Tag Archives: budget

What is a Content Management System?

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Hosting

The post What is a Content Management System? appeared first on HostGator Blog . To be a successful business owner, one of the important skills you need is the ability to identify the right tools that enable you to run your business effectively. For many businesses, that will include using a content management system (CMS).   What is a Content Management System? A web content management system is software expressly designed to help you create, edit, organize, and publish your content online. It provides an intuitive interface for editing your web pages that saves you from having to deal with coding directly, or call your developer each time you need to make an update. And it makes it easy to provide the right level of access to every person in your company that contributes or makes changes to the website. Within a CMS, you can store all the content you’ve already created and any media you want to include on your website. You can easily keep track of which content is published, which is scheduled, and which is in draft form. And many CMSs allow you to track changes to pieces of content, so you can see how versions differ and revert to an earlier one if needed. Does My Business Need a Content Management System? For small businesses, “need” might be too strong a word here, but most businesses will benefit from having a CMS. A CMS will particularly be useful for any business where: Anyone in charge of making updates to the website lacks coding skills . Whether you have a one-person business or over 100 employees, if anyone in a position to add content to the website or make tweaks to the pages already there isn’t skilled at coding, they’ll struggle to do their job without a CMS. And since small coding errors can sometimes bring down a whole site, you don’t want to take that risk. Multiple people have access to the site, each of them for different tasks. A CMS lets you set up accounts for the different people in your company that need some level of access to the website, but you can define what level of access they have with WordPress user roles to improve security . If you hire a blogger to write and publish blog posts, you don’t have to give them the ability to make changes to your home page. A CMS gives you control over who can change what, and helps you protect your website from accidental errors and malicious changes alike. You already have or plan to create a lot of content. If your business is doing a content marketing strategy , a CMS provides a centralized location for you to store and manage all the different pieces of content you have. Everyone involved in content creation, editing, and scheduling can easily access everything they need and keep track of its status. A good web content management system will make managing your website a lot easier—both for you and anyone else you employ to help out. And it will help you keep your content and web pages organized and looking the way you want them to.   How Much Do Content Management Systems Cost? As a business owner, it sometimes feels like you can’t go a whole day without hearing about some new product or service you need. You only have so much money to spend, so even if the argument is persuasive, learning that there’s one more product you should invest in is often dispiriting. So here’s the good news: almost all of the most popular content management systems are free. They have add-ons and plug-ins that cost more, if you want additional features. And in some cases, hiring a web developer or someone to help you get your CMS set up or get more out of it is worth it. But a good CMS in and of itself doesn’t have to cost you anything. Even with a CMS though, you will still need to invest in web hosting and register a domain name , if you haven’t already. And a CMS isn’t usually the best tool for doing web design—you’ll want a professional web designer or a good website builder for that part. But once you have those basics covered, a CMS enables you to maintain and update your website over time without any added cost.   What to Look for in a Content Management System Every business is different, so what your business will value most in a CMS depends on your particular goals and needs. Even so, there are a few main features most businesses will want to consider when deciding which CMS to go with. Look for a CMS that: Is within your budget. This may seem strange to mention when we just told you that most content management systems are free, but there are potential costs involved you need to consider. To start, a couple of CMS options that provide specialized features or functionality do have a price, so there’s a small chance your best option won’t be free. Secondly, even with free CMS tools, you’ll likely want to use some plugins or extensions to get the full functionality you need. So before you make a decision, research the cost of the additional tools you expect to invest in, so you get a more accurate picture of the full cost of your choice.   Is intuitive. Some content management systems are more user friendly for beginners than others. Sometimes that means a tradeoff: a CMS that’s harder to learn and work with could provide more options for customization, if you know what you’re doing. If you value ease of use over being able to realize a very specific vision, then you want to look for a CMS that you’ll be able to start using without having to spend a lot of time learning the ropes. Lets you define permissions and roles. If more than one person will be involved with updating the website, you want the power to control who has access and what kind of access they have. A CMS that makes it easy to set up other users and define their level of permissions reduces the risk of letting people into the backend of your website by making sure each one can only make the kinds of changes you’ve assigned. Makes it easy to apply proper formatting. Strong copywriting can improve your website tremendously. Generally speaking, good writing for the web includes using headings and formatting to organize your content for readability. Applying that formatting with HTML can be confusing, so a good CMS should provide easy options for doing so within its interface. Adding headings, italics, bolding, and