Thinks we want you to know (and "they" don't).
Web Hosting
Can you make money with a web site? You've heard others claim to have made a fortune on the Internet. Can this be true? What are they not telling you?
The truth is, unless you sell computer or Internet related products or services you may not fair well at all. And even if you do sell these types of products and services, there is a lot of competition that you may find it very hard to find your niche in the market.
Only about 1% of your visitors (using search engines) will actually place an order. That means if you want one order a day, you will have to have at least 100 visitors a day that are looking for your product. This is hard to do. You have to be listed in the top three search engine results of the customer's keyword search to even be visited. Unless you are talented with search engines, and have the knowledge to place high on them, you may have to purchase this knowledge from outside marketing businesses.
Search engines are the best method of advertisement because people who use a search engine are looking for the product or service that you provide. They may be ready to order, and you won't have to do as much to make a sale. Listings are also generally free.
Paid banner advertisements on a site that gets a lot of hits can cost thousands of dollars a month, and the person who sees your banner is probably not even looking for that type of service. You're going to have to sell it to them. First with the banner, and then with your web site.
So why should you get a web site, if you can't expect to make any money from it? It's still a great way for people to find out about your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the comfort of their own home. Even when you're closed, people can find out where your business is located, your business hours, what you sell, and why they should buy from you.
The best thing to keep in mind is to use your web site to enhance your business's presence in the market, not to create an entire new presence.
Web Design
Although professional web design services seem expensive, you should consider using them to ensure that you get that professional image that you're looking for. A web site designed by an amateur, or even one designed by a professional designer is going to look a lot different than the one you'll get from a good professional web designer.
Web sites do not publish themselves. If you do not have someone who is already a capable web developer, we recommend hiring either bitServe or another third party for the development of your site.
Our technical support department can only provide assistance regarding the operational status of your web space and email. We can also answer questions regarding the functionality of the web and email servers. However, we generally will be unable to assist you with the publishing of your web site, the configuration of ftp or email clients, or the back end programming of your site, unless it is done under contract.
This isn't specific to bitServe. You will find that all web hosts only provide web hosting services in exchange for the web hosting fees. Most web hosts don't even offer web development work if you were willing to pay them for it.
Other Needs
Although we believe that it is always a good idea to outsource for your web hosting needs, it is not a small decision that you should take lightly. You should treat it just as you would when shopping around for office space. You need to talk to the heads of all departments to discuss their needs, and ensure that these needs are going to be met by the service provider that you are going to use for your web and email.
There are several things that you need to review, before you acquire your web space.
- What intellectual property problems are you going to encounter when you begin to publish content that will be publicly available to the Internet community?
- What types of privacy policies and disclaimers are you going to require regarding information that is stored on or passes through the web and email server?
- What types of human resource policies will you need to implement regarding usage of orginizational email and web services?
- How will these policies be published, enforced, and amended as needed?
- Will your organization require special insurance to deal with potential loss from things such as civil suit, or unexpected downtime?
- Who will be responsible for publishing your web site and keeping it up to date?
- How much training will your personnel require to effectively utilize your email and web services as you had planned?
Please shop around. Use the search engines to check out your other options, but be wary of plans and pricing that seem too good to be true. We find that approximately half of the people that we communicate with that have shopped around, come back to us when they're ready to actually make their purchase. This is good enough for us. We want you to be informed so that you're happy when you select us as your service provider.
I hope that this information is useful to you in developing your Internet marketing plan.
Sincerely,
Mark Adams
Bitserve Systems
Bringing the world
to you™ since 1997
bitServe is the only web host in the industry still offering prorated refunds and a full money back uptime guarantee! We want to earn your continued business, not lock you into a contract.
We are experts at maintaining the speed, reliability, and accessibility that your web site deserves, so that you never worry.
When contacting bitServe, you will always communicate with a competent and friendly person empowered to immediately take care of all of your needs.