Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Top 10 Webhosting Sites

How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Provider

 

Without high-quality web hosting, your ability to run a successful website is going to be seriously hindered. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to choose a web hosting provider at random. If there's a situation that calls for some thought, consideration and research, choosing a web hosting provider is it. There's a dizzying array of web hosting providers competing for your business. How can you pinpoint the best one? Start by keeping the following points in mind.


Technical Specifications

 

The first thing you need to do when shopping for a webhost is to evaluate your disk space and bandwidth needs. If your site will feature a lot of graphics, dozens of pages and get a lot of traffic, you're going to need decent amounts of bandwidth and disk space. Unlimited plans are available, and they make life easier. If your site is going to be simple and not generate a huge amount of traffic, you should be able to get away with smaller amounts of disk space and bandwidth.
Keep compatibility in mind, too. In the excitement of looking for a web hosting provider, you might overlook one critical thing: the type of operating systems that are supported. You're not going to want to switch operating systems, so double-check this point before settling for a provider. 

Reliability and availability are critical characteristics to consider when shopping around for web hosting. The best web hosting providers offer availability rates of 98 and 99 percent. This is frequently referred to as “Uptime”. It's easy to make such claims, though, so make sure to see if they make good on their promises.
Security is also an essential concern. Choosing a web hosting provider without learning about its available security features is a big mistake. Things like firewalls, daily backups and user authentication should all be included. It's also nice to receive notifications whenever changes are made because they can alert you to suspicious activity.


Get a Feel for Pricing & Value

 

Some people choose web hosting providers strictly based on price. That's not a great strategy, but you should definitely take pricing into consideration. The best providers offer options for every budget. In some cases, signing up for long subscriptions will qualify you for extra discounts.
Also, try to leave yourself room to grow. It's great to choose a web hosting plan that suits your site's current needs. With any luck, though, your site will grow and expand over time. Your needs could change. Switching to a new web hosting provider is a major hassle, so look for one that offers scalable plans. In other words, you should be able to upgrade to another plan easily if necessary. Low prices are always great, but if the low price comes with limits on space or bandwidth, you want to make sure the deal is really worth it. 

In the same vein, you may want to note how many e-mail accounts are provided. Whether you think you'll need dozens of email addresses or not, it's nice to have the option to create as many as possible. In most instances, more expensive plans include larger numbers of email addresses. This feature isn't very important to some people, but it is critical to others.


Always Investigate Support and Customer Service 

 

Even if you're a whiz at setting up websites, it's nice to know that help is available whenever you need it. Confirm that the web hosting provider has 24/7 support. Make sure that there are several ways to get support too. The most reliable providers provide support through email, phone and online chat.
Great customer support includes customer freedom. Review their policies to ensure that you have a clear money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with their product. After you've narrowed things down to just a few candidates, search for online reviews about each one. Ideally, the reviews should come from real people. Testimonials on web hosting providers' websites don't count. It shouldn't take long to get a feel for how a web hosting provider treats its customers.


Look for Extras 

 

In addition to providing the basics like bandwidth and disk space, a good web hosting plan will include at least a few extras. If you're running an online store, look for providers that offer e-commerce solutions. If you'd like to be able to perform fast and easy updates, look for a provider that offers content management systems. Make sure that you'll have access to statistics about your site too.
As tempting as it may be to just choose a web hosting provider and get on with your life, it's better to take your time. By doing so, you'll be able to find a provider that you can stick with for the long haul.


Here's a list of the Top 10...

RANKWEB HOSTPRICEMONEY BACKFEATURESReliability
Score
CUSTOMER RATINGSMORE INFO
iPage
$1.00AnytimeSpace: Unlimited
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Free

iPage Review
Web.com
$0.5030-DaySpace: 300GB
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Free

Web.com Review
Justhost.com
$2.25AnytimeSpace: Unlimited
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Free

Justhost Review
Network Soutions
$ 0.9930 DaysSpace: Unlimited
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Free


NetworkSolutions Review
Host Gator
$3.96AnytimeSpace: Unlimited
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Added Fee


Hostgator Review
Hub
$1.9590 DaysSpace: Unlimited
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Free


WebHostingHub Review
1 & 1
$2.4930 DaysUnlimited Space
Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited Domains
99.9% Uptime Guarantee


1&1 Review
Go Daddy
$1.99Anytime Traffic: Unlimited
Space: 100GB
Domain: Free


Godaddy Review
Bluehost
$3.95AnytimeSpace: Unlimited
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Free


Bluehost Review
Inmotion
$3.4990 DaysAvailable Upgrade
Space: Unlimited
Traffic: Unlimited
Domain: Free


inmotion Review

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Advertising on Youtube

Video is a huge part of our daily lives. Think about the last time you let a day go by without watching some type of video — on television or the Internet.
People aren’t just watching funny cat videos, either. Many businesses are harnessing the power of video to drive awareness and sales.
Because Google owns YouTube, video ads on YouTube are handled through AdWords. And they’re surprisingly easy to use. Here’s how your business can get started with YouTube ads.

