Business Hosting Packages – The Most Crucial Considerations

Here’s a question – would you try and build a huge apartment block on a plot of land more suited to a single trailer home? Of course you wouldn’t, which is precisely why you should never try to build a business on top of a web hosting package that’s hardly even powerful enough to support a blog.It’s a bit of a no-brainer…or at least so you’d think…but it’s incredible how many new and upcoming businesses deal themselves a bum hand every day by cutting corners on web hosting. Admittedly, some just have no clue what they’re doing, but for others it’s more a case of trying to save a few pennies now without realising they’re in for much heavier losses further down the line.    Generally speaking, when going into business there are a few primary web hosting considerations that matter above all others…and here they are in black and white:Budgets – Be RealisticYour website and by extension your business as a whole will only ever work as well as your hosting service…it’s as simple as that. As such, it’s pointless to spend say $4,000 on an elite web design package only to get it up and running with a $2 per-year web hosting deal. You’ll get lousy service, poor performance and your reputation will take a fatal knock.As such, budgeting means being realistic and reversing the usual way of thinking. Instead of choosing the cheapest package you think you can get away with, stretch to the best package you can realistically afford that leaves plenty of room for growth.Hosting Types – Knowing the Difference Making the right choice comes down to little more than understanding the types of hosting on offer, which may seem complicated but is actually pretty easy to grasp. More often than not, hosting services will be broken down into three categories, which are as follows:

• Shared Hosting – Always cheap and sometimes free, a shared hosting is…as the name suggests…a hosting package where you share the server with all manner of other sites and services. As such, resources can be limited, security isn’t always the best and scope for expansion is minimal. Perfect for blogging and hobbyists – not so much for business.
• Dedicated Hosting – The exact opposite of the above where you get a whole server to yourself to do as you please with. You get all the power, all the control and all the security – brilliantly reliable and the best choice of all for business. As for the downside, it’s also the most expensive type of hosting.
• Virtual Hosting – Something of a happy medium that’s always recommended for SMEs, a virtual hosting package delivers the best of both worlds to an extent. You don’t get your own physical server, but instead something of a chunk of a server that’s dedicated to you and you alone. Great power and features for a mid-range price.

Technical SupportLast but not least, even the most powerful hosting package in the world is pretty much useless if not accompanied by world-class technical support that runs 24 hours a day and seven days a week. After all, it’s not like your site closes for business at 5pm every day, so what happens if things grind to a halt outside office hours?