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If you are in the process of trying to start your first website, there is a fair chance you are already pretty baffled by this point — there are truly a multitude of things to learn and consider. I couldn’t possibly cover it all here, but let’s start with web hosting shall we?

There are a few options for different types of web hosting, but by far the most common is shared web hosting and that’s probably what you will be looking at.

*What is it?*

In a nutshell; as the name suggests, you will be sharing your hosting with other website owners. Your website will be hosted on a server, and that server will also host several other websites. Similar to how you might keep different types of files in different folders on your own PC.

The difference with a web hosting server is that it will be set up so that different users only have access to their own area of the server – so only you can see your files — but everyone will be able to see your website (don’t worry, that’s a good thing).

*The pros*

The biggest advantage is of course the price. Let’s face it, for your first ever website, you don’t want to be paying a fortune for hosting, and you don’t need to. Shared webhosting shares the cost of the server and let’s several people have just enough for what they need.

*The cons*

The downside to this is that you have less freedom over your server and less space for your website. In reality though, that vast majority of websites are actually surprisingly small in terms of file size and it is entirely possible to host 10 or more sites on a pretty standard shared hosting package.

*The reality*

The reality of web hosting is that very few websites ever get big enough or popular enough to need a dedicated server and shared hosting is almost always the best option for small businesses and first time web masters.

*What is right for you?*

Well, see my comments above. The only time you should consider whether shared hosting is right for your new site is if you have a good sized budget and a lot of ambition for your site. It is rare, but if a site does unexpectedly go viral it is possible to gain a lot of traffic fast and sometimes moving server quickly might not be all that easy to do.

But for most of us, if your site is growing organically, you can easily upgrade to bigger and better servers as and when you need to — so you might as well start off with a nice value option and work up from there.

Another way to move up the ladder on the rank list of the search engines is to buy backlinks. However this method includes a lot of expenditure as one need to buy a lot of backlinks, which, besides also need to be relevant. If you have the money, then it’s no problem. Buy backlinks is an investment as it sooner or later helps you bag in good amount of lead generation.

In the process of link building we can also employ the help of link building service firms. These link building service firms may come out with packages which are ideal for the websites that are newer and desire to be indexed and ranked high in various commonly used search engines.

Thus buying backlinks and taking help from professional link building service firms help in link building and increasing the link popularity. Link popularity here, meaning the link numbers that point to your website from various other sites. Also one might add that it is not the quantity but quality of the links that is important and matters at the end.

Running a single compelling, high quality site can be time- and resource-consuming, not to mention the creativity it requires to make the site a great one. At times–particularly when it comes to rather commercial topics like foreign currency exchange or online gambling–we see that some webmasters try to compete for visibility in Google search results with a largenumber of sites on the same topic. There are a few things to keep in mind when considering a strategy like this for sites that you want to have listed in our search results.
Some less creative webmasters, or those short on time but with substantial resources on their hands, might be tempted to create a multitude of similar sites without necessarily adding unique information to any of these. From a user’s perspective, these sorts of repetitive sites can constitute a poor user experience when visible in search results. Luckily, over time our algorithms have gotten pretty good at recognizing similar content so as to serve users with a diverse range of information. We don’t recommend creating similar sites like that; it’s not a good use of your time and resources.

If all of your sites offer essentially the same content, additional sites are not contributing much to the Internet.

While you’re free to run as many sites as you want, keep in mind that users prefer to see unique and compelling content. It is a good idea to give each site its own content, personality and function. This is true of any website, regardless of whether it’s a single-page hobby-site or part of a large portfolio. When you create a website, try to add something new or some value to the Internet; make something your users have never seen before, something that inspires and fascinates them, something they can’t wait to recommend to their friends.

When coming up with an idea for a website, scan the web first. There are many websites dealing with common and popular services like holiday planning, price comparisons or foreign exchange currency trading. It frequently doesn’t make sense to reinvent the wheel and compete with existing broad topic sites. It’s often more practical and rewarding to focus on smaller or niche topics where your expertise is best and where competition for user attention might be less fierce.

