The Pleasures of Sharing Information

Does your web hosting plan really matter? This is a question
pondered by many people starting out in internet marketing.
Unfortunately, not much thought is put into selecting a web
hosting plan as part of the website development process. Many
people don’t even review hosting plans at all, they just trust
their web designer or web developer to choose a web hosting plan
for them because they consider it a minor factor that doesn’t
matter too much.

In reality, a web hosting plan is one of those things that
doesn’t really matter and doesn’t come to attention unless there
is a problem with it. So, if you get lucky and incidentally get a
decent web hosting plan without considering your options, you
probably don’t think choosing a web hosting plan is a very
important aspect of website development. However, if you’ve had
an inadequate web hosting plan, or you’ve been burned by a fly-
by-night web hosting company, you may view the selection of a web
hosting plan in a different light.

The main things to consider when choosing a web hosting plan are:

1. Security

2. Speed

3. Space

4. Email capabilities

5. Reports

6. Administrative functions

7. Reliability

8. Support

9. Extra features

10. Cost

Security

The security features of a web hosting plan’s servers is
important to website development, especially if your website will
be an ecommerce website through which customer payments or
processed, or if customers will be transmitting personal
information to you via your website. Without a secure server,
customers may be hesitant to transmit personal and financial
information through your website. Encryption capabilities and the
ability to set up a dedicated secure server for your company are
security features you should look for in your web hosting plan.

Speed

The speed at which your website loads is very significant in e-
business. When people visit your website, if it takes more than a
few seconds for the site to load they will get impatient and move
on, forgetting your website altogether. When you evaluate a web
hosting plan, be sure to ask the web host what type of internet
connection they use to ensure that it is a high-speed connection.

Space

The space that your web hosting plan allows for your website and
the bandwidth that is available for your use matters. In most
cases, any web hosting plan provides adequate space for a
standard website, but make sure that you can increase the space
provided for your web hosting plan if necessary as your website
evolves. Bandwidth restrictions can hinder the ability of website
visitors to download or upload data.

Email Capabilities

Email capabilities should be included in every web hosting plan.
The number of email addresses provided, the ability to use email
aliases, and the ability to set up autoresponders are things to
be considered. Also, restrictions on the size of files that can
be sent and received or stored on the email server can be of
importance.

Reports

Access to server logs and other reports regarding website
activity should be standard features of a web hosting plan. Using
such reports aids in your marketing efforts as you can tell where
your traffic is coming from and which marketing mediums are
producing results. You can also determine which of your web pages
of most popular and which ones are not being visited.

Administrative Functions

Sometimes a web developer serves as a webmaster, but for the most
part, a website owner needs to be able to quickly and easily make
changes to the website. This is accomplished through the
administrative features of a web hosting plan, generally on
online accessible control panel.

Reliability

The reliability of the company that provides your web hosting
plan is crucial. The length of time they have been in business,
their percent of uptime, and their backup and data retrieval
practices play a big part in whether or not your web hosting plan
is reliable. Downtime results in lost business, so reliability is
a critical consideration.

Support

Technical support is something that should definitely be a part
of a web hosting plan. Different web hosts will have different
levels of support with some offering person-to-person phone
support while others respond to email or online requests. Some
provide 24 hour technical support and others don’t. Find out
about the quality and convenience of technical support that is
provided before selecting a web hosting plan.

Extra Features

There are many standard features that should be provided in a web
hosting plan, then there are options that may cost extra. A full-
service web hosting plan may cost a bit more than limited plans,
but may be worth it. Some of the features to look for include FTP
access capabilities for the purpose of sharing files and support
for software you may use for your website.

Cost

Of course cost is important when choosing a web hosting plan;
however, it is not the most important consideration. Sometimes
you really do get what you pay for. So, cost should be factored
into your decision but going with the cheapest web hosting plan
is not always the best idea. Also, free web hosting plans are
usually not worth having.

Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://BiznessTips.com

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When you start building your online business and search for a web design company that will implement all your needs for the web site you must understand that it is a very serious step because you are entrusting your business along with its reputation and future.

