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Best Forum Practices – Podcast 205

Podcast #205 What are the best practices to get your forums up and going?  That is the topic up for discussion this week on the Web Hosting Show.  I will give you some of my favorite suggestions for free forum scripts, and also will give you the tips you need to be a success.  Now get ready, because the Web Hosting Show is on the air.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 205!
Running Time: 8 minutes | File Size: 3.57 MB

I want to help you when it comes to web hosting, forums and everything in between.  One of those things in between is a midget, but there will be plenty of time for that later.  Here is a summary of the topics for this week’s broadcast.

Comparing the Best Free Forum Scripts

Forums are a great way to give a community a way to communicate with each other Online.  However, there are a lot of forum scripts out there that each have their own personality.  So which should you choose when you are starting up your own set of message boards?

The MIDGET Rule to Forum Success

Anybody can set up a forum script and host it somewhere, but what does it take to make a set of forums on the Web a big success?  Well, I might not be able to help you build the most popular set of message boards you have ever seen (because if I could, I’d be doing that – earning millions in Google AdSense ads, and not still going on and on here).  I do have a few suggestions though how you can get off the ground after having setup your forum script.

So what advice to you have to forum newbies out there?

The comments are open and ready for your suggestions.  Let me know what you think about this week’s podcast, and any other advice you might have for the web hosting world.

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

Bring Google Fiber to St. Louis

The City of St. Louis has begun it’s bid for Google Fiber!

Google is planning to build ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. The plan is to deploy 1 Gbps, fiber optic connections directly to people’s homes. This connection would be over 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today. (via)

Join us and show your support: visit the City’s Bid Support site and the Facebook Fan page.

More information about Google Fiber for Communities:

Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We’ll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

From now until March 26th, we’re asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which we’ll use to determine where to build our network.

4 Ways to Branch Out Your Web Site

Web Site Content Ideas

With any web site or online business, it is important to change things up a ‘bit every so often.  You don’t want to be seen as becoming stale, or yesterday’s news, so bringing new web site concepts or ideas could be the perfect diversification tool you need to keep people interested in what you do and what you have to offer. There is not a web site out there today that could not be helped by adding one of these four web site service ideas.

Here are four different ways you can branch your web site out:

Blogs – Many people use blogs to extend their web sites.  To keep people coming back several times a day, weekly, monthly or more you need to deliver fresh innovative content.  A blogging script is the perfect give you the perfect delivery tool to make that happen.

Forums or Message Boards – Setting up a forum script will give the fan base that your web site has a place to discuss issues or issues related to your web site.  For example, if I added forums to WebHostingShow.com, they would be for all of you to discuss web hosting and web development issues among yourselves.

Social Sites – It might not be a hosted service, but it is certainly a little something extra you can do to bring more eyeballs in to see your web site.  Look into setting up profiles on Twitter, Facebook and the like to bring mention of your web site outside your own domain.  Use them as a way to socialize with your fan base, and keep them up to date on the latest and greatest things you have to offer.

E-Commerce Scripts – Finally, you have e-commerce scripts (also sometimes called shopping cart scripts).  By adding an e-commerce section to your web site, you will bring in a new way to bring in revenue and sell your unique products and ideas.  Make sure you start off small, and you sell something that is unique to your web site or business.

There are your four different ways you can diversify your own web site or online business to attract new eyeballs, and keep the current eyeballs you have coming back for more content, news, and services.

Get the Podcast! Listen to this article and more on Web Hosting Show, podcast #204!

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

Change of Scenery: New Kyvon Office

Kyvon's new home

Kyvon has moved! As of March, our office has relocated to our data center space at 710 Tucker Boulevard in downtown St. Louis. Our new location puts us in the heart of the city, just a few blocks from the Arch and the amazing Citygarden.

What does this mean to our hosting customers? Our technicians now sit only a few feet from our data center space, increasing response time to customer support requests.

*Customers should also note our change in payment address earlier this month and update their records accordingly.

7 Extra Service Ideas for Web Hosts

Web Hosting Extras There comes a time with every web host, when they feel they have outgrown their current services they provide, and they want to do more than just web hosting.  When a web host diversifies into other things, they often branch out internally or with the help of a third party into other services.  If you are a web host out there looking for a way to branch out, I have a few suggestions that you might want to look into.

