10 Reasons cPanel Hosting is the Best

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

There are many hosting companies tooting their horns these days. However, if they do not have cPanel with Fantastico, they are pointless and not worth your hard earned money.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that you should never spend more than $65 per year on hosting, and that is if you are getting premium hosting. Basic should be no more than $50 per year. Period. Oh, and avoid builders at ALL costs!! If you want easy, go with a free WordPress or Blogger blog.

10 Reasons cPanel Hosting is the Best

1. They Offer More than the Average Host. With cPanel you are getting more than just hosting. The platform is user-friendly and comes with video tutorials. A great option for the savvy webmaster and/or a beginner.

2. Email Accounts. Depending on the plan you purchase, at least 1 email account should be included. Not only do you get email accounts, you also get at least a couple different choices on retrieving webmail, optional forwarding, mailing list and more. With the webmail, there are signature options and sending options as well. Tons of mail features come with cPanel hosting.

3. Superior File Manager. Your files are in good hands with many options, including; back up abilities, ftp accounts, and more. Once in your file section it is extremely easy to manage. There is even a WYSIWYG editor for creating website pages…and many other helpful features for files and website pages.

4. Awesome Log Features. One of the best parts of cPanel hosting is the stats and logs that come with it. It has a bandwidth checker so you can keep track of bandwidth usage. It also comes with error log and several different stat counters for website traffic. The traffic stats are great and show you several different demographics and other important information on your visitors.

5. Security Features. You can password protect pages, have hotlink protection, ip deny manager and more.

6. Domain Options. Again, depending on what package you purchase, you can have add on domains, parked domains, subs and redirects. How many depends on package.

7. Databases. No matter who you get cPanel hosting through, one database should be included. Otherwise, it is not worth it. Databases can be used for fantastic features, forums, blogs, and much more.

8. Software Services. This is bar far one of the best parts of cPanel hosting. Depending on the company you choose to get hosting with (and I recommend you shop), you will have several features to choose from. A few of them may be…

Fantastico. It’s all free and included with hosting. However, you must make sure you have enough databases for what you will be wanting to accomplish. With fantastico, you have easy access to many features, including; free forums like SMF, WordPress and other blog platforms, classifieds, content management, ecommerce options, image galleries, website templates and building options, Wiki, PHP form generator, auctions and much more…all at the click of your mouse!
RV Site Builder. This is a great option for beginners. Instead of paying a ton of money ($20+ per month or more) for a builder host, RV site builder is included with most cPanel hosting companies. Very easy to use. Tons of templates and customizing features. It is a very user-friendly software.
PHP Pear Packages. PEAR packages are collections of functions that allow you to perform tasks in PHP.
Perl Modules functions and installer. Perl modules are collections of functions that allow you to perform tasks in Perl.
cPAddon Scripts. These are great for adding chat, bulletin boards, carts and more. Check with your host for more information.
CGI Center. Pre-installed scripts for you to use with your site. Some examples are; random HTML generator, advanced guestbook, java clock and much more.

9. Advanced Features. As if cPanel hosting did not come with enough features, you will also find things like; Apache handlers, error pages, index manager, Cron Jobs, Network tools and many more goodies depending on your host.

10. The Administrator Back Office Set Up. Not only is it easy to navigate, but there are admin features that make it easy for you to know what you have and your stats as well.

Search. Can’t find what you need in your cPanel. They provide a search function.
Frequently visited area. This is a great help if you mainly visit your mail, stats, and a couple other areas in your cPanel. It is like having a “quick links” section.
Stat Section. I am not talking about website traffic. I am talking about an admin stat section. Things like how many databases, email accounts, etc that you have, versions, bandwidth usage, disk space, and more.

As you can see, there are many many reasons that cPanel hosting is the best option for hosting website or blog. Do some research and find the best company with the most reasonable prices. Make sure you know what you are getting with your cPanel and be sure Fantasitco is included, and RV site builder if you will need a user friendly builder system. Personally, I think a WordPress blog through the Fantastico will do the trick.

Do not forget that more than $50 a year for basic and $65 a year for premium hosting is a rip off. Period.

If you would like more information on cPanel hosting at reasonable pricing, click here.

