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What is a swell host and what are its benefits
A host typically refers to the computer that holds your website’s files. However, a swell host is more than just the computer that your website lives on, it is a supercomputer. A swell host has much higher specifications than your typical hosting company will even offer and you’ll get to enjoy all of its benefits from as soon as you sign up. The benefits of a swell host are-
Higher speed
Better security (both hardware and software)
More storage space. You’ll get double the amount of space compared to your standard plan.
A better customer service team. They can resolve any issues that might arise while you’re using the host and they’ll be available 24/7. This is crucial because even if you have technical issues that can’t be resolved by the hosting company, a great host will treat you like a king. If anything goes wrong, they’ll take care of it.
You’ll also get exclusive access to their ‘swell tool’ which will help you manage your site including optimizing images and other assets.
Any of the hosts mentioned in this post are considered swell hosts for reason listed down below.
Swift server speed (one of the biggest benefits) : It means that your website will get access to faster servers and more resources on these servers. This translates into a better user experience because your users will have a smoother and faster experience when browsing on your website.
How to install a swell host on your website
Installing a swell host requires two steps: first, you will need to install the software on your computer, and then you will have to upload it to your web host’s server. I’ll explain each step in greater detail later in this article. If you’re not sure of which program to use for each step, I recommend using the command line utility called wget. There is no download here – it is just a place for me to keep all of my tutorials together. If you find any bugs or have suggestions of your own, feel free to email me or comment below and I’ll see what I can do.
I assume that you already have a web host . If not, then you may want to consider 1&1 Web Hosting who will give you free domain registration if you sign up for hosting. Also, if your website is ever hacked , and it’s protected by a swell host , 1&1 guarantees that they will clean the malware from your site and restore it within 12 hours.
You will also want to check out the other tutorials in this series:
How to install a swell host on your website
How to install a swell host on your website (part 2)
How to install a swell host on your website (part 3) [no longer available]
How to change your current swell host from one hosting plan to another? [no longer available]
Setting up automatic payments with Swell
The automatic payment system that was used with swell was discontinued in December 2011. I have written instructions on how to set this up yourself with PayPal here. If you’re still interested in setting up automatic payments with swell, you will need to buy a license key here. You will still get the ability to save your card information and setup recurring orders, but I don’t recommend trying to set up recurring payments with PayPal. It’ll be a lot of work for no good reason. The PayPal IPN (Instant Payment Notification) system that is required if you want to set up automatic payments with Swell and PayPal will be discontinued on May 1st, 2014.
I’ve written more about this topic here (it’s more technical than the other post).
I’ve written more about why I decided to stop supporting automatic payments with swell here.
Please check out this site for an explanation of what happens if you set up automatic payments with swell and PayPal: http://www.krakenfx.com/paypal_ipsn.html
I have written a blog post about the IPN (Instant Payment Notification) system that PayPal uses to support automatic payments with Swell: http://blog.swellmoney.com/instant-payment-notification-with-paypal
Adding widgets and tracking codes to your Swell account
Adding widgets is fairly straightforward, but there are some special rules that you’ll need to follow if you want your widget to show up in Google Search. I have instructions on how to do this here. If you’re looking for some cool widgets to add to your account, I recommend my post “Top 20 SWELL WIDGETS”. The tracker codes are something that you should be able to figure out by yourself, but I’ll give you some tips for getting started here.
Another great way to get your site some more attention is to join our Facebook group. You can get advice on how to get your site noticed and talked about, as well as tips on making money from it. We have over 4000 members, so you should be able to find some help there.
If you run into any issues along the way or just want someone else’s opinion, feel free to drop by our friendly forum and ask for help there.
Thanks for reading and good luck!
–Brian
P.S. Are you interested in making money from your blog? Then check out my Swell Reviews product review system at http://swellreviews.com. You can make money marketing affiliate products to your readers on Swell Reviews, and you can even get a free account yourself to see how it works! It’s completely free, so check it out! 🙂
Creating campaigns and goals in Swell
Creating campaigns and goals is relatively straightforward. I have written some instructions here and I recommend that you read it once you’ve set up your account. If you’re looking for a good way to track the success of your efforts, I recommend a tool called Google Analytics. If you want an overview of your brand, check out SlideShare.
To create a campaign, click on the Campaigns tab. In the upper right hand corner of the screen you will see a blue arrow button with a drop-down menu that says “Create Campaign”. Click on it. It should look something like this:
You can change the name and description to whatever you want, but I recommend checking over these settings before submitting them:
Campaign name: Do not include anything with your brand name in it. This is the name that people will see when they are viewing your page. The longer your name, the better–try to keep it up to 15 characters.
Description: This should be a brief sentence describing your campaign goal.
Keyword/Target (optional). Add keywords here, separated by comma’s and spaces. Avoid using more than three at a time. These words should be in the form of “Keyword” followed by “word1” then “word2”, etcetera.
The more specific the keyword, the better. Try to get a new visitor to select this as their page.
