4 Things to Look Before Choosing Hosting for Your Business

Hosting for Your Business

Today it is impossible to see small businesses without their own web presentation or e-commerce solution. For these purposes, you need the place where all that elements in the form of text and pictures will be placed and available for the global internet population. That place can be obtained from services that provide hosting companies.

This post is part of the series of post that we make about small business technology that will be jointly written from me and Ivan Petrusevski (MKHost CEO).

1. Stability

Stability of the system is one of the most important features that an entrepreneur or small business needs in a web hosting company.

Stability Examples:

• At the time of purchasing decision potential buyer cannot access your website because the server is down.
• In the process of buying decision, when the potential customer makes analysis of companies on the web, he/she cannot access products and/or services that you offer because the server is down.
• You want to send/receive important e-mail messages to/from your business partner or to tell your customers about your new product – but there is a problem with the server/e-mail server, and you cannot accomplish these tasks.

2. Speed

Nowadays, with modern technology computers and their fast growth, people want quickly to carry out their work on the computer. Our time is becoming precious, and we need every second of that time.

The speed of the server or opening speed of your business website is a very important factor. There are many things that affect the speed, normally it depends first on visitor internet connection, what connection they have, is a connection currently busy with other internet applications and similar.

An important factor in the speed of the website is the location of the hosting server and its software and hardware performance.

Speed Example:

• The potential customers find your website because you have invested enormous efforts into SEO, or you have an active Google AdWords campaign that brings potential customers to your website, but when they try to open or try to view some web pages they are waiting too long. This irritates them and they simply click X sign (close). Ask yourself how many times you leave the website because it so slowly. If entrepreneurs offer a quick opening website that will be opened immediately when potential customers enter the URL in their browser, then he made the first step and come to your website where he can immediately begin to seek what he needs. Speed is essential to attract visitors and convert it to your customers and make him to enjoy clicking the links on your website and quickly jumping from one to another link without waiting.

3. Confidentiality

A hosting company where you host your business website will have too much information about your business that simply represents an industrial secret. Because of that confidentiality is another feature that you as an entrepreneur must find in a hosting company.

Here are few recommendations what to ask yourself:

• How many clients they have?
• What are their clients? Is there any large company?
• How long exists that hosting company?
• Do they have invested in equipment or simply just resell packages from other hosting providers?
• If it is a reseller, what is a reputation of the hosting provider for which they are resellers?

Confidentiality Example

• Your competitor comes and offers to your unconfident hosting provider something to give him information on the number of visitors, geographic location of them, most visited product pages … Do you want this information to be in the hands of your competitors? Probably, you would not like!

4. Technical Support

When it comes to technology, often can come various unforeseen mistakes that can be harmful to your business if you do not respond quickly. So when choosing a hosting company which will host your website you must be sure that it has a reputation for quality technical support.

Types of technical support:

• Basic support via an e-mail system.
• More sophisticated support through a support ticket system.
• Phone contact.
• Support through social networks and IM clients: SKYPE, MSN …
• Technical support via Live Chat.

Technical Support Example

It happens a technical problem that crashes the server where your website is hosted. You call the hosting company, but simply cannot  get answers. Your potential customers cannot  access your website, though they have decided to buy something from you.