Hey guys, I just setup and designed my layout for my new paid webhosting company.

http://retrohost.info

Tell me what you think about the layout, and what I can improve on. I'm looking for honest reviews, all input is great. Thanks guys.

If you have any questions about the website or the services we provide, please do not post about it on the Zymic Forums (PM me).
-Paranoid

i think there is just a little too much going on with the colors.

I hope you succeed in your web hosting career!

hmmm.. looks quite good, but maybe you should try using white background for the contents(including the navigation) portion. and maybe a simple-patterned white image background to make the layout look outstanding from the bg. (: just my views~

I changed the color scheme around a bit, to make it more minimalistic. Please tell me if that did the trick - or if I need to play with it a little more.

i guess thats better now, but your typography needs to look neater~ =P

i think it still needs to be played with a little more. i like it though. you just need an ssl secure server then i will sign up

Yep, getting SSL secured is in the works.

sweet. id be happy to sign up as soon as its going

Any more feedback?

I like your layout a lot! The font for your headers needs to be different from your body text though. I would also suggest using a different font for your plan table to make it stand out.

Thanks! I just changed the header font, and any font suggestions for the <h1> tags? I am also looking for some creative ways to advertise. Any more suggestions?

advertising: you could put in an affiliate/referral program (not so creative but it works...)

Yes - I was thinking about this. Do you know any referral programs or scripts that I can possibly purchase a license for? Or any great open source ones?

i feel there is WAY to much going on (mostly in the content/logo area)

* ns2.downthe.net returned (SERVFAIL)
* ns1.downthe.net returned (SERVFAIL)

Good luck with it bud.

Jacob.

Nice. However, I think that one thing you might be able to improve on is the content, especially the side bar. It's really jam-packed, so maybe you could add some padding and space things out. Also, space the navigation away from the main content portion. I think they're a little too close together.

Keep up the great work!

i dont know if this would be something that would help, but: http://cool-scripts.com/view_item.php?ItemID=2

The navigation could do with a redesign, perhaps using same colour scheme as the banner and have them as image links, something that has much better cohesion into the layout than the existing.

Not sure the 'ING' in bright green works, if you drop that, does it alter it too much?

The hosting packages view is very bland, you need to really make it jump out the page at your potential customers.

The donate? If you're not making enough money to cover expenditure and you require donations then you should either be upping the price or getting out of the game, are you a charity or a business?

Looking through the 'why us?':



Is this really a professional way to convey that message? If I were a customer I'd see a level of immaturity within that one line and go elsewhere.

Not entirely sure you should be using context related Google ads either, from the ones I've seen they're advertising possible competitors.

As for advertising, if you're really serious about this, buy a google AdWord slot and get some exposure that way. You really need to find a unique selling point though, cheap prices and good support just isn't enough, find a niche and jam your foot in the door.

I think there's a lot to work on, hosting is such an over saturated market, so your website really must sell your product or you are quite likely to fail.

I have to agree with Bread above, i think he covered up the site pretty much.

I will ad that the text is to concentrated in one area, spread it a little, i think you should not be afraid of using the <br> tag.

I will also say use an other 'server' picture on your header the 'server' looks more like a windows 95 machine

Thanks Bread for the feedback. I am going to be rewriting those sections, but remember that I dont really have my eyes set on becoming an actual big name competitor in the market - just a guy wanting to setup a hosting service for people that want to make artistic, personal websites. I have no intention on getting 'BIG', thanks for your consern. I am working on a new layout - and I am thinking about using a CMS, not sure though.

EDIT: May I also remind you, that you don't need to be a charity to accept donations. You're given a choice to donate - interpret that however you like. Also realize that I am doing this out of my own interest and hobby - I do not do this as a full time job. I want you to be really critical. If you would buy from RetroHost, tell me why. If you wouldn't buy from RetroHost, tell me why. I need people's opinions and I find that Zymic's Webmaster Forum consists of people that like to speak their mind. Make me want to hug my teddy bear and cry - I need honest reviews. Thanks.

As for donations, i believe in the 'marketing' way of seeing this is clearly not possible, you can not be someone that sales product and makes benefits out of it asking for a donation.
No matter one what way you are doing this, it is clearly not possible. I believe its what can kill your 'business' even tho its not what you want to call it, i just think that its not an argument of sale.

Donation will go more over something like Zymic does with their FREE hosting, since they are actually not making a cent via hosting but still offer a great amount of space, this way a Donation will apply really nicely.

As a buyer i would say : "hey this dude sales a product, but he wants some donation ? what the heck is that, he makes money plus wants to get some more ? is he not good enough so he needs an extra $$$ ? does that mean his hosting actually sucks ?"
That would be my first impression, also knowing that people nowadays are looking for REAL cheap hosting, they do NOT want to spend extras on hosting and they really like FULL packages so they only pay ONCE for the full thing.

Not sure the chain of thought would be so related to the company making an extra buck but rather suggest that the longevity of the business won't be sustained without donations, something that would instantly turn away a potential customer. Hosting is one of those services that you purchase and expect to remain for the lifetime of the website.

From what I understand from Paranoid's message is that he is doing this more out of a hobby than planning on making it big, or making a huge profit.

Like myself - I bought 2 years worth of hosting from my server and i just have to pay another fee to add "reseller" to that. Since I am going to be using the hosting for myself primarily, I would most likely just do the "resell" for money to cover the "monthly costs" and not really want anything more.

If I ever did a "resell" account I would only allow X number of paid subscriptions. This would be conveyed as a way to make sure that the bandwidth/space I'm allowed not only is enough but there is PLENTY extra, just in case. The paid would be for just enough to cover the costs I paid to add reseller and give me a few extra dollars a month to spend on advertising my other sites (the ones that I originall bought the hosting for).

