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2020Media is a leading UK web host offering Linux and Windows website hosting. The company specialises in WordPress, Joomla and Drupal support.
Opinion

2020Media and WordPress

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2020Media is a internet company with a established track record. In this post we’ll find out why 2020Media and WordPress make such a strong solution for any business or non-commercial site.

The Rise and Rise of WordPress

wordpress-logo-textWordPress has come a long way in the past ten years, evolving from a niche blogging tool into the undisputed king of content management systems in the world.

But what was it about WordPress that allowed it to flourish where so many have languished? The story of its success is simple: bloggers needed a quick and easily customisable platform to host their content and WordPress offered a free, open sourced publishing tool that people could adopt and tweak as they wished. But the days of WordPress being simply a ‘blogging platform’ are long gone. The past 10 years have seen the software evolve into a sophisticated content management system that users can build entire websites and applications on.

Over the years it’s seen its fair share of rivals from the likes of Blogger to Joomla, but with recent research revealing that WordPress now accounts for a 62% share of the content management system market, it’s clear the system is now leagues ahead of the competition. An astonishing 23% of all websites in the world are published using WordPress (source: http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management/all).

 2020Media – a UK web host with a great track record.

heart2020Media was founded by three friends in 1999. Initially working in streaming media and Java, the company soon broadened it’s services into web hosting, domain names and internet services.  Over the first few years (and the first DotCom bubble), 2020Media gradually brought all the essential services in house so that it was no longer dependent on any one supplier for any part of it’s services. This included joining RIPE in 2002, using independent datacentres, and becoming an accredited domain name registrar.

With a keen personal interest in Internet Governance, emerging web technologies and the open source movement, the directors have guided 2020Media into it’s current position as a leading UK web host with a highly skilled and knowledgeable team of experts ideally placed to help the SME market, tech-savvy entrepreneurs, local government and the non-profit sector achieve their goals on the internet.

WordPress and 2020Media Together.

2020Media has specialised in hosting WordPress sites for several years. We proudly support many WordPress events, share our knowledge, and try to give back to this open-source project in as many ways as we can.

Join us on Twitter
Join us on Twitter

Our friendly UK support team is available 24/7 by phone, web and email. The expert team solves hosting, domain and WordPress specific issues. We make sure every team member sees each support issue as a personal challenge and we’ve never found a problem too tough to solve.

Our aim in providing superior WordPress Hosting is threefold:

  • Security: Never compromise on WordPress security. Daily backups on every site.
  • Performance: Optimised WordPress servers. Advanced caching technology. A network built for speed & security.
  • Support: To be there whenever our customers need us and to be proactive in sharing expertise and advice.
Your Partner for a Safe, Reliable WordPress Host

Through our community involvement in WordPress, our daily experience in working with the software, and our established track record as a UK web host, 2020Media could be the last host you’ll ever need.

Hosting plans come as off-the-shelf or bespoke and range from shared hosting for under £50/year to virtual and dedicated servers. Support is included. Managed WordPress (WordPress maintenance services) brings additional peace of mind to keep each site fully patched, optimised and backed up.

Read more about our web hosting plans, our WordPress maintenance services, or 2020Media the company.

Contact us and we’ll be delighted to talk about what you need from an ISP – that’s Internet Services Partner…

 

 

 

Domain Names

.LONDON by the numbers

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Dot_London_Logo_CMYK

London is a leading world city and a vibrant centre for business, investment, technology, creativity, education and tourism. London is made up of the City of London Corporation and 32 boroughs, has a population of 7,900,500 and is home to 331,540 businesses. London attracts over 100,000 international students from 200 nations to its higher education institutions and welcomes millions of visitors each year.

London is the powerhouse of the UK economy and is Europe’s leading centre for technology. According to a recent report on London?s Digital Economy (GLA, 3 Jan 2012), there are over 23,000 ICT and software companies in London, the highest number of any European city. London hosts a quarter of all British jobs in computer and related activities and 22% of jobs in telecommunications. According to the Experian Business Strategies Regional Planning Service, in 2010 the Gross Value Added of communications companies in London was £7.9 billion.

Now London adds something new to these figures – a unique web address for London. Dot London.  A domain name that links the thousands of businesses and millions of people living and working here, with their city. The benefits:

  •   Link yourself with the place you’re proud to live and work in.
  •   Get the domain you’ve always wanted.
  •   Let London and the rest of the world know exactly where you are.

