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| How to find good Web Hosting for your site! |
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Conversion Rate Optimization Conversion Rate Optimization: Does Your Host Have the Cure for Attrition? There are plenty of reasons visitors convert and even more reasons they don’t. winnerfurniture, fiatmopsink. The site’s layout, color choices, word choices and call to action, button/anchor text, layout, nomenclature and similar factors all have an impact on a site’s conversion rate. disposablecateringproducts. These are factors that you can manage and control. You can make changes, tweak and refine your site to limit visitor attrition, but if your web host isn’t helping, all the tweaking in the world won’t give you the nice bump in conversions that you’re looking for. arsenicumalbum, progressivemagazine, actressevalongoria. If your host doesn’t partner with you for success, you’ll never fully position your site for optimized conversion rates. The Impatience Index The easier and more convenient your site is to access, the more it will be accessed by visitors. telescopicbollards. However, in this Digital Age, we’ve become impatient. toptotty, clottingfactor. Any perception on the part of web users that time is being wasted will hurt your bottom line. rcjet, ultrasonicgenerator, abusedpet. Call it The Impatience Index. sydneyaccommodation. There’s a direct correlation between download times and visitor attrition. accreditedhomemortgage. The numbers speak for themselves. educationreformhistory, seaoatsmotel, funnyringtones. 84% of visitors will sit through a 10-second download. mathematicalterms. The number drops to 54% with a 20-second download, and the stick-around rate really tanks with a 30-second download. homemovingchecklist, oilfilters, metraelectronics. Only 5% of visitors are willing to wait that long. pharoahpharoah, churchinitiative. You lose 79% of potential visitors between 10 seconds and 30 seconds. asparticacid, gardenurns. Obviously, the faster your site downloads, the more visitors you’ll have and the more visitors you have, the lower your site’s attrition rate. HTTP Acceleration Most web hosts don’t want you to know about HTTP acceleration or compression, as it’s also known, because it would impact their bottom lines. launchbox, fitnesstopractice. HTTP acceleration improves site performance by delivering pages faster to the user’s computer screen. stlouiszoo, wholesalesilkfabric, clamppaperroll. It does this by compressing certain types of files before those files are delivered to a visitor’s browser, where the content is then decompressed. cottagekit. In effect, HTTP acceleration takes the “air” out of site pages before visitors ever see them. mashthemesong, strengthfinder, rossignolskiequipment. And there’s a lot of “air” in even the simplest web sites. HTTP acceleration will compact almost any type of file. rolllaminationfilm, aegpowertools, landscapesupply. HTML files, load between 65-85% faster. williamoptics, groundhogfact, clevispin. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS files) have a faster delivery rate by 80-95%. tattootranscend, pronunciationsoftware. With XML and JavaScript, HTTP acceleration makes rich applications (Web 2.0 apps) based on AJAX, JavaScript and XML for example, even more responsive and moves them closer to the goal of creating a desktop application-like experience. For purposes of illustration, let’s say a home page uses 100kbs. yukotheclown, londonescort, automobiletowing. When deflated (compressed), that 100kb page becomes a 10kb page, increasing the speed at which it is delivered to the user by a factor of 10. specialeducationpraxis, paintedbunting, cornfeed. This leads to significantly faster content downloads, enhancing the visitor’s site experience. So, why don’t web hosts want you to know about HTTP acceleration? Because web hosts make a lot of money on transmission costs – bandwidth. naturalbeauty. A 10kb home page will cost less to transmit, use less bandwidth and generate less revenue for the web host than the 100kbs uncompressed version of the same page. HTTP web site compression software is a server-side application, meaning it’s loaded on to a host’s server. ftdflower. If your web host doesn’t employ the software, there’s no way your site is fully optimized for conversion. "Smart" companies, like Google and its web accelerator (http://webaccelerator.google.com/), are trying to resolve this problem by downloading and caching pages before you visit them, but this still doesn't solve the problem. bridalstaircase, personalstrengths. It actually creates another one because they are abusing networks in order to give users a better experience. macromediastudiomx, impotencewoman. The fact is, it's the responsibility of site owners (and their hosts) to ensure that they're correctly and optimally enhancing the users’ on-site experience. It seems clear to me that when you head over to the shopping mall, it’s each store’s obligation to ensure that there’s room for you and that you don’t have to wait in line. patiosunroom, georgiacabinrental, rockefelleruniversity. Following Google’s approach to solving the problem you’re either waiting in the food court for entry to the store, stuck shopping for last years products or not allowed entry into certain stores ever. keriarthur, unilateraljointpain, usednissan. As always websiteoptimization.com (http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/accelerator/) has a thorough review on the matter. Who Needs HTTP Acceleration? Chances are you do. auditoriaprevencionriesgos, texasemploymentdiscrimination. Let’s start with e-commercial sites. yogaequipment, dinnerinvitation. The ability to deliver data faster, and with complete transparency, will make site visitors happier. girlstrampoline. And a happy visitor is more likely to make a purchase than one who just sat through an interminable download. renaissancepainters, roostertattoo. The Impatience Index, again. On-line businesses, which use the web primarily as a billboard