Small Business Web Hosting

The Needs of Small Businesses in Web Hosting

Small businesses that are making a move to a web presence have some particular needs, though these can vary somewhat depending on the business involved. Typically, small businesses need some disk space, some email, some bandwidth, and a way to post content, a shopping cart that allows for their full product range and is easy for customers to use.

Other requirements include really good 24/7/365 technical support, preferably by phone, excellent FAQ answers and how-to documentation, the highest possible uptime guarantee, and the ability to grow with the same host, whether this means moving to a new plan or simply adding more disk space and bandwidth, or switching shopping carts. Google analytics and other methods of tracking and analyzing site data are also a key element.

Small businesses that ship may require integration of shipper information and tracking, while small businesses that offer products for download will require the technology to securely provide pdfs, mp3s, software, or images, for example in a system that prevents fraud and is error-free. 

What Small Businesses Don't Need

One of the important goals for a small business owner is to find a website hosting program in which one is paying for what one really needs. With web hosting plans that offer enormous numbers of email accounts, many applications, one can end up paying for all kinds of features that will go unused. Web hosting with very advanced features for the dedicated IT staff may be over the head of the small business owner who learns enough to run one small site, but is has neither the time nor the training to deal with more complex and esoteric technology. 

Examples of Small Business Web Hosting Solutions

The path small businesses choose to follow to meet their web hosting needs may be quite different. Here are some examples: 

• Some small business can function with a simple shopping cart website, like GoDaddy's Quick Shopping Cart®. This product has a limit of 20 products, one image per product and 50 MB of disk space.
• For small businesses that require a blogging presence to continuously create unique content or for whom the content is the business, a WordPress blog with extensions that include shopping cart software and a personalized theme may provide what's needed.
• Yahoo! Small Business web hosting offers do-it-yourself features, with back-up at every step to pay to have elements designed or set-up for you if you do not have the time or the skills to do it yourself.

Sources

godaddy.com
wordpress.org
wordpress.org
smallbusiness.yahoo.com