So you're a small business owner, and you want to take your store online to increase sales. You have neither the money nor the knowledge to buy and run your own web server, so you start shopping around for a webpage hosting service. Instantly, you are confronted with a lot of choices, prices, and details—which one do you choose? You want to get the best value for your money, but perhaps you're not familiar enough with the web hosting business and jargon to figure that out. This article will break it down for you, step by step, and let you know what to look for.
One of the first decisions you will be asked to make when shopping for a website hosting plan is to choose between a Dedicated Server or Shared Hosting plan. In a Shared Hosting plan, you share a server and it's resources (space, memory, bandwidth, processing power, etc.) with other websites-at least ten others, probably more. In a Dedicated Server plan, you get a server and its resources all to itself. This is essentially like owning your own web server, except you don't have to worry about maintaining it yourself.
If you are just setting up a simple online business, such as adding an internet sales component to an existing real-life store, then a Shared Hosting plan is a good fit. It is much cheaper will probably provide you will all of the server space and bandwidth you'll need. If you are launching a new internet-only business providing specialized services over the internet and you expect heavy internet traffic, a Dedicated Server is a good option. Although much more expensive, having an entire server to yourself provides you with more flexibility, letting you add special features and options, set up specialized software, and fine-tune the server's configuration to perform optimally for your customers. It is also slightly more secure, as when you share a server with other websites, there is always a chance (albeit low) that one of them may attempt to hack into your part of the server and access your confidential records (like customer’s credit card numbers). Finally, you don't have to worry about any other websites' traffic slowing down your server.
The next choice you'll be asked to make is to choose between a UNIX or a Windows server. UNIX servers are cheaper and more flexible, but require learning the complex UNIX operating system. Windows servers are more expensive and less flexible, but compatible with Windows software and more familiar to the average website builder. Once again, the deciding factor should be the nature and size of your online business. If you're running a relatively simple online store, the familiarity of Windows and its compatibility with Microsoft Office software like FrontPage, Expression Web Designer, MS Access, and the .NET framework make its ease of use worth the extra expense. If you're running a specialized web-service website, then UNIX has it's appeal. The operating system is free and open-source. Consequently, most of the software for it and web programming languages that use it (such as CGI, PERL, PHP, and MySQL) are also free. In addition to the lower cost, UNIX servers are faster, more powerful, and more efficient. They are more flexible and scalable, able to be quickly and easily expanded to keep up with a quickly growing website.
One you have decided between a Dedicated or Shared server and between the Windows or UNIX operation systems, you can shop around the different website hosting companies to see who offers the best bang for your buck. Don't go just by price, however. Some hosting plans are very inexpensive, but proceed to charge you all sorts of additional fees for the different options and features, some of which you need just to get online. Compare these to other hosting plans that might be more expensive, but already include some extra features free of charge. Such plans might actually save you money in the long run.
Here are some things to look out for. In order to get online, you must register the domain name of your business (for example, www.your_store.com). Some hosting plans include this, and allow you to make as many sub-domain names as you want (sub-domain.your_store.com). Other hosting companies charge you a fee to register your domain name and for each sub-domain. Some hosting plans include business software like shopping carts, checkouts, mailing lists, other charge you for each one. If you're going to run a business, you'll need access to databases. Some hosting plans include unlimited database space, and others charge you for it. Some plans include free site promotion, helping you get your site listed on major search engines. Other web hosting companies charge you for it, or don't offer the option at all. All of these are potential hidden costs you should look out for when selecting your hosting company and plan.
When you are thinking about making sure that your business has the web hosting that it needs, you will soon find that there are enough options out there that you are soon bewildered! What is going on when you are looking at business webhosting, and what do you need to do before you sign a contract? There are many different factors that go into getting a webhost that will serve you well, and you will find that when you are looking at making sure that you are going to get the hosting that your business deserves that there are a few things that you need to keep in mind.
The first thing that you need to think about is how much space and bandwidth your webhost will give you, and to make sure that you are getting your needs met, you need to think about whether or not your site is going to grow. For the most part, you will find that when you are looking at setting your site, you should be relatively convinced of the fact that there is room to grow away from the basic design. Remember that you should think about what kind of server that you are going to be on and whether it will be able to handle the traffic that you expect.
