How To Choose A Good Hosting Provider

Hello again, as promised I am back! Last post we discussed that Aussies had got the whole internet wrong, we also mentioned that a Blog is vital for easily updating information. Today we are going to discuss how to choose a good hosting provider, that gives you all the 'stuff' you need to create a great website, with easy userbility.

Now it is vital that you choose a hosting provider that can cater to all your needs, as well as being affordable, so in this case, just like many other things in life, the cheapest is not necessarily the best, and FREE websites are completley out of the question if you are using it for your business.

Why Not Free?
Why is it a bad idea to choose a free webhosting provider for your small business, I hear you ask? Have you ever been to a free hosting website? If you have ever had the pleasure to come across one, you will almost definatley have seen a whole host of flashy things blinding you as the page displays, along with that you may encounter those annoying pop-ups. Not very professional, and definatley not something that will encourace visitors to come back!

Additionally many free website hosting providers arent equiped for high volumes of traffic through their free websites, there is limited space, and not always a good uptime guarantee. But what do you want for free? Dont get me wrong though free websites are great for other things, such as personal pages to display photos, poetry,and have fun with.

Cost Effective, But With All The Features
Ok, so free is out, which means that you will have to shop around for the best deal, as well as all the important features for your website hosting needs. So lets take a look at some of the important things:

• Customer service, this is really important, I promise you that at some time or another you will come across problems, glitches, or things you dont understand while setting up your website. When this happens you need professional customer support on hand to assist you.
• Uptime, again another really important thing. Uptime is the promise of the amount of time the hosting company will have your website available for. Make sure that it is around 99.9% and if the gosting company has less uptime than that, ask them if you are compensated for down time.
• A free domain name only seems fair, so make sure that the hosting provider that you choose, offers you a free domain name along with your package. Remember that domain names must be renewed each year, or you will lose them. Many hosting providers can notify you when your renewals are due, or debit your account if you choose, that way you dont run the risk of losing your business domain name, and your traffic.
• Email capabilities are important, so make sure that there are large amounts, or unlimited email accounts, along with this an auto responder comes in very handy, to let your interested visitors requesting information know that you will anser their queries shortly, spam blockers are also good to have, so make sure you look out for them in a hosting package.
• Shopping carts are essential to small business owners that wish to sell their products both online, and in their bricks and mortar stores. Having a secure shopping cart, means that you no longer have to manually process customer requests, and take their money, its all done for you.
• Easy to use control panel, for loading new website pages which is secured by a password is essential, as well as web stats to help you assess what is happening in your website, visitors movements, and how well advertizing attampts are going.
• Forums, counters, guest books, blogs, site builders, billing software, and search engine submission tools are also handy to have.

Ok did you get all of that? Finding a webhosting provider can be a little daunting at times, as well as confusing, so follow those tips above and you should have a fair idea of what a good hosting provider will offer you. Now how much should you be paying for something like all of the things I have just mentioned? Good question, and the answer is least as possible of corse!!!

I think that more than $10 per month is too much! Aim for something under $10 per month, and remember that you can claim your website hosting on your taxes. I have a personal favorite web hosting provider, that has all of these features, plus many more. Their pricing is very reasonable at around $6.95 per month, if you are interested check them out here

When looking for a good web hosting provider make sure that you have taken into consideration all of your small business needs, and what you anticipate you will be needing in the future.

Talk to you soon,

Jade :)

P.S Next week we will be looking at how to juggle your bricks and mortar business, as well as your online website effectivley, and with minimum time. It will be a good one, so dont miss it :)

The Benefits Of A Properly Working Australian Website

The Benefits Of A Properly Working Australian Website

Ok, so I admit it, last post I was a little rough on you guys and girls out there, who are small business owners. Credit where it is due, you are at least trying to keep up with the times, and take advantage of what the WWW has to offer you, and not everyone has the time to sit and learn everything about the inner workings of a website, or how to advertise on it.

