Today business is all about Internet marketing. There are some 2.1 billion people online, which means plenty of potential customers for your business! Reaching this billion number market is some estimated 555 million websites, with the majority of those coming in the last few years.
The first step to managing your online campaign is to set up a website, and in order to do that, you must hire the services of a web-hosting company. Choosing a web hosting company can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for, let’s discuss the keys to finding a top quality company to host your site.
The first thing you will want is a company with outstanding customer service. This may not seem like such a big deal at first, as you rarely have to think about a quality web hosting service. However, if you choose a cheap web hosting service with plenty of technical issues or errors, you will be spending a lot of time talking to their customer service. Choosing a good company will mean less time talking to customer service reps, and will also mean that in the case that you do have questions, you will be dealing with professionals that know how to help you and know what to say to expedite the conversation. Look for multiple ways to contact support such as by phone, online chat, snail mail, or email.
Uptime is another factor you want to look into. Uptime is the amount of time the server has been up and running without going down (meaning customers won’t be able to access your site). All servers go down some of the time, but a very low percentage is what you are looking for.
Next, you will want to look for a high amount of disk space and bandwidth. Disk space is the amount of space you can use for your website and bandwidth is the amount of data that can be accessed by customers. Some hosting sites will give you unlimited disk space and bandwidth, others will have a cap. If your website suddenly becomes very popular you want to be sure customers won’t be turned away once you’ve hit a limit on bandwidth, and you also want to give your website room to grow with enough disk space.
Another key component is your email service. Most hosting companies include email as part of your hosting but the files take up space just like the files of your website. Be aware that using web based email can cause you to go over on disc space and using an email program such as Outlook or Mail can keep your server clean. Mailbox sizes vary, be sure to ask your provider about box sizes.
Start by looking for these key features and you know you will be dealing with a worthy web hosting site.
At iComm Studios we manage your entire project, much like a personal assistant for your website. We’ve been hand crafting digital solutions since 2005 and we have designed sites for everything from funeral homes to bakeries! Our specialty is Custom Website Design but we offer so much more to complete the package. Our arsenal includes quality hosting, email, website maintenance, web videos, graphic design, SEO and internet marketing. No more hassling with multiple companies; You’ll hear our familiar voice every time and we guarantee quality results.
Check out our website and online portfolio at iCommStudios.com.