When I first got my web site built, I thought I finally had
a presence on-line. Wrong! I soon found out that I needed someone to host my site, and I needed a domain name.

This, I found, was my moment of utter confusion. And my
first thought was – “What have I gotten myself into!?”
I realized I needed the following questions answered before I
could even begin my on-line journey. What do I need in a web host,what is a web host, what is a domain name and – you mean, I have to pay for a domain name as well?

What is a Domain?

A domain name is a unique name that identifies an Internet site.
Thus, if you want to do any on-line marketing you need a unique
name to identify your business – and definitely a name that
identifies or relates to that of your on-line presence.

Do I really need a domain name? Yes. Why? There are
several good reasons:

1. It projects a professional image

2. It’s mobile – you can change web hosts and your domain name goes with you.

3. It takes time and hard work to build your affiliate business – if you don’t have your own name and you want to move to a different web host – all is lost because the domain name is not mobile.

There are many sites that offer a domain name service at a reasonable price. You can go to my site at www.myaffiliateplace.biz/Affiliate_Info.htm and
look under Affiliate Information – here you can get an idea
how much a domain name costs.

What is A Web Host?

A web host is an ISP that offers space in which to store your
own personal Web pages. They utilize a web server, which
is a computer that is permanently connected to the Internet and
can send out your web pages on request.

If you want a professional presence, I would suggest that you
do not go with a free site. Why? With your free site, you
are required to include advertisements of their
choosing on your pages.

There are many web hosting sites and prices to choose from – and all can be very confusing and intimidating when you are first looking at putting up a site of your own. So, what should you consider when choosing a web host?

What to Consider When You Choose a Web Host?

When choosing a Web Host you should consider the following:

1. Does it have customer support available 24/7?

2. How often are backups done? (You should also do your own backups as well.)

3. How much bandwidth do they give you? Bandwidth is the amount of activity on your site (traffic). The more visitors you have, the more bandwidth is used. I recommend at least 2 gigs, with an option to upgrade.

4. How many email accounts do they have? At least 3, preferably more.

5. Does it have traffic stats – to monitor your hits, page views, and actual visitors?

6. Does it have FrontPage extensions? (If you are planning to use FrontPage).

7. Does it offer autoresponders?

8. Does it offer FTP?

9. Does it allow for upgrades? As your business grows, so will your need for more bandwidth.

10. Does it offer SiteBuilder? (If you have no HTML experience/don’t have FrontPage, or no programming knowledge – SiteBuilder can get you up and running.

To conclude, remember your web site is your business, your
domain is your name, and your web host is your home – all
are important factors to your success. And to think, you
only getting started!

To your success.

Is there a difference between writing a landing page and any other web site page? Yes and no. But mainly, yes.

You still have to work within the fundamentals of good writing and copywriting. And you still have to recognize the differences between writing for paper and writing for a monitor.

However, there are some important differences to consider when it comes to writing a landing page.

>> You KNOW what you want your visitors to do

On many web pages we are writing text to help people find what THEY want, either on that page or a different one. This may involve writing careful descriptions, using images and providing descriptive links to help our visitor move forward to the right page.

In other words, a lot of the time the pages we are writing are not the final destination pages for many of our visitors. So we deliberately help them leave the page, pointing them in the right direction.

With a landing page, everything changes. With a landing page, you know what you want them to do and you DON’T want them leaving that page until they have decided to make that purchase, sign up, download a white paper – or whatever else it is you want them to do.

>> Now you’re in the realm of direct marketing

A landing page is a direct marketing piece, pure and simple. You have attracted someone there through an ad, a link, a keyword…whatever. And now you have them on the page, you want to convert them.

When direct marketing with a landing page, remember these points.

- It’s about the copy, the words. It’s the text that will bring you success or failure.

- Design? The purpose of the design is to support and showcase the text. If you want results, your visitors must read the text. This influences your choices of colors, your use of images, the layout on the page.

- Navigation links? No thank you. On a regular web page, there are plenty of links on a page to make it easy for people to move around and find what they want. On a landing page, there is only ONE link you want people to click on, and that’s the one that says YES. You don’t WANT them to navigate. You want to give them just the one way forward.

- Multiple choices? Not if you can help it. If you have three or four things to sell or promote, create separate campaigns and separate landing pages. Too many choices on a single page dilutes attention and reduces response rates. Keep it focused.

>> Concluding thoughts

Many large and medium sized companies struggle with creating landing pages that are unashamedly built to maximize conversion rates. Perhaps they don’t have the skills in-house to write and design that kind of page. Perhaps they feel uncomfortable about ‘direct marketing’ through their site pages.

Whatever the reason, it’s the companies that have the will and the resources to build high-converting landing pages that will come out the winners.