list options should be a simple as clicking on a button. Helps you organize your content and media. The more web content you create, the more important it will be to have a good method for keeping it all organized. Consider if your CMS provides options for categorizing the content, blog posts,and media you upload, and easily finding the specific piece you need at the moment you need it. Provides support. Technology is complicated and you’ll inevitably hit up against questions or challenges when using your CMS. Choose an option that has plenty of online resources for helping you find the answers you need and/or customer support staff you can reach out to. Because the most popular content management systems have huge communities of users, you can usually find good support resources in spite of not paying for the software. Is compatible with your other software. If you already have software you use for things like e-commerce, website analytics, or customer relationship management (CRM), then you want to make sure your CMS will play nice with the tools you have. Provides on-site optimization features. You want people to find your website, so SEO should be a top priority. A CMS can simplify optimizing your web pages for SEO with features that allow you to customize page URLs, title tags, headings, and alt tags—all without having to touch the page’s code. Has an extensive library of plugins. The CMS will provide the basic functionality you need, but most businesses will want access to an array of different features that don’t come with the CMS itself. For that, you’ll need plugins or extensions. The most popular content management systems have huge libraries of plugins made by hundreds of developers that you can use to add functionality to your website. Offers security options. The flip side of choosing a CMS that’s popular is that it could become the target of hackers. But you can protect yourself from that risk by making sure the CMS provides basic security options such as two-factor authentication, security software and plugins, and regular updates to fix any security vulnerabilities they find. You may not need every one of these features, but consider which ones you’d like your CMS to have and how much of a priority each one is. Once you get set up with a CMS, it’s easier to stick with it than to switch to a new new one, so making the right decision to start will make your life a lot easier.   5 Most Popular Content Management Systems When starting your search for the right CMS for your business, there’s a good chance one of the most popular content management systems out there will satisfy your needs. Here are the main ones to check out.   1. WordPress Easily the most popular CMS, with well over half of the market share, WordPress is a great choice for many websites. There are endless benefits of WordPress as a content management system . Because of its popularity, there are loads of experts and developers working to provide a vast library of resources for the CMS. That includes over 50,000 popular WordPress plugins , thousands of themes to choose from, dozens of thorough WordPress blogs , and a huge community of users who can help with any questions you have. WordPress itself is free. Many of the plugins and themes will cost you, although often the cost is reasonable. And you can even find WordPress web hosting plans specifically designed to work well with this content management system. For lots of small businesses, WordPress will provide just what you need.   2. Joomla Joomla is one of the other most popular content management systems out there. While its community isn’t nearly as large as that of WordPress, it still boasts over 2 million sites and 1,400 volunteers who help keep the CMS running smoothly and improving over time. Joomla has a reputation for being a little harder to learn than WordPress, but it’s still pretty easy for beginners and advanced users alike. And they provide a comprehensive library of resources to help users learn how to get started with Joomla and get the most out of it. Like WordPress, Joomla is free, but you can invest in extensions that add functionality at a cost.   3. Drupal Drupal is the third most popular CMS option, with over 1 million websites using it. They have a reputation for being better suited for developers with some skill than for beginners, and for providing more options for customizing your site and powering more complex solutions. Like the others, Drupal itself is free, and there are many integrated modules you can use to customize your website that are also free. But since taking advantage of the CMS’s flexibility to do more with your website requires skill, you may need to spend money on a developer to get your site where you want it to be.   4. Magento Magento is a CMS that’s specifically designed for ecommerce websites. Magento has both a free open source version and paid versions that pack greater functionality. The free version includes ecommerce features like mobile shopping and integrated checkout, payment, and shipping functionality. The paid version includes additional analytics and marketing features. For ecommerce businesses, it’s worth looking into.   5. Blogger Blogger is a simple and straightforward CMS for anyone primarily interested in learning how to start a blog . It’s free and easy to use, but somewhat limited in its functionality in comparison to the other content management systems on this list. It’s not an open source CMS, which means there’s less flexibility and fewer plugins or other add-ons you can use to customize your website or add functionality. For simple websites, it can be a good enough choice. For many businesses, it won’t offer enough features for your needs.   Choosing a Content Management System for Your Website The easier it is to update your website, the more power you have to improve how well it works over time. The right CMS will put control of your website into your hands, without having to learn complicated programming languages. Determine which of these solutions makes the most sense for your business and get started. HostGator supports all of the most popular content management systems with our web hosting plans, including WordPress, Magento, Drupal, and Joomla. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What is a Content Management System?

