Website Hosting for Online Businesses
By Angel T
Building an online business requires reliable web hosting. When you expect to make most or all of your sales via the Internet, you need more than just an online presence. Your web host has to deliver all of the tools and support that you need to give customers a positive online shopping experience.
Unique Domain
A distinctive brand is one of the greatest assets that any business can have. This holds true for online businesses, so keep it in mind when choosing your domain name. Pick something that customers will recognize instantly, whether it’s associated with your business name or with the products you sell.
Resources
The web host you choose should offer enough disk space to store your site’s pages and related media as well as enough bandwidth to support expected traffic. Be sure you’ll have sufficient space for e-mail as well, especially if you’re going to need multiple accounts. Starting out with the resources you need helps to avoid potentially costly upgrades later on.
Reliable Uptime
You can’t make sales if your site isn’t live. As long as you choose a hosting plan with adequate resources, your site should stay working without interruption. However, you also want to check on the reliability of the hosting company itself. Compare what people are saying about uptime from different companies and use this information when making your hosting decision.
Ecommerce Tools
Product catalogs, shopping carts, user accounts and other ecommerce tools let you give customers a smooth online shopping experience. Choose a web host that offers the ecommerce solutions you need to make your virtual store as easy and fun to shop at as a brick-and-mortar location.
Security
Selling products online means collecting sensitive information from customers. Nobody wants to share personal information and credit card numbers over a site that isn’t secure. Look into the security options from the web host you’re considering. You should be able to offer safe transactions to all customers from shopping cart to checkout.
Cost
As a business, you’re operating within a budget. Therefore you should look for a web host that gives you the resources you need at the best possible price. Different styles of hosting offer different benefits depending on your requirements:
1. Shared hosting spreads resources out over a number of users, keeping costs down but reducing reliability.
2. Virtual private servers behave like separate physical servers but are all run from one machine. These offer more resources and more control than shared hosting.
3. Dedicated servers offer space dedicated solely to your website. This increases reliability but also makes this hosting option the most expensive.
Choosing the right hosting doesn’t necessarily mean going for the lowest price. Rather, make sure you’re getting what you need from the start so you don’t have to pay more to upgrade later.
Tech Support
Like any technology, there can be problems with web hosting. When something goes wrong, you need to know that you can rely on your host to fix it as quickly as possible. Reliable support is essential in a business web hosting company. Customer service should be accessible at all times, whether via phone, online chat or e-mail and should respond in a timely manner.
The web host you choose can make or break success for your online business. With the right tools and resources, you can build a thriving online presence that draws in customers and increases sales. Do your homework before settling on a web host, and you should have no problem as your business grows.
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