At Five Technology, over 300 clients rely on us to help make this important decision for them.  The more complex your site, the more investment you’ll be required to make in your web hosting solution.  If you are fortunate enough to require hosting beyond the basic shared environment, the information below will give you an overview of what you may be in for.

Based on the answers to a few basic questions (Bandwidth, Memory, Processing, Disk Space, Server Administration, Dedicated, Hardware or Virtual, Redundancy, Failover, etc.), the following list of “packaged” hosting solutions is where we like to start with our clients.  You’ll notice that the further you get down the list, the more complex the solution.

Shared Basic. The Shared Basic hosting option will put your site on a server whose resources are shared by several other websites.  This hosting solution is ideal for websites that don’t see a lot of traffic, uptime is less critical, limited to basic content management, and are on a limited budget.  I would guesstimate that 95% of sites on the Internet can be found in a situation similar to this one.

Advantages:  Cost

Disadvantages:  Performance, Reliability

Shared Performance. Web sites that have increased functionality (plug-ins, ecommerce, member accounts, etc.), require more server resources, need a little more reliability, will fall into the shared performance solution.  This solution is somewhat similar to Shared Basic in structure, but with Shared Performance you will never have more than 5 sites sharing the resources of the server.

Advantages:  Performance and Reliability boost without the cost of Dedicated

Disadvantages:  Increased Cost, Not Dedicated

Dedicated.  All the resources of the server are dedicated to your web site.  Web sites that are experiencing high-volume traffic or spikes in bandwidth, need to be able to adjust resources quickly (i.e. add memory, add disk, add processor), have complex application needs (integration with 3rd party software/apps, large database apps, etc.), and/or require high availability will need to start looking at the Dedicated option.

Dedicated Virtual. The dedicated virtual server is the most scalable and cost effective of the two dedicated options.  You will have resources dedicated to your server as needed, but in a virtual environment you won’t need to commit to purchasing and managing hardware.  This is often referred to as cloud hosting, and RackSpace has great documentation on this environment if you need to learn more.

Advantages:  All the positives of a dedicated server (performance, reliability, scalability,etc.), but no hardware commitments.

Disadvantages:  Tied to the shared resources virtual cluster (SAN, etc.), so if the cluster goes down, your virtual server does as well.

Dedicated Co-Located. A co-located server puts the responsibility of purchasing the hardware and rack space to house your dedicated server.  Before the advent of virtual servers and cloud computing, this was the norm for dedicated servers (see Traditional versus Virtual above).

Advantages:  Not tied to the virtual cluster, so all resources are truly dedicated to your server

Disadvantages:  Expensive to set-up and maintain, Disaster recovery is very time consuming, difficult to add resources (i.e. more memory, etc.).

Dedicated w/ Onsite Failover. When disaster strikes and the primary server fails, you’ll need a failover server to minimize downtime.  Whether a virtual or co-located server, this usually entails a second dedicated server that mirrors your primary server.  If server fails, it’s easy to reroute IPs and promote failover server and take over ther primary server’s responsibilities.

Advantages:  Minimal downtime in event of primary server failure

Disadvantages:  Not covered if entire hosting facility fails (failure outside network), Double the resources to set-up and manage, Expensive

Dedicated w/ Onsite and Offsite Failover. While there is no silver bullet in host management (even Google goes down), this is the closest configuration to ensure the least amount of downtime.  This scenario is an extension to the Onsite Failover, in that there is a failover server located at a different physical location.  In the event of total failure at the primary facility (tornado, fire, the grid fails, etc.), we can fail over to the secondary host facility and get the site back up and operational.

Advantages:  Most Redundant, Guarantees Minimal Downtime in Disaster

Disadvantages:  Very Expensive

Custom Solutions. If your web site gets to the point where you are losing thousands, millions of dollars for every minute your site is down, you’ll need to look at custom solutions that prevent downtime, period.  You start talking about multiple mirrored servers doing load balancing across multiple physical locations.  One location fails, the other Five take on the load.  If you want a silver bullet this is the closest you’ll get, but be prepared to pay handsomely for it.

