Are any companies advertising through webhostingstuff.com and their PPC setup, do you like it? Are you getting good returns? Writing an article and was hoping for some feedback...

Yes!

Deposited $50 got $50 free
Produced about 2 customters!

Our experience was a little different: we spent $100 and got nothing. Most folks I've talked to have not had luck with WHS, as it's overstuffed with entries. You'd do better with Google AdWords.

$100 is not really an big enough budget to get an accurate representation of the return on an advertising budget.

Our experience was a little different: we spent $100 and got nothing. Most folks I've talked to have not had luck with WHS, as it's overstuffed with entries. You'd do better with Google AdWords.

Same experience here. We can't compete with hosts that hugely oversell, so any advertising that goes up against those hosts doesn't really do much for us.

I suppose if you were one of "those" hosts, it might work for you.

--Tina

$100 is not really an big enough budget to get an accurate representation of the return on an advertising budget.Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't....for us, it was. We can spend $100 in other mediums and get a great ROI. Even something at 1% is better than nothing - and nothing is what we got through our ads on WHS.

Same experience here. We can't compete with hosts that hugely oversell, so any advertising that goes up against those hosts doesn't really do much for us.

I suppose if you were one of "those" hosts, it might work for you.

--TinaThe funny thing is, we were one of "those" hosts, but there are just so many of them jockeying for ad space, that folks are only clicking on the ads for hosting companies they already recognize anyway.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't....for us, it was. We can spend $100 in other mediums and get a great ROI. Even something at 1% is better than nothing - and nothing is what we got through our ads on WHS.I think his point was some companies spend $100 bucks per customer so maybe 1000 to spend would be better for getting a good view on how many clients it could bring in, but ya for hosts who have lower acquisition costs its hard to test that big.

Ok, I see what you're saying.

Our experience was a little different: we spent $100 and got nothing. Most folks I've talked to have not had luck with WHS, as it's overstuffed with entries. You'd do better with Google AdWords.

i tried about $300 in total, and got nothing, got visitors of course but thats it.

i tried about $300 in total, and got nothing, got visitors of course but thats it.Did you do a special landing page for those visitors? Would probably do a lot better if you landing them on a page with something like you probably saw us on WebHostingStuff, and highlight your reviews, uptime, stuff that would appeal to that audience.

Using landing pages can increase conversions a lot, as well as tweaking and split testing new ones.

true may try that, infact it was $420 i spent on them i just logged in. I may give it another go at some point.

Same experience: Paid $100, didn't bring one single sale. Every experience I read about webhostingstuff is similar: it's almost a scam.

Same experience: Paid $100, didn't bring one single sale. Every experience I read about webhostingstuff is similar: it's almost a scam.Its not a scam, see above for people that are getting some customers, also $100 is not enough to test with, do you know how many clicks you got for that?

bwb, yes I do: for $100 I got 48 clicks at $2.08 average cost per click. Not a single sale.
It may be not a scam, but it feels very close to it: Two or three giant web hosts clog the top list paying $10 or more for a click. Small companies cannot compete with that, you stay at the bottom of the list, get a few clicks and no sales.
To me it's a total waste of money because the way the bidding is setup is unfair: it's only profitable to the richest.

bwb, yes I do: for $100 I got 48 clicks at $2.08 average cost per click. Not a single sale.
It may be not a scam, but it feels very close to it: Two or three giant web hosts clog the top list paying $10 or more for a click. Small companies cannot compete with that, you stay at the bottom of the list, get a few clicks and no sales.
To me it's a total waste of money because the way the bidding is setup is unfair: it's only profitable to the richest.Ya hard to compete with big guys, if you dont have a huge budget have to do a lot of work tweaking and split testing your web pages. I would try it again and tweak your page a lot, making a landing page aimed at the visitors who visit webhostingstuff, example the page they land on says looking for a host with good reviews and have links to third party sites that show your reviews, give them your info like address and 1800, ask them to call you or just ask for a 1 form box to have you call them. All these things increase conversions, live chat does as well.

48 clicks is not definitive at all though... if you can get 1 visitor every 50 that would be awesome as that is a 2% conversion rate with that limited set of numbers to measure with.

give them your info like address and 1800, ask them to call you or just ask for a 1 form box to have you call them. All these things increase conversions, live chat does as well.

48 clicks is not definitive at all though... if you can get 1 visitor every 50 that would be awesome as that is a 2% conversion rate with that limited set of numbers to measure with.

Thanks for these good advises, it makes sense.
Actually, the webmaster at webhostingstuff told me something like this: If you set your bid at $1, you get 100 click for $100, it takes much longer, but at least out of the 100 clicks, you get more chances to have a sale.
Yet, I 'm not sure if I should give it a second try...

Thanks for these good advises, it makes sense.
Actually, the webmaster at webhostingstuff told me something like this: If you set your bid at $1, you get 100 click for $100, it takes much longer, but at least out of the 100 clicks, you get more chances to have a sale.
Yet, I 'm not sure if I should give it a second try...
Cool, are you doing a landing page? what kind of steps do you take to encourage them to sign up?

