NY Times Building

The New York Times says it will start charging for online content next year, dropping a big shoe in the debate over whether newspapers should — and can — get paid for something they’ve been giving away for free for years. Instead, it plans to offer a certain number of articles for free before charging a monthly price.

“This is a bet, to a certain degree, on where we think the web is going,” said Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. in an internal memo sent to employees. “This is not going to be something that is going to change the financial dynamics overnight.”

Speaking of those financial dynamics, the Times needs this plan to work — as does, arguably, the rest of the newspaper industry, which has been crushed by debt from financial restructuring, the recession, a weak ad market and intense competition from the same online medium this plan hopes to embrace. The Times‘ cash flow appears to be fine for the moment, although its new 52-story Manhattan high-rise and a stock price that lost about 75 percent of its value over the past five years surely pressured it to make the internet — quite literally– pay.

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Google Traffic 2009

Americans conducted 14.7 billion core searches on the top five search engines in December 2009, an increase of 2% over November 2009, according to the latest qSearch data from comScore, Inc. Google searches accounted for nearly 66% of these queries. (more…)

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Split testing is a conversion-tracking method that separates your message into two or more variations to see which gets the best response. Different visitors see different versions of the message and the results are tracked to determine the best return.

We wanted to learn more about conducting split tests (also known as A/B tests), and so we corresponded with Paras Chopra, founder of Wingify, a company that produces Visual Website Optimizer, a split-testing tool for ecommerce merchants and other web operators.

Chopra cited the example of a holiday A/B test conducted recently by MedaliaArt, an online art gallery specializing in Caribbean and Latin America art. “MedaliaArt put up a holiday sale where they offered 5 to 55 percent discounts on all paintings,” he said. “They wanted to determine the best location on the home page to put the message so as to optimize for bounce rate.”

The challenge for the company was to determine where to show the message. “Displaying it prominently on the home page will make more visitors notice it, but some visitors may find it too intrusive and leave the site immediately,” said Chopra. “On the other hand, putting it at a not-so-noticeable location may have no effect at all.”

An Example Split Test

For its split test, MedaliaArt created a couple of versions of its home page with “Holiday Sale” displayed at two different home page locations. One version represented what Chopra calls an “in-your-face ‘Holiday Sale’ message displayed in big, red font prominently on the homepage.”

“In-your-face” Holiday Sale message placement.

The second version was a sidebar “Holiday Sale” message in a smaller font.

Sidebar Holiday Sale message placement.

“Usually, split testing tools track conversion rates (percentage of visitors doing desired action). But, to track the bounce rate, MedaliaArt defined a click on any link on the home page as conversion. Thus the conversion rate of, for example, 40 percent corresponded to a 60 percent (100 percent less 40 percent) bounce rate.”

The first batch of conclusive results was available within two weeks.

“Clearly, the in-your-face, prominent promotional message has a dramatically lower bounce rate (60 percent) than the sidebar one (76 percent), said Chopra. “The reduction in the bounce rate of 21 percent is statistically significant (at 95 percent confidence level) so the in-your-face variation obviously represents a better version. The improvement in bounce rate means more interest by visitors in the paintings they are selling and potentially more sales.”

Without split testing the company could have never known the optimal position of its promotional message. And, fears that a prominently displayed promotional message might backlash by irritating visitors proved not to be an issue.

How To Improve A/B Test Results

Chopra had a suggestion for MedaliaArt (and other ecommerce merchants considering A/B testing). “Also include a variation without the ‘Holiday Sales’ messaging. If MedaliaArt had included such a variation, it would have provided a benchmark to see the effect of the sales message, irrespective of the position.”

Chopra said MedaliaArt could also have used different versions of text in addition to different home page positions. “Maybe a message with the word ‘discount’ (such as ‘55 percent discount on paintings this holiday season’) would have worked better than the default message (‘Holiday Sale’). And, optimizing for bounce rate is fine, but a better metric would have been to measure and optimize for sales, which is what really matters to an ecommerce site.”

Conclusion

Chopra said he believes split testing is the only way to really know what will work and what won’t. “It is essential to check assumptions related to promotional messages, checkout process, product category ordering, buy now button, and more.”

He suggested that merchants should be a little adventurous and test radically different home page designs and ideas. “You can always choose to include only a small percentage of traffic and can disable non-performing variations at a click of a button.”

by Kate Monteith

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Few people ask the “What is Twitter?” question any longer. Oprah helped take care of that one. However, one that I am asked with great frequency is, “How do I use Twitter for business?”

At the outset let me say Twitter is an amazing application with manifold uses. Companies as large as Dell and Zappos have created business models around it. Small businesses, including ecommerce merchants, are also proving its case as a channel for sales.

