1. Site design is the first thing a prospective customer
sees!! I have seen some horrible designs for hosting companies.
If you think putting some text, links and a logo on a page
is enough, you will likely fail before you even realize.
You will also notice a lot of companies have a generic template
that can be found online at templetemonster or any other
temple site. Avoid these. It is very hard to develop a company
image when you look like 134,000 other hosting companies.
I suggest put a bit of effort and creativity into a well
designed "professional" looking home page for
your company. The bottom line is a new customer will not
even consider you as their host if they feel you are an
armature no matter how great or cheap your packages are.
2. Develop your website as a total package to it's clients.
Don't just present your hosting packages and leave it at
that. Offer tutorials, articles, support forums etc. These
additional services not only provide additional content
for you clients, but if developed correctly will bring additional
traffic to your site which will potentially lead to more
sales.
3. You MUST understand how search engines work. Over 90%
of your business will likely come directly from search engine
results. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to optimize
your site for search engines. You could have the greatest
hosting plan in the entire world, but if no one knows about
it, then it’s useless. Do a search on google for Search
Engine Optimization (SEO). You will find tons of great information
on how to create a website that is both user friendly and
search engine friendly. There are also a countless number
of companies out there who offer SEO services. Just be cautious
of their offers and do your research first
4. Find your niche. The hosting business
as a whole is a huge industry which is very competitive.
Your best chance at success is to simply find a market and
develop your business to cater to that specific niche. An
excellent example of this is who offer hosting and development
to those who operate online forums.
Maybe in the early 90’s the idea of “if you
build it they will come” might have been true. But
in the year 2005 the internet is a far more competitive
and complex. place To be successful today, you have to develop
a business plan which works from all angels. If you can
develop a hosting company which has a professional design,
some extra content, search engine friendly and which targets
a specific niche, you will have a far greater chance at
success Of course there are many other factors to consider
as well, but if you can master these four, everything else
should fall into place
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