Increase Website Traffic with 10 ways

Webtrac traffic is very important for every website. normally i also need doing some website traffic for otcss.net to increase my website popularity. now i sharing 10 way for increase traffic.

10 Ways You Can Increase Website Traffic!

1. Submit to Search Engines: This is the first step towards increasing your website traffic. Don't wait for the search engines to find your site. Go ahead and submit it to them voluntarily. Submitting a sitemap would be better - this will encourage the search engines to examine your site more often. Visits by the Search Engine Spiders are a key way to increase website traffic.

2. Link Exchange: The search engines count inbound links when ranking your website. Look for free link exchange programs. You can increase website traffic by including relevant links to your site - so seek out sites with similar or complementary products/services. You can also use free blogs as lead generation tools to help increase website traffic. When you make a post on a blog, include a link to your site URL, using anchor text. Blogs are a direct means to increase website traffic for free! Free classified ads that allow links to your URL are also good ways to increase website traffic.

3. Article Marketing: A relatively new but powerful (and free!) traffic booster. Publish articles on Ezine and Article Directories. Articles create interest in your website as you are seen as an expert. Having links to your URL utilizing anchor text increases your number of relevant inbound links.

4. "Tell A Friend" Scripts: Include a "tell a friend" script on your website. This will enable your customers to pass your website (and links) around. You'd be amazed at how well this works. Someone finds your site interesting, passes it to a friend, so on, and so on..you get the picture. This directly helps increase website traffic, and you build your customer base! A favorite technique of Internet business owners, and it's free!

5. Hold a Contest: Use your website's autoresponder as a means to hold a contest of some type. For example, if they sign up for your newsletter, they get a chance to win a free ebook or one months' worth of web hosting (or one of your products). Again, this is an excellent way to increase website traffic and build your opt-in list, all at the same time!

6. Press Releases: This is one of the most overlooked ways to increase website traffic. The subject can be as simple as announcing a new product that you offer, or a new hire that you've made. As long as it's newsworthy, you can distribute your press release to the online press release companies and have it picked up by the major search engine's news categories (for example, Yahoo! News). Do you know how many people read these things? Thousands! An excellent way to increase you website traffic. Totally free!

7. Affiliate Program: Do you sell a product or ebook? Then you need to create an affiliate program. This is how it works: you offer to permit sale of your product on other Internet owners' websites, in exchange for giving them a portion of the sale (say, 35%). Do you realize how many websites that you can have your products on using this method? There are many Internet business owners that simply sell other people's products (we call these Super Affiliates). This way, you sell more products and increase website traffic absolutely free of cost! You do have to promote your affiliate program and product, which brings us to the next method, which is....


8. Get A ClickBank Account: Clickbank is the largest product directory on the Internet today. Additionally, Clickbank will set up and manage your affiliate program for you. They will also manage sales and any returns. You don't do a thing! Both your product and affiliate program are listed in the Clickbank directory. People looking for the product you offer find your website and wham! You've just taken a major step toward getting an immediate increase in website traffic! And, it only takes 5 minutes to sign up!

9. Joint Venture: You can team up with a company that sells similar or complementary products and services. Your website link is then advertised on that company's site and vice versa. This results in directing traffic from their site to yours. All you have to do is contact the company that you are interested in via email, with a proposal. This technique works amazingly well. You increase website traffic, and most importantly, it is both relevant and targeted, increasing your ability to make a sale!

10. Use Ebay: Stop passing up Ebay! Ebay is less intimidating than it looks, and it is easy for beginners to get started. In fact, Ebay was practically made for the Internet business owner who wants to increase website traffic. You can set up an Ebay store, of course linking back to your website. Including clever sales copy and pictures of your products/services increases your chances of customers clicking through and making a purchase. You can sell ANYTHING on ebay

Finding a Niche with Domain Expirations

As internet marketers, we are continually looking for was to maximize traffic to our respective websites. The methods we use vary from paid advertising, pay-per-click opportunities, writing articles, banner and classified ads, etc. Additionally, we follow as closely as possible the methods to improve our overall search engine optimization criteria. But is that enough? Often times, "no it is not" is the sad but simple answer. What other ways then are there? We have a great looking website, doing all the (w)right things, but they still do not come to your site.

