Managed Web Hosting – Extra services that you don’t want to be without

 

All web hosting is not all the same.  I offer services that I have never heard of before.  They came about by helping real clients, one-on-one.  I’m not a technical genius.  The difference is that there is only one of me.  Therefore, common sense, follow through, and a customization come naturally.  Large companies can not make this claim. 

 

I rent space from a large company, and I manage it for you.  So you get the best that both a large and small business has to offer.  You know that your website will be up, and your email will actually get to you (which goes beyond web hosting).  You also know that you have your own consultant who is looking out for you.  Here is how:

 

We set it up, keep it safe, and keep an eye out

 

Since I am making your web site, and will be editing/updating or upgrading your website, I can offer a level of convenience and personal service that no other web host can provide:

 

1. Managed hosting – You don’t worry about setting the email, DNS, FTP, SPAM filtering, etc.  I handle all that.  In fact, I will continue to manage all of it for you.
2. Monitored hosting –
1. Is the site really up? 
2. Is the code of your site suddenly vulnerable to a new security threat?
3. Is your site attracting visitors?  How?  How many? From where? Are they actually contacting you? (SEO)
3. Monitored email – Did you get the email from your website?

 

 

Someone real

 

The 3 questions above are critical.  But who is asking them?  Who is checking?  Someone you know?  Or someone you don’t know?  Someone different every time you call?  When you call you hear “press 1 for hold, press 2 to wait even longer, or press 3 to get hung up on”?

 

Managed hosting means I manage the web hosting for you. I’m asking the 3 questions above, and I’m finding answers, or solutions as needed. 

 

If you call me, I’ll probably answer my cell.  You have my number. 

 

 

Monitored hosting:  We are all staying up

 

What do all of the following have in common?

1. My website and email
2. My other client’s website and email
3. Your new website and your email

 

That’s right!  They are all hosted on my web server.  So, if my email or website goes down, I know yours has too.  Then I call and “press 1 for hold, press 2 to wait even longer”, until it is fixed.  Do not worry:  That has never happened with my managed hosting server. 

 

 

Cheaper alternatives; AKA “web hosting on your own”

 

It has happened though.  I used to try to find the best value for my clients in terms of less expensive hosting.  I went from the “best one” to the new “best one” 4 times before I decided that you get what you pay for.  99% uptime is a lie. 

 

 

Monitored Email

 

If someone you do not know tells you that your website or email will never have problems, do not believe them.  “Stuff” happens.  With monitored email, I make sure that you actually get your emailed sales leads from your web site.  No other web host helps with this.

 

 

Did you get the email?

 

1. Someone important fills out your “contact us” form, which emails sales@yourdomainname.com. I’ve got that set up to CC me (unless you don’t want me to).
2. Your personal email is blocking email from your website, but you have no way of knowing this.
3. I get the emailed sales lead, and also a warning email, telling me that the message could not reach you@yourdomainname.com.
4. I call you and explain the situation.
5. I forward the email to another email account of yours that works.
6. I help you fix the problem that was causing it. 
1. It was probably your ISP blocking SPAM.  That’s because you have your youdomainname.com email forwarded to you@yourISP.net. 
2. So I help you add you@yourdomainname.com to your MS Outlook client.  Now you get email directly from your site.
3. Until your MS Outlook email client puts web site email it in the SPAM folder.  Then we set Outlook to not do that.

 

Many problems may arise with website email.  No web host has control over these problems.  If it looks like an important sales lead, I might contact you to make sure you got it.  From your website, to your inbox, I make sure the email makes it.  Who else does that?

 

 

 

Search Engine Optimization Analysis

 

What is the point of a website anyway?  Is it the hope that users of your website will contact you?  I think so. 

 

We would expect the number of leads emailed to you from your “contact us” form on your website to increase as a result of the addition of more SEO services.  Who is going to keep up with that?  I do.  This is one of the methods that I use to measure the effectiveness of SEO on your site. 