In fact, a recent survey said that most users (89%) of Twitter agree that companies should engage their customers there. Over 80 percent indicated they also have a better impression of companies that use Twitter for customer service (81%).

Businesses are using Twitter to:

• Network with others in their industry or community
• Stay connected to customers and prospects
• Monitor what is being said about their company, products, services, industry and competition
• Gather valuable feedback about products or services
• Raise awareness about the company, product or service
• Find answers and get advice
• Offer proactive customer service
• Promote events, products and services
• Drive traffic to the company Web site or blog
• Incite word of mouth among customers and others
• Share helpful content such as articles or blog posts
• Generate leads

As you can see the list is extensive and limited only by your imagination. In fact, due to its amazing simplicity, Twitter can be used in just about any manner you see fit. It is malleable. You don’t have to adapt yourself to Twitter’s use. Instead, it adapts to you.

How to Start Using Twitter for Business

I’m going to begin by outlining a simple, workable marketing strategy that applies to any form of social media engagement, including Twitter. So simple, in fact, it consists of only three words: Listen, Follow and Engage.

Listen

You cannot become an effective social media marketer if you don’t first listen to what’s being said about you, your company, brand, service, industry and competition. Listening is the new marketing, but it’s not something we’re prone to do. Still, that’s where it begins.

Monitoring your online reputation is one of the most significant ways Twitter can be used for marketing purposes and one way do so is to use Twitter search. There are a number of applications suited to this purpose. Here are the two I use most often:

• Twitter’s own search engine
• Tweetbeep

Follow

The way you build your network in Twitter is by following others, then engaging them in conversation. But, whom should you follow?

Keeping in mind that Twitter is another marketing channel, go back to the basics and ask yourself the same questions you’d ask when considering any other form of marketing: “Who is my market?” “Who am I attempting to reach?” “What niche am I seeking to penetrate?”

• Think in terms of demographics and geography
• Follow those you already know
• Follow influentials
• Follow keyword users
• Follow hashtag users
• Follow those who follow you

For a more extensive list of tips on who to follow, see my blog post, Fifteen Twitter Follow Dos and Don’ts.

Engage

Google Rankings

Once you 1) see what people are saying relative to the keyword searches, 2) give yourself some time to gain perspective by reading other’s Tweets and 3) have started following a few folks, the next step is to jump into the Twitterstream and engage them in conversation. But, how do you go about doing so?

Years ago, my father took a rather direct approach at teaching me to swim. One summer’s day we boarded in our small boat and paddled out to the middle of the pond on our property. Dad grabbed me up, threw me in the water and stated matter-of-factly, “swim or drown.”

Looking back, I’m sure he would not have allowed the latter. At the time, however, I determined the best course of action was to make for the shore, which I did with all haste. And, guess what? In the process I learned to swim.

I’m a bit like dad when it comes to Twitter in that I think the best approach is to joining or starting conversations is “swim or drown.” Just jump in and start conversing.

OK, for the faint of heart, here are some “rules of engagement”:

• Respond to what others are saying by adding your two cents
• Provide information those in your target market would consider valuable
• Engage in casual conversation with your followers

One thing you don’t want to do is solicit business or “pitch” people. You know the type: “Thanks for the follow. Check out my blog at _.” It’s okay to let people know what you do, but Twitter is a medium for conversation, not solicitation. Include a link to your Web site in your Twitter bio. Those who have an interest will check you out.

Conclusion

Hopefully, that’s got you started down the path to using Twitter. If you’d like more information, I offer a free ebook (no registration required) which you can download here. You may also wish to check out my new book The Digital Handshake, which includes an entire chapter on the subject.

There are many other great books on the subject too. Check them out at Amazon or other bookseller.

Next time, we’ll talk more about how to use Twitter for business and discuss some of the rules of the road. In the meantime, feel free to comment on this post.

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There is always a big discussion when it comes to comparing two of the best ways to advertise online: PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising and article marketing, otherwise known as “organic” or “natural” search engine optimization. There is no denying that both methods can be effective. However, which method is better? Which gives you a bigger bang for your buck?

You may get varying statistics on this issue, depending on which website you visit for information. Oh yes, this matters, because you have to consider the source of the statistics and who is sponsoring the article. For example, two sources of information (respectively, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and ComScore) recently produced studies indicating that PPC advertising was more cost-effective on average. However, did the fact that Yahoo/Overture and Google were sponsoring this major study play any role in determining the final outcome? Of course it did – those are the two biggest PPC companies on the net!