One of the most commonly overlooked techniques for increasing web traffic is having a website domain name that closely matches our niche market, while being easy and associated with the market we are trying to get to the top in.

For many, expiring and expired domains are the answer. According to Google, in excessive of 3 million clicks or url hits to targeted traffic are lost or receive website not found errors on a daily basis. This common occurrence happens for a number of reasons, ranging from simple neglect by the owners to abandonment due to poor performance, lost interest, and the list goes on and on. To look at some of the traffic information about these sites, some were never started, while others received respectable traffic, sales and revenue. All of which have been abandoned.

The opportunity exists to acquire these sites, single sites or in bulk at a fraction of what it might cost you otherwise. Think of it, being able to start up a site that already have traffic, reciprocal and one-way links to it, targeted clients, all under new management – that’s you!

As a secondary activity there is a lucrative market on the internet (some through eBay) for auctions specializing in resale of domain names (some expired, some not). When you have a chance, do a search of domain auctions. You will be surprised at what some of the highly sought after web domains are selling for. Many are beginning to see these as investments. And the great part, many of these can be obtained for future use or for resale potential with merely the cost of registration, which can be very inexpensive ($5-$15 dollar range).

The list of possibilities is endless, with thousands more expiring each and every day. With a little bit of background research to investigate the previous use of the website and traffic information where available, you could find yourself with a lucrative niche with additional revenues before you know it.

Cheapest .EU domain

Using this coupon, you can enjoyed a discount on .EU domain name purchase. since .eu top level domain registeration already announces on 7 april. but the pricing on other domain name purchase company still remain very expensive. Here is the coupan of doster company which is the cheapest, i can get on the net.

How to Choose a Domain Name for Your Business Website

A website’s domain name (also know as a website address or URL) is an important consideration when developing your online presence. Choosing an appropriate domain name is the first step in the process of building online credibility. Remember to choose carefully because this online address may be where your business resides for the rest of its operating life. Now, some important tips to consider before choosing your domain name:

Choosing Your Domain Extension

A domain extension or top level domain is simply the suffix of your website address: (.com, .net, .org, .ca, etc.) Most Internet users are familiar with the “.com” extension, and will generally use this extension by default when typing an address into their browser. Choosing a “.com” extension should be your fist choice in case your potential customers forget that your address is “www.mybusiness.NET”, and visit your competitor at “www.mybusiness.COM” by mistake. Choosing the “.com” extension gives your website the most credibility in the eyes of your customers.

If your business only caters to the local community, then it makes sense to get a country specific domain name, such as the “.ca” extension. A country specific domain benefits you in two ways: both your customers and search engines such as Google will know that your website is registered to a Canadian and operates in Canada. Potential customers will feel more comfortable knowing that they are dealing with a Canadian company, and not a U.S. based business pretending to be a Canadian company. Also, search engines will give your website higher placement in the search results when a user is performing a Canadian specific search.

I personally recommend that my clients, if possible, register both the “.com” AND “.ca” extension. This way, your Canadian based website will benefit from using the “.ca” extension, while at the same time ensuring that they reach your website if they accidentally type the “.com” extension into their browser.
Using Your Business Name
The first choice for any domain name would be your business’ name. This ensures that your customers will remember your website’s address. You can’t expect your potential customers to remember a phrase that just relates to your business.

Choosing Choice Keywords

Including specific keywords in your website’s address will help your rankings in popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo. It is best to choose a keyword that you think your potential customers will use to search for your business. A search engine optimization (SEO) professional such as Cost Effective Design can assist you in choosing your keyword(s). These type of domain names are used in instances where the client does not want to use the business name because it is either already registered by another company, or the company name is simply too long. Any company that is serious about generating traffic through search engines should acquire a domain name with a keyword in addition to your business name.

Don’t Confuse Your Customers

If possible, try not to use domain names that include: “2” for “To” or “4” for “For” or “u” for “You”. These may make your domain look “cool” or “hip”, but in reality they are not very practical. These domain names create a problem when directing your clients to your website verbally or over the phone. For example, if you owned www.UsedCars4U.com, every time you verbally directed someone to your website, you would have to specify that the URL uses the actual number 4, and letter U.

