February 26, 2006

By: Mari Anne Hussen
Website: http://www.hosting-your-website.com

Find A Dependable Ecommerce Web Hosting Plan To Suit Your Business Plans

When a business is looking for a web hosting company a great place to start is the Better Business Bureau. The BBB is a consumer watchdog dedicated to alerting the public when a business displays less than stellar business practices. If a web host has a poor rating businesses will know that this host does not provide adequate customer service or does not handle complaints promptly or completely to a customer’s satisfaction.

A reliable web host should be offering close to 100% uptime. A guaranteed up time means a website is online and available to customers and clients. An ecommerce site that is down is not going to encourage clients to visit again and businesses will suffer.

A professional web host will offer top of the line software and design tools. If all that is offered are cheap packages with shareware or freeware businesses need to look further for an affordable web host to invest their time and money in. When a host lists some great software and tools make sure that these are the full meal deal and not just a trial or starter version.

Dependable dedicated server hosting plans include hosts that provide a money back guarantee. If the host has a good BBB rating it can be generally assumed they stand behind this promise. They may also offer a free trial. At the end of the trial a business would have the option of signing on or transferring to another provider.

A business should check into the provider’s history. Are they new or do they have a proven track record. If they haven’t been on the market very long they may not have the market experience a company requires from their host. There may not have been time for their business practices to be reflected in the BBB ratings. As well, the longer a company has been in business the more likely they will remain in business.

There are other Internet watchdogs that independently evaluate and report on a host’s practices. Several sites such as PC Magazine, Mac Addict, Tophosts, HostIndex, or WebHost Dir reward top companies with awards for superior services and products.

Along the same line it is wise to check out who else has contracted with a particular web host when looking for a dependable ecommerce web hosting plan or economic PHP web hosting solutions. A host being used by a national or top named company is a good indication that they provide the service and products an active and growing business needs to stay competitive. Large companies tend to have researched dependable dedicated server hosting plans deeply and set up test accounts before they contract with a web host.

It goes without saying that 24/7 support provided by technical professionals is a must. When a glitch appears businesses cannot wait until the next day for the phone support. Phone support must be available all day, every day to keep a website up and functioning correctly.

When a new business signs on with a web host they generally are looking for a good entry-level account, one that gets them on their feet, but is able to grow with them and remain affordable. A new business may need only the management of a website, while others require a reliable ecommerce account with shopping carts and secure financial transactions. A larger or more established business may opt for reliable managed dedicated hosting solutions. A good web host should have at least these three and more packages available for hosting.

Lastly a host should provide spam and virus protection. A computer virus can be devastating if you are not prepared to deal with it. Downtime or compromised accounts can mean the difference between a successful business or a failure. By assuring a host has invested in adequate commercial anti spam and virus software a business can be comfortable that their clients are in the best hands.

About The Author:

Mari Anne Hussen is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.hosting-your-website.com.  Promote your website by using reliable yet affordable web hosting companies, plans and services.