In figuring out which of the two is better, you have to consider cost-effectiveness as well as click-through-rates and direct conversion from visiting user to paying customer. We are going to review some statistics a little bit later on. For now, let’s consider some logical points that illustrate how PPC and article marketing differ.

Search engine result pages display more listings than PPC results, which does have a psychological effect on the user. For some users seeing ten search results (each one relevant to the search) is enough to convince them that there is enough web information on the subject and that “fishing” PPC ads might not be necessary.

The catch is that in order to actually rank in the Top 10 SEO results for your keyword, you have to have relevant website content, not to mention technical prowess in HTML coding. Search engines will be focusing on their proprietary algorithms, or the most relevant websites based on the search term queried. There is no “bribery” here, whereas in PPC, it is quite the opposite: whoever bids highest for each word usually gets the top listing. A quality algorithm definitely plays a part in PPC, but in the end money talks. In article marketing, we haven’t quite come to the point where “money talks”. The best websites still win the search engine contest and that is an important factor to consider in your marketing campaign.

Even PPC proponents will admit that PPC is largely style over substance. With PPC advertising you are trying to grab attention in just a few loud and occasionally obnoxious words. You direct the user to a carefully crafted page that “sells” the idea. This operation contrasts with article marketing, which doesn’t necessarily sell an idea on a single page, nor does it grab attention with a few words. With article marketing, there is an entire article waiting for the visitor, which uses a methodical and “indirect” approach. Assuming you are listed in the Top #10, your listing means that the search engine agrees that your website is the best authority on the keyword subject – for the time being. People in a hurry or on a whim will probably click on PPC. People on a mission will be looking for relevant content on their chosen keyword.

Therefore, the question now becomes which methodology works better for your business? Are you appealing to the fast clicker or the thoughtful user? Let’s now consider two sources of statistics for a clearer view of the issue. First, one in favor of article marketing, the next in favor of PPC.

In Favor of Article Marketing

Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D. and principal founder of the Nielsen Norman Group researched the behavior of users who found search engine results pages and noticed some trends. Forty-two percent of users selected the #1 search listing for their result, leaving 58% that selected another Top 10 Result. The #1 site listed held the majority of clicks. This indicates that almost two thirds of Internet users were not content to choose even the #1 listing on a natural SEO search. That means that these users (and the majority of all users) are actually using independent judgment in deciding what links are most relevant to their needs.

Other related statistics (with sources from ComScore, Webxico, iProspect, SEOResearcher and Hotchkiss, Garrison, and Jensen) concluded that 77% of search users choose organic listings over PPC ads. There were also studies that suggested organic click-through generated 25% higher conversion rates than equivalent PPC click-through.

In Favor of PPC Advertising

Now to be fair, we have to consider some advantages that PPC advertising has. The best feature PPC has is that it gets instantaneous results. SEO advertising takes time, especially if you have a new website just submítted to the all of the major search engines. Yes, this can be frustrating. PPC brings you immediate traffic and sometimes brings in thousands of users. Seeing your Alexa ranking take a drastic jump certainly pumps up your adrenaline!

ComScore recently published statistics in favor of PPC, stating that their studied users had an 18.3% click-through-rate on “paid” search results versus a 4.3% click-through rate for organic search results. The conversion rate was also higher according to ComScore, stating that PPC had a 1.4% versus SEO’s 0.6%.

The Real Issue: Longevity

However, the downside here (even if you didn’t contest these suspicious results) is that instant and high volume traffic is, frankly, cheap and not as exciting as it first appears to be. Remember that when you use PPC ads you are making a pitch and capitalizing on your audience’s curiosity. When that curiosity fades, they forget your website – especially if it’s just a glorified advertisement. PPC campaigns can also be costly and time consuming when you consider your duties as a manager.

Another problematic scenario with PPC is that they have no staying power – unless of course you have thousands of dollars a month to blow in this recession. With article marketing you get more quality traffic, and perhaps more importantly to you, you earn customer trust over time. Internet users aren’t stupid, the popularity of Yahoo Answers notwithstanding. Most users know that PPC ads usually aren’t relevant to their search – they’re just there because someone is consistently paying to get noticed.

You can consider article marketing as an investment that continually pays all through the life of your company (or until you shut the website down) since it generates traffic forever. You can easily spend thousands a month on a brilliant PPC campaign and soon run out of money, meaning your ads go extinct. Therefore, we can conclude that article marketing does have specific advantages over PPC, which are intrinsic because of the differences in operation.

