ITC Vrs Agent Methods

[scagnt83]

"A quality wordpress design will cost around $1k-$5k"

"simple small business host plan will cost around $10-$40 per month."

Wow. Those prices seem high. Very high. The hosting should not cost $40 for a his first site.

Hackathornbury SEO And Website Design
Tucson, Az.
Service Since 1974

I cant tell if you are being serious or joking this time... lol. Although I have a feeling that since you invented the internet back in 1974 you are serious

But just for you I found him some other options:
$2 hosting http://dollar2host.com/
$1 hosting http://www.mytruehost.com/

Man, that live help girl at the top right of those sites must be really busy since she works for 2 different companies! Lol


Wait!! I found him hosting for $0.25 !!!
http://www.budgethostingweb.com/
And since their website was designed in 1998 what could go wrong??

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Ha.

Yea, I really did think they seemed high. I'm guessing but for my 10-12 websites, I think I pay about $25-$35 per month (total) in hosting fees. Of course, they are bundled among three companies - SiteGround, GoDaddy, and AN Hosting.

 

[scagnt83]

Ha.

Yea, I really did think they seemed high. I'm guessing but for my 10-12 websites, I think I pay about $25-$35 per month (total) in hosting fees. Of course, they are bundled among three companies - SiteGround, GoDaddy, and AN Hosting.

I gave a range of $10-$40. just like anything else you can get the Beamer or you can get the Yugo or you can go with something in the middle. Keep in mind that the $40 option would likely allow for multiple sites to be hosted, not just one.

Why are you using 3 different hosts??
Right now with Hostgator you can get the Business Plan hosting for $12 per month and host as many domains on it as you want. Private IP & SSL certificate, plus free 1800 number.

If you are paying $25 you could cut your cost in half by using just 1 host for all your sites. http://www.hostgator.com/shared

I think I pay $15/m for hosting.

 

[JohnWalker]

I am a Medicare Agent that Really just doesn't understand the Tech side of things, I wanted to get a good site with SEO and Just don't want to have to do much work to put it together. I am a talker not a writer, So I need a lot of help with content and stuff, Give me a paragraph to write I might be paralyzed for 2 hours.

With that said would I get a lot more with ITC For 1 K upfront and $159 a month or is it basicly close to what I get from Agent methods with no upfront and $59 a month?

I mean I talk to these guys and it all sounds the same but not understanding the language there might be some huge difrences

Because it sounds like you have little to no technical web experience and want a turn-key solution, I recommend ITC. They offer a great product for amatures with little to no experience to get started. As far as not wanting to write, their email marketing campaigns have content that can be used as "starter" pages. Because most of their clients are entry level like youraelf, I can confidently assume very few, if any, agents on their program utilize their content in this manner so duplicate content should not be an issue.

With that being said I'm in the process of switching from ITC to a Drupal based site hosted independently. Solutions like ITC and Agent methods are designed under a network structure that allows them to mass produce and control elements of every site on their network (you can instantly tell it's an ITC site by the blog). This means that while you own the content and domain, they own the source code and framework of the site. This shouldn't be a major issue because if you ever decide to switch, you're probably going to want a new design anyway.

The real problem is that because you are bound by their framework, certain aspects of your website can not be modified or they must code the changes in a way that the base structure is displayed and your modifications will be rendered over it resulting in sloppy code, a slower site, and hidden text/links.

Another issue I have with ITC is that while they preach being up to date with Google and best practices for SEO, they still don't have mobile responsive templates. I actually spoke with my rep and offered to pay for them to either fix their mobility issues across the network or to fix mine individually and was told it would be done after the next update. I approached them with this concern about 2 months before Google even announced their mobile update and still nothing....

With both ITC and Agent Methods you are paying for a template and a fancy template is what you get. If you actually did research and tried to learn about your investments instead of just throwing money at the dirt hoping to grow a tree, you would realize insurance is too saturated to have any success just throwing up a website and "doing seo".

My .02 is if you are not even going to put in enough effort to create content, then save your money and stay out of the game. Internet marketing is a long term strategy that requires time, effort, and most importantly ideas. Paying $1000 down and $150 / month is a drop in the bucket for what it takes to actually gain any traction in this industry.

 

[vic120]

Because it sounds like you have little to no technical web experience and want a turn-key solution, I recommend ITC. They offer a great product for amatures with little to no experience to get started. As far as not wanting to write, their email marketing campaigns have content that can be used as "starter" pages. Because most of their clients are entry level like youraelf, I can confidently assume very few, if any, agents on their program utilize their content in this manner so duplicate content should not be an issue.

With that being said I'm in the process of switching from ITC to a Drupal based site hosted independently. Solutions like ITC and Agent methods are designed under a network structure that allows them to mass produce and control elements of every site on their network (you can instantly tell it's an ITC site by the blog). This means that while you own the content and domain, they own the source code and framework of the site. This shouldn't be a major issue because if you ever decide to switch, you're probably going to want a new design anyway.

