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06 July 2007

AskMeCha: I am considering starting a website that will offer downloads for purchase. I have questions that are probably easy to answer, but am a complete, how you say, n00b.→[More:]Sorry in advance for the stupid. Maybe I should explain a little about what I'm planning.

I'm looking to start a website that will focus on local music and art. Each month we'll offer a downloadable zip file that will contain an exclusive EP from a band + "album" "art". We'll also include photos, drawings, etc. from area artists. The music will be in high quality mp3 format. The art will be jpg's, pdf's and such.

I'm wondering how much bandwidth I'll need and what I can expect to pay for such. And what of these Google ads I see all over the place? How much do they pay and how would I go about getting them on my site if I want to go that route?

Thanks for any help, friendly friends!

post by: 2or3whiskeysodas at: 14:06 | 3 comments

google ads -> www.google.com/adsense

*note -> your website can't be under construction or it will be rejected. make sure it's pretty much complete and operational before you apply to adsense.

how much bandwidth isn't the right first question. the right question is "how many downloads of material do I expect a month and how big will the zip folder be?"

Using this, you'll have a basic number for what your bandwidth requirements will be.

second thing is to figure out how you're going to get money from users. Once you figure out which software/operation you want to use, you'll need to figure out if you have to install software on a webserver. If no, then your options are pretty popular. If yes, then your options become more limited.

If you setup your site to use paypal, you assume 500 downloads a month and your folder is 100 MBs, we're talking roughly 50GB a month of data transfer. If you take a gander at dreamhost, for 9.95 a month, you get over 1 TB of data transfer, so you could go that route.

posted by stynxno 06 July | 14:32

Warning: Paypal can (and probably will) shut you off without warning freezing your assets in the process. This is no fun and a real credit card dealio is actually cheaper in the long run - but I understand that you don't know if you have a long run yet, just be prepared. If possible, avoid paypal like the plague it is.

Also avoid places that tell you they have terabytes of bandwdth a month, or read the small print really really well. There's always a catch with those guys.

posted by dabitch 06 July | 17:22

(by be prepared I mean take home the paypal money *every night* so you don't have wads of cash lying around in there. They froze 600 US dollars for me- because of this article kinda NSFW but safe for outdoor posters worldwide).

posted by dabitch 06 July | 17:24

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