Ultimate list of 17 really useful WordPress plugins

alt="Ultimate list of 17 really useful WordPress plugins" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/default-image-500x308_c.jpg" />

There are endless amount of WordPress (WP) plugin available for downloads. In fact, there’s a plugin for almost every problem I encountered when blogging. Listed below are some of the best WP plugin that I have used or tested, and find them very useful.

I hope the list helps you find what you need.

1. ShareThis

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-3.jpg" alt="ShareThis homepage" class="border" />

ShareThis provides a simple solution for users who wish to add your post to many social bookmarking profile sites (Digg, Facebook, Stumble upon, etc). What I like the most bout ShareThis is that the plugin comes in a clean-and-tidy outlook thus it will not damage my blog template designs. Moreover, adding the ShareThis button can be done automatically thus it’s highly recommended for non-techies.

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/share-this/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/share-this

2. Google Sitemaps Generator

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-4.jpg" alt="Google Sitemap Generator" class="border" />

As the name suggests, Google Sitemaps Generator generates sitemap for WP blog that is supported by Google, MSN/Yahoo (Bing), and Ask. The XML file generated will lists URLs for a blog along with additional metadata (info like how often the page is updated) about each URL; which in turns, improve the blog’s search visibility. For those who wish to have more search traffics, Google Sitemaps Generator is a must.

Download: href="http://www.arnebrachhold.de/projects/wordpress-plugins/google-xml-sitemaps-generator/">http://www.arnebrachhold.de/projects/wordpress-plugins/google-xml-sitemaps-generator/

3. Sociable

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-5.jpg" alt="Sociable" class="border" />

Sociable works very similar with ShareThis but their outlooks are totally different. ShareThis hides all the icon links (display only when clicked); while Sociable displays all the social media bookmark icons at the bottom of your blog pages. Both plugins are extremely user-friendly and helpful in term of social media marketing.

Download: href="http://yoast.com/wordpress/sociable/">http://yoast.com/wordpress/sociable/

4. Light Box

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-17.jpg" alt="Dynamic Headers" class="border" />

Lightbox is the kind of ‘cool plugin’ that you can’t afford to miss. It’s a simple script used to overlay images on the current page. The plugin is easy to setup, convenient to use, and most importantly, works on all modern browsers.

Download: href="http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/">http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/

5. GD Star Rating

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-7.jpg" alt="GD Star Rating" class="border" />

GD Star Rating Plugin enables you to setup rating and review system for blogpost and pages. Different from most other rating plugin, GD Star Rating comes with an advance built-in control panel (in WP dashboard) and it provides great flexibility in term of site display and rating aspects. I have been using GD Star Rating for one of my shopping websites – the flexibility and complexity of the plugin is eye-opening.

Download: href="http://www.gdstarrating.com/">http://www.gdstarrating.com/

6. Twitter Tools

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-8.jpg" alt="Twitter Tools" class="border" />

The Twitter Tools plugin integrates with Twitter and support various Twitter related features on your blog. I don’t really enjoy using Twitter but what this plugin can do is amazing. In brief, Twitter Tools allow you to archive (or publish) your tweets on your blog, create blogposts based on your tweets, create a summary-alike blogpost of your tweets, and also create a tweet whenever you have a new blogpost.

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-tools/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-tools/

7. Advertising Manager

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-9.jpg" alt="Advertising Manager" class="border" />

Formerly known as the Adsense Manager, Advertising Manager plugin helps to manage and rotate your Google Adsense and other ads on your blog. The plugin will automatically recognizes and supports various ad networks including Google Adsense, AdBrite, Adroll, Chitika, Commission Junction, and so on. If you are looking for an organized way to monetize your blog, Advertising Manager is the one plugin you needed.

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/advertising-manager/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/advertising-manager/

8. PollDaddy

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-13.jpg" alt="PollDaddy" class="border" />

The PollDaddy plugin allows you to create and manage your polls from your WordPress dashboard. If you think PollDaddy works just like the other 398 poll plugins found on WordPress site then you’re dead wrong. PollDaddy is a comprehensive poll plugin that’s used by tons of gigantic websites (Wired, TechCrunch, PC World!) and it works across various blogging/CMS platform. Survey features with PollDaddy include unlimited free polls with unlimited votes per poll, 14 PollDaddy skins to choose from or create your own in CSS, view poll results online, as XML or CSV or RSS, full foreign language support, polls control via IP address or cookies, and much much more.

