WHIR Magazine, June 2005: The Marketing Issue

Liam Eagle: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Every Web site operator has to give careful
consideration to online advertising, particularly
those with something to sell. But
Web hosts have a peculiar perspective on
Internet marketing, approaching it from
both sides.

As the first point of contact with the Internet
for many businesses, Web hosts are
in a position to introduce those businesses
to new Internet services. And with interest
in online advertising surging among more
traditional advertisers, Web hosts are taking
on the role of optimizer and marketing
strategist – in some cases reselling payper-
click advertising services.

Of course, Web hosts are customers too
- they’ve been advertising online as long
as the opportunity has existed. And it is
walking that line – working to enhance
their own online advertising efforts while
offering their expertise to customers – that
makes the Web host’s perspective on Internet
marketing unique.

With our marketing issue, we set out to
explore that special relationship from every
angle, focusing on both the business of Internet
marketing, and the exacting science.
In his cover feature on the business of
marketing, Jay Lyman discusses the increased
role Web hosts are beginning to
play in the pyramid of pay-per-click business,
technology and information that
flows from the industry giants to the end
user.

In something of a reversal, Dennis Mc-
Cafferty’s feature on the science of Internet
marketing discusses the variety of tools
and services available to Web hosts seeking
to treat their own marketing efforts
with the calculating concern they require.

Of course, we didn’t limit our examination
to online marketing exclusively, as
Web hosts are responsible for some attention-
grabbing offline work as well. Justin
Lee spoke to Londoner Travis Hayes, who
spent a month as a human billboard for C
I Host. And Philbert Shih visited Houston,
Texas, where he witnessed first-hand the
considerable impact that EV1Servers has
in its community.