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  1. #1

    Advertising on Web Hosting Related Sites

    Hello all, I would like to pose this question in regards to advertising on certain sites.

    Is it really worth advertising on hosting related sites like WHT and such? Do you get any really "quality" customers or just those that bounce from one deal to the other or the spammers and such. Or, is it better to focus on sites and other media that are not hosting related such as newspapers, radio stations and such.

    I would prefer to have the local business but I guess any is better than none so to speak.
    Thanks, Kevin

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
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    hosting related sites attract people who are looking for a host. so it is better, i think.
    But try both. experiementing is the only way to find out.

  3. #3
    I think Ads on WHT would help you, since this is largest hosting forum i believe, also more concentrate on your local market through offline contact and promotion.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Washington, USA
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    Heh, obviously these people have never purchased ads on WHT before. You might find luck with other hosting related websites, but the advertising options on WHT are generally too expensive in order to yield any sort of profitable result. We've had some luck with certain types of sticky posts here, but that's about it.
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  5. #5
    As i say often, there is no "BEST" solution only a solution which fits "BETTER" your needs.
    Depends on your resources (Offices, employees, Advertising budget...), you may choose a local advertising as well as advertize your business on targeted websites like WHT. Of course, the more, the best.
    But, if you have to focus only on a single vector, i would rather go with local advertising.
    But as said, you have a better view over what are your needs/alternatives.
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
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    I'm going to keep my opinions and reasoning for not advertising here to myself. But as mentioned there is no 'best' solution. what may work for you may not work for others.

    The best bet is if you're considering it do a trial run. The only thing I recommend is stats stats stats. you REALLY need to watch your stats and research the differences. it's going to be flexible because this market can change drastically in a month's time but the trends are usually pretty consistent.

    Just make sure you do the numbers and monitor your ROI, conversion rates etc.

    Much of the key to advertising is gathering statistics to understand entry and exit points as well as navigation flow. knowing what pages people avoid and what pages are popular can make a huge difference in how you target your audience. eg: you have a full hosting site, but a huge chunk of your visitors are hitting your dedicated pages. A sign that maybe you should consider focusing a little more on that, or is it a sign that you need to dress up your virtual hosting pages and offers?

    No matter what you do it's critical to monitor the reality of the results. Just like it's foolish to do business without a solid business plan, it's foolish to advertise and not be diligent in monitoring and evaluation. If you can't or don't want to make that effort, be ready to hire someone, but it's a must if you're going to get the most out of your advertising. you'd be surprised how ineffective a misplaced ad can be even though it's producing traffic.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by e-places
    I'm going to keep my opinions and reasoning for not advertising here to myself. But as mentioned there is no 'best' solution. what may work for you may not work for others.

    The best bet is if you're considering it do a trial run. The only thing I recommend is stats stats stats. you REALLY need to watch your stats and research the differences. it's going to be flexible because this market can change drastically in a month's time but the trends are usually pretty consistent.

    Just make sure you do the numbers and monitor your ROI, conversion rates etc.

    Much of the key to advertising is gathering statistics to understand entry and exit points as well as navigation flow. knowing what pages people avoid and what pages are popular can make a huge difference in how you target your audience. eg: you have a full hosting site, but a huge chunk of your visitors are hitting your dedicated pages. A sign that maybe you should consider focusing a little more on that, or is it a sign that you need to dress up your virtual hosting pages and offers?

    No matter what you do it's critical to monitor the reality of the results. Just like it's foolish to do business without a solid business plan, it's foolish to advertise and not be diligent in monitoring and evaluation. If you can't or don't want to make that effort, be ready to hire someone, but it's a must if you're going to get the most out of your advertising. you'd be surprised how ineffective a misplaced ad can be even though it's producing traffic.
    This is what i tried to say
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    217
    Kevin,

    Even if you were targetting local businesses, I believe that the mass media route may not lead to the best results. Your advertising would likely have to focus on sponsoring local (business) events, industry journals/magazines, flyers, DMs, etc.

  9. #9
    If you are short in budget you may also give a try to "Guerilla Marketing"
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  10. #10
    Give breads to its bakers .. when you have targeted consumers you have to advertise in the most place they gathered to.
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  11. #11

    CPC Advertising

    We have had good results with both search engine marketing (CPC) and advertising on the web hosting directories.

    As far as advertising on WHT, I am not sure. WHT has a wider array of visitors (hosters, consumers, web designers, etc). You can find a more targeted demographic than this.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Nacogdoches, TX
    Posts
    12

    Unhappy

    It is probably best to go where the people are discussing hosting because they already have an interesting in the subject. I tried search engine CPC advertising and got no where but losing the free money we were given to try it. I would have been very disappointed if it was my money that was used. I am sure there are those out there that have had good results with CPC and I commend them on beating the odds. I just did not have any results from my experience.
    Kevin
    AlphaTech Solutions

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by alphatechsol
    ...It is probably best to go where the people are discussing hosting because they already have an interesting in the subject...
    Yes, but in this discussion forums, a majority of members are web hosters as well.
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  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Nacogdoches, TX
    Posts
    12

    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by WebDomain.com
    Yes, but in this discussion forums, a majority of members are web hosters as well.
    Have any suggestions on forums where it would be more people looking and discussing hosting, domains, etc instead of mostly hosters?
    Kevin
    AlphaTech Solutions

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
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    San Antonio, Texas
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    3,690
    Quote Originally Posted by alphatechsol
    Have any suggestions on forums where it would be more people looking and discussing hosting, domains, etc instead of mostly hosters?

    Thats a good question. Most all that Ive ever been involved with are "host majority" and even more so these days as everyone under the sun throws up a turnkey hosting site hoping to make a buck or two.

    I always liked sitepointforums.com as they have a wide variety of forums from HTML, domains, design, etc. Im a member there but dont actually frequent their too much anymore. They also have a marketplace forum where advertising prices are more within range so you might want to check there. No, Ive never done paid advertising there.
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  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Martie
    I always liked sitepointforums.com...
    I second Martie here.
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