Choosing the Best Email Hosting for Your Business

Email hosting may not seem like a big deal to you, consideringall of things to think about when launching a new internetbusiness, but trust me when I tell you that problems with emailis one of the most frustrating things you’ll ever deal with in aninternet-based business.

In an internet-based business, the majority (if not all) of yourcommunications with customers are conducted via email.

Sure, some internet-based businesses have phone service and offertheir phone numbers to customers and potential customers for thepurpose of asking questions, calling in orders or obtainingsupport.

But, the online customer is more apt to contact an internet-basedbusiness via email or through the use of contact forms providedon the business’s website.

Notification of communications submitted through online contactforms or order forms are also generally presented to the businessin the form of email.

As you can see, the very nature of an internet-based businessmakes it highly dependent on email, not only as a medium forcommunications, but also for operations.

Email difficulties or downtime can literally shut an internet-based business down causing lost sales and poor customer service.Lost revenues and customer dissatisfaction are the results, notto mention the aggravation and resulting frustration.

Looking at things from that realistic angle, you can see thatemail hosting is a business function that not only deserves, butdemands your attention.

So, you’re probably asking, “What are the aspects of emailhosting that need my attention?”

In most cases, you won’t choose an email host independent of yourweb host because most businesses do (and should) use emailaddresses that contain their domain name.

You can have an email host that is separate from your web host,but there is really no reason for it since the hosting of emailis generally a feature of web hosting packages.

I definitely do not recommend using free email services for yourbusiness communications. YourCompanyName@hotmail.com – seriously,how professional is that?

When you use the email options that are part of your web hostingplan, your domain name will be part of your email address whichwill present a much more professional image.

Other advantages of using professional versus free email hostingservices are enhanced options and fewer limitations.

When choosing a web host, you should be concerned with thehosting company’s secure server capabilities, the speed of theirservers, the space you are allowed on the server, and the accessalternatives they provide.

Access to server logs and reports is important as is theavailability of certain scripts and software. You also want tomake sure that your web host has been in business for awhile, iswell established and is reliable.

A good web host or email host should be able to guaranty at least99% uptime since downtime can be a serious hindrance to yourinternet-based business.

The web host’s backup procedures are also of importance as istheir technical support services.

In regard to email features that accompany your website hostingpackage, full email services should be provided.

Email services should include unlimited email aliases, theability to set up auto-responders, and web-based access andadministration features.

If you exchange files via email, it is important that there areno restrictions on the size or type of files that you canexchange. And of course, reliability is crucial as is immediateaccess to technical support when you need it.

Email hosting that uses IMAP technology is a fairly new andhighly desirable solution for your business’s email needs.

Historically, POP (Post Office Protocol) has been common forreceiving email with SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) beingused for sending email.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a nice alternative toPOP for receiving email.

With POP mailboxes, when you retrieve your email from your serverthrough an email program such as Outlook or Outlook Express, themessages are generally removed from the server when they aretransferred to your personal computer.

This can be a problem if you use more than one computer, adesktop and a laptop for instance. with IMAP mail receivingcapabilities, your message are archived on the IMAP server andyou can access and view your messages using a client programwithout removing the messages from the server.