The Placebo Effect ... on Pricing

OK, so here's an interesting dilemma for many businesses out there, including us here at IPOWER.

I just read this fascinating article from The Washington Post on "The Price-Placebo Effect." Most people understand the Placebo Effect as it pertains to medication studies: "control" participants are blindly administered a sugar pill instead of actual medication, and yet still experience improved symptoms, probably as a result of their belief that they have received real medication.

The Price-Placebo Effect takes the same tack, but instead of medication being the agent of change, price is strangely the culprit. The Price-Placebo Effect, according to the article, is basically the notion that people experience more pleasure (i.e. larger activation in their medial orbitofrontal cortex) when they consume a product that they pay a higher price for, compared to those who pay a less-expensive price.

While the article leads off referencing the uncomfortable Eliot Spitzer scandal, the more relevant story revolves around a study in which two groups of participants were asked to drink some wine: one group from a bottle priced at $90, and the other group from a bottle priced at $10. The participants who drank the $90 bottle not only indicated an overall higher level of enjoyment (as to be expected), but they also had experienced more activity medial orbitofrontal cortex than those who drank the $10 bottle. The catch? They drank the exact same wine.

So what does this tell us about pricing our products? Well, for one thing, Apple's got it right. The price of their notebooks is significantly higher than it needs to be, and yet they don't have much trouble (a) selling them like hotcakes or (b) cultivating a dedicated (some might say fanatic?) userbase. In fact, it wasn't until the end of last year that they even contemplated releasing a notebook under $1000. So what's the story here? Great products justifying expensive prices? People paying for the "brand"? Or is there something actually physiological going on?

It's tough to say, but notions like these definitely make us think about our strategies. The webhosting industry is a complicated one--commodization is driving prices down and requiring hosts to underprice their services. Two years ago it was ludicrous to advertise a price under $6/month. Now that price is considered expensive. And yet does our catering to the competitive nature of the hosting market mean our product is any less valuable to consumers than it was two years ago? In fact, no--our product is constantly improving and evolving and a hosting plan now is "worth" more than ever. It would be great to price our plans to invoke the "Price-Placebo Effect," but unfortunately, the likely result would be potential customers hammering the "Back" button as soon as the images start to load on IPOWER.com.

So how do we tap into this pricing enigma? Have you tapped into it?

Your Feedback, Hard at Work

We've been soliciting feedback from customers, and we've been listening to your responses. Over the past couple of weeks, we've launched a couple key changes to our offerings, which we hope will improve your overall experience.

1) The Activation Center: Activate Your Plan's Freebies in One Fell Swoop!
We recently launched The Activation Center to help customers find and activate the free tools that come in their hosting plans. Located in the top stripe of your control panel (between the "Tutorials" and "Help" icons), The Activation Center opens up a list of products that you can add to your control panel just by selecting the items of interest to you and clicking the "Activate" button. Free tools include SubmitNet, Google AdWords $50 credit, Google Custom Search box, as well as a free 60-day trial with RatePoint, and a free 60-day trial with Constant Contact, which provides email marketing tools.

Keep an eye out for more free tools in the Activation Center--we'll be adding new ones all the time!

2) ServiceCentral: New Portal for Managing Your Projects
When you purchase an SEO package (soon to be extended to a Design package or Professional Services), you'll get an icon called "ServiceCentral" in the "Marketing Services" section of your control panel. When you click on this icon, you'll be brought to a portal page, which, on the "My Projects" tab, keeps a list of your active and past projects and their statuses. From here, you can also add comments to your project and check out the latest status via comments left by your project team.

The "My Team" tab keeps track of your team members, with access to their schedules and contact information. At the moment, customers can email and call most of their team members, but shortly we'll add the ability for customers to chat with team members and schedule appointments! Plus, uploading files you'd like your team to use in the project is a cinch--just click on the "My Resources" tab, and select the directory where you'd like to upload to.

3) Akamai Quick Connect: Increase Your Site's Load Time for Visitors Everywhere
IPOWER is one of the first hosts to offer this incredibly cool service, which allows visitors from across the globe to access your site nearly as quickly as someone sitting next to our servers. Akamai Quick Connect will be available to some customers starting next week through a special promotion we're running, and we'll likely roll it out to all customers by the end of March or early April.

In case you're wondering how Akamai works their magic, here's a quick snapshot: Normal requests to see your website have to travel all the way from a visitor's computer to our servers and back. Akamai speeds up this process by caching your site's content (images, CSS, javascript) on its edge servers, which are located all around the world--so when someone in China, for instance, wants to see your site, the content will be retrieved from the closest Akamai server in China, rather than traveling all the way to our servers and back. HTML requests will still travel to our servers, but through Akamai's optimized network, which can easily locate and circumvent trouble spots in the network.