Download: href="http://polldaddy.com/">http://polldaddy.com/

9. SEO Title Tags

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-11.jpg" alt="SEO Title Tags" class="border" />

This WP plugin makes it dead-easy to customize (or optimize) your title tags across your WordPress blog or website. Not just your posts, not just your home page, but ANY and EVERY single title tag you can find on your blog! Personally, I am a big fan of the SEO Title Tags plugin as it helps me complete my SEO work a lot faster. If I can only pick one plugin besides Askimet, SEO Title Tags Plugin would be it.

Download: href="http://www.netconcepts.com/seo-title-tag-plugin/">http://www.netconcepts.com/seo-title-tag-plugin/

10. Redirection

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-12.jpg" alt="Redirection" class="border" />

The function of Redirection does is simple yet critical. Basically, what this plugin does is to tidy up any loose ends your blog may have. It provides a convenient way to manage 301 redirections as well as keep track on 404 errors. This is particularly helpful if you’re running an old WordPress blog/website (especially if you migrated some pages before).

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/

11. Flickr RSS

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-10.jpg" alt="Flickr RSS" class="border" />

Flickr RSS allows you to display Flickr photos on your WP blogs. It supports a wide variety of Flickr features and is relatively easy to setup and configure via the settings panel.

Download: href="http://eightface.com/wordpress/flickrrss/">http://eightface.com/wordpress/flickrrss/

12. Exec PHP

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-19.jpg" alt="Exec PHP" class="border" />

Ever wish to write and execute PHP codes directly from a particular WordPress post or page? Chances are you gave up the idea because it’s just too troublesome/difficult to work that out. Well, not anymore with Exec PHP. The Exec-PHP plugin executes code in your posts, pages and text widgets.

(There are, in fact, quite a lot of well known WP plugins with the similar features but I find Exec PHP the easiest to use.)

Download: href="http://bluesome.net/post/2005/08/18/50/">http://bluesome.net/post/2005/08/18/50/

13. SI CAPTCHA for WP

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-18.jpg" alt="SI CAPTCHA for WP" class="border" />

I’m sure you are familiar with CAPTCHA anti-spam system. This SI CAPTCHA plugin works perfectly well on WordPress comment form and registration form. In order to post comments, users will have to type in the phrase shown on the image – which in turns, help prevent spam from automated bots.

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/si-captcha-for-wordpress/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/si-captcha-for-wordpress/

14. Dynamic Headers

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-16.jpg" alt="Dynamic Headers" class="border" />

Dynamic Headers plugin is especially useful when I was working on a travel related website. This small, easy to use plugin allows you to manage what header media is shown on each page/post – as the name suggests: dynamic image OR Flash files.

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/dynamic-headers/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/dynamic-headers/

15. Google Analytics for WP

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-6.jpg" alt="Google Analytics for WP" class="border" />

The Google Analytics for WP plugin easily adds your Google Analytics tracking code to all your web pages; which in turn allows you to track various parameters about your websites conveniently.A strong selling point for this plugin is that it automatically tracks and segments all outbound links from within posts, comment author links, links within comments, blogroll links and downloads. It also allows you to track AdSense clicks, add extra search engines, track image search queries and it will even work together with Urchin.

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/

16. Contact Form 7

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-14.jpg" alt="Contact Form 7" class="border" />

Contact Form 7 is an user-friendly plugin that helps manage multiple contact forms published in August 2007. At current time of writing, the plugin supports Ajax-powered submitting and Akismet spam filtering (but not CAPTCHA spam filter).

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/

17. SidePosts

src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2009/0810-15.jpg" alt="SidePosts" class="border" />

The SidePosts plugin allows you to publish entire post entries in selected category on the sidebar instead the main blog. You will have then a small blog on the sidebar for those special entries. This feature is extremely useful for those who wish to build ‘mini-blog’ or ‘one-liner shout-out box’ sort of things on their blog sidebar.