•     Article marketing generates traffic forever

•     Article marketing improves your natural SEO ranking and backlinks

•     Article marketing establishes trust – you appear as a professional in your industry

•     Article marketing doesn’t cost you extra on top of fees spent on websites, landing pages and superfluous domains

How About Return-On-Investment?

ROI is another key issue, as short-term and long-term profit must equal out. Article marketing, by some authorities appears to have a slower ROI -(especially if you make revenue on CTRs). However, studies suggest that organic ROI is more consistent than PPC. Consider some independent research conducted by popular blogger Gord Hotchkiss who explained the situation in crystal clear terms. Let’s say you have 50 high traffic search terms. Now for these 50 terms, there are 2.8 million searches being launched in a month. If statistics like ComScore’s are correct and unbiased, that translates to 456,000 visitors thanks to PPC and 153,000 visitors thanks to article marketing.

The total cost of those 456,000 PPC visitors would amount to over $500,000 with an average CPC of $1.18. Even if you work with an SEO company that charges top dollar ($10,000 a month, let’s say) you’re still paying $10,000 compared to half a million. That means article marketing’s virtual CPC amounts to $0.07. Even if you apply PPC’s higher conversion rate, 3,647 converted visitors, you are paying $147.08 for each individual person. Compare that to 611 visitors you earned through article marketing – you are paying $16.37 for each visitor. And in doing so, you are also earning a higher quality of customer and generating traffic until the end of days.

Does your final ROI number take into account your total expenses? Absolutely! While both methods of advertising have their place online, when it comes to earning quality traffic, article marketing gets the last word.

About The Author
Words You Want is your one stop resource for all of your writing needs. Words You Want offers a variety of services including SEO packages, article directory submission, SEO article writing, ghostwriting, eBook writing, travel writing, equine writing and more.

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While often very complex in their calculations and data processing, the critical operations performed by the major search engines in order to rank websites isn’t as lengthy as one might think. The processes they use to provide relevant results when a web search is undergone can best be described in the following four steps.

1. Send out the Web Crawlers
   Search engines use invisible “bots” or “spiders,” which are really programs or automated scripts, that browse (or “crawl”) the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner. Search engines use spidering as a means of providing up-to-date data. This type of technology is necessary because the rate at which people create new Internet documents greatly exceeds any manual indexing capacity. In fact, an estimated 20 billion web pages exist, and search engines have crawled about half of them.
2. Index the Pages
   After a spider crawls a web page, it makes a copy of it and adds it to its database. This process is known as indexing. With so many search queries submitted each minute, it is very important that search engines are steadfast in their index management so that they can search and sort billions of documents in fractions of a second.
3. Process Queries
   Search engines process hundreds of millions of search queries every day. When someone keys in a search term and clicks “Search,” the engine retrieves from its index all of the documents that match the query. It determines a match by finding the same terms or phrase entered into the search bar. Entering a multi-word phrase by itself can return literally millions of results, but entering that same phrase in quotes can greatly narrow the results, giving the user a more accurate listing of websites that relate to their particular search.
4. Rank Pages
   A very closely guarded mathematical equation, called an algorithm, is employed by each search engine to determine how to sort and rank search query results. This algorithm allows the engine to rank the most relevant web pages first, and the rest in descending order of importance to the user.

What You Can Do for Your Website: Avoid Speed Bumps & Walls

You may not know it, but you could be hindering or preventing your website from being crawled by search engine spiders. As spiders crawl the web, they rely on the architecture of hyperlinks to find new web pages and revisit those that may have changed. Complex links and deep site structures with little unique content may act as “speed bumps” in the process by slowing down the spiders. Even worse, data that cannot be accessed by web crawlers are really like “walls” in that they completely prevent your web pages from being ranked.

Beware of the Following “Speed Bumps”:

• URLs with 2+ dynamic parameters; i.e. http://www.url.com/page.php?id=4&CK=34rr&User=%Tom% (spiders may be reluctant to crawl complex URLs like this because they often result in errors with non-human visitors)
• Pages with more than 100 unique links to other pages on the site (spiders may not follow each one)
• Pages buried more than 3 clicks/links from the home page of a website (unless there are many other external links pointing to the site, spiders will often ignore deep pages)
• Pages requiring a “Session ID” or Cookie to enable navigation (spiders may not be able to retain these elements as a browser user can)
• Pages that are split into “frames” can hinder crawling and cause confusion about which pages to rank in the results.

