Hosting Your Site

Hosting your website involves finding a company that will store your website on its web servers (or computers). There are many companies that provide hosting services. Many specialize in hosting while others provide hosting as an additional service, such as a web design company that will also host your website.

As a small business owner, you may even have decided to keep the hosting of your site in-house, which is not a bad idea if you are knowledgeable in this area. Any computer can be converted to a web server. There is a wealth of information on the Internet that can guide you through this process. If you or someone on your staff is not completely comfortable in this area, I would leave it to the experts for a few dollars per month. Having this knowledge ideally involves knowing how to handle security issues. You don't want someone hacking into your system and taking your site(s) down.

If you go with a hosting company, there are a few things to consider:

• Cost (of course) - Monthly hosting costs are generally under $10.00 for a a standard website. These costs can vary depending on your needs. If your website is an e-commerce site, a content management system (CMS) or if there are other add-ons, additional fees could apply.

• Technical Support - This is critical. Does your company offer 24/7 support? Can you pick up the phone at any time and speak with a representative if you have a question or an issue? You do not want a problem to arise (and they do) and have to email technical support and wait for them to respond.

• Reputation / History - How long has the company been in business? This does not happen as often as it used to but there are stories of websites that are up today and down tomorrow - permanently because the hosting company folded and went out of business. Make sure the hosting provider is not a fly-by-night company that will not be around a month from now. By the way, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get a copy of your website on disk if you have a site designed for you. In the event that a hosting company vanishes into thin air or anything goes wrong with your site, you have a backup copy of your site files!!! This is more of a design issue than hosting but it is so important that I think it should be mentioned here as well, since the server is where your website will be hosted. No matter how stable and reputable a hosting company is, things can go wrong. Better to be safe than sorry...

There are many reputable and well-established hosting companies from which to choose. If you search for "hosting companies," there are many sites that will provide rankings based on customer reviews. Two good ones that come to mind are Web Hosting Geeks and Find My Hosting. When deciding which company to partner with, contact their sales department and ask based on your needs, what hosting solution or plan would they recommend. There typically are no contracts. Payments are month-to-month but the hassle to move from one company to a different company if things do not work out can be a hassle. Your business site could experience some down time if the transition is not seamless.

My personal recommendation for a hosting company is Verio. I have had a relationship with them for nearly ten years and their level of service is excellent. Verio offers many options and pricing plans with 24/7 support. It is a well-established company that services its customers well.

Good luck with your selection!