Quick Guide To Bluehost Shared Hosting

Bluehost is a shared hosting company. This simply means multiple web sites share the same server, thus reducing the cost for everyone.

As of 2012, BlueHost has over 2M domain names hosted on their servers. Sharing a server with other those millions customers may seem like a lot That  but it usually works out extremely well because most sites don't generate enough traffic or use enough resources for it to become a problem.

Why It Works Like Clock Work
All those domains are not hosted on one server but spread out over a number of servers. Something like 100 domains in one server. 

Bluehost offers substantially more disk space, data transfer, and email accounts than most people or businesses need. If every site used their quota, shared hosting would not work. But since few do, it actually works out quite nicely.

Bluehost shared hosting is perfect for personal blogs and small businesses websites. If a small business requires a static website that gives them a web presence and ability to just get contacts from customers then shared hosting is okay. If a small business needs to a website to do e-commerce they may need to pay for their own dedicated servers.

Bluehost Servers For shared hosting
For those asking how many servers do they have or do they have enough servers to much my need? Just know BlueHosts owns and maintains an astonishing number of servers, several hundred, in order to support the growing demand for it's services. With that large number of servers in multiple locations around the world they are able to guarantee optimum performance.

Bluehost name servers are

ns1.bluehost.com
ns2.bluehost.com

To be able to host your website with Bluehost you will need to point your domain name to bluehost server. Log in your domain registration page and look for DNS name servers and copy paste the above name servers.

Server Features
High quality quad core processors.
DDOS protection to guard against viruses and hackers.
Back up generators and UPS backup systems.
24/7 monitoring with daily backups

BlueHost offers a single all-in-one shared hosting package with all the features required by almost all the shared hosting users.

• Free Domain Name & Instant Setup 
• Free Website Builder with Templates 
• Free 1-Click Script Installs (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc.) 
• Unlimited Hosting Space, File Transfer & E-mail Accounts 
• Host Unlimited Domains on 1 Account 
• 24/7 Responsive Support 

All those for a cheap price of $6.95 per month. 

Features That Make Millions Love Bluehost

Millions of of small bloggers have their wordpress blogs hosted by Bluehost. It is not because of a sweet deal, free domain or cheap web hosting. Bluehost has features that make people fall in love with them.

Bluehost Features

They are simple
When a new visitor visits Bluehost homepage he/she is not confused by multiple plans. All customer needs are included in one hosting plan.  This plan makes it simple and easy for the end user to choose what they need to get their website up and running.

Collaboration With Wordpress.org
Bluehost is listed on wordpress.org page as one of the recommended hosting companies. They  collaborate with creators of WordPress platform to ensure server compatibility, easy installations and rapid updates.

Easy To Use Cpanel
Bluehost provides 1 click installs and updates within 24 hours of a new WordPress release.

Simplescripts
I believe Simplescripts is one feature that has separated bluehost from competition.  Simplescripts makes it easy to install wordpress plus other open source software.

Here is a four minute video of how to install wordpress on bluehost using simplescript

Migrating to Bluehost is easy
They have made it easy to migrate from another hosting company.  They give technical support all the way from backing up your site and uploading it on their servers.

Servers are configured to work with wordpress
They work directly with the WordPress core development team to ensure compatibility with each new release.  All new releases are installed, upgraded and uninstalled to make sure they are fully compatible on their system.

Technical support
Bluehost offers technical support for the installation, upgrade and removal processes. User get support via email, telephone and live chat support 24/7.

Those are the features that have made bluehost loved by millions of webmasters.

How To Speed Up Your Bluehost Hosted Blog Site

If your small wordpress blog or site is hosted on bluehost it is probably hosted on a shared server. A shared server means your blog is sharing resources with millions of other blog sites.

Sharing a server with other small blogs is not a problem on bluehost because they are a top notch web hosting company. Bluehost have heavily invested on their servers and people to ensure all hosted websites are running like clock work.

