As an Internet marketer or the owner of a company who runs an e-commerce business, you are probably always looking for ways to get an edge on the competition. And, you should be. After all, with hundreds of millions of websites and billions of Web pages out there to compete with for traffic, it only stands to reason that the smarter marketers’ sites rise to the top of the rankings.

Fortunately, you don’t actually have to be a marketing genius in order to be able to compete successfully online. Rather, you just need to align yourself with the best tools, techniques and practices for doing well online.

For example, take Web hosting. It can be tempting to look for the cheapest hosting provider out there and to sign up for an inexpensive or even free month-to-month hosting plan. And, unless you knew the difference between the various available hosting solutions, there really is no reason why anyone would pay more for hosting.

However, once you can get a handle on the real differentiators between your various hosting options, you will start to see how accelerated hosting services and Internet marketing strategy go hand-in-hand.

A web hosting service, of course, is simply one that website owners to have their sites be accessible via the World Wide Web. Hosting providers do business in a variety of ways, including providing space on their own servers (or servers that they lease) for use by clients.

If you would like to get an Internet marketing strategy shot in the arm through better hosting, here are 5 hosting features and options to consider:

1. Uptime and connectivity:
Uptime refers simply to the percentage of time in a given month that the sites hosted with that provider are guaranteed to be up and available. You will want a solution with at least 99.9% uptime, which translates to about 45 minutes per month of downtime. Note, however, the maintenance items like server restarts and other unplanned maintenance factors may NOT be included in this figure.

2. More complex sites require additional support services:
Beyond the hosting of very simple websites, some hosting providers offer more sophisticated services, such the availability of programming and software protocols such as PHP, Ruby on Rails, Java, ColdFusion, and ASP.net. These protocols allow Web developers to install scripts for applications like forums, content management, etc. Also, SSL can be made available for secure e-commerce applications. Of course, these services are not free add-ons, but they may be required for you to run your site correctly.

3. Control panel access for managing Web server:
Another option to consider is a control panel that allows you to login remotely to manage your Web server. Management includes the ability to install scripts, as well as other services such as e-mail.

4. Dedicated hosting:
All of the cheapest Web hosting plans involve your site sharing a server with multiple other sites – up to 20 or so. However, for maximum site performance and control, dedicated hosting is the preferred option for strategic marketers. With this option, you get full control for items such as root access for Linux and administrator access for Windows.

5. Co-location Web hosting:
Another option is co-location (colocation) hosting. This is very similar to dedicated web hosting, but in the case of co-location the hosting company provides physical space for the server, environmental controls (e.g., power backup, fire suppression), and physical server maintenance. Levels of support provided for the machine vary by provider. In many cases, you would have your own administrator visit the site directly to do hardware upgrades or other changes.

As you find ways to scale up your online business and differentiate yourself from the pack, consider some of these accelerated hosting options for better Internet marketing strategy.

Author Bio: Get access to the Web’s leading full-service, most comprehensive online marketing toolbox at: Next-Level Online Marketing Solution.

Category: Internet
Keywords: Hosting and Internet Marketing Strategy,5 Hosting Features to Consider