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How to Create a Web Site...That Sells
If you haven't got a web host yet, that should be one of your
first steps. There are three approaches.
1. Get a free hosting account on geocities or something like
that. But, don't do that. No one will take you seriously and
it will be virtually impossible to make money.
2. Find the cheapest host you can get. You can get hosting
for well under $100/year. I went this route for a couple of hobby
sites I have. But it is a mistake for a business site.
Why? Because of service and support. These cheapo
companies keep the cost down by cramming hundreds and often
thousands of accounts onto a server. And they skimp on support
personnel.
If this is a hobby site for you, that's one thing. But if you are
relying on it to make money, you MUST have solid performance and
support you can rely on for when there are problems.
3. Get a web host that specializes in the internet marketing
business. Because you need reliability. You need
support. You need someone who understands what you are doing.
Site
Built It - This is Ken Evoy's excellent, all-in-one solution for
people more interested in the business and marketing than they are
in the techie stuff. If you don't want to learn html, this is
the one for you. I don't own one of these but I do know
several people who have it and are very happy with their results.
VeryEasyHost This one is a
simple, solid hosting company with lots of features that is very
easy to use. Just like their name says. Key point: Live phone
support
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting accounts are becoming more popular as the
prices have dropped considerably. With dedicated hosts, your site or
sites are hosted on a server dedicated to you alone. Nobody else's
sites or software is on that server. You can install whatever
scripts you want, and typically host as many sites and email
accounts as you want. You'll get huge storage and huge bandwidth.
More and more people are going with dedicated hosts. There's
another big advantage: having a dedicated host makes your business
less susceptible to spam complaints. You can also install any
scripts you want.
You can now get a managed, dedicated hosting account for well
under $200 a month. If you have a few sites out there on shared
hosts, you may be able to get your own dedicated host for about the
same money you are spending now. Another plus - you typically
get much better service from a dedicated host.
Almost all of my sites, including this one, are hosted on a
dedicated server at
FastServers.net. I have been extremely pleased with the
support I've gotten and the performance of the server. My sites
serve well over 1 million unique visitors per month, so I'm using
quite a bit of bandwidth. Both CBmall and SearchFeast are
database-driven sites where performance is very important.
Naturally, I am also VERY concerned with reliability since this is
my only source of income. If the site is down, I'm out of business.
If your business is at the point where you are considering a
dedicated host, check out
FastServers.net. If you want to chat about making the move
to a dedicated host, give me a call at 617 938 3918 ext 701.
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