Hosting The 411

February 12, 2012 | Filed under: Business | Posted by: brendasegna

About brendasegna

Brenda Segna has written 15 post in this blog.

I am the Principle of a small business, BLaST Creative, a design/communication firm offering full-service advertising and design for corporate and charitable organizations. Providing strategic guidance, creative concepts, design, advertising and interactive solutions. Using a variety of methods, materials and diverse teams of industry experts to enhance and improve business visibility and brand identity. We are proficient in Design, SEO, Social Media Marketing and Internet marketing. I have over 20 years experience, we do more than web design. I have the skills to help with a variety of projects that you may need. I am proficient in all Adobe software (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, etc.) with the ability to work crazy hours and under insane deadlines, I have years of experience in marketing and design, print and web.

Every week I have at least one business owner come to me because they are having issues with a previous designer who refuses to give them access to their own website! Well here is the 411 on hosting, what you should know and what you should do! Let’s start with what hosting is, it’s how a website become accessible on the internet.

So it’s a necessary evil that we all must have if we want our website to be seen by our customers. Some web design companies offer hosting and that is the pitfall. Most business owners don’t understand what hosting is or how to obtain it and so when a web design company comes to them and says, don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything, I can host your website for you. The truth is, you should worry! You are giving complete control of your website to this web design company. Your website is the front door of your business and you are turning it over to another company!

And the problem with that company comes in, when you choose to use another designer! The company who is hosting your site now takes it hostage. You can’t have access to your web site, your new designer struggles to get access and in some cases it takes a court of law to get your website back.

When you pay a company to design your website-you own your website, it’s yours! But what you should do is purchase your own hosting package, your own url, then have a company design your website. You take complete ownership and don’t let someone else take control of you and your business! The company that has taken your site hostage can take down your website at any time if they so choose. Actually had that happen to a client this week as well. The previous designer took down the website and disabled emails without any notice.

So here is a notice for you, if someone is hosting your site now and you’re reading this article and want to get your own hosting, call your designer and tell them that you’ve decided to get your own hosting package. Go and purchase your hosting package from a site like GoDaddy.com and then have your designer transfer your site. I am betting that you will like the money that you save as well!

So that is the 411 on hosting! If you don’t have your own hosting, purchase it today and start working on gaining control of the front door of your business, your website, today!