MangoOrange™

As an avid gamer I wanted to take some time to address some common questions related to clan and guild websites such as clan web hosting, tips for getting sponsored, and how you can create your own clan or guild website.  Throughout the article you will find some gaming information I wish I would have known back when I was starting my own clan.  Also wanted to go ahead and point out to any viewer(s) who are serious about setting up a website for their clan or guild you can save some money on web hosting by using any of our promotional links or banners when signing up with HostMonster.

What is A Clan or Guild Website?

To answer this question as accurately as possible, you will first need to know what a clan or guild is.  To get a better understanding, lets take a minute and review the definition for each.

• Clan-  The term "clan" is referring to a group of individuals who have formed a "team" on a multiplayer video game.  For example, a clan can simply be a group of friends playing together online or can be made up of more competitive individuals who look to challenge other clans for their respective games.  The more competitive clans can be found on video game ladders such as gamebattles.com.

• Guilds- The exact same definition as "clan" but the term "guild" is more commonly used for gamers that participate in role playing video games such as World of Warcraft.

A clan or guild website is exactly what you might expect it to be.  It's a website dedicated to a particular clan or guild that allows the members to share and connect throughout the web.  For example, some video game teams may use their personalized website to recruit new members, share their teams gaming accomplishments, or communicate with other members and video game patrons through the use of forums.

What Is Clan & Guild Web Hosting?

Clan & Guild Web Hosting is a specialized form of web hosting that can handle all the specific needs for a gaming website.  For example, gamers will most certainly want web hosting that can handle different features such as:  Images or Screenshots of their matches, videos or any montages created, forums to allow the community to communicate while still being able to carry out all of the basic website functions such as listing team rosters, team information, team events, etc.

In order to handle these wide range of features, its best to choose a web hosting service such as HostMonster that can handle large amounts of data and a wide range of functions at top speed.  You would be surprised with the difference a quality web host can make.

Do Clans & Guilds Really Need Their Own Website?

One of the fastest growing trends for gamers of any skill level, professionals or weekend warriors, are the use of websites dedicated to their craft.  Clan & Guild websites hold great importance in terms of setting a professional image for those looking to lure potential sponsors.  But not all gamers are looking for "Pro Status". . .  Instead, some gamers need a website for communication, recruiting, and bragging rights by listing their accomplishments.  So whichever level you compete at, making your presence felt with your own website is definitely something to consider.

Those looking for Professional Status - One of the most common mistakes made by gamers looking for sponsorship is the idea that they only need top level talent and a great win/loss ratio.  While being one of the best for a particular game plays a major role, sponsors are also looking for a team that they know is the real deal when it comes to gaming; not just a group of talent thrown together over the weekend.

Sponsors are looking for that professional image mentioned earlier that stands out from the rest.  One of the key ingredients for setting your team apart from the competition is by having your own website.  It tells the sponsors and the entire gaming community your team is in it for the long hale.  Also keep in mind, getting sponsored isn't just to reward those who put the time and effort into gaming, its a business.  With that being said, sponsors are looking to advertise their products through you and your team, so having advertising space on your website for them to use plays a HUGE role in obtaining sponsorship(s).

Average Joe's need bragging rights too - While the casual everyday gamer isn't looking to turn pro or achieve sponsors that the pros crave,  having their own website can let them keep track of their gaming accomplishments.  As an avid gamer myself, its always fun to brag about dominating a few of the guys from the office (Jason & Mike) in a game of Madden and then posting the evidence on my website for everyone to see.

The clans who simply enjoy playing together also need their own spot to communicate with one another and recruit new members outside of the console.  This is a huge reason why you are starting to see more and more clan & guild websites sprouting up all over the web.  As previously mentioned throughout the page, its important to have forums for communication, list your teams upcoming events, and show a sense of organization with all of your clan or guild background information.

How Much Does It Cost To Have A Clan or Guild Website?

For those of you new to how a website works you will need to purchase web hosting.  Knowing that owning a website is another expense added along with high speed internet, controllers, consoles and games. . .  we wanted to make sure it was something everyone can afford, so we have partnered with HostMonster to allow all of our gaming viewers web hosting for $3.95 per month by simply using our promotional banner found below.

How Do You Start A Clan or Guild Website?

For all of those viewers who are unfamiliar with HTML and complex computer codes, you will want to use the tool "WordPress" to create your clan or guild website.  To keep it simple,  WordPress allows you to download pre-designed website templates that require no advance computer skills or prior knowledge.  Once you have installed WordPress onto your HostMonster web hosting, simply download your theme and begin adding your clans content.  Step-by-step instructions can be found below.

Step 1- The first step, if you haven't already done so, is to sign-up for your web hosting.  Make sure you take advantage of our HostMonster promo by using the promotional banner found above or use the HostMonster Promo Link to receive your web hosting at the discounted price of $3.95 per month.  Keep in mind you will register your domain name (ex. myclansite.com) during this process.

Step 2- Install the WordPress tool onto your HostMonster control panel.  If you need farther instructions on how to install WordPress, please visit the article "WordPress Installation" or contact us and we will be happy to install WordPress onto your account for you at no cost.  We also have a complete guide to creating websites using wordpress.

