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When is a web hosting company not a web hosting company? When it's a VAR.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being a VAR (value added reseller) - I've been one many times in the past, and will likely be again.

It's just that people typically don't understand what a web hosting company is - or does - and when it comes to their online business they make some questionable decisions because of it.

For instance...

Recently I was consulting with a client and they asked my opinion of a hosting package their web design firm had offered them. *STOP RIGHT THERE* There's your first BIG CLUE...

Your web design firm is in the business of designing web sites. Making your web site look a certain way. Sometimes the web design firm may have coders on staff who can program the site to behave a certain way (and coding a webpage is not the same as coding a database application,) and sometimes the web design firm has writers on staff who can make the site read a certain way (and writing your company profile is not the same as writing your primary sales and landing pages...) And don't even get me started about SEO, Internet marketing and general strategic online business development advice!

But I seriously doubt they have a multi-million dollar environmentally controlled, fire suppression enabled, multi-point redundancy, 24-hour monitored, data center in their back room.

Now THAT'S a hosting center.

Most pretenders err.. most hosting companies are really VARs, and here's the rub, these pretenders often charge 100 times the actual cost of hosting and deliver 1% of the service package.

Now before I get loads of angry letters from quality hosting VARs I should say that they are not all like this. I do however bring up this huge discrepancy and tell you this tale to illuminate a point that drives me nuts.

Just because someone can code up a web page doesn't mean you should entrust them with your online business presence and hosting. It certainly doesn't mean you should trust them with your online marketing, and it especially means you shouldn't automatically trust them with your online brand reputation either.

These are all important points that require special skills - some companies have the mix, some do not. Do you know which questions to ask and how to tell a Pretender?

I know the web is still a brave new world (as of writing, it's just over 14 years old!) and you'd be forgiven if you still don't quite 'get it' - that's why you need to take care and ask more questions and work with a proper web strategist/consultant who's been around the block a few times.

Remember before focusing my efforts as a corporate web strategist and online marketing expert I was a VP of IT and Consulting and managed multi-million dollar software development projects across most major continents for banks, governments and major manufacturers. Managing upwards of 50 people, I've personally built and sold software solutions for over 30 years now, and even pioneered online systems that pre-date the Internet (try creating a TV based hyper linked TeleText system in the mid 80's... now that's creative)

Anyhoo... I'm a little off-topic.

The conclusion of my tale was this. I recommended a direct hosting source (one of the major players in this field) and provided their price. The client declined telling me that it was "too cheap" and that they would stay with the web design firm *sigh* So I pointed out the firm was a VAR and in this instance was charging them nearly 100 times over cost for 1% of the service...

Call me crazy, but spending 100 times more than I need seems unnecessary. But that's just me...

JAMES BURCHILL Shows individuals and companies how to profit from the innovative use of Internet technologies, strategic content and social media marketing. James' innovative and creative solutions are the select choice for those seeking an advantage, and Jim's valuable money making, marketing, technology and business advice is published regularly on his website. You can find out more at http://www.JamesBurchill.com/about

We constantly receive phone calls from clients, prospective clients and reporters asking the same question what percent of the keyword price does Google pay AdSense publishers. While the AdSense Standard Terms and Conditions explicitly forbid disclosing such information, the range we often give is 20% to 50% based on numerous conversations we have had with AdSense publishers.

While the precise percentage is not clear, what is evident is that the percentage that Google pays publishers has gone down significantly since April 2004. It was at this time that Google announced it would be lowering the price of ads (i.e., charging AdWords clients less) that appear on the sites of AdSense publishers. Susan Wojcicki, Director of Product Management for Google, stated that this change came from requests of advertisers who wanted different pricing on clicks from search and content ads.

Google stated that it considered search-based ads more targeted than content ads, and that they therefore generated more clicks and revenue for advertisers. However, Google did realize that some content ads perform as well as search-based ads. As a result, Smart Pricing was born.

Smart Pricing adjusts the value of clicks based on a number of factors such as time of day, type of content, and conversion tracking. The latter, conversion tracking, measures how often a click on an ad produces a desired action for the advertiser, such as a product sales, newsletter signup, etc. The example Google gave for Smart Pricing was that a click on an ad for digital cameras on a web page about photography tips may be worth less than a click on the same ad appearing next to a review of digital cameras.
While web forums are filled will AdSense publisher complaints about Smart Pricing, it is actually a fair system publishers get paid based on the quality of the traffic they provide to Google advertisers.

While the switch to Smart Pricing has decreased revenues for many AdSense publishers, there is still a massive opportunity to generate significant revenues via the AdSense program. The key is to identify valuable/expensive keywords, attract qualified customers to your site, and provide compelling text that gets visitors really interested in a product or service. This will ensure that the visitors click on the appropriate AdSense ads and buy that advertisers product or service. A true win-win-win.

About The Author:
Tommy Maric is the manager of TopPayingKeywords.com. TopPayingKeywords.com is designed to help webmasters maximize their profits using Googles Adsense program. Through extensive research, TopPayingKeywords.com develops up-to-date databases of the most popular keywords and their accompanying bid prices. For more information, please visit http://www.toppayingkeywords.com

Contact:
877-TOP-WORD
(877-867-9673)
info@TopPayingKeywords.com

Making money online isn't the easiest thing to do on the internet. Don't we all wish to make $240 million by selling 1% of our business? For those of you who don't know, that's the amount Microsoft 'invested' for 1.6% of Facebook.

Starting an online business is easier when compared to the challenges of starting up a traditional business, it is no cakewalk though. I am going to show you a few ways to make money online. Depending on the amount of time you can devout, your budget and sometimes technological skills, your online business could make you rich or might not even be enough to cover for gas.

1. Setting up an eBay Shop. This is more cost efficient than setting up your own Virtual Shop. eBay already have a large customer base and you do not have to deal with inventory. eBay handles all that including your transactions. Power Sellers from eBay regularly make +$100k a year.

2. Providing relevant content. If you can offer unique and valuable content and consistently have a hungry group of people needing it, you could make a subscription based-website, charging monthly or annually fees. This could be a very profitable way to make money online.

3. This method can be applied with any website that generates high traffic. Selling advertising, you are paid by the number of impressions and the number of people who clicks on the Ad that your site displays. This is not going to make a living for yourself unless you have a few major companies sponsoring your website. Major companies usually require you to have a large number of visitors every day before sponsorship.

4. Selling Domain Names, you could buy URL addresses, flip them and make a few dollars. This might not sound like much, but it will add up if you purchase domains in masses. Sites like GoDaddy sells unused .COMs for $10 apiece. The key here is to find domains that will sell. You should run tests to determine which keywords are searched more often to find the most profitable domains.

The internet marketplace is getting bigger and bigger as more and more people are getting on the Internet. Starting an online business has never been easier. I hope this article have given you a few ideas and shown you a few ways to make money online. I wish you luck!

Greg Anthony is tired of seeing get rich quick-schemes polluting the Internet. He is trying to make people see the truth behind these programs, and set them onto the right track in making money online. He has written a review on the best places to learn Internet Affiliate Marketing.