When you first start thinking about who will host your website, you will probably begin by speaking to your existing ISP or your web developer. Both will probably have a range of services on offer and you may feel comfortable going with their recommendation.
Alternatively, you may want to investigate the options yourself and find out where the costs will be incurred and where the value lies.
The prerequisites for choosing a host
Here are some things that are simply a must if a hosting provider is to deliver a reliable service.
Robustness
The uptime, reliability and stability of your hosting environment is key to your company’s online reputation and success. When people try to visit your website and they get errors, they don’t think: “Pretty poor performance from the hosting company.” They think your company has the problem.
To provide high availability, your hosting company must have its foundations and housekeeping in good order. They will need to have redundant (back-up) power and Internet connectivity. They also need to have adequate bandwidth, powerful servers and a management system that ensures the performance standards are adhered to.
Security issues are equally important. Your hosting company must keep up-to-date with patches and antivirus protection to provide a reliable service.
Support
Web hosting requires a very different skill set to providing Internet connectivity and the person responsible for developing your website will, from time to time, need help. Experienced and knowledgeable support staff is essential.
Unfortunately, the support areas of many ISPs are simply answering services or call centres that keep you at arm’s length from anyone with the expertise or ability to help you. Without direct access to expert help, any problems with your site will be difficult to address.
Location
Because download speed is so important, be sure to host your site close to your target market. If you are trying to open up your export opportunities in Japan, host your site in Japan and use a local domain name (Internet address).
Where should you look for added value?
Statistics package
Any investment demands a return and your website has the potential to deliver an excellent return. Having access to a good statistics package is key to measuring and increasing your return; it will allow you to monitor the visitor activity on your website and to see how well your marketing initiatives are working.
Careful and regular analysis will help you hone your website and help your marketing dollar go further. Your hosting plan should include a statistics package.
Web-based e-mail management will save you time and put you in control. Auto-responders and forwarders are useful features to have, while being able to handle mail for multiple domains through the same email account will save you money.
Features
Even with the dot-com crashes, the technology that drives the growth of the Internet is still growing at a considerable rate. It is important that your hosting company is willing and able to support new technologies as it emerges and gains a market.
And although no-one can possibly utilise all the possible options and add-ons that your host will probably offer, many will provide shortcuts that make the programming and management of your website easier.
Pre-built scripts and components have the potential to reduce your development costs. SSL’s (Secure Socket Layer’s) are mandatory if you are asking for credit cards or personal information through your website.
E-commerce
Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will need to spend thousands of dollars to sell your products or services on the Net. It’s just not true anymore – the competitiveness in this area is still considerable. Even the banks have reassessed their attitude to processing Internet orders through current merchant accounts.
Your hosting company should be able to offer you a good entry-level e-commerce product and also provide you with the flexibility to develop your online business with other service providers.
Domain name management
If your domain name was registered more than a year ago, chances are that some of the contact information or email addresses are out of date. See if your hosting company will keep your domain name details up-to-date as part of your hosting plan.
Proper management will ensure domain names are renewed on time and at a reasonable cost. It will also prevent your business from disappearing off the Net!
On the other hand, beware of unsolicited invitations to renew and register domain names. Prices offered in this manner are often twice the normal rate!
