Green Hosting Posts - Articles for website owners

How to prepare for moving to Green Hosting

20th Apr 2023

If you're thinking of moving your website to Green Hosting, that's great news. We are here to answer your questions, offer support and make the process as smooth as possible.

When you transfer to us, you may wish to handle the move yourself or we can do it for you. Either way, there are some things that are useful to have ready in advance to make sure the transition happens quickly and without unnecessary hitches.

Here's a useful checklist to prepare for moving to Green Hosting:

Take an inventory of what you have and what you would like to transfer.
So you can get a clear picture of the work involved (especially if someone is transferring the website for you) it is useful to check and list all the things you need to transfer. Are you moving one or more websites and how many e-mail accounts? Do you have add-on domains? What are the files and databases?

Make sure you have access to your current website files and e-mails
Do you or someone who looks after the website for you have the log-in details for your current website hosting account and e-mail accounts? Check that the log-in details work and that you can see everything that you wish to move (website files, databases, e-mails etc).

Make sure you have access to your domain account
Do you have the log-in details for your domain account? This may be part of your website hosting account or with a separate provider. You will need to be able to change the settings of your domain to 'point' it to Green Hosting once your website and e-mails have moved to us.

Check which Green Hosting plan you need
You can see our hosting plans here. You will need to choose a plan than can accommodate your current usage (disk space and data transfer) or additional usage if you are expanding your website for example. If you're not sure and can't see what your current usage is, we can help you find out. You can easily upgrade or downgrade your Green Hosting plan at a later date.

We understand that moving website hosts can be daunting too, so here are a few FAQs that we hope will put your mind at ease:

I'd rather not handle the transfer myself, can Green Hosting do this for me?
Yes, we will need to establish all of the above and with those details we can take care of the transfer for you. See our testimonials page for clients' feedback on our transfer service.

How much does it cost for Green Hosting to handle the website transfer?
Transfer from another web host is £25 per website and £10 per e-mail account. For websites hosted at WordPress.com this is a more complex and involved process and starts at £99.

My current website hosting is due to expire and I want to move. How close to the expiry date should I do this?
We suggest a minimum of two weeks before your current hosting expiry. This allows time to transfer the website without being in a rush. It also means you can make sure the website is running smoothly and check that nothing has been left behind at the previous hosting account.

How much down time will there be?
When we handle the transfer for you, we aim for no downtime. We do this by making sure that the website and e-mails are all in place at Green Hosting before changing the domain nameserver details. We will agree a suitable time for this to happen so that it doesn't coincide with anything else you have scheduled for your website.

How do I get started?
Sign up for one of our hosting plans and select 'Website Transfer Service' (or Transfer from WordPress.com) in the checkout. We will then get in touch with you to arrange the transfer.

When will Green Hosting start charging me?
As soon as you sign up for your hosting account with us, you will pay for the first month or a whole year (plus website transfer fee if needed), depending on how you choose to pay. Paying for a full year gives a discount and you can get a further 20% discount on all annual plans by using the code WINDPOWER in the checkout.

If there is anything else you'd like to know, please get in touch.

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A simple guide to make your website content more accessible and inclusive

28th Feb 2023

The online world can be a wonderful place, breaking down barriers that exist in the physical and enabling us to communicate with each other far and wide.

More so now than ever is it pertinent to make sure our website content is accessible and inclusive to the diverse range of visitors we will hopefully receive.

This is a simple guide, so we are keeping it short and sweet here but at the end of this post are links to previous, more in-depth articles we have written on the subject.

Implement these steps and you can make a big difference to your website users' experience:

• Add ‘Alt text’ to your images – Descriptions of images for visitors who cannot see them.
• Don’t use images to convey text information (such as a picture of a poster containing event information or contact details). If you do put informative text inside an image, add this as actual text too.
• Use accessible, contrasting colours for backgrounds and foregrounds, especially if the foreground colour is to be used for text. You can find useful colour contrast checkers online.
• Provide transcripts alongside video or audio content.
• Use headings to create content structure and never for decoration. Headings used appropriately (i.e. heading 1 first, followed by heading 2s and so on) are useful for non-visual users to skip through your content quickly to find what they need.
• Put link text in context. For example, instead of creating the link using just the word ‘here’, add the link to more descriptive text such as ‘our calendar of events here’.
• Use clear language that gets to the point. Don't force a website visitor to go through other marketing or misleading information before getting to what they really need.
• For users with poor wifi speeds or relying on their mobile plan for their online use, keep everything as efficient and streamlined as possible
  • Reduce the size of photographs before publishing them to your website. Photographs shouldn’t be uploaded directly from the camera unless you have a system that automatically re-sizes and optimises them to a suitable size.
  • If you’re using WordPress for your website, remove idle plugins. Even plugins which aren’t in use will load with the rest of the website, like a digital rubbish bag weighing you down.
  • Video is the most data-hungry of all online content. Is a video necessary when text would quickly and easily get the message across?
  • If using video, turn off auto-play for mobile visitors. Let them choose.

