Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Does your Web Host Support your Online Marketing Initiatives?

Picking the right web host company is not just about bandwidth, disk space or pricing. You also need to be sure if the company’s services and products support your online marketing firm

Most online entrepreneurs opt for a Web host primarily on the basis of the recommendation given by their web services company. In making your decision, you should ensure that the choice of your host does not have a negative impact on your interactive marketing strategies.

So, how do you make your choice? One of the most crucial factors that you should consider is the tools and services that the web host supports or doesn’t support. Find out what kind of statistics or web analytics services the host offers. A number of small-time web hosting companies offer freeware statistics in the name of analytics services; which means, you will have to pay a third party to get the desired package and data for your website. But, a good hosting company always has strategic relationships with some of the best web analytics vendors who can provide their customers with some powerful website analysis tools as part of their hosting packages.

If you are an ecommerce company, your web host has a key role to play in the successful functioning of your applications. Many hosting companies provide ecommerce software with their package. You have to find out if you will be able to sell your products online using the solution they are offering. If not, at least ensure that the web host will support the ecommerce solution of your choice, because many such applications require specialized installations.

If you want to carry out online marketing activities extensively, you would need a consistent and reliable email delivery system. It is therefore critical for you to make sure that your web host is able to powerfully fight spammers and filter your important mails on time. There have been numerous instances where emails generated from IP ranges or particular hosting companies have gotten blocked, because they do not follow a strict anti-spamming policy. This can have disastrous impact on your online marketing campaign.

Another very critical issue that you have to address if the server uptime guaranteed by your web host. While being down for a few minutes here and there does have a negative impact on your web business, the real impact is felt if there is significant downtime. Your site not being available online for hours on end leads to significant revenue loss and tarnishes the image of your company. Therefore, when you sign up with a website hosting company, make sure you get a guaranteed 99.9% uptime.

Choosing a hosting company is more complicated than doing a comparative analysis of features such as disk space, bandwidth and price. Your decision will have a major impact on your Internet marketing initiatives. Therefore, go for a reliable web hosting company like Aussie Web Host, the premier name in website hosting in Australia.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Top Web Hosting Considerations for your Business

Choosing the best web hosting company for your business can be a tough task. Technical support, storage, bandwidth, domain registration, etc., are some important considerations that you should make when deciding on a service provider for hosting your website.

When you decide to go for the hosting of your site, you will naturally be confused, especially if you are not a technical person. With so many service providers and an unending range of packages, what do you choose? You can go for those big shots, but then, they might not be within your budget. Then, there’s the dilemma of opting for a not-so-popular company, which might prove to be unreliable. So, what do you do? Well, if you keep some very basic things in mind, you will not find it very difficult to pick the most feasible option for your business.

First and foremost, you should find out everything about the package that is being offered to you. Bandwidth and storage are two extremely essential aspects that will ultimately determine the kind of web hosting you choose. If you have plans of any major expansions in the near future, make sure you opt for a package that gives you more storage.

Technical support is another crucial aspect that you should definitely look into when you scout for the best website hosting company for your business. The average query resolution time of the support team should be 5-10 minutes. Also, communication is very important in this regard. If the support executives are not able to explain their points clearly, there is certainly something wrong with their communication skills.

Domain name registration, one of the crucial starting points of an online business, is also something you should be clear about before finalizing your website hosting deal. Find out if the hosting company will register your domain name and how much time it will take. Also, make sure you are clear about the costs involved; some companies register domain names as part of the package, whereas others charge for it separately.

Whatever kind of web hosting you choose, ultimately, the onus of managing the functions of your website falls on you. Therefore, it is important that you are provided with a control panel that is user-friendly and easy to use even for a non-technical person. Also, find out about the kind of firewalls, hardware and software is being used for security of the server and the data therein.

Once you are clear about all the above mentioned points, shortlist the best candidates and then proceed with your selection. Budget and specific requirements should be the two most important deciding factors. If you are looking for a reliable and cost-effective web hosting service in Australia, go for Aussie Web Host, one of the most trusted website hosting companies in the country.


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Guidelines to Choose the Right Web Host

The article provides some valuable info on selecting the reliable web host to avoid downtime leads and boost traffic. It important to consider factors like user-friendliness, bandwidth, disk space, speed, security, traffic and cost effectiveness while choosing a web hosting services.

Nowadays, there is no dearth of web hosting providers but, it is important to select a reliable web host company to avoid downtime problems. You may be lured by lucrative packages with tall claims like unlimited disk space or unlimited bandwidth but, it advisable not to fall prey for such temptations. It is important to do thorough research while selecting a web host in order to make an informed decision.

To find reliable services that are worth your dollars, go through the websites of all the top-notch web hosting providers and compare their packages. After the comparison, check out their reviews to know the customer satisfaction rate. Online reviews give a fair idea about the services offered by particular web hosting company.

Once you are convinced with website hosting packages offered by the company, it is time to evaluate your particular needs. The first and foremost thing that you must take into consideration is the type of your website. If is it is just a personal website that you have made for posting your own ideas and, it is just meant for family and friends then it is good to go for Free Hosting Services but if it is e-commerce website selling goods or services then server response time is highly important and you must choose reputed commercial web host.

The second thing that you need to look at is the types of services available. Web hosting services are generally categorized under the following heads –shared hosting, collocated hosting, unmanaged dedicated hosting and managed dedicated hosting. It is recommended to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each before making the final decision and, choose the one that that is best suitable for your website hosting.

The third thing that you need to consider is the amount of space required. The amount of disk space required depends on size of the website and the technology and features used in designing it like graphics, audio/video files, flash, frames, etc. You should also consider your future expansion needs before deciding a figure. Although, most of the sites require a few megabytes of space therefore it is recommended not to go for schemes like unlimited disk space which are only a catch to impress the clients and leverage the prices.

The fourth thing on your checklist should be the technical support. Check out the outlines of technical support list provided by the web host and their authenticity by cross examining the details specified, like if the service provider claims to provide customer care for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year then you should check their stuff is working on public holidays and at all hours of the day as things often go wrong at odd hours. Also, check the speed of the response time and the technical knowledge of the stuff who fix the problems. It is advisable to go for a service provider who offers prompt 24/7 toll-free technical support.

The last but not the least is the price or cost. These days, there are many cost effective website hosting packages available with monthly, quarterly and annual payment plans. It is good to go for a monthly plan when you hire a new web host to ensure the reliability and efficiency before you sign up for a long term deal.