After choosing a domain name, your website hosting account is the next important step you will take in getting your small business on the Internet. This blog post will outline what your biggest concerns should be when doing your research, and also what questions you need to ask when shopping for the best hosting plan for your small business.

If you don’t know what your specific needs are, It will be a challenge to choose the best website hosting plan. Before beginning your search, you need to carefully consider:

• short and long term website traffic,
• storage space,
• additional domains,
• updates and backups.
• control panel access, and
• e-commerce support.

Important Factors to Consider When Choosing Website Hosting

With seemingly endless choices, small businesses need a simple formula for making the best hosting choice. Below are five factors to consider when shopping for a hosting provider.

Website Traffic

If you operate a properly optimized WordPress blog, a shared hosting account should be sufficient to support one-thousand unique visitors per day. If you expect your website to grow significantly in next few years, it is important to choose a web host that will accommodate your progression from shared hosting to VPS, to dedicated server. You need a company that will deliver more processing power, more memory capacity, more disk storage, and better security.

Add-on Domains

Nowadays, it is common for small businesses owners to operate more than one domain name. To host additional domains, you will need additional storage space. For this reason, it is important to have a hosting account that allows you to add multiple domains.

Uptime and Back-ups

In the event that something should happen with your website’s visibility on the Internet, nothing is more important than having a web host that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That said, there is nothing to be overly concerned with, 99.5% and above is the industry standard uptime score; anything below 99% is unacceptable.

Your website hosting provider should be performing regular backups and, if necessary, restore your website quickly.

To gain a better understanding of how a hosting provider performs back ups on your website, Here are three important questions you should seek answers to:

• Do you provide full backups regularly?
• Can you perform backups easily in the control panel?
• Can you easily restore backup files on your own, or do you have to wait for support staff to do it?

Control Panel

It doesn’t matter if it’s a cPanel, Plesk, or a third party control panel, a user-friendly and functional hosting control panel is very, very important. Without access to an adequate control panel, you will be left at the mercy of the hosting tech support staff; even if all you need are basic changes.

TIP: An auto script installer, like Fantastico, Simple Scripts, and Quick Installer, is a blessing to have.

eCommerce

If, either now or in the future, you intend to process transactions on your website, it is important for you to pick a website hosting plan that supports e-commerce. SSL certification, a dedicated IP, and one-click shopping cart software installation, are some of the essential hosting features needed to support your small business ecommerce website.

Small Business Website Hosting Summary

A majority of your small business hosting needs can be satisfied by a shared hosting account. A shared website hosting plan is affordable, easy to maintain, and sufficient for most new websites. As your website needs evolve, you can upgrade your hosting to VPS or a dedicated server.

If your website was your house, your website hosting would be your neighborhood. Would you build your house in a bad neighborhood?

Kristoffer Howes, CEO, Weal Media

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Whether launching your small business online, or beginning an Internet marketing campaign, choosing a website URL – or domain name – is one of the first, really important decisions you will make. As a word of caution, do not underestimate the long-term value of your choice. Consider how your domain name will communicate to and influence consumers when they are exposed to it, whether it be through traditional or digital media.

Although there are many important considerations when selecting a domain name, the three most important things for you to consider are:

1. Branding
2. Location
3. Length

Branding | Recognize and Recall

To be easily recognized by customers, no matter where they are exposed to your brand, you must be consistent with your branding. By turning every link into a promotion for your brand, a branded domain increases brand awareness, establishes trust, and encourages engagement.

Given that your domain will be used to direct consumers to your website from other properties on the Internet, as well traditional media like television, radio and print, it is important to make your URL easy for your audience to recognize. Your final decision on a domain name should clearly communicate information related to you, your business, products, and/or services.

Aside from including your business or brand name in your new domain, you may consider adding a descriptive word to eliminate any chance of ambiguity. For example, if your company name was Clarke’s, you should choose a more descriptive domain name that clearly differentiates you from other businesses or brands with a similar name.

Choosing a branded domain name makes it much more likely that consumers will remember your URL after being exposed to it. As you can imagine, this is extremely important when someone wishes to contact you, or would like to share your information with people they know.

Location | Confidence and Appeal

Because the .com domain is the most widely recognized domain extension, if it is available, you should purchase it. If your business serves only local clientele, and/or a country-specific audience, a geographically relevant domain extension; such as .ca, .us, .in, co.uk may be more appropriate for you to display.

