SSL’s for a budget

Our RapidSSL’s are issued within minutes, easy set up and install! Ideal for those just getting started.

Wildcard SSL’s

Streamline your process and easily manage your domain and subdomains under the same SSL with our Comodo Essential Wildcard SSL’s.

Order your SSL today: https://www.hostmedia.co.uk/client/cart.php?gid=35

To make this a bit more interesting we have done a little award like article for each different area of security plugins for WordPress:

BEST Anti-Virus Plugin
This award goes to WP Anti-Virus (http://wpantivirus.com/), it is really easy to use and it does the one thing you really want to do on your WordPress install; scan themes to see if they have been hacked! It shows the files in a fantastic way so its easy to understand which files are clean and which ones you need to look at. It also shows the code that it picked up that needs looking into.

BEST MalWare Plugin
This award goes to Sucuri SiteCheck Malware Scanner (http://sucuri.net/), the one feature we loved was the 1-click Hardening feature. Handy if you have forgotten some basic things you can do to help protect your WP install.

BEST Security Plugin
This award goes to BulletProof Security (http://www.ait-pro.com/), this plugin we would recommend using from the start and not in a already running blog as it asks to create new htaccess files which may not work if you have your own custom htaccess files etc but with it’s handy range of tools and suggestions you can install this plugin just for that. It gives you insight to what you can do and provide automatic creation of htaccess files that will protect you fully.

Well that is our award presentation, hope you like our 3 awarded plugins. If you would like to share your views of WordPress security or anything else why not visit our FaceBook page at: http://www.facebook.com/hostmediauk

Safe blogging!

The first thing you’ll need to do is to download and unzip the latest version of WordPress, which can be obtained from the WordPress website (http://wordpress.org/download/). Before you do anything with these files, first ensure that you have created a new database on your remote server (or local machine), and that you have all the details you need to connect to that database (such as the username, password, and the name of the database of itself). Next, find a file called ‘wp-config-sample.php’ in your new WordPress root directory and rename it to ‘wp-config.php’, before opening it in your text editor of choice and adding your database connection details in the relevant places. Once you’ve saved and closed that file, upload all the WordPress files to your server via your FTP client and navigate to the homepage in your web browser. From here you can simply follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process, or you can consult the WordPress documentation should any errors arise (http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Famous_5-Minute_Install).

If you’re not automatically directed there, you can access the admin area of your new WordPress install by navigating to your WordPress homepage and adding ‘/wp-admin’ at the end of the URL, and then entering the username and password you chose during the installation process (hopefully you made them memorable, but difficult for others to guess). You’ll see the main menu running down the left-hand side of your screen, and from here you can select ‘Plugins’ for a list of installed plugins – you can activate/deactivate, edit, or delete them here as appropriate. In addition to the built-in facility here for installing other plugins, you can also upload the plugin files directly via your FTP client by navigating to ‘wp-content/plugins’ – the plugin itself will then appear in the admin panel as we’ve just discussed.

Although creating custom themes is beyond the scope of this article, you can create new theme folders if you wish under wp-content/themes, which is where you’d place the files for your custom theme. There are, of course, plenty of WordPress themes that exist already, and you can access a list of available themes in the admin area by navigating to ‘Appearance’, then ‘Themes’, and finally ‘Install Themes’ from the tab at the top of the page. You can filter your search from here, and usually a new theme will include some basic documentation on how to modify menus, the colour scheme, and so on. There are many WordPress themes available for free, but some advanced themes (for example, those that include sophisticated e-commerce functionality) require payment. If the theme’s license allows it, you can also modify its source code by opening the relevant files in your chosen text editor, but this shouldn’t be attempted unless you know what you’re doing. Some themes allow for simple modifications in the admin panel, which you’ll ordinarily find under in the ‘Theme Options’ submenu of ‘Appearance’.

So now that you’ve installed WordPress on a remote server or your own local machine, installed your desired plugins, and chosen a relevant theme – what next? To get the best out of WordPress and attract visitors to your new site, it’s important to understand how to apply search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques. To achieve maximum control over your site’s SEO, it’s probably best to build your own theme – that way, not only can you set your own meta tags and build things like the robots.txt file (for instructions to search engine crawlers) and the .htaccess file (for, among things, creating semantic URLs) from scratch, but you can be absolutely certain that you’re using good, clean code. Once the site’s up though, it’s important to keep in mind that content is king – keep your blog or website regularly updated, and ensure that your call-to-action (CTA), should you have one, is clearly visible on your homepage. Be sure to avoid black hat techniques – avoid keyword spam and link farming, and stick to interesting and original content. Don’t forget to link out to trusted sources as much as possible too, and always tag and categorise your blog posts using descriptive terms, and use catchy but relevant titles: ’10 SEO Techniques for WordPress Beginners’, for example. Finally, make sure you submit your new site to the major search engines, using services such as Google Webmaster (http://www.google.com/webmasters/), and keep an eye on who’s visiting which pages, and for how long. If you’re so inclined, there are WordPress plugins that will help enormously with SEO techniques – try, for example, the popular All In One SEO Pack available from the WordPress website (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/). Ultimately though, the key to SEO success is an attractive-looking website that contains current and original content – always keep that in mind.

