The Basics of Website Promotion

Website promotion is, quite simply, the process of getting the word out about your site. Like any kind of marketing or promotional effort, website promotion requires planning and strategy.

Where to Start

Before jumping headfirst into site promotion (and, perhaps, even before building your site), you’ll want to think carefully about your target market and your site’s purpose. Who do you want to visit your site? What do you want those visitors to do when they get there? With so much information out there, and so many means available for website promotion, it’s tempting to dive in without testing the waters. Just as with more traditional forms of spreading the word, though, you want to figure out what you have to offer, and who will be most interested. Promotion should focus on bringing those visitors to your site who want or need whatever it is you have to offer.

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Basics of web hosting and what to look for

After deciding that you are going to have a website, you need two things, a domain name and a company to host it for you. Domain names are fairly cheap, you can go to www.godaddy.com where they sell them for $9.00 a year or sometimes, the web host provider will either sell them or give it to you with their plan.

The web hosting company is basically renting you space on their web servers. Whatever your website will be, a web hosting company will let anyone in the world view your site.

What To Look For

When shopping for a Web host, a couple of things you want to keep in mind: How fast are their servers, do they have good support and how is their uptime (meaning, how good are they at keeping your website up and running).

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The Basics of Starting Your Own Website

You will note from the title that this article is for the beginners. The very first thing to consider is what kind of software you will use. I admit, my personal favorite is Microsoft FrontPage. It is what is known as a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web site editor. It enables webmasters to create websites without knowing any HTML. Those of you who write HTML code like a second language will probably not care for it very much. The latest version, FrontPage 2003, has great improvements from the older versions, like the split screen which allows you to see the HTML code as you edit. Even if you don't write your own code, the more familiar you are with HTML, the better off you will be. FrontPage 2003 also lets you do a find and replace over your entire site. So if you made a mistake or want to change a link that is on all one thousand pages of your site, all you have to do is find the code and do a mass replace. Microsoft offers a 30 day trial CD if you would like to try it for free. Another cool web page editor, Macromedia's Dreamweaver, can be downloaded and used on a trial basis at Macromedia.com.

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Save $100 in 5 Minutes Backing Up Your Web Site?

Here's an easy way to backup your web site's files and database (worth thousands of dollars, no doubt) that costs $0 to learn and perform. It only takes seven easy steps.

You don't need to know a lot about how to use Unix or how to use databases like mySQL. The only real tool you need is a telnet client. Also, you need to know a few commands which I'll show you now. (You could even write the commands I'm about to give you on a cheatsheet.)

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Avoiding "Bad" Web Hosts

The Internet represents the most powerful communication revolution since the dawn of mankind.

Its communication power can literally create business empires faster and with less startup capital than in all human history.

Yet, with all this power at their fingertips, it amazes me that most businesses and entrepreneurs will put their business in jeopardy just to save a couple of bucks.

Would you build a luxury home on a foundation made for a double-wide trailer?

Would you mount a race car body and engine on a chassis built for a go-cart?

If not, then why would you try to build a legitimate online business to support your family and contribute to your livelihood using $4 a month hosting?

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ASP Web hosting

ASP web hosting refers to web hosting companies who provide support for ASP (Active Server Page). If you want a dynamic data-driven web site you may wish to embed ASP code into your web site’s HTML Pages. When a user is viewing a web site that is developed using ASP, the pages can change depending on the actions of the user. ASP code allows you to link your web pages to a database, where users can interact with the webpage by logging in and using their own personal settings or they can interactively place orders on your web site.

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How to Analyze Your Web Site Traffic (Part 3)

Web Traffic Analysis Software

These are programs that analyze your server logs and then create traffic reports accordingly. The quality of the reports generated will depend on what software you actually use. Some log analyzers are free and come preinstalled on many hosting accounts, while others can cost a good deal of money.

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How to Analyze Your Web Site Traffic (Part 2)

1. Counters – these are heavily used on web sites by newbies but appear unprofessional. It is very common to go to a page and see something like "You are visitor number 12345 to this page". These numbers cannot be trusted as the page designer has the ability to seed the base number or to alter the counter such that it adds more than 1 each time.

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How to Analyze Your Web Site Traffic

Getting traffic to your web site without analyzing it, is like being blindfolded in a crowd. You hear voices, but you don’t know which direction they are coming from or who they are. Without analyzing your web site traffic, it’s difficult to improve your web site marketing.

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All Web Hosts Are Not Created Equal

There are literally thousands of web hosting providers offering hundreds of solutions for businesses owners worldwide. However, choosing the right web hosting provider and having a clear understanding of what level of service your business requires can be a daunting task. Many people think that all web hosts offer the same level of service within a certain price point. This could not be further from the truth. Fundamentally web hosting is web hosting but when you compare apples to apples you will find a broad range of differences that may or may not be a detriment to your business. Surprisingly the same web host provider that charges $5/month may have a direct competitor that charges $10/month for a comparable service plan. Below are 3 simple steps to help you determine what provider will best fit for your needs and where to find them.

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