The Online Shop Designer Blog

The importance of other sites linking back to articles on their own site (backlinks) is now generally understood – if only intuitively – by most site owners. Put simply, it is a vote of confidence from the referring site.  In effect they are personally introducing their own readership to a third party over whom they have no control. And in doing so their credibility is in the balance.

If the referral goes well their status in the eyes of their readership is enhanced, with the result that those people will continue to visit their site for the quality resources and links (referrals) that they offer. If on the other hand the referral is to content that is poorly presented or off-topic then their reputation will suffer. This is why web sites are so careful about who and what they link to.

Here are my top 10 “turn-offs” that will cause potential referrers to think twice before linking to an article on your web site:

1. Poorly written
2. Lacking in substance or just simply uninteresting.
3. Formatting that is sloppy, lacks professionalism and has a tendency to “shout”.
4. Articles tightly linked to an overt sales pitch.
5. Excessive on-page advertising.
6. Articles that are obviously “knock-offs”.
7. Too short or too long.
8. Littered with dubious low grade links.
9. Contained within a web site that has little to do with the subject matter.
10. Poor page layout that  makes the article difficult to read.

As you can see, they are all significant disincentives. You may not have the most incisive content on the Internet, but without attending to many of these points it wouldn’t matter how good it was – your chances of attracting links would be slim. And your site’s traffic would suffer as a result.

Site Panel CP is a commercially available application that runs on your PC and allows you to do either a manual backup of your entire hosting account, or, in conjunction with Windows Scheduler, a fully automated scheduled backup. It is the perfect way to protect your online investment.

In the event of an online failure (either of the application files or associated databases) it is a simple thing to restore you entire site via your hosting account’s cPanel restore facility. Note that Site Backup CP can only be used in conjunction with hosting accounts that use cPanel for their administration. This is the case with all hosting accounts set up by TOSD.

Setting up a manual Backup set with Site Backup CP.

Step 1:
Visit  http://www.tech-pro.net/site-backup-cp.html to download and install a trial copy of Site Backup CP. When you are satisfied with it you can register it. After installation make a note as to where the program was installed for later use. It will be something like: “C:\Program Files\SiteBackupCP\backupcp.exe”  Finders_Complete

Step 2:

Run the application and from the first window click ‘Add’ site and fill out the site URL and cPanel login details – contact TOSD if you are not sure of these. Click OK to save.

Step 3:

Now ‘Add’ a Backup set. This is where you tell Site Backup CP what you want to backup, and where to back it up to. If you are not sure of your database names contact TOSD. Note that the Home directory refers to all application files – the databases will usually hold all website content. For a complete backup you will need to check the Home directory and enter all associated databases. Aliases and Filters are associated with your hosting account’s email setup. Check these also.

After you click OK to save you will be able to do a manual backup by selecting a Backup Set clicking the  ‘Backup’ button.

Setting up an automated scheduled backup with Site Backup CP

To set up a scheduled backup select a Backup set, click ‘Schedule’ and fill in your details (below).

Step 1:

Note 1: In order to set up a schedule you will need to have a Windows User account and Password. (if Windows prompts you to enter a password on boot up, you have one)

Note 2:  depending on your Windows setup this may or may not work! If it doesn’t it will generate the following message::

This is not a problem – simply open the Windows Scheduler (Control Panel / Scheduled Tasks) and proceed as per Step 2 below.

Step 2:

Go to Windows Scheduler (Control Panel / Scheduled Tasks) and click ‘Add Scheduled Task’. Select the application to run from the drop down list (in this case CP Site Saver) and then decide how often you want the backup to run. Click ‘Next’.

Step 3:

Select the time of day and the other details. These will vary depending to the frequency you chose in the last step (daily, weekly, monthly etc)

Step 4:

When the Wizard has completed you may need to open up the Backup schedule set (just double click on the icon in Windows Scheduler), go to the Task tab and check the Run and Start in entries. In the above example the Run entry was: “C:\Program Files\SiteBackupCP\backupcp.exe”  Finders_Complete

Your website can be readily backed up (and restored if necessary) via cPanel, your hosting administration panel. Needless to say this should be done regularly.