To Use, Or Not to Use Hyphens

Given that more and more businesses are registering domain names every day, getting the website address you want is becoming increasingly difficult. One or two word domain names are usually already registered, forcing new registrants to choose URLs containing three or four words. To some people, these URLs can look like a big mess of words. Using hyphens in between the words can make them visually more appealing. For example, “www.used-cars-for-you.com, looks better than “www.usedcarsforyou.com. The jury is still out on hyphenated domain names. The advantages are that they look better and search engines can easily distinguish the separate keywords for better search placements, but the disadvantages are that they are difficult to verbally communicate and type.
The best solution would be to register both the hyphenated, and the un-hyphenated version of the domain name to ensure that there is no confusion.

Domain Name Length

Even though you are allowed to use 67 characters for a domain name, the general rule of thumb is: shorter is better. Although, in some instances, the website address may be more memorable if it is more descriptive. For example a domain consisting of initials only, such as “www.waa.com”, may not create a lasting impression compared to the domain name “www.windsorautoassociation.com”. Therefore, it is best to choose a name that, while short, contains enough description for your customers to easily remember.

Buying an Existing Domain Name

Maybe the domain name you really want is already registered, either by a legitimate company, or by a “domain squatter” who merely registered the name to sell for a profit at a later date. You can make an offer for these types of domains, although they make cost several hundred, or even thousands of dollars. There are advantages to purchasing an existing domain name. In addition to getting the domain you want, it may also rank highly in the search engines for certain keywords and / or generate topic specific traffic that you will benefit your business.

Choosing A Reliable Colocation Facility

There are no industry standards to designate a good colocation facility, but key areas can help identify one: power, cooling, Internet connection, and service. Good colocation facilities offer reliability through redundancy, maintenance, and service, meaning more uptime for networks and longer equipment lifetimes. Ask questions, be prepared to research answers, and look for the facility that meets the needs of their customers.

Power
A good colocation facility will have a power system with backup units not only for the generator, but also the universal power supplies (UPS) and transfer switches or circuit breakers.

• UPSs run the servers while power switches from regular electricity to generators. Regardless of quality, UPSs fail regularly, so facilities must have multiple UPSs running sufficiently below capacity to manage the total server load if one fails. Transfer switches or circuit breakers switch power to the generators.


• Circuit breakers are more dependable than transfer switches, but it is important to have a backup for either system so that power can be transferred regardless of equipment failure.


• As the primary source of power during an outage, the generator must be large enough to handle 1.5 times the total building load. If there are multiple generators, the colocation facility must be able to transfer the load between generators, otherwise a failure could disable all generators.

Cooling
An overlooked consideration for uptime and equipment maintenance is cooling. All servers generate heat yet are designed to operate at room temperature, between 72°F and 76°F. Computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units, chillers, and facility layout ensure that all servers receive adequate cooling. High-end colocation facilities regularly maintain cooling systems and monitor temperature, humidity, and power usage for optimum server performance.

• Chillers pipe cooled fluids to the CRAC units. There must be redundant pumps and chillers which automatically take over in case of failure so that the CRAC units continue to operate.


• CRAC units are large (20 to 30 tons), specialized air conditioners which constantly blow cold air. The minimum number of CRAC units to cool a facility is .030 tons per square foot. If there are four 30-ton units and the facility is 4,000 square feet, then there are .030 tons per square foot (120 tons ÷ 4000 square feet).


• The facility layout should have designated hot and cold rows. Server fans blow hot air from the back of the servers into hot rows; the CRAC units blow cold air down cold rows across the front of the servers. Solid floor facilities should have return vents on one side of the room to draw hot air from the servers, and cold air vents in the ceiling blowing down the top of the server racks. Raised floor designs should blow the cold air with enough pressure to force air to the top of the racks.

Internet Connection
There are two major types of Internet connection.

• Tier 1 providers create national networks which are dependable and fast but tend to have high latency and poor out-of-network performance.


• Tier 2 companies buy access from multiple tier 1 networks, so they have speed and dependability combined with better latency and performance from a wider network. Some tier 2 providers offer performance routing to route traffic more efficiently between networks, boosting network performance by 50% and creating a self-healing network.

Service
A quality colocation facility offers extra service, including any of the following:

• A dedicated, 24-hour customer service line, plus onsite engineers for emergencies.