Get 25% off your first invoice with our Managed Budget Hosting plans @ CPK Web Services

Posted on December 23, 2018 by Hosting

Hosted in Sydney Australia grab 25% off our fully managed shared hosting plans. The Budget plans are fine for smaller websites that don’t … | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1745606&goto=newpost Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, php, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Get 25% off your first invoice with our Managed Budget Hosting plans @ CPK Web Services

How Much Does Dedicated Hosting Cost?

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Hosting

The post How Much Does Dedicated Hosting Cost? appeared first on HostGator Blog . When the time comes to choose the right kind of web hosting for your needs you’re going to have a lot of options to sort through. If you’re a beginner who’s  learning how to build a website , then shared hosting is the way to go. But, what about when your site grows beyond the initial stage? What about when you’re turning a profit and your traffic only continues to rise? If your site reaches this point then you’ll have a few different hosting options to consider. One of the main forms of hosting is dedicated hosting . But, making the decision to jump to dedicated hosting shouldn’t be taken lightly. The dedicated hosting cost  in general is one of the most expensive forms of hosting. It does bring you some serious benefits, but it’s a decision you’ll want to spend time researching. Below we look at what dedicated hosting actually is, the kind of benefits it offers your site, and which types of sites dedicated hosting is perfect for. Finally, we break down the costs for dedicated hosting and review how to get the most out of your dedicated hosting site. What is Dedicated Hosting? Dedicated hosting is a form of hosting where an entire server is dedicated to a single client or website. Contrast this with a very popular form of web hosting called shared hosting. When discussing the basics of shared hosting , it means hundreds of users and even more websites are sharing this same server’s resources. With dedicated hosting, you have full access to the server’s bandwidth, RAM, storage, and even the ability to control the software configuration. To bring this down to earth let’s take the example of housing. With a dedicated server hosting service, you’re renting an entire home. There are multiple bedrooms, no other tenants, and it’s yours to do whatever you want with. Compare that to shared hosting, which operates more like an apartment building. You have multiple tenants using the same building resources, and there are certain rules for what you can and can’t do. However, if something breaks then you’ll usually have included maintenance that will fix any issues. With dedicated server hosting services, as with a home you own, where you’re responsible for continued maintenance and fixing any issues with your server. Basically, with dedicated hosting, you have more server resources at your disposal, more control and flexibility over your setup, but you’ll generally be tasked with server maintenance as well (depending on your provider).   Linux vs. Windows Dedicated Servers The two main types of dedicated servers you’ll come across are Linux and Windows. Some hosts will specialize in one or the other, but generally, you’ll be given a choice. The server environment you choose will depend upon what programming languages you’re using or the types of databases that your website uses. The most popular form of dedicated server is a Linux server. The chances are high that this will be the type of server setup you require. Here’s how both Linux and Windows servers stack up:   1. Operating System You could probably guess that one of the main differences between the two is the type of operating system you’ll be using. Linux servers will run on Linux while Windows servers will run on Windows. With each operating system, you’ll have different layouts, functions, and commands. So, if you’re used to using one kind of OS it’s best to stick to this, especially if you aren’t going to be using an interface-based control panel to manage your server.   2. Control Panel Choice The most common control panel for Linux servers is cPanel. If you’ve used any kind of shared hosting in the past, then you’re probably familiar with this tool. With Windows, you’ll most likely be using Plesk. Overall, these two control panel’s offer pretty similar features, but if you’re used to using one over the other, then you’ll probably want to stick with it. With cPanel you can easily install a ton of different software packages, create your own MySQL databases, and program in PHP. All of these are necessities if you’re running a WordPress site. With Plesk, you’ll have a similar feature to cPanel, but you’ll also get Windows-specific features like the ability to run a LAMP stack.   