Small Business Web Hosting

If you run an online business, or if you’re a small business looking to establish an online presence, your choice of web host will be very important.  Your ability to make money absolutely depends on finding the right host, so it’s a decision that you need to take very seriously.  In this article, we’ll outline the sorts of things you need to look for in your web host.

Most Important Features in Small Business Hosting

1. Back ups.  Although it’s your responsibility to back up your own data, your web host has a responsibility too.  If the server crashes or if there’s a power failure, you need to know that your data, and that of your customers, is safely stored somewhere where it can be easily retrieved.

2. The right sort of hosting.  Most small businesses should be fine with a shared hosting deal, ie, a hosting package where you share server space with a number of other users.  This is much cheaper and much easier than dedicated hosting, which allocates one server per website.  This is really an option for larger businesses and ecommerce operations.

3. Reliability. Uptime is money.  Every time a customer can’t visit your site, you’re losing out, so small business web hosting needs to be reliable above everything else.  Check out your web host’s service level agreement for server uptime.

4. Security.  This is particularly important for small businesses, who don’t just have their own data to consider, but that of their customers.  If you’re taking payments online, it’s absolutely essential that you have SSL certificates in place to encrypt credit card and other personal data.  Nobody is going to buy anything from you if they don’t believe their payment details are safe.

5. Technical Support.  You’re not a technical expert, but you need to be able to get hold of one in an emergency.  A good web host will have 24 hour technical support available, and will respond to your requests quickly and efficiently.

6. Customer Support.  As a small business, you understand that you live and die by how you treat your customers.  You should expect the same level of customer support from your web host.

7. Ease of use.  Generally speaking, your website is there to help you run your core business.  It’s not there to be a full time job in itself.  So look for hosting packages that give you lots of user friendly hosting software, such as control panels, website builders and file transfer programs.  Also make sure that the package will allow you to do the things you want to do, such as instal shopping carts or customer databases.

Above all, look for the sort of deals that add value, such as unconditional money back guarantees or discounts for buying in bulk.  Choosing a web host is a business deal like any other, so you should think and act accordingly.