There are thousands of web hosting
companies -- the services that essentially connect your site to the
internet. So how does an entrepreneur choose the one that's right for
his or her business?
To ensure that your hosting company supports your business needs and doesn't create unnecessary hurdles to your website's
success, you first need to understand the major types of hosting. Then,
consider some basic criteria to help choose the best plan for you.
Types of web hosting plans:
As you begin shopping for a web hosting plan, you'll encounter a number of different types, including the following options:
Individual plans.
These are the most affordable options. As an example, HostGator's
introductory package starts at just $3.96 a month for a three-year
package. Typically, these plans provide hosting support for a single
domain only and may limits the features, bandwidth and data storage. So,
they are often best suited to beginning webmasters who don't anticipate
significant traffic or special needs for their websites.
Dedicated servers.
Individual plans are sometimes
referred to as "shared hosting plans" because they share space on
hosting servers with other webmasters. When webmasters outgrow the
features made available through these limited plans, they will need to
upgrade to ones that grant companies their own servers.
These plans will cost more, with Hostgator's offerings beginning at
$139 a month, for instance. If you anticipate growing to a size that
eventually requires this upgraded option, be sure to choose a hosting
provider that offers both types of plans and allows for account
transitions.
Reseller accounts.
Reseller hosting occupies a
special niche between individual plans and dedicated server
arrangements, allowing clients to set up multiple individual plans
within a single account. Reseller plans typically cost between $10 and
$20 a month and are best suited for businesses that anticipate running
several small websites.
What to look for in a hosting plan:
Once you've decided on the type of hosting plan, consider these issues in choosing a specific provider:
Cost.
While it's important to look for a hosting
provider that offers reasonable rates, avoid free hosting programs
entirely, as they may be unreliable and their low costs are often
subsidized by required on-site advertisements.
Customer reviews.
Customer reviews can be an
excellent resource in evaluating web hosts because any fly-by-night host
can put up a professional-looking sales page and make bold promises.
Search for multiple reviews from current or past customers because a
single positive review could have originated from the company's own
marketing department. If you'd like a shortcut here, pay close attention to HostGator, Bluehost and 1 and 1, which all tend to garner positive recommendations from clients.
Customer support.
Whether you're a beginning
webmaster or a more experienced digital business owner, you'll want a
dependable customer support team behind your web hosting plan. Things
can and will go wrong on your website's backend, but getting support
when you need it can go a long way toward minimizing any potential
damage to your business.
Look for companies that provide 24/7 phone support, email access and
online chat. Before committing to a plan, test out each of these
features to get a feel for how well your needs will be met.
Storage and bandwidth allowances.
As more hosting
plans begin offering unlimited disk space and bandwidth, this may not be
a concern for your business. But it's still important to be aware of
any limitations to ensure that your plan has enough space for your
website to operate effectively.
Script support.
One final consideration is the
hosting company's built-in support for popular web scripts. Say, for
example, you want to run WordPress on your website. Some hosts offer
built-in script packages that make the installation of this popular
blogging platform a breeze. Other hosts limit the number of MySQL
databases that can be created, which you'll need to run WordPress and
other programs.
How to 'Split Test' Your Website to Engage Online Customers Better
AJ Kumar When it comes to designing your website,
you have two choices: Select the site elements you believe look best,
or you can use "split testing" to determine which design features are
most engaging to your audience.
Essentially, split testing randomly serves up multiple versions of your website's pages
to generate data about their effectiveness. The process allows you to
quickly improve your website's overall conversion rates and isn't nearly
as complicated as it may sound. Here's how to do it:
1. Isolate website page variables.
There are two types of split testing protocols: A/B split testing and
multivariate testing. A/B split testing, which pits two page variations
with a single differentiating element against each other, can be a
better choice for beginning webmasters than the more complex
multivariate procedure. To get started with A/B split testing, you'll need to choose a single variable to test. A few possible options include:
The wording, color, font, font size or position of your page's header text
The specific colors used in your website's background or design elements
The location of or wording used in your website's email newsletter opt-in box
The position, color or design of your brand's social media buttons
The color, design or location of any "Buy Now" buttons on your website
The possibilities are endless so be sure to focus on elements that are
likely to bring about the biggest changes in your website's performance.
Tweaking the color of your links, for example, may not have as much
impact as optimizing your on-site calls to action.
2. Build web page variations.
Once you've selected a specific variable to test, create the different
pages that will be pitted against each other. Keep in mind that, for
now, you'll want to limit your changes to a single variable to
conclusively determine which elements result in better website
performance. If, as an example, you've chosen to test two different wordings for
your site's headline text, you'll need to create a new page that will
challenge your existing version. If your site runs in HTML, simply copy
your original page, make the necessary changes to your headline text and
then upload the new page to your website using a different file name
(as in, "page-2.html").
Alternatively, if your website runs on WordPress or any other content
management system, log in to your dashboard and create a new page using
the same naming convention described above. Copy the text from your
original page into your test page and then change the single test
variable you're isolating with this A/B split test.
3. Install Google's Content Experiments program.
Once your test pages are ready to go, log into your Google Analytics account and find the instructions for installing Google's Content Experiments program onto your website. This free program replaces the older Google Website Optimizer
service, but still retains many of the same useful features. Although
the Content Experiments program can let you test up to five pages
against one another, most beginning webmasters will still find it easier
to stick to a single test variable across two page variations. That can
let you identify the specific elements that have the greatest impact on
website performance as quickly as possible.
To set up a Content Experiments test, first select the pages to
include in your split test. Then, specify to Google how much of your
traffic should be exposed to the experiment, as well as the overall goal
of your test. Most webmasters will want to set this value at 100
percent because doing so will help generate test data as quickly as
possible. Finally, you'll be given a small snippet of code to install on
your website, and your test will go live upon your approval.
4. Measure your results.
As your test proceeds, your results will be automatically updated within
your Google Analytics account. However, there are a few things you'll
want to keep in mind before making decisions based on this data.
First, it's important to wait to make any decisions about which page
variation is the "winner" until Google Analytics is able to generate
enough data to predict statistical significance. Judging the results of
your A/B split test after only a few page visits simply won't give you
enough information to draw solid conclusions about the best way to improve your website. Once you do identify a winner, either move on to a new split test
variable or create additional page variations to challenge your winning
content. You want to maintain a mindset of continuous improvement for
your website, so always be testing.