3. Your Website Type If you’re choosing a Windows dedicated server you’ll usually be doing so because you need to run certain software that’s only Windows compatible. The is often the case for older, large, enterprise websites. Most website owners will probably get the most out of a Linux dedicated server. With this, you’ll get a server that’s engineered for performance. Plus, if you’re a developer you’ll be able to easily customize and configure your server environment to ensure you’re getting the highest levels of performance possible.   Benefits of Dedicated Hosting Dedicated hosting isn’t for everyone. But, this style of hosting can be incredibly advantageous for the right kind of website. Here are some of the biggest benefits dedicated hosting can offer.   1. Improved Uptime and Security One of the main reasons to upgrade to a dedicated server is if your site requires a high level of uptime. Think about it, every second your site is offline it’s potentially costing you revenue. Depending on the size of your site, this could be a lot of money. Dedicated servers are built to help ensure a high level of uptime from sites that receive a high volume of traffic, or a high level of user interaction, like an eCommerce site. Plus, nearly every dedicated server will have built-in server redundancy, so that any failures or issues with server software and hardware won’t result in your site going offline. There’s also the added benefit of not sharing the server with any other users or websites. Sometimes sharing a server with other users can lead to a loss in performance for your own site. So, any threat from these other sites, whether that’s related to your site’s performance or even it’s security, will be non-existent.   2. Unique Server Configuration With a dedicated host, you can completely customize your own server hardware and software. With something like shared hosting, you have to fit your site into preexisting hardware or software setups. You’ll be able to choose your own software setup, operating system, and even customize your server hardware to a certain extent as well. This will help with getting the highest levels of performance out of your site. Plus, with root server access it’ll be much easier to manage your site and your server. For technical users or those with a large tech team, this level of server control will be a blessing.   3. Incredible Performance With a dedicated server, you won’t have to compete with any other sites on the same server. This gives you complete control and use over all of your server’s resources. A dedicated server gives you access to incredibly high-bandwidth, along with the ability to use all of that bandwidth if the needs arise. Not only that, but you can fully optimize and utilize your server’s disk space.   4. Increased Ability to Scale When you’re using a dedicated server you’ll also be equipped to handle any fluctuations in traffic. When you purchase a dedicated server there will be built-in resource headroom to account for any traffic spikes, or even increased site growth. Since you have full access to your server you can also switch up the hardware or software configuration to help account for increased resource needs.   What Kind of Site Owner Should Use Dedicated Hosting? Not every type of site will need this type of dedicated hosting service.. But, for fast-growing sites, it’s one of the options you’ll want to consider. Here are a few examples of websites that can greatly benefit from using dedicated hosting:   1. High Traffic Websites When your site outgrows its current hosting setup you’ll have a few different hosting options available. As a high traffic website, you’re going to have very different needs than most other sites. A few of those considerations being, unparalleled performance, very high or perfect uptime, along with enhanced security and other features. With a dedicated server, you get all of that and more. You’ll be able to rely on your host to support your site in delivering the best possible user experience.   2. Massive eCommerce Sites With eCommerce any time your site spends offline results in a loss in sales. Finding a hosting solution that has near zero downtime is incredibly important. Plus, you’ll want to be able to handle traffic surges, when you’re running promotions, or during busy shopping times of the year, like the holiday season. With a dedicated host, you’ll have room to scale your site, plus downtime will never be an issue.   