Dot London domains will be on general sale from the 9th September 2014 at midday and we are expecting strong demand.

Place your order here: https://pfs.2020media.com/index.php?option=com_rsform&formId=9

The domains have no restrictions and are open to all.

Domain Names

Latest new top level domain name report

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Neustar, Inc. have released a report using New gTLD data to give a breakdown by industry category:

Neustar's new guide: The FAQs of New TLDs
From Neustar’s new guide: The FAQs of New TLDs

Industry landscape overview

There are a total of 1751 new TLD applications, comprised of brands (635), generics (1060), and geographies (56). More than half of all brand TLDs fall into financial and technology verticals. Furthermore, 41% of brand TLDs were applied for by Fortune 500 companies, mostly in financial services, retail, technology and transportation.

You can download the full report here new-tld-faqs

Will Switching Confuse My Customers?

Website owners concerned that switching to an untried domain will lose their search engine ranking need not be concerned.

Popular start-up tech publication Tech Cocktail recently switched from using its keyword inclusive URL techcocktail.com to a shorter name: tech.co. As shown below, it sustained all of its original search rankings
with the new .co extension, and it continues to rank #1 for “Tech Cocktail” in search

tech-cocktailAccording to Jeff Neuman, Vice President, Registry Services at Neustar, a .brand TLD may in fact decrease customer confusion across the globe:
“Today, brands are securing a large portfolio of domain name extensions depending on where in the world their website is accessed. While .com is prominent in the U.S., brands also use a number of country-specific
extensions like .ca in the Canada and .cn in China. Combined names like .com.au and .co.uk make an even more complicated experience for global customers and brands”.

Contact Domain Name Experts

2020Media is an experienced domain name registrar – we can help you make the right choice in the new domain name space.  Review our registrar services and contact us with your questions.

Opinion

Become a Joomla Guru

JoomlaDay UK 2014 is announced for October 4th and 5th 2014

If you are new to Joomla! you are going to love Joomla! Day 2014. And if you are an expert you’ll love it even more!

joomla_day_2014

Come and join us in Ascot on 4th and/or 5th October radically to expand your knowledge of Joomla! whatever your level, meet loads of like-minded Joomla! users, and have a great party if the mood takes you.

Two full days of sessions, workshops, and most importantly opportunities to network and socialise with other Joomla fans from the UK and further afield.

Get up to date with new features planned for Joomla 3.4, discover tips and tricks from the experts, and further your knowledge.

The website for the event is live at joomladay.co.uk, where you can buy tickets and plan your program.

Book now for an early bird discount, and put 4th and 5th October in your diary!

By popular demand we are holding the event at The Sunningdale Park Hotel in Ascot, just outside London. It was mentioned as a plus point on many reviews last year because it is a great hotel, the conference facilities are to international standard, the huge dining room and party facilities are on site and in short it offers the best networking possibilities you can imagine. Lastly, it is easy to get to … just off the M25, M3 and M4, and near a railway station.

Here’s to the best JoomlaDay UK yet!

For more on Joomla, see our website. http://www.2020media.com/shared-hosting/joomla-hosting

Domain Names

dotLondon Launch process

We’re often asked how the .LONDON domain registration process works.

Dot_London_Logo_CMYKUntil 31st July 2014, .LONDON is in Launch phase. This gives trademark holders and Londoners a priority right.

Here are the 4 priorities, in descending order.

  1. Sunrise – Applicants with a trade mark recorded in the official Trademark Clearing House.
  2. London Priority 1 – Applicants with a London address AND with rights for a matching domain name. Eligible rights are
    • Registered trademarks effective in the UK
    • Unregistered trademarks with use in London prior to 1 April 2014
    • Registered names of companies and charities registered prior to 1 April 2014
    • Personal (full) Names
  3. London Priority 2 – Applicants with a London address for any domain name
  4. London Priorty 3 – Applicants without a London address for any domain name.

If a right is claimed in a given priority, then the lower rights do not apply. If more than claim is reached in any priority, an auction will be held. Within a given priority (eg London priority 1) there is no particular order of rights – all are deemed equal.

Claims are validated – applicants will be emailed directly by the validation agent (admin@validation.london)  so do not ignore these emails!

Deadline July 31 2014
Deadline July 31 2014

Applications run until 31st July 2014- Apply here: http://2020.sc/7fR