Web Hosting for Startups

NextArticles.com » Internet-business » Domains » Web Hosting for Startups

Author: MattHedges Total views: 10 Word Count: 1301

If you want to set up your own website, be it for business purposes or communicating to the world, there are a number of things that first time web site owners should be aware. The modern market place is such that it is infeasible for a firm not to have a presence on the internet. There are so many benefits that come with having a proper structure in place and having strong sales, promotional and marketing channels available which makes them necessary for any startup site. Of course, many new sites or firms do not have a large budget for such items and they need to create their website in a way that promotes efficiency and is extremely cost-effective.

There is no doubt that the website of a firm has a large part to play in generating interest in potential customers, announcing the power of the company to the world, generate traffic to the site and place itself firmly in front of a specialized market. Of course, if your firm is only based on the internet then it is imperative that there is a priority to place your website on the internet.

There are many web hosting companies that offer special packages for the startups. The web hosting packages offered by them are designed keeping in mind the requirements of a new business and of those wanting to share knowledge. The SEO experts of these companies are specially to provide you with potentially strong techniques to drive traffic into your website

Processes that startup firms need to follow for web hosting:

Hosting a website for the first time in the internet may be a little cumbersome. Here are some simple steps following which one can easily go with the process of choosing and selecting a web hosting company to host the website for a new company or an individual.

* The initial task should be to search the internet and try to obtain quotes from a number of web hosting companies who specialize in providing services for startup companies.

* Make a choice depending on what level of budget you have available and one hist best suits your business requirements. Make an observation about the range of support, facilities and services that are offered by the web hosting company and compare the prices and products that rival firms offer.

Apply online - fill up the online form and provide it with all the required information like Name, Address, Country, Credit Card details etc.

* Wait for approval from the firm which may take a number of days.

* With the application approved and a hosting account generated, start hosting your very own website.

What goes into a Startup package provided by Web Hosts?

There is a growing number of firms who provide startup packages with the new website owners in mind. These new owners may be businesses or they may bloggers. The new owners don't usually have high demands or expectations but they also usually have a limited budget. These are the key factors that the web hosting companies keep in mind when they offer startup packages.

What should be in the typical Startup package provide by Web Hosts:

Here are some of the general features that you must look for in any startup Web Hosting package. However the below mentioned features may differ slightly from company to company:

* Web Management system - This will include a base amount of between 20MB and 50MB disk storage space. It should also include a minimum of 10GB each month for data transfers, the ability to have complete FTP and anonymous FTP access. In addition to these services, there should also be the provision of Static IP Address and Secure Server (SSL) Transaction Encryption.

Email Features - This is an important feature in any web hosting package. Startup packages have around 10 Email (POP/Web) Accounts, Email Aliases & Forwarding, PGP Email Encryption, Personal SMTP Mail Server and Email AutoResponders

* E-Commerce - If you are looking to provide a shopping facility on your site, the following features will be vital. Having Password Protected Directories and Service Side Includes (SSI) can make your life much easier. As can having access to PHP4 Server-side Scripting and SSH-Secure Shell.

Technical Support - Many companies provide 24-hour Trouble Ticket Support and 99.9% Uptime guaranteed per year

* Website Monitoring - To monitor the activity of your website, many firms offer Daily Data Backups, access to downloadable Raw Access Logs and the use of Wusage 7.0 Graphical Statistics.

* Additional Software - Other software that may make up the package can include the ability to have a web based control panel and an extended level of support for FrontPage Extensions.

Hardware & Network - Many of the startup packages include Dual- 1 Ghz Pentium IV Servers, Custom Red Hat Server OS, Apache Server Software, 10-T1, 5-DS3, and 1-OC3 Network Connectivity and Uninterruptible Power

* Advanced Features - There are also a great deal of additional features of a more advanced nature that many web hosts are including in their startup packages. Some of these features include offering a 30 day money back guarantee, Custom Error Documents, Pico & Cron Tab, .htaccess and Joe. This is in addition to the following features: elm, vi, Pine, Emacs 20.4, Python & TCL Compilers, Java JDK, Perl, C and C++. And if that is not enough, some customers may also be offered CGI Bin, Custom MIME Types, bash, csh, tsh and Unix Shells.

Key issues for Startup companies:

People starting a new business and those who are planning to host their website in the world web should always be aware about the goal of the website. They must be clear about what their website wants to archive. This clarification is essential before going ahead with hosting the website on the web world. Here are some of the important tips that the startups can keep in mind before hosting their website.

* Many website visitors have short attention spans so a website needs to grab them quickly. The more attractive the site the easier it will be to do this. Asking questions of yourself in what you like to see can help the design process to be more attractive to customers.

Search engine factors and typical SEO guidelines can complement the web hosting services to make a website popular so much attention must be given to it.

* Any new web owner should be aware of how they want their company or products promoted on the internet.

The website must be search engine friendly but also ensure that it is interactive and engages the user into the contents of the website.

* There are a massive amount of new websites appearing every day so it is important for the owner to ensure their website stands out from the crowd.

* The promises offered by shared web hosting services may sound brilliant but be careful as they are unable to offer any strict guarantees.

* Fast connections are important to your site so make sure that the web host company is able to provide them.

Find out whether or not they have a back-up system in place to protect your data in case there is a power outage

* Contact the customer support service and ask questions of them.

* There are other issues that you should ask your web host provider if they offer before deciding to go with them. These can include do they provide access to a secure server in order to enable order processing and if they do is it free? Do they have an online Web Site Manager and do they have an online support manual.

Like all walks of life, creating a new website has many difficulties that need to be avoided. Having a structured website and utilizing search engine optimization techniques can bring growth and custom. As there are a number of web hosts out there, seek their advice about what you need and what services will best suit your requirements.

Download Hundreds of Complimentary Industry Resources
Get hundreds of popular Industry magazines, white papers, webinars, podcasts, and more; all available at no cost to you. With more than 600 complimentary offers, you'll find plenty of titles to suit your professional interests and needs. Click Here and Sign up today!

About the Author

About the author: Matt Hedges, 12 year veteran of the web hosting industry, is the head staff writer for http://www.webhostingmadness.com, a web hosting review site.

Rating: Not yet rated

Comments No comments posted.

Add Comment

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.

More articles in this Category

1: Web Hosting for Startups
2: Domain Names - Six Golden Rules for Generic Domain Names
3: Site Flipping - Investments That Pay Dividends (Part 2)
4: Domain Names - Investments That Pay Dividends (Part 1)
5: Tips On Choosing An SEO Effective Domain Name