3. Agency Owners With High Profile Clients If you’re a high-end digital agency that creates, hosts and manages sites for clients, then you’re going to need a way to deliver reliable white-label hosting to your clients. If this sounds like you, then dedicated hosting is the way to go. You’ll be able to offer your clients unparalleled performance, and incredible reliability. Two things you’ll need to deliver on if you want to keep your clients for the long-term.   4. Websites With Unique Server Configurations Sometimes your site might have very unique requirements from your server. Maybe you’re running a piece of software that requires a custom setup. Or, maybe your team of engineers has found a hardware and software configuration that can help you get the highest levels of performance. With a dedicated server, you have greater control over your hardware, software, and operating system selection and setup.   5. Those Running Gaming Servers This isn’t technically related to your website, but a lot of users run into issues when they’re running an online gaming server, whether it’s for a Minecraft server , or another popular game. Most of these performance issues related to online gaming can be fixed with a dedicated server setup. Since you’ll have access to greater memory, CPU, as well as greater server customization, lag, and other gaming issues will be a thing of the past.   How Much Does Dedicated Hosting Cost ? Now, it’s time for the question you’ve been waiting for: how does much does dedicated hosting actually cost? Unfortunately, it’s not that straightforward. Like any kind of online service, there’s a range of applicable prices, depending on your service provider, the type of dedicated hosting you require, and the length of your hosting contract. As a general basis, you’ll be looking at paying at least $75+ per month, with high-level dedicated hosting being way beyond that. At HostGator, you can pick up a dedicated hosting plan for as little as $119 per month. The prices will rise depending on the level of storage and memory you require. You’ll also find pricing differences between managed and semi-managed dedicated servers. Managed dedicated servers have a more in-depth support team that can help you through any technical issues, as well as having access to more user-friendly tools like control panel installation, backups, and server optimization. Semi-managed servers require a greater level of technical skills to both manage and configure the server. For this level of dedicated server, you’ll probably want to have a technical team that can help to manage and optimize your server environment.   What to Look for in Dedicated Server Hosting When you’re looking for the perfect dedicated server hosting for you there are a few main factors you’ll want to use to compare different packages and providers. Keep these in mind throughout your search: Storage/Bandwidth – A solid amount of RAM and bandwidth available for high traffic. Hardware/Security – Up to date server hardware, the right operating system, along with regular security scale. Managed/Non-managed – If you’re non-technical you’ll need a managed dedicated server solution, or have the budget to hire a tech team to support and configure your server for you. Uptime/Reliability – Look for the highest uptime possible, along with a knowledgeable support team who can help you work through any technical issues.   Dedicated Hosting for Your Website Hopefully, you have a better understanding of what dedicated hosting actually is, the types of benefits it can bring your website, and how much it will cost for you to implement. We hope by this article you can now decide whether or not you need dedicated hosting for your website. If price is your biggest concern when it comes to upgrading to dedicated hosting, then keep in mind that the average price you should be expecting to pay is around $150. Ideally, if your site requires a dedicated host in order to operate at a higher level of performance, then you’ll be generating more than enough revenue to cover that cost. Before you decide to upgrade to a dedicated server make sure you spend your time researching the different options you have available. There are a ton of solutions available to you, some which might be better suited for your needs than others. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, mysql, php, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How Much Does Dedicated Hosting Cost?

