Affordable Hosting South Africa
Cape Town, February 18, 2009 - by Bianca Gubalke
Affordable Hosting South Africa
Hosting South Africa is in the air… and when it comes to Marketing and Promotion on the Internet the rich and uniquely beautiful African Wildlife offers unlimited motives for an artistic, graphic or simply meaningful or even funny framework.
This obviously all makes sense to the more advanced and experienced Internet Marketer, but it may sound Greek to someone who just bought a Computer and starts on the Internet!
So what is Hosting or Web Hosting? And why do you need it?
Communication
While water is certainly what we all need most to survive - in fact we are part of it or it is part of us and there’s no life possible for us without it -, there’s something else we all need and that keeps us together: Communication.
There are the obvious ways we use to connect with one another and the much more subtle ones… one of my favorite subjects but not the topic of today’s article… otherwise it will become a book… (as it did already, soon to be published).
While animals have their way of Communication - just think about whales connecting around the globe - we have to equip ourselves in the right way when it comes to communicating online in a professional way. As such a Web Hosting Service - like the soon-to-come “Hosting South Africa” - will allow you to obtain an online presence 24/7/365.
While you may switch off your computer when you don’t use it… your websites, blogs, banners or applications like shops, photo albums, forums… whatever it is, need to continue their virtual life and be seen especially as we are dealing with a global environment.
Here’s an example to illustrate how it works:
Say you live in South Africa and you sell Wildlife Art . . . and someone living in Canada is looking for those animal paintings and types the keyword “South African Wildlife Art” into Google… then you want YOUR website offering these exquisite oil paintings to come up… YOU want to attract THAT customer, YOU want to make THAT sale.
We can even do it simpler: say someone has your website - like http://hostingsouthafrica.com - and wants to look at it, pasting your website name into his browser… then you definitely want your website to come up fast and be visible, especially as you put so much care into it or even got expensive web designers to construct it for you. See what I mean?
Without you having Web Hosting that allows you to be permanently visible on the net… ideally under YOUR brand name… you would simply not exist! So basically your website or blog etc are hosted on a Web Server of a Hosting Company - like “Hosting South Africa” for instance.
Hosting Costs
For this Web Hosting Service you normally pay a monthly or an annual subscription - and if you’re lucky you can get it even for “free” as used to be the case for new Pro members in YORGOO.
TIP: keep an eye on the developments of “Hosting South Africa” as you might snatch up an unbeatable introductory offer along those lines… but you need to be quick.
The price for these Hosting Services differ and tend to go overboard in monopolized countries. It is important to shop around and see what you get for your money.
Limited or unlimited Bandwidth?
In a country like South Africa prices are inflated if compared with the rest of the world, that’s why the soon to be launched new Web Hosting Service is of huge interest to everybody. In fact… while people here pay R350 per month and more for their Hosting with very limited bandwidth (tell me about it…), CHI Hosters offers Hosting for the same amount per year - and this with Unlimited Bandwidth.
Reliable Hosting
The specific computer that hosts your websites, blogs etc. is called a web server. If the web server goes down, so does everything that’s hosted on it… meaning all the individual websites, banners, photos, shops….
Did you ever wonder where the picture was when all you saw was a frame and a little square with a red cross within it? Well… what you saw was just the placeholder for the picture… which either wasn’t loaded to a server or the server was down.
From there you see that you want a hosting service that you can rely on… meaning that it REALLY is up and running while you sleep; that you have easy access when you work on it like preparing your website and uploading it to your server, and if there is a problem, you want to have the assurance that it is taken care of asap, no matter at what time. We know how hackers have fun causing havoc and disaster… so while there are always ‘loopholes’ (even in the Pentagon…) you want to be sure that there is a maximum of security and backups.
Good hosting companies offer at least 98% uptime. It’s something you heavily depend on for your online success.
Multiple Website Hosting
The web server obviously hosts not only your material but that of many other clients as well. It’s a real business and a very lucrative one! Huge companies have their own servers… and I read the other day that Facebook pays $1 million a month just for its hosting and bandwidth. So it’s a broad spectrum we are looking at and while you may want to start with a small package in the beginning… as your business grows and depending on which category it is in and how much bandwidth it needs (think of Media Streaming…), you will have to upgrade to bigger packages or simply get your own server.
Web companies typically own many web servers and can bundle a package that suits you - at a cost you can afford. It’s a matter of knowing what you want and then getting the right advice… and making an informed choice you will be happy with. A matter of Trust… as always!
Domain Names and Web Hosting
Before you get your Hosting, you register a Domain Name - your Brand Name - like Coca Cola, Microsoft or Willem van der Merwe. You do so on a name server. A name server is a computer that will connect your domain name to a web server where your websites, blogs etc are stored (hosted) - they both work together to provide you with your permanent online presence. Simple enough… huh?
We advise to be cautious here and separate the two, meaning: get your domain name on a domain host and your hosting with a hosting service. You never know what happens - come what may, you want to protect your domain name.
My suggestion would be you buy your .com Domain Name on yorGOdom and get your Hosting with CHI.
Hosting South Africa works along the CHI Hosting lines… so if you’re in a hurry, you can get started right away.
Attention: Domain Names are never really “free” - they cost - fullstop. Important here is that they are registered truly in YOUR name… and that you can move them without hassles if you’re no longer happy with the service or if you want to move elsewhere for any reason.
Hosting Support
What I love here is that there is professional Hosting Support on one hand… however, as we South Africans like being independent, you can learn how to do a lot of things yourself - if you want. Obviously, you can outsource it as well… but it’s no big deal to get used to a few simple things you can do yourself and that are additionally charged elsewhere. Of course, this depends on the size of your business or enterprise.
Hosting South Africa - Banner by Bianca Gubalke
I hope the picture is clearer now and you see the necessity of investing in firstly your domain name and then in some affordable hosting package. Keep an eye on the African Wildlife that’s currently taking the Internet - and Google - by storm . . . and either get your CHI Hosting right away or wait until Hosting South Africa launches officially.
For a fulfilled and independent Life!