Thursday, July 15, 2010

3 Top Mistakes Why Your Web Hosting Service Didn't Take Off

Web hosting services are hot in the market at the moment due to the current internet boom. Many deem starting such web hosting services to be a goldmine as the number of Web 2.0 websites, internet marketing forums, and blogs is on the rise.
When it comes to business, everything looks good upon first look. As they punch in the numbers on the calculator and come up with immediate pricing schemes that suit their income goals, many will it to be too good to be true.
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However, out of the 10 people actively working on launching their own web hosting, 8 fail within the first month. You might wonder what could cause such a phenomenon. Here are the top 3 mistakes many starter entrepreneurs make in the web hosting business.

#1 Failing to Come Up With a Web Hosting Business Plan

A web hosting business plan is not just a business plan. The technical aspect of the business requires solid knowledge of what it takes to compete against the big companies out there. If you offer modest features for a high price, you'll find customers shying away from your website in a jiffy.

Knowing what a business entails means that you'll provide the best service level within your budget range. Your web hosting business plan should be a balance between rock solid technical features and an affordable competitive price.

#2 Failing to Understand Web 2.0 Dynamics

Everyone's obsessed with Web 2.0. The term has become a wide umbrella in which everything cool and trendy falls under. The majority of customers perceive Web 2.0 in terms of design, therefore; your company's website should reflect such a thing. Why you may ask? It is simply because anything that does not go with their idea of Web 2.0 will seem to be obsolete.

To ensure your web hosting company's survival, you must go with the flow. Obtain a Web 2.0 look; facilitate Web 2.0 applications and features in your hosting plan.

#3 Failing To Present Relevant Bonuses

Who wants 1000 free templates without any beginner help on how to install them on your website? Why would your customer need free flash setups when everyone's going for simple CSS?

Presenting relevant, easy to operate bonuses is the key to keep your customers coming back to your website. Another branch of this mistake is failing to recognize that advertising is hot at the moment. Everyone's looking to invest in Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing credits. Why not offer free Google and Yahoo credits as a bonus? This will definitely lure a customer or two.

Even better, you can present your customers with free easy to use templates that are Adsense ready or come with coded sponsor spots. This will save your customers the hassle of surfing the web for hours to find such templates.

Ideally, a starter web hosting company should seek to compete with the better offers out there. Keeping your eye on the market's needs, trends, and prices will keep you in the game for years and years to come

Domain Name Registration

In order for people to view a website, they need to enter its address, also known as its domain name or URL The characters typed into the address bar are normally a phrase that indicates something about the site be it a description, business or site name or a word that indicates the same things. The domain names offered at no cost by web hosting companies and those offered by companies which specialize in cheap domain names have a big difference between them. The domain names offered at no charge by hosting companies are not usually new domains but are in the form of a third level on their own domain names.

The free web hosting company's domain name is part of the address for a new third level domain, so you will need to type that in as well. A third level domain name is that the name is long and often tricky to recall which can be a big problem with them. Of course buying your own unique name will make the domain shorter and easier to remember. Finding a low cost one is easily possible as there are many cheap domain name companies all competing for business.

The range in price for cheap domain names varies from free to approximately seven dollars. However, if a free domain name is worth anything then it will usually be included in the price of web hosting, so in effect the customer is still paying for it. Paying for a domain name usually means that you can get it without a bundles web hosting package. You can pay anything from one dollar up for a paid for domain name.

The method of registration for a domain name makes no distinction between prices paid for the domains, so a cheap domain name is just as effective. Making sure that the domain name required is still available is usually the first thing to do. The customer must enter the name they are looking for into a certain text box and then decide on and select the extension chosen. The page will then tell them is the domain name is taken or not, if it is then they can purchase it, if not they will have to decide on a different name. Suggested alternatives will often be offered if the desired domain name is already in use.

Crooked companies sometimes make using cheap domain names a bad idea - if a person uses a crooked company then they may never actually receive their domain name. The company will tell the customer that the domain will not be active immediately and that they will have to wait for some time. Unfortunately after waiting a few days the domain is still not active, and it is no use emailing an unscrupulous company as they won't do anything.

A good first step to making sure that a person hasn't found a fraudulent company is to check with the better Business Bureau and find out if the cheap domain name company is registered. The organization that makes sure registered businesses are operating legitimately is the Better Business Bureau. Checking for traditional land based contact information such as an address and telephone number is a good second step to ensure that the cheap domain name company is not fake. Another place to check is message boards that are dedicated to webmasters, ask if anyone knows if the company has a good or bad reputation.

If no one has ever dealt with the company you may want to get alternative suggestions for a reputable company. But, if a cheap domain name company is reputable then there is not other reason the avoid getting a discounted domain name with them. A legitimate and reputable cheap domain name company is an excellent find and should be taken advantage of, the domain will work the same way no matter what was paid for it.