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Are You Making the Most of the Web?
 More
small businesses than ever now have a
website, but are you making the most of the
internet with your online presence?
The 'SME Indicator' study by web hosting
company Fasthosts identifies three main
varieties of online business based on key
attributes such as frequency of website use,
amount of hosting services used, as well as
the use of servers and number of IP
addresses required. These findings have then
been used to create a simple car analogy, so
businesses can easily reflect on where they
are and where they want to be. So, what
types of website are companies running?
Personal Users (The Compact)
- The personal user is a small business,
between one and five employees, but also
includes personal websites and blog owners.
Websites in this category are smaller and
tend to be updated only occasionally. The
exceptions are blogs which are updated
regularly, but are generally small - usually
just one or two pages, whereas personal and
small business websites can have several
dozen pages.
Like the Compact car, the study found that
this group of users prefer to run their
websites like their cars - intuitively and
economically. They use basic shared hosting
services, easy setup tools including site
builders and standard POP3 email accounts.
The Compact online business wants good value
for money and reliability from their hosted
IT services; many use low cost traffic
driver tools to cleverly, but inexpensively,
boost their search engine rankings.
The Entrepreneur (The Convertible)
- Convertible style businesses are sleek
performers, who are versatile and dynamic.
Online businesses in this category are
entrepreneurial, possibly start-ups, with
creative business ideas and strong financial
motivation. The study highlighted the
Convertible style online business websites
as likely to have been established for at
least a year, and that they are updated on a
regular basis. Their website may not be the
cornerstone of their business operations;
however, so they tend to be intermediate
users of hosting solutions, having recently
moved, or are considering moving from
high-end shared hosting to entry level
dedicated servers. ;
A dedicated server solution allows companies
to control their own security and anti-virus
protocols in line with their company
policies to protect valuable information.
About a third of these customers are using
Linux operating systems, either as a
preference or to reduce costs, but few have
the additional IP addresses required for
advanced functionality.
However, like a Convertible, those in the
entrepreneurial category want to be prepared
to exceed expectations, and look to have
their own online server to improve site
performance and flexibility. ;
- Like a Sports car, serious users are high
performance outfits that utilise technology
to gain competitive advantage. Fasthosts
found that the online element of their
business is integral to the company's
day-to-day operations, so they tend to
invest heavily in advanced web hosting
features. Serious users have been found to
have the highest percentage of Windows
server operating systems, with more than 10%
using an MS SQL database. Sports-type
companies also require more IP addresses,
when compared to the other two types of
online business, to allow secure remote
internet services. These businesses also
have higher website traffic, and therefore
require higher data transfer limits. p;
For this category of business, unlimited
data transfer is the best option since it
eliminates the problems associated with
monthly fixed limits. Many of these
companies also have multiple dedicated
servers to ensure that their online business
always has high availability, access speeds
and security.
"We're not advocating that all businesses
should be 'Sports', but even if a website is
designed just to provide contact details or
a shop-front brochure - it shouldn't become
a neglected part of the business. In 2006
more purchases than ever were made online.
Christmas spending online alone was
estimated at around £5bn, so updating your
online presence could help you get your
share of a lucrative online market. You
wouldn't be enticed to purchase from a shop
that hasn't changed its window display for
the past two years, so why should the web be
any different?" said Stephen n Holford of
Fasthosts.
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