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One of the single most critical things that you should have is a backup of your database. There are so many things that can go wrong such as a server crashing or a hacker getting into your account. When this happens all of your hard work and dedication is put on the line. Can you imagine if you had worked for a 3 months straight all to lose it in a day?

You may be surprised in fact that most people don’t actually even have a backup of their database. This is something extremely easy to do if your web hosting provider uses phpMyAdmin which most do.

1. Logging into phpMyAdmin

The first thing that you need to do is find the address to your phpmyAdmin database and log in. Most likely if you look around in your web host’s control panel you will find a link to phpMyAdmin. If you are using cPanel you can find the link under the Databases section in the main menu. Once you are logged in move on to the next step.

2. Selecting a Database to Backup

After logging in you will come across the main window of phpMyAdmin. Depending upon your host’s limitations there will be various options for you. Below is an image of what you will see if you are using HostGator as your web host.

On the left hand side in the blue section you will notice a listing of the databases contained within phpMyAdmin. If you know the name of your database go ahead and select it. If not, get in contact with your web host and they should be able to provide you with the answer.

3. The Database Tables Screen

Once you have selected your database you will be taken to that database’s main screen. Here you will find a listing of all the tables and a navigation bar located across the top of the tables. We are going to be focusing our attention to the navigation bar.

4. Exporting the Database File

Viewing the navigation bar, you want to click on the Export button. This will take you to a window that allows you to back up your database.

Notice the listing of the tables inside of your database directly under the Export section. To ensure that you are backing up all tables, click Select All. The entire list of names should become highlighted like in the above image. Next is the format that you would like to save your database back up to. Choose SQL so that you can upload your file back into your database or move it to another server. Don’t worry about all of the other options that are available, the defaults should be just fine for what we are doing.

At the bottom of the above image you will notice a smaller table. At the top left hand side is a checkbox with Save as file next to it. Make sure you click this checkbox so that you can download the file to your computer, otherwise it will just send the file to a directory on your actual server. You can give the file a custom name if you choose as well as the type of compression. All that compression will do is make the file smaller in size which if you have a big database is recommended.

Keep remember template checked and click Go. You will get a popup window asking where you would like to save your database back up.

How Often Should You Backup Your Database?

That is honestly up to you and how often your site is updated. If your site is being frequently updated a few times a week you could choose to update after every other update. Although if anything you should backup after every update in case something does happen. You should also backup your database before you attempt to change anything in it. That way if something does happen you will have a fresh backup and all that you have to do is upload into phpMyAdmin again.

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Making the decision to go ahead and purchase an expired domain name can be tough. Over the past few years, domain name registrations have increased tremendously due to everybody wanting to make money online. Add that to the fact that it is becoming ever increasingly easier to setup your own website or blog and you quickly realize that there are a lot of domains out there.

With so many people buying domains to make money from them and others setting up websites and blogs you may be wondering if there are any good domains left. There are still a few good domain names left out there that have not been registered but they are a rare breed. Sure you could do a search for a domain name, find out it is already registered and either being used or just parked. Instead you could look into purchasing an expired domain name. A domain becomes expired when the owner does not pay for the name and after a certain length of time, the domain registrar lets it expire. Buying an expired domain name is a great way to potentially save a lot of money.

Things you should consider before purchasing

Before you head out and search for a domain name there are a few things that you need to think about.

History

While you may find a great domain name that suits your needs perfectly, it’s history is something that needs to be addressed. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN keep track of a domain name and the content that has been on it. While you may think that your domain name is perfect it could have very well previously housed illegal or adult content. Although a domain name that is home to or was home to adult content doesn’t automatically mean that it has any bad marks against it as far as search engines are concerned, the possible type in traffic and backlinks coming in to the site may not suit your current plans.

Illegal content is a big red flag and almost any domain that has hosted illegal content is most likely already banned from the big search engines. This is bad news and though you can successfully get the domain name reincluded it is just extra work that is unecessary. Your best bet would be to search for a similar domain name that is expired or possibly a fresh domain name.

Domain Age

The age of the domain name can determine it’s authority within the search engines. An older domain typically will have a higher level of authority due to the fact that it has been around longer. There are however a few exceptions that can subtract from the authority.

