Sunday, June 5, 2011

Hosting Your New Website

By Gregory Trune


There are many things that one must keep in mind while venturing into the World Wide Web for the first time with the purpose of hosting a website for a new business or just with the intention of sharing knowledge. With the boom of the web world in today's era, one cannot think of starting a business without a website. A proper infrastructure, sales, marketing and product promotion are some of the things that one has to invest into when starting a new business. Startup companies operate on shoe string budgets and hence need to develop and host websites that are efficient as well as very cost-effective.

There is no doubt that a website plays a very active role in creating the opinion a consumer has of a company. It is their gateway to the world, it can increase the rate of traffic a company receives and it can help them create their own little niche on the internet. Needless to say, if you are an internet based company, the website has to be a pressing priority.

The amount of new companies coming on-line has made it attractive for many web hosting firms to provide packages that are tailored towards the needs of new companies. The business demands and requirement of those looking to impart their wisdom and create a name for themselves online are firmly in the thoughts of the web host companies. One key way for these firms to get these new firms online is to use the SEO experts to offer vital hints and hints to drive traffic to the new websites.

The process that startups should undertake for Web Hosting:

It can be a little tricky to host a website for the first time. Following some of the basic steps that are listed here will enable any new user to make the best decision about what web hosting company is best for them and their needs:

* 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.

* Choose the one that best meets your budget and your requirements. Undertake a full search of what they offer, what their background is and if there are any other features. Compare this to some of the other sites you have seen.

* Having chosen your firm, sign up online. Go through the join up process and offer up the details that they request, which may include name, address ad credit card details.

* Wait for the approval which should arrive in a matter of days.

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

What is a Web Hosting Startup package?

Many companies provide special Web Hosting Startup package for those wanting to host a website for the first time. These are mostly those starting a new business or starting a website to share their knowledge and experiences with blogs etc. The requirements of new business are not too farfetched and the budget is also low. Keeping this in mind, most of the website developing and hosting companies offer special packages for them.

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

There are a number of common occurrences which a web host may offer in a package designed for a new startup company although the actual offer may differ between different sites.

* Web Management system - Any reasonable web management system should have at least 20MB to 50MB of disk storage space available, with regards to data transfer per month10GB should be offered and various FTP access should be offered. These can include full FTP Access and Anonymous FTP. This is in addition to Static IP Address and Secure Server (SSL) Transaction Encryption facilities.

* Email Features - Every startup site needs to have these facilities. The standard benefits of these packages include having about 10 email accounts (configured to POP/Web), the ability to have email aliases and provide forwarding facilities. Other email features can include PGP Encryption, Personal SMTP Mail Server and the ability to use Email Auto Responders.

E-Commerce - A standard Web Hosting service for startups includes PHP4 Server-side Scripting, SSH - Secure Shell, Server Side Includes (SSI) and Password Protected Directories.

* Technical Support - Most new customers require the facility of 24 hour support, which can be offered through ticket support and it is common for firms to state they guarantee 99.9% uptime each year.

* Website Monitoring - Some of these packages include Wusage 7.0 Graphical Statistics, Raw Access Logs which can be downloaded and DailyData Backups.

* Additional Software - Some users may find their package also contains other software such as Web Based Control Panel or an increased 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 - Many of the startup package these days come with the advanced features which includes CGI Bin, Custom MIME Types, Unix Shells: bash, csh, tsh, Perl, C, C++, Java JDK, Python & TCL Compilers, Emacs 20.4, Pine, vi, elm, Joe, Pico & Cron Tab, .htaccess, Custom Error Documents and 30-day Money Back Service Guarantee.

Key issues for Startup companies:

Before embarking on anything new, people should be aware of what goals they want to achieve and this is true for those starting a new business and who are looking to create a website. There is only the possibility to store and archive so much on their website so people must be aware of what they want to do in advance. Having a pre-advances clarification of their aims is vitally important to anyone looking to create a website. The following tips will be able to help someone focus their mind on what they want their website to do.

* Many visitors to websites have short attention spans so the start-up website needs to be attractive and able to grab peoples attention very quickly. Thinking about what will bring people to the website will help the owner make the website more attractive to visitors.

* Good use of search engine optimization facilities can be vital for any startup website and these should compliment the existing content on the site.

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

* Although the website should be friendly to search engines, there needs to be strong content to keep users coming back to the site. This can be improved by having a level of interaction with visitors.

* Think of how many other sites are starting up just now. You need to ensure your firm stands out from the rest of them.

* If you need a guaranteed performance from your web host then do not go for a shared web host service as they cannot offer performance guarantees.

Ensure that the company that is hosting your website has fast connections

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

* Be sure to ask questions of their customer support service.

Before selecting a company, find out whether or not they provide the free access to a secure server for order processing, an online Web Site Manager and 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.




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