A few webmasters choose to focus their resources on one domain but make use of their domain portfolio by creating a multitude of smaller sites linking to it. In some situations these sites may be perceived as doorways. Without value of their own, these doorway sites are unlikely to stand the test of time in our search results. If you registered several domains but only want to focus on one topic, we recommend you create unique and compelling content on each domain or simply 301 redirect all users to your preferred domain. Think of your web endeavour as if it were a restaurant: You want each dish to reflect the high quality of the service you provide; repeat the same item over and over on your menu and your restaurant might not do so well. Identify and promote your strength or uniqueness. Ask yourself the following questions: What makes you better than the competition? What new service do you provide that others don’t? What makes your sites unique and compelling enough to make users want to revisit them, link to them or even recommend them to their friends?

We suggest not spreading out your efforts too broadly, though. It can be difficult to maintain multiple sites while keeping the content fresh and engaging. It’s better to have one or a few good sites than a multitude of shallow, low value-add sites. As always, we encourage you to share your thoughts via comments as well as by contributing to the Google Webmaster community.

Most people that start a blog would like it to turn profitable at some point, but how does it happen? WebProNews recently spoke with blogging legend Darren Rowse of ProBlogger about what bloggers can do to make money.

First of all, bloggers need to look at their blog long-term.  So often, people think that they can make money instantly, but it could actually take years.

Having a profitable blog also involves finding the right niche.  It needs to be something that you are interested in and have a passion about. In addition, Rowse suggests that you determine how monetizable your niche is. To do this, you could search for your topic in Google and see if it is something advertisers would consider.

To keep visitors coming back to your blog, you must also choose a niche that will keep you writing for a long time. How often should you write? While it depends upon your area of content, Rowse does point out that, “every post you write is a doorway into your site.” For some bloggers, this could mean 365 opportunities if they write a post everyday. However, bloggers should not post for the mere reason of having new content every day. He says the content should always be useful.

On another note, how effective are blogs due to the recent Twitter craze? Although some blogs have shifted to shorter formats, Rowse says there is also a shift that is moving back toward longer content on blogs since people want more than 140 characters.  Emphasizing that blogs and Twitter are valuable tools for each other, he says specifically, “It’s an ideal world for a blogger… people want more and you’re able to give it to them through a viral communication like Twitter.”

espinda.com provides a turn-key blog plan at only $3.5 a month.

If you took advantage of our new offer for migrating to a Washington DC server then you’ll need to re-create email accounts on the new server, therefore your old email accounts will be closed, you can backup your existing mail in these mailboxes using Outlook, here’s a brief tutorial on how to do so:

1. Click ‘Account Settings’ from ‘Tools’ menu.

2. Create a new Account (per mailbox).

3. Select the 1st choice.

4. Check the checkbox at the bottom.

5. Select ‘Internet E-mail’.

6. Fill in the form as above then select ‘More Settings’.

7. Click on ‘Outgoing Server’.

8. Click the first checkbox.

9. POP: 110 and SMTP: 225

Then click OK, NEXT and FINISH, then repeat the above steps for each mailbox, finally click ‘Send/Receive button in Outlook to download all mail stored in your existing mailboxes before they got deleted, when you change your DNS you’ll be able to use your new email accounts with new setup that will be given in your new activation email.

Links are still the key differentiator to move the needle forward once you have some initial traction in the search engine results. Unlike some past algorithmic update shakeups, Caffeine is not targeted to changing the criteria of links and other off-page factors. Rather, the on-page factors of a site are the variables in play.

Successful SEO is still very much the same in the post-Caffeine world. Only more so. In order for links to be most effective, they must be directed towards pages on sites which are quick to load, efficient in their coding, architected to facilitate a flatter crawl structure, and featuring a high percentage of unique target relevant content. To this last point, be assured that if your site has volumes of pages that contain repurposed content or largely redundant templated content, Caffeine will definitely not be your friend.

Too Much Caffeine Got You Nervous?