That’s why it’s very important to make the right choice.
There are several factors that must define your choice, and one of them is portfolio of previous web design works the company has done. It can tell you more than all words and promises, just be attentive and try to analyze. I will tell you what you must pay attention to:

1) Presence of portfolio

Yes, it seems to be obvious that web design company must have own web site with portfolio of previous works. But don’t be astonished too much when you see one without it. There can be various reasons for this but I wouldn’t recommend you to tempt fate. Portfolio is like a “face” and it’s pride of web design company, it must be full, substantial, and routinely updated…and IT MUST BE!

2) Total number of works

This can tell you much however there is no standard number that will guarantee you are going to deal with web design guru. Yes, 50 successfully finished projects is better than 5, but their quality is also important. Compare the number with period of time during which the company operates in the market and calculate average number of projects per year, month, or week. Remember that average web site design takes 2-4 weeks to be finished.

What this information can give you? Firstly, you can see that the company has got enough expertise. Then this shows that it has stable flow of works, adjusted schedule of development process, and enough staff to perform it, so if you commit your web site design to the company you can be sure that the work won’t be for them like a bolt from the blue or well-paid but not feasible overloading.

3) Type of works

Look attentively at each work in the portfolio. How many projects are similar to the one you need by type of site, technology used, industry, and look and feel?
At least 2-3? Good!
More than 5? Excellent!!
None? There can be a reason for this - owner didn’t want to make it published, or web site is no more live - so if all other works show professionalism and expertise, you should ask the
company if they have ever done the task you need.

If you need any particular technology to be used for your web site implementation it’s more than necessary to see examples how the web design company worked with it. However sometimes it happens if the technology is not common used and very popular that the web design company hasn’t had chance to work with it for commercial purpose but it might be used for internal projects development, so you will loose nothing if ask the company to show you some examples if they exist.

If you need a web site for exact business, for example dating site or real estate site, it’s also better to view such previous works in the portfolio because there are can be specific features and it’s better to make sure that the web design company is experienced with them. Also some web design companies make demo packages that also can show you the abilities and experience.

4) Quality of works

Learn carefully each live site (or the ones which are similar to the site you need). How long does it take to load the site home page?
A few seconds? Great, the web designer knows how to optimize images.
A few minutes? It’s normal if this is a Flash site because usually the whole site is loaded at one time, not only the home page; or it’s a Flash intro which goes ahead entering the site
and also can load longer because of movie and sound.

But if a simple HTML web site loads more than 2-3 minutes and you can’t see all images or they are shown partially, you must be watchful. Check another HTML sites from the portfolio - if they are also loading for ages, it’s better to search for another web design company because this one is not professional.

All of the aforesaid is correct only if bandwidth of your Internet connection is normal and usually you don’t have problems with loading web sites.

Test the site for user-friendly navigation, pay attention to colors combination, and estimate general impression from the site - all this must reflect professional work. But sometimes a web design company is forced to design a site strictly according to the customer’s wishes, so if the customer lacks for good taste the site also looks tasteless. There can one or two such sites in the portfolio, but not all!

5) Happy owners

Web design business is a highly competitive area and as in any business there are honest and dishonest players. Sometimes it happens that you see the same site in portfolio of two different web design companies and it’s difficult to find the truth to which of them the work really belongs. Some quirky companies place cheap templates in their portfolio with fake owners’ contact info.

That’s why it’s very important to know real references of real owners of the web sites the web design company has made. Ideally this info must be accessible on the web design company site under Portfolio, Testimonials, or Clients sections. Try to contact ALL of the persons listed there and compare their opinions. You may get to know some interesting facts.

6) Own site of web design company

And finally compare the own site of the web design company to web sites presented in its portfolio. Are they similar by quality, technology used, and overall feeling? If the works from the portfolio look much poorer than the own site this can mean that the own site was ordered from another web design company, more professional. Yes, it happens sometimes in web design business that start-up amateur company commits its web site design to “older” professionals. In such case you better to continue searching for another web design company.

So these 6 rules can help you to make the right choice. Don’t be afraid to spend longer time for search and analysis, finally you will only benefit by getting perfect web site that will give new prospects to your business and make it more successful.

Julia Ramyalg
Marketing Director of IT-Inventors - professional web design company

Services: Affordable custom web site design, E-commerce web site design, Content Management Software, Real estate web site design.