Step 3- Select and download your WordPress theme to give your clan or guild website a professional feel.  You can either choose one of the thousands of free wordpress themes on the web or you can even purchase premium themes from sites like WooThemes.com.

Step 4- Add your content via. images, montages, clan roster, videos, recruiting news or whatever you feel needs to be included for your clan or guild website.

Start a Clan or Guild Website Today!!!
EXCLUSIVE $3.95 Hostmonster Promo Link

written by mangoorange \\ tags: Clan Web Hosting, Clan Website, Guild Web Hosting, Guild Website, HostMonster

Apple Web Hosting

Several months ago I wrote an article about web hosting companies that are compatible with Apple's.. (Aka.. Apple Web Hosting) and recently when watching my stats I have noticed a major increase in traffic to this article due to the fact that Apple is closing their MobileMe service and many individuals are scrambling to find a great host for their website.

If you find yourself in this situation and need a great hosting provider that will help you to transition your MobileMe website I HIGHLY suggest that you read this article by WebHostingServices.us, it gives you a tutorial on how to move your MobileMe website to Bluehost, one of the world's best web hosting companies and one that we promote throughout our site.

It is really frustrating when a company provides you a service and then comes along and cancels the service leaving you in a bind to find a great solution, I personally recommend Bluehost and will promise you this host will never end your service leaving you looking for a place to move.. The great thing about Bluehost is the only cost $3.95 a month.

After reading the articles above, I suggest taking a look at Bluehost:

written by mangoorange \\ tags: Apple Web Hosting, MobileMe, Moving MobileMe

Over the years we have run a number of online services utilizing various web hosting platforms and services.  As a website owner one of the worst things you can ever hear are comments from others such as:

"I can't see your site"
"Its not coming up for me"
"I can't upload the file"
"I sent you the email.  You didn't get it?"

Major Uptime (www.majoruptime.com) provides Website Monitoring Services can check your website, email servers and various other connection types at regular intervals to ensure your information is available and ready for you, your customers and other visitors.  While most of the services we have tried in the past charged an intro rate of $9.95/month, they would renew at much higher prices all the way up to $99/month.  The Major Uptime product is far cheaper than anything we have seen.  The base package is $5/month which will monitor up to three items of your choice.  You can add more monitors for $1/month per each extra.  If you know you are going to be monitoring things for a longer period of time a 1 year subscription is just $36 which averages $3/month.

The nice thing about this service is you can set it and forget it.  Major Uptime will automatically alert you via email, text message or both if any of your monitoring services are triggered for connection issues.  Not only does it alert you of the outage, but it will also tell you what the type of error is.  Did you make some updates that accidentally broke the site? Is your site available for some people but not others?  These alerts will help you pinpoint the error and know who you should contact to help get things fixed.  For more information take a look at http://www.majoruptime.com.

written by mangoorange \\ tags: Major Uptime, Website Monitoring, Website Monitoring Service

Just Host

Ok, so the title of this post is a little play on words, I would say there are several good web hosts out there on the web so I am not saying you have to exclusively host with just host; however, if you are looking for a reliable web hosting provider who will give you quality service and support I think you may actually want to consider purchasing you web hosting through Just Host.

When Just Host web hosting was first created it was located overseas and many people expressed concerns that support wasn't quite up to par...   I can now say, THAT HAS ALL CHANGED!!!  The masters of web hosting Endurance Group International (the biggest network of web hosting sites in the world) recently acquired Just Host and have made some drastic changes that now make the company (in my opinion) one of if not the best web hosts in the world.

Let's look at some of these changes....  First, as you know I believe Bluehost to be one of the better web hosting providers in the world and advertise them throughout this website.  I am a fan of Bluehost because they have a top notch support team, reliable servers, and are located in the US.  The owners of EGI decided it would be a smart decision (and I agree) to move all support and new hosting accounts that sign up with JUST HOST to the Bluehost headquarters.

So what did this do?  This instantly/over night might Just Host web hosting one of the fastest, most reliable web hosting providers in the world.  In fact, the average hold time for a support call is now under 1-minute!  That is quite impressive!

Not only is just host a great web hosting provider but they also offer their hosting at a rate that really cannot be beat.   Their current rate is only $3.50 a month which is cheaper than Bluehost's $3.95 and in all reality you are getting the same servers and support as you would if you chose Bluehost.  So with that being said, I thinks its fair to say that you should Just Host with Just Host.

Visit Just Host

written by mangoorange \\ tags: just host

Bluehost is a Great Alternative to GoDaddy Web Hosting!

For years I have been an avid critic of Godaddy and how they use their big name and sexy commercials to deceive unknowing web hosting beginners.  Now, GoDaddy has  really messed up by supporting the unpopular SOPA bill that has been rightfully opposed by tech giants.   Hundreds of thousands of  users are now boycotting Godaddy, as they continue to dig themselves in a deeper hole.

If your considering purchasing a domain or web hosting from GoDaddy.. Please stop now and save yourself lots of headaches in the future.  I highly suggest instead that you choose Bluehost; in fact, if you use our exclusive promo link below you can get professional web hosting from Bluehost for only $3.95 a month.  Can you tell.. I really don't like Godaddy? Haha.

Bluehost promo link

http://www.alreadyhosting.com/bluehost.com

written by mangoorange