Decide On Your Campaign Goals

Don’t just jump on the video ad bandwagon because everyone else is doing it. Think about what you’d like to get out of it. Do you have a complicated product or service that’s more easily explained with video than with text? Are you launching a new product and want to generate awareness? Are you hoping to drive sales via video?
Video ads can work for all of the above scenarios, but as with any paid search campaign, a little advance planning will help make your campaign a success.

Learn the Basics

YouTube ads run on a cost-per-view basis, not cost-per-click. While you can and should drive traffic via YouTube ads, you’re charged every time someone watches your video for a minimum amount of time — usually 25 percent of the video length.
In many ways, therefore, YouTube is a branding or awareness exercise, rather than a direct-response medium. You can certainly drive leads or sales from YouTube, but you’ll pay whether or not the viewer ever reaches your website.
That’s not to say that YouTube won’t drive conversions, but your success metrics may be different than for regular PPC campaigns.

Targeting

One nice feature of YouTube ads is targeting options. Targeting for YouTube is similar to the Google Display Network. You can target by interest, topics, keywords, demographic characteristics like age and gender, or a combination of these. Remember, YouTube has a huge audience. You’ll want to narrow down your audience choices. Think about who you’d like to see your ad, and target accordingly. But be aware that keyword targeting can severely limit your ad’s reach.

Where the Ads Appear

YouTube ads appear on YouTube. But they also appear on sites in the Google Display Network. That’s because YouTube ads have three formats: in-stream, in-display, and in-search.
In-stream ads appear as a pre-roll prior to another video.
In-stream ads play before YouTube videos.
In-stream ads play before YouTube videos.
In-display ads serve on YouTube, as well as on other sites in the Google Display Network, where a user has embedded a YouTube video. In-display ads can have one of three formats.
  1. In-display ads show on YouTube near similar videos.
    In-display ads show near similar videos.
    In-display ads show near similar videos.
  2. In-display ads also appear as an overlay on YouTube videos embedded on Google Display Network websites.
    In-display ads appear as overlays on embedded YouTube videos within the Google Display Network.
    In-display ads appear as overlays on embedded YouTube videos within the Google Display Network.
  3. Finally, in-display ads appear as video display ads on Google Display Network sites.
    In-display ads appear as video display ads on Google Display Network sites.
    In-display ads appear as video display ads on Google Display Network sites.
The third YouTube ad format is in-search. In-search ads appear in YouTube search results.
In-search ads appear in YouTube search results.
In-search ads appear in YouTube search results.
Ads appear in all three places. Keep that in mind as you craft your ad copy.

Set Up your Targets

A traditional pay-per-click campaign is organized by campaigns, ad groups, ads, and keywords. Ads are assigned to an ad group, and are triggered by any of the keywords in that group.
The YouTube campaign structure is a different. YouTube has campaigns, ads, videos, and targets. Campaigns are essentially the same as traditional PPC ads — this is where you’ll set geography, daily budgets, and such.
Videos are simply the videos you’re promoting. A single video can be assigned to multiple campaigns.
Ads couple your video with ad copy. Ad copy is basically the same as traditional PPC, with a headline, description, display URL, and destination URL.
Targets are the confusing part. You can target by interest, topics, keywords, demographic characteristics like age and gender, or a combination of any or all of these. Within a campaign, you’ll combine targets, ads, and videos to create what viewers will see.
Combine targets, ads, and videos to create what viewers will see.
Combine targets, ads, and videos to create what viewers will see.
You can trigger your ad via all targeting groups in a campaign, or only some of them. Experiment with different targeting options to see what works best.

Think About your Landing Page

With YouTube ads, you can send visitors to your YouTube channel page or to a landing page on your website. This is where your goals come into play. If you are trying to build awareness and grow your YouTube subscriber list, then sending visitors to your YouTube channel makes sense.
But if you’re going for lead generation, you’ll want to send visitors to an optimized page on your website, where they can complete a conversion.
The nice thing about YouTube ads is that while not everyone will click through or even watch the entire video, you’ve still gained exposure to your brand via the ads.

Link your YouTube and AdWords Accounts

Linking your YouTube and AdWords accounts enables you to see additional statistics that aren’t available if accounts aren’t linked.
Linking YouTube and AdWords accounts provides additional statistics.
Linking YouTube and AdWords accounts provides additional statistics.
If possible, you’ll want to link your accounts to take advantage of these powerful features.

Create a Video Overlay

Once you’ve added a video to an AdWords campaign, you have the option of creating a video overlay. This is a block of text that displays over your video every time someone views it. Clicks on video overlays are free.
Video overlays are created within YouTube, not AdWords. Log in to your YouTube account and navigate to your YouTube channel. Find the Video Manager in the dashboard.
Navigate to the YouTube Video Manager in your account.
Navigate to the YouTube Video Manager in your account.
You’ll see all of your uploaded videos on the Uploads page. Find the video for which you’d like to create an overlay, and click Edit.
Click "Edit" on the video you wish to create an overlay for.
Click “Edit” on the video you wish to create an overlay for.
From there, click “Call-to-Action Overlay,” and you’ll be able to edit your ad copy.
Select the "Call-to-Action Overlay" tab to create your ad copy.
Select the “Call-to-Action Overlay” tab to create your ad copy.
YouTube video ads may seem confusing, but once you get the hang of them, they’re a great way to promote your business, generate awareness, and create leads.