View Portfolio and References

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Huge Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash — Did you know in a recent study, top internet marketers discovered that having a website created with Flash, actually decreased the response from prospects and customers by as much as 370 percent?

Here’s why: Your prospects and customers are most likely visiting your website using all types of different computers, connection speeds and internet configuration settings…

What may look great to one visitor may not even appear for another! You could very easily have shelled out hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a website created using the Flash technology, only to find out that some of your visitors will never see it! (Not to mention the loading times can cause your visitor to close your site, never to return again.)

Huge Mistake #2: The “Internet Catalog” Approach — You see this everywhere. Good, honest and hardworking businessmen and women get online to sell their products or services, and have a site created for them that contains a link to just about everything they offer on one page. Their thinking goes along the lines of, “…well, I don’t want to leave anyone out. If they come to my site, I want to make sure I have what they’re looking for…” — This way of thinking could not be further from the truth.

Here’s why: There’s an ancient rule that goes back to the very beginning of direct-marketing on the internet, taught by the richest, most legendary and well-respected internet marketers of all time…

“When you give your prospects too many choices, they become confused and aren’t sure what to do next. Confused people never buy anything.”

Huge Mistake #3: Optimizing Your Sales Site for the Search Engines — You’ll see this taught in nearly every “internet marketing” course, manual or eBook out there… “You must optimize every page of your website for the search engines!” — In fact, this false teaching is accepted as ‘gospel truth’ so often that most web designers will offer to do this for you at no, or little extra cost…

What they don’t understand is that certain words and phrases must be either re-worded (to make it “keyword rich”) or taken out completely, just to be looked upon highly by the mighty search engines — and this could kill your sales, literally overnight.

Here’s why: When you or a hired web designer optimize your sales page (i.e. any web page designed to sell your products and services) to get a higher listing in the search engines, you’re going to have to sacrifice the pulling-power of your sales copy (i.e. written sales material) just to get those higher listings. Sure, this can bring you more traffic — but what good is all the traffic in the world, if your visitors arrive at your website and aren’t compelled enough to read why they should order your product?

For years, it has been taught that you should always try to find a “balance” of SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization) mixed with promotional copy designed to sell your products and services…

Wrong Again! — The truth is that you should never optimize your sales page for the Search Engines. Instead, you should create tiny “entry pages” for each keyword related to your product or service, (highly optimized for the Search Engines) and have them link to your main sales site! (We can show you exactly how to do this quickly and easily and get *massive* targeted traffic from the Search Engines - without ever *touching* your sales site!)

Huge Mistake #4: Having a “Graphics-Based” Website — Sure, graphics can certainly help us to visualize a particular situation or circumstance, product or service… But did you know that having a graphically-driven website can actually distract your visitor away from your sales message?

After all, your sales message (or “web copy”) is The #-1 most important factor in a website that makes money. If your visitors are paying more attention to your “professional graphics” than your sales message… you’ve just lost another sale.

Here’s why: You’ve got approximately seven seconds from the time your visitor arrives at your site, to the time they decide whether to buy your product, get more information or leave. If you’ve got a graphically-intensive website, your website will most likely still be loading past your seven-second time limit.

That’s a “customer-killer” in and of itself - however, the real reason lies within the fact that the bigger, brighter and more beautiful your graphics are, the more they will distract your visitor from your sales message. And if your visitor is distracted even for one second, it could mean the difference between getting a sale, and losing a customer.

Huge Mistake #5: Designing a Website with Zero Marketing Experience — Most web designers have no idea how to make money on the internet, with anything other than their design services. It’s not their fault - they simply have no or very little marketing and sales experience. After all, they’re just website designers…

However, having your website designed by someone with Zero internet marketing experience is like buying a street-car without an engine… it won’t go anywhere, and it’ll just waste your time and money!

For help on website design please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com

The author of this article is a certified SEO expert specializing in search engine marketing and search engine optimization. He also has a back ground in web design and website linking services. For help with any of this please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com .

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Pixel Advertising is increasingly becoming the most popular and
cost affective way to advertise on the internet.

