Affordable Business Hosting

I want to set up my own domain. Where can I get affordable hosting and domain names?
I am looking to have my own website. No subdomain. I want just www.myname.com (obviously myname will change) What affordable options are there to register the domain and host it? It's for a small at home business, I don't need very much but would like a shopping cart if possible. If not that is fine, just a place for text and pictures will do!

Well if you want a shopping cart try out the Quick Shopping Cart at Domains at Retail - http://www.domainsatretail.com/quickshoppingcart.html. This includes the cost of hosting and allows you to setup everything via an interface, including payment options. They obviously also sell domain names, and I believe they still have the promotion that the domain name is $1.99 if you buy something like the quick shopping cart. So really you can get started for like less than $15 for the first month and have a shopping cart online as well.

How to start a small online business?
My friend and I are both college students with low incomes. With college, we don't have time to get a part time job so we started to talk about ways that we could make a little extra money to help out. We came up with the idea of making an website for an online business. We love photography and crafts so we thought about selling leather crafts such as belts and wallets and photographs of country landscapes in customized frames. Any advice on how to start this sort of business? What would be the best host to start a website with?(We need something very affordable) Would we need to get a business license? How would be go about sending out orders? Would we wait til we got the money or check before shipping the orders out? Please help us get started on this so that we can have some extra money to spend on supplies for the next semester and next year. Thanks!

The best routes to take are to research the process of starting a business as well as the industry you're interested in. I recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box. Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant: Online Business For Dummies, 4th Edition by Greg Holden * How to Start and Maintain A Successful Online Business by Kelly Thornton * The Complete E-Commerce Book: Design, Build, and Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business by Janice Reynolds There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles. Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

What do I need to do to start an online business?
I want to start an online business providing document services and printing needs to small businesses. I know who I want to host my website (Yahoo! Small Business works the best for me and is affordable) and I can make a website. What I need to know is 1) is this an area that is profitable online and 2) what are some of the first steps I should take so that I can start earning money almost immediately wothout having to spend tons of money first. Other tips are welcome! What can I do to attract potential customers to my website while spending little money. I'm on an extremely tight budget and cannot afford much at all after all the bills are paid. While I may not be able to earn money immediately, what can I do to begin earning money as soon as practical?

You seem to have thought out your online business. What strikes me though is your statement "earning almost immediately." Sure, you can achieve that -- IF AND ONLY IF you have pre-marketed your site. It means that your target market is aware that your site will be launching so they are ready to go there and order as soon as you have launched. One of the realities of the Web is that there is no truth to what they say "If you build it they will come." They won't; unless you are extremely proactive in your marketing. But to expect people flocking to your site as soon as you launch if you did no prior marketing is nothing but foolish hope. It just doesn't happen that way. For one, it takes time for search engines to pick up your site; and it even takes a longer time for your site to be in the top 10 of your keywords. One article that I found very useful is "7 Steps to Successful Web Site Development" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol142/website.htm as it takes to you all the decision steps that you need to take when starting an online business. Like any other business, startup period is full of "should I do this" or "should I do that" questions. The article is useful because it helps you think through every step of the way - from why do you want a website to who is your audience to how will you create your website to how you will market your new website. Here are the steps you need to take when creating your online business: STEP 1: Set Your Goals - Why do you want a web site? What is the size of the online market? What are the goals for your website? STEP 2: Develop Your Web Site Strategy - Who is your website target audience? What typically appeals to your target audience? How are the other websites (your competition) reaching out to this target audience? How will you measure your performance? STEP 3: Set-Up Implementation Plans - What name will you give to your site? How do you envision the design of your web site? How will you create your website? How will you create your content? How will you maintain your website? STEP 4: Start the Ball Rolling - Do you have a logo? For e-retailers, do you have the critical components needed to run an e-commerce site? How are you going to host your site? STEP 5: Create and Launch Your Web Site - Have you uploaded your site with your chosen web host provider? Are the scripts and application you need for your website functioning well? Have you tested your website? STEP 6: Promote Your Web Site and Measure Its Results - Do you have a plan in place to market your website? Do you regularly review your traffic logs and web site performance tracker? How are you going to get sites to link to you? Do you know the search engine keywords that you rank well? If your site is not visible in the search engine results pages for its keywords, what strategies do you intend to do? STEP 7: Maintain Your Website and Grow Your Web Business - Continue to find ways to grow your web business. How do you intend to continue your education on web development? Here are some shoestring marketing ideas that can help you get the visitors you need at the least cost possible: 1. Create the best content you can with the best products you can possibly offer. Your content is your best advertisement - if visitors love your content, then they will go back and spread the word to others. 2. Make it easy for users to recommend your site. Viral marketing is very important -- and easy to tap on the Web. But give your users the tools. Get a Recommend this Site script from websites such as cgiscripts.com and similar directories of scripts. Some even go as far as giving incentives to those who recommend the site to their friends. If only 10 people go to your site, but these 10 people invite 10 more - that's additional traffic that you get for FREE! 3. Rank well in the search engines (organic search results, not the pay per click). SEs can be a big source of traffic. The key is to create the best content in your niche. If you have good content, other websites will gladly link to you and offer your site as a resource to their audience. Check the on-page factors and be sure to get linked from authority sites in your topic area. If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com's "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day." http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm 4. Send out press releases. While outfits charge as much as $650 per release, there are free press release submission places on the Web. Press releases allow you to (a) attract media attention; (b) get more back links to your website without sending each website an email request; and (c) get more visibility especially if your press release gets in Google News or Yahoo News. My website (see my profile) accepts free press release submission (no strings attached!) 5. Submit articles. Write articles and submit them to websites accepting author submissions. You get exposure for your business; establishes you as an authority in your field, and allows you to get backlinks for your website. If 50 websites publish your article and it contains a link back to your website, then you easily get 50 links from a single article. The more links you have, the greater your chances for increasing your search engine rankings. 6. Improve your conversion. Getting visitors is one thing; getting them to buy your products is a whole different story. Read the article "10 Ways to Convert Visitors to Buyers" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/072005/conversion.htm for tips on how to improve your conversion rates.

