What Makes For A Good Host?I've had to change web hosts a number of times. In fact, I spent most of this week changing from one host to another. Believe me, it is a major pain, although I have made sure that my site is always ready to move if necessary.
One thing I've become is very aware of the difference between a good host and a bad host. To put it simply (and obviously) a good host makes it easy for you to create and maintain your web site. A bad host gets in the way and makes you angry, unhappy and gives you an ulcer.
The key point to remember when evaluating hosts is the most important quality is responsiveness - of your site and support people. Your site should be up virtually all of the time (unfortunately computer crashes do happen but they should be rare and far between) and it must be fast. In addition, all good hosts react in a timely manner to support issues and questions. You can tell when a host is going bad from the failure of these key areas - unresponsive technical support, slow servers or constant downtime.
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How I Host My New DOT-COM Domains For Free!
Michael Hopkins
When it comes to selling online, one thing is certain: a small focused website that features just one lead product will far outsell a big website that features lots of products and links.By focusing on just one product, you avoid distracting your visitors or forcing them to make decisions. That way, they'll take the time to study your product and the chances of making a sale are vastly increased.
I can see the evidence for this in my own business. While the main company website (BizzyDays.com) continues to bring in a steady stream of sales, it's actually the individual websites for each of the ebooks that are responsible for the lion's share of orders.
The problem, however, with having one website for every single ebook is that it adds a lot of extra overheads. In general you're looking at minimum $100 for any kind of webhosting and somewhere between $8 and $35 for a domain name.
These are not huge figures, but let's face it, costs are costs and if you're in business you want to keep them as low as possible.
That's why I felt it was worth sharing with you my little 'trick' for setting up brand new websites for just the price of a domain name.
This week I launched a new website for our ebook publishing guide "You Step By Step Guide to Success On The Internet". The TOTAL cost to set up this new website (http://selfpublishing-ebooks.com) was just $8.97!
So how did I manage that?
Firstly, it's worth noting that I use an excellent hosting service for my main website BizzyDays.com. One of the many features they include for just $9.95/month is the ability to create your own sub-domains (http://subdomain.domain.com).
So, the first step I took was to set up a new sub-domain (I called it http://selfpublishingebooks.bizzydays.com). Next I designed the website and published it to this address.
Then, I went along to http://www.DNbuy.com and bought the domain name www.selfpublishing-ebooks.com for $8.97. The reason I bought it at DNbuy is because they offer a whole range of domain name services completely free (domain parking, URL re-direction, e-mail re-direction, etc.).
Once I had the domain name, it took me just a couple of minutes (via the DNbuy website) to set up the new domain name to point (or re-direct) to the sub-domain I'd just created (http://selfpublishingebooks.bizzydays.com).
I'm even able to 'cloak' the address shown on the browser's address bar, so that, even though people are surfing on http://selfpublishingebooks.bizzydays.com what shows up on the address bar is http://selfpublishing-ebooks.com.
Finally, DNbuy even re-directs my e-mails for free. This enables me to create new addresses (like sales@selfpublishing-ebooks.com) and have any messages that are sent to these addresses re-directed to my regular e-mail address inbox.
And that's it! A brand new website -- hosted and all -- for less than $10.
Now there's no excuse not to create sales-focused mini-websites for ALL your products!
Michael Hopkins is owner of BizzyDays eBook Publications. Visit now to download original ebooks for FREE at: http://www.bizzydays.com This article first appeared in Michael's newsletter 'Ebook Times'. To subscribe visit: http://www.bizzydays.com/free_newsletter.htm
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| Did You Know? |
What's in a Name?A name can make of break a web site. I am of course talking about a Domain name.
You may think there is nothing to it. Pick a catchy domain name that rolls off the tongue, check that it is available and if it is go ahead and buy it. It couldn't be any harder that that can it?
Well, yes it can. Just stop and think for a minute. You have bought the domain name, designed and built a great looking website, and launched it out onto that great world wide web. You have got a great Reciprocal Link Exchange on your site and you have reached a reasonable Google Page Rank.
Then you decide to get an Auto responder to have a mailing list, and that is when your troubles start! Let me tell you my story...
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