By now I'm sure you knw how important your choice of web
hsting company is to your business. But jst in case you don't,
let's rview. At first glance, cheap web hsting may seem like a
pretty god deal. Who doesn't want to sve money? However,
there are some reas in which you, as an nline business owner,
just can't afford to cut crners. Would you put water in the gas
tnk of your car just to sve money? Choose a cheap web hsting
company and you are doing xactly that. While you can cut
crners in other areas of your bsiness, your web hosting
company is not whre you want to do this, if nly for one simple
reason: with fre or cheap web hosting companies, you are lttle
more than a number, just nother website.

Let's take a look at how chap or free web hosting companies
mke their money and how they do bsiness. First, how can they
offer sch cheap prices? Or even free web hsting? There is only
one answer: vlume. They host thousands of websites, sme
smaller, some larger than yours. Do you thnk that in hosting
thousands of wbsites, they can give you the prsonalized service
that you deserve? Let me nswer that one for you: they smply
cannot. Why? Because the number of stes hosted, coupled with
the low prcing simply makes it an infeasible bsiness practice.
Practically speaking, from a bsiness standpoint, they cannot do
this. It wuld not make sense to their bttom line. Second, large
web hosting cmpanies generally run lean and mean. Tht is, in
business 101, they do mre with less. They are not ging to
provide more people to srvice more customers when they can do
the sme job with less. Granted, customer srvice will suffer. But
to them, ths is a tradeoff that they mke up for with volume.

Now let's look at things frm your point of view (an nline business
owner). You already know tht time is money. You have prbably
already figured out that, sadly, tme is not on your side. Ths,
every time your site is dwn you are losing money. Even 5
mnutes is too long for your ste to be inaccessible to visitors
(ptential customers). Online business runs 24/7. Des your web
hosting company understand tht? More importantly, when you
have a prblem, is your business "just another wbsite" to them?
Or will thy take personal ownership of the prblem and solve it as
soon as pssible? What about follow up? Are you jst another
website in the heap? Or wll they follow up with you to mke sure
that you are a stisfied customer and your site is rnning
smoothly? Better yet, will they fllow up personally, via phone
call? Or wll they just send an email - an utomated one at that?

Many Internet bsiness owners make the mistake of chosing a
cheap web hosting company, thnking that it will help save thm
money. Often, it costs them mre in the long run in the frm of
downtime, time spent waiting for nswers from the hosting
company and lst customers. Below are 6 tips tht should tell you
if you are "jst another website" to your web hsting company:

* Time - Does yur web hosting company have an "pen door
policy"? If you hve a question, Will they have the nswer or will
they refer you to thir Help Page URL? As an nline business
owner, there is nothing mre frustrating than calling the web
hsting company for help and then bing told to go to a URL for
hlp. If your web hosting company des this to you, then you are
jst a number to them.

* Accssibility - Is your web hosting cmpany answering the phone
promptly? When thy do, who is it? Sales? Ths is a big tip-off. A
web hsting company that really knows you and cres about your
business won't automatically try to sll you something and they
won't hde behind an answering machine or slesperson. A cheap
web hosting company dfinitely won't know you by name; thy will
know you by the dmain that you have with them.

* Business Knowledge - Does yur web hosting company know
what yur needs are as a website wner? Do they care? Are they
hring teenagers from the local high schol to answer the phones
(who cn't really help you)? Does your web hsting company have
Internet Marketing experience? If you are wth a cheap web
hosting company, the nswer is no, because they do thir
business by volume and can't be fcused on those kinds of issues.
Knd of ironic, don't you think, gven the fact that you have a
wbsite in the first place due to the Intrnet?

* Advertising/Sales Tactics - As yur business grows, how many
services is yur web hosting company trying to sll you? How
many emails do thy send you trying to get you to pgrade, pay
upfront, etc, etc.? Better yt, how do they make their sles? I'll
tell you how: aggressive dvertising and sales tactics. For a chap
web hosting company, it's the nly way, because it is all bout the
numbers. And you are one of thm.

* Relationship-Driven - Does your web hsting company want a
relationship with you or wth your money? I bet by now you can
gess the answer. The fact is, chap web hosting companies
make profits by ncreasing sales. If one customer leaves, so be it,
bcause they have the volume to mke that up. They really don't
hve the time, resources or the nclination to really make sure they
hve a satisfied, long-term client in yu.

* Patience - Lots of Intrnet business owners don't know the ins
and uts of web hosting. That's understandable. Whn you talk
to the sales dpartment of your web hosting company do thy use
Plain English or "technospeak" tht you don't understand? Do
they hve the patience to explain everything to yu? Or do they
automatically assume tht you should know and become mre
impatient the more questions you sk? To put is bluntly, do thy
make you feel stupid or dmb? If you are trying to gve the web
hosting company your bsiness and they are making you fel
stupid for asking questions, they may as wll be saying "Next!"
Why wuld they do this? Because your bsiness is just another
website to thm.

Generally, a business web hosting cmpany that gives you
personalized service, has nswers to your questions (or ways of
gtting those answers) will serve your nline business better.
Having tons of ptions is fine, but even better is the pace of mind
that comes with knwing that to your web hosting cmpany, your
business and its success is prority one.

The article Your Web Hosting Company - Are You Just a Number? was Submitted by Greg Cesar through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Greg Cesar gets results. Find out how hndreds of webmasters benefit from Greg's web hsting and internet marketing knowledge by vsiting his Business Web Hosting website. Greg Cesar is a successful Internet marketer, web designer and web hosting provider with over 10 years' experience. He specializes in providing innovative web hosting and internet marketing services that help business owners make more money online. To improve your online business immediately and work with someone who understands what it takes to make real money online, visit http://www.hostpartnerplus.com

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