How To Find The Best Hosting For Startups
Running a new startup business is an exciting time, but it can also be very frustrating. Not only do you have to start from scratch when it comes to getting customers, but you also have to get accustomed to the learning curve of starting a new business. While it might seem like a bit of a burden at first since starting a brick and mortar business can be so hard, you should also consider building your business on the Internet. Here are a few reasons why, and what type of hosting you should consider.
Reach Everyone
A physical business can only reach so many people. Only residents in your local area will be interested in buying from. No one from the next state over (or people in a different country) will want to buy from you because you’ll be too far away. That all changes with an online business. People can browse your product catalog, order items and you will ship their orders. This means that you can effectively reach anyone in the world that has an Internet connection. You might even receive the bulk of your orders from this Internet.
Technologically Advanced
Perception is key to gaining new customers. If your store seems behind the times, then you can lose a lot of customers. While you don’t need to have all the latest technology, you should at least have a website. Almost every successful business has a website. Not only does this give customers an open storefront that they can buy from at any time (even on holidays or when you’re closed), but it allows them to find you online if they are just browsing around for nearby stores. While a website isn’t going to be the end all be all of sales, it will help increase public perception of your business. Just be sure to maintain your store and don’t let it fall into disuse.
More Exposure
You need exposure to get customers. If your business is hard to find or people aren’t thinking about it, then you need to market yourself to get some sales. While TV commercials, radio advertisements and ads in the newspaper are fine, having a newspaper will also help you gain exposure. This is because many people just browse the internet for nearby stores, as stated in the above section. If you position your website correctly, then you can easily capture all of this traffic to make many more sales.
Ecommerce Hosting
One of the most types of hosting for startups is ecommerce hosting. These hosts give you many features like a shopping cart, the ability to easily manage hundreds of thousands of items and payment gateways so that you can accept payments. These hosts are somewhat more expensive than general hosts, but they can be worth it. If you have an expansive product library and you want the best responsiveness, then this host is fine. If you just have a handful of products, then you can probably use general or blog hosting.
Business Hosting
There are many business hosts out there that are similar to ecommerce hosts, but they help more with back-end employees. You will usually get essential business features like an SSL certificate and a 1-800 number. Larger business hosts will also give you a system so that you can easily manage employees. This type of hosting is great when you are expanding, but it may not be required at first unless your startup is primarily online or you have employees that you are managing through the Internet. Blog Hosting Blog hosting is really any host that allows you to easily install a CMS. A business needs a blog because this allows you to easily build new pages and increase your SEO potential. Most blogs can also have shopping cart programs placed on top of them. This is fine if you have a handful of products. You may also want to attach a CMS to your business website anyway just for the SEO increase, which will help you get more customers.
Conclusion
Making the most of your startup is going to be difficult at first, but having a digital storefront is really going to help you make more money. Not only will this give you more exposure and the ability to target the entire world, but you can easily make sales online to improve your bottom line. Just give it a try, you’ll be sure to love it.