If there’s one last thing you should keep in mind with WordPress, it’s good housekeeping. Check back with your admin panel often, and make sure your active plugins are up to date and compatible with the version of WordPress you’re currently using – remember that the WordPress team are constantly improving the software, so update your install whenever you’re prompted too (which is done in just a few clicks). The compatibility issue applies to your theme as well: things like menus can easily break when you change from one version of WordPress to a more recent version, and so if the theme’s developer has ceased work on the theme you’ll either need to switch themes or apply the fixes yourself (if the license permits that). Sticking with the versions you originally installed is perfectly fine, but remember that the newest plugins might only work with the newest version of WordPress, so stay alert and keep your themes and plugins up to date.

Good luck with your WordPress install! If you require any details regarding hosting for WordPress please contact our team!

At Host Media UK we believe in the freedoms of our customers and of the Internet. The internet allows those to voice themselves to others around the world! SOPA in it’s current form threatens this freedom.
Jonathon Lucas, Company Director

Even though we are a UK trading company, we have a large part of our company based in the US (servers & customers), and we will NOT be supporting the legislative measures recently introduced in the United States House of Representatives and Senate; HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), as well as S.968, the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). This is something our customers have asked us about and we want to ensure we will do everything we can to keep the freedom of our customers content.

If you have any questions regarding SOPA or anything else please feel free to contact management via support ticket.

The basics of search
When you type a query in the search engine, the query generates a significantly large number of results. Most users will likely find what they are searching in the first, second or third page. A search engine displays the results in the way it perceives the information relevant to the search query. As a webmaster, you need to understand how Google ranks your site.

How Google ranks sites
The first step is discovering your site through Googlebot, a robot that adds new and updated sites to Google Index. After finding new and updated sites, it processes the words in it, a process referred to as indexing. When you conduct a search query, Google matches the query with existing pages and decides the relevancy of the information. Over 200 factors decide the relevance of the information. PageRank is the most important. This is a concept entailing how other users share your information though the use of backlinks. Even though some sites use spam links to raise their ranking, Google recognizes them. The best way to improve your ranking in search engines is by providing fresh, unique and quality content.

SEO concept
Search Engine Optimization, is a concept aiming at improving the way sites interact with users and rank in search engines. It is the dream of any webmaster to have a website that performs optimally in organic search results. It involves making small modifications and improvements. Nonetheless, even though the concept uses the word “search engine”, it is imperative to focus more on your visitors rather than how your page will rank in organic searches.

Good content
To attract users to your website, your content should be unique, dependable and accurate. Each page in your site should have a unique title. It is important to organize your content in a directory style. This makes it easy for the consumers of your content to know where they are while on your site. The title tag is fundamental since it tells the user and search engine the contents of the page. When choosing a title, it is vital to choose one that accurately and uniquely describes the content in the page. It should be short and concise. This is because when you use long titles, a search engine omits some portions. It is also a good practice to desist from stuffing irrelevant keywords.

Meta tags
Make use of Meta tags to summarize succinctly the contents of the page. A Meta tag consists of a short paragraph or a number of sentences. By using Meta tags, you provide a snippet of your page, which a search engine may use. However, a search engine may sometimes choose to use another relevant section on your page as a snippet depending on the user’s query. However, it is advisable to make use of a Meta tag just in case a search engine cannot find a relevant section to use as a snippet for the user’s query. This is because words appearing on the query on the search engine appear in bold. This allows the user to decide whether the content will be useful. Some of the pitfalls you should avoid include, stuffing the Meta tag with keywords, copy pasting content into the Meta tag, using generic terms such as “The webpage talks about” or “this is a page about”, and a Meta tag that has no relation with page content.

URL structuring
Another important aspect in SEO is how you structure your URLS. You should structure your URLS in a friendly manner. This makes your site look better and organized. Long and cryptic URLS may intimidate your visitors and make it difficult for others to link your content. Structure the URL to contain relevant keywords. This provides the search engine and users with usable information about your page. In addition, it is important to keep in mind that the search results will display the URL and bold words that match the user’s query. It is thus good practice to make your URL as simple as possible to make it friendlier to your visitors.

Site navigation
The consumer of your content wants to be able to find quickly what they want. In addition, the search engine needs knowing which part of the site is most important or fundamental. You should visualize how visitors would access content starting from your homepage to specific contents. It is advisable to use text links, which is what visitors prefer over other approaches such as drop down menus or animations. Focus on simplicity.

Quality
This is the keyword when it comes to SEO. To improve the ratings of your site in organic results and keep attracting visitors, you need to create captivating, accurate and fresh content. Any visitor in your site will deduce the quality of your content. If the content is compelling, your consumer will likely want others to read it. They may share it on social media, forums, emails, word of mouth and other avenues. As a webmaster, it is important to take into consideration the fact that different users interpret and understand the content differently. It is advisable to create exclusive and unique content to cater for your different audiences. You may also want to use a tool such as Google AdWords for an approximation of how each keyword fares among user queries. Create content with your consumer base on mind rather putting more emphasis on search engines. Make the quality of your content the top priority and the rest will follow smoothly.