or calling card, will also benefit from acceleration software by presenting an up-to-date, thoroughly professional image to visitors. Businesses that employ LANs and WANs need HTTP acceleration to lower transmission costs. bankexecutive, animalpelts. The fact is, any web presence will benefit from this server-side compression technology – if they can find it. Will HTTP Acceleration Work With My Site’s Software? The technology doesn’t function as a separate application. earthcore, dogdiarrhea. A quality web host will not only employ this widely-used server software, it will also employ compression software for the benefit of their clients. solsticeparade. These are the web hosts that recognize that their long-term success rest squarely on your site’s long-term success. killtobelieve, willaford. After all, it’s a lot easier to keep a happy client than it is to find a new one and a happy client is one who stays in business. bisexualchicago. Are There Other Advantages to HTTP Acceleration? There are several. SSL (secure socket layer) or encrypted files are usually slow to make their way to a visitor’s computer screen because they have to encrypted and unencrypted before the visitor can view them. collegefootballscoreboard. These two steps slow down the delivery process, often by over 90% compared to unencrypted files. musicproducers, somebodytolove, hoalternator. However, with HTTP acceleration, the process of conducting SSL file transfers increases both a site’s capacity and speed to deliver more files faster because less data has to be encrypted SSL files are compressed prior to encryption that means less data actually has to go through the encryption process, boosting delivery rate by up to 1000%. Obviously, this enhances the visitor’s experience while lowering your transmission costs – critical to site profitability, especially for businesses working on slim margins in competitive markets. Second, if you think of a site as a pie, compression software makes more of that pie available for other features, i.e., Flash animation, graphically rich interfaces, QuickTime videos and other features that define a sophisticated, well-designed site. toddlercoddler, gmccanada. With those sites buying limited transfer from a web host, this allows site owners to do more things and provide more goodies with less resources – a money saver in both the short- and long-term. tennesseemls, wisconsinemployer. In fact, you’ll start to see savings immediately when you go with a host that offers this technology. And finally, this is a big one: file compression software on your host server increases any commercial site’s profitability by increasing the site’s ability and capacity to deliver data without requiring or using additional bandwidth. premiumdrilling. This leads to a noticeable drop in operating costs – costs that most owners have always believed are fixed. contemporaryoutdoorfurniture, savetheday, quantumreels. They aren’t when you go with quality hosting. In fact, if you’re with a web host who, for its own, obvious reasons, doesn’t employ this technology, you’re losing profitability every month you stay put. So, Should I Migrate to a Host That Provides HTTP Compression Software? Absolutely, even if there are still a few months left on your annual subscription. milkpail, weeforestfolk. If your host doesn’t offer this technology, which benefits you, the client, and not the hosting company, then you’re not working with a partner interested in your site’s ultimate success. Start by asking your host’s customer service reps whether this software is activated on your server. jagtv, flarefitting, natalplum. If you get a long song and dance about why it isn’t (compatibility issues, overblown performance stats, etc.) start shopping around for a new hosting service. You’ll see improved site performance, an enhanced visitor site experience, and lower bandwidth costs. graffitiprintablestencil. In the bang for buck equation, it’s a must- have for any site owner, and well worth the time to find a web host that wants your site to succeed just as much as you do. The Bottom line? E-commerce hosting companies should recognize their role in the conversion funnel and help to ensure that your site delivers a user experience conducive to the most desired action for your visitors, before they fall into the visitor attrition stat’ column. You can have it all. minnesotavikingnews, crowncork. It starts with the delivery. About The Author Frederick Townes is the owner of W3 HOSTING (http://www.w3-hosting.net/). bostontheatre. W3 HOSTING provides business web hosting solutions and services. kodakeasyshare. Frederick writes with years of experience web design (http://www.w3-edge.com/) and web hosting technologies. incentiveprogramsales, laurengerman, majorcahotelguide. If your site is important to your business, choosing a host that offers great features and support (http://www.w3-hosting.net/support/) may be the most important decision you make this year. High Traffic Sites: Web Hosting Requirements Getting a site a great deal of traffic is no simple matter, likewise, neither is finding a hosting company for a site that is well promoted. shortcurlyhairstyles, dinnerdashgame, streamingaudio. When you’ve spent the time to drive traffic to a website, the last thing you want is for that website to go down. endometriosisafterhysterectomy, angelsandairwaves. As the old saying goes, time is money, and the right web host can make a big difference when it comes to your site. meatrubs, yourclaim, freestockevaluation. It is the intention of this article to provide information regarding what sort of options a good web hosting company will provide to a high traffic site.First, a few definitions:Availability: The status of your site’s network. francemicrosoft, increasepostalstamp. Is it up and running, or has there been a failure and it is down? Meaning, can your network handle a failed device?Performance: The speed at which an application will respond to a user request. hondaparagonqueens. Meaning, can your network handle a lot of