• Changing backup tapes and storing them in a fire-proof safe.


• Crash carts with monitors, keyboards, and other tools available when a computer crashes.


• Structural designs to withstand earthquakes, storms, and floods.

Tour of the colocation facility, take notes and ask questions about their systems, backup systems, and maintenance, and find the facility with the service, access, and quality care to give your business reliable, dependable network.

The Pros & Cons of Hosting-It-Yourself

What you need to know before you decide to run your own server

We’re fond advocates of the DIY (do it yourself) mentality. So you won’t find us dissuading you from taking the reins of your internet presence fully and hosting your website yourself on your own server, if that’s what you want and are prepared to do. Consider this checklist-cum-article your minimal preparation.

First and foremost, do you have what it takes? How tech savvy are you, anyway? Do you know what it means, for example, to secure a server? Do you have the time to devote to the arduous maintenance of a server, responding personally to every glitch that comes with the territory? And do you have the inclination?

Secondly, do you have what it takes? No, you’re not seeing double. This time what we mean by “what it takes” is hardware and software and internet access. Hosting your own server requires the following:

A dedicated computer
This means a computer that will be used exclusively as your server and for nothing else. And it can’t just be any computer. The computer you choose to be the server that’s hosting your websites must be able to handle the amount of server requests you’re hoping to receive (remember, most websites are built with the dreams of getting more and more of these, not less and less).

A Network Interface Card (NIC)

A broadband connection
This must be reliable, secure, and has a high enough upload rate to serve your web hosting needs.

A server-capable OS (operating system) for your server
Just like your computer has an operating system, your server must too. This can be Linux or Windows or something comparable.

An Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Your ISP will need to be able to support the degree of web traffic you’re anticipating. One of the worst things you could do is thwart interested visitors from accessing your website. One of the easiest ways to do this would be to choose the wrong ISP, one that starts curtailing your traffic unbeknownst to you.

Thirdly, do you have currently have a website or websites, and if so, what’s the traffic like? If you’re running multiple websites or applications already and they’re already generating a steady flow of traffic, then it makes good sense that you’re thinking about hosting your own server.

If you’ve gotten this far in the checklist and are still seriously contemplating hosting your own server, we’ll only offer up one alternative for your consideration before you make your final decision: a Dedicated Server.

With a dedicated server, you get all the benefits of hosting your own server without the burden of hosting it yourself. You’ll have your own IP address, you won’t have to share bandwidth, memory, or storage space with anyone else and you’ll maintain 100% control over server administration.

But you’ll benefit also from the committed services of a professional team of experts managing and maintaining the machinery that’s running your business and a secure, safe, and reliable datacenter with redundant power, environmental controls, and other features you probably can’t provide hosting your own server in your own living room or office space.

.eu domain sales

.EU Domain will be launches on Friday, April 7 at 2am PDT. This is the biggest news on top level domain on this year.

The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has now approved the appointment of EURid to manage the allocation of names. if you want to register an .eu domain, you can try the below hosting company to purchase an .eu domain.

so far. Dotster hosting company offering the cheapest pricing .eu domain on internet. it is just 14.95 euro only.

Hostway offer .eu pre-registration which is cost 35.00 per domain under .eu.

.eu Domains

eu Domains

Webmasters all over the globe are anxiously anticipating the latest in domain registration. In fact, the registration of .eu domain names—European domains is expected to go quickly and anyone interested in such domain names needs to stay on top of the game in order to secure their place in the every changing Internet world. Let’s take a look at what European domains are and why they are so promising:

1. The new European domain registry (Eurid) opened for business on December 7, 2005 and made first offerings to Government agencies. Further, the outpouring of Government agencies scooping up .eu domains was truely phenomenal! In fact, within the first few hours of .eu domain offerings, some 80,000 applications were placed from all around Europe. Countries like Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden were submitting applications as fast as possible!

2. With .eu domain names already proving to be popular, remember some 80,000 application within first few hours of first day is a testament to the popularity of these new domain names, the remaining domain names are likely to disappear just as quick in phase II and III of the .eu domain registration process. On February 7, 2006, domain registrars like are expected to offer .eu to trademark businesses. Later, in April, phase III commences and offers .eu domain registration to everyone. Clearly, the most popular .eu domain names will be all but gone by April of the following year! Well almost.