This has just been a really quick guide but to delve deeper, do check out:

Reducing digital exclusion in online content creation

How to make your social media content more inclusive

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Become a Green Hosting affiliate

14th Dec 2022

Green Hosting clients! You can potentially earn money from your Green Hosting account by becoming an affiliate.

Being an affiliate means that you can earn comission each time someone signs up for a Green Hosting account after clicking your unique affiliate link.

It is super easy to set up and implement and is all managed withing your own Green Hosting client area login.

There is no extra cost or work for you. All you need to do is add the affiliate link to your website, newsletters or social media and of course, the more you share it, the more people will have the opportunity to see and use it.

Here's what you need to know:

• Being an affilliate does not cost you anything more than you're already paying for your Green Hosting plan.
• We offer 10% commission on each new Green Hosting sign-up. Your commission earnings on each of our annual plans would be:
  • Breeze (£60 p/a) = £6
  • Kaver (£90 p/a) = £9
  • Zephyr (£120 p/a) = £12
• You can easily check your commission earnings and contact us to request a withdrawal once it reaches £10.
• You will have a unique affiliate link which you can use alone or within a Green Hosting badge, to include on your website and other communications. If you would like a different style/size badge just let us know and we will be happy to create one for you.
• The affiliate link still works for 3 months after initially being clicked. So, if a visitor doesn’t sign up for Green Hosting straight away but returns and signs up within 3 months, your commission will still be added.
• Within your client area login you will be able to see real time statistics about your affilliate account. This includes number of clicks, number of referrals and conversion percentage as well as information about each sign-up (date, product, amount paid and commission earned). You will not be able to see any details of the customers who used your link.
• You will receive monthly reports via e-mail containing some of the above information.

If you would like to join our client affiliate programme, contact us and we will set it up for you.

Not a Green Hosting client?

If you're not a Green Hosting client yet, but thinking of signing up, be sure to use our discount code.

You might also find our FAQs and checklist useful so you're all set before you sign up.

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Discount code for Green Hosting

7th Oct 2022

Did you know that we always have a discount code for anyone who wants to sign up for Green Hosting?

Our discount code is WINDPOWER and here's what you need to know about it:

• It provides 20% off the first year of website hosting fee.
• The code works with all of our hosting plans.
• This is available hosting that is paid for annually rather than monthly. It is actually cheaper to pay annually so you get a double discount!
• Just put the code in to the checkout when you sign up and the 20% will be taken off when you pay.

So, there you go. If you know, you know.

Would you also like to potentially earn money from your Green Hosting account? If so, check out our article about becoming a Green Hosting affiliate.

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Services for your ethical business

17th Aug 2022

Whether you're starting up a new business or making changes to how you already work, there are certain services you will always need or find incredibly useful.

We've been around for a while, so we've found some great services along the way. Here's a round up, some are our clients, some are services we personally use and some just look really good. Let us know if there are any you would recommend.

Stationery, equipment and supplies

Green Stationery Co
We have been using the Green Stationery Company since day one (that's nearly 18 years ago). With their impeccable customer service, they supply everything we could have possibly needed for our office. On top of that, they really care about having as little impact on the environment as possible. Check out their 'About' page to find out what they say.
greenstat.co.uk

Ethical Revolution
Sam, founder of Ethical Revolution, is one of our Green Hosting clients and this service is incredibly clever. As well as providing a wealth of knowledge about ethical products and services, Ethical Revolution has a directory of ethical companies and a bank of discount codes for those companies (Green Hosting is included of course). You can also search for books from ethical shops as an alternative to Amazon.
ethicalrevolution.co.uk

Libraries of Things - Share & Elmbridge Community Eco Hub
As we have our beloved public libraries in the towns and cities of the UK, I feel we should have as many libraries of things too. What an amazing way to tackle waste, by simply borrowing the things we only need to use occasionally rather than buying them. Often, items in the library have been donated by the public too and the prices are lower than traditional hire shops (and/or there's a membership fee to contribute to costs like maintenance, insurance etc). Green Hosting clients Share Frome and Elmbridge Eco Hub stock a range of items such as tools, cleaners and events equipment. Do you have a library of things in your town?
sharefrome.org  elmbridgeecohub.org.uk

