When you’re running a start up business, you have to wear many hats. Until you get your business off the ground, you’re the CEO, the marketing department, the product developer, and the accountant. It’s possible that you thought of building a website for your business, but other priorities got in the way.
A surprising number of businesses decide to forego having a website for a variety of different reasons. Some businesses don’t offer products that can be sold on the Internet, so they see no need for marketing online, while others are afraid that a website will bring them too much business when they’re not in the position to expand. Some see it as an additional expense when their funds are limited in the starting stage while others simply don’t have the time or skills to build a website.
Whatever your reasons are, not having a website for your start up is alienating your potential customers as a website can help your business to reach a larger audience, often globally. An online presence is crucial to the branding of your business. Customers also need a way to know more about your business without having to call you.
Getting a website is not difficult if you keep one thing in mind: you need a good website hosting provider. Here are two things to look out for when you invest in a website hosting provider:
1. Support
This is probably the most important factor when you decide on a hosting company. When you encounter problems, you want a company with a dedicated support team. It’s even better if the support is based in your country, rather than foreign call centres, and they must be available every day to respond to your enquiries.
A skilled and professional support system can help you navigate through any issues setting up or maintaining your website, so you can focus on your real business instead. Also, an extensive collection of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) will help you troubleshoot your problems quickly.
2. Cost
If your business sells physical goods and you simply need an online presence, an introductory hosting plan shouldn’t cost you too much per month. Even the simplest, most inexpensive plans these days come with high storage and bandwidth. If you anticipate on your website attracting more traffic, you can always upgrade to a more robust hosting plan.
After you decide on a website hosting provider, you have to actually build your site. The simplest and most popular option these days is to just install WordPress which is a full-fledged content management system. WordPress eliminates the need for you to know how to code or design websites.
The chances are that your website hosting provider already offers some type of a one-click WordPress installation. And there is no shortage of Internet tutorials that will get you up to speed within a matter of minutes.
Your website is not just an online version of your business card or brochure – it’s an inexpensive but powerful PR tool. Even if it can’t make money for you directly, it can create connections and opportunities and selecting a reliable website hosting provider gets you closer to that step.
