Before you even get your website up, you have to get hold of a good web hosting service. This ensures that your website runs with minimum down time and is visible to a large audience. Getting a good web hosting service is a task made easier for you since now you can focus on your business functions instead of worrying about the website.
What You’ll Get from Hiring a Web Hosting Service
Below are the encompassing services provided by a web hosting service:
- Domain name
- Creation and design tools for website building
- Making an e-commerce website
- Enabling email functionality
- Securing online transaction with SSL certificate
- Protection against malware
- Free technical support
- Phone support, live chat support
- Using a credible server line such as IBM iSeries
Did you know that up to 51% of online shoppers can abandon shopping due to slow websites? Here’s another one for you: Slow websites cause a whopping loss of more than $500 billion annually to US e-commerce market.
If you’re nodding in agreement with us that web hosting service really is a life saver, then get one!
The question remains, how to get the right web hosting service.
Cost of Web Hosting Services
The prices for quality web hosting differ greatly. It depends on the following:
- Hosting features offered
- Number of websites to be hosted by the business
- Storage space required
- Website building tools
- Number of email accounts needed
- Database support
Some services charge a flat fee for an unlimited number of websites with unlimited storage space while others have a tiered system built and customized according to business’s needs.
If you’re a small business with one website, a smaller web hosting package would be sufficient for you. However, if your business has multiple websites or you want a website that can expand as your business does, you might want to settle for an unlimited or more flexible package.
As an approximate figure, monthly fees for disk space, unlimited storage, and transfer bandwidth can be from $2 to $10.
Pointers to Look for in a Web Hosting Service
Though the cost is a crucial factor when considering a web hosting service, as a business owner, you should be looking at more factors than just the cost.
When hiring a web hosting service, look for one-click installation of apps, a control panel for easy management, as well as email functionality. However, if you’re an advanced web designer, the service can include custom ‘cron’ jobs, which helps in the scheduling of repetitive tasks. Other things to be sought are raw access logs, customizable error pages, a script library, and server access options.
In case of peril, the website hosting service should have a technical support and if you’re a small business owner, your website hosting service should ideally also have phone support.
Email, live chats, video tutorials, and startup wizards are other features proving to be a cherry on the top. The getting-started wizards will help you get the site up and running.
The Bottom Line
‘A website in need is a website indeed’ is the new-age adage. But your website can be a buying tool for your new and existing customers only if it’s loadable within less than three seconds. That’s why hiring the right web hosting service can do the most good to your small business. If kept in mind all the above-mentioned considerations, your newly launched, speedy website will surely grab your customers’ attention!
Rebecca O’Brien works with small business owners daily as part of her job as a tech support assistant for a web services company. She enjoys helping others and sharing her knowledge, hence writing articles.
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