abbeyhosting.co.uk
UK Web hosting by Abbey Hosting
For the small business owner the world of web hosting options can seem like a confusing myriad of technical jargon and complicated pricing structures. If you do not carefully choose your web hosting company and features and tools, you may pay more than you need to for unneeded services or find yourself having to upgrade as your business grows.
Even worse, if you end up in a bad hosting situation or with a hosting company that goes out of business, you could wind up having to start over completely from scratch, which can quickly turn into a major headache that will eat up precious time and resources, already in short supply for most small business owners.
Follow these tips for making sure your web hosting is a good match for your small business needs and you will avoid potential hosting nightmares in the future.
Investigate the web host’s reputation carefully. Do research on the internet to read about other small businesses’ experiences with various companies, and find out who to steer clear of.
Make sure your web host has multiple internet connections. Web hosting requires that a server be able to keep running even if there are power or web connection problems. For every time their connection goes down, you are losing business and money.
Your web hosting company should offer sufficient client support. Ideally this will be available through multiple avenues like live messaging or an 800 number with a real person on the other end.
Choose a web host that owns its own data center. Hosting resellers or virtual servers are not typically as reliable as a dedicated hosting server and it also adds to the number of steps you must go through to get to the root of potential hardware issues.
Verify that your choice of web hosting companies backs up data on a regular basis and preferably allows clients to do their own backups. Losing your website content can be extremely traumatic and rebuilding takes a lot of time and effort.
What are the contract terms and length for your choice of web hosting? Does the company offer a refund option if you are not satisfied with their services? Also keep an eye out for free activation and setup deals.
Ensure that your web host can support the tools that you use in building your website. MySQL, ASP.NET, PHP and others all require that the host be capable of support their use. Estimate how much you expect your business to grow as time goes on and purchase hosting options accordingly.
A good web hosting company should offer transfer services from your existing hosting to theirs. Find out whether they will be able to move all of your files, images, applications, and data to the new location with little downtime or trouble.
Picking the right web hosting company for your small business doesn’t have to be difficult, and if you choose a reputable web host with the features you need the first time you will have smooth sailing for years to come.