Typically, one big thing that is offered is unlimited bandwidth. This means that an unlimited amount of people can access your site without it being brought down by high traffic loads. While you will find that there are many webhosts that offer unlimited bandwidth, the truth is that they do nothing of the sort. If your website is text and image only, you will find that you might do very well with the unlimited webhosting that you can get. However, once you decide to put video and other media on the site, you will find that bandwidth needed will go way up. Many “unlimited” bandwidth sites will start imposing limits, fines and shutdowns when audio and video media gets involved, and you will find that when you are looking at your webhosting that yyou need to read the bandwidth offers very carefully. Remember that if sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Another thing that you need to look at when you are looking at getting the right webhosting for your business is that you need toconsider what your options are when it comes to tools. There are certain tools that it takes to run a good business online, and you will find that webhosts will provide you with more than just space! The business of providing business webhosting is a highly competitive one and you will find that this is very helpful to you when you are shopping for them.
What tools does the webhost that you are looking at offer? There are plenty that will give you some very basic business building tools, like a shopping cart, unlimited databases, mailing list software, SSL certificate and even promotional tools. You will find that these are quickly becoming a company standard when you are looking for good webhosting, and you will find that there is even more that is possible when you are looking at getting the best webhost that you can. Remember that these tools should be compatible with any that you are currently using in order to be worth the money that you are paying.
Another thing that you need to consider is what kind of response you can get from the tech support. If your website goes down, your business can suffer because of it, and you need to make sure that the webhost in question can do a lot to get it back up. Take some time and really consider what you are looking at when you see their tech support's time frame. Do you have twenty four hour, round the clock service and how long does it take to get the right person to get your site back up?
Remember that when you are looking at webhosting for business services that there is no best service, only the one that is considered best for you. Take some time and consider what you are looking for and what service will best suit your needs.
As the owner of a new startup, you are probably looking at building your first website. There are a lot of things to consider as you go about taking this first big step. You may run into the problem which a lot of startups do, your budget is typically very limited as you are first getting started, especially if you are the sole proprietor of a home based business. You may be looking for ways to keep costs low to ensure that your fledgling business can manage to turn a profit. Obviously, you can't cut corners on product costs; you want to establish your brand identity and build a reputation for yourself as a provider of high quality products. You are already paying yourself a bare minimum for a salary; where can you save money for your new business?
One possible way to save on your overhead costs as your new business gets started is on web hosting. Web hosting is one of the most important things your business needs as you get started. Web hosting refers to the services provided by the company who give a home to your website on their servers they are the company who get your website up on the web and handle technical support issues for you. While you want a full set of features for your website and technical support which can keep your website up and running, web hosting can be a little bit of a strain on the budget of a startup business.
Fortunately, web hosting is cheaper than it used to be, thanks to web hosting packages offered by resellers and budget hosting providers. There are a number of these budget hosting companies to choose from and just like the traditional web hosting companies, there is a wide range of different features and pricing levels available. The sheer number of choices can be a little baffling to the web business newcomer.
The way to properly evaluate the offerings of the various budget hosting companies is to first decide exactly which features your new website will need. There are many options and if you are relatively inexperienced at how websites work, don't worry if you don't understand all of the terminology. Make a list of the features that you want your website to have and then run t by a more technically minded friend or colleague; if your business is large enough to have an IT person on staff, you can have them take a look at your list and tell you exactly which features you need to be looking for.
Now that you have an idea of what you should be looking for in a budget web hosting package, you can begin comparing the packages and prices which the budget web hosting companies have available. One thing which you should definitely look for is dedicated web hosting. If you are building a website for your business, then this is an absolute must. The alternative is shared hosting, which means that your website will share space on the web hosting company's servers with many other sites if the other sites on the server use too much bandwidth or other server resources, this can affect the performance of your website! It's better by far to go for dedicated hosting; there are plenty of budget hosting companies which offer this kind of hosting.
Technical support and customer service is one of the very most important considerations in making your decision. You want to be sure that the web hosting company you are considering can back up your site with quick response times and high quality support. While many budget hosting companies offer technical support which is every bit as good as the more expensive web hosting companies, some hosts cut corners on service to keep costs down. You need to shop around and choose carefully. Ask around and see what other customers are saying about the company. If other customers have consistently good things to say about the budget hosting company and all of the features you are looking for are offered, you may have found the right match for your website. As a new business trying to keep overhead low, budget hosting can be a great value – as long as you do your homework and choose wisely.