3. All the best domains have gone from the .com and .co.uk registry, yet the .eu domain registration process gives webmasters an opportunity to, once again, get in on the best domain names available. Webmasters can get short, professional looking domain names with .eu domain registration, but only if they are quick about signing up and they don’t waste time waiting for the right moment. The moment is now—decided on a .eu domain name and visit a .eu domain registrar now, before all of the popular .eu domain names are gone.

4. The .eu domain names will go quickly for a number of reasons. First, the .eu is likely to be popular on the continent and amongst the newer member of the EU such as Poland. European webmasters will be racing for .eu domain names and you will miss out if you don’t sign up as soon as possible. Second, because .eu domain names afford webmasters the opportunity to get easy to remember domain names, many webmasters will be looking to get in on the opportunity to improve their web traffic and business will be looking to improve their profit margin.

5. During the Landrush phase on 7th April 2006 when everyone has a shot at getting a .eu domain name, it is likely that there will be tens of thousands of applications. The only way you can ensure that you will get the .eu domain name of your choosing is if you beat all of the other webmasters in your request for that domain name. It is time to start thinking about the possibilities afforded to you with a .eu domain name now and to choose your .eu domain name wisely.

6. There is a lot of interest in UK market. The Internet has got businesses thinking about the global market and the massive improvements such a market can give to a company’s bottom line. Thus, the rush for .eu domain names will most assuredly be a maddening process, one in which businesses from all over the globe are vying for the attentions of an international market.

7. Most of the main registries and resellers will be offering it and this is good news for webmasters. By visiting accredited registars you will find that their pricing for .eu domain names is highly competitive and everyone knows that when the market competes the consumer benefits. Now is the time to get that .eu domain name, while the prices for such domain names are competitive and low.

8. Pricing is likely to be competitive and to ensure that you get a decent price for your .eu domain registration, you need to get in on the market with a reputable domain registrar. Discountdomainsuk.com offer you the opportunity to get in on this incredible venture and reap the benefits from having a .eu domain name of your choosing at a price that you can easily afford.

9. Many services offering a backorder system - but there are likely to lead to disappointment. A backorder system cannot guarantee you that you will get the .eu domain name you want—in fact, if another Webmaster applies for a .eu domain registration name before you do, you are out of luck. The sooner you sign up for your .eu domain name the better—there’s no time to waste and www.discountdomainsuk.com can help you get your .eu domain name with ease.

10. It is important to note that there are residency criteria - so it’s only open to citizens or business established in a EU Country. Nevertheless, the domain registration will allow companies in this area to reach out to other countries and gain new audiences for their businesses.

If you want to see your EU business succeed and become as profitable as possible and by helping you find and obtain an attractive and attention grabbing .eu domain name, one that is keyword potent.

11. Finally, .eu domain names are technically the same as other domain names types. The big difference is their newness—because they are so new, many unique and profitable domain names are waiting to be taken. Don’t be caught at the end of the waiting list on this one—get your .eu domain name today.

Affordable Web Hosting - Shared Web Hosting Explained

Shared Web Hosting - What is it?

Shared hosting is an economic way of hosting web sites where you do not require high performance (CPU workload) and high bandwidth. As the name "Shared Hosting" suggests, the server that is hosting the web pages is shared between many users, this is how web hosting providers can sell web hosting space at affordable prices down to as low as $3-$4 a month, many accounts on one server spreads the cost of the server among many users. Whereas a dedicated server can cost upwards of $100 per month.

With many web sites hosted on a web server you can be sure that web hosting providers will not make any compromises on performance issues, they will also not make any compromises on security, as one web site with a security issue could affect all other sites on the server, for this reason shared servers are monitored and maintained 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by IT professionals to ensure minimum downtimes.

The Advantages of Shared Web Hosting

As many web sites are hosted per server, hosting providers are able to offer very competitively priced shared hosting plans. For shared hosting you can expect to pay $3-$8 per month for shared hosting services, with some providers offering up to 20,000MB of space and 1TB of bandwidth within in this price range. This is amazing value, thanks to competition web hosting is now within the reach of the personal web designer or hobbyist, and not reserved for just businesses with large budgets.

