Business web hosting is an essential part of the online profile of any business. It’s what allows you to continue to operate reliably and efficiently, and gives you the scope you need for growth. Think of it another way; if you were looking for physical business premises, would you choose somewhere that had poor quality foundations, unreliable construction, and flawed electrics? Of course not!
The same rules apply to business web hosting – it’s the foundation of your online presence, so why should you settle for something that’s not fit for purpose?
The answer is that you shouldn’t! When you’re looking for a supplier to provide you with business web hosting services, here are some key things that you need them to offer.
Reliability
The first thing you need to establish is if your business web hosting supplier is going to be able to offer you consistent, reliable service. It’s not good showing you how stable your website is when there are only a handful of people browsing at a given moment; make sure they prove to you that they will be able to keep your website up and responsive during periods of heavy traffic.
Think of it another way; if you had a shop full of customers and suddenly the walls start to develop cracks and everyone needs to leave, you’re going to miss out on their business and they’re going to have a poor opinion of you which they’ll pass on to everyone they know. The same applies to your online presence. If the website is going to crack under the stress of heavy traffic then your provider is not fit for purpose.
Versatility
You’ve doubtless heard the phrase “one size fits all”. That is something which absolutely never applies to business web hosting. Businesses of all different sizes and sectors have wildly different hosting needs, so you need to make sure that your business web hosting provider is able to offer you a package that’s actually tailored to your specific requirements. If you’re a single-person operation, for example, you don’t want to be paying for web hosting fit for an international corporation. It’s overkill, and the same applies vice versa.
It’s also important that any business web hosting package you choose offers you the scope to grow. The ideal situation is that, over time, your business will develop and so will your requirements – you’ll need to make sure your website hosting service is capable of handling the increase in web traffic. This means your provider must make it clear that they’re willing to re-evaluate your web hosting plan periodically as time goes on, to make sure it’s still meeting your requirements.
Support
When you employ a business website hosting service, you’re trusting a vital portion of your business to a third party, so it’s important that you’re confident you’re able to effectively communicate with them should you need to. Even operating on the assumption that your website hosting service is as reliable as possible, no system is infallible, so it’s important to have realistic expectations. If something does happen and your website goes down or there are bugs in the system, you need to make sure your business hosting provider is going to communicate with you.
Every moment your website is not active is a potential sale or customer that you’re losing. So a good business website hosting provider will be available on the phone or via email to reassure you that they’re working on the problem and to keep you informed. This in turn helps you to keep your customers informed.
The Good News
catalyst2 can help, we have been providing business web hosting to companies large and small the last 18 years. We have an excellent reputation and would be delighted to help you out, email us today – sales@catalyst2.com for more information.