4) WebSite Creator by CM4all: Two Small Changes Based Upon Survey Feedback
We have plans to revamp the CM4all tool page in general, but in the meantime, we fulfilled two small customer requests which seem to make a big difference in the usability of the tool.

• Numero Uno: We made the "edit" link into a button so you can see it! Derrr ... not quite sure why it was a teensy tiny link to begin with, but at least you can see it now and know where to click to edit your site.
  
  
• Numero Dos: We made this new and improved "edit" button open a new window. Finally. Now you won't lose access to your IPOWER control panel when you want to edit you CM4all site.

We hope these small changes across the board make a difference in how you use your IPOWER hosting account. If you have additional suggestions on functionality, definitely let us know through comments on the blog, in surveys, and as always, through tickets in your Support Console.

Great Summertime Special

For only $4.95 per month you can take advantage of our summertime web hosting special. You can host an unlimited number web sites with just one IPOWERWEB Pro Site plan.

Only 6 Days Left!

Only 6 days remain until our BEST SALE EVER ends. For a limited time any person can purchase our award-winning Pro Site web hosting solution (which comes with a free domain name) for only $3.98 per month. Our Pro Site web hosting plan has never been so cheap and it's the best time to take advantage.
We understand that many of your monthly expenses have risen in recent history, one thing that has gone down in price is IPOWERWEB hosting.

Web Hosting For Only $3.98 per Month

The famous IPOWERWEB Pro Site web hosting plan is now on sale for only $3.98 per month. The image above is a snapshot of our homepage for the current sale. Our Pro Site web hosting plan has never been priced so low and time is running out. Take advantage of this unbeatable price before its too late.

Our Award Winning Pro Site Plan is Still On Sale

IPOWEWEB web hosting is a great deal at the annual rate of $7.95 per month. But when the world's most popular web hosting plan is on sale for only $4.95 per month - you must take advantage of it.
Our Pro Site Plan has made us one of the world's largest web hosting providers and it includes everything you need and want without any hidden fees.

Each Pro Site Plan includes:

*1,500 GB of Disk Space
*2,500 Email Accounts
*Google Webmaster Tools
*$80 in Free Online Advertising
*Host Unlimited Domain Names

The Spring Sale won't last for long. To learn more about our web hosting sale, please visit our web site - www.IPOWERWEB.com.

What is the Definition of Web Hosting?

We should point out that every persons definition of web hosting may differ. We at IPOWERWEB believe that web hosting is a service that provides Internet users with tools necessary for storing and publishing information, images, video, or any content accessible via the Web.

IPOWERWEB is an example of a web hosting provider. If you wish to learn more about our web hosting products and services, visit our web site or give us a call at 888-511-HOST(4678).


*If you don't already know this we have a dictionary on our web site that can provide you with the definition of nearly every web hosting and Internet related term. If you feel that we are missing any important terms please let us know.

Most Reliable Host....Consistently

According to Netcraft, IPOWERWEB was one of the most reliable web hosting providers for the month of April 2008.
This was not the first time we have received this honor by Netcraft and it surely won't be the last.

Pro Site Web Hosting On Sale

Our Pro Site web hosting plan, the world's most popular web hosting solution is currently on sale for just $4.95 per month.
Below is an image of our Pro Site web page - http://www.ipowerweb.com/products/webhosting/business-web-site.html

Web Hosting Sale - Only $4.95 per Month

We have lowered the price on our most popular web hosting plan, the IPOWERWEB Pro Site plan. Any person can now purchase the world's best web hosting solution for only $4.95 per moth.
Below is a portion of our new home page for www.IPOWERWEB.com. If you are looking to get a new web hosting plan, the time to get one is now.

Host Unlimited Domain Names with IPOWERWEB

One IPOWERWEB Pro Site web hosting plan will give you the opportunity to have unlimited domain names hosted.
This means that in many cases you may not be required to have more than one web hosting account – One IPOWERWEB hosting plan should be enough. Regardless of your Web experience the IPOWERWEB Pro Site hosting plan is capable of supporting all your needs. Our Pro Site hosting solution has been tailored to serve the needs of beginners and professionals for over 6 years.
$7.95 gives you all the web hosting features the Internet’s professionals use and of course includes IPOWERWEB’s award-winning 24/7 customer support. Give us a call in order to learn more about our web hosting plans - 888.511.HOST

Host Unlimited Domain Names with IPOWERWEB

With just one Business Pro plan you can host as many domain names as you want. That's right, for just $6.95 per month every IPOWERWEB hosting user will have the ability to host as many domain names as they wish with just one package. This means that by having one Business Pro hosting plan you can host 55 different web sites, or more if you wish. To learn more about our web hosting plans and features, please visit www.IPOWERWEB.com.