Ethical Consumer
We have referred to Ethical Consumer time and time again when looking to buy goods or services for both home and business. This massive resource provides a wealth of detailed information about companies and how they score when it comes to various ethical issues (such as environment, people and politics). There are often surprises in there too so always worth checking! Their membership is very reasonably priced in our opinion too.
ethicalconsumer.org

Banking

We founded our business with a bank account with The Co-operative Bank all those years ago. Their customer-led ethical policy really is inspirational (see our article about our own ethical policy) and we believe they genuinely care about the planet, people and community as they say. Some of our clients use other, newer ethical banking services such as Starling, Triodos and Unity Trust which look great too.

Insurance

We shopped around a little for our business insurance in the past few years. We found a company we really liked and have stayed with them, not just because of their ethical credentials but because of their helpful, friendly and professional customer service. They are Evergreen Insurance Services, a broker that donates a percentage of their commission to one of their many conservation and animal support charity partners. Other options that we looked at were Naturesave and The Co-op business insurance.

Accountancy

Good accountants are worth their weight in gold, dealing with the complexities of tax returns, PAYE and everything else that allows you to get on with earning the money. Green & Moore is a vegan and environmentally friendly business. David, the founder explains on their website how they work in a green and ethical manner. Kathleen Moss specialises in accounting services for charities. Both are Green Hosting clients.

Copywriting, PR and communications

Finding and expressing your unique business voice, whether through good marketing support or copywriting services, can make all the difference. Here are some Green Hosting clients who provide those services:

The Ethical Copywriter - Rachel is a freelance copywriter for ethical and sustainable brands. She cares about helping the right businesses make money. Read The Ethical Copywriter origin story.

Cocoon Communications - Katie provides conscious marketing communications for eco friendly and sustainable brands. Read the Cocoon Communications origin story.

Melissa Hobson - Copywriting and PR for people protecting the ocean. As a certified scuba instructor Melissa has a specific interest in caring for marine life.

Caitlin Job - Copywriter & French to English translator specialising in ecotourism, ethical marketing and international development.

Mission Mango - Marketing, consulting and coaching for socially conscious and ethically engaged entrepreneurs

Creative services

Communicating your brand through visual media enhances anything we can say in words, whether that's in the form of illustrations, iconography or video. These Green Hosting clients have you covered:

Thoughts Make Things - Our colleague of many years (and our dear friend), Lydia provides illustration, art direction and design in the most thoughtful way. Take a look at her portfolio to see packaging and merchandise design, print and digital work, icon creation and her own personal projects.

Kiakari - A photographer, artist, designer, writer and editor with twenty years' experience to a range of clients.

Rob Bartlett - On a mission to do good with design, via icons and pictograms and with equality, diversity and inclusion front of mind.

Fuzzfox - Ethical video productions helping businesses, charities and non-profits raise awareness of their brand and engage their audience.

Puffin digital - Graphic design, logos, brand creation, web design and digital marketing. Transforming ideas into beautiful, eye-catching designs!

360events - Providing specialist services relating to the technical and creative requirements of branding agencies, marketing companies and event organisers.

Business Support

Then there are those specialists who support you as an entrepreneur to learn the personal and professional skills to develop your ethical business further. Here are a range of those experts, all Green Hosting clients:

#Ethical Hour - We have been members of the #EthicalHour community since it was first founded by the brilliant Sian. It is a network and a wealth of resources 'to unite the most vibrant, supportive and sustainable community of changemakers on the internet'.

Kenekt - Connecting climate action with people and business through a range of services including pro bono support for charities and community projects.

Thinking Outside - Nature based-coaching and development including retreats and networking walks (or 'netwalks') to facilitate thinking.

Ethical Sales - B2B sales partners for purpose-driven business. Look out for their free sales resources and best practice examples for ethical businesses.

Laura Bartlett - For those at the beginning of a new journey, an Executive Coach helping people find their purpose and achieve their ambitions.

Rebecca Nestor - Supporting those facing the climate crisis through workshops and climate cafes, coaching and organisational consultancy.

Welsh Mill Hub - A shared work space and community venue for Frome including office space, remakery space, venue hire and events.

Edventure - Edventure in Frome run courses, events and programmes in community entrepreneurship.  A place to build skills, community and confidence to grow a kinder, fairer, greener world.

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