Website Hosting Service
The Importance of the Right Web Hosting Service
There are many web hosting companies in Australia, and many more throughout the world. Prices range from a few dollars a year to a few thousand dollars.
The obvious question is what is the right deal for me. The answer varies from case to case but we’ll give you some ideas.
PERSONAL WEB SITE HOSTING, JUST FOR FUN
I would look for the cheapest hosting space that still provided some level of speed and reliability. You can still obtain web space for free from some hosting companies. Sure there will be no support if you have problems, it will be slow and not always reliable but for a hobby site that’s usually acceptable.
SMALL BUSINESS WEB SITE HOSTING
Most small businesses today, even if they don’t have a web site, use email. For a small business to lose their web site for a day would not be good but it would not be the end of the world, however, to lose important emails or have them delayed until the next day can cost more money than cheaper hosting can save in a year.
Small businesses have the hardest time balancing quality web hosting with reasonable pricing. Most small business people don’t have the time or ability to wade through different hosting companies products and therefore a lot of them end up paying too much (“just to be safe”).
LARGE BUSINESS WEB HOSTING
To a lot of larger businesses web hosting, even expensive web hosting, is not a problem. The important thing to remember though is that in these circumstances the stakes are much higher if things go pear shaped, having one anxious email user without their email is bad, having a thousand, including the Chairman is a career changing event!
You need to have a knowledgeable and capable tech support person that sees you as an important customer, not one of 500,000 customers. Picking the right hosting provider here is critical.
Once you know what you want you need to know how to choose the right company.
TALK
In selecting a hosting company look for someone that has a telephone number you can use to talk to a real person. I always think if they don’t want to talk to you when you have money in your hand ready to sign up, they are very unlikely to want to talk to you when they have your money and all you want to give them is a “problem”.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WHERE THE HOSTING COMPANY IS LOCATED
A lot of very cheap hosting is located in America and India. Although the nature of the web means that these sites are still accessible they are often a poor choice for two reasons, speed and search engine rankings.
THE RIGHT PRICE
It’s common sense that someone that offers you hosting at $80 per annum can not afford to give much (any?) support before your account is actually a losing proposition for them. You need to pay enough to ensure you can get a willing support person on the phone if (when) you need them.
Your dealing with a business, your value is equivalent to the amount you spend, this doesn’t mean you have to pay the maximum amount it simply means you have to pay enough so that both you and the service provider see a long term relationship in the deal.
If you want to see how we will help you with your hosting visit our web hosting page or give us a call on 03 9800 0001, for a FREE discussion on your Web Site needs.