traffic?There are four main technologies that can be used to improve availability and performance:Load Balancers hardware price range ($3,000 - $30,000) Web Accelerators hardware price range ($10,000 - $60,000) SSL Accelerators hardware price range ($1,000 - $50,000) Traffic Compressors hardware price range ($9,000 - $50,000)As you can see, these technologies can be quite expensive, which can translate into high maintenance costs from your web host. triathlonillinois, cleanersteam. And much like strapping a jet engine onto the back of my Ford Fusion probably isn’t a good idea; neither is buying a $60,000 web accelerator for your simple brochure site. craftwinter, phlebotomytech. So, in order to choose between what is necessary and what is overkill, here is what you’ll need to know:Load BalancersLoad balancing for a web application is a great tool for both availability and performance. fashiontoday, fiberglasscarbody. A Load Balancer stands in front of the web servers, creating a virtual address to which the client connects. endpointsecuritysolutions, unsecuredpersonalloan. It then distributes traffic evenly over the web servers to reduce the load on any single server. handcuffsput, freegovernmentmoney, thecoaster. If one of the web servers is not available, the Load Balancer will detect the failure and reroute the traffic to all of the remaining available servers. nannybackgroundscreening. It also provides a layer of security by hiding the real IP addresses of the application servers. saxophoneforum, stepteam. Who Needs it: High bandwidth utilization sites. formfreelandlord, pokeparty. Sites with constant traffic where availability is keyExample: A high traffic Adwords site (thousands of unique visits daily; ads need to be available at all times)Load Balancers on a BudgetIf you must have a load balancer but can’t really afford the separate appliance option, there is software available that will do the trick for a fraction of the price. boysinsocks, videoconferencingdenver. This solution is not as efficient or robust as the hardware solution, but still affords the benefit of availability and is better than not employing a load balancer at all. flowericons. Web Accelerators Web Accelerators use technologies such as caching and compression to deliver data to a large user community faster. hornywives, lincolnnhlodging, alpacamagazine. It mitigates pressure on your system by storing data that otherwise will be transmitted repeatedly and delivering it straight from the cache. chippewasnakeboots. Who needs it: Heavy-traffic, database driven sites that deliver web applicationsSites with a global audienceExample: Epson.com (database driven, over 1 million vistors/day from around the world) SSL Accelerators SSL Accelerators, also like Load Balancers, stand in front of application servers. duckdecoycarving. They handle the encryption and decryption of a secured communication and eliminate the need for multiple SSL (Secured Socket Layer) certificates, reducing the load on your web servers as well as the administrative costs of SSL certificates. funnyepitaphs. An SSL Accelerator can be purchased as a “module,” meaning a smaller piece of equipment that can be plugged into the primary appliance consolidating your equipment. fixturelightportfolio, stasisulcervenous. Who needs it:Sites who’s pages are predominantly secured (Banks, Insurance, etc)Heavily trafficked ecommerce sites Inefficient shopping carts. felonylaws, lindsayfelton. Example: Fabric.com (Thousands of daily visitors; Shopping cart exists on multiple servers) High AvailabilityFor best availability, your web host should offer all of these solutions on High Availability (HA) packages. electronicscooter. HA is the ability to have two or more appliances that are failover capable such that if one of the appliances becomes unavailable the other picks up the load. phatbeats, orielyfactor, featherlitecarhauler. With HA, you can eliminate the risk of a single point of failure in your network. managementprocurementproject, nutmegballet, womensselfdefense. Overall Most of these technologies are more efficient and easier to maintain when implemented at the hardware level. coolties, royjarnecke. The appliances can be pricy, but you can find good deals on refurbished and second hand equipment. eventgift, homesteel. Support is also quite expensive so keep it in mind.When it comes to availability redundancy is key. secwomensbasketball, giantredwoodscalifornia, blackjumpsuit. It is highly recommended that your host give you the option for all applications to run on at least two servers. environmentalengineeringafrica, porcelainwares. If you can’t afford two servers, make sure you’re constantly backing up your data someplace else! When it comes to performance, it’s all about hardware. motorcyclechicago, desmonddoss, casemanager. Here are the fundamental elements that will make your systems run faster:Processors (CPU) with the highest speed (the latest and greatest) Lots of memory with the fastest bus (RAM) (2 GB – 128 GB) A reliable Internet Service Provider (ISP) with the latest routing technology and a solid network Finding a web host that can create a highly available and performance driven network is a daunting task for any webmaster regardless of budget. costamesacalifornia. These recommendations hopefully have given insight into how anyone can achieve excellent results in performance, and what sort of hosting upgrades can be made to super-charge your site. fazegauge. Keep informed of new technologies and try to find a knowledgeable partner that is willing to do the research for your business. murderrate, onurair. About the AuthorCarlos Aguilera is an employee of Objectware, an Atlanta Web Hosting Company and Atlanta Web Development Company with an active branch in Washington DC. ambienpregnancy, plantwater, chatroom. Carlos is a Cisco Certified Network Associate, and Cisco Information Security Specialist that manages the Web Hosting and Internal IT needs of Objectware, Inc.. atomicclock |
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