There are many hosting companies that are vying to get your business. They may offer very competitive rates to entice you to choose their service. Some offer $12 a year or less. The idea of getting your site hosted for this low price could make some people jump at the chance. However, before choosing a hosting company, you should be aware of a few things that may make you regret the decision to choose one of these companies.
Some sites have very little, if any customer support.
When you are experiencing a problem with your hosting company the last thing you want to hear is there is not a 24 hour support system. If you work at home and like to do a majority of your work in the early morning hours or late at night, when you have a problem, you need help right then - not during regular business hours which may not even be on the same time zone as you are.
Budget hosting companies are normally run by an individual.
Because this service is an individual who sells space on the server they use, their expertise when it comes to technical support is not on the same level as a large company. A service that is provided for $12 a year is not going to have the support services of a large company because they cannot afford to offer this service.
When it comes to being able to transfer data you may find the amount you have allotted to you is not nearly enough.
The hosting companies often have extra fees for going over your allotted amount and in this case, you are not saving money. The amount can cost much more than going with a company that will give you more to start. If the features you need are going to cost extra you may end up paying more money for the combination of the services than had you paid a little more for the service that provides these features at no extra cost.
Another consideration is budget companies often put as many sites as they can possibly squeeze onto a server.
This is so they can make as much money as possible. When they do this, the site will run very slowly and will have problems because it is overcrowded. Larger hosting companies limit the number of sites that can be on one server to prevent this problem. There are also budget hosting companies that do this as well.
A way of making up for charging the low monthly fee is by charging a set-up fee.
When this is added into the monthly fee being charged you may end up paying more than you would be charged by a larger company that does not charge a set-up fee. So in effect, you are not saving money at all.
What if you need free shopping carts, PHP, or applications that are not supplied on a budget site?
Look at the features provided by the budget site and those on a regular hosting company. Which one has the most features you will need for your site? Do you know how to set up your site? If not, you are going to need support and if the host does not provide this feature, where are you going to find out how to do the set-up and maintenance your site will require?
Is the host you are considering reputable?
As with any business, there are companies that are not reputable. They open long enough to make a huge profit from the people who join and then they are gone. Many of these fly-by-night operations charge a years hosting in advance. To ensure the company that you are considering is above board, do some checking and see if they have been reported to the Better Business Bureau or if there have been complaints lodged against them. The internet is a great place to check for scams and complaints against companies that have not delivered what they promise to deliver.
No matter what you decide when it comes to the hosting company you choose, make sure they have exactly what you need. There is no need to pay for services you are not going to use. On the other hand, if you need certain services, you should be able to get them for an affordable price. The company you choose should have the best services for the best price and have a proven record of doing what they say they will do.
One of the biggest decisions every business needs to make is about their choice of web hosting company. There are a multitude of different choices out there when it comes to hosting services and this can make it difficult to decide, especially if you have never before had a website for your business. There are a number of things which you should think about first when deciding on what features you need offered by your hosting company and of course, your budget should also be taken into account.
Some of the web hosting options which you can choose from include shared or dedicated hosting, free or paid hosting - and even within the category of paid web hosting services, you need to think about whether budget hosting is the best option for the needs of your website.
When building a new website, you should always sit down first and make a list of the features which you will need your website to offer visitors as well as which features should be present for the sake of administrative staff's ease of use. Will your web site offer audio or video content to users? Do you intend to allow uploads and/or downloads? Will you want to have a guestbook? A database? Ecommerce functionality like a shopping cart? All of these things should be considered before you even begin shopping around for web hosting services for your new website.
Armed with your list of necessary features, you can begin shopping around for a hosting company. Once you know what you are looking for, the entire process will become far easier. You can use this list as a criteria for selecting web hosting companies which meet your needs.
As stated above, your budget should also be taken into consideration. There are budget hosting companies out there; while some of these budget hosting companies are a great deal, you should choose very carefully - not every one of these lower priced web hosting options will be right for you.
Keep in mind that sometimes budget hosting firms may not offer all of the functionality that you will need for your website. For example, if your website will need PHP or other scripting language capabilities, you may find that some budget hosting companies do not provide this. Similarly, budget hosting companies do not always offer as much bandwidth as do the regular web hosting companies out there.
Uptime is another important factor when considering any kind of web hosting company, whether free hosting, budget hosting or a regularly priced web hosting option. Uptime is the measure of how often your website will be available to visitors. Most web hosting companies will quote you a figure of 99% and up - if anyone tells you that their uptime is lower than this, then you should definitely look elsewhere for your web hosting needs. You want your website to be up and running, not down for maintenance. While the occasional outage for maintenance purposes is normal, you want your site up as close to 100% of the time as humanly possible.