Download: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sideposts/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sideposts/

Page 30 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

How Green Hosting Really Works?

alt="How Green Hosting Really Works?" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/green-house-500x280_c.jpg" />

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6602 border" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/green-house.jpg" alt="green house" width="750" height="420" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/green-house.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/green-house-300x168.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

When people look for web hosting services, they consider several parameters like the specifications of the server, the storage space, the processor speed, the bandwidth and performance. There is however another important factor that needs to be considered, but often gets omitted from the list of requirements – that is – how green the web hosting service is? When people think of performance, they only think in terms of computational performance. The ecological effects or green performance is never really thought about.

How Web Hosting Affects the Environment?

Now you might wonder how can running a web hosting company probably affect the environment. Maintaining web hosting servers requires tremendous amount of energy. First of all, electricity is required to power up the server computers. In-order to keep these servers cool, a cooling system is required. These cooling systems themselves run on electricity and are said to consume almost 50% of the total power needed for running the set-up. Apart from high power consumption, there is the growing concern of heat and greenhouse gas emissions from these set-ups, which is taking a toll on the environment.

You will be surprised to know how every single activity on the internet can cause an impact to our environment. A research conducted a couple of years ago has revealed that simply doing 2 Google searches can produce as much carbon dioxide as a boiling kettle, which is estimated to be about 7g per search. This might seem trivial. However, considering the global usage of the internet, the total amount of CO2 produced can be tremendous. Industry analyst, Gartner, has mentioned in a report that the entire IT industry generates greenhouse gases comparable to that of the airline industry; which is about 2% of the global carbon dioxide emissions. Some may argue that web hosting forms only a small subset of the global IT industry. Plus, as you read on you will find that the steps taken by such hosts in turning green is more of a counterbalance effort, rather than a real one. Therefore, considering subscriptions with a green host, will not really make a big difference. However, it must be noted that a single web server can produce 12.5 tonnes of CO2 in a year. And any eco-friendly effort taken reducing or even offsetting this, must be encouraged and supported.

How do Web Hosting Companies Turn Green?

When you think “turning green” you think “employing natural and renewable energy sources”.

So when we say “green hosting”, the logical conclusion is that the web hosting companies are using electricity that is generated from natural resources. There is however a slight variation to this description. Most title="Green Web Hosting Company" href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/hosting-review/greengeeks-hosting/">green web hosting companies merely buy Green Tags or Renewable Energy Certificates in their eco-friendly efforts. At this point of time, this is the most feasible green effort that such companies can put in. Web hosts that actually generate the energy they use on-site, are very rare.

What are Green Tags All About?

There are several renewable energy generators that have been set up for generating energy from natural resources, like wind, water, sun, bio-gas etc. Some of these generators are tied up with the main grids that supply electricity to cities and towns. Thus the grid supplies electricity generated from both regular means (like fuel) as well as natural resources. The organization in charge of generating electricity from renewable resources offers a Green Tag or a Renewable Energy Certificate for every 1000 kWh (kilowatt hour) or 1 MWh (Megawatt hour) of electricity that is fed into the grid. Any company that buys these certificates is thus contributing to the eco-friendly generation of power, and is considered ‘green’. However, the electricity that they consume comes from the grid, which is a mixture of both renewable energy power and fuel power. While the use of fuel has been considerably reduced, it is not totally eliminated.

Other Ways of Green Contributions

There are a few more ways in which web hosting companies can contribute additionally in their eco-friendly efforts.

Using energy efficient hardware – Employing energy efficient hardware can be a small step towards greener hosting.

