Web Hosting – Forward Web

Where do you host your content?

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Forward_Web

If your answer is; I don’t know, facebook, instagram, weebly, squarespace or any other platform where you do not have the means to back-up or migrate your data. Its time to re-think about where you are storing and hosting your content.

Ask your-self this, if your website were to disappear as you are reading this post, do you have a re-course? If your Instagram or Facebook page were permanently deleted, do you still have a means for reaching your audience?

The answer is simple. Make sure you have an open-source website that you can easily back-up or migrate, while also ensuring you are keeping your website updated with the same, engaging content you are posting to social media. Your website should always be at the center of your business internet activity.

Forward Web is Live in Singapore!

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Forward_Web

With our ever expanding clientele, we are pleased to announce we now have a new server location in Singapore. If you have a target audience that is located near and around South East Asia (India, Australia, Malaysia..ect), with our premier Tier 3+ location in Singapore. Your visitors in the region can now connect to your website with reduced latency and increased speed.

To set-up your website in Singapore, simply head over to our website, select your shared plan and select Singapore as your preferred location: https://secure.forwardweb.net/cart.php?gid=1

Where would you like to see us expand to next?

3 Reasons to Set-Up a Web Hosting Account with Forward Web

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Forward_Web

1.You have an idea you want to share with the world. Whether its a blog you want to publish (for fun, profit or both), a new business you are starting (to display or sell your products and services) or to display your portfolio (photographer, designer..ect). In order to accomplish these tasks, you’ll need the tools to build your website that come standard with every web hosting account (domain name, website builder, internet space, security) .

2. You want to start communicating with your clients in a more professional manner. First impressions are everything and if you are still giving clients or potential clients a email that includes @gmail, @hotmail..ect. Chances are, you are not making the best first impression. With a web hosting account you’ll be able to set-up your email@yourprofessionaldomainname.com

3.You’re simply tired of your existing web host. Lets face it, all web hosts are not created equal. If you’re experiencing poor website support, downtime or maybe you are finding your current web host lacking in tools and availability, its time to switch.

But Wait… What Exactly is Web Hosting?

If you have never heard of web hosting prior to reading this post, its ok, your not alone. Web hosting is the driving force behind every website. Without web hosting, you can not have a website. Therefore here are the typical components you should expect with any web hosting account you plan on setting up (as these are all essential to the success of your website).

1. File storage:

The image, text, and design files that make your website look like it does are stored on a server – a computer maintained by your web hosting service. Think of this like a computer you are renting for the sole purpose of storing and accessing your website from anywhere in the world.

2. Software and Tools:

Website stats, email, website builders. Every web hosting account should come equipped with everything you need to manage, build or maintain an already existing website.

3. Uptime and Speed:

The amount of time when your site files are available to visitors is what we refer to as “uptime.” Uptime of 99.9% is the industry standard for web hosts. You don’t want guests to drop by and find that your website is unavailable or moving slower than molasses, expect and demand consistent up-times and availability from your web host.

4. Support and Security:

On the internet, pranksters and criminals are always trying to break into servers, files, and sites to cause mayhem or steal data. Your web host’s security measures protect your site from break-ins, just like your home security system keeps people from breaking into your house. A great web host will ensure the server your website is hosted is well protected, while also providing support for any issues related to your website.

How to Choose The Best Web Hosting Provider

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Forward_Web

Choosing an experienced and reliable web hosting company is essential in order to ensure that your website is safe and remains accessible at all times. If you are unsure of what features to consider when you experience problems with your existing provider, you have come to the right place! Forward Web provides some great information to help you determine how to choose the best web host provider in this article:

So, how do you choose the best web hosting provider?

Excellent Customer Support is a Necessity:

One of the things that you want to look for is a provider who offers exceptional customer support. There are hosting providers that claim to offer 24-7 support, unfortunately, that doesn’t always mean that you will receive fast and trustworthy service. Before committing to any long term hosting contract, make sure you test the response of the customer service staff.

Understand the Various Hosting Options Available:

Since there are different types of web hosting options available which include Dedicated and Managed Web hosting, shared and VPS (Virtual Private Server), we recommend that you become familiar with the different options in order to make an educated decision and choose the best option for your specific needs.

A Good Reputation is Important:

Once you have explored your options and compile a list of important features you require, you are ready to find a host with a top of the line reputation. Do your research and be as thorough as possible; Make sure to do a background check and find out how long the company has been in business. Find out if they are able to provide you with testimonials, reviews and/or endorsements from current clients. You can even go as far as checking their average downtime statistics and review maintenance schedules. The more information you obtain, the easier it will be for you to make an informed decision.