Business Pro Web Hosting Plan Only $6.95/Month

The IPOWERWEB Business Pro web hosting solution, our most popular hosting package, is now priced at $6.95 per month. For $6.95 per month your Business Pro plan will come with the following features:

*1500 GB of disk space

*Free Domain Name

*Website Builder

*The ability to host unlimited domain names

*2,500 E-mail Account

*24/7 award-winning live technical support

...and much more.

If you are in need of a new web hosting plan, the IPOWERWEB Business Pro plan is the right solution for you.

Single Page Hosting with IPOWERWEB

Having a web site is not only necessary for businesses but for individuals as well. It's important that you have your full name's domain name registered as well as a basic web page that informs people on how to contact you.
At IPOWERWEB you can register your name's domain name for only $6.85 per year. Once you have registered your domain name you should consider publishing a single page web site, telling people a little about yourself.
In order to learn more about IPOWERWEB's web hosting solutions and what plans best meet your needs, please visit our web site - www.IPOWERWEB.com.

The Faster Your Site is, The Better

If you run any Google AdWords campaign, particularly for competitive keywords, you are probably somewhat familiar with the quality score ranking algorithm for all web sites running AdWords campaigns. It is yet to take place, but it is believed that Google will soon factor page load time into its quality score for AdWords campaigns.
This means that web pages that load faster have an advantage.
Here is an example. Web site A and web site B have the same exact AdWords campaigns and the same exact web sites. The only difference in what the two sites are doing is their hosting. Web site A is hosting its web site with one company while web site B is hosting its web site with another company. The speed at which each web site loads is different for site A and B. Therefore the web hosting provider becomes the deciding factor in which site will be ranked higher in the search results.
If the speed at which your web site loads matters to you, which should definitely be the case if you run an AdWords campaign, the IPOWERWEB is the right web hosting provider for you. Additionally, every new web hosting account comes with a $30 free Google AdWords credit. IPOWERWEB is recognized around the world for being one of the fastest shared web hosting providers and if you don't host your site with us, you should definitely consider it.

Our Sale is Still Going On

We are yet to end our popular Valentine's Day sale even though Valentine's Day has passed. For a limited time you can purchase the IPOWERWEB Business Pro web hosting plan for only $4.95 per month and there are absolutely no strings attached. You are able to purchase IPOWERWEB's most popular web hosting plan for 35% lower than our standard price of $7.95 per month. Have a wonderful weekend.

Valentine's Day Web Hosting Sale Extended

We have decided to extend our Valentine's Day Web Hosting sale due to its popularity. Many of our users have absolutely loved this deal. For only $4.95 per month any person can purchase a new IPOWERWEB Business Pro hosting plan. An offer like this does not occur often and you should purchase at least one before it expires.

Tax on IPOWERWEB Hosting Plans

We are currently in tax season. Everywhere you go it seems as if people are only thinking about taxes. Unfortunately we are not in a position to file your taxes for you or to even guide you, but we can let you in on a secret...All IPOWERWEB web hosting plans include tax in the price. So the price you see on the homepage and on the checkout screen is the final price you pay, no strings attached. If you are looking to buy a web hosting plan, IPOWERWEB is the right choice. Regardless of where you live the price of IPOWERWEB hosting never changes. In fact you can purchase the Business Pro web hosting plan for only $4.95 until this Thursday (February 14th).

Exactly One Week Remains

Next Thursday, February 14th a.k.a. Valentine's Day, is the final day of the IPOWERWEB Business Pro web hosting sale. IPOWERWEB does not go on sale often and right now you can receive the world's most popular web hosting plan for a very low price, only $4.95 per month. If you are yet to take advantage of this offer make sure you do so before it expires, because like we said - IPOWERWEB hosting plans do not go on sale too often.

Business Pro Valentines Day Sale

Our Business Pro web hosting plan will be on sale until Valentines Day, February 14th. For only $4.95 per month you can get all the features that come with the regular priced version of the Business Pro, the only difference is that you pay significantly less for the best web hosting plan on the Internet. Don't forget this offer will not last for long, so if you are considering purchasing a new web hosting plan, now is the perfect time.