Filed Under: Featured, Web Hosting Tagged With: Frugal, Web Hosting, Websites

Promoting Content is an Important Part of Increasing Traffic

July 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Writing original content is vital for designing a successful website or blog. New content must be added on a regular basis to keep it active. If a site is neglected, PR ranking and traffic will be lost and hard to get back.

One thing to remember: writing and posting the content is only part of the work involved in promoting a website. The content itself needs to be promoted.

10 Tips to Promote Content for Free

Start a Newsletter. A mailing list is extremely helpful. It allows the owner of the list to send out weekly or monthly updates about website, specials and new content. It also keeps business owners in touch with their readers and clients. Note: Only including partial articles in the newsletter will encourage readers to keep reading the piece on site. They may wind up reading more than the article that got them there!
Tweet about it. Twitter is growing in popularity every day. Business owners, bloggers and webmasters should jump on this lucrative social networking bandwagon while they have the chance. Who knows what the next “in thing” will be! Read more about promoting on Twitter here.
Digg It and Others like it. These types of sites are designed to get the word out about new and top notch content. Joining these free sites and using them to promote content is a must for getting the word out about a website and it’s content. A few of the good ones are; digg.com, plurk.com, buzz.yahoo.com, delicious.com, reddit.com and stumbleupon.com.
Facebook. Another great place to network and connect with other business owners is to have a facebook account. It should be used for more than just connecting with old highschool friends. Using it to connect with others in business is very savvy. Starting a fan page is also a great way to get the word out about new content. Posting regular updates on facebook will bring in more traffic and new readers.
Submit Content to Article Directories. It is important to have a good authors box with 1-2 links back to writers websites. After 30 days, sending original content to article directories, makes it available for others in the same niche. It is a great tool to get free back links.
Install Social Plug Ins. WordPress is by far the best blogging platform in this writers opinion. They have fabulous plug ins to help readers promote what they read. Every blog owner should have social links in the footer of their articles. It gives readers the ability to tweet about great posts they read, or at the very least give it a thumbs up on sites like digg!
SEO. Always make sure articles have good titles, meta tags, h1 & h2 headings, proper key word usage and tags. This helps search engines promote the articles, and index them properly so potential readers can find them! Proper SEO is a vital key for increasing traffic. Tip for WordPress Bloggers: Install All In one SEO plug in.
Encourage and Respond to Comments. If an article receives a comment, respond to the comment. Encouraging conversation is the site owners job. Asking colleagues and friends to read and comment on articles is a great way to get conversations going. If a site is intriguing to readers they will come back, tell their friends and maybe even post about it on their site/blog!
Link to Articles. Visit other blogs and leave NON spam comments. Instead of linking back to home page of site, linking to actual articles on site will help get the word out about the content. This is also a great tip for forum signatures. Using the title of article with link is also a good way to intrigue potential readers and make them want to click and follow.
Guest Blog. Being a guest blogger is another free way to promote a website. In the authors box can be a couple links back to articles that are popular or new. Guest blogging for website with high ranking and same niche is the key to making the most of this tip.

Promoting a website is an ongoing task. There are no “quick fixes” to increase traffic. It takes hard work and determination to create popular websites.

Filed Under: Article Marketing, Blog, Blogging, Featured, Marketing, SEO/Traffic, Social Networking Tagged With: Article Marketing, Blogging, Marketing and Promotion, SEO/Traffic, Social Networking

One Change to WordPress Blog Can Help You Rank Better with Google

June 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

There are many things that must be done in order to obtain a better ranking with the top search engines like Google. However, one change can make a world of difference.

First, if you do not have WordPress self hosted already, I highly recommend it. I have done it all…builders, html, blogger, you name it. In the end a self hosted WordPress blog is the best all around. Period. (Click Here if you want some help with hosting or design)

A WordPress blog allows you to do so many things easily. One of them is to optimize your site for search engines.

One Change for Better SEO on WordPress

Simple…USE the SEO tools that are provided and available!

What are they and How?

1. Download the all in one SEO plugin. Follow the simple directions and you will be in a much better position.

2. Use categories to the fullest. When you create a new category, add proper keywords to description area. Just keywords separated by commas.