Well, no specific landing page, they arrive on the comparison chart, with a detailed list of features in each plan. I assumed that was sufficient, but after your post, I'm considering adding at least a live chat if that really makes a difference.

Well, no specific landing page, they arrive on the comparison chart, with a detailed list of features in each plan. I assumed that was sufficient, but after your post, I'm considering adding at least a live chat if that really makes a difference.
Might want to do 2 of them if you have the budget, just do a search on google for landing pages tips

http://www.google.com/search?q=landing+pages&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

might even try soemthing like a video or audio landing page

put $500 over a period of a few months.... very few accounts. To me it is not worth it. better invest elsewhere... If you want my advice, invest where it is not per click, just a solid link (of course a good site that you think shopper go to)
One I could think of is whreviews.com would probably be ideal, less competitors listed on there, good traffic, and many of those are probably shoppers.

I had a few signups for $300 worth of advertising, hostgator always stays #1 and they offer the craziest amount for under $10 per month.

I had a few signups for $300 worth of advertising, hostgator always stays #1 and they offer the craziest amount for under $10 per month.Once you have cash flow its about long term growth, if you already have a stable income you can easily put the profit back into the company...

$100 is not really an big enough budget to get an accurate representation of the return on an advertising budget.
Time to follow up on this statement.

So far, lets do the math of everyone who posted in this thread.
digitalrack: $100, 2 customers.
The Stealthy One: $100, 0 customers.
AH-Tina: $100, 0 customers.
CyberHostPro: $420, 0 customers.
franckk: $100, 0 customers.

OnlineRackL $500, very few accounts.
WN-Ali $300, few signups.

Total Spent: $1620, 20 signups tops.

Wish I would have known this before we deposited our money.

On a side note, since making our deposit I have noticed at least 4 major errors with their website and have pointed them out. To date, 1 has been dealt with.

Time to follow up on this statement.

So far, lets do the math of everyone who posted in this thread.
digitalrack: $100, 2 customers.
The Stealthy One: $100, 0 customers.
AH-Tina: $100, 0 customers.
CyberHostPro: $420, 0 customers.
franckk: $100, 0 customers.

OnlineRackL $500, very few accounts.
WN-Ali $300, few signups.

Total Spent: $1620, 20 signups tops.

Wish I would have known this before we deposited our money.

On a side note, since making our deposit I have noticed at least 4 major errors with their website and have pointed them out. To date, 1 has been dealt with.Hah good post, but you have to remember a lot of those people didn't optimize, didn't do landing pages etc, you can do these things and get better ratios.

Hah good post, but you have to remember a lot of those people didn't optimize, didn't do landing pages etc, you can do these things and get better ratios.
I wouldn't make that assumption just yet, only 2 people have responded saying they haven't optimized.

bwb, we didn't optimize, but we also didn't do anything differently from other advertising methods, which have brought far better results. :)

bwb, we didn't optimize, but we also didn't do anything differently from other advertising methods, which have brought far better results. :)Good point I stand corrected, have you taken a look at what the visitors might be looking for and how you compare? Here are my ideas....

I would guess visitors from webhostingstuff are big comparison shoppers and probably checking out multiple hosts, how could you customize to appeal to them? Here are some random thoughts...

1. when they visit your page add in php to have a box say welcome visitors from webhostingstuff, we are a dependable host, we might cost a bit more but provide more and link to a list of 10 reasons to choose you that is well written and to the point.

2. Design, does it stand out enough or just look like another host? If you have live chat is it available?

3. Brand - hard to do as most hosts don't have that reach and that might be something to help these people in their buying chioce....

just some random thoughts.

Hmmm, those are some good ideas. I especially like the first one, as that's not hard to do, and it definitely adds a high level of personal feeling for the visitor.

Interesting thread thanks for sharing your experience.

Hmmm, those are some good ideas. I especially like the first one, as that's not hard to do, and it definitely adds a high level of personal feeling for the visitor.
Ya im working on doing something like it where it adds an info bar if they came off a search to help them find what they are looking for, so if they came from webhostingstuff i try to have a content box to meet that, if they came from a google search for cpanel help i try to meet that need... a lot of manual setup but worth it...

LOL, i signed up on this webhostingstuff last night. I chatted with whoever who gave me $50 free for $50 deposited. So i put this too the test. $100 in my account and i set my bid to 1.25.

Within a few hours between 1am and 3 am there were 15 clicks. Not one sale but i noted something odd. The user comes to the site and never loads another page. Just comes to the index page then leaves. A few minutes later another click. Same deal.

I watched the referring URL in my chat program then clicked on last 20 pages. None of the clicks ever visit any other page except the index.php. I wonder, whats so special on our index.php that nobody would want to load another page.

After 20hrs we have 34 clicks. Only 3 clicks ever went to our unix page. All the rest of the clicks arrive to the index.php and then leave within 60 seconds.

This is got to be a click scam. Iv seen this occur with Ah-ha.com. After spending hundreds of dollars we proved to them that they were defrauding people. EIther they have an automated bot visiting the sites to burn peoples clicks or they are paying people to do it.

Its a big scam. As i see it, webhostingstuff.com is another one of those scams.

As of right now and for about 8hrs they have been completely down.