Caffeine is fundamentally a big change for Google, and invariably you will see fluctuation (positive and negative) in your organic search rankings. This fluctuation will be driven by the extent to which your site is more or less compliant to the aforementioned factors vs. your competitor sites. Understanding why rankings for you and your competition change in the upcoming weeks is the key first step to ensure your reactions and responses are appropriate and effective.

You may have further questions. I have spoken personally with many Text Link Ads clients about auditing their sites for Caffeine optimization, as well as redefining their SEO to adjust to changing factors and emphasis. Our Text Link Ad link specialists are available to answer your questions and can also provide an overview of the benefits of our strategic and technical consulting services.

Is it Good or Bad?

When algorithms change, rankings change. It’s as simple as that. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing: search engine optimization is a zero sum game…there are exactly ten results that will always show up in the top ten. So, one site’s loss is another site’s gain. What can you do to make sure you are on the beneficiary side of this update? First and foremost, you must understand the essential elements of Caffeine.

What is Caffeine?

What is Caffeine? How will it affect search results? How does link building fit into the mix? What can you do to prepare for Caffeine? While we are not sitting in the Google kitchen, we have been shown a preview of what is cooking.

First and foremost, the name provides significant insight. Why Caffeine? The new update focuses on speed and sharper focus. Fewer search results served up faster. To do this, Google is completely rewriting their indexing system to crawl faster, index more efficiently, and serve up fewer results much more quickly. Content freshness will (finally) start to play the more important role it deserves; old outdated and stale content will be more readily expunged. Our explorations into Caffeine results here at Text Link Ads have shown a reduction in the result set of anywhere from 30-70%!

Whilst studies show that the majority of business owners today realise the importance of having a presence on the Internet, it appears that a great many do no more than publish their website. The survey of 430 small local businesses using a website, found that over 40 per cent currently do not use data to assess whether their website is working to support their business goals. During the first half of 2009, the vast majority of SMEs (83 per cent) have not analysed their websites performance against their business plan.

Despite half of businesses feeling happy with their websites and 43 per cent viewing these as integral to their marketing efforts, it would appear that a great many firms simply do not know whether their website is making the right impact. Only 57 per cent of firms do monitor their website performance by checking an overall traffic volume statistic for their homepage. However, only 40 per cent currently analyse where their website visitors are being referred from, an essential element of effective online marketing. Furthermore, only 33 per cent of owners that measure their website look at the click-through rates to individual sections of the website. This exercise can be invaluable in enabling a business to see where consumer interest lies and whether visits are being converted into sales.

In today’s difficult economic climate, the web has never been more relevant for every type of UK enterprise. However, a huge number of firms continue to invest blindly in a web presence without checking whether it is earning its keep. Irrespective of the scale of web project, every business will benefit from using simple statistics to monitor efficiencies and ensure that every visitor is being capitalised upon.

It is perhaps unsurprising over three quarters of businesses questioned (77 per cent) make no assessment of ‘return on investment’ for their websites. Only 11 per cent of those surveyed, judged the effectiveness of their website in terms of ‘clicks vs sales’ or ‘web cost per order’. Worryingly, the research would suggest that for a significant number of companies, expectations for their website are rather low. 1 in 4 owners (23 per cent) still do not believe their website has potential to be a sales channel. Since setting up their website, the majority of companies surveyed (62 per cent) have not taken any external advice about the effectiveness of their website.

However, nowadays easy-to-use tools are available for any business owner to evaluate the effectiveness of their website themselves. For example, espinda.com LLC provides its hosting customers with a MatrixStats tool, a graphical web statistics tool that provides an instant snapshot of how well websites and domains are performing. Within a few clicks, business users can view their website in a range of useful ways – traffic by geographic location, referrer URLs, search engine keyword referrals, page popularity and visitor session lengths. Day-to-day, such tools can be a valuable asset for swiftly identifying problems with web design or navigation.

By taking note of their website statistics and making necessary changes, many companies we work with enjoy a real fiscal impact. With increased visibility and sales from a successful website, a business owner will grow faith in online markets and the role they can play in achieving a business plan.