If you’re starting your own online business, you’re probably itching to get started so you can start making a profit as soon as possible. You have decided on the name of your company, your products, your services, your prices, etc. But have you chosen the right hosting company? Making a bad decision can cause your business to fail if you are not careful. Here are some guidelines on what to look for in a quality, reliable company.
• Technical support: Are they available to answer your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a week? Are they qualified to offer technical support, or are they really just salespeople? Give them a try by contacting them before you sign up for anything.
• Reliability – Many hosting companies promise uptime of at least 99%. Try to find one that is at least 99.5%. This means that your site will be available at least 99.5% of the time. Customers and visitors will have no problem accessing your site and perusing it.
• Mail Forwarding/POP3 – Many companies will provide you with at least one email that matches their site, such as ‘[email protected]’. That email can be forwarded to a regular Hotmail or Gmail account you already have.
• Traffic/Bandwidth – There are usually different packages available that will give you a certain allowance for traffic and unique visitors. When you’re just starting out, you won’t need much, but as your business grows, so should your GB capacity.
• Secure Shopping Cart – If you sell products online and want to accept credit cards, your hosting company must provide this; it may cost you a little more, but it’s worth it.
• FTP/C-Panel Access: Find a company that allows you to make your own changes and updates to your site, so you don’t have to rely on their support team to do them. This will only waste everyone’s time and become extremely frustrating.
• Price – Decide your budget before looking for a web hosting company, but remember that you almost always get what you pay for. Stay away from free sites; That said, there’s also no reason to go for the most expensive package.
Your online business venture will get off to a much better start if you choose your web hosting company wisely. Take some time to determine what your business needs now and what it may need in the future.