Chances are like most businesses out there, you have heard about the incredible benefits of having a website, got a professional website building company (a coder) in to configure it, and sighed a great big sigh of relief, because you are up with the times. But the trouble is that you haven’t learned yet that there is so much more to having a website, you probably don’t even know how to access much about your website at all?

That’s ok, hey you have more important things to worry about, and that is what I am here for, to give you the inside secrets on how you can use your website as a proper advertising medium. All the answers all in the one spot, just for Aussies, who want to harness the powerful benefits of having a website, and using it to your best advantage.

Through this Blog I intend to show you each step that you need to take to get a website, have it up and running, and how to get your name out there, so that you can increase your visibility, as well as get some extra sales, with ease, and on a shoe string budget. Sound great? Let me know what you think, and if there is anything that you want to ask me, please feel free to ask away, and I will find you the answers.

From time to time I may add links for you to follow to find out more information on subjects of interest, these are here to help you, if you aren’t interested, don’t click on them! Simple as that :)

Next post we will be looking at what to look for in a hosting provider, and how to get a great deal, so don’t forget to bookmark this Blog, and check back regularly, or if you would like to have Blog posts sent to your email address, send me a quick note here, and I will send you the posts through email.

Until next time, don’t work too hard mate!!!
Seeya, Jade :)

Aussie Business Owners Using Websites Have Missed The Point

Aussie Business Owners Using Websites Have Missed The Point

There is a sad state of affairs going on in the Australian business arena, and that is the murder of websites. Many Australian business people have heard of all of the associated benefits of using the internet as an advertising medium, and it is no secret that the majority of buyers will search a business website looking for solutions to their problems, or for products to buy, before they will go to a bricks and mortar store.

The Internet has catapulted to one of the most effective ways of advertising, as well as selling products and services practically overnight, especially in the American market. Websites are used by businesses that are brick and mortar, as well as online business people that no longer need a traditional shop front to get business, leveling the playing field, as well as knocking down borders for businesses to advertise out of their area. Unlike America Australian webmasters have sadly missed the point of having a website attached to their traditional bricks and mortar business.

Where Aussies Have Gone Wrong
Lets take a look for a moment at the qualities that a good website has, and where many people are failing. The top priority for a website is that it doesn’t become stagnant, if a visitor goes to your website, likes what they see, they will come back, and maybe even buy online instead of ever visiting the actual store. But to achieve this website owners have two options, they can learn how to change things regularly on their website, which will take time, money and in most cases a working knowledge of HTML coding, or they can hire someone to do it for them. Right?

Wrong! That is not a businesses only option, one tool that a business should never be without is a Blog, short for weblog, for business owners who aren’t familiar with the inner workings of a website, and don’t want to hire someone every couple of days to update their website, a Blog is the perfect alternative. For those who have products that change regularly, lets say you sell used machinery for example, a Blog that can be updated, and edited regularly will give them the opportunity to display photos, descriptions, specials, and prices daily with minimal fuss, and these posts can even be edited once the product has been sold.

There are many Blogs that can be easily attached to a websites domain name, and links can be added to the website to offer visitors the option of visiting to gain up to date information. The best thing about a Blog is that it will cost business owners practically peanuts, and can be used by business owners, without a working knowledge of HTML, or any coding of any type. It really is as simple as copy and pasting from an application such as MS Word, to your Blog, and pasting in some pictures.

Other additional benefits are increased website visibility, and rankings in the search engines, because of the regularly updated information, spiders are encouraged to crawl your Blog more often, and index new information. As well as this website owners are given the opportunity to connect with their online visitors making them more credible, which will make the visitor more likely to buy a product or service.

How To Get A Blog
There are many free Blogs available, such as blogger.com, (www.blogger.com) which come without advertising, or banners, but you are tied to the blogger.com domain name. Free Blogs are a great way to find out what Blogging is all about, and how simple they are to use.

For business owners who don’t want to seem naive, unprofessional or new to the online way of doing business a Blog that is attached to your own domain name is far more beneficial. The best way to get a Blog attached to your domain name is to visit your hosting provider, and check to see whether they provide this service. If your hosting provider doesn’t have a Blog tool, then seriously consider finding a hosting provider that does.