This brings us to the issue of customer service, especially in the area of technical support. This is a big issue and one where budget hosting companies should be looked at especially closely. While some budget web hosting providers offer excellent customer service and technical support which can rival that of any full priced competitor, you need to be certain that your web hosting is backed up with a talented support team who can provide quick service in the event of technical problems which affect your website. Remember, your website is only as good as the support which backs it up. It's a good idea to read reviews on web hosting companies to see what other users think about their technical support before you sign up as a customer. Some budget web hosting companies have managed to gain a bad reputation when it comes to support and service, so steer clear of any company which you repeatedly hear horror stories about from current and former customers.
Budget hosting which offers your website the functionality, service and support which you need to make your web presence a viable part of your overall business strategy can offer you a great value; just be sure to do your research on all of your options before making this important decision.
MailFoundry is an email filtering system that has become synonymous with spam email as much as Googling is to searching the web. Many software solution companies are jumping on the MailFoundry train, however, two of them, Lumasis, Solinus and, Review Foundry are the three we reviewed.
First, through review, the definition of how MailFoundry’s work is essentially a software solution that blocks unwanted email from ever getting to your inbox. As Lumasis states, “to combat attacks and further protect your inbox from spam, viruses and, phishing threats that are so prevalent today.” Solinus states of their program that it is “the nirvana of email filtering” and “set your inbox free and never worry about losing another important email again.”
The way these MailFoundry programs work are by a scan engine that uses an in depth approach to filter and delete your spam. Unlike other human span screeners, that use a rating or scoring system, these MailFoundry’s release spam updates numerous times an hour to defer spam emails. Both of the companies we reviewed use “MessageIQ” which is the latest and greatest out there today for unwanted emails and spam.
Solinus, states their product works by using a “zero false positive goal” to decrease spam from the onset. Due to the enormous amount of spam and unwanted emails out there, new software solutions were inevitable in the virus and spam protection industry.
Whatever MailFoundry you choose, they all claim to stop the “high false positives,” that other anti-spam programs can’t deter. In the past, Lumasis’ MailFoundry software spam protector would let a spam email go to your inbox but it would be marked with an obvious “this is a spam” in the subject line so you probably would ignore it. Now, with their MessageIQ, these unwanted emails are caught, stored, and sent in an email that indicates the program has detected spam. It then gives you the option to go look at them to see, if indeed, they are all spam email. Solinus, who claim to have the patent on MessageIQ says you won’t receive an email that indicates you did have some spam mail blocked, however, it will give you the option to decide whether or not you want to view the collected spams. They promise no important email will slip through to the spam email hidden folder.
LiNUXLiNKS.com (1) reviewed the Solinus program and said, “The 1100 isn't MailFoundry's most powerful model, but the software remains the same for all of their email filtering hardware. The 1100 is a based on the Sun Fire V100, which has a 550mhz UltraSPARC IIi processor with 512MB of SDRAM and an 80GB IDE Seagate hard disk. Basically, it's a lightweight, 1U rackmount Sun server with a small footprint. All it does is filter email; it is not a mail server or proxy.”
Random Mouse Software’s Review Foundry, another email spam solution states their program “can be configured to use an SMTP mail server for sending email messages or it can be configured to use a sendmail-like email client, such as sendmail or qmail. The preferred method is to configure Review Foundry for SMTP. This is because the SMTP method allows for rapid "mass mailing" when the situation calls for it. For instance, visitors may subscribe to review alerts. When these subscribers are notified (usually in the early morning hours with a con job) they can be contacted "en masse" with the same email message.” The Review Foundry is different in that it contacts your mail server and codes it to stop unwanted emails. It has a free trial download, which we didn’t do, but claims it only costs $60 with free lifetime updates.
Computer geeks who are up on software spam programs including MailFoundry, claim that all of the programs out there for keeping your emails free of spam will work well, however, they aren’t perfect. Some say to install as many free anti-spyware programs you can so they back each other up. Others feel it’s better to stick with a paying and reliable spam program and stay away from free downloads. Mail Foundry software email solutions are not free so you should do you research prior to purchasing any email spam program. And, as with others, any program will be updated, so check out the costs of updates too. Finally, check with your mail server, not your Internet browser, most of them do block spam and have a place on their server where you can find it.