Choosing an online shopping cart is a big decision. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar business, your website is your only chance to impress potential customers. It needs to project a professional image to capture the trust of your visitors. The shopping cart is a particularly important part of your website because it deals with people’s personal information and credit card numbers. People are nervous about online purchases and need to be assured that they are giving their credit card numbers to a reputable company.

There are several types of ecommerce shopping carts available. They range from merchant services, which require no programming skills, to fully integrated shopping carts that require custom programming. The three main categories of shopping carts are:

• Merchant services such as eBay and 2Checkout

• Hosted shopping cart services

• Fully integrated shopping carts

Merchant Services

Most shopping carts require you to have your own merchant account and gateway. A merchant account is a bank account that allows a business to conduct credit card transactions and the gateway allows the transaction to be conducted over a secure connection. It’s okay if you don’t have a merchant account or gateway. Merchant service shopping carts allow you to use their merchant account, gateway and shopping cart for a higher cost.

Merchant services are beneficial for very small businesses or those that are just starting and don’t have a lot of orders. Merchant services provide the merchant account, gateway, hosted shopping cart and will maintain your customer’s personal information. They usually require a set-up fee between 50 and 200 dollars, transaction fee between 30 and 75 cents, and 5% to 10% of each transaction. Because you are using their merchant account, your customer’s credit card statement will show the merchant services business name not yours. In some cases, customers will not recognize the charge and may dispute it.

Merchant service shopping carts have an administrative interface, which allows you to login to your account to add products, prices and shipping options. The shopping cart generates the html for the purchase buttons and you simply copy and paste the html into your web pages. When your customer clicks on the purchase button, he is taken to another website to enter the credit card information. This indicates to the customer that you are a small business. Some potential customers will abandon the shopping cart rather than enter their credit card information on a website they know nothing about.

Once your business grows to the point where you are processing over $1000 a month, it’s more cost effective to apply for your own merchant account and switch to either a hosted shopping cart (little or no programming) or a fully integrated shopping cart (programming required).

Hosted Shopping Cart

The hosted shopping cart is a great solution for a small business that is processing over $1000 a month but does not have the resources to create or customize a fully integrated shopping cart. Hosted shopping carts are similar to the merchant services because they provide an administrative interface for you to enter products, pricing and shipping options. They will generate the html for the purchase buttons, which can be copied and pasted into your html pages.

Hosted shopping carts face some of same problems as merchant service carts because your customers will be transferred to a different website to enter the credit card information. Some hosted shopping carts allow you to customize the shopping cart so that it has the same look and feel as your websites. Customizing your shopping cart may require some programming skills, but it could also prevent customers from abandoning their shopping carts.

The main difference between the merchant services shopping cart and the hosted shopping cart is the name that appears on the customer’s credit card and pricing. Hosted shopping carts allow you to use your own merchant account and gateway, which means the customer’s credit card statement will show your business name next to the charge. This can decrease your charge backs.

If you are using your own merchant account and conducting over $1000 of transitions each month, the hosted shopping carts can be less expensive than merchant services. Your merchant account will probably charge a monthly fee between 20 and 60 dollars, transaction fee between 10 and 50 cents, and a percentage of the transaction, usually ranging between 2% to 3.5%. In addition to the merchant fees, your shopping cart service will also charge a monthly fee between 10 and 30 dollars and could charge a transaction fee. These fees sound more expensive than the merchant service option, but if you are processing over $1000 a month and growing, it’s better to pay flat monthly fees than continue to be charged 5 to 10 percent of the each transaction.

Fully Integrated Shopping Carts

The fully integrated shopping cart is a great option for any business that can afford it. The shopping cart will be dynamic and will have the same look and feel as your website. The ZIP Baby Potty Training Store is a great example of a fully integrated shopping cart. Fully integrated shopping carts like this contain features that are not found in merchant service or hosted shopping carts. For example, you can discount items, display customer reviews, assign products to multiple categories, display out of stock notifications, sort products and prices, and display shipping estimates without requiring the customer to create an account.

Integrated shopping carts require advanced programming skills and can often be used with your own merchant account or with a service that allows you to use their merchant account for a higher fee. There are many integrated shopping carts available. Free carts require the most programming skills, but if you don’t have the programming skills necessary to customize a free shopping cart, there are many companies that specialize in customizing fully integrated shopping carts.

Your choice of a shopping cart can have a dramatic impact on your business. Your website is the first and only impression you get to make so you’ll want to make it as professional as possible. While shopping for a shopping cart system, put yourself in your target customer’s shoes and browse the Internet. Review your competitor’s websites as well as those outside your industry. Make a list of shopping carts that you find appealing and research them thoroughly before choosing one.

