The Brogue Hog

I have been working on the internet for a long time and I am struggling to find ways to make more money through my sites. I have been reading about the ppc search engine internet marketing and I think that I will wait a little while longer before I start using it. I say this because there are only a few major search engines that are really thriving on this technique and I am sure that it is just a matter of time before a lone startup company will introduce a new way of marketing that will generate a change web wide.

I am always curious to know the ways to make my ppc search engine internet marketing campaign more effective. I feel like I am following all the rules and I am making a lot of money through PPC but I like to stay on top of the changes. If too many changes come down the pipeline and I have not been adhering to them on a constant basis then I am afraid my campaign will become obsolete. With constant tweaking of my web pages I have been able to stay fresh and receive constant traffic to my sites which produces me more money.

Yesterday I received a nice email in my inbox, I read that short
and interesting email, it was like 5 to 6 lines max, at the end
was a link which I was asked to click on. I did exactly that. I
wait for about 1 minute but no page downloaded. I think my
Internet connection gets down so I checked it but it was perfect.

I refresh the page many times but results were same. I read all
other mails and did my routine work. In evening suddenly I
remember that mail. Since it was so Interesting, I again read it
and click on the link but this time also same results appears. I
finally give up and delete that mail.

This whole episode left a question in my mind that why people
don’t choose their web host wisely. In fact it’s the most vital
part of Internet business.

A web host is the first important step towards building our
Internet business. You can get cheap or even free hosting
services but don’t prefer free hosting for commercial sites. Your
users are going to get blasted with annoying pop-ups every time
they surf to your page, it’s going to be impossible to get a
decent position in a search engine, and you don’t even get a
real business URL. No one’s going to remember your web address
if they have to type www.myfreehost.com/my_site.

So the question is what points we should consider before select
our web host.

1. Space

It’s the first point to consider that how much space your host
is providing to you. If you have one or two page website with no
downloads, it’s not an important point but if you are planning
to go for resale right product, you need at least 100 MB space.
Most good web host provide minimum 1 GB space to their clients.

2. Bandwidth

It’s the most important part to check. Did you know that sites
with high downloads causes many people to go over budget on
bandwidth and lose their host? Sometimes they have to pay fees
up to hundreds of dollars. It’s essential to check before buying
any hosting services. Most good host provides 25 to 50 GB
Bandwidth.

3. Support System

It’s also key point. If you get stuck at any point, how long
does it take to get support? Do they provide 24/7 phone support.

Some Additional features we must check:

How many POP email account they are providing?

How many database they are providing?

Do they have Web based e-mail?

Do they have Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus filters?

Can you Password Protected your directories?

Do they take regular backup in case of server get crashed?

Do they have money-back Guarantee, if you don’t like their
services?

Do they support Perl, PHP, Crontab and Secure Server Layer?

(You don’t require these facilities in beginning but after some
time you need it.)

I personally trust “Ultimate Web Hosting Services” for my
hosting needs. They have all features that a professional host
must have. The must to tell feature of this hosting service is
that it gives one hour response guarantee but usually I get
response in 5-10 minutes. I prefer this hosting service just
because of its speedy response and its tons of superb qualities.
You can try their services at:
http://www.ultimatewebhostingservices.com

I am not saying that they are the best. There may be other
companies that have even better services but in terms of their
prices they are the best.

So whatever host you choose you must consider these points so
you never get in trouble.

Copyright 2005 Raamakant S.

Raamakant S. is owner of http://www.umtezine.com. Subscribe to his Ultimate marketing Tips eZine by sending a blank
e-mail mailto:umtezine@getresponse.com — Learn Everything
You’ve Been Wanting to Know about Internet Marketing. REAL
Tips, Tricks and Techniques You Can Use In Your Business and
Consistently Produce MASSIVE Amounts of Profits.

“Bargains for sale, Unlimited Hosting for only a Dollar.”

“Get your hosting here, 50 cents for the first three months. “

“Use now. Pay later”.

In today’s world of hosting, instead of who’s got the bigger and better thing, it’s who has it for the cheapest and don’t forget that they usually it at an “unlimited level”. But if everyone is offering the same control panel, running off of the same type of servers or even from the same data center, why not get it for the cheapest price you can? The reason is, even though the servers may be the same, the service varies with each company and price. This is not to say that the cheapest can’t offer the best service but always remember the old adage “you get what you pay for”.

Let’s break down the costs involved with running a small hosting company that manages a few, low-cost servers from a reputable data center. The dedicated server business has grown within the last few years and competition has created the availability of unmanaged, low-cost server rentals that can range as low as $49 per month.