This is what I understand from Paranoid. It's not really about making that much money as it is covering the costs and doing it for fun and as a hobby, so why not?


Though, Paranoid... The one thing that did stand out when I went to your site originally is the fact that there was a donation link. I, also, thought that was a bit odd. Maybe you can offer X amount of layouts for those who not only are paid subscribers but those who donate, say, $2 (a one-time donation and they get all X layouts for free.)

Just an idea.


Also, for the layout. I think it's simple and I like simple layouts. I like that the entire thing is colorful and fairly organized in my opinion but it isn't what I'd expect to see on a "hosting" website. I'd expect to see something more "web 2.0" I guess, as much as I hate that phrase. And even not really like that.. something similar to http://hosting.fastdomain.com/ I guess.

well like the donation thing, for example: colleges ask for donations and you pay for that (i dont see a problem with that), or private schools (i dont see a problem). But with this, you usually get more. thats why i think creactives idea is pretty good. it doesnt neccesarily have to be templates, but something.

How does donating money suggest that the longevity of the company is in peril? The money gained from donating is used to purchase software licenses, certificates, things that improve the hosting experience. Not for my personal gain. Bread, what are you trying to say?

its kind of what i would of suggest.



Its what a donation was made for, it was first created for Association which are non lucrative so they can pay the actual bills and salaries they have. Go on any .org site (which are mainly maid for associations) they should have a Donation page. Since again an Association is non lucrative and they do not make money from the services they give (what ever the service is) they have to have an income in some way.

It does not say its in peril but its contreversary, do you make money or not ? if you do, well you should be able (with this income) to cover up those licenses and certificates.

I do understand you are doing this on a friendly manner but again, it is odd to ask extra, it is in no way profesional and does not clear up the image of your hosting company no matter what the purpose is. (geting big, or just staying friendly to cover up your own hosting like Creactive Online said.)

Now don't get me wrong, i am no expert on Hosting, ok i do managing school and marketing so i got the donation part well, but what i am trying to explain is no matter what you do it for, being a lucrative company makes it basically impossible for you to ask money via donation, which most people in the entire world understands this, since most people do they will understand that something is wrong, no matter the target they will go away from it.

MrTouz, very valid points. You have convinced me that I should completely remove the donation aspect, thanks
My focus now would be to find what Bread described as "my niche in the world wide web." I have an idea of something I can offer with the personal hosting. I am working on more of a web 2.0 version of RetroHost. Thanks
Anymore feedback would be most excellent.

i would suggest to add more things to the site. Like templates, e.t.c. this will bring in more income and will let the site run stronger, and seem more professional.

Exactly, i think many hosts do not provide free templates, they do provide template makers which are still not good i guess, but providing templates can be really good as an idea, better yet if you made your own templates they will be only for your clients and only your clients would have them, it wont be any free templates that you can find by a google clicking

i think that by doing this, your customer satisfaction and attraction would be great. as long as they are good templates of course.

Lol I was browsing your site and it changed layouts on me. There was a nice blue layout, then all the sudden a pink and black one. Ew

Yea - I was experimenting. The blue layout is the official layout - it is activated now. Lol, by the way what do you think of the new layout?

its a lot nicer and clean.
I dont think it will apply for a web hosting tho.

its a lot more professional looking, but could use some work, because it doesnt have the whole webhosting feel quite.

Yeah. I like the one you have much better. It's more professional and clean and the colors are nice.

But...

I was thinking something more along the lines of this:

http://www.4templates.com/view/xhtmlcss-templates/0/AX0411CY

Ya know? I mean, I know they're like 30 bucks for the template but still...
If you're serious about creating this maybe we can work something out and I'll pay for it.

I'm working on a layout now that might look pretty slick for this site. If you would want to work out some sort of deal I might be interested.

Basically what everyone is saying is your current layout looks too much like a blog. Add some "webhosting design elements" and it would look better!

But don't get me wrong, it looks a WHOLE WHOLE WHOLE lot better than before!

I agree that it looks 100x better. I would like to see a sample of what your working on Cmain - and yes I am really open to just about anything creactive. Just drop me a PM and we could discuss development and things along those lines.

Holy shit your site looks pretty damn good now!

really better, pro, and goes well with the name. Really good.

Wow man, that DOES look a whole lot better! Wow!

The only thing I'd do different is put a footer going across both columns to kind of square off the layout.

And you have a discrepancy between the "advertised" retrolicious plan (the one thats on every page) and the retrolicious plan thats on the compare page.
It's being advertised as having only 60gb of space but on the compare page it says 90gb.

Just thought i'd let ya know.

Thanks! I fixed the typo on the Retrolicious plan, and I'll code in a footer a little later.
Any more suggestions would be amazing.

You didn't fix the typo! lol http://retrohost.info/web/plans.php

Corrected it now. Thanks Tripp!

Much better

It's alot better now. (: Btw, is it really 99.9% uptime rate?

Yes it is. Actually it has been up 100% this month.

why people say 99.9% ? I mean, ok its an argument of sale nowadays but since most of the hosts usually never have downtime... (usually applies for the hosts not for the downtime) why can't they just put 100% Uptime.

Plus if you do the math, its closer to 100% than 99.9 actually i dunno

You resell ? or you are a direct hoster ?

People use 99.9% because if they say 100% and there IS any downtime, they could be sued.

I say why bother with it... Mr. Touz is right, mosts hosting companies don't HAVE downtime, and the downtime they do have is normally planned or very quickly resolved. So why bother with it.