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Choosing The Right Web Host - The Hardest Customer Task To Solve

Can we take this whole internet thing one step further and host our site ourselves on our own PC? Well, the basic answer is no! If you need to get a site live quickly or cheaply, it can be nearly impossible to do it yourself. Outsourcing these tasks to professional web host prividers that will save you money and headaches. The company will lodge your site on a web server, make the necessary connections between your domain name and their server configurations and then you’re up and running. Your site is out there on the internet for all to see . But there are so many web hosts. How can somebody choose between them?

Different companies offer different plans, features, transfer rates and support levels, so how can you choose what’s right for you? The problem is that there are so many, and to some shoppers, there is a lot of technical jargon that can get in the way of picking the right one. This article is meant to simplify matters a bit by giving a reasonable way to estimate a web host’s value.

The first thing to be done is to decide what you need your page to do.Is this you personal site,business site or some organiztion site.Do you think selling things on your site, or maybe managing a forum , do you need a hit counter ect.These are just some of the questions you need to answer yourself before even starting to choose.

There are more factors in what will determine the best hosting provider for you and that will be the primary goal of this artcle.

First thing to consider: Storage Space and DataTransfer

A small information site or personal site will usually only require a few megabytes of disk space, however, data transfer depends on the size of the pages your are offering your visitors multiplied by the number of visitors. Therefore, a popular and graphics heavy website requires a greater monthly transfer than a text site. You should look at a minimum of 2 GB (2000 MB) data transfer a month. Check with the company that they can upgrade your account if your site increases it’s need for storage or monthly data transfer. Prepare for growth now so that you are not caught off guard by unexpected costs when you go to expand your services.

Second thing to consider: reliability

For any online business, uptime is critical. You absolutely cannot go with a host that has an uptime of less than 95%.

No web host can have 100% uptime, and it’s impossible to guarantee. Avoid any hosts promising more than they can deliver. Most claim 99.9% uptime, but due to the nature of computers and communications equipment, outages will and do occur occasionally. You can contact a company and ask, but they will tell you they’re very reliable. Instead, ask for a couple of sites they currently host, that you can check out for yourself. The word of mouth is probably most powerful in helping to judge these companies.

Third thing to consider: Technical Support

Critical to success, you’ll need an internet hosting company that can help you resolve problems quickly with the least possible disruption to your site activity. As most hosting companies offer inclusive technical support, you shouldn’t pay extra for this. If you’re not offered 24 hours/7 days you should look elsewhere. Most hosts have email support, but keep an eye out for hosts that have phone numbers listed. These are obviously more valuable. Though some hosts have excellent turn around on email service requests, there’s no substitute for actually being able to talk to somebody if you need to.The test is to contact the company and ask questions. If they don’t reply within 48 hours, or don’t reply at all, consider another hosting company. A good company should reply within 24-48 hours.

Fourth thing to consider: Added Features

Various internet hosting companies offer a variety of services. Web hosters provide a listing of overwhelming features to hosting plans to entice you into joining their services. However, more importantly, what features you need and what ones you don’t need. Make a list of what you know your website must be able to do and find out if the company you are researching can make it happen for you.

If you are paying for a website, you should definitely be getting email accounts and FTP access. Don’t settle for a site without them. Make sure the email addresses are for your domain and not at your host’s domain. FTP access is critical is you intend to do any amount of uploading files to your server. Don’t settle for web applications. Also, you will want a host that provides a user control over these two features. Examples of services include also visitor counts, e-mail forwarding options, real time chat, shopping cart functions, and web statistics. The list goes on. With a predetermined needs list in hand, you won’t forget to ask important questions.

Fifth thing to consider: Pricing Structure

If the previous four steps check out, then you need to consider price and this can vary widely. You need to consider setup fees, monthly fees, plan discounts and optional extras in your calculations. Don’t let price be the primary factor in your decision unless you are launching a personal page. For ecommerce, businesses and organizations, the quality of the service is more important. Some companies offer you no monthly fees, but check the fine print before agreeing to anything. Free sites almost always have popups or require space invasive banners. Don’t simply look for the lowest price. You need to know how much the prices will grow as you expand your services and customer base. Ask about a variety of scenarios. For example, a small business owner who knows he will only need a small site to get started should ask about internet service provider hosting prices for medium sized websites with a larger number of visitors.Think for the future!

Keep also in mind that the most expensive plan is not necessarily the best, and the biggest name company may not be the right match for you. Many perfectly fine packages for small businesses now run between $15 - $25 per month. Some people say that there are three types of Web Hosts: free hosts, cheap hosts and good hosts - and there is more than a grain of truth in this.

A good web host company will not tie you into a long-term contract that will prevent you moving if you don’t like the service. Final words:

The most important thing to remember is to research and shop around. The are options and features that are offered by a wide variety of web host providers that is bound to suit you. The more requirements you have, the most likely you pay more. But paying for a quality web host provider is a good investment especially if your business will in the future become more reliant on the Internet. Finally, don’t hesitate to ask questions and inquire about the services of web hosts - you don’t want to regret it later.

Finally you can find more information about web hosting services visiting my site http://www.itstandard.net/.

Richard Clement is an online publisher dedicated in helping online users in various categories. He is an online marketing specialist and owner of ItStandard.Net hosting company.

For more info visit his site http://www.itstandard.net/

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Conversion Optimization: Picking Up Where SEO Leaves Off

Search engine optimization (SEO) gets them to the site. What they do (or don’t do) once SEO has done its job is up to the site owner or designer.