The real problem is that because you are bound by their framework, certain aspects of your website will not be able to be modified or they must code the changes in a way that the base structure is displayed and your modifications will be rendered over it resulting in sloppy code, a slower site, and hidden text/links.

Another issue I have with ITC is that while they preach being up to date with Google and best practices for SEO, they still don't have mobile responsive templates. I actually spoke with my rep and offered to pay for them to either fix their mobility issues across the network or to fix mine indidually and was told it would be done after the next update. I approached them with this concern about 2 months before Google even announced their mobile update and still nothing....

With both ITC and Agent Methods you are paying for a template and a fancy template is what you get. If you actually did research and tried to learn about your investments instead of just throwing money at the dirt hoping to grow a tree, you would realize insurance is too saturated to have any success just throwing up a website and "doing seo".

My .02 is if you are not even going to put in enough effort to create content, then save your money and stay out of the game. Internet marketing is a long term strategy that requires time, effort, and most importantly ideas. Paying $1000 down and $150 / month is a drop in the bucket for what it takes to actually gain any traction in this industry.

A lot of good info, Listen I have been on my own without website for 3 years and I am not doing the website solely for leads, I would like a website that looks good for clients and prospects,As far as SEO I understand that it takes time and I am not looking for immediate results but I would like to have at least some income off the site, While I still do my current marketing

As far as not wanting to write my own content, It is not about being lazy, I actually work harder then most I know. It is about my strong points and my weaknesses.While Some things I am strong with, The thing I have always been by far the weakest at is writing, I have spent a lot of time to get better at it, I have improved but yet I am still very week at it.

 

[scagnt83]

Another issue I have with ITC is that while they preach being up to date with Google and best practices for SEO, they still don't have mobile responsive templates. I actually spoke with my rep and offered to pay for them to either fix their mobility issues across the network or to fix mine indidually and was told it would be done after the next update. I approached them with this concern about 2 months before Google even announced their mobile update and still nothing....

Not having mobile responsive template is a huge issue now if you are concerned with SEO. That is what the most recent google algorithm update was all about.

These days it should be standard. When I can find 5,000 different wordpress templates that are mobile responsive... no reason for any website builder to not have mobile responsive as standard practice. Google aside, people who are finding sites on their phones and tablets are increasing more and more each year.

----------

yet I am still very week at it.

We can tell

 

[vic120]

Not having mobile responsive template is a huge issue now if you are concerned with SEO. That is what the most recent google algorithm update was all about.

These days it should be standard. When I can find 5,000 different wordpress templates that are mobile responsive... no reason for any website builder to not have mobile responsive as standard practice. Google aside, people who are finding sites on their phones and tablets are increasing more and more each year.

----------



We can tell

Yes that is a big issue

 

[JohnWalker]

A lot of good info, Listen I have been on my own without website for 3 years and I am not doing the website solely for leads, I would like a website that looks good for clients and prospects,As far as SEO I understand that it takes time and I am not looking for immediate results but I would like to have at least some income off the site, While I still do my current marketing

As far as not wanting to write my own content, It is not about being lazy, I actually work harder then most I know. It is about my strong points and my weaknesses.While Some things I am strong with, The thing I have always been by far the weakest at is writing, I have spent a lot of time to get better at it, I have improved but yet I am still very week at it.

If you're looking for something that will impress potential clients and streamline service for existing clients, ITC has some decent templates with quote and customer service forms that make collecting endorsement paperwork a breeze. From a service stand point, about 2% of my customers come into my office, yet alone know my face, so these forms are a god send. Customer service forms are not that uncommon; however, these are standard and require little effort to implement.

I am also not a skilled writer, as you can tell by my posts , but putting in the effort to create content has nothing to do with writing. I contacted someone I found on forbes or some other similar publication and offered to hire her. It took me a long time to find her and make sure she was the right fit but for $38 / article (some will argue this is high) I think she's perfect. You can check out this article to see her quality.

I am not calling you lazy nor am I questioning your work ethic. I'm saying that if you don't commit to operating a website mentally and financially, it can be a huge waste of money. Realistically, you have to put in time and money or you will end up with an expensive digital business card.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Good question why I am paying three! I started with one. Then, I simply used GoDaddy for hosting of domains I bought through them. And I'm not sure how I found SiteGround. I only have two sites through them. You can't talk to them over the phone but they are jet quick via online tickets if there is a problem.

I gave a range of $10-$40. just like anything else you can get the Beamer or you can get the Yugo or you can go with something in the middle. Keep in mind that the $40 option would likely allow for multiple sites to be hosted, not just one.

Why are you using 3 different hosts??
Right now with Hostgator you can get the Business Plan hosting for $12 per month and host as many domains on it as you want. Private IP & SSL certificate, plus free 1800 number.

If you are paying $25 you could cut your cost in half by using just 1 host for all your sites. Web Hosting | Shared cPanel Web Hosting - HostGator

I think I pay $15/m for hosting.

 

[somarco]

$38 / article (some will argue this is high)

I have paid $10 - $18 and had nothing more than someone rewriting MY OWN articles. Most of the content writers, especially those charging less than $20 are a waste of time and money.