Hosting can cost from $1 to over $100, though the average price is usually less than $20. Sound cheap? Well, it is until you multiply that number by 100 or even 1,000. And, if you're going to be a serious Internet marketer, eventually, you will have that many sites in your repertoire. This is why it's important to consider free hosting alternatives. One of the best is Squidoo.



What is Squidoo? Squidoo is a powerful Web 2.0 site that allows people to create their own blogs, (also known as lenses). There is no charge for hosting, and virtually no limit to how many lenses can be created. Additionally, Squidoo participates in Adsense revenue-sharing. This means that they will allow you to keep revenue from your Adsense clicks a certain percentage of the time. The exact percentage will depend on what is being promoted.

So, what's the best way to create a money-making Squidoo lens? Well, first make sure you can write solid articles surrounding whatever your official website or affiliate program is about. Don't fall into the temptation to just post a bunch of advertisements on your lens. Readers will only be put off by your lens and not click on any ads, whether they are your own links or Adsense. It's much better to provide valuable information that will build up interest to your product or service rather than advertise it outright.

Anyway, as you are writing your articles, don't forget that you want to try and make secondary income from Adsense, should your reader not click on any of your links. To do this you will need to incorporate keywords that Adsense bots will pick up. Try to use more popular keywords, since this will net you more money. In fact, if you can, consider buying a list containing the most expensive Adsense keywords. You should be able to find these easily by doing a basic search on Google or another search engine. Once you get it, find the keywords that best match what you're talking about and use them 2 to 6 percent of the time throughout your text. If you do things right, the more expensive keywords will get integrated into your lens. Granted, you won't always get the revenue, but at least when you do, you can be assured that it will be high.

Okay now, at this point many Adsense gurus might feel uncomfortable at the thought of sharing any revenue with another company. They may feel that it's better to just get a regular hosting account for their blogs than to go that route. Well, again, there's still the issue of the numbers game if you do massive Internet marketing. But there's another issue at stake presence. Squidoo is already indexed by search engines, and has a high page rank. This means that any lenses produced on their network are more likely to get noticed by search engines than a new, no-name website. And for newbies who may not know how to rank high on their own, this is a major advantage that can't be overlooked.

In conclusion, Squidoo is the best place to turn if you're looking for an affordable way to create a blog or series of blogs. There are no recurring charges, but you will have to share any Adsense revenue you make. This is a disadvantage, but Squidoo's popularity in search engine listings should overcome it at least for the newbie.