3. Repeat above with post tags.

4. Have good titles for posts. Make them at LEAST five words long.

5. Permalinks. Change them to custom or at least so they have actual names and not the default numbers.

Seriously, this one area of attention will make a world of difference. SEO is not the all in all of having a successful website or blog. However, it is one very important piece of the puzzle and this part of SEO is vital.

I have implemented them on all of my sites and am already seeing the fruits of my labor.

A website or blog is like a baby. It needs attention and care. If you give it those two things, you will be well on your way to success, and with success comes profit!

Filed Under: Blogging, Business Coaching, Featured, Google, SEO/Traffic, Web Design Tagged With: Blogging, Business Coaching, Google, SEO/Traffic, Web Design, Websites

Social Networking and Your Business

June 9, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Social Networking is extremely popular right now. It brings worlds together with a few mouse clicks and a keyboard…or even your phone! We can build friendships with people thousands of miles away. Social Networking is also something that can also be beneficial for businesses.

Tips to Use Social Networking for Business

Twitter.com. Twitter is one of the most popular forms of social networking. It is like having an IM with the world. You can use Twitter to promote your business, self or service. The key though is to be active and unselfish. You cannot make it all about you. Relationships must be built. People on Twitter are like the rest of the Internet world…they despise spammers! Do not DM links or self promos. Save that for your live tweets. I would suggest 1 self promo tweet for every 7-10 non business tweets. (follow me on Twitter here )

Ning and others like it. Ning.com is a social networking platform that is usually categorized in different niches. For example, you may find a network for writers. Writers will go there and discuss their crafts and share what they are doing. The cool thing about places like ning is that each “member” of the network gets their own page. On their page they can have links and other self promoting things for their business, product or service. Members also have their own blogs that other members can come and read. Again, you must be careful not to be labeled a spammer. Join the community and build relationships. Stay in your niche and never make it all about you.

Facebook. You can get similar results with MySpace. However, for a more professional look and mature audience, Facebook is the best choice for business promotion. Create a personal page and be sure and add your link. Find people you know and people to network with. You can also create a page specifically for your business. Facebook is another way that you have a platform to promote you and what you do. As with anything though, do not be a spammer. Build relationships.

Blogging. Blogging can also be a form of social networking if you are doing it correctly. You can use your blog to promote what you do 100%. Make it interesting and fun though. Build friendships with other bloggers. Link exchange. Comment….no spamming…actual involvement type comments on other blogs. Before you know it you will build a readership and clients for your business. Bloggers are very loyal to their own. If you do it right and make it less about you and more about building relationships, you are more likely t find success with blogging.

There are also various linkage sites and many more ways to get in the world of Social Networking. Google it. The point is to get involved. Participate and build relationships. Oh, and NEVER spam.

One last thing I would like to mention…all the social networking types listed above is FREE! You can join free and start your own for free. F-R-E-E! What better way to promote your business, product or service??

Filed Under: Business Coaching, Featured, Social Networking Tagged With: Business Coaching, Business Tips, Marketing and Promotion, Social Networking, Starting Out

Should Your Business Have a Blog

May 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Blogging has become extremely popular in this modern society. We have even advanced to vblogging (video blogs). The questions is: should your business have a blog? The answer to this questions is simple. Yes, I think that all businesses that have a website should have a blog as well.

Why Every Business with a Website Should have a Blog

Update Customers. A blog gives you the opportunity to let your customers know what is going on. You can tell them and visitors to your website about new products, upcoming sales and events, and much more. It is a great tool for any business, and in most cases free with cpanel hosting. Or definitely free through Blogger. However, keep in mind that it is best to have it on your own domain. Or, at the very least a redirect.

Build Traffic. Many people who obtain a website for their business think traffic is just going to come. Unfortunately, that is not true. Traffic is a fickle thing and requires patience, time, and the addition of good quality content on a regular basis. What better way to add content then with a blog? You can use it as a venue to write about your niche, product, targeted audience, etc.

Get Search Engine Attention. For some reason, blogs get crawled more and traffic just flows better to them. I know this first hand. I have actually transferred all of my websites from a CSS format to WordPress (self hosted). Since I did this, all of my sites are doing much better traffic wise. WordPress is a blogging platform that allows you to have all the benefits of a blog and and a website all in one.

Build Contacts. The blogging world is a huge and loyal community. If you run a good blog and update regularly, you will begin to have regular readers and people to exchange links with and who will tell others about your site/product. Free advertising.