Most visitors view the home page and leave. Wrong products. Weird typeface, confusing navigation - it can be anything from color motif to lack of clear prices. SEO gets them there, but it doesn’t convert them to buyers.

What Is Conversion Optimization?

Is it easy for visitors to find the right product? Is check-out convenient, offering numerous payment options? Is there a telephone number visitors can call to talk to a human? If not, the site isn’t conversion optimized.

In broad terms, conversion optimization enhances the visitors’ experience when they visit to browse. A site so optimized is: engaging, attractive, very simple, convenient and secure. The objective?

Enable visitors to quickly find what they’re looking for and to move without delay through the site’s checkout - just as in the brick-and-mortar world of retailing.

How To Optimize Conversion

Undertake Regular Site Analysis

Site metrics are statistics, raw data that reveal visitor actions (or inactions) and behaviors. There are dozens of site analysis programs that create metrics to help with site refinement.

To develop useful metrics, first establish a site baseline for comparison as conversion optimization is underway. Maintain records of metrics to determine which refinements are working and which aren’t.

Target Metrics To The Most Desired Action (MDA)

The first step in improving conversion rates is to define the site’s objective - to sell products, disseminate information, generate click-throughs or provide customer service, for instance. With the site’s objective defined, it becomes easier to develop metrics useful to increasing the number of people who perform the most desired action.

A commercial site owner wouldn’t find ‘number of pages viewed’ especially useful since it’s not specific to the site’s goal - to sell product. On the other hand, developing a list of keywords used by most buyers would be useful. It’s a great way to refine a site’s keyword list.

Metrics programs generate raw data. That’s all. It takes an understanding of ecommerce dynamics to turn that data into useful information, aka site metrics. And the important first step in the development of utile information is to define the site’s objective.

A site owner or web designer should be able to state a site’s objective in one, short sentence. If it takes more than that, redefine the site objective. Then develop the metrics that facilitate an improved conversion rate.

Applying Site Metrics

The purpose in developing site metrics is to create a data-based strategy to induce more visitors to perform the MDA. It’s not enough to identify problems and trends. Site owners must then take action to address problems and enhance the visitors’ overall site experience.

For example, site metrics might reveal that less than 5% of traffic ever gets past the home page. In this case, breakdown the home page to find why so many visitors leave. Too confusing? Too much information? Not enough? Convoluted navigation? If only five out of 100 visitors ever see interior pages, something is wrong with the home page.

Another example? Which search engines are delivering the most traffic? And why? Is it simply page rank? Does the site even show up on SERPs?

Useful site metrics will provide data on visitor activity, search engine activity, keywords, text and layout, checkout procedures and virtually every other aspect of site design and its impact on visitors.

Site Usability and Conversion Rate

The easier it is for a visitor to perform the MDA, the more likely it will be performed. If buyers don’t find complete, detailed descriptions of products, they’ll be less likely to make a purchase.

If they’re confronted with endless data fields that must be completed, they’re less likely to complete the on-line form. The ultimate objective in site analysis, therefore, is to improve the usability of the site. The more useful and usable the site, the higher the conversion rate.

Usability encompasses both site structure and site skin - what visitors actually see. Site architecture should be designed to accommodate visitors in several ways. Ease of navigation is, certainly, important. But so is page weight. Visitors just won’t wait for long downloads anymore.

An easy-to-use, flexible and secure checkout, with numerous payment options, increases a site’s usability. And a one-click check-out is an ideal usability option that repeat buyers appreciate.

Accessibility is another aspect of site success. Is the text helpful, informational and easy to read or is it just hard sell content? Are navigation links large and clearly labeled? Is a site map available from every interior page?

A recent study published by DoubleClick.com indicates that more than half of all visitors who place something in their shopping carts fail to actually make the purchase. These buyers made the purchase decision, but there was no follow-through. Perhaps they found the check-out process confusing, or lacked the confidence in the site to enter personal information on line. The point is, something happened between purchase decision and final check-out. Chances are, lack of site usability was at least partially to blame.

Additional Benefits to Improving Site Usability

Improving conversion rate is, indeed, the primary objective of site refinements to enhance usability. However, site owners derive a number of on-going benefits in the regular development of useful site metrics.

Analytics will improve download times, increasing the likelihood of visitors staying around. Pages packed with animated graphics, Flash scripting and QuickTime demonstrations can be broken up to lessen download times.

With a highly-usable site that delivers everything visitors need to complete the MDA, site owners will lower costs for customer support and service. If a visitor can log-on to view the status of an open order, there will be fewer telephone calls to customer support.

With conversion optimization, routine site maintenance costs will be lowered. The site is visitor friendly, SE friendly and compliant with all open programming standards.

Finally, a site optimized for ease of use and visitor convenience generates more repeat traffic and more repeat sales. And repeat sales are the foundation of any retail business - virtual or real world.

The Process of Conversion Optimization

Metrics should be developed regularly and compared to previous results to identify the activities of visitors. They should also be developed to suit the site’s purpose and MDA.

With useful metrics, a strategy of site refinement should be developed and implemented in stages. At each stage, new metrics should be produced to determine whether recently implemented refinements have had the desired effect. If so, initiate the next stage. If not, determine the problem and refine accordingly.

Remember that visitors are looking for convenience, ease-of-use, helpful information and security. The long-term objective is to increase site usability through refinement, measurement, further refinement and further measurement.

A higher conversion rate will naturally follow.

Frederick Townes in the owner of W3 EDGE, a Boston web design company that provides professional design and development services as well as SEO copywriting and conversion optimization. W3 EDGE, serving Boston and the world for a better online business.

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