For a website to appear on the Internet, you require a "server"
that is usually provided by a web hosting company. Hosting companies
are paid monthly, quarterly or yearly. Some companies come with
guarantees, too. Recommendations from other business owners and
web designers are excellent ways to find a good hosting service.
One of the primary features I recommend is that the hosting companies
can grow with you. If they only offer one package, and you need
more, your web site maybe down for up to 2 days and/or you may have
to change the code on any forms you use to match the new "server
settings".
Don't be afraid to read a hosting service's subscriber information,
FAQs (frequently asked questions), note areas or bulletin boards
on their sites.
A good hosting company offers as many of these basics as possible:
o This is a hosting company I can easily afford.
o They offer a Money Back Guarantee.
o They have information on their site about server uptime/downtime.
o The company contacts me, at my primary email address, when/if
there are any server problems. (Could be problems when they're updating
their server, hurricanes, etc.)
o They offer your own IP address http://postmaster.aol.com/info/ipexpl.html
o They provide at least 5 POP email accounts (example "mailto:yourname@yoursitesname.com")
Your email accounts should include Alias Accounts, which look like
a POP account to the person sending you an email; however, the address
is actually an ÒaliasÓ that's forwarded to any other email account
you choose. And when you send an email back to the original sender,
it is the forwarding email account, NOT the yourname@yoursitename.com
that the sender receives.
o There is a Web-based Email system (a place for you to read your
email online). If not, my favorite is www.e-mol.com
o An easy system for email forwarding (and vacation notice) capability.
o 24-hour customer service, by phone, even if it's a long distance
call, is best!
o 50 mg space (the space you need for a 100 page website with
each page being approx. 8x11)
o 2 Gig Data Transfer/month (this will be enough for quite a while!)
o Front Page Extensions - only necessary if you create a web site
with MS Front Page
o Cgi/PHP/MySQL (or asp availability). Check with your designer
to see what you'll require for forms to be created).
o Easy Control Panel: This feature is especially important if
you want to maintain your site or have someone else easily maintain
it. It's the one place to visit when making changes to your site,
add addresses, etc
o Statistics - Does your hosting companies plan include monthly
and yearly statistics on each of your web pages? Will you know how
someone found each of your web pages?
o Secure server, Shopping cart (and other things you'll need to
set up a merchant account system)
o Server type: The type of server a hosting company you choose,
should take into consideration the programs you will run for things
like your shopping cart, affiliate program, web site pages, etc.
If you're using ASP, JSP, PHP, CGI, PL, or CSS, these programs will
influence the choice of a server and vice-versa. Your hosting service
may use Windows (which for example accepts ASP but not PHP), Linux
or Unix-based (Apache/FreeBSD/etc.) servers. o Password Protection
- If you have plans to create a membership are or client's only
area of your site, this is something to consider.
o Newsletter or announcement list
o Auto-responders (not usually available on very low cost hosting
packages)
Special thanks to wise-women.org and HTML-on-the-WEB@yahoogroups.com
for some assistance with this list.
© 2004 Maria Marsala, Business Builder and former Wall Street
Trader. "Powering-UP service busine$$es and their owners". Providing
articles, tips, classes, and resources for owners of service businesses.
Learn more at http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com
Choosing a Small Business Hosting Service: A Primer 