A year ago pixel advertising wasn’t heard of and didn’t exist,
that was until a student named Alex Tew invented the idea to
make a pixel grid where internet businesses could display their
own logo or image. He named his website ‘The Million Dollar Home
Page’ and suddenly the name became internet history. Alex Tew
the maker of the website, wanted to fund his student loan which
is why he made The Million Dollar Home Page. His website can be
found at http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com. His idea, more
than paid off his student loan, after only a couple of months he
had sold all of his pixels and made a total of $1000000!

As soon as the idea became so successful a lot of similar pixel
selling websites appeared. But very few are turning out to be as
successful as the original. It’s a great way for advertisers to
get visitors, as the idea drags the visitors to become more
interested than any other advertising method. The colorful grid
packed full of interesting images makes users want to keep
clicking the images to find out what’s there. Alex then received
threats from hackers demanding money; otherwise they would
switch the site down. Alex thought nothing of it and rejected
their threats which sadly resulted in his website being switched
off by hackers for 4 days. This then lead to an advertiser on
the Million Dollar Home Page threatening to sue Alex Tew for the
4 days the site was not available. The Million Dollar Homepage
will be sold out for five years, as all advertisers are kept
listed until 2011. So you might be wondering what other pixel
websites are worth advertising on?

The answer to that is not many. Most are just ”People” trying
to make a lot of money from copying the idea made by Alex Tew.
In fact there are only a couple of pixel advertising sites that
id bother with and these are, PIXEL M8 and PIXEMEUP, as they are
both reputable businesses in the pixel adverting market. As most
pixel advertising websites are setup by just bog standard people
such as youths, you will find a lot just disappear as they
aren’t successful. Both PIXEL M8 and PIXMEUP are extremely
reliable to advertise on and are also both offering great deals;
you can find them at http://www.pixelm8.com and
http://www.pixmeup.com. James Allsopp and Humberto Tordecilla
the owners of PIXEL M8.com believe that there site will be the
next Million Dollar Home Page. So, what are the benefits of
Advertising on a reputable Pixel Advertising Site?

Well, for a one off fee your image link will usually be kept on
the site for around five years. You will receive a large number
of visits to your site over the course of five years. Direct
links from well ranked pages. Logos are always visible on each
page. Long term placement.

The size constraints actually spur creativity in a way that
traditional banners don’t. Constant traffic and brand promotion.
In my opinion pixel advertising is by far the best method for
advertising a website. There are so many benefits, but if you’re
thinking of ”making” a pixel advertising website, I personally
wouldn’t bother unless you can beat the three main players
-http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com , http://www.pixelm8.com
or http://www.pixmeup.com

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T1 lines are paid for on a monthly basis and the rates vary according to the services used and the complexity of the data transfers and the traffic. It will also depend on the number of lines you use for your needs. The lesser lines you need, the lower the rates. Many businesses will not need all 24 channels of a T1 line, and pay lower monthly rents than large business concerns that use all 24 channels.

You can get T1 line connections for a monthly rent of $350 to $ 1200 dollars per month depending on the kind of services you will be utilizing. This will include Internet services like email, web browsing, mail servers and data transfers and phone services like long distance and local calls and PBX.

There are many websites from where you can get T1 line price quotes by providing certain basic data about yourself. You will get a comprehensive list of comparative prices from various T1 line providers and you can choose one for your particular need sets.

DSL.net provides T1 lines for as low as $299 dollars per month for a two year contract and for a speed of 384 kbps. The features for this connection include 10 email accounts, unlimited IP addresses and optional web hosting, firewall, VPN and dial-up services. DSL also has one year contract for $329 dollars monthly for the same features. They also have high speed access of 768 kbps and 1.5 Mbps for one and two year contracts and higher monthly rent rates. These connections have special features like static IP types, domain name management and a 30 day no risk free trial. The monthly rent for a 1.5 Mbps connection is $379.95 dollars and $349.95 dollars for one year and two year contracts respectively. The rates for one and two year contracts for a 768 kbps connection, on the other hand, will work out to $359.95 dollars and $329.95 dollars respectively.

T1 Lines provides detailed information on T1 Lines, T1 Line Prices, How To Test T1 Lines, Cheap T1 Lines and more. T1 Lines is affiliated with T3 Bandwidth.

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