I need reliable website hosting company.?
I'm looking for an affordable web hosting company to host my business website?

I recommend either Godaddy Economy or the Deluxe plan: http://www.hosttell.com/godaddy/ Use the promo code emma2 to get the %20 discount or Dreamhost http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting.html Use the promo code PLUS and get $50 discount +2 Free domain names. Disk space: 500 GB Bandwidth: 5000 GB 2 Free domain names Unlimited domains and subdomains Price: $5.78/month ($69.40/year)

What is the best customer tracking/sales software application for a small business?
I run a small tutoring business and need a way to track leads, capture customer information and run analytics on my data. We also need to be able to track things like how many hours the student has used, the amount spent, total bill and what lead channel was used so we need to be able to customize fields and tables. I would prefer to have an online service (SoS) host this opposed to having to install but this is not a requirement. Also we are looking for something that can be easily implemented and supported. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good solution? If you are speaking from experience it would be great if you can tell me how you used the application, the ease of use and the cost. We are a small shop (3 employees) so we are looking for something affordable but with great tools. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

ACT is a good program. I was an insurance salesman for about 5 years and I had to track several of the things that you listed. It has fully customizable fields where if you don't have a field that you want you can input it. You can also download that information to excel for graphs and easy input.

Is there a more affordable way to get customers than Pay-Per-Click ads?
With Search Marketing (PPC), I basically break even. For every $30.00 sale I make, I pay about $25.00 in PPC charges + paypal and hosting costs. My business is basically breaking even on a product with a HUGE markup. How does anyone make it in this industry? Does SEO work, or are there better ways to get customers to your website? Thank you-

The answer is "maybe" 1. How do you know you're doing the best you can on PPC? Are you constantly split-testing ads, landing pages, offers, followup sequences etc? How long have you been doing it? Whose courses/materials have you taken? Are you doing Taguchi testing? 2. The big players have learned that if they break even on the first sale, that's gravy. Their business model is based on acquiring a customer, building loyalty and continuing to sell things for years and years ("the back end") ... so, if you're acquiring customers at a profit, all you need now is a good back end and you're making big bucks. 3. Yes, SEO can work, as can all kinds of other media (articles, pr, magazine space ads, newspapers, TV, radio, billboards, affiliates, direct mail, etc etc etc), and you should test them all. It's a mistake to ask "which media is cheapest per sale" instead the big players figure out how much they can afford to spend to acquire a customer, and use every media that meets/beats that number. Again, they're thinking about it differently than you are. Good luck Scott

Which ecommerce/shopping cart provider is most user-friendly, reliable & affordable?
I am starting an online gourmet food/gift business & will need dropship automation plus web hosting too. Is it best go with a package deal (like Volusion) or do you end up paying more doing that? I'm also interested in website design services that are reasonably priced. I would appreciate any unbiased help!