Obviously I’ve just scratched the surface to the information needed to make an informed decision with your hosting solution, but hopefully this post has provided you with an idea of your options along with the progression you’ll take as your web site grows.  I like to compare the process to choosing an insurance policy, as you know what would be unwise to do without, but you also know that certain circumstances (i.e. budget) force you to take on some risk.

What happens if you don’t claim your listing? Well, you leave Google to guess …  and they might guess that your one location, small town meat shop is a billion dollar, global fast food restaurant.  I’m not kidding.

Above is the local listing for McDonald’s Meats, an awesome little butcher shop in Clear Lake, MN.  If you notice the reference to mcdonalds.com domain, I think we can see how this unclaimed listing isn’t getting the right business the local search traffic.

A Web Redesign 10 Years Later
It’s a little crazy for me to even type this, but I designed FiberStock’s first website over 10 years ago.  While the old site lacked in design compared to today’s web design capabilities, it’s SEO trust continued to bring leads and business.

Although it was hard to change something that was working, they knew they needed to show more of their success, talent, offering and city art projects with a new website design.

FiberStock can create darn near any type of statue out of fiberglass and their work has been in movies, national museums, malls, universities and more.

Web Redesign Project Components

• Custom web redesign
• Built on our CMS for complete content management
• Photo and project galleries
• SEO friendly build and content optimization
• Custom blog with WordPress

Two things really stand out to me from this project.  The first is the opportunity to work with a client and their business for over 10 years, the second is that building a website the right way can lead to a REALLY long shelf life, no matter the design style.  Results win out.

View the website: http://www.fiberstock.com

Google Places
The video is a great visual and base level explanation of how local search rankings are displayed, compiled and ranked for Google Places.

The video outlines these three main ranking factors:

• Relevance – results that categorically match what has been searched
• Prominence – results that are “well known, trusted” and show solid data from other sources on the web
• Distance – results that are near your search criteria or known location

The latest changes to Google Places have changed both the display of local search results as well as the algorithm used to rank them.  Where local used to have its own formula, now organic search trust heavily plays in your local ranking.

More Local Search Products
Along with the Google Places changes, new products focused on local search have hit the scene in the last year.  The video covers these three:

• Google HotPot: rate places and get personalized recommendations (think Yelp)
• Google Tags: visual tags that help your local listing stand out ($25/month flat fee)
• Google Boost:  a paid local search advertising option, controlled from your Place page

I’ve already increased the amount of reviews I’ve been leaving for businesses thanks to HotPot.  The interface is so simple and even kind of fun.  All of these products are aimed at a quality local search experiences for the user, but a savvy business can employ all of these to its advantage.

Of course Five can help with your local search marketing needs on all of these fronts.  It’s exciting to see the local search space get so much attention, improvement and tools and we don’t see that changing.

It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at.

Marketing Options & Best Practices
Chamber members learned about the various ways to use Facebook to both market socially with deals and interaction as well as using direct advertising with Facebook ads.  My slides are embedded below.

It was a packed room at Wild Marsh Golf Course, with great food and a great variety of local businesses. I’ll be interested to see what they put to work out there in the coming months!

Here are a few more photos and a big thank you to the Buffalo Chamber and attendees for having me.

Feel free to give a LIKE to Five Technology on Facebook as well.

What continues to be alarming for me is the number of businesses that lack correct information online, multiple sources to be found by and online marketing strategies (no matter how small they might be).

Inc. Magazine’s recent write-up on this local search study highlighted many of the statistics compiled from the survey of 4,000 consumers surveyed and over 1 million that had their online searches monitored.

Here are a few numbers that should jump out at a business owner or marketer and make them take note:

• 70% start looking for a business online, up 7% from 2009
• 33% use Google, Bing or Yahoo – traditional search engines
• 22% use Internet Yellow Pages or directories (Yelp.com included)
• For those using local search sites, Google Places commands 41%, Bing 11% (up 7% from 2009)
• 78% of consumers say reviews and ratings factor into their purchases
• 1 in 6 searchers is frustrated by the lack of reliable & correct information about small businesses on the web
• 33% give up on a business when they can’t find the information they are looking for

So to put numbers into words, what you have online to represent your small business is huge.  So what can you do as a small business?  Here are just some of the basics:

