Small businesses and organizations can operate websites that differ significantly in terms of capacity and other features. Determining your needs for hosting will require analyzing precisely how your website will operate.
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For example, a site that will deploy e-commerce functionality will usually require more bandwidth and other features than a website intended purely for marketing purposes. By determining your needs ahead of time, you can avoid overpaying for features and capabilities that you do not require along with avoiding the need to upgrade due to insufficient capacity.
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The most important things to consider when determining your needs for your website are:
• Bandwidth
• Uptime
• Storage and email capacity
• Security
• Shopping cart technology
• Control panel and content management
• Backend capabilities
• Server options
• Scalability
• Reporting and analytics
• Customer service and technical support
• Company reputation and stability
• Costs
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Bandwidth
For websites that expect many visitors that click through a large number of pages, bandwidth is an important consideration. Bandwidth is also essential for sites that may not have that much traffic, but send large quantities of data over the Internet with each web page.
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For example, when considering your needs, determine whether your web pages will contain large images and files, or whether you will be engaged in bandwidth-intensive activity like streaming video or audio.
Many web services have bandwidth limits usually based on monthly usage. If the client goes over the limit, the provider will charge them extra or the site will automatically go down until the next bandwidth allowance period.
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Uptime
Uptime is the percentage of time that the web service is up and running. Downtime is the period in which the web servers are not able to carry out their function. During downtime, visitors to your site will see an error message rather than the requested web page.
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For sites that will depend on e-commerce or other web activity for cash flow, uptime can be extremely important. When looking for hosts, check to see if the company will guarantee its uptime claims.
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Storage and email capacity
Server storage can be an important consideration for websites that will upload large files, multimedia and other data. Sites that allow users to store information will also want to make storage a major priority.
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Web host options will also differ in the number of email accounts they will provide and in the amount of email storage capacity. Sites that want to issue large numbers of email addresses to employees and/or users should check to see if the host allows unlimited email accounts.
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Security
Good security is essential for all websites that will receive and store private information from users. Actually, good site security can be important for all sites since it can prevent hacking and other problems even when the client does not utilize private user information like credit card numbers.
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E-commerce sites will need to use industry standard security protocols including SSL encryption and user authentication systems.
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Shopping cart technology
Small businesses that intend to allow visitors to buy products or services directly from their website will probably need shopping cart technology.
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An electronic shopping cart allows the user to browse through inventories and add products to the cart before they check out. The technology typically includes security features along with record-keeping of all transactions.
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For small businesses that only sell a limited number of offerings, a shopping cart may not be necessary. However, it is still a good idea to have web-based payment services like PayPal available on the site.
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Control panel and content management
The control panel is the user interface that allows the client to manage the website account. For example, the control panel can allow the site manager to set user permissions for other company employees.
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A content management system (CMS) relates to and is often part of the server control panel. A CMS allows the website client to update the website easily on a regular basis. The interface is typically user-friendly with easy to learn and intuitive controls that allow for easy or automated uploading of new articles, images, videos, podcasts or other web content.
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Backend capabilities
For websites that will use special types of software, it is important that the server offers the right operating system along with meeting other compatibility issues.
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For processor-intensive programs, it may be necessary to get clearance from the website provider first. In some cases, it may be necessary to obtain a dedicated server account to avoid issues with processor hogging that can degrade performance on shared servers.
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Server options
When determining your needs, think about what type of web account will best serve your purposes. For low-intensity websites, shared accounts will do in most cases.
For sites that will require extensive bandwidth, then a dedicated server or virtual dedicated server may be a better web option. Cloud hosting is another alternative that offers website owners with a great deal of flexibility.
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Scalability
A scalable site is one in which the client can easily increase or decrease bandwidth, disk space and other types of usage.
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Cloud hosting is particularly scalable since the system works on a distributed network of servers. The workload for any account can distribute to any server on the network in real time. Site owners that want the ability to pay only for the resources that they use should consider a cloud service option.
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Reporting and analytics
Good hosting options will provide detailed reporting and analytics capabilities. Website owners should be able to see data like numbers of visitors, pages visited, referring sites and other information that allow detailed analysis of performance.
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With good information, the website teams can analyze strong and weak points, and make necessary changes that can improve future site performance.
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For example, web statistics can inform web owners of pages and links that are not working properly. Web management teams can analyze whether page visitors are making the desired actions, known as conversions, on each page. Sometimes a minor tweak, like rearranging page elements, can have a major impact on conversion rates.
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Customer service and technical support
Check to see whether the web host offers 24/7/365 customer and technical support. What types of communication types are available for support?
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For example, does the host offer live chat support at their website. Is there a hotline available for technical issues that need rapid resolution?
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Check for reviews of hosting companies to help in determining whether the company offers fast, courteous and effective customer and technical support.
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Company reputation and stability
When determining your needs for a web host, do not forget to take into account the company behind the hosting service.
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Choosing a good company can make the difference in whether you have a favorable experience with the hosting provider. Bad web hosts may give you billing headaches and even make it hard for you to close your account if you decide to leave.
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Additionally, a good stable company with a solid reputation may be less likely to change ownership, which often results in changes in company policy and even hosting plan setups.
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Costs
Of course, most small businesses will have limited budgets, so cost is always an important factor. Check to see what the host provides with each plan when comparing different providers.
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Sometimes, the price can look very attractive until you find out what exactly the plan includes with that price.
Conclusion
When determining your needs for web hosting, take some time to figure out just how you will use your website. Then, take into consideration each of the items listed above before you start comparing different hosting plans. By taking some time before starting, you can save yourself from headaches and extra costs involved with having to change web hosts later on.
For further information please read my other articles on search engine optimization, finding the right host, determining your needs & utilizing the right hosting packages.
Article Source: Determining Your Needs
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