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.
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
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!
Unlimited Hosting, Fact or Myth?
When you walk into an all you can eat buffet, nobody expects you to eat all the food in the restaurant. You might fill up your plate three or four times, but you can not eat everything in sight. The same could be said for unlimited services you might see when it comes to web hosting.
What Does Unlimited Really Mean in Web Hosting?
While they say you have unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth – the average web site out there will never reach the real limits of the account. If you are running a web site for your local football team, your not going to get a world wide audience, people digging your web site, and surges of other traffic sources at you fingertips. You’ll serve your local niche.
Now over the long term, things could change. For an example, your web site might not have many pages the first month or even the first year. However, year after year you might notice your web site growing by leaps and bounds. At that point, if you are with a shared web hosting company, you might outgrow your web hosting space – but even then it is unlikely.
The real thing you have to pay attention to, or at least be aware of is spikes in usage or usage of system resources – such as RAM or CPU power. This often happens when you get a spike of traffic from a few sources, or your web site’s security is at risk. For most people though, that is still as likely as lightening striking you down as you listen to this podcast. It isn’t likely to happen.
So unlimited this, that or the other in web hosting is like the all you can eat buffet at your favorite restaurant. You can eat and eat all you want, but the human body (and web sites too) can only eat so much at one time.
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!
How To: Set Up Hosted Exchange On Your iPhone.
Hosted Exchange may seem like a daunting task to set up on your iPhone, but with the correct information it is really quite simple. Lets get started.
1. Purchase a Hosted Exchange account through Kyvon.com or other HE provider.
2. Select the Settings icon on your phone.
3. Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
Connect to Customers Through Social Networking
Kyvon recently joined the wave of businesses flocking to social media as a way to increase communication with current and future customers. By building our online community, our goal is to connect with our customers on a more personal level.
Connecting via the social networks they use daily increases the opportunities to educate and inform our customers. For instance, with over 300 million active users on Facebook alone, it was a no-brainer when deciding to create our Fan Page. Customers are now not only able to receive Kyvon news and updates through their social network of choice, but they also have the ability to network with each other within the communities we have built for them.
Throughout the past decade, Kyvon has provided the very highest standard in customer service, and by increasing and methods by which we do so, we can continue to build those relationships.
How do you utilize social networking tools within your business?
We Love Our Fans
Thank you for being a friend fan. Yes, the Golden Girls’ theme song rings true today as we launch our Facebook Fan page. If you’re a fan of our services, head on over. The page is an excellent way to get to know the people behind the scenes at Kyvon. We will also be offering promotions and discounts to new and current Kyvon customers exclusively on our fan page, so don’t miss out!
Kyvon Votes: Netbook vs. Notebook
August 18th, Dell released the Inspiron™ 11Z, their newest thin and light Inspiron laptop and their first CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) system. Dell developed the Inspiron 11z as the answer to customer feedback asking them “to design a netbook-like device with a netbook-ish price point that is capable of handling traditional laptop activities.”
The Inspiron™ 11z blends netbook-like portability with laptop-like capability. It weighs about 3 lbs. and is about an inch thin so it’s easy to carry and stay connected, yet has the capability to deliver smooth HD video playback, and battery life of more than three hours. The bigger difference is inside, or under the hood if you will. Whereas netbooks are based on the Intel Atom processor and feature minimal memory, the Inspiron™ 11z is based on the CULV processor family combined with more memory which delivers better performance.
*While the Inspriron™ 11z is excellent for mobile users or personal use, we do not recommend it as a desktop replacement for business use.
A pre-configured system for $399 features:
- Intel Celeron 723 processor (1.2GHz)
- 2GB memory
- 250GB hard Drive
- Built in Wi-Fi, 1.3MP Webcam
- 11.6-inch HD (1366×768) display (up to 70 percent more screen content than a netbook with a standard 1024×600 display)
- 28WHr battery with approximately 3 hours of battery life
- Windows Vista Home Premium WITH free upgrade kit to Windows 7
- And to paraphrase Henry Ford: you can get in and any color you like …as long as it’s Obsidian Black.
Kyvon is a Dell Reseller. Contact us today for pricing and details on your next business purchase.
Keeping Charge: Extend Your Laptop Battery Life
Like all rechargeable batteries, a notebook battery’s ability to hold a charge will decrease over time or dependent on usage. Read on for our five tips for prolonging your battery’s life.
1. Switch it off if you’re not using it. Power-down all non-essential functions. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.
2. Dim your screen. Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.
3. Cut down external devices. USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.
4. Hibernate not standby. Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.
5. Keep it cool. Because high temperatures accelerate the deterioration of Lithium-ion cells, keep the notebook away from prolonged exposure to heat (for example, don’t leave it in your car on a warm day). Use a cooling pad when using a notebook computer on your lap. Avoid propping your laptop on a pillow, blanket, or other soft surface that can heat up.
DIY: Deciphering Email Bounce Messages
While you sit, growling at your monitor wondering just why that message sent to your client was returned “undeliverable” with a long error posted underneath- take a deep breath and read on. We have a handy checklist of what to do when you receive such a message.
[STATUS] Emergency Maintenance Window – August 14th, 2009
Maintenance Window Start Date & Time: Aug. 14th, 2009 11:00 PM CT
Maintenance Window End Date & Time: Aug. 15th, 2009 04:00 AM CT
Impact on Customers: During this maintenance window there is a slight chance of short intermittent losses of internet availability may occur.
Scope of Work: We have identified a possible hardware issue with our backup core switch and will be replacing the suspected hardware at our data center located at 900 Walnut. Due to the redundant configuration of our core network and because this is a backup core switch, there should be very little, to no, impact on the customer. Although the potential for extended downtime exists, we have carefully designed a plan for implementation of these adjustments, and will do everything to ensure that you and your customers feel little or no impact.
Duration: 5 Hours
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments via our online support form or via phone at 314-544-0011. Please note: posting in the comments is not an official way to contact Kyvon.
You must be logged in to post a comment.