Beware of the Following “Walls”:

• Pages accessible only via a select form and submit button
• Pages requiring a drop down menu (HTML attribute) to access them
• Documents accessible only via a search box
• Documents blocked purposefully (via a robot meta tag or robots.txt file)
• Pages requiring a login
• Pages that re-direct before showing content (search engines call this cloaking or bait-and-switch and may actually ban sites that use this tactic)

In order to avoid the above pitfalls and ensure that your website’s contents are fully crawlable, be sure to provide direct, HTML links to each page you want the search engine spiders to index. Remember to make every page of your site accessible from the home page, since the home page is usually the place spiders begin their crawl. It’s also a good idea to add a sitemap to your website in order to increase its navigation.

This article was written by David Montalvo. David Montalvo is the CEO of UnReal Web Marketing LLC. He has achieved over 150,000 top 10 positions for Fortune 500 companies since 1997.

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Recognizing the need for IT professionals to have a truly independent tool for pricing telecommunications products, we created a site that utilizes the capabilities of many authorized independent agents representing all the major telecom carriers for voice data and colocation. We use real time quote tools connected to the different carrier’s databases and connect directly with the carrier’s agent channel for special promos and pricing.

Our goal is to provide you with timely and accurate pricing from all the carriers in your location.

Our approach to how we run our business is based on the highest levels of professionalism. We take great pride in being responsive, paying attention to details, and exceeding your expectations. Our service and support truly sets us apart from others. From the pricing we provide, to the support you will receive expediting your order, outstanding performance is key.

Carriers

• Access Point
• Nitel
• Time Warner Cable
• ACC Business
• Netwolves
• SAVVIS
• Sprint Nextel
• XO Communications
• AboveNet
• AT&T
• Optimum LightPath
• Level 3 Communications
• Global Crossing Inc
• Qwest Communications

T3 Providers Website -  Colocated Hosting

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Twitter Tools
Below is a list of various tools for twitter, there are many many more. Please add your comments with tools you use. This list is meant to cover as many utilities as possible. A special thank you to the twitter users that gave me their recommendations, a list is at the end. Add to Delicious – Click Here.

Support this site by adding this
Support Bookmark to Delicious.

Desktop Applications for Twitter

• Seesmic – allows multiple Twitter (and Facebook) monitoring
• Twhirl – allows monitoring of multiple Twitter accounts
• Snitter – for Mac and Windows
• Twitterriffic – for Mac OS
• MadTwitter – for windows
• Spaz – open source twitter client

Twitter Organization

• Tweet Deck
• TweetMixx – shows tweets and summary of links out

Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts

• Splitweet

Twitter for Companies

• CoTweet

Firefox Plugins

• Twitbin
• Twitterfox

Send Messages to Twitter using Voice

• Twitter Fone

Blackberry Client

• TwitterBerry

iPhone Twitter Apps

• Tweetie for iPhone
• Twinkle for iPhone
• Twitter for iPhone
• Hahlo
• Pocket Tweets

Twitter on any Mobile device

• Tiny Twitter – phone needs java
• Twitter Mobile – only go here on your phone
• iTweet
• twibble

Twitter on Windows Mobile

• Pocket Twit

Post via Mobile

• Twitterscan

Send via eMail

• Twittermail

Counter to show your twitter followers

• Twitter Counter

Enhance your Tweets

• Twitter Keys

Un-follow Someone for Just a Few Days

• Twitter Snooze

Find out who Stopped Following You and Why

• Qwitter
• Twitterless

Manage who Follows You and Who You Follow, Recommendations Also

• Friend or Follow
• Mr. Tweet – Recommendations

Top Twitter Lists

• Twitter Counter Top 100 List
• twInfluence Top 50 List

Visual Map of Twitter Posts

• Twitter Vision

Share Files, Pictures & Videos via Twitter

• Tweetcube – files
• Twitpic – pics
• Visual Twitter – pics
• Twixxer

Share Quotes and Bits from Webpages

• Tweet All About It

Monitor Twitter for Keywords & Whats Hot

• PeopleBrowsr – filter, sort, follow, post, repeat
• Tweet Grid – monitor keywords
• Monitter – monitor keywords
• Twitscoop
• Flaptor Twitter Search – search twitter for a keyword
• Twitspy – monitor twitter public timeline in real time
• Tweetscan
• CityTweets – follow tweets by City

Monitor Conversations

• Tweet 2 Tweet
• Twitalks – find out what two users are saying about you

Monitor Trends

• Twist

Autoresponder & Setup Automatic Tweets

• Tweet Later

Autopost your Blog entries to Twitter

• Twitterfeed

Evaluate your Twitter Profile

• Twitter Grader
• Twitter Ratio
• Tweet Value

Twitter Statistics and Graphs for a Twitter Account

• Tweetstats
• Twitgraph

Twitter Dictionary

• Twittords

Wordpress
There are a bunch of plugins for twitter and wordpress, will make that another article.