While Bluehost do a good job to provide fast speeds on their side, it is up to you to do  what is necessary to make sure your wordpress blog site is racing like a Ferrari.

1. Resize Those Images

Images should be minimized to the right size without destroying the quality. I use photoshop to reduce the size of the images. The latest version of wordpress allows you to reduce the size of images immediately after uploading them.

2. Use a Lean Wordpress Theme

A good example of a fast loading wordpress theme is Twenty Ten/Twenty Eleven (aka the default WP themes). The reason is, it is simple and lean. Doesn't have fancy designs with tons of images, lines and colors that hog the speed.

A fancy theme may look good but they sacrifice load times.

3. Optimize your homepage

Keep things to a minimum on your homepage

Show excerpts instead of full posts 

Reduce the number of posts on the page (5-7 is an okay number) 

4. Remove Inactive plugins

If you no longer use a plugin, remove it from your installation.  Keeping it is  a poor use of disk space. 

5. Remove duplicate plugins

It is pointless to use multiple SEO plugins. They all do a similar job. MY recommended SEO plugin is all in one SEO plugin. 

6. Use a few plugins as possible 

The truth is the more plugins you have the slower the blog. 

7. Beware of Auto Link Plugins

Auto links plugins are highly valued because of their SEO value but they are a speed hog. Auto links take time to calculate. They have to go through the whole database each time a link is created. All that sending is eating into your speed. 

8. Keep your wordpress blog updated

Previously you needed to login to your bluehost cpanel to update your blog but these days you do it inside wordpress. There is no reason for leaving your blog out dated other than sheer lazyness. 

Remember this days Google rates sites based on speed / load times. Another reason to make sure your bluehost hosted blog is up to speed!

Successful Bluehost Web Hosting Affiliates Making $20,000 Per Month

Bluehost affiliate program is one of the most popular web hosting affiliate program. They pay affiliates $65 for every successful lead.

One of the most successful blogger promoting Bluehost is Pat Flynn from smartpassiveincome.com. Pat Flynn makes on average $20,000 per month from bluehost affiliate program. 

This is how he does it. 

Devout Followers Vs Google Visitors

If your blog has regular readers who passionately follow your blog post you have a better chance of making money from bluehost affiliate program. Affiliate products work best on blogs with devout readers while Google adsense seems to work best on blogs that get a ton of traffic from search engines like Google. 

Pat Flynn blog has a community of readers interested in making a passive income online. Pat teaches them how to make money online using a blog or website. 

If you devout your attention on developing a loyal blog community and not chasing Google traffic, you stand a better chance of making money from bluehost or any other affiliate program.

Trust : Trust : Trust

Your readers need to trust you if you hope to be successful from promoting bluehost web hosting. Pat has an about page on his blog, he uses his real name, he has a picture of himself on the blog and he is very transparent on how much money he makes online.

For readers to trust you, make sure you have an about page, don't use your nick name as your byline and have your picture on your about page. You can go a step further and link to your Facebook page, Twitter and Google + page.

Don't rely on banners

The mistake most affiliates of web hosting make is pasting banners on their website/blog.  It is okay to put a banner on your side bar but make sure you do what Pat Flynn has done. Pat has written many post on how bluehost works. Inside those post there is an affiliate link to bluehost.

Honest Recommendations

It helps if you promote products that you use. If you don't use them at least they should be products that you are familiar with.

Have a resource page

The majority of Pat Flynn bluehost conversions come from Smart Passive Income blog resource page. This is the page where he details all the products he has used. This is the second most visited page in his blog. And he adds, 

If you’re not utilizing a resource page for your niche on your site, you’re crazy! It’s the ultimate non-aggressive way to earn money leaving all parties happy in the end.

Traffic

Blog Visitors = money. Not every visitor will convert but the more visitors to your website the better your chances of making money. The key for getting more visitors to your website or blog is provide value. Write quality posts and write often. 