When it is displayed in search results, consumers will (most often) recognize their country-specific extension. This increases the appeal of your business, because it is considered “local” to them. In some instances, this proximity instills more confidence in people who are apprehensive about making a purchase from companies located “overseas.”

Length | Short and Easy

When choosing a domain name, size matters. The shorter the length, the better. The general “rule of thumb” when selecting a domain is 15 characters, including the extension.

The 15 character limit is simply a guideline that encourages the choice of a domain name that contains one or two words. There is nothing that says you cannot exceed the 15 character threshold, or that you will be penalized by search engines if you choose a domain with 16, 17, or 20 characters. However, by following the guideline, it ensures that your final domain name choice is easy to remember, easy to share, and much less likely to be misspelled.

Choosing Your Domain Name URL

You should not discount the importance of your domain name. It is the foundation of your digital marketing presence. Make every effort to choose a URL that will work in partnership with other digital assets, to support your company’s initiatives online and offline. Take the time to carefully consider your business’ direction and long-term goals, when making your final decision on a domain name.

Let’s spend 30 minutes making YOUR BUSINESS BETTER. Use the form below to contact me for a FREE marketing strategy session.

Generating a well-researched customer profile significantly improves the performance of your marketing efforts. It does so by determining the best communication, the best products, and the best services, to attract and convert your ideal customer.

TIP: Saying no to customers who are a poor fit for your company will save you time, money, and aggravation.

A customer profile is a generalized description of your ideal customer, and represents the decision maker/s for the buying process. It includes demographic information – such as age range and gender, psychographics – such as customer interests and behavior, preferred media channels – such as Facebook, email, Youtube, and podcasts, socioeconomic information – such as income and occupation, and much more.

Pay close attention to how each customer segment is unique, not only in their physical description and types of products or services they purchase, but also in the core values and beliefs you share with them and keep them coming back to your business.

Limit your “ideal customer” to two or three detailed consumer personas.

Ideal Customer Demographic Information

Demographics is the collection and study of the population-based factors that influence the purchasing decisions of your ideal customers. The most common variables gathered in demographic research include age, gender, income level, ethnicity, employment, location, home ownership, and level of education.

• Age. Identify the age range of your customers. Aim for at least a 10 year gap, but not more than 20 years. What generation does your ideal customer belong to?
• Gender. Are you primarily targeting one gender over the other? If so, determine a percentage, such as 50% male and 50% female.
• Ethnicity. Consider what ethnic groups your customers identify with. This is so as to not unintentionally offend anyone.

Given that the size of different demographic groups will change over time, as a result of economic, cultural, and political circumstances, it is important to closely monitor demographic trends.

Customer Profile Social economics

Social economics (or Socioeconomics) are the attributes related to household income, occupation, neighbourhood, etc., of the ideal customer within your operating region.

These factors influence how a particular group, or socioeconomic class, operate within society; including how they behave as consumers. Different socioeconomic classes often have varying priorities regarding how they spend their money.

While creating your customer’s socioeconomics profile, consider these elements :

• Average Household Income. Consider the average income range of your customers. Also, do they need expendable income to be your customer? Or does your service fit into the “needs” category of most households? What budgets are you typically working with?
• Education Level. What level of education, on average, does your customer have?
• Occupation. Focus on the type of occupation your ideal customer has. Consider where they work, their level of seniority, and industry.
• Hometown/Neighborhood. Where does your primary customer come from? What characterizes their neighborhood, town, or area?
• Household Description. What is the family makeup of your average customer’s household?

The standard taxonomy for life stage groups is:

• Family or No Family: People under the age of 45 who are not parents.
• Family: People of any age with at least one child under age 16 still at home.
• Third Age: People aged 45 through 64 with no children under age 16 still living at home
• Retired: People over the age of 65 with no children under the age of 16 still living at home.

The majority of researchers agree that income, education, and occupation best represent social economic status.

Customer Profile Psychographics

Psychographics is the study of the personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles of consumers. Understanding this will determine how to communicate your message in a way your ideal customer will receive and respond to it.

• Hobbies: What do your customers do for fun?
• Interests – What are your customers most interested in? What gets them excited?
• Favorite Entertainment Choices: What is their destination for news? What radio stations or music do they listen to? What Television/YouTube shows do they enjoy? What websites do they read and trust?
• Anxieties: What are their biggest fear/anxieties, and how can your business resolve those?

