Find the Host With the Most No one can deny that the
quality and reliability of your Web presence can make
or break your 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
vendor.
Quite simply, 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.
Furthermore, 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.acmeflorists.com compared
to www.yahoo.com/~128.hmpg/client2434/net~mypage/index_
acmeflorists!
But how do you choose a Web hosting service out of
the hundreds that are available? You'll have to do
some careful shopping to find the services and relationship
you need, as the wrong decision can be disastrous.
When shopping 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. Aside from that,
there are a few other issues to consider before making
a final decision:
