I’m going to be experimenting over the weekend with placing Google ads in various places around the site, to see if any of them perform better (I only run them on the bottom of the page, currently). Why? Because I’d really like to get this site (and the other sites I manage) onto a meatier dedicated server (I’m currently on a wussy VPS) so that they can be more responsive and easier to manage. If you find them obtrusive and annoying, I apologize, and feel free to post comments here. Or donate a crapload of money and the ads will go away (if everybody who came to this site on a daily basis donated a dollar or two a month, I could quit my job and do this full time). Or just e-mail me if you have a dedicated box (with a reputable host) that you’d be willing to give to me cheap or in trade for an ad here.
Or maybe I could just quit my bellyaching and get back to work…
Comments
I’m guessing that you’re not someone who needs lots of tech support.
Assuming that to be true, I’d highly recommend you take a look at Dreamhost I recently moved my sites there, and was shocked by the difference. My sites might be a touch zippier now – maybe not… I can’t tell… but through the end of this month, Dreamhost is running a “Codemonster” deal that’s just plain nutty. 15 fully hosted domains, 7.6 gig of webspace, 192 gigs transfer (!) blahblahblah. Under $20 a month. I was paying so much more for that.
The only downside is tech support. Their online forums and knowledge base are stellar, but you only get 3 callbacks a month for phone tech. Granted, that’s more than I EVER used with my previous host, but still.
It’s worth adding that you need not be a dreamhost subscriber to use their forums.
Anyway – if you’re looking to save money on your hosting, check them out. I got sent there by a heavy traffic blogger, and I’m so glad.
My previous host was cihost. NO THANKS!
I found that putting my ads on the top just about doubled the click through rate.
I just got a dedicated and was realized how much went into the word “managed”. And I figured out very quickly how much I didn’t know about server administration.
Just make sure that you get a host that doesn’t strangle you with their AUP. Some of the biggest shops have pretty restrictive AUPs…
Jalpuna: Thanks for posting a referral link 😉 Anyway, I’m not really interested in one of those types of hosts as I wouldn’t have full control with root access (like I do now).
Aaron: I’ve seen some ugly AUPs, been doing this for a bit. And I know a thing or two on managing a server, or at least how to set it up so it takes care of it self 🙂
Ahhhh… geek babble…. I have no idea what the other comments are about, but I wanted to comment on the ads on top…. Hate em there… that is my comment. Takes away from the attractiveness (or relative attractiveness) of your page. 🙂 Try the side sooner than later
Yeah, the top ads are uglier, but they’re getting better click throughs….what to do, what to do… (but yes, the side will probably happen as some point as well).
I’ll play them them later, possibly putting them between the entry and the comment forms like I’ve seen on some sites.