Why Knowing Their cgi’s From Their MySQL’s Could Save the Small Business Owner Literally £ Thousands
The Busy Business Owners Essential Guide to Hassle-Free Web Hosting
London, UK (PRWEB) November 12, 2008
Choosing the right hosting provider is one of the most confusing tasks faced by the business website owner. There are literally thousands of web hosts, with widely differing pricing structures from the free to the downright expensive, with or without inclusive domain names.
Then there’s all the techie stuff: CGI or SSL this, CMS or FTP that, not to mention the impossible problem of ‘weighing up’ how much web space you need. Unix or Linux… can someone please translate? And what exactly is ‘MySQL’ – and do I, as a website owner, need to know… or even care?
The short answer, according to a free ebook put together by Kelechi Amadi of ClementinesHosting.co.uk, is “Yes, because choosing the right web host could save your business thousands”. With an estimated 95% of website owners “haemorrhaging money” not because of poor design or weak sales messages, but because of bad hosting, it’s never been more important to get it right – especially in a climate where every business lead counts.
Kelechi is appalled by the poor service that many of his customers have experienced with previous hosts. “Many have lost money. Others have found their reputation compromised, even their security and ALL say that if they’d known what to look for in the first place they’d have made a completely different choice. The extensive research we’ve done backs this up. I want to prove there are still ‘good guys’ out there – and show people how to find them.”
The problem, according to Kelechi, is that when it comes to web hosting “the average ‘SME-in-the-street’ hasn’t a clue what they should be looking for”. Hosting sites are packed with jargon and it’s often easier just to trust that a host knows what they’re doing and go ahead, often to their cost later on.”
Kelechi is furious at what he sees as “atrociously bad practice” in the website hosting industry. “It’s not just a case of the cowboys giving the ‘good guys’ a bad name – I’m angry that so many hosts are getting away with it, and will continue to get away with it, purely and simply because website owners don’t understand what they’re buying into.”
To address the balance, Kelechi has written a comprehensive ebook: The Busy Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Hassle-Free Web Hosting which is free to download from Clementineshosting.co.uk. As Kelechi is keen to point out, “This book is totally impartial – I’m not trying to get business, just to help website owners make informed decisions when it comes to choosing a good website host whoever that host might be.”
Written in jargon-free plain English, Kelechi’s book explains all about the different hosting options available (shared, dedicated, etc) and how to choose the right one, without paying over the odds for a complex package you might not need – or, at the other end of the scale, risking the lure of the ‘free’ option.
Kelechi talks about the crucial need for reliability. “If your site is regularly offline, which can often happen with ‘free’ or cheap hosting, then you’re not winning business”, he says. “Also, there’s a ‘dummies guide’ to mysteries like disk space, bandwidth and domain names plus a shopping list of all the essential ingredients for the perfect SME hosting package so readers know exactly what to look for.”
Kelechi’s customers often complain about the almost non-existent support delivered by their previous hosts. “If you have an urgent issue at 3am you want to know a ‘real person’ will respond at 3am, not 5 days later, if they bother to respond at all. Of course every host is going to boast they offer first-class support but I show you a little trick you can use to check how responsive they are – BEFORE you part with any money.”
Then, says Kelechi, there’s the other critical issue of security. “It’s something website owners tend to take for granted when it should be approached with caution.” Did you know that domain names can be stolen, for instance? Or that a website could disappear overnight – purely and simply because the host hasn’t bothered to back it up? Then of course there are spam and viruses, not to mention hackers and other intrusions, all of which can play havoc with a business but which some hosts fail to prevent. “With my advice”, says Kelechi, “You’ll be able to keep your website data and your emails safe and secure.”
Contact forms are another important factor. “It’s how you get business. But if your host doesn’t support php, cgi, etc then your forms won’t work and you won’t get any enquiries. I explain how to check for the features you need. Also shopping carts and secure pages – you’d be surprised how many hosts fail to offer these too.”
Crucially, Kelechi’s book also covers the cost of hosting and how to avoid tying yourself into a binding contract that could “haemorrhage even more money”. In fact there’s so much sound advice it’s impossible to go into detail here. Readers will learn why they need control panels (not all hosts provide them). Money-back guarantees, too (if they’re not offered, ask yourself why). Also, Kelechi reveals a host of ‘insider’ trade secrets, “What to watch out for and what to avoid like the plague!”
“Finally”, says Kelechi, “I’ve spilled the beans on what many web hosting companies won’t tell you: the hidden costs of ‘free’ or cheap hosting – in terms of money and potential lost business. Why a free hosting service could actually put customers off, even damage your integrity. There are lots of ‘nasties’ here… And what happens if your host goes out of business? Not to mention the gambles unscrupulous hosts take with their customers’ web space. Should you really be hosting your valuable business website with someone that’s ‘crossing their fingers and hoping for the best’?”
Kelechi’s ebook can be downloaded free at: http://www.clementineshosting.co.uk/freeguide/. Kelechi is keen to emphasise that there’s no catch – SMEs can easily opt out of receiving any future communications. But for any SME that doesn’t know their cgi from their MySQL, this is essential reading that could save them £thousands in the long run.
For more information please contact:
Kelechi Amadi at ClementinesHosting.co.uk
Call: 0845 257 7189.
Fax: 0845 299 1886.
Post: Clementines UK Ltd. 2nd Floor, 145-157 St. John Street, London, EC1V 4PY
or visit: http://www.clementineshosting.co.uk/contact.shtml
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