For our case study, let’s pretend that Bob has leased a server from a reputable data center at an average price of $89 per month. He was even lucky enough to signup during a special that waived the setup fees. At a cost of $89, he now has his own dedicated Unix server running one of the more popular control panels that regular hosting customers like to use. Like many small one or two-man hosting companies, he runs the business out of his house as it would be almost impossible to actually obtain office space on location of the data center, not to mention that he could be in one state and the server might be three states over. Leasing a dedicated server means that he is not responsible for the hardware and only has to maintain the software. This frees Bob up from the added expenses of hardware replacement and allows him to concentrate his investment on marketing, software, scripts and service.

Bob is an extremely good salesman and has a mature understanding of how to run a business. His best friend Billy has a vast knowledge of managing a server and its software, so together; they will be able to manage most common aspects of the business on a day to day basis.

They have purchased or designed a nice website and spent the average of $600 for support items such as tutorials and a customer forum. With the website design and extras, their initial investment averaged at $1000 which they hope to recoup within the first six months of operation. Now, this may be an added cost that some small hosting companies avoid at the beginning, but try to remember, if they are serious about running a company, they will put some type of investment into it. Taking the initial investment spread over 6 months and adding the cost of servers at $89 for the first one, Billy and Bob are spending more than $250 monthly during the first six months of operation on minimum expenses. This does not include other expenses such as their salaries and outside expenses such as phone bills (if they offer phone support), utilities, advertising expenses, etc.

An average amount of customers or domains to have on an individual server is 200 and since Bob is starting out with a new company and no customers, he can acquire 25-30 customers monthly if he works really hard at it. To fill a server, they would need eight months of growth, and that doesn’t include the costs involved during that time. The cost of operation during those eight months is estimated at $1700, without any extra expenses and no personal income derived from the venture. If they were to charge $2 per customer on a recurring monthly basis and signed up 25 customers per month, they’d make $100 profit at the end of 8 months. Remember, this is done without any personal income made at all. Once they add in an advertising budget and allotment for person income for Bob and Billy, the cost jumps dramatically. They aren’t in the business to make friends, they are in it to make money and $100 spread over eight months is not much.

Let’s start adding a small income for Bob and Billy of $1000 monthly each and an advertising budget of $500 per month in order to acquire those customers and calculate what they need to charge to break even after those first eight months. A safe estimate would be $3,000 monthly to cover salaries, server cost, advertising and other miscellaneous items. If they were able to signup 200 customers during the first eight months, they would need to charge $15 per customer to cover the $3000 monthly overhead. If they charged only $2 per customer, they would need to signup an estimate of 2,000 customers to do the same. Because Bob and Billy decided to charge only $2 per customer, they have to support 2,000 customers by themselves because they don’t have enough profit to hire any more technicians.

As a customer, you need to realize these things before you start shopping for a hosting company. Now that you are educated on the backend of a hoster’s life, you can ask yourself what type of company do you want hosting your website and what kind of website you need hosted. If you are running a small personal site that doesn’t need constant uptime and special scripts, then you could choose one of the many free or low cost hosting solutions available. If the company was to go under or lost all of your information due to hardware or software failure, then you are really not at a lost because your website did not contain critical information.

But what if your site does contain critical information and is the lifeblood of your company? Then don’t go cheap. Research your options, find the one with the best solutions and don’t be afraid to spend more for less. It is very important to find a stable company with quality support and service and that doesn’t come cheap. Make sure that if your information is critical, the company offers reliable backup solutions and has a reasonable uptime.

Phone support is a must for quick response and let’s not forget the numbers 24/7. Hosting companies with higher price tags can afford to hire the extra technicians to hold your hand as you build your web presence and your company, which can be important in today’s market.

But does all of this mean that cheap hosting is a bad venture and should be avoided? Not really, just remember, “You get what you paid for.”

About The Author

Robert Lang

websitehostdirectory.com

mkt@websitehostdirectory.com

The WebSite Host Directory is a resource for webmasters and consumers looking to find a website hosting company or a quality expiring domain name, Robert Lang is a contributing writer for Techpad Agency and PingZine Magazine

This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long as the “About” and “weblinks” are kept intact. If you publish this article, we would love to know the location. Feel free to email us.

When designing an online portfolio, pay special attention to your colors, design elements, layout style, and content. Typically, artists and designers are the ones who have to obsess about these things; but really, if you are selling anything from a service to a tangible product, you need to be careful how you choose to design your presentations. Portfolios are no different from websites, inasmuch as they are highly organized presentations.

Choices of colors are importantfor example, cool colors can complement warm colors. Not only this, but we react to colors and associate them to memories, people, objects, and places. Colors can make or break portfolio presentations (and websites) due to readability, visual comfort, color association, and aesthetics.

