Web Site Hosting
Each day, thousands of new websites appear on the
Internet. Individuals and small businesses own a majority
of these. Finding the right Web hosting company that
offers a desirable package at an affordable price can be
difficult and confusing.
No one can deny that the quality and reliability of your Web
presence can make or break your online business. The average
attention span of a Web surfer is a mere 20 seconds, and your
competition is always just a click away if load times and connectivity aren't fast, reliable, and browser-compliant.
Support and back-end infrastructure are just as critical to
your Website as aesthetic appeal. A gorgeous, multi-tiered
graphical interface is useless if no one can get to it – and
no one will try more than once. Like the stage and silver screen, you get one audition, and that's it.
For this reason, running your own server is a tempting
prospect. You have total control, and can configure and reconfigure to your heart's content, without having to concede
to bandwidth limits or third-party server failures. Even SOHO
businesses can afford to purchase the industry-standard HTML
editors, and no expensive hardware is needed to quickly create
a Website. But opting to do it yourself without counting the
costs and consequences can end your business, or cause your
site to be dismissed as amateurish. While amateur construction
is adequate for home or hobby sites, it is increasingly necessary to outsource your hosting needs if you wish to
operate as an effective eCommerce entity.
Simply put, eBusiness doesn't end with the Website. Aside
from handling the traffic that your site will attract, you
need your server to maintain a constant connection to the Internet while simultaneously accommodating the needs of
outside users. Few desktop PCs can handle such a load, and
many home DSL and cable modem ISPs frequently prohibit hosting
or any other high-bandwidth activities, which are so critical
to eCommerce. Furthermore, there are the costs of site security, data backup, power back-up, redundancy, upgrades and
transaction tracking to contend with, expenses that are far
beyond the resources of even the wealthiest of small businesses.
And, someone will have to constantly monitor and manage your infrastructure to ensure a constant
level of connectivity, which will require the hiring of very
expensive IT professionals.
A Web host will take care of all of this for you, for a
monthly fee that is a fraction of the amount you would pay to
purchase these services and hardware on your own. Many people
are leery of turning control of their business over to a third
party, and because of this unwarranted fear are dismissing the
security and benefits that a host can provide. You are not
outsourcing your business; rather, you are outsourcing the
responsibility for keeping your business up and running. In
the same way that a bricks-and-mortar warehouse hires security
staff to watch the grounds, a Web host will keep a constant
vigil over your virtual property, so you can focus on what's
important: building your business.
Web hosts allow small businesses to play in the same arena as
the corporate giants, giving them competitive bandwidth and
traffic volume accommodation. Most importantly, your Web host
will help you secure a domain name, something that most individual ISPs and free hosting accounts (such as Yahoo!)
can't offer. Having a lengthy URL indicates that your business
is hosted on a free server, and its amateur appearance will
confuse your customers. Imagine the traffic that would be generated by a simple URL such as
www.acmegifts.com compared to
www.yahoo.com/~185.hmpg/client1234/net~mypage/index/
acmegifts!
When looking for a Web host, connectivity and reliability are
key. The longer it takes for customers to access your Website,
the more likely you'll lose customers. Of course, no one's
perfect. Connectivity time will fluctuate on a cyclical basis
with the flow of daily traffic, but you should insist on a
guaranteed connectivity rate of 95% when seeking a host. Take
a look at
1
2 3 Site Hosting to examine our more than generous
server space and *unlimited* bandwidth. Just about any
application and feature you will likely need is included
in rates that are less than half as much as you would pay
elsewhere for equivalent capability. Best of all, our customer service
and support will make you feel like you had that full -
time administrator on the payroll.
Visit
1
2 3 Site Hosting,
our web site hosting center.
( 1 2 3 Site Hosting is a
joint undertaking of KATenterprises and Uni Marketing
Alliance, Inc. )
