SolveYourProblem
Article Series: Web Hosting
Teach Me Web Hosting Essentials
Choosing
an Email Web Hosting Provider
One
of the most important decisions that you can make for your
businesses website is choosing the web host
which will house your web site and display it to the World
Wide Web. If you have a good web host, you can focus your energy
on maximizing your business instead of making sure that your
customers have a reliable site to reach you on the Internet.
So, how to choose an email web hosting provider? This article
contains helpful tips that will guide you along the process
and give you a leg up on your competitors.
You
should start with the basics: your internet service provider’s
(ISP) internet connection capabilities. Most ISP’s
are connected by T1 and T3 lines. These are among the fastest
connections
that the internet provides. A T1 carries up to 1.5mbs (megabits
per second) and a T3 line is capable of carrying 45mbs. These
are the connections to look for. Some of the smaller ISP’s
have ISDN connections, which are functional, but not ideal.
It is a good idea (if you don’t have one already) to invest
in a speedy Internet connection for yourself. When conducting
business through the computer, you will spend a lot of time
using the Internet and telephone charges can add up pretty
quickly. You might also want to look into co-hosting your computer
at your ISP’s location in order to take advantage of their
connection to the Internet.
Now that you have made sure that your ISP has the speed capabilities
to handle your business needs, you need to make sure that it
provides you with enough space. Web hosts will allot you a
certain amount of space on their computer. This varies with
every ISP so you need to make sure that the one that you choose
fits your needs. The average amount is 5MB and this is enough
space for most web pages that include graphics. But the number
that they quote you can be deceptive. Some ISPs include email;
log files, and system programmers in this number, which can
take up additional space. Make sure that you understand what
this number includes. If the above are included in the space
that you are allotted, you will need around 15MB of space.
Email
is one of the most important aspects of your business website. In this day and age it is one of the main ways to
communicate with prospective clients and to get your information
out to them. Emails hosted by your ISP allow you to include
your business name in your email address and should look something
like employee@employer.com. Your ISP should provide you with
at least one email address but some of the better ones offer
multiple email addresses. The larger your business, the more
email addresses you will require. Some ISPs offer the option
of fielding customer questions with an address like info@employer.com.
Make sure to consider growth before you settle with a web host
that only offers one or tow email addresses. Some providers
will also allow for a catchall email address like anyname@employer.com,
which will allow a misspelled or misunderstood name to be fielded
to your account. This will save you a lot of lost business.
Even if you know how to choose an email webhosting
provider and are pretty sure that you have made the right
choice, things
can still go wrong. Your web host may become blacklisted making
it difficult for you to send emails out to clients or any number
of things can go wrong. Before signing on with a provider you
need to get a thorough understanding of how free you are to
choose another ISP. Read the contract carefully and find out
how long you are required to stay with them and under what
circumstances. If you leave an ISP while you are still under
contract, they maintain possession of your domain name, which
can confuse customers and cause you to loose a lot of business
and hard won credibility. If your domain name is listed as
the "Administrative Contact" with InterNIC, you are
allowed to transfer your domain to another web host although
your previous ISP can make the process difficult and slow if
they are unhappy with your departure.
Another good way to guard against potential problems is to
make sure that your web host has ample and easily accessible
help desk support. Check the hours and availability of their
help desk. Good ISP providers will have 24-hour support with
the ability to talk to a real live person at any time. Some
ISPs have very restrictive hours and you will be fielded through
a series of automated responses (or worse only be allowed to
seek help through email) before you make contact with a real
tech support person who can help you with your problem. Larger
companies will almost certainly be in need of 24hour tech support.
If your customers encounter a prolonged problem on your website,
it can hurt your credibility.
Now that you have learned how to choose an email webhosting
provider you are well on your way to ensuring your businesses
success. Good Luck!
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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