Locate and list where consumers will find you. During this process, you must clearly identify:

• What websites will this customer visit frequently?
• What blogs do they read?
• What are the search terms they are likely use?
• What sort of content appeals to them the most?

Consumer personas ensure you understand your customers. They highlight their pain points, their motivations, and how they make purchasing decisions. For example, how does your customer typically feel toward the other available offerings in your industry? And, why might they be hesitant to try your product/service?

Collecting and analyzing this information will guide you as you create email and advertising campaigns, develop targeted marketing communications, and generate sales leads.

It is recommended that you verify the information you have collected about your ideal customer personas, by conducting interviews with real people. Existing, happy customers are a great place to begin.

This ideal customer profile template provides a list of questions, with instructions, that will help you to craft a detailed customer profile. You can print it as a PDF and fill in your answers, or download it as a Word document and complete it in your browser.

Let’s spend 30 minutes making YOUR BUSINESS BETTER. Use the form below to contact me for a FREE marketing strategy session.

So, you have a brilliant idea for an incredible product or service, and you want to start a business to cash-in. That is great news! My first piece of advice is to deeply, and truthfully, scrutinize your business idea.

To determine the viability of your new venture, I recommend that you be VERY HONEST with yourself when you answer these five questions.

Is there a clear NEED for the product or service you offer?

A customer’s need is the motivation that prompts them to buy your product or service. To determine whether there is a need for your product/service, collect and review information about three critical areas:

1. Industry: Look for the latest trends [Google Trends]. Compare statistics and growth within the industry. A thriving, stable industry is key. Obviously you would not want to start a new business in a sector that declining
2. Consumers: Ideally you begin with a market survey that allows you to study the spending characteristics of consumers within your region. As well, estimate the location’s purchasing power. Consider income levels, unemployment rate, population growth or decline, and other demographic factors. How much of the total sales volume you can reasonably obtain?
3. Competition: Examine the number of local competitors and, if relevant, on a national level. Your competition analysis provide a clear picture of potential threats, opportunities, and the weaknesses/strengths of your competition.

Have you established there is a DEMAND from consumers to buy your product/service?

There are four steps in establishing demand:

1. Define THE MARKET. Define it broadly enough to include all potential end users. Consider alternative products that could provide competition.
2. Divide total INDUSTRY DEMAND into its main components, such as customer groups or type of purchase. Make each category small and similar enough so that the drivers of demand will apply consistently across all elements. You may wish to use a “tree” diagram to illustrate drivers of demand.
3. Forecast the DRIVERS OF DEMAND in each segment and project how they are likely to change. Demand is affected both by macroeconomic variables and by industry-specific developments.
4. Conduct SENSITIVITY ANALYSES to understand the most critical assumptions from your prior analysis and to gauge risks to your forecasts. Ask yourself, “what things could influence this, and cause my forecast to change dramatically?”. Taking this approach is more likely to identify potential risks and disruptions, such as developments in competing technologies, industry competitiveness, or supplier cost structure, than those who do not.

[William Barnett, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University]

Do you have recognized EXPERTISE and established CREDIBILITY to launch your business?

• Expertise: expert skill or high-level knowledge in a particular field, gained from experience, training, and/or study.
• Credibility: the quality of being trusted (honest) and believed in.

Do you have all the RESOURCES you need to begin?

Document the essential business resources you need to operate your business on a daily basis, find new customers, and reach business goals. Common resource examples include:

• website,
• operating capital,
• warehousing,
• intellectual property, and
• customer lists.

Is your BUSINESS MODEL solid?

From pricing and cost of goods/services to gross and profit margins. Know your numbers well.

Your business model outlines how you intend to create and deliver value to your target customer. The model also includes the methods you will use to generate revenue.

You don’t have a business model if you can’t describe it in ten words or fewer.

Guy Kawasaki, Author of ‘The Art of the Start’

Your customer value proposition must explain how your product or service solves a problem or provides a very specific benefit. As well as, what your business offers and why it’s better than competitors. Once you’ve got a few value propositions defined, link each one to a service or product delivery system to determine how you will remain valuable to customers over time.The greatest value with lowest costs being incurred in your business will give you a greater chance of success and profitability.

Let’s spend 30 minutes making YOUR BUSINESS BETTER. Use the form below to contact me for a FREE marketing strategy session.