As you plan your online business, you will find many decisions that you will have to make. One of the most important decisions, right after you decide on the fundamental nature of your online business, is the choice of your web hosting service. Your web host houses your site and provides the all-important link from it to the internet. A good web host will help to simplify the successful execution of your online business plan. The wrong one will only serve to distract you away from the fundamental aspects of your business.
Consider your domain name. Be sure that it is yours for life. That is, if you transfer your site to a different host later, you will retain the domain name. Also, don’t be bullied into accepting a name that is not appropriate. Let’s say you are in the gardenia business. A domain name such as mygardenias.com versus myflowers.com will automatically raise your awareness to search engines, which will increase your traffic.
By the time your site is up and running to your satisfaction, you will likely have invested considerable funds in it. What happens to your revenue stream if your site is down? A guarantee of at least 99.9% uptime is essential and, in many cases, you need even more. Do know, however, that every host will suffer downtime occasionally. Your host should offer 24/7 live telephone support. Simple email support, even during the off hours, will not do. Remember that your site can be down and the rest of the server is fine so that the web host does not even know of the problem until you are able to contact them.
In many cases, your site may need advanced email services. These include, but are not limited to, unlimited email addresses, mass email sending assistance and auto-responders.
If your site will sell products online, in addition to top security, you will need shopping cart and other sales features. You may need a live interactive chat line to field customer questions, for example. Every website needs basic security to protect it against viruses, malware and spyware threats. However, if your site handles any personal data, you will need a state-of-the-art security system. This requires a dedication on the part of your web host since it is always changing, and never cheap. Keep in mind that what may seem innocuous, in reality is sensitive personal data. A simple email list that you have collected, if misused, can ruin your good reputation. Don’t forget to carefully review your bandwidth and disk space requirements. In today’s internet, customers have come to expect speed and efficiency when they visit a site. If they don’t get it, they are likely to leave, and are unlikely to return if they were able to fill their needs elsewhere.
These are but a few of the many questions to ask as you search for the right web hosting service. Fortunately, you will have many choices and various plans to choose from. Check out some of the web hosting reviews on the net before you buy the hosting this will help you in making the wise deal.