Be Visible

• Have at least a basic web presence
• Make sure you claim your main local search listings (use GetListed.Org to check)
• Make sure you are listed on directories like Yelp, Citysearch, InfoUSA
• Look into what local sites you can be linked on or listed on – chambers, org’s, local blogs
• Look into social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogging might be a fit for you
• The key here is to have more than a few “entrance points” into your information

Be Accurate

• Make sure your info is correct on all platforms – hours, services, products, photos, links
• There might be data on your business, but you should CLAIM your listings & data
• Develop content to build trust, show your expertise and help you win comparisons

Have A Plan

• Even the smallest plan beats hoping you’re getting out there
• Find and attend a small business workshop or seminar on local or online marketing
• Search online! There are numerous great blogs, people on Twitter and more to help you
• Seek out a trusted and recommended small business online marketer
• Research your competition, their website, their social media, their listings
• Network with other business owners

The numbers in this report are only trending higher every year for the importance of an online presence and reputation.  Get started with the basics and put an end to your “hope” marketing plan, it won’t pan out.

The event was rock solid and I enjoyed sessions on web analytics, content strategy, online community building, mobile and more.   I didn’t poll the hundreds in attendance, but heard many comments on the quality of this years event.  Outside of the sessions, time spent with other presenters Jeff Sauer, Aaron Landry, Chris Silver Smith and Nathan Eide made for great discussions and fun.

Small Business SEO
The MIMA Summit seems to carry a bigger agency type feel for the programs and attendees, but a few sessions catered to the small business.  I spoke on Small Business  SEO On A Shoestring and had a great time presenting and fielding questions. My slides are below.

A big thanks to the MIMA board for inviting me to present and all of the volunteers that made the 2010 event so great.

BTW – My first preso slide contains my ALL TIME favorite shoes as a kid, ’89 Air Jordans.

MIMA Summit 2010 – September 27th & 28th
The Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association’s annual Summit is an event to be reckoned with.  I’m excited to be presenting a session on Small Business SEO On A Shoestring Tuesday morning.

I’m humbled to be part of a speaking line-up that includes Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Silver Smith, Jeff Sauer and some other talented Internet minds I enjoy and learn from often.

Local University Denver – October 21st
You won’t find a better small business Internet marketing seminar for the money than GetListed.org’s Local U series. The same as the  Minneapolis Local U event earlier this year, I’ll be heading the session on Intro to Search Engines.  Covering local search from many angles as well as social media and SEO, this event is the best in pure information and best practices.

Don’t miss out on speakers David Mihm, Ed Reese, Mike Blumenthal, Mary Bowling and Matt McGee.  Sign-up and use promo code five2010 to get $40 off the ticket, it’s just $89 for the 1/2 day session!  Go ahead and sign-up.

4 Quarters Design & Build is a Five Tech client that witnessed this bleed first hand.  Their recently redesigned website earned them the opportunity to take part in a TV news story and gain valuable offline exposure for their business.

A recent deck collapse in the Twin Cities led the WCCO reporter to find a deck construction expert to contribute to their story.   A quick search on Google by the TV reporter and he had his expert, 4 Quarters owner Brian Jacobson.

Building Credibility
It’s easy to see that the key to a successful website and online marketing is credibility.  The right look and feel, helpful content and other elements all contribute to your website being viewed as a trusted resource.  That resource might be needed by a search engine or by a TV reporter, either way the benefits can be numerous.

Congrats to 4 Quarters and Brian on the air time, can we get your autograph?

Here is one of our clients, a CPA firm with 2 offices that have earned top rankings in both the local and organic results.  Their positions are boxed in red.

Consider that the user not only has 2 links to click into to bring them to their website or more information on their business, but they greatly climb the user’s trust curve by being seen multiple times on the page.  Here are the results for their 2nd office.

Occupying more of the search results page real estate should be the goal of any business.  The first step is understanding that local search and organic search are two separate things with separate elements and ranking formulas.

Your local search listings are generated from how your business is registered with the engines as well as other online resources. A great step to start with for many businesses is using GetListed.org to verify if you have claimed your local business listings with the major search engines.

With the combination of local search and organic search results working together, you can greatly increase your website’s exposure.