Special Thanks
Thank you to the following for their suggestions:
@iamrasa, @sumaya, @zebb, @tessneale, @SeanMarler, @david_tinney, @officemate.

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These days, most business require either DSL or T1 Internet access. We’ll help you determine which is right for you.

By BuyerZone.com Editorial Staff – BuyerZone.com

Internet access introduction

With the Internet such a vital part of everyday business, the speed and reliability of your Internet access is more important than ever. Solutions such as T1 lines and business-grade DSL provide always-on broadband connections, giving your employees the ability to consistently communicate and exchange data with co-workers, customers, and vendors at speeds much faster than standard dial-up.

In addition to providing seamless access to the Internet and faster downloads of large files, a high-speed connection lets you access a wide range of applications – web hosting, streaming video, voice over IP (VoIP), video conferencing and virtual private networking (VPN). And the good news is that prices have dropped, making broadband more affordable than ever.

This BuyerZone.com Internet Access Buyer’s Guide is designed to explore the various Internet access options available to you, how to choose an Internet access vendor, and the costs of getting your company up and running.

High speed internet access options

You have multiple options for setting up high-speed Internet access for your company. The one you select will likely be based on your company size, data requirements, budget, and proximity to the central office of the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Here are the most common solutions:

DSL: An inexpensive and distance-sensitive solution that provides Internet and telephone access on the same lines. While a standard dial-up connection transmits data at speeds up to 56,000 bits per second (56 Kbps), DSL speeds range from 384 Kbps to 1,500 Kbps. This is one of the more popular options for small businesses, supporting up to 20 employees who need only basic Internet applications like web surfing or e-mail. (See “DSL service for business” for more details)

T1: A service that supports data connections up to 30 times as fast as a 56 Kbps dial-up modem with digitized voice capabilities over the same lines. This is the most popular option for small-to-medium-sized businesses with up to 50 employees, and can support all basic Internet functions as well as large file downloads and uploads. (See “T1 internet service” for more details)

T3: A T3 line offers the combined bandwidth of 28 T1 lines – up to 43 megabits per second (1 Mbps=1000 Kbps). It’s a good option for mid-sized to-large businesses with 100 or more employees. T3 lines run on fiber optic cable and can support 30,000 times the traffic of standard copper phone wires. While T3 is available in fractional increments like T1, it is more expensive than having multiple T1 lines bonded together to produce the same speed.

Frame Relay: An alternate solution for customers who can’t get DSL or cable service. Frame relay is fast and flexible and sends digital information between one or several destinations at T1 speeds. While the service is inexpensive, the equipment and setup can be quite pricy. It’s not a recommended option for small-to-medium businesses.

Cable: A high-speed option that uses the same connection as cable television. It offers data transfer speeds around 1.5 Mbps, but is not really considered a business-quality service. Because many people in your area share a cable network, performance dramatically decreases as multiple users go online at the same time. Also, many high-tech applications of broadband – VoIP and streaming video, for example – do not work well over cable.

Satellite: Internet access using a satellite dish. This technology can be deterred by bad weather and the speeds can’t handle large applications such as web site hosting, video conferencing or multiple file downloads. This is only a worthwhile option for very remote locations such as boats at sea.

DSL service for business

A digital subscriber line (DSL) is an inexpensive digital solution that transports high-speed data from your phone company’s central office to your company’s network. The data is transmitted over the same copper wires used by most phone systems.

DSL is very distance-sensitive. The closer your company is to the phone company’s central office – where phone lines connect to switching equipment – the faster your connection. It is generally recommended that your office be located within 2-3 miles of the central office for faster, more affordable service. Beyond 3 miles, you would only qualify for low-speed DSL service – if any at all.

You can find out if you are within range for DSL by calling your local ISP, or looking up your location online. There are many Internet sites that allow you to check if your area can get DSL and how fast a connection you qualify for.

Types of DSL There are various types of DSL (referred to as xDSL). The two most common are Symmetrical DSL (SDSL) and Asymmetrical DSL (ADSL).

ADSL uses your existing copper phone lines to transmit data, but limits upload speeds to as little as one quarter of download speeds. SDSL is a more robust (and more costly) version of DSL that supports equivalent upload and download speeds. This is good for companies that regularly upload large files, but requires dedicated wiring.

The downsides of business DSL Reliability is the primary concern with DSL. On average, the uptime for DSL isn’t as good as it is with a T1 connection. Service level agreements (SLAs) that ensure your connection will always be running are often not offered with DSL service. And while a DSL connection can support many simultaneous users for sending e-mail and surfing the web, it’s not optimal for applications requiring a lot of bandwidth such as large file downloads or streaming video.

