Has anyone here made the switch from free hosting to paid hosting?

[BJ9]

I've always used a free host but tonight I had a rare opportunity to host a gallery on a paid host and it was an amazing thing to get a "submission successful" message from each tgp.

Using the free host cuts my submissions at least in half. My conversions are OK once they're listed, the problem is getting them listed in the first place :) My freehost is blacklisted by many of them.

Anyways, I just wondered if anyone made the switch from free to paid and if your business did better because of it.

Paid hosting is expensive (considering all the bandwith the gallery images eat up) so it's a big decision.

thanks for any comments

[Tam]

My business did ALOT better having gone to paid hosting. It seemed like, and I don't know why........ I am told it is obvious, but people seemed to take me more seriously in this business. I didn't really work any harder, but I was taken more seriously. I got listed more often, and my signups did improve. Mostly this was because there were no banners but mine on the page.

Mind you I am not saying freehosts steal my traffic, they have to get some compensation from my use of their hosting, obviously, but when all links belong to you, you obviously stand a better chance of YOU getting the signups made.

If I were you, if I was going to go paid hosting, monitor who sends good solid traffic and who doesn't. Don't waste time on huge HITS with no sales. This just costs you money on bandwidth. Pay close attention to where your signups are coming from and do alot of evaluating on where the good traffic is. Sometimes it is better to submit to a bunch of smaller sites with a better quality of traffic than it is to submit to HUGE sites that only send you numbers.

You will pay more attention to this as in terms of what is costing you money and making you money....... this is just the way I go about things, I am so sure there are others who do it differently, but this is how I do it in my business.

I hope some of that made sense....... sorry if I only confused you further.

Tam

[smut pimp]

if you are into TGPing you should register a domain called something like 'hostmytgp.com' (still free) and create your own heathers and foothers. create a main index page which looks like a free hosts and build your galleries with the heather and foother.

The tgp owners will accept your extra links and banners and you can make some extra cash!

[e-van]

Paid hosting for galleries is really important to build well selling and always listed galleries, it's a matter of where you're focusing the surfer's attention (which sponsor) and how clean the gallery is, with a free host, your main sponsor's hook has to be a lot better than the free host's, and that's a tough one to beat.

[toker]

Just make sure you have the images compressed well and use more text links then banners or you waste alot of money also over time..

[BJ9]

These are great tips, thanks all.
I think I'm going to do it

I already use mostly text links and no banners

smutpimp that's brilliant! :)

[desipapa]

Most of thr free host ban asian traffic as they say Asian traffic eat server :)
We have move our 2 site from free to paid host ,our earning also increase after that.

:D

[BJ9]

Originally posted by desipapa:
<STRONG>
We have move our 2 site from free to paid host ,our earning also increase after that.

:D</STRONG>

this is what I need to hear, thanks guys :)