There are many types of business web hosting packages available. The type required depends on the needs of an individual business, something that can vary greatly from business to business. As with non-business websites what is required largely comes down to the content of the website. Multimedia files such as video and audio require more bandwidth than simple, static websites. The size of the site is also a factor; the more pages there are the more bandwidth that is required, and this could alter the hosting package that is needed. Whether or not a website is an e-commerce site is also an issue. Some businesses want to sell products through their websites, whereas others want to use it purely as a marketing tool where potential customers can find more information on their products or services. This all effects the type hosting that is necessary. If it is an e-commerce site a hosting package that enables this must be purchased. Two of the things that need to be thought about here are that it must be possible for visitors to be able to make payments, and security needs to be high, both on behalf of customers and the business itself. It is important customers are protected when they enter their payment details, and the business also needs to be protected from fraud. An important factor in a business hosting decision is how much control a business wants over their hosting. Some will want control whereas other will want everything handled for them. Some businesses will even want to manage all of their hosting in-house. The advantage of this is having complete control but it could require employing a specialist team in charge of hosting. Outsourcing it will costs more initially but could be more cost effective, with experts handling it and nobody needing to be employed to do the job. Support is possible the major issue. 24/7 support is available through many hosting companies, but it does cost extra. It is a feature that is useful to many businesses, as unlike a personal website, income will be lost if the website is down. Problems, therefore, may need fixing immediately. A decision needs to be made as to whether the extra cost is paid or the risk is taken. Free hosting is something that is commonly available, but not something that should be recommended for business hosting. These packages have many limitations and are unlikely to be able to support a business website. One of the problems is that often customers cannot choose their own domain name, with them only able to choose an extension at the end of the web hosts own domain name. This seems unprofessional as really a business should have their business name in the domain name. Free hosting also usually requires carrying unrelated adverts on a website (with no income from it) as this is how these hosts make their money. Andrew Marshall (c)
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