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Website Design Solutions: Professional & Affordable
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Choosing the RIGHT
Hosting Provider
Internet Solutions for Small and Medium Sized Businesses. |
If you already have a website, these tips
will help you evaluate your current hosting provider. If you don’t have a site
yet, read on to discover how you can evaluate any future hosting needs.
All websites must be hosted (reside) on a
computer called a server. When you’ve created a website, unless you own a
server, you will need to lease space from a hosting provider. The server
on which a website resides will make it accessible to people throughout the
world over the Internet. The quality of the server will determine the
accessibility and functionality of your website.
One of the most important factors in selecting a
hosting company is the reliability of their servers. Server ‘uptime’
dictates when your website is available to customers on the internet. If
your website is not available when a potential customer visits the site, they
are unlikely to return. Likewise, if existing customers have a bad
experience on your website, or if they are unable to find the information they
are looking for, they are equally as unlikely to return.
In order to ensure that you maximize your
investment in a hosting company, here are some things to consider when weighing
your hosting options:
 | The uptime (the total amount of time the
computer is on and functioning properly) of your hosting server should be no
less than 99.9%. This will ensure that your website is available to your
customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. |
| Your provider should have good site statistic
reporting features. A good reporting system should provide the following
information about your site: the number of unique visitors; what time of the
day they are visiting; how long they stayed; what pages they viewed; what
keyword phrases they used to find your site; what search engines they came
from; and what the last page viewed was (where they exited the site).
This information will provide invaluable insight into your customer’s behavior
and allow you to tailor your site accordingly.
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| Data security is also very important and
should definitely not be overlooked. This ensures the security of your and
your customers’ information. Your hosting provider should a) utilize
128-bit secure socket encryption, b) provide an intrusion detection program
and c) (most importantly) schedule data back-ups to safeguard against
unforeseen disasters. |
| Be wary of hosting providers that offer
pricing that seems too good to be true. Paying $10/month may be
appropriate for a simple website but low-cost hosting options often include
initial set-up fees, and impose disk space/bandwidth limitations. Some also
require contractual agreements that provide bandwidth much like a cellular
telephone plan. You’re allotted a set amount of bandwidth but when it’s
exceeded, a higher rate applies. A good website will continually attract
increasing numbers of new customers. Don’t get trapped in a contract
that charges by bandwidth or number of “hits”. |
| Your website should be matched with the proper
hosting environment. For your site to function properly, the hosting server
should contain all software applications related to your website.
Without the required software applications, some of your website functionality
will not work and will cause those frustrating “error” messages. |
| Lastly, be sure to look for hidden advertising
schemes (i.e. pop-ups, banner ads, toolbar ads). Many companies offer
inexpensive plans as way to draw customers in, only to require them to display
advertising banners on their sites in order to help them recover the costs of
providing the low-cost hosting package in the first place. As the
customer, you will have no control of the contents in these ads. |
So whether you have a website or plan to have one
in the future, be sure to always ask yourself the following questions when
evaluating and selecting a hosting provider:
| Are their hosting servers reliable?
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| Are there any hidden costs associated
with the hosting plans? |
| Are their site statistic reports robust
and comprehensive? |
| And lastly, are your customers’
information and the website secure? |
If you ask yourself these questions and follow
the guidelines provided above, you will ensure a pain-free hosting relationship
with your provider. Remember, your hosting provider and the services they can
provide are equally as important as the website itself!
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