Planning – The carbon footprint produced by servers is not just inherent during the usage of the hardware and other equipment in a web hosting center. An important thing to note is that all equipment already have their own embedded carbon footprints which was produced during their manufacture and shipping. Moreover, after they get outdated or damaged, their disposal, if not done the right way can cause environmental hazards. Therefore, a lot of planning has to go into setting up a web hosting environment. The entire life cycle of the equipment has to be considered. While the embedded CO2 footprint is not in the control of the hosting company, their usage and disposal can definitely be taken care of. First and foremost, it is essential that the equipment being bought must allow for future expansion, for the integration of newer and more efficient technologies. Virtualization, for example, saves energy and its tiered architecture allows for integration of newer technologies. In case an equipment does get outdated, it must be disposed in an eco-friendly manner. The “re-use, reduce and recycle” policy can be applied here. Certain components can be re-used or recycled. Plus, organizations which undertake the disposal of electronic equipment in a safe, green way must be contacted.

Using eco-friendly coolers – Energy efficient coolers with as long a life as possible must be used. High performance liquid coolers have been found to absorb 4000 times more heat than air coolers, for the same amount of energy used.

Re-using the waste – The heat produced by the web hosting and data center set-ups can be used for constructive purposes, rather than letting it escape into the atmosphere. For instance, this heat could be used to warm up a living space in cold countries.

How do you find out if a web hosting company is green or not?

Some web hosting companies ‘href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing">greenwash’ consumers, faking their green efforts. Thus consumers need to exercise caution when choosing a web hosting service. Several web hosts mention in their website about their environmental-friendly operations. In-order to find trustworthy green hosting services, you can look for certification or badges (like the Green Tags). You can as well check online reviews from credible sources to find out about their green efforts.

Does computational performance get affected by employing energy from natural resources?

According to experts in the field, many green web hosting companies provide all the standard services to their customers, without any issues. While reviewing web hosts, Jerry himself has observed that people who subscribe to such href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/web-hosting-guides/the-basics-of-green-web-hosting/">green hosts have full access to their systems at all times. Even server downtimes are quite comparable to that of the regular web hosting companies. Therefore performance-wise, website owners and their users will not really notice any difference.

At present many web hosts have ventured on the green path. While they may not be 100% eco-friendly, they do their best to come as close as possible. Many of them have even taken up the responsibility of planting trees, educating their staff regarding green practices, re-using and recycling office materials like paper, or even going paperless, encouraging carpooling among employees and more. While these steps may seem trivial, they definitely do contribute toward the global green efforts.

Photo Credit: href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31246066@N04/7147188307/">Ian Sane

Page 27 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

Internet Users and the Cloud: What Do People Really Know? (Infographic)

alt="Internet Users and the Cloud: What Do People Really Know? (Infographic)" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/handling-cloud-servers-500x320_c.jpg" />

style="text-align: center;">class="border aligncenter" src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/images/2012/1031-1.jpg" alt="Cloud Hosting Infographic" width="750" height="3355" />

A look at this infographic on Internet trends among American adults underscores an interesting and perhaps unexpected fact about Internet users.

While the mass majority uses the cloud, most are unaware that they are employing cloud hosting networks. This infographic highlights the findings of two surveys of American Internet users, including the demographics of Internet users, their online activities, and how perceptions of cloud computing match actual use. It underscores a fascinating division between href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/web-hosting-guides/shared-vps-dedicated-cloud-hosting/" target="_blank">what people know about the cloud and how much of their online activities utilize the cloud.

51% Survey Respondents Believed That Stormy Weather Could Interfere Cloud Computing

The majority of American adults use the Internet to look something up on a search engine (91 percent), send or receive an email (91 percent), look up a hobby or interest (84 percent) or search for maps or driving directions (84 percent). An Internet user is also likely to check up-to-date weather forecasts on his or her device (81 percent), do online banking (61 percent) or upload photos for sharing (46 percent). Though many use these online services, most remain unaware that these online processes run on various cloud computing platforms – everything from online banking, shopping and photo sharing to the use of social networks and playing online games. In fact, 51 percent of respondents believed that stormy weather could interfere with cloud computing, perhaps envisioning it as an antenna that sways in the wind and rain rather than an elastic host service which uses the Internet.

The infographic reveals that low education levels are not the likely reason for this confusion, as the higher level of education one has achieved may lead to higher Internet use but does not lead to greater Internet understanding. For instance, only 61 percent of those surveyed without a high school diploma used the Internet regularly, while 80 percent of high school graduates and 97 percent of college graduates used the Internet regularly, though the majority could not articulate the connection between the cloud and the Internet.