Before you start, access your cPanel at www.yourdomain.com.au/cpanel and enter your Username and Password. If you are unsure of these contact TOSD.

You will find the Backup Wizard icon within the Files section of cPanel

Backing Up Files

• Click Backup then Home Directory followed by ‘Download a Home Directory Backup’.*
• Navigate to the folder on your PC where you want to save the file then Save.

* Note: Do not select Full Backup. That is only used for transferring complete installations to another account and cannot be used to Restore files in the usual way.

Backing up Databases

• Click Backup then MySQL Databases followed by the first database.
• Navigate to the folder on your PC where you want to save the file then Save.
• Repeat for each database.

Backing up Email Forwarders and Filters
If you have email forwarders or filters set up on your account these should also be backed up.

• Click Email Forwarders and Filters
• Save your forwarders and/or filters for each domain attached to your account as appropriate.

Special Note:  this does not save the actual emails if they have been downloaded by a PC based client such as Outlook.  Most PC based email clients have a means of backing up your emails.

TIP: when saving backup files it is a good idea to ensure that the filename includes the date. It makes it easier to determine which file is the latest one should you need to perform a restore.

Restoring
This is the reverse process to backing up. In general website applications installed by TOSD have both a file structure (contained within the Home Directory) and one or more MySQL databases used for storing the content. In the event of some sort of failure both the files and databases may need to be restored. Contact TOSD if you are unsure exactly what should be restored.

cPanel tutorials are provided for anyone who has a Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP (LAMP) web host account such as those provided by TOSD. While some features of cPanel are a little technical and beyond the scope of what the average small business customer needs, there are many useful things that can be attended to by anyone.

The following cPanel tutorials cover all the main features of cPanel and have been categorised as “General” – for common things such as email configuration – and “Specialised”. Unless you have some experience with the items under “Specialised” I suggest that you contact TOSD before making any changes. Best to be sure!

General

• How to login to cPanel
• How to change your cPanel password
• How to create a POP email account
• How to create a default (catch-all) email account
• How to create an auto-responder
• How to set up email forwarding
• How to use Webmail from within cPanel
• How to backup your web site
• How to keep your contact information up to date

Advanced

• Becoming familiar with CPanel’s technical details
• How to create a subdomain
• How to park a domain
• How to create an add-on domain
• How to password protect a directory
• How to manage URL redirects
• How to create additional FTP accounts
• How to create a MySQL database
• Managing MySQL databases with PHPMyAdmin
• Using Filemanager
• Using the Disk Usage Viewer
• How to trace an email address
• An introduction to using Fantastico
• Creating a cron job

This is a fairly common question. The answer of course is that it depends on you particular needs – but that is not very helpful!

If  you have an existing web site account then check your current usage both in terms of storage and bandwidth . And note that I said USAGE, not the absolute capacity of the account. This will be a good starting point, however if you are planning a significant online expansion then you will need to allow for this. The point is that you should always let your need drive the requirement. Don’t look for a particular sized account just for the sake of it.

If you have no prior experience to help gauge your requirement then here is a simple guide:

• Approximately 75Mb storage / 1500Mb bandwidth if you have a new Content Management System (CMS ).
• Approximately 100Mb-200Mb storage / 2000Mb bandwidth) if you are planning to use it for an Online Shop.

Note: If you plan to use webmail as your primary email access method then you may need to increase the storage figures. With a PC based Pop3 connection emails at the server are deleted after they are downloaded. With webmail this is not the case, so more storage is usually required.

Clearly these recommendations are only a guide. Please contact TOSD if you have any special needs.

Note that for both of these hosting accounts there is no limit to the number of email accounts that can be set up, and all accounts from TOSD include a comprehensive administration panel.

To help with future-proofing TOSD accounts also allow you to set up an unlimited number of databases. These are usually required whenever a new online application is added. For example a small business may want to add a support facility such as a knowledge base to assist their clients. The TOSD Support facility that you are currently using to read this article is a good example. Many web hosts either limit the number of databases that an account can support (often to one!) or charge additional fees for extra installations.

In the long run the flexibility of a hosting account in adopting to your needs can be far more important than its overall capacity. Particularly if the capacity goes largely unused.