Top 3 Small Business Hosting Companies for North America and Europe:
Rank
Host
Price/month
Features
Reviews
1
FatCow$3.67
Unlimited Disk Space
Unlimited Bandwidth
Host Unlimited Domains
30 Day Money back
Guarantee
$75 Ads Credit
Powered by Wind
Energy (Green Friendly)
Read FatCow Review
2
iPage$3.50
Unlimited Disk Space
Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited Domains Hosting
30 day Money Back
Guarantee
$400 Worth of Free Extras
Read iPage Review
3
HostGator
$7.95
Unlimited Disk Space
Unlimited Bandwidth
Host Unlimited Domains
45 Days Money Back
Guarantee
Powered by Wind Energy
$50 Adwords Credit
One of the Largest Hosts
Read HostGator Review
One of the great advantages to doing business on the Internet is that is effectively levels the commercial playing field. A small business can be as successful as a large corporation if its online presence is thoughtfully designed and presented. The key to this success is to learn the tips and tricks offered in this small business web hosting guide.
At its most basic, small business web hosting is simply the use of any computer to store the files that make up a website and transmit them to the Internet via telephone lines. Any computer used for this purpose can be called a host. However, this foundation is merely the beginning of successful small business web hosting.
To begin with, why would a small business – which typically has limited staff and resources – bother with the trouble and expense of creating and maintaining a web site? The answer to this question is easy. The Internet is today’s marketplace; any business that doesn’t have at least a web page giving its basic information might as well be literally invisible to customers. Even customers who are leery of making online purchases still use the Internet to research products and services, including information on the physical locations of stores they wish to visit.
Consequently a business owner who intends to be successful must have a basic understanding of how the small business web hosting works and what to look for in quality small business hosting.
First, it’s good to understand that the e-commerce surge over the past 15 years is merely the latest episode in the Internet’s development. In fact, the Internet celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009. That’s because the first computer connections were set up in 1969 between military installations and universities. These institutions originated the network because civic leaders at the time were concerned about maintaining society in the event of a major catastrophe such as a nuclear war.
Although there was a lot more consumer activity in the late 1980s, the Internet became broadly available in the 1990s through the advent of a networking concept called the World Wide Web. A consortium of computer scientists came up with ways for people to locate one another through online “addresses” that their computers could read. A new type of software called a “browser” made it convenient for ordinary people who weren’t computer specialists to gain access to the Internet.
Once it became possible for consumers all around the world to access commercial web sites easily, what’s now known as “e-commerce” skyrocketed. Companies then emerged whose sole business was to provide the computers, known as servers, and the telephonic connections to the Internet that made e-commerce possible. These businesses are now known as web hosting services.
A reliable web hosting service makes it possible for small businesses to compete effectively in today’s global marketplace. While the physical plant of a small business can remain locally and economically contained, the reach of its commerce has become virtually unlimited thanks to small business web hosting.
To be truly effective in e-commerce, a small business needs to start with some crucial questions about what its web site should be and do. The fundamental question to ask is: Why is the business launching a web site? Is the site intended to sell products and services? Or is it intended to serve as a marketing tool, like a billboard or other advertising? A web site designer can help a small business work through these crucial questions, so that the company’s online presence can fulfill the mission set out for it.
Once the mission for the company’s web site is chosen, the designer will go to work on how it will look and operate. When the web site is ready to be launched, a small business owner or manager should seriously research candidates for small business hosting. Here’s where it really pays to become familiar with the factors that go into successful web hosting performance.
There are four qualities to look for in small business web hosting: disk space, bandwidth, reliability and technical support.
Disk space refers to the amount of data storage a web hosting company allows each customer on its server. A company that intends to sell products via its web site should look for a web hosting service that not only offers large amounts of disk space, but also places no limits on the size of files that can be transferred, or “uploaded,” to the server. Some web hosting companies tout their “unlimited” disk space, but then restrict file size so that it’s nearly impossible to upload product images or databases. Be sure to ask about both disk space and file size limits.
Bandwidth is a shorthand term for what’s known as “data transfer rate.” This means how much information can be exchanged across telephone lines between computers at any given time. For customers, limited bandwidth means that the vendor’s web site will load very slowly on their computers, causing frustration when they try to make purchases. Even if a web hosting service promises “unlimited” bandwidth, there are always limits to how fast data can be exchanged. The key is to have a hosting service whose network connections are large enough to handle your company’s anticipated level of Internet traffic. “Traffic” in general means the volume of data exchanged from a company’s web site. It can mean the number of visitors a web site receives as well as the number and type of transactions that occur through the web site. It all comes down to the exchange of data.
Reliability refers to the consistent operation of the web hosting service’s computers. If a computer should break down, all the business web sites hosted on that computer are unavailable on the Internet. Reliability in small business hosting is called “uptime.” The most reliable web hosting firms are those that have “uptime” rates of 99.9 percent or better, meaning that their computers are operating virtually all the time. Anything less than 99.9 percent means risking that your company’s web site will be unavailable when your customers want your product or service. If they can’t get yours, they’ll quickly go to a competitor’s. This is what makes “uptime” or reliability so crucial.
Technical support is the ultimate customer service for small business web hosting. After all, if a business wanted to be all about computers, it would be a technical firm, right? Instead, a small business that focuses on, say, hobby supplies needs superior technical support from a web hosting service’s staff technicians. Their firm maintains the computers that keep the company’s web site on the Internet, and they should be able to resolve any technical problems whenever a customer calls, 24/7/365.
