Your Business Web Site Hosting

What you need to know about web hosting

Marketing your business web site on the Internet is tricky enough without having to worry about your web hosting service.

Deciding on a web hosting service for your small business web site is only one of the most important decisions you will make. Unfortunately it is also a decision where the effect cannot easily be measured, nor one where mistakes are not so easy to rectify as with the other areas of Internet marketing

Selecting the wrong small business web site hosting service WILL cost you money. The right Internet hosting service will actually help you make money on the Internet.

Ask yourself:

What would my average visitor expect from my web site? Think about the factors which will be influenced by your Internet hosting service provider.

Do they want fast loading pages?

It doesn't help if you design your pages to be fast but your Internet hosting service provider doesn't have the bandwidth and connectivity to offer up your web pages quickly.

This is especially true when your visitors are from countries where fast web sites are the norm. This is why we use web hosting services who connect to the Internet via multiple redundant connections that provide both a large "pipe" for all of our customers and redundancy so that there is never a traffic jam getting to your website.

Our small business web site hosting services are based in the USA where the norm is to provide fast connectivity.

Our recommended web hosting services (we use them for our web sites):

Affordable business web hosting services for your growing Internet business

What about product downloads?

If you offer downloadable products to your clients your host's performance is crucial. I experienced this problem while I was working on these pages. I've been trying to download two guides from a company for the last two days and every time I had to give up.

I know the problem is not on our side because during the same period, in fact, at the same time, I downloaded other items of a similar size from someone else with no problems.

Do they want to find you online at the same time they're online?

It can cost you your business if your web site is down regularly because of system overload, traffic jams, whatever.

It doesn't really matter to your visitors WHY you're down, only that you ARE! Our business web site hosting service provider have a state-of-the-art data facility and advanced back up facilities to make sure your visitors keep on clicking.

What services do they expect from my web site?

• Do they want a searchable database for your products? Is this included in your fee or must you pay extra?
• Do they want a variety of forms to make it easier for them to contact you on specific questions or problems? Is this included in your fee or must you pay extra?.
• Do they want you to be able to respond immediately with standard information? Do your hosting service provide autoresponders or must you pay extra?
• Do they want to be able to contact specific staff or departments on a dedicated email address? Is this included, and how many, or must you pay extra?
• What about being kept up to date with developments, or being informed about upcoming events or promotions? Do your service provider offer you mailing lists?

And what about you?

What do you expect from your web hosting service?

A basic web hosting facility where the payment increases every time you need to add a service? Or when your traffic increases? Or when your business web site expands? Or do you want something more?

• What about a second domain, or a third, or a fourth. What will your web site hosting service charge you to host these?
• What about sub-domains (http://subsite.yoursite.com) Will your web site hosting service allow you to use sub-domains in stead of the traditional folders (http://www.yoursite.com/subsite/)?
• Do you want access to Internet marketing advice? Help to promote your web site?
• What about an effective marketing forum where you can share ideas with some of the Best on the Net?

Let me tell you what happened to me when I started on the Net in 1996. But wait! Let me not bore those of you who have no interest in this. Read about "The Net Novice and the Greedy ISP"

Your small business web site hosting service and marketing your website.

Your small business web site hosting service play a vital role in the marketing of your business on the Internet. Apart from providing fast service to your visitors, you want a Internet hosting service who helps you stay in touch with your visitors.

Your web hosting service must help you keep down costs by providing you with the facilities to market your web site without having to look elsewhere.

Although you can find most of the Internet services you need, such as email addresses, autoresponders, etc. free on the Internet, they actually COST you. Because they are free, and people know it, you come across as small time. AND they actually lead visitors way from your web site through the advertising they add to your site. There is NO FREE SERVICE.

Whoever hosts your small business web site, make sure that they can accommodate, not only your present requirements, but also your future requirements.

Our recommended web hosting services (we use them for our web sites):

Affordable business web hosting services for your growing Internet business

Affordable Business Web Hosting & Domain Names from Host2Sell