Why People Can’t Get It?

The question remains why cloud computing and cloud hosting is a foreign concept for many when it is almost universally used. The answer can be found in the complexity of cloud computing itself and its varying definitions, as well as missing means of public education on the issue. For instance, there are numerous types of public cloud computing (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, to name a few) as well as various service models. Because of the varied uses of the cloud, from email to gaming and file sharing, it is difficult to come up with a definition which is both explanatory and clear and which encompasses all of the characteristics of cloud activity. Combining this with the vocabulary of servers, network attached storage and virtualization is more likely to lead to confusion than understanding.

Notwithstanding the barriers to understanding, this infographic highlights that even if people don’t understand the details of cloud hosting, they are certainly aware of its growing importance. With mobile devices like cell phones, laptop computers and tablet PCs on the rise, and stationary items such as the desktop on the decline, the mobility of information is becoming increasingly prized, and it is cloud hosting services which allow for the easy movement of information for daily Internet users.

 

Page 22 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

50 Common Web Hosting Terms, And What They Really Mean

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What Really Is VPS Hosting and How to Choose a Reliable VPS Provider?

alt="What Really Is VPS Hosting and How to Choose a Reliable VPS Provider?" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/vps-shared-dedicated-hosting-500x753_c.jpg" />

Note: We have published a comprehensive guide on VPS hosting in September 2014 to discuss about how VPS hosting works, when is the right time to switch, how to choose, and the right price to pay. Some special discount and promotion coupons were also added at the bottom of the article. To learn more, read: href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/vps-hosting-guide/">Ultimate VPS Hosting Guide: The Basics, How-to Choose, and Discounts.

When you are starting a new website, there are a lot of new challenges awaiting you out there. One of the harder ones is the confusing task of href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/choose-the-right-web-hosting/">choosing between different hosting packages. Most newbies start off with a tight budget and that usually leaves them with few options to choose from. Shared hosting is ideal for a new website that is not yet popular. But there is a bigger risk in going with shared hosting if your website is likely to outgrow its capacity very soon. Also, it wouldn’t be wise to go with shared hosting for an ecommerce store which would need high end hosting resources. In such cases, VPS or virtual private server hosting can be the right solution since it offers better security, features and advantages for a slightly higher price.

id="attachment_8514" style="width: 460px" class="wp-caption alignright">class=" wp-image-8514 " src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/vps-hosting-anatomy.jpg" alt="vps hosting anatomy" width="450" height="328" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/vps-hosting-anatomy.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/vps-hosting-anatomy-300x218.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />class="wp-caption-text">Anatomy of VPS Hosting href="http://www.gouriwebmedia.com/blog/vps-hosting">Image Credit

Is There Really Money to be Earned from Blogging?

alt="Is There Really Money to be Earned from Blogging?" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/how-much-money-bloggers-make-500x638_t.jpg" />

When blogging first emerged on the scene, it was purely a means of personal expression. It allowed individuals to publish their personal thoughts, opinions, ideas about a particular topic and share them with readers, if they wanted to. Nobody even remotely thought of making money from blogging.

But things changed.

Today, blogging is a far cry from what it was earlier. The reason why most people blog isn’t to get their thoughts out into the world. Of course, they say this is the reason why they blog, but the real motive lies elsewhere. Blogging is primarily being used as means of earning money. The first thing every new blogger looks for are the various ways they can href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/how-do-i-get-started-making-money-as-a-new-blogger/">earn money from their blog.

Blogging has become an industry. New blogs are being created href="http://news.cnet.com/2100-1025_3-6102935.html">every second (not a typo) and their owners want to make money from them. Now this got me thinking. There must be plenty of people out there who had high hopes from their blogging efforts only to realize that these efforts weren’t paying the returns they hoped for. They must be wondering whether all those “experts” who said you can earn money from blogging were lying through their teeth.

The question they must be asking themselves is “Can you actually make money from blogging?”

The answer is yes and a no. No, that’s not as complicated as it sounds!