Choose a Host With an Outstanding Up-Time Track Record:

As mentioned previously, you should definitely verify average down-time statistics because you want to make sure the hosting provider you choose takes every precaution necessary to ensure maximum up-time. However, keep in mind that while there is no web host that can guarantee 100 percent up-time, on average they should be able to offer at least 99 percent up-time.

Ability to Scale:

Scalability is important because as your business grows, your website will generate more traffic. Now, there is no such thing as “unlimited resources” but, your web hosting provider should be able to upgrade/scale to accommodate your amount of traffic growth as needed.

Costs Should Not be Your Only Focus:

Remember that in most cases, you get what you pay for, and your web host provider is no exception. Choosing a great web hosting provider is a wise and valuable investment because as a business, you cannot afford any downtime. Your cost will of course, vary depending on your specific needs. For instance, if your site is only generating a small amount of traffic, then you can consider choosing a basic shared web hosting provider. However, of your business consists of selling products or generates mass amounts of traffic, then you would most likely want to use a dedicated or managed hosting provider. Although it may cost more upfront, it will be a better and more reliable choice in the long run and you can be confident that the quality of professional technical support will be better as well.

It is easy to feel confused or even overwhelmed when it comes to choosing the best web hosting provider because there are numerous web hosting companies out there. We hope the information we provided in this article can serve you as a helpful guide and clarifies a lot of the unknowns during this process. Remember, it is imperative to select the best hosting provider that meets your specific needs, your business depends on it.

If you are unhappy with your current web hosting provider, Forward Web is always happy to answer any questions you may have or can assist you in transferring your website from your current web host. We provide exceptional web hosting services and all our cPanel web hosting plans are backed by our 30 day money back guarantee. For more information or if you are ready to switch over to Forward Web, contact us today!

Why Web Hosting is Crucial for Your Business

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Forward_Web

It is common for many businesses to use blogs and websites to reach potential customers and engage with existing clients and although most business owners understand the value of creating fantastic and effective content, oftentimes the importance of selecting a good web host is not a priority. Forward Web will explain why choosing a great web host should be a priority and why web hosting is crucial for your business!

Unfortunately, a large percentage of small businesses do not evaluate their needs properly in the beginning which can result in making wrong choices. But, what happens when you make the wrong hosting choice?

One of your greatest priorities as a business is to maximize profits. You might think that your choice of web host is irrelevant but quite the contrary, choosing the wrong web hosting can have major negative impacts on your income. Let’s explore a few negative instances your business can experience when you don’t choose the best hosting for your needs:

Security and Malware Attacks:

Website security is imperative and although there is no perfect solution for keeping your website secure, it is a necessity. Choosing a reputable hosting company is wise because they will back up your data to a remote server and make it easy to restore it in case your website is hacked. You can also benefit from their assistance with technical support, security issues and maintenance 24 hours a day. This means protection and peace of mind for you!

Negative Effect on Your SEO Ranking:

Your goal should always be to have high rankings at all times for a couple of reasons; your ranking will be affected negatively if your site is down repeatedly when search engines are attempting to visit. Also, if you want customers to find your business efficiently, then you must rank high in search results with content marketing.

Loss of Revenue:

Your potential customers will not be able to view your blog posts or learn about your products and services if your site goes down. The severity of the damage caused by such an occurrence will depend on your type of business and/or website. For example, if you host an online store, you could lose out on potential sales and income. Regardless of the magnitude of the loss, it is still a loss of revenue (and should be avoided whenever possible).

Forward Web currently offers 4 different types (or levels) of web hosting:

Shared cPanel web hosting
Mutli cPanel Shared Web Hosting (WHM)
Virtual Private Servers
Dedicated servers

Our servers are currently located in Dallas, TX (Inside The DataBank building, formally the Federal Reserve Building of Dallas). One of the most secure datacenters in the world, the DataBank building offers biometric hand-scanner access, six utility feeds from the Dallas Central Business District grid, and 24/7/365 on-site security. In other words, your website will be hosted inside one of the most secure, stable environments in the world! For more information or if you are interested in our amazing web hosting services, contact Forward Web today!

Free SSL’s for everyone (Let’s Encrypt)

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Forward_Web

Free SSL’s for Everyone!

Thats right, Free, Domain Name Validated SSL’s for everyone. Let’s Encrypt is making it possible for every website owner to obtain an SSL (at Zero Cost). Provided by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) and operated for the public’s benefit, Lets Encrypt issues secure certificates for your website that are absolutely free (no strings attached). Too good to be true? No need to worry, Let’s Encrypt is a serious project supported by companies like Cisco, Chrome, Facebook, Mozilla, Akamai and many more. The goal? To provide free, automatic and secure certificates so every website can be secured with an SSL certificate.

Why does your website need an SSL?