It is suggested that the longer a domain name is registered and remains registered under one individual or company it will almost always beat out a domain that hasn’t been registered for as long. Constantly switching a domain name could lead to search engines thinking that your domain may be used to promote spam.

Backlinks

As far as Google is concerned the more relevant links that a site has pointing to it the more they will trust it. Notice that relevant links was mentioned and not all links, Google’s goal is to provide the most relevant information to it’s users so the more relevant links pointing to a site the better. Whether you tend to keep the same information on the domain name or use it for a different purpose, search engines will still place more trust in it compared to a domain name that has fewer backlinks.

Domain Name Length

In a previous guide Choosing A Domain Name, the issue of the domain name length was briefly discussed. A domain name comprised of 2 or 3 words is going to be a lot easier to remember compared to one that is 6 words or more. Not to mention it will be a lot easier to brand and market as well.

Extension

Though there are many different domain name extensions available for you to register such as .us, .me, .asia, .co.uk and so on, nothing will make your site sound more professional then a .com on the end of it. People nowadays automatically assume that a site should end in .com and will almost 100% of the time type in your name with a .com at the end. Many business and ecommerce sites that do not have the .com version of their names are potentially missing out on a lot of traffic. We have become so acclined to hearing .com that it almost seems as though it is wired into our brains. Unless you have a lot of money to throw at marketing your name, it is crucial that you find a .com version.

Where to search for and buy expired domain names

There are many sites on the internet today that allow you to search for expired domain names. One of the biggest and most trusted sites is tdnam.com which is owned and operated by the largest domain name registrar GoDaddy.com. You can typically expect to find over 20,000 expired or expiring domain names listed over at tdnam.com. It costs only $4.99 a year and you are given complete access to all the tools and features that other sites charge hundreds of dollars for.

That turns out to be only $59.40 per year for unlimited storage space and bandwidth! You can’t find a better deal on quality web hosting anywhere. So head on over to Lunarpages and make sure to take advantage of this offer before it expires!

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Many web hosting providers use cPanel for the administration and maintenance of their web hosting customers websites. If you ever needed to know how to setup a subdomain in cPanel you have come to the right place. cPanel makes it extremely easy to do this and takes just a few quick steps.

1. Login to your cPanel Account

Head on over to the login page of your cPanel account. If you are unsure of how to login or where to find your cPanel account, make sure to review the email your web hosting provider sent you or get in contact with customer service.

After you have logged into your account, your screen should look similar to the following image.

This is the main administration menu of your cPanel account.

2. Setting up the subdomain

Your screen may look a little bit different depending upon your host’s cPanel version. To start setting up your subdomain you are going to want to find the Domains section.

Click on the icon labeled Subdomains.

3. Enter your information

You should now be at the actual page where we can enter the subdomain that we would like to use with our regular domain. Go ahead and enter in the subdomain that you would like to use in the first field. If the name is available you will see a green checkmark like the sample image below shows.

Select the domain name that you would like to apply the subdomain to in the dropdown box. The next thing that you need to do is decide which folder you would like the subdomain to point to. By defuault, cPanel automatically fills in the information for you and uses the subdomain as the name of the folder. You are more then welcome to change the folder name to whatever suits you.

Once everything is setup go ahead and click Create.

4. The end

After clicking Create, cPanel well attempt to create the subdomain for you. If everything went ok, you should see a similar confirmation message that the subdomain was created.

You have now successfully setup your subdomain inside of cPanel. Click Go Back to be taken back to the main subdomain setup where you can create another subdomain as well as view a list of current subdomains.

cPanel makes it easy for anybody to setup and maintain their own website. If you are looking for a web host that uses cPanel, we highly recommend signing up with HostGator.com. Not only do they provide the latest version of cPanel, their hosting and customer service has received multiple awards throughout the web hosting industry.

Head on over to Dotster and use coupon code 25OFFHOSTING at the checkout. As long as you purchase at least 1 year of hosting Dotster will give you 25% off! Hurry though, this offer expires September 26, 2008!

Talk about a great way to start a new blog or website that you may have been wanting to get setup. Should you decide to purchase web hosting along with your domain name, GoDaddy will throw in over $100 worth of FREE extras to jump start your blog or website!