 

Why does no other web host keep up with this?  Probably because they do not really know you, and you do not really know them.  So there is a lack of trust.  Also, asking you who of the mailers were perfect strangers helps guide Search Engine Optimization Analysis.  This takes time, which costs money.

 

 

 

Monitored Hosting

 

Site email from perfect strangers may be the goal of SEO.  However, it is not the only way to measure its effectiveness and make recommendations for improvement.  SEO analysis tools like Google Analytics play an important role as well.  Site statistics such as:

1. number of visitors
2. length of visit
3. keyword phrase that landed them on your site
4. the page they were referred from

 

These factors tell me how to tune your website for SEO.  However, most clients will not really look at that.  So I do that for them. 

 

 

Site Promotion

 

I’ve seen clients throw big money into radio ads without even considering any of the above factors, or even contacting me.  If the radio listener can remember your URL, www.IcantRememberOrSpellYourWebAddress.com, they may misspell it.  That is why you may need to have multiple domains; some of them misspellings; such as:  http://www.icantrememberorspellyourwebadress.com/. 

 

Suppose the interested radio listener does not give up, and knows enough to Google the parts of your web address that they remember.  Depending on how many SEO services you have purchased, and how well we have tuned them, they may find you through the search engine. 

 

As you can see, site promotion needs to be a unified effort between the web host (me), the web developer (me), the SEO consultant (me), and the client (you).  Who else can provide such a unified array of services?

 

 

 

Notifications that you don’t know what to do with

 

Clients who try to procure their own web hosting get emails from their web hosts like, “Virus threatens your website, please upgrade to PHP 5.0”.  If you do not know what this means, don’t worry I will take care of it.  When there is a need for a security upgrade on your website or web application, I will be notified of it.  I’ll know what to do.

 

 

 

Adding applications

 

I have the freedom to upgrade your site and even do customized programming on your site because of the robust web hosting environment that I have chosen.  If you choose your own web host, it may not allow me this freedom. 

 

Moving code from one web host to another can sometimes be difficult, especially since my more advanced code might not work on a less expensive web host, which was intended only for simple web sites.

 

Also, other web hosts may not support additional features to your web site, such as:

 

Example Applications

·  Message Boards ·  Shopping Carts ·  Photo Galleries ·  News/Blog ·  Custom Calendar System ·  Guest books ·  Survey/Poll Builder

·  Client Portals and Communities ·  eCommerce Applications ·  Bulletin Boards ·  User and Site Tracking ·  Article Publishing Systems ·  Properties Listing ·  Site Tracking

 

Or, they may support them for now, but later send you an email saying that they no longer will unless you follow some very technical procedures.

 

 

 

What makes my hosting so much better than the rest?

 

Short answer: Too many things to list on this page.  Click click here for the long answer.  Here is a summary:

 

1. My web hosting services complement my Search Engine Optimization services in ways that our competitors cannot. 
2. Since I am making your web site, and will be editing/updating or upgrading your website, I can offer a level of convenience and personal service that no other web host can provide you.
3. Have one “web” vendor instead of 3 different vendors: web site (me), web hosting, and domain names. 

 

 

FAQ: Or, actually, “Questions I’ve Never Been Asked”:

 

1. What if I’d rather start off by putting my site on another web host?  I can do that. I can mount your site onto a different host of your choice at our usual consulting rate.  There will be a set up fee of at least $100.  How much it costs will depend on the similarity between your new web server and mine.
2. What if I want to change to another web host?  No problem.  After you complete your paid term, I can move your site onto a different host of your choice at our usual consulting rate.  How much it costs will depend on the similarity between your new web server and mine.
3. What if I want to hire a different webmaster?  You have the login and password for your domain name.  I have it too, in case you lost it.  Your new webmaster can use this to point your domain name toward your new website, wherever you or they host it.  If you want to stay with my hosting, that is even easier for your new webmaster.  I’ll give them access to your account.
4. Do I own my website?  Sure.  If you hire a different webmaster, I’ll send them your website. 

 

 

Now what?

Click here and follow the instructions. Web hosting is what lets you see your website.  So don’t forget to pay for it!