Small business owners and managers who use these guidelines will be prepared to set up a successful web site and choose the best web hosting service for their company’s needs.
| Rank | Host | Price/month | Features | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FatCow |
$3.67 | Unlimited Disk Space Unlimited Bandwidth Host Unlimited Domains 30 Day Money back Guarantee $75 Ads Credit Powered by Wind Energy (Green Friendly) |
Read FatCow Review |
| 2 | iPage |
$3.50 | Unlimited Disk Space Unlimited Bandwidth Unlimited Domains Hosting 30 day Money Back Guarantee $400 Worth of Free Extras |
Read iPage Review |
| 3 | HostGator |
$7.95 | Unlimited Disk Space Unlimited Bandwidth Host Unlimited Domains 45 Days Money Back Guarantee Powered by Wind Energy $50 Adwords Credit One of the Largest Hosts |
Read HostGator Review |
One of the great advantages to doing business on the Internet is that is effectively levels the commercial playing field. A small business can be as successful as a large corporation if its online presence is thoughtfully designed and presented. The key to this success is to learn the tips and tricks offered in this small business web hosting guide.
At its most basic, small business web hosting is simply the use of any computer to store the files that make up a website and transmit them to the Internet via telephone lines. Any computer used for this purpose can be called a host. However, this foundation is merely the beginning of successful small business web hosting.
To begin with, why would a small business – which typically has limited staff and resources – bother with the trouble and expense of creating and maintaining a web site? The answer to this question is easy. The Internet is today’s marketplace; any business that doesn’t have at least a web page giving its basic information might as well be literally invisible to customers. Even customers who are leery of making online purchases still use the Internet to research products and services, including information on the physical locations of stores they wish to visit.
Consequently a business owner who intends to be successful must have a basic understanding of how the small business web hosting works and what to look for in quality small business hosting.
First, it’s good to understand that the e-commerce surge over the past 15 years is merely the latest episode in the Internet’s development. In fact, the Internet celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009. That’s because the first computer connections were set up in 1969 between military installations and universities. These institutions originated the network because civic leaders at the time were concerned about maintaining society in the event of a major catastrophe such as a nuclear war.
Although there was a lot more consumer activity in the late 1980s, the Internet became broadly available in the 1990s through the advent of a networking concept called the World Wide Web. A consortium of computer scientists came up with ways for people to locate one another through online “addresses” that their computers could read. A new type of software called a “browser” made it convenient for ordinary people who weren’t computer specialists to gain access to the Internet.
Once it became possible for consumers all around the world to access commercial web sites easily, what’s now known as “e-commerce” skyrocketed. Companies then emerged whose sole business was to provide the computers, known as servers, and the telephonic connections to the Internet that made e-commerce possible. These businesses are now known as web hosting services.
A reliable web hosting service makes it possible for small businesses to compete effectively in today’s global marketplace. While the physical plant of a small business can remain locally and economically contained, the reach of its commerce has become virtually unlimited thanks to small business web hosting.
To be truly effective in e-commerce, a small business needs to start with some crucial questions about what its web site should be and do. The fundamental question to ask is: Why is the business launching a web site? Is the site intended to sell products and services? Or is it intended to serve as a marketing tool, like a billboard or other advertising? A web site designer can help a small business work through these crucial questions, so that the company’s online presence can fulfill the mission set out for it.
Once the mission for the company’s web site is chosen, the designer will go to work on how it will look and operate. When the web site is ready to be launched, a small business owner or manager should seriously research candidates for small business hosting. Here’s where it really pays to become familiar with the factors that go into successful web hosting performance.
There are four qualities to look for in small business web hosting: disk space, bandwidth, reliability and technical support.
Disk space refers to the amount of data storage a web hosting company allows each customer on its server. A company that intends to sell products via its web site should look for a web hosting service that not only offers large amounts of disk space, but also places no limits on the size of files that can be transferred, or “uploaded,” to the server. Some web hosting companies tout their “unlimited” disk space, but then restrict file size so that it’s nearly impossible to upload product images or databases. Be sure to ask about both disk space and file size limits.
Bandwidth is a shorthand term for what’s known as “data transfer rate.” This means how much information can be exchanged across telephone lines between computers at any given time. For customers, limited bandwidth means that the vendor’s web site will load very slowly on their computers, causing frustration when they try to make purchases. Even if a web hosting service promises “unlimited” bandwidth, there are always limits to how fast data can be exchanged. The key is to have a hosting service whose network connections are large enough to handle your company’s anticipated level of Internet traffic. “Traffic” in general means the volume of data exchanged from a company’s web site. It can mean the number of visitors a web site receives as well as the number and type of transactions that occur through the web site. It all comes down to the exchange of data.
Reliability refers to the consistent operation of the web hosting service’s computers. If a computer should break down, all the business web sites hosted on that computer are unavailable on the Internet. Reliability in small business hosting is called “uptime.” The most reliable web hosting firms are those that have “uptime” rates of 99.9 percent or better, meaning that their computers are operating virtually all the time. Anything less than 99.9 percent means risking that your company’s web site will be unavailable when your customers want your product or service. If they can’t get yours, they’ll quickly go to a competitor’s. This is what makes “uptime” or reliability so crucial.
Technical support is the ultimate customer service for small business web hosting. After all, if a business wanted to be all about computers, it would be a technical firm, right? Instead, a small business that focuses on, say, hobby supplies needs superior technical support from a web hosting service’s staff technicians. Their firm maintains the computers that keep the company’s web site on the Internet, and they should be able to resolve any technical problems whenever a customer calls, 24/7/365.
Small business owners and managers who use these guidelines will be prepared to set up a successful web site and choose the best web hosting service for their company’s needs.