Domain Name Registration – This one is the most obvious additional service a web host can provide.  Who doesn’t want to give customers the ability to register a domain and buy the hosting in one place?  By doing so, you keep you customers from looking elsewhere for one of the most important add-ons you could branch out into.

Backup Hosting – Many web hosts move into backup hosting too.  You could provide off site personal backup as a secondary service, or you could offer a subscription based service for the customer’s web site backup and the process of restoring that backup.

SEO or Marketing Services – When it comes to selling search engine optimization or any sort of marking packages, make sure you have the support team to back you up.  This sort of service has a bad reputation, because many people see it as selling snake oil.  It is a tricky one to show real results from, so if you do move into the SEO and marketing business, just make sure you provide your customers with the goods.

Gift Cards – Providing gift cards can be an excellent way to make yourself look more compassionate about the customer’s needs.  It might not make loads of money, but providing a way to give your services as a present is never a bad thing.  It could help out beginning web hosting gurus, and help young webmasters in getting their first works on the Web.

Affiliate Programs – Why sell your web hosting plans yourself when you can get somebody else to do it for you?  By giving people a “finder’s fee” when they bring you a new customer, you give your community a reward, just for sharing their opinion.  Now it might be hard to lure affiliate professionals, when some companies pay 95% of their profit to affiliates, but start out low and work your way up.

Web Site Design – Like domain name registration, offering a web site design service or an internally built WYSIWYG editor is another nice extra service to add.  It is one of those web hosting necessities that everybody needs, and not everybody has the time to do themselves.

Other Flavors of Web Hosting – When it comes to adding extra services, do not just look at things outside web hosting.  You could offer more web hosting plans.  For example, if you only provide shared web hosting right now, you could move into VPS or dedicated web hosting services.  You could even make shared hosting plans that are a little cheaper (with less extras) or a shared hosting plan that is a little more expensive (with more extras).

There are many ways a web hosting company can diversify.  The important thing to remember is to keep your quality of the service as high as possible for each new service you provide.  I have seen web hosts launch a new product, then forget about it the next month, too many times.  Make sure you give yourself ample time to build up each new service you decide to provide.

Get the Podcast! Listen to this article and more on Web Hosting Show, podcast #204!

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

Web Hosting Power-up Ideas – Podcast 204

Podcast 204 of the Web Hosting Show Are you a webmaster looking for power-up ideas to turn your mediocre web site into a powerhouse of the Web?  Are you a web host looking for ideas on how you can diversify your web hosting services, to make a little more money on related services you can provide?  Today’s podcast is all about web hosting power-ups.  Little ideas that you can bring into your web hosting companies or your web sites to take them to the next level.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 204!
Running Time: 9 minutes | File Size: 4.00 MB

If I had to pick one, I would say “diversify” would be the word of the week for this edition of the Web Hosting Show.  Here is a summary of this week’s show.

7 Extra Service Ideas for Web Hosts

There comes a time with every web host, when they feel they have outgrown their current services they provide, and they want to do more than just web hosting.  When a web host diversifies into other things, they often branch out internally or with the help of a third party into other services.  If you are a web host out there looking for a way to branch out, I have a few suggestions that you might want to look into.

4 Ways to Branch Out Your Web Site

With any web site or online business, it is important to change things up a ‘bit every so often.  You don’t want to be seen as becoming stale, or yesterday’s news, so bringing new web site concepts or ideas could be the perfect diversification tool you need to keep people interested in what you do and what you have to offer. There is not a web site out there today that could not be helped by adding one of these four web site service ideas.

Now it is your turn. Do you have any extra tips or something to say about diversifying a web hosting business or any personal web site out there on the Web?  Leave you comments or feel free to pass your thoughts to me at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

Google Apps for Business Now Available at Kyvon

Streamline your company's communication

Kyvon now offers Google Apps for Business– web-based office tools by Google used to streamline setup, minimize maintenance, and reduce IT costs.

Google’s web-based messaging and collaboration apps require no hardware or software and need minimal administration, creating tremendous time and cost savings for businesses.

Included Google Applications:
Gmail for business
25GB storage, less spam, and a 99.9% uptime SLA, and enhanced email security.

Google Calendar
Agenda management, scheduling, shared online calendars and mobile calendar sync.

Google Docs
Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Work online without attachments.

Google Groups
User-created groups providing mailing lists, easy content sharing, searchable archives.

Google Sites
Secure, coding-free web pages for intranets and team managed sites.

Google Video
Private, secure, hosted video sharing.

For more information, please contact us today.