First, SSL (which stands for Secure Socket Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a web browser. The secure link ensures all data passed between the web server and web browser remains private using encryption. To not have an SSL for your website (or the website you are visiting) means your data is being sent from your computer to the web server (un-encrypted). This means anyone on the internet can theoretically take a look at what ever data you are browsing or submitting. How do you know if a website is using an SSL? An easy way to determine whether or not a website is using encryption is by taking a look at your web browser (below for example) and identifying the green lock or https vs http.

In todays Market, companies charge anywhere from $10-$65.00 to generate a domain validated SSL for your website. With Lets Encrypt and Forward Web, spending money on a SSL for your website is no longer needed. Ready to encrypt your websites data for Free? First you will need to move your website (just web hosting) to Forward Web. The Forward Web Shared web hosting cPanel plans start at only $3.49 per month or $34.95 per year, view plans here: https://secure.forwardweb.net/cart?gid=1

If you have your web hosting set-up with Forward Web, follow the next three three steps:

Step 1: (Login to your cPanel account and click on the “Let’s Encrypt SSL” icon”

Step 2: Click on “Issue” for the domain name you want to install an SSL for

Step 3: Select the Domain Name Aliases you want to install SSL’s for, along with whether or not you want to installl an SSL for email. Once you have selected all of your desired options, click on the “Issue” button and after a few seconds, you should see a SSL successfully installed message.

Keep in mind, once you have installed your SSL you will still want to route all of your traffic via https, if you are unsure about the best approach for routing your traffic or if you do not know how, feel free to contact us by opening a ticket and we will be more than happy to assist (free of charge).

Forward Web’s Data Center

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Forward_Web

Although Forward Web is based in Modesto, California. The primary servers which serve pages for over 2000 websites in 30 different countries are physically located in the old Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (400 South Akard St Dallas, TX). Safe, secure and strategically located to keep your data safe from the unexpected physical elements.

Is your web host overselling?

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Forward_Web

In our last blog post we helped you answer and understand the question, “is my web hosting account really unlimited?” Today we are going to help you answer and understand the question “is my web host overselling”? Before we can answer that question, we must first understand what overselling actually means. By definition, overselling refers to a business practice where a company sells a volatile good or service in excess of actual capacity. Airlines and Hotels tend to do this (referred to as overbooking), so they can insure 100% of the available seats/rooms will be used (therefore maximizing their profits).

In web hosting, its quite the opposite. Companies overselling in web hosting are hoping 100% of the available resources are NOT going to be used (maximizing their profits by hosting more customers on the same server). Since many customers compare companies by the disk space/bandwidth being offered. Companies will often times use this knowledge to their advantage by inflating the disk space/bandwidth being advertised (giving you a false sense of security). Meanwhile, the company hopes you will only use a fraction of the disk space/bandwidth being offered and if you do start to use more of the allotted disk space/bandwidth (your account will be suspended for using too much of the systems CPU/Ram).

So how do you know if your web host is overselling? Unlike “unlimited” web hosting, determining whether or not your web host is overselling can be a bit tricky (but not impossible). As a general rule (and of course there are exceptions to every rule). If your web site is using more than 20-25Gb of disk space and more than 200-300GB of bandwidth, your site probably doesn’t belong in a shared hosting environment. Keeping that information in mind, if your web host is claiming to give you more than 20-25Gb of disk space and 200-300Gb of bandwidth (for less than $15.00 per month), your web host is probably overselling.

Now comes the real question, is overselling bad? Not necessarily, however just like “unlimited” web hosting, its important to understand overselling is just a marketing gimmick (your not actually getting what is advertised). So instead of going from web host to web host, looking for the most disk space/bandwidth for your buck. Take a look at your actual web hosting needs. Find out how much disk space/bandwidth you actually need. What type of site software you are using (if any), how many unique visitors you are receiving per day and go from there. Knowing what does and does not belong in a shared web hosting environment is half the battle.

Sincerely,

Fernando Alfaro
Owner of Forward Web
http://www.forwardweb.net

Is web hosting really unlimited?

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Forward_Web

Today we are going to help you answer and understand the question “is my web host overselling”? Before we can answer that question, we must first understand what overselling actually means. By definition, overselling refers to a business practice where a company sells a volatile good or service in excess of actual capacity. Airlines and Hotels tend to do this (referred to as overbooking), so they can insure 100% of the available seats/rooms will be used (therefore maximizing their profits).

Now comes the real question, is overselling bad? Not necessarily, however just like “unlimited” web hosting, its important to understand overselling is just a marketing gimmick (your not actually getting what is advertised). Our suggestion, know what your website actually needs (in terms of server resources). Knowing what does and does not belong in a shared web hosting environment is half the battle.

Happy Hosting!

But Wait… What Exactly is Web Hosting?

Security and Malware Attacks:

Negative Effect on Your SEO Ranking: