[SuperStatZ] Fw: Internet question

[superstatz at mastodon.ew3d.com]

superstatz at mastodon.ew3d.com wrote:

> I would never think of having my major website hosted by the same firm 
> that does =designs or maintains my website.
> I don't either. Blizzard hosts my site and does "marketing." He also 
> maintains my domain name and the emails connected to my domain name, 
> but not my internet access (ISP).
>      A local person maintains my website and I do the design. The ISP 
> is also local but I'm beginning to think he is having huge phone line 
> trouble which impacts my ability to pick up messages off the Blizzard 
> server and impacts my ability to access the important things: 
> Webervations and Superstatz.
>  


I'm sorry if this is considered 'off topic'. I hope this is considered 
good information for all subscribers. Each step of the following is 
about 'performance', getting traffic to your website and having 
everything in order so that SuperStatZ is more valuable.

If there are particulars you would like to discuss on any of these 
matters and feel they are too far off topic, please feel free to 
continue 'off list' by emailing me directly at webmaster at ew3d.com or 
tech at superstatz.com

Most people think technical side of the internet either works or doesn't 
work. Actually, just about every aspect of the internet is a series of 
gray areas (much like directories or promotion), where you can be just 
barely functioning or at near perfection. The only on/off switch is if 
your domain exist (is registered) or not.

As for the hosting/designer statement--------

I don't understand that. You should go with the best provider of each 
period. If that provider can do more than one, it can increase 
efficiency and save you money.

The following is a (believe or not 'quick') breakdown of the basic 
aspects that need serious consideration.

1. Domain Registration....
Domain registration and proper DNS should be your main concern above all 
else (and the least attention seems to be placed on this as it is a very 
complex issue that most will never care to understand). This is the 
basic address scheme for the internet. A great DNS checking tool is 
available at

http://dnsreport.com

Check out your own domain, check out a hosting company's domain, check 
one of our domains (ew3d.com or superstatz.com). Once you input a domain 
name, refresh the page a time or two, as some of these tests are based 
on timing and sometimes a second or third test will reveal different 
information. For instance a nameserver might be slow responding, which 
is why you should have three nameservers on at least two class Cs 
preferably in two locations so at least one 'address' answer is available.

This report will contain a lot of techno-babble to many, but each area 
of the report will give you an idea about importance and in many areas, 
a bit of an idea about what issues the error could cause. Basically, 
unless it is noted in the report as having a possible exception, you 
should not have any areas marked in red. (if you don't use mail services 
on your domain, red on mail doesn't matter). There is really no excuse 
to have any areas marked in yellow, again, unless special setups are 
used (for instance, many service providers use Postini for mail service 
and this tool does have trouble making it back through to check some 
setups and will say so in those instances). SPF would be the only 
exception to this entire list, as SPF is a new standard, only a few 
weeks old and it will take time to set up. But a plan should by now be 
in place and you need to be 'fully aware' of the ramifications of SPF on 
your domain's email service.

2. Hosting/Email
The hosting company should be the second concern. In most cases the 
hosting company is the one who provides the DNS setup for your domain 
(if you have everything right at your registrar, they normally have 
control of the rest). Proper DNS is more important than 100% uptime 
(which I say doesn't exist as various services on servers are re-started 
with frequency and even if there are many, at some point they will all 
be going through a service restart in unison at some point. too much to 
go into here.). If your network is up, but there are 'addressing' 
issues, who can get there? Perfect DNS ties directly into perfect email 
delivery, both in and out.

The internet operates under a set of RFC standards. Non-standard setups 
are subject to both web page and email delivery problems. Many of these 
'standards' were not used for much of anything until recently. Now, many 
are used as a test of your mailserver and if you are non-standard, your 
mail may be rejected. Most spammers have broken mail systems, these 
tests are used to battle spam.

SPF is a new technology created to battle domain forgery (email sent 
using a domain name which is not theirs as the from or return address). 
This is a very complex system to set up 'right' for hosting companies. 
Each individual domain will need its own 'customized' setup. We are in 
the beginning phases of setting SPF records for our clients. This will 
take us an average of about 1/2 hour on the phone with each of our 
clients. We unlike many service providers, make the call first and then 
enact the new systems, instead of breaking things in the name of  'this 
is what we had to do' and waiting for the phone calls. If you don't have 
a SPF record for your domain at present, any email sent from your domain 
to a Hotmail account is automatically placed in that user's spam box. 
This is just the beginning, as many large ISPs will soon turn up the 
heat, requiring SPF records on your domains.

If you use email on your domain, the hosting company should also have a 
backup mailsystem. It is a very simple task and actually the backup 
mailserver should be at a second location, further insuring the receipt 
of mail.

The hosting company should also provide you with FTP access to your 
site. You should always have the ability to store the documents that 
make up your website locally (who quarantees your hosting company will 
be in business next month? If you can't store your own site on your own 
backup system, if they are gone your site and design is gone). You 
should have the option to use whichever designer or promotion company 
you choose.

You should have an intimate relationship with your hosting company. 
Minute details about how you use mail services have suddenly become 
extremely important. Hosting companies are in the hot seat with regards 
to these new standards. Getting it right will be the hardest issue we've 
ever faced as it will require minute details, which will need to be 
provided by our clients (with some issues requiring long explanations as 
this is a very technical issue) about every way email is used on any 
particular domain. I could set up the SPF record for AOL in about 15 to 
30 minutes... as I could get 'technical' answers fast. It will take 
longer than that for each of our hosting clients.

Incidentally, I'm finding that hosting providers which cater to the 
lodging industry generally rate much higher with regards to proper DNS 
setups. They fully understand the importance of email and know proper 
DNS is imperative. You guys are tough on us! :) But we love it.

3. Design
The designer should come next, as you can have perfect connectivity but 
if your site isn't user friendly,  is not 'pretty', has broken links, 
etc, getting there does little good or may even have a negative impact. 
If the designer suggests a hosting company, check them out. If they are 
a good hosting company it can save you money in design fees. But, I 
would not go with a designer that 'insists' on using a particular 
hosting company. 'Suggests', yes consider it, but not 'insists'. And do 
remember to have 'access' to your site's files! Keep a backup yourself! 
One should stay in close communication with a designer especially during 
a remake or intial design. Get something to look at as early as 
possible. 'Tastes' vary widely, if it's going in the wrong direction, 
head it off as early as possible. Don't wait until the whole project is 
done and your designer has a lot of time into it.

4?. Promotion
With those three most important items in place, it finally comes down to 
promotion, which arguably is as important as any of the above, but if 
any of the other parts are broken (or partially broken), promotion can 
be a huge waste of money.

5. Tracking
And finally, after all else is in place, page tracking! Verify your 
successes and failures.

There can be great reasons to not let any two or more of the above be 
under the control of one company. It all depends on who you are dealing 
with and how well you work together. If you follow the guidelines above, 
you should never have an issue that is insurmountable. It might take a 
day or two (the time it takes for DNS to update across the internet), 
but even in the worst case, two days is pretty good versus trying to 
build a new site, getting your nameservers changed to new hosting 
company and being fully functional again, which could take weeks or 
months and cost the design fees again.

Again, each aspect should be considered on an individual basis and there 
are exeptions to the above guidelines for good reasons. Some do 'blend' 
into one another and can save you money, but be sure each aspect is as 
strong as it can be or as strong as you can afford. And understand 'why' 
on as much of it as you can.

Meanwhile,  I hope others aren't upset for being this far off topic from 
SuperStatZ, although these are the most important issues which for the 
most part, are outside of the abilities of SuperStatZ tracking. 
SuperStatZ is all about having the knowledge to perform the best. I 
thought I might be filling in some gaps with this.

Best,
John Hinton
webmaster at ew3d.com