How to advertise your web hosting company
A common question in Web Hosting Talk's Running a Web Hosting Business forum is how to advertise a web hosting company. Below are some of the web hosting advertising ideas that are often suggested. The advertising success rate is typically better when using more than one method of advertising.
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Pay-per-click ads
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for web hosting services is highly competitive. To be successful with PPC ads, you need to research and choose the keywords you bid on with great care, take just as much care writing your ads, and make sure that your website is ready and suitable for the audience you want to attract. It's considered best to stay with the campaign for a while to see results, but you can experiment and fine-tune it along the way. Details are in the article How to be successful with pay-per-click advertising.
Banner ads
Many websites that are about web hosting or related services offer banner ad advertising. Because ads at such sites reach a target audience, site visitors are more likely to look at and click on the ads. Banner ads should be designed with the target audience for each website in mind. For example, a banner ad for an audience that's mainly under 25 years old would be different than a banner ad for a site that targets professionals of all ages.
Sticky post ads
Some web hosting forums, such as Web Hosting Talk, offer sticky posts in the advertising forums as a paid advertising opportunity. Sticky posts stay at the top of their forum for as long as they're stickied, which means that they're the first posts that site visitors will see when looking through the forum ads.
Web hosting directory listings
With the proliferation of web hosts came an abundance of web hosting directories. Some have detailed information, ratings, different search options, and reviews that directory staff verify. Others aren't maintained regularly or well. Having your business listed in a quality web hosting directory can bring a lot of targeted visitors. On the other hand, if the web hosting directory has unverified reviews or isn't maintained, the directory is much less useful to you or your target audience.
Local advertising
When you advertise to the local market, you have an edge over your competitors in other areas. Advertise in regional print publications and at websites for your region, join professional organizations, attend local trade shows, hand out your business card whenever it's appropriate to do so, and be prepared to talk about your business when you meet people.
Testimonials
Testimonials are a valuable advertising tool. Publish only real testimonials and include links to the clients' websites so that the reviews can be verified.
Word of mouth
Happy clients will advertise for you. Provide service that goes beyond what your clients expect, and they'll tell their friends about you.
See also
- Online advertising terminology
- Pay-per-click advertising
- How to be successful with pay-per-click advertising
- Web hosting directories
- Promote your web hosting business locally
- How to get and use client testimonials
- Successful landing pages
- Search engine marketing
Web Hosting Wiki article text shared under a Creative Commons License.