Shared hosting web servers due to their nature need to be maintained round the clock by highly skilled IT professionals, this lets you concentrate on managing your web site, you can leave all the other things related to web hosting to the professionals.

Shared hosting web masters can manage their web site using what is commonly known as a control panel to manage their hosting, this allows you to add domains, monitor statistics, create databases, manage email addresses and all manner of other things. Each web hosting provider varies what facilities are made available to you in their control panel, but thanks to fierce competition between web hosting providers these days the differences between each providers feature set is decreasing.

Todays shared web hosting service comes with enough disk space and bandwidth to be more than sufficient for small businesses, and if you ever need resources than what your current plan offers you can always upgrade as your web site grows in size and popularity.

What is Shared Web Site Hosting?

Shared Web hosting is often called Virtual hosting. This kind of service is provided with hosting a certain amount of web sites on the same physical server. All clients use same Operating System, Software and Bandwidth.

There are two possible ways of providing shared web hosting that is free and paid hosting that certainly have their advantages and disadvantages.

Free Web Hosting vs Chargeable Web Hosting

The word "free" doesn't always mean what it usually does, there's price for everything same works for the web hosting business.

First you should remember that it's very difficult to identify the hosting company reliability which plays a vital role in free web hosting as you have no control over your Internet activity. The problem is that you receive a little or no support when have some problems with your hosted site. You receive no guarantees about the quality of web hosting services.

Another problem is that the source of free sites financing is money received for advertisements placed on your site without letting you know. In case you are running a commercial site your visitors might not like to be advertised by the third parties just to see your commercial message.

Free web hosting can also be provided as advertisement itself. The main purpose such web hosting is to attract clients for the Chargeable Web Hosting.

Chargeable shared web hosting can provide you with security guarantees. In this case the team of administrators is capable to provide the inside and outside security. As for the outside security it isn't unique for hosting and lies in regular software modernization and some other standard procedures. The inside security has to be provided to protect users from their "neighbours" who already have authorized access to the system.

Another aspect of customers' protection is control over the server loading and overloading. In this area server overloading must be reduced so the speed of websites loading and time taken for scripts responding.

What Resources You Might Require?
Starting your presence in the Internet you should identify how much disk space and bandwidth you might need. It'll depend on the characteristics of your site.

For small or medium web site it would be required from 50 to 200 Mb. You can calculate the size of your site in such a way: multiply the number of web pages in your site and one page approximate size. Expect your every page to be about 10-100k depending on images size.

In case you're planning to have a large web site (or just a lot of multimedia in a small one) you're going to need much disk space. Another aspect that influences the amount of resources you're going to need is the nature of the site itself. The site on which there is extensive use of video, audio or large graphics requires more disk space then the one that is primarily text based. As for bandwidth, it depends on that how much data you will transfer to your visitors. You can determine approximate bandwidth multiplying your average page size and number of expected page views per month.( if page size - 50K, views/month - 10 000, then 0,05*20,000=1Gb)

Bandwidth usually increases as the allocated disk space does.

Some More Requirements You Should Also Consider

Shared web hosting can be provided on different operating systems platforms. The most popular are Linux and Windows operating systems. If you have no preferences choose one depending on how you are planning to maintain your web hosting and what kind of web site you are to have. Linux operating system is meant for large network systems and requires more experience and knowledge than Windows OS.

Windows OS is the best choice for beginners and for those companies that do not wish to deal with Linux complex administration. Before signing up find out if the web hosting company you chose allows using the scripts you prefer like PHP or Java. Same goes for databases like MySQL and others.

Security in shared web hosting is a very important aspect of your further Internet activity. Find out if the potential host is able to provide you with all the necessary guarantees and technical support in case you have any problems with your web site.

Conclusion

By means of shared web hosting you can establish your Internet presence with highly- capable resources at a minimal cost. You don't have to possess some advanced technical knowledge to administrate your web site. So shared hosting is a perfect choice for beginners, small businesses and for those customers whose sites do not require many resources.

Choosing Your First Hosting Provider

An excellent site running on a poor host is a recipe for disaster, if your provider cannot keep your site online 24 hours, 7 days a week you could be missing out on visitors and if your site is for your business, this could mean lost sales as well. It is very important to consider several elements when choosing your first web host, too many people are dissatisfied with their current web hosting provider. First and foremost, the best web hosting provider is the one that suits your needs.