Reviews. Trade reviews with other bloggers and business owners. You scratch their back and they will scratch yours. Keep it in your niche, but not a direct competitor. Make sure you will be benefiting each other not competing.

As you can see, a blog is a great way for a business to promote itself, stay up to date, get noticed, share with customers, grow more business, gain quality niche traffic and create a steady flow of readerships. You will be doing yourself and your business a favor with a blog.

Filed Under: Blog, Blogging, Customer Service Tagged With: Blogging, Business Coaching, Business Tips, Marketing and Promotion

Twitterpated

May 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

No, I am not talking about Bambi and Friend Owl’s description of being love struck. LOL…well…maybe a little love struck! I am talking about Social Networking. Social Networking is in right now and Twitter is one of the many venues for it.

I love to Twitter. I use it to vent, share, network and promote. It’s FREE. A free way to advertise and promote. Amazing, huh?

Twitter really can be a useful tool in promoting your website or business. Twitter is like having a live mini IM/blog that can reach many people. It can be a great way to get the word out about your product or service. However, you need to make sure that you are not spamming your followers!

Post on it throughout the day stuff that is going on in your day. Work, family, news, etc. Then, when you do post a few “ads,” they will not seem like you are an ad crazy twitter spammer! LOL!

You can add Twitter right to your browser. I use Fire Fox, so I have Twitbin. It sits right to the left of my screen so I can see new posts from people I follow. And, so I can add a post when the mood arises. It is totally cool!

Pay attention to what is going on with the people you follow. Participate in conversations so that you are involved and not just a voyeur. If all you do is post about you, no one will be interested in you! Be a true blue twitter friend.

I have made many new friends on Twitter. If I never got twitterpated, I would not have met them!

So, get twittering! Oh, and feel free to follow me!

Filed Under: Featured, Marketing, Social Networking, Starting Out, Tips for Success, Web Design Tagged With: Business Coaching, Business Tips, Marketing and Promotion, Social Networking, Twitter

The Power of a Sale

May 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

In this uncertain economy, a good sale may be just what your business needs to increase profits. Having a sale will attract more customers and make you a viable option for those potential customers that may be on a tight budget.

Tips for Making a Sale Productive:

Promote: Never assume that people will just find your sale. Send out fliers, postcards and use word of mouth. If the Internet is used in your business, take advantage of social networking, viral marketing, email campaigns, advertising, etc. The point is tell the world you are having a sale!

Make it a Good One: If you are going to take the time to promote and have a sale. Make it worth your time and your potential customers. Go all out. Buy one get one free. Half off. Freebies with purchase. Free stuff attracts everyone! LOL! Make it big.

Be Creative: A good theme for your sale can work wonders. Use events going on around you to help you. Some examples are; Tax Cut sales, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter sales. You can also have holiday and anniversary sales. Think about your product and how you can use life and events to work with your sales.

Know your Customers: In order to have a productive sale, you need to know your customers. What do they like? What do they need? If you have a mailing list, ask them for feedback. Find out what your customers want in a sale!

Time: The sale cannot go on forever. So, make sure your potential customers know that this is a “limited time” event and they should jump on it while they can!

A good sale can be just what your business needs to get back into the game. Be creative, set yourself apart and cater to your customers. If you do, I am certain you should have success!

Filed Under: Blog, Business Coaching, Customer Service, Featured, Tips for Success Tagged With: Business Coaching, Business Tips, Customer Service

How to Conduct Target Market Research

April 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Every business should be doing it, but unfortunately they either aren’t doing it at all or aren’t doing it effectively. What am I talking about? Market research, that’s what. Without conducting detailed research about your target market, your business won’t reach it’s potential and will more than likely meet it’s demise.

In order to tell you HOW to conduct market research you must know what it is. In a nutshell, market research is research that you do in order to determine what it is that makes your customers buy. Here is a list of things that you can do to conduct market research that will tell you what you what your customers want and need so that you can make more sales and grow your business.

First, find the question or questions you want answers to. Be as specific as possible so that you have the answers you need. Going too broad may not really get to the answers you are really in search of. For instance, if you are thinking of adding a product to your line, is it something your target market is in need or want of? What would they most likely spend on a product or service such as the one you are asking about?