The elements of design are: line, shape, form, space, value, texture, and color. All of these elements need to be addressed and that is why setting up portfolios is so challenging. When combining a wide variety of artwork into one portfolio, artists must not only consider how the artwork flows from one category to the next, but how the artwork flows within each category. They need to ask themselves: Is it done in a visually pleasing way? The portfolio interface must contain good design elements and complement the artwork and not fight against it.

The layout style should at least somewhat match the style of the artwork within the portfolio. The layout style of the portfolio should also match the stationery and other promotional material. The portfolio design (or online case) is much like a composition. It needs to have balance and make sense to the audience. The easier the navigation, the longer you will be able to hold your audience to view the portfolio samples.

Decorative fonts such as versals or stylized headings can help to illustrate online portfolios. For online portfolios, the content should be sans serif (i.e. Verdana); and for print, it should be serif (i.e. Times New Roman).

As you can see, when designing for online portfolios (and websites), designers need to be analytical and diligent about their color scheme, design elements, layout style, and content―ALL of the portfolio needs to look good! (revised 2/15/2006)

Debbie Jensen, Graphic Designer and Photographer http://www.debjensendesigns.com

Many free web hosting accounts are free to use, however they will cost you a lot of money, time, and customers as well if you have a site that is meant for business purposes and is more than the simplest site imaginable. Consider the following items as to why free web hosting might cost you more than you had bargained for when you signed up.

Consideration #1 Bandwidth

Frequently, free web hosting providers offer you little bandwidth which means it will take longer for your page to load. When your page takes more than 10 seconds to load you will lose visitors because they will simply move on. Because of this, you might lose a lot of customers and sales from your free web host.

Consideration #2 Advertising

Many free web hosting companies are “free” to you, however, you will have advertising posted on your website as well as pop up ads. Most people do not like this and will not visit your site because of it. Be careful about signing up with a free web hosting company that uses advertising. It might not bother you, but it will probably affect your traffic and sales.

Consideration #3 Web Space

Since the web host is free, you cannot expect a whole lot of web space. Frequently people do not have the space they need to upload their web page and include all of their information. Be sure to check with your free web space provider or the ones you are considering to make sure you will have enough web space to host all of the required elements of your web pages.

Consideration #4 Reliability

Another consideration with free web hosting companies is reliability. Often times limitations are put on your traffic flow and if you exceed this, your site may be disabled for a period of time or you may even receive a bill. Find out what the rules are for traffic and what the consequences are for exceeding your limits.

Consideration #5 Limitations

More often than not, your free web host will have rules regarding the size of photos, icons, and more that you can upload. You will want to check into this before you sign up for free web hosting because if you cannot upload what you need, it is time to look at other options.

While free web hosting is technically free, it frequently costs websites more money in the long run because it limits activity and business from occurring at the rate set by consumers. Because of this, if you have a growing site it will eventually be too big for the free account and you will have to make some changes. Instead of dealing with the hassle, figure out if a free server will really be worthwhile and make a plan for change and growth ahead of time.

Michael Turner reveals his foolproof way to increase website traffic in his free 7 part mini-series. Grab it free right now at http://www.powertraffictactics.com/

With the rapidly increasing competition amongst web hosting
businesses, it is important to identify potentially profitable
niches on which to base your business on. This will dramatically
increase your chances of success because once you have
identified a profitable niche you will then study it closely and
figure out all the ways and methods of attracting business from
that particular niche market.

To find profitable niches you can focus on for your web hosting
business, one option you can use is to take a close look in an
industry or occupation that you know well. For example if you
have been in human resource management in the past, then that is
a good area to look for a good niche you can focus on. The
advantage of identifying a niche to focus on includes the fact
that you are able to fully understand all the needs and
requirements of that particular market. This makes your
marketing effort a lot easier as you know all the hot buttons
that will attract businesses and individuals in the industry who
require a web host.

Another method is to use popular keywords and concentrate your
efforts on a popular and growing area. One of the advantages of
selecting a keyword that is growing in popularity is the fact
that chances of you coming across websites that suddenly find
that they require more bandwidth are high. This is easy business
to get because most websites change their web hosting service
when they require more bandwidth.

Yet another method of identifying a profitable web-hosting niche
is to look at your existing clients and identify the ones whose
referrals will lead to lucrative new business for you. You can
then offer special incentives to those clients to refer business
to you. Or alternatively you can give them an incentive to
answer a special questionnaire that will help you understand the
niche market better and therefore be in a better position to
create a successful marketing plan and strategy to secure the
business.

