Web Hosting For The Small Business

Any business of almost any kind needs to be on the internet today to be taken seriously. While this is just another cost of business lost in the huge budgets of major companies, for a small business it may represent a major expense and one that must be carefully allocated as economically as possible. One way to decrease website expense is the use of web hosting.

The advantages of web hosting can be substantial for the small or medium size business, but there are also some risks and disadvantages to consider. By definition, web hosting involves a third party in your business, so you want to choose very carefully. Have a less than reputable or ethical hosting company could cause you problems.

For example, one thrifty form of web hosting is the shared domain, where the provider partitions a server into sections and companies have their own little piece of the server with a unique name, but really part of one domain. These tend to be the least expensive, and cost is one of the primary advantages of web hosting, and as such a boon to small, cash-poor companies and new start ups.

The disadvantage is that you have no control over who is sharing that space with you. If one of the other users is a crook running a scam, or an unethical marketer spewing e-mail spam to unhappy victims, the whole domain may be blacklisted or blocked by others. You could be perfectly ethical and honest, but your site would be labeled as undesirable along with the real violators. Be very careful about rules domain providers make and how well they enforce them.

Another of the advantages of web hosting is a saving in the costs of hardware, equipment, and its maintenance. Since the hosting company has the servers and will be responsible for repair and replacement, you don’t have to bother or put out the cash. The disadvantage is that if they are slow with repairs or don’t upgrade outdated equipment your site may bog down or even go offline.

There are advantages of web hosting in reducing staff costs as well. You don’t need to hire someone to manage the equipment or trouble shoot problems when they occur. IT support personnel do not come cheap, so this can be a huge savings to the smaller company. The disadvantage is no control at all over the qualifications of the people the hosting company does hire, and uncertainty about how much of the time they will be available or how fast they will respond.

A business will need to consider whether or not the advantages of web hosting currently outweigh the disadvantages. At some point, it may be preferable and more feasible to host and maintain a site internally, but in the beginning, web hosting can mean the difference in being able to have a web presence or not, and should at least be considered.