DSL also runs into the problem of slow connections due to oversubscription – the act of selling more bandwidth than is actually available. DSL providers will sign up more subscribers than they have bandwidth for, with the expectation that not all users will be online at the same time. While you’ll get faster connection rates – up to 2 Mbps – when there aren’t a lot users online, your connection will lag when more customers connect. This can be highly frustrating, to say the least.

In the end, the savings you may gain from using DSL can be offset by how much you compromise critical business applications like internally maintained e-mail server or web servers.

Necessary equipment
Most business DSL customers use a router to connect their local area network (LAN) to the Internet. While more expensive than a standard DSL modem, a router provides data security and data filtering services, which are valuable in business environments. If you have fewer than 10 computers to connect, you can opt for a less expensive DSL modem, although you will still need to purchase firewall software to secure your network. Your DSL provider will lease or sell you the appropriate hardware.

T1 internet service

A T1 connection is the most popular method for Internet access among businesses. It is fast and reliable – most providers can guarantee 99.99% uptime – and features increased security. Like DSL, T1 connections are “always on,” meaning that as long as your computer is turned on, you will be connected to the Internet.

T1 is symmetrical connection, allowing for downloads and uploads of up to 1.5 Mbps, which is about 30 times as fast as dial-up. The quality of a T1 line is much better than analog phone lines, which translates into a clearer signal and faster connections to websites and quicker downloads.

Since T1 lines are dedicated, you will always have access to the full amount of bandwidth you are entitled to. However the actual performance you experience at an individual level will drop depending on how many users are online at that time. A single T1 connection can support dozens to hundreds of users, but the speed and efficiency will drop as more people use it simultaneously.

Levels of T1 service
There are multiple flavors of T1 lines. At its most basic, a T1 line can be used to handle either your voice or data needs.

An integrated T1 line provides voice and data on the same digital circuit. With this service, you can decide how many of the T1 connection’s 24 channels will be reserved for voice calls, and what’s left is used for data.

You can also purchase a fractional T1 line, which provides only a portion of the total bandwidth. However, with prices of T1s as low as they have ever been, many companies are selecting full T1s because the price difference is almost negligible.

Another option to consider is burstable T1 – a type of “pay as you go” service where you pay for a specific amount of bandwidth you intend to use. If you exceed that amount, you can still tap into the ISP’s total available bandwidth and pay a premium above your standard rates. Think of it as going over your allotted minutes on your cell phone plan. Pricing can be very expensive but could be worthwhile for companies that know their data traffic patterns and have highly seasonal activity. Consider investing in a full T1 – or multiple T1s – before looking into burstable options.

For even better speed and performance, ISPs offer bonded T1 lines. Bonded T1s allow you to use the full bandwidth of multiple T1 lines at once. For example, two bonded T1 lines can provide up to 3 Mbps of data transfer in a single connection. By combining the speeds of individual T1s into a single pipeline, you allow for more bandwidth than two separate T1 lines.

Downside of T1
The most obvious drawback of a T1 connection is the cost. You will pay far more for T1 access to the Internet than for DSL. In fact, actual connection speeds of T1 and DSL are very similar. However, T1 provides a much more reliable connection and you are paying for that guaranteed uptime. For businesses that rely heavily on employee and customer access to data and applications, T1 is likely the best option.

Choosing an internet access provider

Signing up for high-speed Internet can be as easy as calling an ISP directly or working through a vendor. If you’re able to evaluate the customer service, pricing, and technology of multiple providers and choose the best one yourself, you can call that provider directly. If you want expert help in comparing the various ISP offerings without having to contact each one, a broker can do all the legwork for you.

Internet access brokers
As a middleman, Internet access vendor will consult several ISPs to find the best combination of price and services for your needs. This service is conducted at no charge to you — instead, the Internet service provider pays the commissions.

Have your broker furnish you with three to five quotes from various providers. Reliable brokers should have no problem doing that for you. When reviewing recommendations, find out how long the broker has worked with each ISP. If they have worked with the provider for a long time, you can be more assured of a reliable setup since the recommendations are driven by firsthand experience.

Definitely ask for a broker’s references before doing business with them. A reliable broker will provide you with this information and allow their previous work to speak for itself. Contact at least a couple of references and ask questions such as:

• Were they readily available to answer any questions you had?
• How quickly did they resolve problems?
• Did they clearly detail everything written in the contract?
• Did they try to sell you additional equipment that you didn’t need?

You can also gauge the level of service you’ll get from an Internet access vendor by how much attention they pay you. If they follow up with you and ask good questions rather than simply throwing quotes out, it is a positive sign that they care about your satisfaction above their bottom line.