Let’s try and understand this answer better.

Answer this question first – Are you really serious about blogging?

Every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to be blogging these days; many people see this activity as a way of earning money quickly, without a lot of effort.

These people are dead wrong.

Blogging involves doing the hard yards. It requires the highest levels of commitment from you that sees you publishing new content on your blog regularly. This isn’t easy. It takes time and lot of hard work.  You really need to be serious about blogging to earn money from it. It’s like a full time job. Are you prepared to do it? Don’t think of it as an easy way of earning money; because if you do, say goodbye to any chance of monetizing your blog.

id="attachment_9918" style="width: 760px" class="wp-caption aligncenter">class="size-full wp-image-9918" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/how-much-money-bloggers-make.jpg" alt="Blogconomy - Infographic credit: Ignite Spot" width="750" height="957" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/how-much-money-bloggers-make.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/how-much-money-bloggers-make-235x300.jpg 235w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />class="wp-caption-text">Blogconomy – Infographic credit: href="http://www.ignitespot.com/small-business-marketing-idea/">Ignite Spot

How much Bandwidth Does your Site Really Need?

alt="How much Bandwidth Does your Site Really Need?" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/bandwidth-calculation-500x242_c.jpg" />

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Post updated Feb 26th, 2016.

When href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/choose-the-right-web-hosting/" target="_blank">researching web host providers to house your site, one factor to evaluate is the cost for your required amount of bandwidth,

Yes, many providers offer “unlimited” plans, but upon taking a closer look, you’ll find that unlimited isn’t truly unlimited – there are always penalties if you use too much as is based on a “normal” usage, whatever that means. That said, knowing how much bandwidth your site truly requires can be a bit of an art form.

So what exactly is bandwidth, anyway?

Essentially, it’s just a term to quantify the rate of traffic and data allowed to flow between users and your site via the internet.

The term “bandwidth” is loosely use to describe “data transfer” but in reality these two are two different things.

Bandwidth is the measure of maximum data that can be transferred in a given time, usually measured in seconds. Data transfer, on the other hand, is the amount of data to be transferred; while bandwidth is the rate of the data transfer. You can imagine bandwidth as the width of a water pipe where data transfer is the amount of water flowing out from the pipe. How wide is the pipe width (bandwidth) determines how fast can water (data) flows. Fundamentally, data transfer is the consumption of bandwidth.

To site owners, the amount of bandwidth that a hosting company site offers can typically serve as a good indicator of that host’s capabilities – the higher the bandwidth, the better the speed; network; connectivity; and systems.

Nothing in Life Comes Free – Let’s Explore Unlimited Bandwidth

As mentioned above, many hosting organization offer unlimited plans that include “unlimited bandwidth.” To the purchaser, this means that they can run as much data and as much traffic to their site as they need without ceilings. To the hosting provider, it means a way to give a flat cost to a buyer that generally will work.

As ever, href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/the-truth-about-unlimited-hosting/">the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Simply put, it’s just impossible for hosting companies to offer unlimited bandwidth (which is why unlimited bandwidth/storage is href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/web-hosting-guides/seven-of-the-silliest-web-hosting-features/">#1 among all silly hosting features) – it’s too expensive to provide unbridled access to every customer. That said, most companies fall somewhere into a “normal range” of bandwidth use by default, and this range is what hosting providers use when creating their “unlimited” packages. By “unlimited,” hosting providers can cater to the majority of their client base – however, there absolutely is a ceiling on the bandwidth included in that package cost; the trick is to know what it is.

By comparing your site’s actual required bandwidth with the bandwidth offered in that “unlimited” guise, you can better determine which level of hosting you truly need and whether a given provider will truly meet your needs.

How to Calculate the Bandwidth you Need

id="attachment_9702" style="width: 760px" class="wp-caption aligncenter">class="size-full wp-image-9702" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/calculate-website-bandwidth.jpg" alt="Formula used to calculate needed website bandwidth." width="750" height="467" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/calculate-website-bandwidth.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/calculate-website-bandwidth-300x186.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />class="wp-caption-text">Formula used to calculate needed website bandwidth is not  that complicated!