Where to Advertise?!?!

[Vibe]

My company is looking to spend some cash on some hosting directory sites(findsp,tophosts) anyways I'm interested in hearing feedback about where you all have posted and the prices it costed you and how much business it got you. Thanks

 

[hostareus]

I also would be interested as well

 

[HostingDirect]

Kyle,
I am not sure anyone has found the secret to this one. I have been wanting to do the same but I am skeptical of how successful these host finder programs really are. From what I have seen they are rather expensive and I am not convinced I would see a decent return on my investment.

I have also been looking at doing some print adds in a local paper until I got sticker shock which I have not recovered from yet I do think I will end up given the print adds a shot.

I am finding that most people who shop at the host finder pages end up hooking up with the cheapest guy on the block and I plan on staying profitable so I will never be the cheapest guy on the block.

Where do you get most of your customers from now? I am finding providing outstanding service creates good word of mouth and this has been where most of my leads come from.

I know this was not the answer you were looking for but it is the best I have to offer

Oh, don't give up on this board I am sure as time goes on it will get more participation.

 

[Shikha]

I recommend TopHosts.com & HostSearch.com for advertising. Both are very good & high visitor portals.

 

[Artashes]

This web site may help those who offer web hosting services:
www.HostDirs.com

As for my marketing knowledge, I would NOT go with TopHosts.com, HostSearch.com and all those "TOP ELITE GUYS" for a few reasons:

- they are extremely over-valued (even though they get most of the traffic)
- to run an ad-campaign on them is inefficient in terms of ROI. One a few day campaign could cost up to $2000 on TopHosts.com.

So if you'd really like to get your message up ona web hosting directory, go with the medium-sized directories. They get all the same visitors as TopHosts.com and their ROI could be higher. Also, those $2000 could be well spent on 5 directories instead of one. (This will take care of the branding effect as well - having your name out there on five web sites).

Hope this helps,

 

[Chopper]

Hi I have found google adwords to work out well for me im recieving about 1 client every second day through the adwords program. The thing I like about adwords is you can set a daily budget so you are not spending to much.

I also tryed out advertising through webhostdir.com search engine i recieved many clicks but not one signup.

Wayne

 

[Artashes]

Wayne, I've always wanted to ask how competitive Google AdWords really is. I mean is it like Overture - bids are at some crazy levels (like 4-8 per click? for top positions)? Or is it more reasonable?

Thank you.

 

[Chopper]

When i first started with google I lost alot of money because I was bidding on real common search terms such as "web hosting" ect ect and was paying about $2 per click and i wasnt even in the top place i was about 7th position. Now im bidding on search terms that arnt as common and that other web host arnt bidding on and im bidding on alot of search terms. I dont get as mcuh click thrus as i used to and am paying a maximum of 10c per click but about 75% of the clicks generate sales so thats ok.

Overtrue is the cheaper way to go but i dont know how effective they are.

I hope what I just said makes sense

Wayne

 

[Artashes]

75% ROI - that's the strongest number I've seen so far. You must really target keywords pretty well!! And considering that you pay a max bid of 10 cents per click must make it super-profitable.

That's impressive.

 

[Chopper]

Ive just signed up to overtrue to see how that goes. Just waiting for my serach phrases to be activated. Does anyone know how long this takes?

Wayne

 

[Artashes]

Ive just signed up to overtrue to see how that goes. Just waiting for my serach phrases to be activated. Does anyone know how long this takes?

My guess is 24-48 hours.

 

[Chopper]

My guess is 24-48 hours.

when I said "just" I was meaning 3 days ago i set up the account.

 

[Artashes]

My God!! I think you better e-mail them. It'd be outrageous for them to keep advertisers in line for a week!

 

[Chopper]

I emailed them yesterday no response yet.

 

[Chopper]

After 6 days I have recieved a reply They just have to contact me via phone now to verify my information is correct. Wonder how long this will take? And im in a different country to them so the phone call will proberly cost them a bit.

Wayne

 

[Artashes]

This is terrible service. I never thought Overture is like that. Not Overture at least...

Its good to know because I'm going to sign up for it myself pretty soon.

Please keep up updated. I'm curious how long the whole "verification and getting to business" process will take in total. heh...

 

[Chopper]

Heh I guess they don't want my bussiness they havnt even tryed contacting me to activate my account like they said instead i just got:

------------------
Apr 28 2003 14:58 PT

Hello Wayne,

Thank you for contacting Overture.

In response to your recent billing inquiry, we have refunded $50.00 to your MasterCard ending in ####. The refund should be reflected on your next credit card statement.

To view the billing history of your account, please visit the Reports section of our DirecTraffic Center and select the Billing Transaction Detail Report.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance. Thank you for choosing Overture!

Sincerely,

Kristen Mesfin
Overture Client Services

E-mail Client Services using our Support Request Form
through our Support Center Tab found in DirecTraffic Center®
dtc.overture.com
-----------------------------------------------

So for anyone out there that wants to advertise on Overture unless your in the USA or UK you proberly wont get your account activated.

 

[Artashes]

Wayne, I have no idea how to explain any of these... Its really unbelivable. So where are you at? I'm in Canada and I hope I won't have these problems.

 

[Chopper]

Im in Australia so I can't see why there would be any problem.

 

[justhost]

Has anyone else in here used Google Adwords? I am just curious if anyone else had as much success as Chopper?

I would like to get into using it as I can have a fairly targeted keyword selection.