When I first got my web site built, I thought I finally had
a presence on-line. Wrong! I soon found out that I needed someone to host my site, and I needed a domain name.

This, I found, was my moment of utter confusion. And my
first thought was – “What have I gotten myself into!?”
I realized I needed the following questions answered before I
could even begin my on-line journey. What do I need in a web host,what is a web host, what is a domain name and – you mean, I have to pay for a domain name as well?

What is a Domain?

A domain name is a unique name that identifies an Internet site.
Thus, if you want to do any on-line marketing you need a unique
name to identify your business – and definitely a name that
identifies or relates to that of your on-line presence.

Do I really need a domain name? Yes. Why? There are
several good reasons:

1. It projects a professional image

2. It’s mobile – you can change web hosts and your domain name goes with you.

3. It takes time and hard work to build your affiliate business – if you don’t have your own name and you want to move to a different web host – all is lost because the domain name is not mobile.

There are many sites that offer a domain name service at a reasonable price. You can go to my site at www.myaffiliateplace.biz/Affiliate_Info.htm and
look under Affiliate Information – here you can get an idea
how much a domain name costs.

What is A Web Host?

A web host is an ISP that offers space in which to store your
own personal Web pages. They utilize a web server, which
is a computer that is permanently connected to the Internet and
can send out your web pages on request.

If you want a professional presence, I would suggest that you
do not go with a free site. Why? With your free site, you
are required to include advertisements of their
choosing on your pages.

There are many web hosting sites and prices to choose from – and all can be very confusing and intimidating when you are first looking at putting up a site of your own. So, what should you consider when choosing a web host?

What to Consider When You Choose a Web Host?

When choosing a Web Host you should consider the following:

1. Does it have customer support available 24/7?

2. How often are backups done? (You should also do your own backups as well.)

3. How much bandwidth do they give you? Bandwidth is the amount of activity on your site (traffic). The more visitors you have, the more bandwidth is used. I recommend at least 2 gigs, with an option to upgrade.

4. How many email accounts do they have? At least 3, preferably more.

5. Does it have traffic stats – to monitor your hits, page views, and actual visitors?

6. Does it have FrontPage extensions? (If you are planning to use FrontPage).

7. Does it offer autoresponders?

8. Does it offer FTP?

9. Does it allow for upgrades? As your business grows, so will your need for more bandwidth.

10. Does it offer SiteBuilder? (If you have no HTML experience/don’t have FrontPage, or no programming knowledge – SiteBuilder can get you up and running.

To conclude, remember your web site is your business, your
domain is your name, and your web host is your home – all
are important factors to your success. And to think, you
only getting started!

To your success.

Is there a difference between writing a landing page and any other web site page? Yes and no. But mainly, yes.

You still have to work within the fundamentals of good writing and copywriting. And you still have to recognize the differences between writing for paper and writing for a monitor.

However, there are some important differences to consider when it comes to writing a landing page.

>> You KNOW what you want your visitors to do

On many web pages we are writing text to help people find what THEY want, either on that page or a different one. This may involve writing careful descriptions, using images and providing descriptive links to help our visitor move forward to the right page.

In other words, a lot of the time the pages we are writing are not the final destination pages for many of our visitors. So we deliberately help them leave the page, pointing them in the right direction.

With a landing page, everything changes. With a landing page, you know what you want them to do and you DON’T want them leaving that page until they have decided to make that purchase, sign up, download a white paper – or whatever else it is you want them to do.

>> Now you’re in the realm of direct marketing

A landing page is a direct marketing piece, pure and simple. You have attracted someone there through an ad, a link, a keyword…whatever. And now you have them on the page, you want to convert them.

When direct marketing with a landing page, remember these points.

- It’s about the copy, the words. It’s the text that will bring you success or failure.

- Design? The purpose of the design is to support and showcase the text. If you want results, your visitors must read the text. This influences your choices of colors, your use of images, the layout on the page.

- Navigation links? No thank you. On a regular web page, there are plenty of links on a page to make it easy for people to move around and find what they want. On a landing page, there is only ONE link you want people to click on, and that’s the one that says YES. You don’t WANT them to navigate. You want to give them just the one way forward.

- Multiple choices? Not if you can help it. If you have three or four things to sell or promote, create separate campaigns and separate landing pages. Too many choices on a single page dilutes attention and reduces response rates. Keep it focused.

>> Concluding thoughts

Many large and medium sized companies struggle with creating landing pages that are unashamedly built to maximize conversion rates. Perhaps they don’t have the skills in-house to write and design that kind of page. Perhaps they feel uncomfortable about ‘direct marketing’ through their site pages.

Whatever the reason, it’s the companies that have the will and the resources to build high-converting landing pages that will come out the winners.