If you run your own small business, you may find yourself asking the question “Does my business really need a website? Isn’t Facebook really my website these days?” Facebook and other social media platforms like LinkedIn, and Twitter, all give you a little space to publish your message. Think of it as a small billboard that you get for free. However, if you want to provide a branded and interactive experience that drives business to you, having your own website is crucial.

Think you don’t need a website because you just have local clients who come to your shop? You can get even more local clients aware of your business by having a website, combined with using social media. For instance, having your own website lets you setup email news letters (so you can re-announce to your current clients to come back in during promotional periods), as well as sell direct to people outside your region. Even if you are a local retailer, focused on walk in sales only, a website won’t hurt you, it will only help promote more people to come in and check you out!

The first step in starting a website for your business is finding a web hosting solution. Web hosting is a type of service that allows individuals or organizations to make their website visible on the internet. This can vary greatly from a simple static web page to a truly interactive video rich experience that drives sales through an online e-commerce shopping cart. Web hosting companies provide dedicated servers or shared space on a server for clients that are housed in an internet connected datacenter. Web hosts can also provide datacenter space and connectivity for other advanced needs beyond just website hosting, such as an office’s central file server, mail server, or even virtual desktops. Web hosting is also commonly referred to as “Cloud Hosting”, or “The Cloud” since your website resides out on the internet, allowing anyone to access the information you want publicized.

Your Web Hosting Provider’s job is to keep your website always online, secure, and fast so that your potential and current clients continue to find and shop with you, and not your competitor. Selecting a reliable Web Hosting Provider is crucial because when you site is down, people cannot get information or make purchases. Every minute your website is down impacts your reputation and could mean losing a potential customer or make your business appear unreliable. Choosing the right Web Hosting provider to fit your business needs can seem to be a large task with all the vendors and options on the market today, but don’t fear, TurnKey Internet has got you covered.

If you are serious about your business, you plan to grow, and picking TurnKey Internet as your Web Hosting partner provides you future growth ready flexibility. TurnKey Internet offers a wide range of cost effective cloud service options and platforms to get your business online. From value-priced Web Hosting Plans, Virtual Private Servers, Dedicated Servers, Managed Servers to Secure Colocation Services, TurnKey Internet can meet your cloud-based needs from one small virtual server, up to hundreds of dedicated servers. The foundation and core of TurnKey Internet is structured for lighting speed and rapid growth through our company-owned network and datacenter.

The question should no longer be “Does my business really need a website?” But rather “Why did I wait so long to start?”