Simple and Accurate
Users will enjoy your site if it easy to follow and read. You should aim to write text that is easy to read. Follow the basics such as organizing it succinctly, logically and avoid grammatical mistakes. You may want to use short precise paragraphs and subheadings to make it easier for the visitor.

Promoting your content
A search engine displays “sponsored links”, which are paid advertisements and organic results. Search engines do not accept money to rank sites. Therefore, your own aggressive promotion of the site decides how your site will rank. With the billions and billions of sites in search engines, finding the right channels and ways to promote your content may make the difference in the success of your site. Many webmasters use backlinks to promote their content. It is wise to have a blog in your site to keep your base on tabs with what is new on your site. You can also use a RSS feed to keep your audience informed. Social websites such as Facebook, twitter, Google + among others are also an effective way to market your site. Since these sites base on sharing and networking, it is an effective way to reach your target groups.

In addition, you can also offline promotion methods such as listing your URL on posters, business cards, t-shirts, word of mouth among other avenues. You should also use webmaster tools provided by search engines to complement your site to perform optimally in search results. Some of the tools include Google Webmaster Tools, for Google search engine, Yahoo! Site Explorer for Yahoo and Bing Webmaster Tool for the Microsoft search engine.

Google Analytics
This is a high-level web analysis tool used to analyse traffic flowing to your site. It allows you to get valuable insight how visitors reach your site, how they behave, which content they view, and how your site is performing.

When choosing which location to host your site, it is important to consider some the geographical factor. This is because a page loads faster when it is close to the web server. It is also important to label your domain extension to distinguish the targeted audience. For example, if your audience is in the UK, you may choose .uk domain. You should also consider the specifications on your web hosting needs. Some websites have unique features that make the page stand out.

Google Website Optimizer
This tool by Google allows the webmaster to experiment on how various changes in the site will influence traffic. When used with Google analytics, it is a powerful tool to improve the performance of your site.

If you have any questions about hosting for SEO purposes then please do feel free to contact our Sales team.

CFHour is a weekly podcast which is primarily focused on ColdFusion (CFML). While they do discuss other technologies, ColdFusion is their primary focus. They will give you great insight and hopefully useful information on ColdFusion, internet technologies and anything else they deem relevant.

The Presenters

Dave Ferguson

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/dfgrumpy
• Blog: blog.dkferguson.com
• Email: dave@dkferguson.com
• IM (gtalk / aim): dave@dkferguson.com

Scott Stroz

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/boyzoid
• Blog: http://www.boyzoid.com/blog/index.cfm

The Producer

Matt Gifford

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/coldfumonkeh
• Blog: http://www.mattgifford.co.uk/

Visit http://www.cfhour.com/ to learn more…

2012 is going to be a massive year for Host Media UK, we have many exciting new ventures and even more updates to our services to increase the level of service. We are also planning to get more involved with the communities with our team attending conferences & events around the UK & world!

Some of the changes we can give you a heads up on are:

• New Virtual Server locations
• New Virtual Server Operating Systems
  Install directly from SolusVM to get a number of different operating systems on your virtual server.
• Premium services including a site mover service
• Website improvements to help you with your hosting on Host Media UK
  - Improved website content
  - Increased number of video tutorials
  - Increased number of FAQ’s
• VPS Auto Installers
  As we love automatic services as well as developing our own services we are going to be releasing auto installers for our  VPS customers. As we already have instant setup virtual servers, we want to bring auto install to such services as Railo / MineCraft and control panels.

We hope you have a fantastic 2012 and a great New Year. We hope you also enjoy what Host Media UK will have to offer in 2012. As always feel free to contact us, and even speak directly with the management team to voice your opinions, we love to hear from you!

Have a Happy New Year!

If you would like to share your ideas about any part of our company please click here to complete the short survey. You can suggest or comment on anything, we would love to hear your ideas!

Take the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3LH6GY3

Thank you from everyone at Host Media UK. We hope you have a fantastic Christmas and New Year.

These awards make us work harder to provide the very best solutions possible. We have a number of exciting new addons to our existing services coming soon.

We all wanted to say to our fantastic customers thank you so much for all your votes on all the web hosting award sites. We really appreciated it, without our customers support we would not have become the trusted hosting provider we are.

View all our awards

There has been 2 articles which we wanted to share and to thank those for sharing their thoughts about our hosting services:

HFUG - Hawaii Flash User Group : http://hfug.net/moved-to-host-media-uk/
SHAUN MCCRAN - Personal Blog : http://www.mccran.co.uk/index.cfm/2011/6/4/HostMediaUK-site-migration-complete

Thank you to both Shaun McCran and to the Hawaii Flash User Group for their reviews and the lovely comments. We hope we continue to impress and keep stepping up to the mark to provide a great range of hosting solutions for ColdFusion, Railo, PHP and more.

Thank you!