Initial steps in creating a business website include the decision for selecting the web host. All the technicalities handled by the business web host free the customer for other important tasks. The best web hosting provider ensures that the website created is visible to clients and is updated as and when required. The best business web hosting services provider with many additional and useful features like domain name searching, website creation and tools designing. Such commercial web hosting portrays as a one-stop destination for all the essentials for getting business into the digital world.
Certain loopholes that wreak havoc on computers gaining access to the websites are filled with security features that protect websites from cybercriminals and malware or virus. The best business web hosting companies feature Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for securing data when transmitted to and from the website. Online IT support is provided to small businesses for getting a site up and running.
Types of Web hosting
Shared web hosting or virtual hosting involves sharing web hosting service along with numerous websites at one time. Instead of owning a dedicated server for one website, each site has its own section in the server. The task of hardware and maintenance costs is not borne as in the case of dedicated server. Dedicated hosting, is when a business lets out an entire server for own use and in colocation hosting own dedicated server is placed in someone else's data center. When company houses its own server it is in-house hosting. The cheapest one is shared hosting.
Pricing
The cost depends on storage space requirements, website tools, and a number of email accounts along with number of websites to be hosted. In particular, monthly fees for disk space, bandwidth transfer, unlimited domains and email accounts range from $2 – 10 monthly. Small web hosting packages are ample for small businesses with a single website and those having multiple sites or those looking for expansion may find that a robust or unlimited package is best suited and proves to be cost-effective.
Pros and cons of Web hosting
For small businesses, there are many benefits of using a Web hosting service. Small businesses take up no added costs as the web hosting service deals with initial buying and maintenance of equipment.
The major downside is that small business sharing server space with other small businesses which always involves risk. The way out is to use dedicated server but that costs much more than the shared one. So, affordability also plays a prominent role in selecting a good web host. Not all web hosting services have reliable service.
Web hosting service: What to look
The selection of best web hosting for business should rely on the track record and not wholly on a cost basis. Various factors are needed to be considered while choosing a web host. The package offered should fit the client’s specific needs, necessary tools and services along with constant support are added features. Storage and bandwidth need matter to websites with websites with a large amount of pages.
Business owners pounce on sites that provide website building, one-click installation of supported apps, integrated control panel for easy management and email functionality. For advanced use, the services provided should be custom cron jobs (Linux command for automatically scheduling repetitive tasks), script library, raw access logs and customizable error pages along with sufficient server access options.
Technical support matters a lot for small businesses. It can be provided via phone, live chat, and email. Forums, video tutorials, guides, and information resources enable new users to wade through the process of getting sites up and running.