Brokers continue to work with you after the contract is signed. You should demand – and a broker should offer – an ISP that provides 24/7 live person customer support. Once you’re connected, the vendor will continue to monitor your setup remotely. They will install any patches and keep system upgrades configured.

They should also provide e-mail contacts and be proactive when it comes to letting you know when there is a network problem and your Internet access is slow or down altogether. If something isn’t working right, the vendor should work with the ISP to get your network up and running.

Service Level Agreements
Reliability is probably the most important factor in choosing an ISP. While it is impossible to maintain 100% availability, most service providers aim for the lofty standard of “four nines” – 99.99% uptime over the course of a year. Service level agreements (SLAs) protect businesses by making access providers pay penalties to the customer for downtime that exceeds a specified total.

Until a few years ago, SLAs were not widely offered by Internet access providers. Now, they have become a standard for quality high-speed Internet access like T1 connections. In fact, SLAs are one of the main reasons T1 lines are the most popular choice for Internet access among businesses.

It is difficult to get an SLA on DSL access. The reason is that DSL’s sensitivity to the distance between the company and ISP’s central office, coupled with the often-low quality of the wiring, makes it difficult to maintain a sufficient level of guaranteed uptime. Even so, some vendors do provide SLAs for DSL, but it is uncommon.

To ensure your provider is abiding by this 99.99% performance level, request monitoring reports that track downtime. Most providers will make this information available to you upon request.

Broadband internet access contracts

It definitely pays to read the fine print when it comes time to sign a contract for Internet access. The contract you sign should be comprehensive, with no unwanted surprises or hidden fees – detailing all costs, length of service, and the SLA. (see “Service Level Agreements” in Choosing an Internet access provider for more details)

The standard contract length for Internet access is three years. In most cases, this will include all setup fees (including the wiring for your phone connection to the phone company’s central office, known as “local loop” charges), installation costs, and equipment rental. Shorter-term contracts may require you to pay additional fees. We don’t recommend signing contracts longer than three years because prices could fall, leaving you locked into paying a higher price for the duration.

Also keep in mind that there are severe penalties for breaking a contract before it expires – it can cost your company anywhere from several hundred dollars to the entire balance of the contract left on the contract.

Find out how long an ISP has been in business before you sign any binding contract. Companies new to the business may not have the experience to deliver the quality of services you need. Also, make sure that the ISP you use is financially sound. The last thing you want is to find your Internet access – and ultimately, your business – was compromised because a provider was in fiscal trouble.

Getting set up
Once you sign a contract, the vendor will arrange an installation time. A telecommunications contractor will come to your office to set up and test the necessary circuits. Then, the broker will install the routers and connect your LAN. They also configure your IP addresses and firewall security, as well as any other equipment noted on the contract.

Once the broker works out the best deal for you, it takes the service provider 30-45 days from the day the client signed the contract to setup up your office for access. Plan accordingly.

Business ISP pricing

DSL prices vary depending on how close your business is to the provider’s central offices. Prices, which are higher than residential DSL rates due to lower limits on subscribers per line, range from $30 to $250 for both initial setup and monthly service fees according to the bandwidth you choose. In addition to these flat rates, expect to pay additional charges for “bursting” -using more than your allotted bandwidth.

Standard T1 Internet prices include the phone company’s local loop charge – typically $150 and up – the phone circuit that connects your location to the ISP’s point of presence (POP), and the Internet bandwidth access port. All in, monthly T1 prices range from $250 to $1,000 – expect to pay that much for initial setup as well. Pricing varies according to whether you select data, voice, or integrated service, and how many channels you wish to activate.

Fractional T1s can be obtained for as little as $100-$200 per month. Bonded T1s are typically priced at a multiple of a regular T1 line; 3 bonded T1 lines, for example, would cost $750 to $3,000 monthly.

As mentioned earlier, the typical contract length is three years. Most vendors will either provide the equipment – routers, T1 pipes, Ethernet cables – for free, or tie them into the monthly pricing. Certain setup fees – including local loop charges and installation – may also be waived based on the length of a contract.

Internet access tips

Plan ahead. It is always best to purchase more bandwidth than you need so your company is adequately prepared for increases in employee size and bandwidth requirements.

Hidden agenda? Keep in mind that brokers who sell products like computers and routers in addition to Internet access may steer you to ISPs that don’t provide them as part of their service.

Lease, don’t buy. If possible, do not purchase equipment for your company’s Internet access. Make it part of the deal and let the company own and maintain them so they can fix problems when they arise.

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