Disk Space

The first thing to take into consideration is disk space. The amount of disk space your will require depends on the size of the web site, and of course how much money you can afford to spend. Ideally you should always go with a plan that has room to grow, if your site currently is around 200mb you must ask yourself, how large will the site be in 12 months, or even 2 years. If you plan to serve media files from your site such as videos, flash animations, or any other type of content that tends to be large in size, you will need to allow for this as well.

Bandwidth

The second thing to consider is bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of data you will be serving to your visitors, if you have plans of having a high traffic site in the future, you should consider a plan that allows for a high amount of bandwidth. As with disk space, it is also wise to consider more bandwidth than what your site will require initially, not less.

Serving Speed

The speed that pages are served from the host is often overlooked when it comes to choosing a hosting provider, you should always track down other sites hosted at the web host you are considering. If pages are not served in a timely fashion, your visitors may not wait around to view your content.

Final Words

Each of the above elements need to be taken into consideration when you are choosing a web hosting provider, for all the hosts out there this can take considerable time and effort, take the time to research each hosting provider as well as you can and you will be rewarded for your efforts, rushing into a hosting choice is more often than not a bad decision.

A Short Guide to Affordable Web Hosting

For individuals & businesses, choosing an affordable web hosting plan on a limited budget is a challenge.

The main reason for this is that most companies offering ecommerce hosting solutions focus on the higher-end corporate market and often overlook the small business web hosting segment.

However, finding reliable web hosting isn’t exactly a cakewalk, but it can be relatively easy if you follow these simple steps: define your requirements; user review survey; create a short list of potential ecommerce web hosting as well as email hosting services and ask questions.

Define your requirements:
• How much disk space and bandwidth is necessary?
• Type of hosting – dedicated / private or shared web hosting?
• Will you require CGI or database capacities?
• What type of hosting plan will you need – Windows hosting plans or Linux hosting plans.
• Will your website have any streaming media requirements?
• Will your site change substantially in the future?
• Affordable web hosting only for your purposes or for clients – shared web hosting.

User Review Survey:
• Always take testimonials at face value. User forums are the best place to find the truth. Also mail webmasters to get a reality checks.
• Be wary of Web hosting directories and mailing lists, many are owned & operated by Web hosts.
• Read the declarations regarding service uptime, downtime, backup, security etc.

Create a shortlist:
• Make a list of potential ecommerce web hosting and email hosting services that you see are recommended the most and complained about the least.
• Determine which hosts offer specific services that you need, with scalability for future changes.
• Determine which host fits your price range.

Ask questions:
• Ask mundane questions to check the quality, speed & efficacy of their response.
• Ask the service providers technical questions to gauge their acumen, knowledge and accuracy.
• Ask a lot of question to determine the host's commitment to customers.
• Subject host to an honesty test: offer them the opportunity to up sell you needlessly. (simple yet effective)

The Tricks of the Trade
SOHO consumers can find the most effective hosting services for their business if they follow and understand the following recommendations:
• Make sure the hosting company offers 24/7/365 technical support by phone, email and chat whether you have opted for windows hosting plans or Linux hosting plans.
• Do not be seduced by hosts offering cheap shared hosting services or extra services than you need. Most of them skimp on security & support.
• Choose a host who is flexible, scalable, and who can grow with your business.
• Ensure that you can add domains to a core plan and resell services.
• Ensure that the host offers a knowledge base of scripts, online marketing effective coding. (A surefire way to check their scale of operations)
• Check to ensure that the host offers some level of interaction.
• Watch for signs of rudeness, impatience and unresponsiveness.
• Do not sign a long-term contact for hosting services right away.
• If you have more than one site, consider spreading them among several hosts.

For a small web business start-up, choosing the right ecommerce hosting at the right time can be the best strategic move. It can enable your business to grow fast and offer you a high ROI. Reliable and affordable web hosting can be the crucial factor between failure & success.

Summary - For a small web business start-up, choosing the right ecommerce hosting at the right time can be the best strategic move. It can enable your business to grow fast and offer you a high ROI. Reliable and affordable web hosting can be the crucial factor between your failure & success.