How useful is it for web hosting companies to offer free advertising vouchers to their potential clients? Such as adwords vouchers.

I ask because I am the owner of a startup advertising company, and I'm contemplating creating partnerships with webhosts to do just that. Sure, it brings me traffic by offering vouchers, but how much of a marketing tool is it for web hosts who offer these to their potential customers?

i think the more 'FREE stuff' you can package the better the outcome.

I've seen other webhosts give away Google, Yahoo or MS ad vouchers. Generally, these were hosts that were geared towards business and/or e-commerce. So I'd say that if they do it, then there must be some interest in it.

By the way, interesting idea and business model you have (I visited your site). :agree:

Thanks :) My company just went live literally last night, so we are still in startup mode, but I've been getting a flood of positive support about the concept. I think I'll give this voucher thing a try. It will slash 100% of my profits of course, but if it brings in users, then it is worth a try.

Good tip about contacting e-commerce and business geared webhosts.

Personally, I've seen hosts offering like $50 AdWords, Yahoo, and Microsoft advertising coupons, yet when you order the monthly package it's one of those "TGTBT (To good to be true)" scenarios all over again. Yet, not to mention they make it impossible to get my coupons, in my cases anyway when i've tried to claim them.

I see it with most Web hosting companies, as a form of overselling.
Just make a backup plan incase you loose too much profit.

Personally I believe the more free stuff that you will offer the better your conversion rates will turn out. More appealing offers will attract more customers.

This is how they work. You must have an adwords account etc. When they give the voucher the user has to signup as their referrer. This means the host company gets a residual income from this (in adwords i think it goes something like this - first time referrer pays 100$ you get 40$, you referrer more than 20 or something people in 6 months you get 2000$ or something not sure about the prices though). So this way they usually make back the money completely or partially. It is a gamble but people like the word FREE.
Let me know how it goes mate.

There would have to be more than signing up. Otherwise money would be lost on both parties if a user just signed up, but never posted and made money from adverts.

The hosts that offer these FREE Google, Yahoo and MSN Adcredits don't pay a dime to offer these to their clients. Infat, they get PAID large amounts if customers signup for them.

For example, my company offers Yahoo & MSN Credits. For yaho its $25 adcenter crdit and for MSN it's $75 adcenter credit that we offer the client.

Everytime the client signups, they can click a link to activate the Yahoo and MSN credits. Once they create an account, we get $100 referral from MSN and we get $30 referral from Yahoo. It's in simple terms, an affiliate program that Yahoo, MSN, Google offer.

Bluehost is a good example, They use tons of affilate networks to market to their customerbase. When a customer signups through the affiliate link, they get a kickback.

If offering a feature is going to slash your profits by 100% then why do it? A basic business model compensates for costs in price to consumer. I recommend at least negotiating something with a Yahoo or Google account manager. You need to make a profit, not a loss on sales.

That is all true of course unless you're a government entity whereas you provide a public service that doesn't necessarily depend on constituents paying the cost directly.

Good luck!

Well, it makes good business sense to slash your profits to $0.00 if it gets your company off the ground, creates awareness, and brings in traffic. I've been issuing vouchers, and also started an affiliate program. So, my profits have been $0, but awareness and usage of my site has gone up tremendously.

If your return on investment is $0, it is hurting your business. If you are receiving $0 income, how do you pay your bills? There are more affordable ways to generate awareness and build traffic. If you want to get your company off the ground, designate funds for a launch but don't let those funds come from operating funds.

Good luck though.

If your return on investment is $0, it is hurting your business. If you are receiving $0 income, how do you pay your bills? There are more affordable ways to generate awareness and build traffic. If you want to get your company off the ground, designate funds for a launch but don't let those funds come from operating funds.

Good luck though.

LOL, profits are after expenses, thats why its called profit. =P

If the vouchers are free, it doesnt hurt anyone to provide/offer them.

If the free voucher is redeemed, both parties get paid by your redeeming client when they activate and fund an account.

Giving away Free Stuff = Win/Win

google, msn, yahoo are always running promos and incentives.