search engines penalize duplicate content, and your website will have a lower position in the search engine results.
6. A website that lacks focus. Focus is key in designing a website. It will be difficult for a website to focus on several, unrelated topics. Why would visitors who are interested with dogs be interested with astronomy? There's no connection between the two subjects, and if your website caters to these topics, among others, then prepare for some rough sailings ahead.
These are the things you should try to avoid. Your online business depends on how well your website fares. So take some time to think about how you can properly build your website,
About Author
Mike Spence has been involved in Website design and marketing for years and currently runs variety of business online and offline. Readers can visit He's LiveDeal.com Classified Website
Both Manny Jao Ii & Mike Spence are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mike Spence has sinced written about articles on various topics from Your Online Business. Mike is in a variety of business such as international trade, publishing, media, and maunufacturing selling different types of products and offering advice to customers. For more infomation about this topic visit:. Mike Spence's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.
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