Web University

Choosing and Using the Right Web Host

Your Host is Your Foundation

Online business operators have a tendency to forget that the
company hosting their store is the foundation of their business
and a successful business needs a strong and reliable
foundation. When looking for a web host, remember that finding
the company with the cheapest price is not the goal. Paying a
higher fee for better service and more dependability is
ultimately the smartest decision. Conversely, the most
expensive company is by no means going to be the best either.

When launching a new e-commerce business, finding the best web
host for your needs can be a tremendously daunting task. There
are simply so many web hosts out there and it is a tiresome and
grueling process to separate the good guys from the bad. Many
folks looking to start a website begin by checking out web
hosting review sites and directories. On these sites, you can
read what clients have to say about their current and former web
hosts.

However, there is a bit of a problem with many of these hosting
review sites – bias. The majority of these websites are
actually owned by web hosting companies and most, if not all,
sell advertising space. In theory, if a host has a big
marketing budget then they can buy their way into the
marketplace. A review site is not generally going to give a
negative review to a company that is spending thousands of
marketing dollars with them.

However few and far between they may be, unbiased review sites
do exist. A great place to start when searching for a new web
host is Web Hosting Talk (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/), a
very informative site with great, impartial forums. On this site,
you can gain priceless, valuable insight into the web hosting
and e-commerce industries by discussing, conversing and learning
the opinions of the experts. Another review site that has been
noted for its impartiality is HostJury.com (http://hostjury.com/).

When searching for a host, do not be suckered into buying into
gimmicks. Things like “unlimited” plans may sound appealing, but
there is really no such thing as “unlimited.” When a company
says unlimited, that means that your site will be generally
placed on an overcrowded server where you will be forgotten
about. It’s important to research the history of the company
and find a reliable host with great technical support.

Your Host Dramatically Impacts the Performance of Your Store

There are a variety of major ways that your web host impacts the
performance of your online store including:

1. Uptime and Downtime
2. Technical Support
3. Site Speed and Page Load Times
4. Management of your account including data, email, backups
5. Virus Protection
6. Defense from Hackers and Malware
7. The ability of your hosting to grow with your business (you
should be able to increase hard drive space with one quick,
simple call)
8. Your host should aid with the technical aspects of
accepting credit card orders, including setting up a
payment processing system.
9. Hosts should help you find developers or modules to make
your site function properly.

No Such Thing As Good Downtime

Choosing a reliable web host and the correct plan for the amount
of traffic your site will generate is of the utmost importance
to the success of your online business. Site uptime and
downtime are perhaps the most important components of how web
hosting affects an online store’s performance. Downtime can
really break an online business quickly.

Simply speaking, when your site is down and inaccessible then
customers cannot make purchases and you cannot make money.
Furthermore, potential customers cannot peruse your site. Let’s
face it – people shop online to save time and money. If your
site is continuously down, then you will not be able to make it
in the competitive marketplace of the Internet.

The industry standard for web hosts regarding downtime is a
99.9% uptime guarantee. Never sign up for a hosting package that
does not guarantee at least 99.9% uptime because this will
surely negatively impact the performance of your store. To put
it in more practical terms, with 99.9% uptime, your site should
never encounter more than around 45 minutes of total downtime
per month.

Sometimes there might be a situation where your server has a
critical error and your site may not be online for 99.9% of the
month. In any such case, it is your host’s responsibility to
credit your account with the pro-rated amount you owe for that
month’s charges.

Quality Support is a Must

Reliability and good technical support go hand in hand. When
choosing a new host, make sure that they have an excellent
support staff. When you first call them, go with your gut
instinct. Do they sound knowledgeable and easy to understand?
Are they polite? Ask detailed questions and make sure you get
well-informed responses. You want to have the comfort of knowing
that in any instances of malfunction your issues will be
resolved quickly and correctly. A solid web host will have
email and phone support available 24/7/365.

Looking, feeling and operating professionally are critical
components to running an e-commerce business. Having a sub par
web host will toss professionalism out the window rather
quickly. It is imperative to establish trust between you and
your customers in order to successfully sell online. Customers
will not feel safe spending their money with a site that seems
unprofessional in any manner.

A Speedy Site is Essential

Another manner in which your web host can impact your store’s
performance is your page load times. This can even affect your
ranking within Google and the other search engines as they begin
using site speed as a factor to determine page rank on the
results pages. Having fast load times is imperative not only
for the sake of ranking well with search engines but to make
your customers happy. No customers like a slow site and
chances are that if your site is not performing well, they might
just click on over to your competition.

A Solid Web Host + A Good Business Model = Happy Customers +
Success

Unsatisfactory web hosting can directly impact the customers of
your store. Therefore, it is imperative that you choose a
quality web host that will not play a part in your store
functioning inadequately. Studies have shown that approximately
fifty percent of consumers will leave a preferred site if they
are experiencing technical problems. All it takes is one
unhappy customer to begin the process of bringing down your
business. If a customer is not happy, the following results
could occur:

1. They may never return to your store as a shopper again (this
is especially traumatic to your business if they are repeat
customers)

2. Word of mouth is a big deal. Unhappy customers have big
mouths and they will most likely vent their frustrations with
others.

3. A dissatisfied customer may leave a negative review regarding
your business on a forum, message board or review site. One
bad review can stick with you and your business forever so
you must go to all lengths to avoid them.

If it does happen, be proactive about it and try to squash
it as soon as possible. Try to explain your side and apologize
to the customer (remember, the customer is always right).
Offer the person a discount or their money back to appease
them. With today’s social networks, news travels fast. One
tweet could go viral and your brand and image can be quickly
tarnished.