Go-Daddy has everything we need and use. It's easy and affordable. It's also simple to use. But there are others, and they are all about the same. Prices can vary somewhat, you'll need to check a few sites out to meet your individual needs.

I am starting a small online business...?
Hi, I am starting a small online business, but I would like to know if anyone know's of any good hosting/ecommerce sites? I need an affordable website builder/domain, and the essentials' to accept payments via credit.paypal- I have no idea where to begin, any advice would be helpful! thank you!

Go to http://www.intrinzicdesignz.com they provide a complete solution for your website needs. 1) They will register your domain name for you 2) They can host your website 3) They will build your website according to your taste, specifications, needs. 4) They will build a product catalouge for you, so you can add as many products as you want and create as many product categories as you want. 5) They will integrate your payment processor to the shopping cart that they will build for you. 6) They will build a custom website administration area for you, so you can edit / update your website even without programming knowledge. 7) They can maintain your website for you if you choose to. Their complete packages ranges from $79 to $199 one time fee.

Web hosting and drop down menu?
First off, what is a good web hosting site? (i.e Go Daddy, Yahoo, etc) I have a small business and would like a site that utilizes a drop down menu feature for ordering our products. Something similar to this: http://www.blisscandles.com/SoyJars10oz.htm I am also looking for something very affordable. Any adivce would be great. Thank you

The drop down menu can be done easily using HTML if you prefer to build the site yourself to save cost. You can even copy the code from your favorite dropdown sample sites like above. If you are having problem choosing a web hosting to use, I suggest you do the following: 1. Go to the webhost review sites such as webhostingjury, hostingsthatsuck.com or webhostinggeeks and list down about 3 to 5 common top hosting companies. 2. Next, for each web hosting X, do a “X sucks” search on Google. Read some complaints and see if you may encounter the same problems like them. Some of the complaints may relate to certain groups of users only such as VPS, dedicated server users or resellers. So you may not be affected if you are not from these categories. 3. Eliminate those hostings you feel uncomfortable with, and look for the best bargain hosting for your money. You can start with GoDaddy hosting, Bluehost and Justhost. Good luck.

Can you tell me if this business letter sounds "official"? Would you be interested?
Dear {insert business name here}, Keeping up in the current business world can be difficult. New technology puts new strains on the business owner. The internet has been such a fantastic tool when it comes to marketing and advertising, but it can be a little intimidating.. How do I buy a domain name? Okay, what is a domain name? How much will it cost me? Who will help me pick out the best host plans for my needs? How can I get a nice looking, affordable website on a budget? This is so frustrating! (yahoo character limit... continued below) It's come to my attention that your business isn't located on the net yet. But I can help you change that. My name is Courtney Steen, and I'm a local free-lance web designer right over here in Ankeny. I've been in the internet community for 5 years. I specialize in taking care of the small and local business owners… Why? Because I'm a small business owner myself! I like to create a very intimate bond between my clients and I. Best of all, my price is right and unbeatable in this industry. If you're even a little bit interested, please check out my website and see what I can do for you. I'm willing to drive within 25 miles of the Des Moines area for a no pressure consultation; otherwise I'm perfectly fine chatting with you about what you want out of your website over the phone or e-mail (courtney@pianopetals.net). Even if you don't choose me to assist in your internet expeditions, I can gladly point you in the direction that would be best suited for you and your businesses' needs. Happy surfing, Courtney Steen Piano Petal Designs www.pianopetals.net

Change "local free-lance" to "professional". Tips: Don't use "local free-lance". Seem to sound like lack of experiences. Change "small and local business" to "major business". Take out the 'small' in "I'm a small business owner myself!" to "I'm a business owner myself! ". Tips: Don't use "small" or "local" in business letter. Seem to imply that they cannot afford to hire professional.