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Thursday, March 05, 2009

Small Business Web Hosting Reviews

As a small business owner, you have too much to worry about. The last thing you need is to concern yourself with evaluating the 1000's of small business web hosting reviews available. That's why I've written this article to highlight some of the better hosting companies from our small business web hosting reviews web site and to help you quickly evaluate them on your own.

Website Wizard and Website Templates

If you don't have the experience to create your own website from scratch, don't worry. Some of the best web hosting companies have great wizards and tools available that allow you to choose a website template and then drag and drop your businesses' information into place. These WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) tools can save a small business owner like you days in frustrating web design.

If a website wizard is a priority for you find a provider that provides plenty of pre-built website templates (at least 500) and an easy editor. The best small business hosting company that provides this is Host Gator. You can even try their tool before you commit to their services. Try it out and make sure it will work for you.

Free Domain Names

If you're starting a website for your small business, you need a great domain name. Domain names can cost between seven and twelve dollars a year. The top small business web hosting companies pay this fee for you so as long as you remain their customer. In fact, some of these companies provide you with two (you should always have your website registered 2 times under .com and .net).

For this reason (and others), my small business web hosting review website recommends IX hosting as the top available company. Not only do they provide you with 2 free domain names, but they give you 8 free static IP addresses.

Marketing Support and PPC Credit

If you're reading about small business web hosting reviews, it means you're looking for another way to promote your business. The top web hosting companies not only offer you domain names for free but they also provide your business credit toward the top PPC (pay per click) and other various online marketing programs.

Don't overlook this. If you're paying $12 a month for your site and are getting over $250 in advertising expenses paid for, it can pay for the cost of your website many times over! If marketing credits are important to you, our small business web hosting review site suggests IX hosting or Midphase hosting.

Database Support

Many small businesses overlook the importance of robust database capabilities in their small business web hosting providers. This can be a major mistake. Even if you don't plan on programming any database functionality into your website, many built in forms and email applications utilize these databases to function properly.

If you plan in doing any sort of lead capture and follow up system on your website (and you should) make sure your small business hosting provider provides either MySQL or standard SQL. All of the companies on our small business web hosting review website support all of the major databases.

There are many factors to consider when choosing a small business web hosting provider. This article has highlighted some of our top choices from our small business web hosting reviews, but we have also created a website that evaluates the pros and cons of various top small business web hosting companies (see the about me / resource box for the link). I invite you to use that site as you evaluate your next steps. Choosing a site to host your small business website is a big decision. Make the right one.

Good luck!

About the Author

As a website developer and consultant, Brian Anthony has extensively evaluated the majority of web hosting alternatives for small businesses. He provides in-depth reviews for small business web hosting here.

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