| If you are planning to put your business online you | | | | moment one of the sites in your server is knocked |
| need to have a good and reliable web host. Millions of | | | | down, yours could be affected as well. |
| small business operators online use Geocities or | | | | How do you choose which one is the best web |
| Homestead to sell their stuff to the world. However, | | | | hosting company that can help you in your goal of |
| a better alternative would be to use a shared host. | | | | making it big with your business? Most would think |
| A shared hosting service, also called a virtual hosting | | | | that a great web hosting company is one that offers |
| service is one that serves multiple websites. Each | | | | you the most of everything, from bandwidth to disk |
| web site has its own separate space on the server. | | | | space to the price. |
| For businesses this is the most practical form of web | | | | Well, price has something to do with it, but the most |
| hosting since all the web sites on the sever share in | | | | important thing that you need to know if you want |
| the maintenance cost. | | | | to get a good web hosting service is that they have |
| Shared hosting services usually have a system | | | | a good customer support service, they can provide |
| administration, which is good if you want to | | | | you with support turn-around time, they can provide |
| concentrate on the more important things, like | | | | 99.9% uptime guarantee, they can give you the right |
| making your business work instead of dividing your | | | | kind of web hosting space that you need, no more, |
| time maintaining your server and working on your | | | | no less. |
| business. | | | | Let's face it: small businesses are exactly what they |
| In shared hosting you have your provider which | | | | are-small, and so you do not need all the disk space |
| takes care of the server maintenance, installation of | | | | that some web hosts promise. A typical small |
| software, and keeps your web site secure by doing | | | | business can run just fine with even 50 MB of hosting |
| regular security updates, as well as providing you | | | | space. An unlimited bandwidth may not be such a bad |
| with the appropriate technical support during glitches. | | | | idea if you are expecting the number of customers |
| With a shared web hosting service you'll have more | | | | to surge in a short time so that no one gets locked |
| time designing the overall look of your page | | | | out once you exceed your bandwidth limit. |
| according to how you want it, or you could have | | | | Your plan should also allow you a personalized domain |
| someone do it for you. | | | | name, which will give your customers the impression |
| However this could prove cumbersome to people | | | | that you are a serious businessman. Finally, do not |
| who want to control all aspects of their online | | | | forget the 24/7 customer support. If you do not |
| business, or if your business needs software support | | | | want to let your customer down, a reliable customer |
| that is not provided by the web host. Also, because | | | | support should also be provided by your web host. |
| you are sharing the server with other web sites, the | | | | |