How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Your Business

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Hosting

The post How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Your Business appeared first on HostGator Blog . Your business needs a professional website, but you’ve been overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start . Web design looks really complicated and you find it easier to just not get started than to try to figure out everything you need to learn to build a new website. We have good news. You don’t have to understand coding or learn complex web design principles to build a good business website anymore. You can use a website builder instead. A good website builder is easy for even the newest of web design beginners to figure out and get started with. And website builders typically provide templates and features that are based on web design best practices, giving you a leg up on creating a website that gets results without having to spend as much time learning the ropes of website building . For some businesses, using a website builder vs. hiring a website designer will be a better choice . And that’s definitely true of any business that’s putting off building a website due to not knowing where to start. Every day your business goes without a website, you’re losing sales. Whether you are a large or small business owner, this article will help you choose the best website builder platform for your website.   7 Tips for Choosing Your Business Website Builder If you’ve determined that a website builder is right for you , now you just have to figure out the best website builder. There are a few important steps to take in making the right decision for your business.   1. Determine Your Budget. First things first, you have to figure out what you can afford. Start by considering the other costs involved in building your professional website.  Every website budget has to account for domain registration and hosting. And you’ll likely need to invest in images and copy for your website as well. Many website builders offer a free plan, but most charge somewhere between $5 to $40  a month for plans that provide the kind of features businesses are likely to need. If your budget is limited, you can save money by looking for plans that bundle different website services you need. For example, GATOR, our website builder here at HostGator, includes hosting with the price of your builder. You’ll have to pay for hosting anyway, so a plan that includes both services for one price removes one line item from your budget, while still providing you with everything you need.   2. Consider Your Needs and Priorities. Before you can decide on the best website builder platform, you need some idea of what you want your website to be and do. This will clarify your priorities so you know what to look for in your search. A few good questions to consider include:   What level of experience do you have in design? Most websites builders are made with inexperienced designers in mind, but some will still be easier to figure out than others. If you’ll be learning from scratch as you go, look for a builder that offers  website theme templates and drag-and-drop design options. How particular are you about getting things just right? If you want a lot of options and flexibility in designing your website, then the best website builder for you will include a lot of templates for you to choose from or more flexible editing options that allow you to make extensive changes to the design.   Do you need an online store? An ecommerce website will need to include a shopping cart and check out functionality, and it will need a design that emphasizes getting people to take that next step of making a purchase. When choosing your website builder, consider if they offer the right templates and features to enable an online store.   What types of media will you include? Will your eCommerce website include video? A photo gallery? A blog? A map that shows where your store is located? Make sure your website builder supports the types of content formats you plan to include. And no matter what, you’ll need to learn  how to make your website mobile friendly . Make sure any website builder you go with provides responsive website templates or other options that ensure you can easily make a website that works well on mobile.   3. Consider the Number of Themes. When you use a website builder, your design process starts with the themes the builder provides. You select one of the available themes and it becomes the template you customize to turn it into your unique website. You don’t want to invest in a website builder only to find that your customization options are far too limited and you don’t really like any of the themes they offer. Make sure the website builder you choose has enough themes that you’ll be able to find one that makes a good starting point for your website. Everything else will be much easier if the theme you use is a good fit for what you have in mind.   4. See How Easy It Is to Use. Any website builder you use will be much easier than building a website with coding and programming, but that doesn’t mean they’ll all be equally easy to figure out. As mentioned, a drag-and-drop functionality makes things easier. You also want to try to find a website builder that has an intuitive editor that makes each change easy to complete. Research a website builder’s reputation for ease of use. Is it okay for someone who’s never built a website before? Turn to user reviews for this. People who come to a website builder with a similar level of knowledge to yours will be your best source for the kinds of problems you’re likely to experience, if any.   5. Look for SEO Features. Once you’re done building your website, you want people to actually find it, right? For that, you need to implement SEO best practices as you design your website. A good website builder should include SEO features that make doing on-site optimization simple. Specifically, you want an easy way to update all the SEO meta elements on each page (such as the meta description and image alt tags) and to provide your sitemap to the search engines. While on-site optimization is just one part of SEO, it’s an important one and the right website builder will give you a head start in getting it done.   6. Check Out the Resources and Support. Even an intuitive website builder will require a period of learning and the more features a website builder offers, the more you’ll have to learn. Before you make a choice, check that the website builder you’re considering has resources that will help you learn all the ins and outs of how it will work. Ideally, your website builder will provide both tutorials on how to use all the different features and make the main changes you’ll need to in designing your website. If you learn better by video or text, check to see if the website builder provides resources in the format that works best for you as well. The best website builder platform for you will necessarily be one you can actually figure out how to use.     7. Research the Company’s Reputation and Customer Service. Learning how to use the website builder and making sure everything works as it should will also be a lot easier if you go with a company that has a good reputation for customer service. If something isn’t working for you, you should be able to quickly get in touch with support staff and get the help you need. Look at the reviews of the website builders you consider to see what other business owners say about the customer service they provide (and how often they need to make use of it). Your overall experience with a website builder will be much better if you can get the help you need at the time you need it.   The Best Website Builder and Hosting Plan in One We may be biased, but we can assure you that HostGator’s website builder checks all the boxes above as a reliable web hosting plan and builder for all business owners. The website builder:      Is affordable      Is extremely easy to use      Provides ecommerce options      Supports different content formats      Offers over 100 responsive themes      Has SEO features      Comes with a wealth of helpful tutorials and resources And HostGator has a great reputation for customer service . For anyone that chooses a HostGator web hosting plan, the website builder is an affordable option to help you get your website up and running faster, while being professional and functional at the same time. If you have any more questions about our services here at HostGator, contact us today for more information! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Your Business

