Business Web Hosting Package

Business web hosting services offer businesses the chance to receive a reliable web hosting service within the context of a secure web hosting environment for a cost which is very near to that of shared web hosting, but provides a level of service closer to that of dedicated web hosting services such as VPS server hosting and dedicated server hosting. Although standard shared web hosting services may suffice for some users’ needs, if your website is processing personal data or is critical to the running of your business you may want to consider business web hosting services; most web hosting providers host their business customers in a ‘cloud’ web hosting environment which means that more than one server is used in the setup, offering more or less 100% uptime for those who require it. However, this guaranteed level of reliability does come at a cost but for most people this cost is more than justifiable; you may find yourself needing some more secure than shared web hosting, but you may not be willing to pay the higher costs that you would need to in order to be able to afford a VPS server – this is where business web hosting comes in as it means that you can meet both forms of web hosting in the middle, meaning that you can receive the reliability and security benefits of VPS server hosting at a cost which is nearer to what you are likely to be paying for your shared web hosting package.

Although it may seem that business web hosting packages can be purchased from a number of different web hosting providers, you need to take into consideration what you are getting for your money; some web hosting providers may be offering low end VPS servers whilst others may just be offering standard shared web hosting; in any case you need to ensure that you know what you are getting for your money, and this doesn’t just mean considering the features and resource assignments that each web hosting package comes with but also how reputable a web hosting provider is as well as how secure and reliable their servers are.

I currently have a shared web hosting package, why should I upgrade to business web hosting?

Although business web hosting may just seem like a rebadged form of shared web hosting, if you consider your choice of web hosting provider in the right way then you are likely to find a business web hosting package which is more than just a shared web hosting package and can offer you the reliability and security that you need. PCI certification is one thing that a majority of businesses are likely to consider in a web hosting package, and because of this it is now common for web hosting providers to offer PCI certified business web hosting services; in this situation the likelihood is that the web hosting provider is offering incredibly secure VPS server hosting or dedicated server hosting services, although getting a shared web hosting server PCI certified isn’t an impossible task if it is done correctly. Some shared web hosting providers are unable to offer dedicated IP addresses or SSL certificates with their web hosting services, and so it is important that you consider a business web hosting provider that can offer you a dedicated IP address at the least; a dedicated IP address is needed for the running of a dedicated SSL certificate, and if your business website is an online shop or is processing personal information in general then users are going to be unwilling to enter their information without the safety net of a dedicated SSL certificate – if you currently don’t have one for a website which matches this criteria then it is highly recommended that you find a web hosting provider that can offer you one or both. Stable web hosting is also important for the running of any business website, since in most cases downtime can mean lost money for a business; if you choose a web hosting provider that can offer you either business web hosting in a cloud hosting environment or business web hosting in the form of dedicated web hosting then you are likely to be able to banish any stability issues which may exist. So in summary, it is important to consider the following factors in any business web hosting package:

• PCI certification – this is something that a large number of credit card vendors are now trying to ensure that all vendors have in place on their servers as it will reduce the risk of any personal data that is being stored on a server from being compromised, and as hackers are becoming smarter with how they target servers and because credit card and identity fraud is on the rise, it is highly important for vendors to have their servers PCI certified as they are otherwise putting themselves and their business at risk of legal action if their servers are compromised and personal data and/or credit card information is stolen – PCI certification is something that is very hard to achieve in a shared web hosting environment, so if a website wants to become PCI certified the only route for them to take is to purchase a business web hosting package in the form of a VPS server or dedicated server
• Dedicated IP addresses and SSL certificates – SSL certificates are something that many users look for when entering personal data or credit card information into any website as by using an SSL certificate a website is able to ensure that any information which is transferred between itself and client computers is encrypted, meaning that if a hacker was to intercept the data then it is going to be of no use to them – SSL certificates require dedicated IP addresses to be able to function correctly, and although both are achievable in a cloud web hosting environment or shared web hosting environment, it is better to consider business web hosting in the form of dedicated web hosting as you are able to achieve the highest level of security available by doing this
• Stable web hosting – stability is not something that is widely available with shared web hosting packages, even if you do choose the most reputable and reliable web hosting providers there are – business web hosting packages on the other hand are designed with stability in mind because web hosting providers know how important a website is to the running of most businesses, and when you rely on your website for orders and purchases it is a big deal if your websites goes down for any reason – web hosting providers have many ways in which they are able to achieve reliable business web hosting services, but the most commonly used method is to host clients in a cloud hosting environment where more than one server is being used as this will allow them to offer near enough 100% uptime – although VPS server hosting and dedicated server hosting services are both reliable, if your one server fails then your website will go down.

