Web Hosting
It is important for business owners to consider best web hosting options when deciding to open an online business.
hosting allows businesses to take up a certain amount of space on the Internet. Think of it as renting a property, only this property is online. For example, if somebody wanted to open up a business, they would go to a leasing manager and rent a store where customers could come to find a certain product or service. This leasing manager would charge the business owner a fee based on the size of the space being rented. The larger the business, the larger the property would have to be.
Web hosting works the same. Owners are charged based on the amount of web space they plan to use. In this case, web space translates to data storage and while it is possible to find free web hosting, this will only give owners a small amount of space. For a large online company, much more space will be required and there will be a fee. This is where selecting the best web hosting options is most critical.
Think of it like this. A neighborhood kid asks if he can open up a lemonade stand on your yard. You say ok, assuming that he will only have five or six customers a day. But as it turns out, this kid makes excellent lemonade. Soon, he has 300 or so people lining up on your yard asking for a glass. That many people just won’t fit on your yard and it is time for the kid to find a bigger lot.
Why Quality Matters
Searching for best web hosting options allows business owners to ensure a level of complete professionalism. Its important to find a quality and possibly the best website hosting in the same way that it is important to find a business in a good area that is also operated by a trusted property manger. You wouldn’t open a business in a back alley where there was a lot of graffiti and a sketchy person walking around trying to rob people. On the Internet, think of the graffiti as online pop up ads and the robber as hackers who might steal your customer’s information. Being in a good area also means more traffic and traffic means more customers to purchase whatever you are selling. Online, bringing in a lot of traffic requires search engine optimization (SEO). We’ll get back to what that means later.
You will want to have a trusted property manager as well because if something goes wrong in the building, say the electricity gets shut off, then you want to make sure he takes care of it right away, or else you will loose customers and the money they would have spent. Better yet, you’re going to hope that your property manager makes sure the lights never go out in the first place. Online, a website that is inaccessible to customers is the same thing as a business being closed during hours it is supposed to be open.
Best Web Hosting Options
Ok, great! So, now that you understand what web hosting is and why it is important to find a good host, lets talk about what makes a host good. First you must understand that there is more than one type of host. Web hosting options include: Shared, VPS (Virtual Private Server), Dedicated and Managed Web hosting. The differences between these matters, depending on the kind of service your business will need.
Web Hosting Qualities:
qualities24/7 Customer Service: A property manager that is available at all hours can help prevent power outages and backed up plumbing, or in this case, prevent site shut downs and over trafficking. To verify a host is as good as it promises, check their uptime track record. It should be at least 99 percent.
Secondly, it is also important to consider the hosting plan features of the web hosting company before choosing it. Always review the features which are being offered instead of just assuming all the features you anticipate when choosing a web host provider. In case you realize that a particular feature is missing, you may call or send an email to inquire on the availability of that feature.
Managed with Room to Grow: If you are operating a business with over a 100 potential customers, opt for managed web hosting. It will cost more upfront but will keep customers satisfied with their “in-store experience.” Since you are making an investment with this company, also make sure that there is room to grow so your business has all the space it needs for a family of six, or 10, or 10,000.
Good Reputation: Don’t go with the property manager that always shows up to solve your problems drunk. Check stats, maintenance schedules, and other potential services that host might provide. Also check security standards to make sure your customer’s information is safe and secure.
In addition to that, it is always vital to consider pricing. Generally, it is a good idea to look for a web hosting provider that is affordable. However, you should be careful about this since it may result into provision of poor service. Therefore, so as to choose well, it is important to review and make comparison about the pricing plans provided by the web hosting companies.
Furthermore, reliability is another important thing to consider when choosing the best web hosting service provider. It is a brilliant idea to choose a company that is reliable and with many years of experience in providing web hosting services. Always do research, investigate and review about the features being offered, clients and history of the web hosting company. This will ensure that you choose the best web hosting provider hence value for your money with no regrets at all.
Best Web Hosting and SEO
Remember how we talked about SEO? Lets get back to that now. A good web host with a good reputation that can ensure you website works quickly and efficiently, will also help you optimize your business on a search engine. What does that mean? Lets say that you sell organic, handmade dog beds (trust me there are people out there) and a customer is looking to purchase such a bed. How does he find you online? He would probably do a Google search. If you use your SEO skills wisely, your business should be at the top of the results page. Best web hosting options can help make sure this is the case. Of course others factors go into SEO as well. If you sold jellybeans online there is obviously going to be a lot more competition. But that story is for another time kids. Now get busy surfing, the web I mean.