7 Benefits of Google Advertising

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Hosting

The post 7 Benefits of Google Advertising appeared first on HostGator Blog . Everyone with a website has likely spent time thinking about Google and how to improve your visibility in the search engine. While SEO  gets a lot of attention (and rightly so), it’s not the only game in town. The fastest way to get your website right at the top of the SERP is with Google advertising . If your website isn’t getting as much traffic as you’d like and you want a fairly quick and easy solution (and are willing to pay for it), Google advertising is well worth considering. 7 Reasons to Use Google Ads Any business with an advertising budget has a lot of tactics and channels to choose between. Google Ads offers a few key benefits that can set it apart from some of your other options.   1. It’s a fast way to get noticed. SEO is an important way to build your website’s visibility and get more visitors, but it’s slow. Most businesses can expect to spend months of continual work before they start to see much progress – and sometimes longer. Not all businesses can wait that long for results. If you want to start gaining traction and getting people to your website faster, Google advertising works as a shortcut to getting the kind of visibility and results you want from SEO faster and with less work.   And with Google Ads, your ads usually show up above the natural results and can sometimes include images as well, which makes them that much more noticeable and likely to earn a click.   2. Google’s reach is vast. Google gets over 3.5 billion searches every day . Advertising on Google gives you access to one of the largest audiences you’ll find anywhere. But the Google Ads platform goes even further than that. In addition to buying ads on the search engine results page itself, you can also buy ads for Google’s other properties – including the extremely popular Gmail and YouTube – and for all 2 million websites and 650,000 apps that are included in Google Display network. All of that adds up to Google Ads reaching over 90% of all internet users worldwide. That’s a bigger reach that you’ll get from just about any other advertising channel.   3. You can target ads for relevance. The possibility of reaching a lot of people is nice, but what’s even more important is figuring out how to reach the right people. Google Ads offers two main types of targeting that are both very important for getting your website in front of the people most likely to click to visit and buy your products: Keyword targeting – The best visitors and leads will be the people who find your website when they’re in the process of looking for what you sell. With Google Ads, you have a direct way to reach those people and get them to your website. Choosing the right keywords to target is one of the most important parts of getting good results from Google advertising, because it’s the best way to ensure your ads are consistently relevant to the people who see them. Demographic targeting –  Google has a lot of data on user behavior and demographics. When you advertise with Google, you get to tap into that data in order to better get your ads in front of the people most likely to be in your target audience. You can target your ads based on gender, age range, and general online interests. Google Ads’ targeting options are a powerful way to make sure your ads have relevance and reach the potential visitors that are most valuable to your business.   4. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Advertising is often useful for brand awareness, but your goal is usually less about just making people aware of your business and more about getting them to actually engage with your brand. A visit to your website is much more valuable than someone seeing an ad and scrolling past. The main payment model for Google Ads is pay-per-click (PPC) , meaning you don’t pay anything just to get your ad to show up – you only pay when someone clicks on it. You’re not paying for exposure; you’re paying for actual visitors. For marketers who have long had to struggle with figuring out how to show results for hard-to-measure ad campaigns, the PPC model means that you always know you got at least a website visitor out of the money you spent. And if you use Google Analytics (and you should!), you can track what happens with the visitor once they land on your website as well.   5. It’s easy to control your budget. You don’t have an unlimited budget. When you invest in a paid marketing channel like Google Ads, you have to know that you can stay within the limitations of the budget you have. Luckily, Google Ads has no minimum spend, so even small businesses that can’t spend much can use it. And the platform makes it easy to set your daily maximum budget. Once you go over it, Google will simply stop showing your ads so you never spend more than you intend.   6. Remarketing reconnects you with relevant leads. Every visitor that comes to your website is a potential customer, but many will visit their first time without making a purchase. Between the busy lives people lead and the ad saturation we all face both on and offline; a visitor could easily forget your brand completely after that first visit. Google Ads provides remarketing , which lets you serve relevant ads to past visitors that make them more likely to come back and engage with your brand again (and hopefully buy). You can even use the data on what a visitor did on your website to further tailor remarketing ads by highlighting a product they viewed or content related to the pages they visited. Remarketing gives you a way to keep a relationship going after that first marketing touch point and continue to reach your most valuable leads.   7. You can improve campaigns over time with useful analytics. No one gets everything right on the first try. Google Ads provides useful analytics that provide a detailed view of what works in your PPC campaigns and what doesn’t, so you can continually improve your ads and the results they achieve over time. The longer you run campaigns with Google Ads, the more data you’ll have on what your target audience responds to. By continually making updates to your campaigns as you learn, you can count on a higher ROI.   Get Started with Google PPC When your budget’s limited, accepting the need to dive into paid channels for online marketing can feel like a tough sell. But even for the types of online marketing that are technically free, like content marketing and social media, the amount you spend in time or on hiring professional help quickly adds up as well. The extra boost you get from investing in Google Ads can make your other marketing efforts go further and help you get greater visibility and more traffic faster.   Ready to get started with Google advertising? HostGator’s team of PPC experts can work with you to develop a strategy for your website and execute your campaigns. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 7 Benefits of Google Advertising