The main message to take notice of is that if you are a business hosting your website on a shared web hosting package, you should upgrade to something more suitable as soon as possible to reduce the chances of experiencing any reliability issues. Business web hosting services are perfect for all businesses, and web hosting providers are likely to give more consideration to support tickets that are submitted by businesses – they are aware of just how important for your website is to you! If you are using a web hosting provider that doesn’t give security or reliability any consideration then you are facing problems already, both are major factors which you should be considering as a business and if your web hosting provider doesn’t take any notice of either then you are going to face problems somewhere down the line.

What are the technical aspects to consider with business web hosting?

Most web hosting providers are likely to be generous with their resource assignments for business web hosting customers since most business websites are going to be busy, and although this may may that you don’t need to use up too much disk space, you will find yourself running out of bandwidth in a short amount of time. Control panel access is a big must-have for most business web hosting users though as relying on your web hosting provider for every last task can be very inconvenient; it is always a good idea to look out for business web hosting services which are using cPanel – web hosting providers using cPanel is normally a sign of reliability and usually means that a web hosting provider is reputable, but there is never an excuse for not reading the web hosting reviews that are available on web hosting providers that you may be considering. Bandwidth is probably the most important technical aspect for most businesses; the amount of bandwidth that you have available will dictate just how many visitors you can let through to your website, with the more bandwidth you have allowing for a higher visitor throughput – it is important to optimize your website as the smaller your pages are in terms of file size, the more visitors you will be able to let through on your allocated amount of bandwidth. Support is also important for businesses since if there is any sort of downtime, most businesses will be on to their web hosting provider ASAP asking for the problem to be solved, and an unresponsive web hosting provider is the last thing which any business wants; the best way for businesses to overcome this is to choose a reputable web hosting provider that has a good uptime record but is also able to offer 24×7 support via several different means, meaning that the likelihood of any problems occuring is very little but if they do occur then you have the ability to contact your web hosting provider at any time of the day knowing that they are going to be on to the problem already. In summary, the main technical aspects to consider in any business web hosting package or web hosting provider include the following:

• Control panel access – although this is likely to be standard with most business web hosting packages, it is always a good idea to confirm with a web hosting provider that this is offered so that you know you will be able to manage your business web hosting account fully, including your domain name and web hosting package – if you don’t have control panel access then you are going to face many problems as it means that you won’t be able to manage your own web hosting package or domain name, and in some situations control panel access is incredibly important since for example you may wish to upload new files to your website to help make it more secure, or alternatively you may wish to setup new email accounts under your business’s domain name
• Bandwidth – the amount of bandwidth that you have available for your website will dictate how many people can visit your website in a given time period, which in most cases is a month – it is a good idea to consider business web hosting packages that can offer large assignments of bandwidth as you never know how much bandwidth you are going to use up in a month and bandwidth can be costly if you go over your limit – if you wish to let more people visit your website on the amount of bandwidth that you have available to you then you should reduce the size of each of the files that your website relies on, as by doing this you will be able to reduce the amount of data transferred which will mean that more users can load your web pages
• Support – it is important to ensure that any web hosting provider that you are considering for your business web hosting services is able to offer you a high level of web hosting support, preferrably 24×7 web hosting support that is available via phone and email – if you choose a reputable web hosting provider that has a good uptime record then you are unlikely to face any problems with your web hosting package, but it is always a good idea to choose a web hosting provider that has the option for 24×7 web hosting support as it means that any problems do occur, your web hosting provider is likely to sort it very quickly but it also means that you can alert them to any problems at any time of the day if they are unaware of them, again meaning that you can have your problems solved in no time.

If you consider control panel access, reliability, support and bandwidth in any web hosting provider that offers business web hosting packages then you should be able to find a web hosting service which is able to suit your business’s requirements perfectly. However, you should still read the reviews that are available for any web hosting provider you are considering since in some cases you are putting the fate of your business in the hands of your web hosting provider, and you want to be sure that you are dealing with a reputable web hosting provider that isn’t going to disappear on you overnight.

In conclusion, business web hosting packages can offer businesses the right combination of factors that they need for their ideal web hosting package. In an age where more or less every business has some sort of web presence, it is almost paramount that they are able to make the most of what some web hosting providers are able to offer in terms of security and reliability. Although business web hosting packages such as dedicated web hosting services are more suitable for businesses whose websites process or store personal/confidential information, lower end business web hosting packages can normally cater for most businesses.