When it comes to getting young people to visit your website,
textual content just doesn’t cut it - there are few things that
they want to read articles about, and they certainly don’t want
to read articles every day. They like to talk to each other, but
they’ll often cause trouble if you let them, not to mention
scaring off any older visitors you might have with their
questionable grammar. Really, if you want young people to pay
you a visit, you need things that work consistently: quizzes and
other kinds of games.

All About Quizzes

Kids just can’t get enough quizzes: the reasons why are a
mystery, but it’s true. They think it’s great fun to answer
questions about yourself only to be told something like “you’re
60% goth - that’s more goth than 83% of the people who’ve taken
this quiz so far!” What’s more, not only do they love taking
quizzes, but they love making them for each other as well. It’s
got to the point where any site offering them the facility to
create their own quizzes becomes an overnight hit.

So why the popularity? A big factor in the whole thing is that
it’s self-perpetuating: every quiz they complete will give them
some HTML for linking to it from their blog, as well as a button
to email their results to their friends. Add to this the fact
that kids who’ve created a quiz of their own will obviously want
to send it to everyone to know, and you’re generating a lot of
traffic.

Imagine one kid making a quiz, and sending it to their friends.
Out of these friends, maybe five would send their results to
their friends, and maybe two would make a quiz of their own.
Four of the five invited friends take the quiz, and maybe one
goes on to make one. The two who made one of their own send it
to all their friends. On and on it goes, like a chain letter (or
its modern cousin, the chain email) - it’s unstoppable.

Offering Games

Taking it to the next level, you can offer games to your
visitors. Games have the advantage that they appeal to young
visitors, but they also appeal to some older ones as well - you
don’t limit yourself to being a kids’ website quite as much as
you do with quizzes. The downside of games, of course, is that
you have to produce them, or pay someone to produce them - it’s
not that expensive, but you need to have good ideas if you want
your games to get popular.

What’s the best format to offer games in? The answer, without a
doubt, is Flash. It’s installed on the overwhelming majority of
computers, and lets you create appealing cartoonish graphics
without your game running too slowly. Java, for comparison, is
intended for more technical users - not only do Java games tend
to look dull, but they also make the user’s computer slow to a
crawl, not to mention being more likely to just plain not work.
If a user doesn’t have Flash, then they can install it as easily
as clicking ‘Yes’. Installing Java and other systems tends to be
significantly more involved.

The next thing you’ll be wondering, of course, is what kind of
games are popular. The answer is just about anything, as long as
it’s original. If you’re trying to build a big game, you should
make it extensible in the style of Runescape (www.runescape.com)
or Habbo Hotel (www.habbohotel.com) - it should be something you
could literally play all day without getting bored.

For short games, good versions of classics are always popular if
you want a steady trickle of traffic long-term, but if you want
a short-term burst of traffic then you might want to look at
something topical: humorous games about current events are
surprisingly appealing across age ranges, but have a limited
shelf life. If you want more significant long-term traffic, then
an excellent area to look at is innovative puzzle games: if you
can come up with something simple but addictive in the style of
PopCap Games (www.popcap.com), you’ll have people coming back
for a long time to come.

Having recently got back into wildlife photography after a long
spell away I decided that the way forward must be the addition
of my own website. I had worked as freelance wildlife
photographer and illustrator during the 90’s however with the
addition of a young family had to look at diversifying towards
the graphic design industry to realistically look at earning a
decent living. As any self-respecting wildlife photographer will
tell you choosing it as a means of earning a living is very
rarely as glamorous or as profitable as it’s portrayed.

The challenge now was to acquire a website, with my own skills
very much aimed at the offline design and print industry looking
at doing it myself seemed daunting therefore I began looking
around at getting a professional design agency to create
something to my requirements. What I was looking for was simple,
a resource I could point customers and potential photo agents
and libraries towards that would give them a profile of myself
and to show off a handful of my best images and previous
commissions, just like an online brochure. Additionally though I
also wanted to be able to sell a selection of my photos online
as I display some of my photos in and around my local area of
South Somerset and often get orders for them particularly during
the height of the tourist season. The buying online bit seemed
to be the sticking point and increased the quotes I got from
professional design agencies by a substantial amount.

Due to this I decided that I would have a go at the project
myself however before I had properly got stuck into it a
colleague pointed me in the direction of a template website
company called Liquidsites which
he recommended was the way forward as it was specifically
targeted at small businesses and individuals who are looking at
a simple and cheap website solution. Additionally it had the
benefit of an online shopping system built into it. Having
looked at Liquidsites it became very obvious that it ticked
every box I needed and more. With a unique ‘reseller’ option
available I have also been able to earn £150 every time I refer
a successful buyer to it. Within just one weekend I had been
able to put together a professional looking website and three
months on and with a little advice from Sitemakers.com a search
engine optimisation company in Somerset I received over 50 photo
orders over the Christmas period.