Make an effort to convert Google visitors into regular readers. You do that by asking visitors to subscribe to your newsletter and encouraging them to leave comments. Make sure your social buttons (facebook, twitter and Google +) are visible on your site. 

To your success!

Example of Affiliate Landing Page That Converts

If you are selling an affiliate product you need to make sure your landing pages are well designed and the copy is persuasive.A good landing page will ensure you convert visitors into buyers.

Example of Affiliate Landing Page That Converts

Bluehost recently redesigned their landing page for web hosting and affiliates are reporting the new landing page has increased sales by 2.3%

Compare these two Templates of Bluehost affiliate landing page

An Affiliate landing page should be super targeted

The new page is obviously targeted for those looking to start a WordPress blog, prominently displaying text like:

• “Welcome, WordPress Fans!”
• “Free 1-Click Installation of WordPress”
• “Hosting over 850,000 WordPress blogs”
• “WordPress.org Recommended Host Since 2005″
• “Not Just the Best Blogging Software”

The old landing page focused on web hosting and technology, as opposed to what the users were going to create with it – a blog.

The lesson here is make sure the landing does not talk about general stuff but be specific. Zero in on the actual product.

Free Domain Registration From Bluehost Web Hosting

Bluehost is one of the top domain registrars in the world. Bluehost has registered over 2 millions domain names for small and big business websites and personal blogs.

The secret to their success has been giving a free domain name for every new account. When you purchase their web hosting plan you get one free domain name. This offer is available to any one purchasing a new account and anyone transferring his hosting account to Bluehost.

Get Your Free Domain Now!

The domain name is free for the first year but you will need to renew it every new year. Don't let this put you off because bluehost domain registration cost is a cheap $10/year. 

Tips for choosing an awesome domain name.

Some of the things to consider if you decide to take advantage of free domain registration from Bluehost web hosting:-

Personal names domains — Register your own first and last name as your URL if you are a consultant, writer, or other professional whose reputation in your field is critical to drawing customers.

Keywords domain names - If you are setting a website to sell a particular product, register the name of the product as the domain name. When people search for a product they type the name of the product on search engine. You stand a better chance of ranking when your domain name includes the name of your product.

Company names and brand names — Whenever possible, register your company name as your main URL.  It’s what people usually try first when looking for your business website. You might also consider registering your product/service names as additional URLs. This might appear expensive but Bluehost will allow you to register these extra names at a cheap price of $10/year.

Protect your brand with other extensions — While the “.com” extension is the most popular, as a defensive measure consider also snapping up other extensions of your domain name.  Secure the .net, .info, .biz and similar extensions.  If you do business internationally, think about securing country extensions, also (such as .co.uk). During the domain registration process bluehost has a page where you will be given an option to add other domain extensions to your account. 

Don’t forget mobile Site domain name — With mobile devices becoming more popular, big brands are starting to register and develop their .mobi sites specifically for mobile users.  So do what the big boys do and register that .mobi.  You may have no plans to build out a .mobi site today.  But as mobile usage grows you may be glad you have that domain in two or three years.

Register domains for as long as possible — A final word of advice:  secure your main domain names for a minimum of several years so they don’t expire out from under you. Bluehost will allow you to register a domain for upto ten years.

Get your free domain @ Bluehost  Webhosting

10 Min Video Demo On How To Build A Church Website Using Wordpress

In our series How To Build Your Own website, this post will focus on How To Build A Church Website Using Wordpress. Wordpress is renowned with blogging but it can be used to create a Website.

Get Your Free Church Domain Name

The first step in creating a church website is to purchase the domain. Domain names cost anywhere from $10/year to $50/year but I recommend you advantage of a free domain name from bluehost webhosting. Bluehost webhosting will give you a free domain when you sign up for there web hosting. They have a cheap web hosting plan for church website that cost $6.95/m.

The domain name should preferably be the name of your church. If that is not available you can try having dashes between the words or adding initials or location or interchanging the words.

Now Watch this 10 minutes video presentation on how to build a church website with wordpress.