So, what do you think?

**gracefulhosting** · 03-30-2009 06:54 PM

I have been building my hosting business from the ground up over the past year. Lots of developement and design have went into the company to get it where it is today. Would you take a moment to check out my website and give me a little feedback?

The link is in my signature.

Thanks!

**Franakapan** · 03-30-2009 07:00 PM

Awesome website mate

**singaboy** · 03-30-2009 09:25 PM

Pretty 'humanized' and funky. Nice site, bud !

**gracefulhosting** · 03-30-2009 11:18 PM

Thanks guys. I owe credit to CaraCreates.com for the work she put into the template. I had the idea but I just wasn't getting it to work for me. She took my idea and turned it into a reality. Everything except that header area with the logo and buttons was created by me. I spent lots of time trying to get things to work just right and there are still a few things I need to tweek.

Glad you guys are liking it.

**singaboy** · 03-31-2009 10:10 AM

Pretty good work, man..with the site neatly done and dusted, focus on getting more clients..that's more important...

btw, You have your own hosting facility ?

**gracefulhosting** · 03-31-2009 03:37 PM

Unfortunately, I do not have my own hosting facility. I have a dedicated server. It would just take too much time and cost me WAY too much. Time you start figuring $50-$75 for internet, $20-$50 for dedicated IP's, a cPanel license that is about $40 a month, and someone to monitor it....whew! I can get a dedicated server for a little over $150 and it includes everything I need at this point. Running my own servers will definitely be something that the future will hold. I'm just going to need to wait until I have enough clients to warrant that.

As for clients, that is my focus at this point. I just finished the website redesign a couple of weeks ago so advertising is now a priority. I'm going to slowly start placing banners in places that will reach my target audience. I also plan on mailing out post cards to business in my local area that promote my services.

Thanks for the good words!

**singaboy** · 04-01-2009 01:14 AM

Makes perfect sense. I think, from the marketing stand point, You should try to get into some kind of affiliate relationship with the lady who did the templates for you...coz, web designers can bring in lots of new clients and they convert better...likewise, you can recommend any clients approaching you to her for web design work. A 'win-win' situation. I guess you might be doing this already.

And, if you are thinking of saving some money on your hosting, and spend that money for your advertising elsewhere, just PM me. I can work out something for you.

Nevertheless, Good Luck with your biz, Bro

**discountedclothing** · 04-01-2009 05:28 AM

Nice work. Good luck to your future endeavors.

**gracefulhosting** · 04-01-2009 04:02 PM

I'm actually in a sort of relationship with several different designers. The way I work is like this, web designers post a link/banner on their website for my services and in turn they are listed on my web designers page. I actually get a good amount of traffic using that method. So far my largest amount of traffic has been around 170,000 hits in a month which included just word of mouth advertising, a banner on one forum, and links on about 6 different web designers' sites. I have not ventured into ad words or much advertising at all, for that matter. I plan to change that over the next few months. I want my ads to be everywhere. With the economy doing poorly many website owners who use other DIY services are looking for a lower cost alternative so I have a pretty good market.

As for my hosting, thanks for the offer but I literally just got moved to my new server. I was with HostGator but I got sick of their poor reliablitiy. I love my new webhost! I will keep you in mind for the future though. Do you own your own servers?

Thanks for the good luck and comments. I really appreciate them. I hope this business goes far.

**mthomas** · 04-01-2009 04:16 PM

I think the site looks beautiful. Very, very nicely done. I would suggest just one minor tweak. At the bottom where it says "DIY Hosting", "FTG Packages" and "Basic Hosting", the background is gray with a black font, causing a lack of contrast between the two. Could you possibly make the background for that box lighter so there is a greater contrast between the font and background in this section? I feel as if the font tends to blend in with the background a little.

**sunsei21** · 04-01-2009 04:18 PM

great looking site good luck

**gracefulhosting** · 04-01-2009 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by mthomas

I think the site looks beautiful. Very, very nicely done. I would suggest just one minor tweak. At the bottom where it says "DIY Hosting", "FTG Packages" and "Basic Hosting", the background is gray with a black font, causing a lack of contrast between the two. Could you possibly make the background for that box lighter so there is a greater contrast between the font and background in this section? I feel as if the font tends to blend in with the background a little.

I agree. The color does need to be changed...either the background needs to be less transparent or the font needs to be lighter. I just haven't changed it, yet.

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

**gracefulhosting** · 04-01-2009 05:33 PM

I updated the home page graphic. I think it is much easier on the eyes.

**mthomas** · 04-02-2009 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by gracefulhosting

I updated the home page graphic. I think it is much easier on the eyes.

I see the change, very nice!

I just noticed something else. Is your main home page graphic "homepagefinal1(1).png" just a mock up or is that how you are going to be displaying your content?