Here are five conditions that are important to consider when determining the best hosting service provider for your business:
- Storage space
- Percentage of up-time
- Number of domains/domain pointers allowed
- Email accounts, Databases, FTP accounts
- Tech support
Storage Space
In many cases a business does not need to consider storage space. However, if your business provides streaming video, such as live sporting event or movies or has a catalog of thousand of products you will in fact need to consider the amount of storage space available to you. While many businesses survive with a few gigabytes or storage, those websites which offer video for streaming or downloading, a hosting provider offering 10 gigabytes or more is needed and can be found in advanced hosting packages.
Percentage of Up-time
Up-time is important because when a server is down your online store is also down. In other words, your business is closed. When measuring up-time, it is often done in “nines”. For instance, a hosting service that states they have 99.999% up-time is claiming that their server(s) are down for roughly five minutes in a year. A percentage of “three nines”, 99.9%, means that downtime can equal 8 hours+ per year.
Number of domain names allowed
Many new business owners figure they will require one domain name. However, smart online business owners know that having multiple domain names pointing their actual live website increases the potential for traffic and in turn more sales and a great ROI (Return on Investment). It is imperative to choose a web hosting company who allows for multiple domain names.
Email accounts, Databases, FTP accounts
If you are successful with your business, you’ll most likely require additional staff in the future. These days, most businesses have domain based email accounts, ie: humanresources@yourcompany.com. Regardless of the size of your business right now, ensure that the hosting company you choose allows for numerous email accounts. There is a great number of hosting service providers that allow for unlimited emails so that you may allocate a domain based email to each employee and each department within your business.
Tech Support
Back end support, or tech support will arguably be the most important factor to consider when determining the best hosting company for your business. Unlike a physical store front, the Internet has no specific operating hours. The Internet is open for business 24/7/365. If you aren’t capable of keeping your website live, or to fix issues associated with the website, then you are surely going to lose potential customers and profits. If you don’t employ a technical staff, it is of the utmost importance to ensure that your hosting company provides such services.