Take the questions and get your answers by doing the following:

Conduct a survey of current and potential customers.
Visit online forums and groups that include members of your market. Remember to build relationships in these groups. Don’t just go to the forums and post your survey or question.
Interview other business owners in your market.
Monitor business trends in your market by reading and watching various media outlets.
Research your competition by being a customer and/or inquiring about their products or services.
Mail or telephone interviews.
For those with online businesses, set up a test page revolving around the product or service you are thinking of offering. Give plenty of time to test the page and the traffic and activity of the visitors.

These are only a few of the ways you can conduct research for your target market. The key isn’t what research you do, it’s the fact that you are doing something to learn more about the habits of that market. By taking the time to find out more about the people you are targeting, you’ll come to realize that knowing those in your market is one of the best things you can do for you business.

Filed Under: Business Coaching, Marketing Tagged With: Business Coaching, Business Tips, Direct Sales, Internet, Market Research, Marketing and Promotion

Starting Your Own Home Business

April 4, 2009 By admin

By: Terri Seymour

OK, so you have researched the facts, weighed the pros and cons and have finally decided that a home business is right for you. But now you need to figure out what type of business you want and how to proceed with marketing this business.

There are many types of home businesses but not all of them are right for all people. You need to ask yourself these questions: Do I want to start my own business from scratch? Do I just want to join an MLM and sell for someone else? Do I want to sell physical products or digital products? Do I want to do all the work online or offline too? Do I want help with my business or do I want to go solo? Do I just want to become an affiliate and sell other people’s online products?

MLM/Direct Sales – The company you sell for is in control of how you run your business. You are paid a commission for sales and usually have to recruit a downline.

Distributorship – You are in control of your own business. You keep all profits and do not need to recruit a downline.

Digital Products - Selling digital products such as ebooks is done online and there is no need for an inventory, shipping or worrying about damaged goods.

Affiliate Programs - many people make a good online income just by selling other people’s products.

Service Provider - This would include such things as virtual assistant, party planner, pet sitter, etc.

These types of businesses can be combined to form one very successful business. Such as applying for a distributorship and then also offering ebooks on your online store site.

Once you have chosen your business and gotten all your permits, tax numbers, etc, you will need to start marketing your new business. There are countless ways to do this online and offline.

Offline Marketing

Offline marketing would include: business cards, flyers, attending your community events and networking, attending expos, craft fairs, trade shows, postcards, phone calls, newsletter advertising, door hangers, radio, fundraisers, school functions, catalog distribution, mailing lists, home parties, car magnets, brochures, seminars, yellow pages and more. Use your creativity to come up with your own unique marketing ideas.

Online Marketing

Marketing strategies online include: link exchanges, search engines, autoresponders, online auctions, email press release, online chats/seminars, ebooks, blogging, tutorials, ad swapping, ezine publishing, article marketing and much more!

To market your home business takes a lot of work, consistency, time and commitment. Handing out a couple business cards and throwing up a website will not suffice. Work as many as these marketing ideas as you can. Find out which ones really work for you and then expand on them. Then try more!

I want to make sure you understand that you cannot treat your business as a hobby. If you want a successful business with a full time income, you have to work your business full time. If you find one of these programs that claim you can make thousands a week for 5 minutes of work, (that actually work) please let me know. In the meantime, start using some of these ideas and get your business name out there!

Article Source: wahm-articles.com

About the Author: Terri Seymour has several years online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Read about these marketing strategies and more in her ebook, How to Market Your Home Business. Visit her site www.seymourproducts.com for this ebook and lots more resources for your home business. Subscribe to her ezine with free bonus report: 77 Ways to Get Traffic

Filed Under: Starting Out Tagged With: Business Coaching, Home Business, Internet, Marketing and Promotion, Starting Out

10 Reasons cPanel Hosting is the Best

10 Reasons cPanel Hosting is the Best

One Change to WordPress Blog Can Help You Rank Better with Google

One Change for Better SEO on WordPress

What are they and How?

Sponsored Reviews

Should Your Business Have a Blog

Why Every Business with a Website Should have a Blog

The Power of a Sale

Tips for Making a Sale Productive:

How to Conduct Target Market Research

Starting Your Own Home Business

SUBSCRIBE

Recent Posts